China's development brings six opportunities to the world

Fourthly, China's development makes a great contribution to global poverty alleviation.

Since the launch of Reform and Opening Up 40 years ago, more than 700 million Chinese people from rural areas have been lifted out of poverty. That accounts for over 70% for the global total. In 2017, China's poverty rate dipped to 3.1%. China, while working to wipe out poverty within itself, has also been supporting other developing countries alleviate poverty.

From 1950 to 2016, although China has not always enjoyed a high level of development, it still unconditionally provided over 400 billion US dollars worth of aid to other countries through some 5,000 aid projects. China also helped train more than 260,000 professionals in developing countries. The achievements of China’s poverty alleviation have made the world's economy more forgiving. China has benefited from the global economic development, and is also contributing to it. China's development brings opportunities to the world.

Fifthly, new opportunities for development are being provided for countries along the "Belt and Road."

Not only does China follow the model of economic globalization, but also it is putting the "Belt and Road Initiative" into practice. The "Belt and Road Initiative" is one of the most popular international communication products in today's world. More than 100 countries and international organizations are involved in it. Over 80 of them have signed cooperation agreements with China. The Belt and Road Forum yielded over 270 results. A lot of exchange programs helped improve the situation for the development of member countries, creating more chances for regional cooperation.

The "Belt and Road Initiative" accelerated economic development in countries along its routes and has created a lot of job opportunities, so a lot of countries, especially those that are still developing, jumped on the China-led bandwagon. In 2017, Chinese companies made direct investments worth 14 billion US dollars in 59 countries along the Belt and Road. This accounts for 12% of total Chinese investment last year. These enterprises signed project deals worth 144 billion US dollars, representing 54% of all Chinese deals in foreign countries. In 2017, China's total trade volume with Belt and Road countries reached 7.3 trillion yuan, with 4.3 trillion yuan being exports and 3 trillion yuan from imports.

Sixthly, a more open China brings the world more opportunities for investment.

China is trying to open up a new phase of opening up and enter a new era of high quality development. China's doors will always remain open and they will only open wider. China will work to build a relaxed and orderly environment for investment, lower the threshold for foreign capital, construct high-standard free trade pilot zones, strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights and encourage fair competition to make the Chinese market more transparent and well managed.

It is predicted that in the next 5 years, China's foreign investment will reach 750 billion US dollars. 700 million people are expected to travel abroad. This will create bigger markets, generate more capital, more products and better opportunities for cooperation. China's future development will remain an opportunity for the world. And because China is shifting from speed to quality, it will become a stronger propeller for global economic growth.

Niu Li is Deputy Director of the Economic Forecast Department of the State Information Center of China.