US entrepreneur highlights China's significant role in global economy

WASHINGTON - China is playing a significant role in global economic growth and sustainable development, a US entrepreneur told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Mary Andringa, president and CEO of Vermeer Corporation, a leading heavy equipment maker, noted that it's very important "to have active participation from China in multilateral forums to help guide and shape good policies and principles that create sustainable growth and jobs."

Andringa will soon make her first visit to China's eastern city of Hangzhou for the B20 (the Business 20) summit, a forum for business leaders from the G20 prior to the gathering of top G20 leaders.

The global economy is underperforming right now and many of the policies designed to spur growth are difficult to enact, she noted.

To solve those challenges, Andringa said, "G20 leaders will have to find ways to articulate a vision, a way forward, and to connect with their citizens in such a way that they are given the latitude to enact policies which are economically beneficial in the medium to long term."

As Andringa sees it, the theme of this year's G20 summit, "Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy," touches on key subjects needed to enhance global growth.

She hopes the upcoming G20 summit, slated for Sept 4-5, can push forward structural reforms among G20 members as fiscal and monetary policies are reaching their limits.

"In the short term, many countries will be limited in what they are able to do from a monetary and fiscal policy standpoint but structural reforms such as the B20 have recommended certainly offer tangible ways to set economies on a better trajectory," said Andringa, who is co-chair of the SME (small and medium sized enterprises and entrepreneurs) Taskforce for this year's B20 summit.

She also hopes the G20 will reach an agreement to act on regulatory simplifications, build a more open and transparent business environment, remove hurdles for cross-border trade, facilitate better public-private cooperation in infrastructure investment, establish guidelines for the development of E-commerce, and find innovative ways to close skill gaps and connect people to opportunities.

Andringa first visited China in the early 1990s when Vermeer began exporting horizontal directional drills to the country. The equipment is used in the construction of underground infrastructure.

Over the past 25 years, China's rapid development has greatly impressed her and made her optimistic about the country's future.

"We are optimistic about the future prospects for the China manufacturing sector and the overall economy," said Andringa, who once served as the first female chair of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest industrial trade association in the United States.

"With a large population and now the world's second largest economy, China will continue to play an important part in contributing to the world economy," she said.