China on world stage in year 2009

BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- In efforts to counter the unprecedented global economic downturn in decades and increasing challenges of climate change, China mapped out in 2009 a series of active measures to shoulder responsibility in accordance with its capability, drawing widespread attention from the international community. Its centuries-old culture also won increasing world recognition.

CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE IN GLOBAL ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

The year 2009 has been an extraordinarily busy year for Chinese diplomacy, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Largely due to the international economic and financial crisis, the policies and measures taken by China have particularly caught the world's attention, said Sha.

The spread of China's influence is not only a great trend, but an undisputable fact, said Sha, adding the financial crisis is in fact an opportunity for China to participate in the international decision-making process, to elevate its status and broaden its influence.

The world welcomes the presence of Chinese leaders at important international gatherings and highly values China's standpoints. The emergence of China as a responsible and constructive player that seeks peaceful development is appreciated by more and more countries.

With a package of policies and measures aimed at addressing the impact of the international financial crisis, China's economic growth has gradually accelerated since the first quarter of 2009.

According to estimates by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, China's gross domestic product (GDP) could grow approximately 8.5 percent in 2009, while global economic output is expected to drop 2 percent from 2008.

With its economy taking the lead in stalling the downturn, China is contributing to a full recovery of the world economy as the recovery in China has directly boosted global demand.

The world benefits from a prosperous China, concluded Sha.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, World Bank President Robert Zoellick also said China has played a very constructive role in battling the global economic downturn by taking both fiscal and monetary steps to revitalize its economy.

Zoellick believes that China, as an emerging economic force, can be a responsible stakeholder in the international economic system through its own policies.

Meanwhile, China has also strived to oppose trade protectionism in a bid to promote world trade in a more friendly way.

WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell, commenting on China's role in reforming the multilateral trade system, spoke highly of China's participation in the Doha Round of trade negotiations.

"China has been absolutely central to the negotiations," said Rockwell, adding China has constructive ideas and proposals to make the Round go forward.

John Hawksworth, chief economist of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), one of the world's four largest accounting firms, predicted that China's economic growth would be around 8 percent this year and is expected to rise to around 9-10 percent in 2010.

It is widely believed that the world's economic power is shifting from the West to the East as emerging economies such as China and India are developing with a rapid and sustainable growth.

He said that the shift is inevitable because the productivity gap between China and the United States, for example, which used to be very large, has been reduced considerably.

"You can't really manage the world economy without involving countries like China and India and Brazil and so on because they have got an increasingly important role to play," said the economist.