Assistant Foreign Minister Miao Deyu attended the Forum on Developing Countries and International Law and the Symposium to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence
On April 23, 2024, Assistant Foreign Minister Miao Deyu attended the opening ceremony of the 2nd Forum on Developing Countries and International Law and the Symposium to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in Beijing. Miao said that the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence vividly reflect the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and have started a historical process for developing countries to defend their national independence and sovereignty and establish a new type of international relations. As the world enters a new period of turbulence and change, President Xi Jinping creatively put forward the important concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and called on the international community to work together to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world featuring lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. China has always been a staunch member of the Global South and stands ready to work with developing countries to promote the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, strengthen the international rule of law, and set the course for a better future for mankind. The experts at the meeting conducted in-depth discussions and called for promoting the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, jointly addressing global challenges, and promoting the establishment of a fairer, more just and more reasonable international order in the common interests of all mankind. The forum was co-sponsored by the Chinese Society of International Law, the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University, and the Hong Kong Asian Academy of International Law, and was attended by about 300 well-known international law experts, scholars and legal officials from 31 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, South Africa, and Malaysia, as well as ambassadors and counselors from more than 70 countries including Syria, Niger, Bolivia, and Myanmar.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on April 24, 2024
Presided over the regular press conference
Reuters: On Tuesday, the US Senate passed a bill that would ban TikTok in the US if ByteDance does not divest it within nine months to a year. Does the foreign ministry have any comment?
Wang Wenbin: My colleagues and I, as well as the spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce, have previously clarified China's principled position on the passage of the TikTok-related bill by the US Congress, which you can read. Dragon TV: We noted that after the National Bureau of Statistics released economic data for the first quarter of this year, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and many other international financial institutions raised their forecasts for China's economic growth this year. Wang Wenbin: In the first quarter of this year, China's economy got off to a good start, with the "troika" indicators of consumption, investment, and exports running well, and the four major macroeconomic indicators of growth, employment, inflation, and the balance of payments generally remained stable, releasing a "strong sense of spring" that continues to pick up and improve. China's GDP grew by 5.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, of which domestic demand contributed 85.5% to economic growth, making it the "main force" to promote economic growth. The UNCTAD report predicts that China's economy will achieve its growth target of about 5% this year. According to the 2024 Global Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index released by A.T. A.T. A.T. Kearney, a U.S.-based management consulting firm, China's ranking jumped to No. 3 from last year. According to a Bloomberg report, China will rank first in the world in terms of its share of new economic activity in the next five years. Looking ahead, China's economic recovery and long-term positive trend will not change. It is believed that with the continuous advancement of high-quality development and high-level opening-up, China's economy will accelerate the pace of transformation and upgrading on the basis of steady progress and make greater contributions to the world economy. CNN: The US Congress passed a bill on Taiwan and TikTok. I have two questions. First, what message will China send during Secretary Blinken's visit to China? Second, does the Chinese government think ByteDance should challenge the bill, or leave the U.S. market altogether?
Wang Wenbin: On the TikTok-related issue, we have clearly stated China's principled position, and I have no additional information to add today. Regarding Secretary Blinken's visit to China, we have repeatedly clarified China's position in the past two days, and the head of the Department of American and Pacific Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also given a background briefing, which you can refer to.
Bloomberg: This morning, Beijing time, the European Union announced that it had launched an investigation into market access in China's medical device government procurement. Wang Wenbin: Recently, the EU has frequently used its economic and trade toolbox and trade remedy measures to send a protectionist signal, targeting Chinese companies and damaging the EU's image. The EU has always advertised itself as "the most open market in the world", but what the outside world sees is that the EU is moving towards protectionism step by step. We urge the EU to abide by its commitment to open markets and the principle of fair competition, abide by WTO rules, and stop unwarrantedly suppressing and restricting Chinese companies under various pretexts. Bloomberg: Follow-up question about the EU. You urge the EU to abide by WTO rules. When China joined the WTO in 2001, it pledged to accede to the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) as soon as possible. China did apply for a GPA in 2007, but never actually did. Wang Wenbin: On the question of China's application to join the WTO "Agreement on Government Procurement," you can ask the competent authorities about China's application for accession to the WTO. What I want to tell you is that China has always adhered to its commitment to join the WTO, and it is also a "model student" who abides by WTO rules, which the WTO has affirmed on many occasions. Since its accession to the WTO, China, as the largest developing member, has always firmly supported the multilateral trading system, practiced true multilateralism, earnestly fulfilled its WTO commitments, continuously improved the socialist market economy system and legal system in light of its national conditions, expanded high-level institutional opening-up, participated in WTO reform in an all-round and in-depth manner, and actively helped other developing members, especially the least developed countries, integrate into the multilateral trading system. In the past year, China became the first major developing country to ratify the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, led the conclusion of the negotiations on the text of the Agreement on Investment Facilitation, and promoted the substantive conclusion of the WTO negotiations on some global digital trade rules. CRI: According to reports, according to the results of the eighth meeting of the Azerbaijan-Armenia Demarcation Commission, Azerbaijan and Armenia reached an agreement on starting the demarcation process between the two countries, and initially agreed to start the demarcation process on the northern border between the two countries. Wang Wenbin: We have noted relevant reports. Azerbaijan and Armenia are both friendly partners of China. The Chinese side welcomes the progress made in the process of normalization of relations between the two countries, and hopes that the two sides will continue to work in the same direction, resolve contradictions and differences through dialogue and consultation, and promote regional peace, stability, development and prosperity. Bloomberg: Follow-up question about the WTO. You said that China is a major member of the WTO and its efforts in supporting free trade are appreciated, but China is not a party to the Agreement on Government Procurement, which guarantees free access to the parties. Why does China think that it should enjoy European market access in terms of procurement, but does not give European and other WTO companies the same treatment to enter its own market? Wang Wenbin: I don't think your understanding is accurate. As far as I know, we are actively applying to join the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, and if you are interested, you can ask the competent Chinese authorities for details. I can tell you that we have always been committed to creating a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment. China's market is open to the world, and we are always committed to becoming the world's market and everyone's market. According to the 2024 Global Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index released by A.T. Kearney, a management consulting company in the United States, China's ranking has jumped from 7th last year to 3rd, which is a significant sign of China's expansion of opening up to the outside world. New York Times: Will the timing of the passage of the bill in the US Senate affect the talks between China and Secretary Blinken in the coming days? What I want to stress here is that the strengthening of military collusion between the United States and Taiwan will not bring security to Taiwan, nor will it save the doomed fate of "Taiwan independence", but will only increase the tension in the Taiwan Strait and the risk of conflict and confrontation, and will eventually lift a stone to shoot itself in the foot. The US side should abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiqués, implement the commitment made by the US leader not to support "Taiwan independence", stop arming Taiwan, stop creating new tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and stop jeopardizing peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. China will closely follow the development of the relevant bills and take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.
Financial Times: As part of its countervailing investigation, the EU conducted raids on the offices of a Chinese security equipment company in the Netherlands and Poland and confiscated the company's information equipment and mobile phones. Wang Wenbin: My answer to the EU's investigation into China's procurement of medical device government can cover your question. We urge the EU to abide by its commitment to open markets and the principle of fair competition, abide by WTO rules, and stop unwarrantedly suppressing and restricting Chinese companies under various pretexts. CCTV: Recently, the G7 foreign ministers' meeting issued a joint statement saying that China's non-market policies and practices have led to "overcapacity". The U.S. side said that Secretary Blinken will express concerns about "overcapacity" to the Chinese side during his visit to China. Wang Wenbin: Recently, some Western countries have frequently accused China of "overcapacity". This kind of hype is unreasonable and China firmly opposes it. Taking China's new energy industry as an example, first of all, China's new energy industry capacity is the advanced capacity urgently needed to promote green development, rather than excess capacity. According to the International Energy Agency, to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, global sales of new energy vehicles need to reach about 45 million by 2030, 4.5 times that of 2022, and the demand for photovoltaic installed capacity also needs to increase significantly. The key problem facing the world today is not overcapacity of new energy, but a severe shortage. The development of China's green technologies and products, especially the new energy industry, will make important contributions to the global green and low-carbon transition in response to the needs of countries to alleviate the energy crisis and respond to climate change. Second, the rapid development of China's new energy industry is in line with economic laws and market principles, rather than the result of subsidies. The reason why China's new energy products have strong competitiveness is mainly because of the early layout of related industries, the formation of leading technological advantages through long-term R&D investment, and the formation of comprehensive competitive advantages relying on strong domestic industrial supporting capabilities, super-large-scale markets, and rich human resources. As Premier Li Qiang pointed out, China's new energy industry advantage is based on real skills, shaped through full market competition, rather than relying on government subsidies. Third, labeling China's new energy industry as "overcapacity" is a manifestation of protectionism. According to Bloomberg's analysis, in the field of electric vehicles, the capacity utilization rate of the vast majority of China's top auto exporters is at an internationally recognized normal level. The proportion of China's electric vehicle exports to total production is much lower than that of major auto producing countries such as Germany, Japan, and South Korea, and the export price is also in line with market rules, and there is no dumping problem at all. The so-called theory of "overcapacity" in China is only a pretext for protectionism. Restricting the export of new energy products such as electric vehicles in China will only create a situation of "more losses". The world does not need China to reduce output, but more money and products to accelerate the energy transition and eradicate poverty. China adheres to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world and is willing to work with all parties to uphold fair competition and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. It is hoped that relevant countries will uphold an open mind, earnestly abide by the principles of market economy and international economic and trade rules, and provide a fair, transparent, open and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises. Bloomberg: Yesterday, in response to a question about Germany's arrest of four people suspected of espionage for China, you said that this is a hype against China, intended to smear China, and reflects the Cold War mentality. Later, the European side launched an investigation into China's business practices and conducted a surprise inspection of a Chinese company in Europe. Do you think that the EU's two actions in the past 24 hours are also hyping up the China threat and trying to smear China and its business practices? Wang Wenbin: Regarding the EU's investigation into China's medical device government procurement, I have just made clear China's position. With regard to the so-called "Chinese espionage case", yesterday I also made clear China's position. I would like to stress once again that China has always adhered to the principles of mutual respect, win-win cooperation, equal treatment and non-interference in each other's internal affairs to develop relations with European countries. We urge relevant parties to stop chasing after the wind and smearing China.