Monday, July 01, 2019

CPE Working Group on Empire: Part 1--Observations on Xi Jinping, Speech Delivered at the G20 Leaders' Summit on the World Economic Situation and Trade Issues--"Work Together to Create a High Quality World Economy" [习近平在二十国集团领导人峰会上关于世界经济形势和贸易问题的讲话(全文)携手共进,合力打造高质量世界经济]



Xi Jinping's Speech delivered at the recently concluded G20 Leaders' Summit in Japan provides another indication of the perspectives and objectives of China's leadership core with respect to the necessary ordering of global trade to its liking.  Understanding that perspective is essential if one is to better understand the parameters within which China is prepared to negotiate, and beyond that, those parameters with respect to which its partners must be willing to go it alone--either without China or in competition with it. These are all political decisions, of course; but political decisions in which the interests of many sub-communities (business, political, intellectual, and civil society, for example) may either converge or fall out of the aggregation of great principles that drive each of the United States and China as they reshape their view of themselves in the world and construct multilateral relations more protective of their core interests and their core partners.  







The Coalition for Peace & Ethics Working Group on Empire has been following these vents closely, While it has been considering the specifics of an eventually constructed agreement, it is focusing on the construction of something even more durable--new theories of empire that will sustain the visions being developed now under the leadership of Presidents Xi and Trump. 

President Xi's speech provides another set of valuable insights from the Chinese side.  It is worth considering in its own right.  In this post and the next  CPE-WGE presents its brief thoughts on the speech and what it may point to in the upcoming negotiations--and more importantly, in the further development of Communist Party ideological thinking that will likely be unveiled in fuller form in the upcoming 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress.

Our first set of reflections, The Meaning is in the Title--Reflections on Xi Jinping Speech, "Work Together to Create a High-Quality World Economy, along with the English and original text (中国语文) of the Speech, "Work together to create a high-quality world economy" [携手共进,合力打造高质量世界经济] follow.  The second reflection prepared by Flora Sapio may be accessed here
 



The Meaning is in the Title--Reflections on Xi Jinping Speech, "Work Together to Create a High-Quality World Economy"
Coalition for Peace & Ethics Working Group on Empire
Larry Catá Backer

The essence of the remarks by President Xi are deeply embedded in the title that he used to frame his remarks.  Let us consider them one word at a time, each detached form the others with its own cluster of meanings, and each connected together to produce a collective meaning that incorporates both their individuality while each preserving their meaning core. 

Work suggests effort, but it does not qualify that effort.  The idea of work leaves open the issue of who is to work, how hard, how hard in relation to others, at what cost or sacrifice, to what ends, and the like. Together  points to a collective effort, but one the parameters of which are ambiguous.

Together invokes not just a collective (one is self contained) but together with work, suggests its qualification--this is not a pleasure seeking collective, or an aesthetic one, but one crafted for work.  Yet the framing of the collective is left veiled with respect to a number of elements--for example the issues of the organization of "together" in a hierarchy or as equals, the consent or coercion that brings individuals together, the ranking among members of the collective, and the price of collective organization remain to be determined.  

Create suggests the objective of collective action (the work together" part of the title). Anything can be created, and the choice of creation is left unanswered.  Yet by this point, the combination of the three words already suggests the development of an institutional structure for the management of a joint effort undertaken through the collective, but not necessarily at the instance of the collective. It is clear that someone is to work together to create, but it is not clear who is to lead the effort. More importantly, it is not yet clear what is to be created. Though it is clear that what is to be created has not yet been made--this is not an effort to repair, or rebuild, or preserve. Something new is necessary.

High-Quality adds detail.  Collective work directed toward creation of something new much have a value and that is what the "high quality" descriptor provides--an assessment of value.  But it does not provide a means of measuring that value. To measure that value one must have consensus or some must have a measurement framework from which it is possible to observe, measure, and conclude that the requisite level of quality has been attained.  Here one is ushered into the collective act of creation that must be assessed.  That requires data, it requires analytics, and it requires algorithms to effectively assess the work together that creates.  It also requires a system for assigning a leadership role to those who must make the decisions necessary to produce the judgment of quality.  

World appears an easy enough word to understand and yet it is also open to some ambiguity. In one sense it adds detail and direction toward the appropriate measurement of quality (that of course must be high--again a relative and value laden term which requires an authority to construct (create; another collective task perhaps) meaning. Again the simplicity of the word masks its multiple possibilities.  One might reference a unitary space where all effects, burdens and benefits are equally distributed.  Or one can see the reverse, with an ordered hierarchy the object of which is the creation of high quality through collective work. Or one might understand the world as as a space that can be divided up and ordered in autonomous segments.  The choice might well depend on the meaning and function of creation, of the needs of high quality, of the arrangement of collectivities, and of the nature and capacities of work.  

Economy then adds the final piece to the puzzle. Economy is a word redolent with meaning.  It is a way of thinking about the use of material and intangible things--a sustainability approach to life.  It is a reference to the need to avoid excess--though excess, like high quality is a word the meaning of which requires management and collective agreement perhaps guided by a leadership core. It can as well refer to the productive forces of a collective.  But which collective?  That of a state, that of a religious group, that a production chain, that of an enterprise, that of a chain of ownership of capital either by a state or a private institution, and the like. Putting the word "world economy" together only complicates meaning.  It could refer to the way the word is used as a proxy for the complex interactions that constitute contemporary globalization.  But that would hardly make sense when there is agreement that this contemporary construct is no longer recognizable--and thus the need for "work together to create a high-quality world economy."  But at that point the words become circular and meaning elusive.  That cannot be.  Its meaning, then, may well be a function of the meaning of "world" yet that also is functionally dependent on the choices of meaning for the rest of the phrase.  

But what is certain is that the object is the mobilization of productive forces for the creation of wealth.  And what is implied is that this mobilization of productive forces requires  the sustained work of a collective.  It also understands that collectives do not manage themselves--that collective work is not self reflexive but rather is the product of guidance--and thus the need for the speech. And indeed to whom is the speech delivered--to the vanguard leadership, to the core leadership, of the collectives who together might have their own work to do to create the foundations within which a high quality world economy might be created through their leadership. 

Here one reaches the most profound moment of the speech, a point attained without actually listening to the details that follow.  Here is the most concise and brilliant summary of forty years of development of Chinese Marxist-Leninism as the template for the successful development of macro economies.  Here is succinctly presented the construction of Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up, with a reconstituted vision of emancipating the mind to the ends of recognizing the essential role of core leadership as the means for protecting the quality of creation in a new era. And indeed, in the quality of creation is the acknowledgement that the past must be overcome by the creation of a new form of world economy that reflects measures of quality that are themselves the expression of something new.

What the title of Xi Jinìng's speech thus introduces, is the core of the Chinese vision for the world and its macro economic ordering in the current stage of world history.  It is a differentiated vision, built on the assessment that states are in very different stages of development in the current stage and the the collective work of creation must reflect those differentiated characteristics.  But this is work for the core leadership; work that will guide the collectives toward the sort of high quality production that will enhance the value of the productive forces. The details follow--that is the object of the text of the speech.  But the value of those details will depend entirely on the ability of the Chinese to convince the rest of the leadership core that its values and vision ought to serve as the guide for the organization of global productive forces and the arrangement of the global vanguard in an appropriately constituted hierarchy.  It is at this point that the curtain must be drawn as the principle leadership cores begin a conversation that turns these theoretic foundations into concrete action plans.

  

___________

http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2019/0628/c1024-31202346.html
June 28, 2019, 14:17 Source: Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency, Osaka, June 28th

Work together to Create a High-Quality World Economy

-- Speech at the G20 Leaders' Summit on the World Economic Situation and Trade Issues
(June 28, 2019, Osaka)

President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping

Dear colleagues,

I am very happy to meet you in Osaka.

Ten years after the international financial crisis, the world economy once again came to the crossroads. Protectionism and unilateralism continued to spread, trade and investment disputes intensified, global industrial structure and financial stability were affected, and the risks and uncertainties of world economic operations increased significantly. The confidence of international investors was obviously insufficient.

The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation. As the leader of the world's major economies, we have the responsibility to set the right course for the world economy and global governance at a critical moment, to enhance confidence in the market and bring hope to the people.

- We must respect the objective laws. Economic operation has its own laws. Only by fully respecting the laws of the economy, giving play to the role of the market, and removing human obstacles can we adapt to the requirements of the development of productive forces and achieve smooth trade and prosperity.

- We must grasp the general trend of development. Throughout the ages, human beings have moved from occlusion to openness and from isolation to integration. We must embrace development opportunities with greater openness, seek mutual benefit and win-win with better cooperation, and guide economic globalization to develop in the right direction.

- We must have a common future. Looking at the world, countries have long been related and destined. We must base ourselves on common interests and focus on long-term development. We are committed to achieving lasting peace and prosperity in the world, living and working for all peoples, and avoiding irreparable historical mistakes caused by short-sightedness.

I would like to make the following suggestions.

First, adhere to reform and innovation and tap the growth momentum. The world economy has entered a period of transition between old and new kinetic energy. We must identify the entry points, vigorously promote structural reforms, and build an industrial structure, policy framework, and management system that will adapt to future development trends through the development of the digital economy, the promotion of interconnection, and the improvement of social security measures, and improve the efficiency and resilience of economic operations. Strive to achieve high quality development. We must seize the historical opportunities that new technologies, new industries, and new formats continue to emerge, create a favorable market environment, and respect, protect, and encourage innovation. We must promote international innovation cooperation, transcend territorial limitations and artificial barriers, gather global wisdom, solve common problems, and make innovations widely applied to benefit more countries and people.

Second, we must keep pace with the times and improve global governance. At present, economic globalization has encountered some twists and turns, and has proposed to us how to improve the era of global governance. The G20 should continue to play a leading role in ensuring that the world economy is open, inclusive, balanced and inclusive. We must strengthen the multilateral trading system and make necessary reforms to the World Trade Organization. The purpose of the reform is to keep pace with the times, so that the World Trade Organization can more effectively implement its purpose of opening up the market and promoting development. The outcome of the reform should be conducive to maintaining free trade and multilateralism and narrowing the development gap. At the same time, in the face of the future global systemic financial risk challenge, we must not only ensure that the financial safety net resources are sufficient, but also make the representation of the international financial architecture more reasonable and better reflect the realistic pattern of the world economy. This is not only about fairness, but also directly affects the relevance and effectiveness of the challenges and crises. We also need to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and improve energy governance, environmental governance, and digital governance.

Third, persist in advancing difficulties and crack the bottleneck of development. The various problems facing the world today are traced back to the development gap and the development of the deficit. On a global scale, the development sector still faces huge financing gaps, and there is a long way to go to implement the UN 2030 sustainable development agenda. China proposes to jointly build the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, with the aim of mobilizing more resources, tightening the interconnection and ties, releasing growth momentum, realizing market docking, allowing more countries and regions to integrate into economic globalization, and jointly embarking on a mutually beneficial and win-win road. . The success of the 2nd "One Belt, One Road" International Cooperation Summit shows that this initiative is a good thing to meet the people's heart and follow the trend, and has been widely welcomed and supported by the international community. The G20 should continue to place development at the priority of macroeconomic policy coordination, increase development input, and lead development cooperation with tangible actions. This is not only a response to the expectations of the developing countries, but also a lasting impetus for world economic growth.

Fourth, adhere to the spirit of partnership and properly handle differences. The G20 members have brought together major developed economies and emerging market economies, accounting for nearly 90% of the world's total. We are at different stages of development, and there are differences in interests and differences of opinion on some issues. The key is to carry forward the spirit of partnership, in the spirit of mutual respect and mutual trust, to negotiate on an equal footing, to seek common ground while reserving differences, to control differences, and to expand consensus. If we can do this between big powers, it will not only be in line with our own interests, but also conducive to world peace and development.

Dear colleagues!

At present, China's economy is stable and the GDP growth rate has remained at a reasonable range of more than 6% for many years. On the basis of recent measures, we will further launch a number of major initiatives to accelerate the formation of a new situation of opening up and strive to achieve high-quality development.

First, further open up the market. We are about to release a negative list of foreign investment access in 2019 to further expand the opening of agriculture, mining, manufacturing and service industries. Six new free trade pilot zones will be set up, and a new area of ​​the Shanghai Free Trade Zone will be added to accelerate the exploration of the process of building a free trade port in Hainan.

Second, actively expand imports. We will further reduce the level of tariffs independently, work hard to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers, and drastically reduce the institutional costs of import links. Run the second China International Import Expo.

Third, continue to improve the business environment. We will implement a new foreign investment legal system on January 1 next year, introduce a tortious punitive damages system, enhance civil judicial protection and criminal protection, and improve the level of intellectual property protection.

Fourth, comprehensive implementation of equal treatment. We will completely remove the restrictions on foreign investment access to the negative list. In the post-access stage, we will treat all types of enterprises registered in China equally, treat them equally, and establish and improve complaint mechanisms for foreign-funded enterprises.

Fifth, vigorously promote economic and trade negotiations. We will promote the early conclusion of a regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement, accelerate the negotiation of China-EU investment agreements, and accelerate the negotiation process of the China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

China is confident that it will take its own path, do its own thing well, peacefully coexist with the rest of the world, cooperate and win-win, build a community of human destiny, and make unremitting efforts to create a better tomorrow for the world economy.

thank you all.

习近平在二十国集团领导人峰会上关于世界经济形势和贸易问题的讲话(全文)

2019062814:17  来源:新华社
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  新华社大阪628日电

  携手共进,合力打造高质量世界经济

  ——在二十国集团领导人峰会上关于世界经济形势和贸易问题的发言

  (2019628日,大阪)

  中华人民共和国主席 习近平

  各位同事:

  很高兴同大家在大阪相聚。

  国际金融危机发生10年后,世界经济再次来到十字路口。保护主义、单边主义持续蔓延,贸易和投资争端加剧,全球产业格局和金融稳定受到冲击,世界经济运行风险和不确定性显著上升,国际投资者信心明显不足。

  二十国集团是国际经济合作主要论坛。作为世界主要经济体领导人,我们有责任在关键时刻为世界经济和全球治理把准航向,为市场增强信心,给人民带来希望。

  ——我们要尊重客观规律。经济运行有其自身规律。只有充分尊重经济规律,发挥市场作用,扫除人为障碍,才能适应生产力发展要求,实现贸易畅通、百业兴旺。

  ——我们要把握发展大势。古往今来,人类从闭塞走向开放、从隔绝走向融合是不可阻挡的时代潮流。我们要以更大的开放拥抱发展机遇,以更好的合作谋求互利共赢,引导经济全球化朝正确方向发展。

  ——我们要胸怀共同未来。放眼世界,各国早已休戚相关、命运相连。我们要立足共同利益,着眼长远发展,致力于实现世界持久和平繁荣、各国人民安居乐业,避免因一时短视犯下不可挽回的历史性错误。

  我愿提出以下几点建议。

  第一,坚持改革创新,挖掘增长动力。世界经济已经进入新旧动能转换期。我们要找准切入点,大力推进结构性改革,通过发展数字经济、促进互联互通、完善社会保障措施等,建设适应未来发展趋势的产业结构、政策框架、管理体系,提升经济运行效率和韧性,努力实现高质量发展。我们要抓住新技术、新产业、新业态不断涌现的历史机遇,营造有利市场环境,尊重、保护、鼓励创新。我们要提倡国际创新合作,超越疆域局限和人为藩篱,集全球之智,克共性难题,让创新成果得以广泛应用,惠及更多国家和人民。

  第二,坚持与时俱进,完善全球治理。当前,经济全球化遇到一些曲折,向我们提出了如何完善全球治理的时代命题。二十国集团应该继续发挥引领作用,确保世界经济开放、包容、平衡、普惠发展。我们要加强多边贸易体制,对世界贸易组织进行必要改革。改革的目的是与时俱进,使得世界贸易组织能够更加有效地践行其开放市场、促进发展的宗旨。改革的结果应当有利于维护自由贸易和多边主义,收窄发展鸿沟。同时,面对未来全球系统性金融风险挑战,我们不但要确保金融安全网资源充足,也要让国际金融架构的代表性更加合理,更好反映世界经济现实格局。这不仅事关公平,也直接影响到应对挑战和危机的针对性和有效性。我们还要落实应对气候变化《巴黎协定》,完善能源治理、环境治理、数字治理。

  第三,坚持迎难而上,破解发展瓶颈。当今世界面临的各种难题,追根溯源都与发展鸿沟、发展赤字有关。全球范围看,发展领域仍面临巨大融资缺口,落实联合国2030年可持续发展议程任重道远。中国提出共建“一带一路”倡议,目的就是动员更多资源,拉紧互联互通纽带,释放增长动力,实现市场对接,让更多国家和地区融入经济全球化,共同走出一条互利共赢的康庄大道。第二届“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛的成功表明,这一倡议是合民心、顺潮流的好事,得到国际社会普遍欢迎和支持。二十国集团应该继续将发展置于宏观经济政策协调的优先位置,增加发展投入,用实实在在的行动引领发展合作。这既是对广大发展中国家期待的回应,也将为世界经济增长增添持久动力。

  第四,坚持伙伴精神,妥善处理分歧。二十国集团成员汇聚了主要发达经济体和新兴市场经济体,经济总量占世界近90%。我们处在不同发展阶段,在一些问题上存在利益差异和观点分歧很正常。关键是要弘扬伙伴精神,本着相互尊重、相互信任态度,平等协商、求同存异、管控分歧、扩大共识。大国之间如果能做到这一点,不仅符合自身利益,也有利于世界和平与发展。

  各位同事!

  当前,中国经济稳中向好,国内生产总值增速连续多年保持在6%以上的合理区间。我们将在近期采取措施的基础上,进一步推出若干重大举措,加快形成对外开放新局面,努力实现高质量发展。

  第一,进一步开放市场。我们即将发布2019年版外资准入负面清单,进一步扩大农业、采矿业、制造业、服务业开放。新设6个自由贸易试验区,增设上海自由贸易试验区新片区,加快探索建设海南自由贸易港进程。

  第二,主动扩大进口。我们将进一步自主降低关税水平,努力消除非关税贸易壁垒,大幅削减进口环节制度性成本。办好第二届中国国际进口博览会。

  第三,持续改善营商环境。我们将于明年11日实施新的外商投资法律制度,引入侵权惩罚性赔偿制度,增强民事司法保护和刑事保护力度,提高知识产权保护水平。

  第四,全面实施平等待遇。我们将全面取消外资准入负面清单之外的限制。准入后阶段,对在中国境内注册的各类企业平等对待、一视同仁,建立健全外资企业投诉机制。

  第五,大力推动经贸谈判。我们将推动早日达成区域全面经济伙伴关系协定,加快中欧投资协定谈判,加快中日韩自由贸易协定谈判进程。

  中国有信心走好自己的路、办好自己的事,同世界各国和平共处、合作共赢,共建人类命运共同体,为创造世界经济更加美好的明天不懈努力。

  谢谢大家。
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