Boosting confidence that development can benefit all

During his meeting with visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday, President Xi Jinping said that people, not just in China but throughout the world, should have confidence that their expectations to live fulfilling lives will be met, and that all countries, both big and small, should work together to give more people the assurance they can enjoy a better future.

In doing so he once again expressed his conviction that countries can cooperate and collaborate to build a global community to address common risks and pursue shared prosperity.

That many people in the world have found themselves on the outside looking in while a few have enjoyed most of the fruits of global openness and trade has sparked a populist backlash against the big bang of globalization and prompted fears it may collapse as a more insular mindset has started to prevail in some places.

To prevent this condition being aggravated and becoming contagious requires earnest efforts to convince those who currently feel left behind by the train of globalization that they too have a stake in what they perceive to have been a gold mine accessible only to a few.

Speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday, Xi will surely inject a new dose of confidence in more inclusive development by reaffirming that China is willing to play its part in providing just such a pick-me-up.

For as well as reassuring the world that China is open for business, he will assure it that reform will be deepened and opening-up expanded so that more countries and people can benefit from China’s development opportunities and experiences.

In introducing these changes at home, China is also looking beyond its doorstep and seeking common development momentum with other countries, not least through tapping the synergies between its Belt and Road Initiative and other countries’ development strategies.

As a Chinese saying observes, a single thread cannot become a cord, and a single tree does not make a forest. By embracing openness and innovation with China, and by striving to make the region one for all, Asia can become the first incarnation of a community with a shared future.