China's new reform drive to benefit world

BEIJING - An ongoing key meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is expected to unveil a new outline for comprehensively deepening reform in the country.

Since a massive economic transformation drive was launched in 1978, China has maintained economic growth for decades and become the world's second largest economy.

China's GDP skyrocketed from 364.5 billion yuan in 1978 to 52 trillion yuan in 2012, with total trade volume rising to $3.8 trillion from only $20.6 billion 35 years ago.

Meanwhile, China has become an aggressive investor. In 2012, the country saw a record high of outward direct investment at $87.8 billion, up 17.6 percent year-on-year, joining the ranks of the world's top three investment source countries for the first time.

China's fast growth has served as a key engine of the world economy.

According to figures from the National Statistics Bureau, China has topped the list of contributors to the global economy, with up to 19.2 percent of world economic growth coming from China in 2007, compared to only 2.3 percent in 1978.

In 2012, China's economic growth again outpaced the global average, with its contribution to world economic growth looking to record a new high.

China's deepening reforms, highlighted by a reform agenda to be issued at the end of the third plenum of the current CPC Central Committee, will unleash new growth drivers that benefit the rest of the world, analysts say.

"China's growing overseas investment will first of all benefit those countries with close relations with Beijing," said Andrey Ostrovsky, deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Far East Institute.

"Meanwhile, the world's major economies also owe a large part of their economic growth to China," he said. "China's imports and exports have a huge impact on the world economy."

More Chinese enterprises are now moving outside the country in search of opportunities, bringing with them coveted technologies and jobs for local people.

Gerrishon Ikiara, an international relations professor at the University of Nairobi in Kenya, said China's deepening reforms had a significant influence on Africa.

"Chinese enterprises have helped boost African economies with their technology and management experience, particularly in developing a green economy and realizing inclusive growth," Ikiara said.

Egypt's China expert Muhammad Abdel-Wahab Al-Sakit, a former Arab League ambassador to China, echoed the view, saying China's "go global" strategy had produced mutual benefits in many countries, as it facilitated global capital flow and market competition, bringing consumers worldwide better products at lower prices.

China's reform and opening-up, after 35 years of extraordinary exploration and notable achievements, has entered the deep-water zone where tough challenges must be tackled.

To keep up growth, China needs to take bold steps to adjust its economy, strengthen social welfare and cut the red tape. A comprehensive plan to overhaul the economy is at the center of the four-day closed-door talks, to be concluded Tuesday.