At the 20th meeting of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform on July 9, President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of accelerating the building of a new development pattern which he called a strategic measure for China to seize the initiative in its future development. The move is intended to enhance China’s survivability, competitiveness and ability to sustain development in preparation for various foreseeable and unforeseen challenges ahead. It will be a tough and protracted battle that needs a tenacious fighting spirit and determination. It is necessary for all regions and government agencies across the country to consciously incorporate all planning work into the overall planning and strategy for constructing a new national development pattern.
Xi expounded on the construction of a new development pattern on several occasions in the past. But this was the first time he summarized the strategy as one aimed at enhancing China’s survivability, competitiveness and ability to sustain development in preparation for foreseeable and unforeseen challenges. The key words he used were “unforeseen”, “survivability”, “competitiveness” and “sustainability”.
“Unforeseen” is a new trait observed in the accelerated paradigm shift in global power balance. In the study of human history, we are accustomed to looking for clues from the past to understand the present and predict the future. However, the rivalry between the United States and China, whose social systems and ideologies are vastly different, is unprecedented in human history. Also unprecedented are the existential threats arising from climate change in the 21st century and the implications of the fourth technological and industrial revolution in areas such as life science, artificial intelligence and the development of outer space, the consequences of which will be profound and significant. These factors have determined that the path to the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” is predestined to bump into some “unforeseen” obstacles.
Two scenarios may occur. To start with, some of the unforeseen events are meticulous plots designed by China’s rivals. We must, as Chinese wisdom goes, be vigilant and prepared so as not to be harmed. One need not look far for a lesson: World War II was a great example that showed how a catastrophe could be easily unleashed. Therefore, the Communist Party of China must fully prepare itself for any “unforeseen” storms. At the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, President Xi asserted that “we Chinese are a people who uphold justice and are not intimidated by threats of force. As a nation, we have a strong sense of pride and self-confidence. We have never bullied, oppressed, or subjugated the people of any other country, and we never will. By the same token, we will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.”
The other scenario is that some unforeseeable events will affect all countries. For instance, no one could have predicted that COVID-19 would become a global pandemic. In the coming decades, mankind may encounter other major public health crises. This is supposedly an opportunity for global solidarity and collaboration for the sake of humanity. Unfortunately, the United States has chosen to make use of the COVID-19 pandemic to smear China to serve its geopolitical strategy against China.
In a recent interview with Nikkei, Daniel Russel, the former US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said the US must outcompete China for a stable relationship. His remarks evidently revealed the mainstream opinion of the US government. In order to maintain a wide power differential between the US and China, Washington will accelerate and intensify its effort to contain China, and it will never slow down in this undertaking. It will decouple from China in key areas such as high technology and finance, and force its allies to do the same. Therefore, China can only construct a new development pattern with the internal cycle as the mainstay to enhance its survivability, competitiveness, and development sustainability.
Xi indicated that it is necessary to consciously incorporate all work into the overall planning and strategy for formulating a new development pattern. Hong Kong must also contribute its share to this end. In the past few years, the rapidly changing external environment, coupled with the internal bottlenecks faced by Hong Kong, require the city to integrate itself into the overall national development for the sake of its future development or even survival. Now that the time is ripe when the country is pursuing a new development pattern, Hong Kong should consciously participate in it.
Many people across Hong Kong and even within the special administrative region government still believe that Hong Kong’s advantage lies in its internationalization, but they have failed to realize that the city’s internationalization has much to do with and is significantly influenced by Western countries such as the US and the UK. Now that Washington is rallying its allies to decouple from China, can Hong Kong avoid the collateral damage? It is impossible for Hong Kong not to make adjustments to its internationalization. China’s new development pattern puts an emphasis on the internal cycle as the mainstay, which requires Hong Kong to accelerate its integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. At the same time, the new development pattern still includes external circulation which, in the face of the decoupling attempt of Western countries, relies on expanding ties with non-Western nations. As the latter part is not Hong Kong businesses’ strong suit, it is necessary for the HKSAR government to help the city’s financial, industrial and commercial sectors as well as other professional sectors to make adjustments so that they can dovetail with the new national strategy.
The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.