China at London Craft week

Zhao Fei at the opening ceremony

by New Worker correspondent

London once again  became the show-piece for traditional arts and crafts during the 2026 London Craft Week which ran until 17th May. Celebrating outstanding British and international creativity, the festival brought together over a thousand established and emerging makers, designers, brands and galleries from around the world. A curated selection based not on price or fame, but underlying substance. Plus, that essential dash of magic and inspiration that separates great from good.
Must-see exhibitions and events were held across the capital during the 12th edition of London Craft Week as well as a series of demonstrations, artist talks, and micro-workshops that showed how communities preserve heritage while reimagining it for the future. 
The China Pavilion showcased achievements in the preservation and innovation of Chinese craftsmanship and highlighted its important role in supporting poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation.
Guy Salter, the founder and Chairman of London Craft Week, said “the works presented in this year’s China Pavilion continuously update and reinterpret tradition through contemporary art and fashion design, challenging conventional perceptions of traditional craft itself.
“The exhibition unfolds through three curatorial threads: reconstructed historical wedding attire, the textile systems of Southwest Chinese ethnic minorities, and auspicious motifs that run throughout the exhibition space. Together, they form a broader discussion about the emotional structures embedded within Chinese culture – how family, marriage, female labour, bodily experience and intergenerational memory are preserved through needlework, fabric and handcraft”.
With the theme of Those Who Make China Beautiful, this year’s China Pavilion focuses on Chinese female handicraft creators and intangible cultural heritage inheritors. The exhibition featured wedding costumes, ethnic embroidery, auspicious patterns, and contemporary craft innovation. It integrated the thousand-year-old Eastern context with contemporary design expression to present a credible, lovely and respectable Chinese image to the world. Helping to promote China’s excellent traditional culture overseas and continuing to write a new chapter of exchanges and mutual learning between China and the United Kingdom.
The exhibition was organised by Art and Design Press, with the strong support of the London Craft Week Organising Committee and the Chinese Embassy in the UK, Media support was provided by the Nouvelles d’Europe UK. Important guests from China and the UK in fields including art, business, and design gathered at the opening site to witness Eastern crafts on one of the world’s top craft stages.
At the opening ceremony Zhao Fei from the Chinese Embassy in London said China’s traditional craftsmanship, both well preserved and continuously evolving, is an important vehicle for carrying forward Chinese culture in the new era. It is a vivid expression of the beauty of China. China’s beauty is rooted in its historical and cultural heritage, shaped by continuous development, grounded in its people’s pursuit of a better life, and enriched through exchanges and mutual learning among civilisations. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, released not long ago, highlights the need to better preserve intangible cultural heritage and create new scenarios for immersive experiences. This will provide stronger institutional support for the development of crafts, while opening up broader prospects for cultural exchange and cooperation between China and the United Kingdom.

“Ping-Pong Diplomacy” wins through!

the ambassador tries his hand

by New Worker correspondent

The Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang,  joined sports lovers at Loughborough University London greeting the Chinese team, fresh from winning both the men’s and women’s titles at the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships last week.
More than 200 guests attended the event marking the 55th anniversary of China-UK “ping-pong diplomacy”  including Alan Hydes, a participant in the 1971 “ping-pong diplomacy”games, players and coaches from Team England, and students from Loughborough University and the local community.
In his remarks Ambassador Zheng noted that in 1926 the International Table Tennis Federation was founded in London and held the first World Table Tennis Championships. Now 100 years later, the Championships have returned to the capital. He congratulated the UK on successfully hosting the 2026 world championships. He also warmly congratulated the Chinese men’s and women’s teams on successfully defending their titles after defeating Japan in the finals. He commended the Chinese players for their outstanding skill and remarkable determination, noting that they embodied the Olympic spirit and made the Chinese people proud.
Zheng pointed out that this year marks the 55th anniversary of China-UK “ping-pong diplomacy”. In 1971 the England table tennis team was invited to visit China. This was followed by a return visit to the UK by the Chinese table tennis team later that year. These exchanges played a unique role in the establishment of China-UK ambassadorial-level diplomatic relations. Sport has long served as a bridge connecting the peoples of China and the UK. The Chinese government supports closer exchanges between the sporting communities of the two sides and encourages broader cooperation between their universities. He expressed his hope that athletes and young people from both countries will continue to use sport as a bridge and contribute to the friendship between the peoples of China and the UK in the new era.

China leads the way

by New Worker correspondent

Ma Jiantang and Zheng Zeguang at the meeting

Andy Brooks joined other British communist leaders and solidarity campaigners in welcoming a senior Chinese delegation to London at a meeting chaired by China’s ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, at the Chinese embassy last week.

The five-strong delegation was led by Ma Jiantang, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China who also sits on the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) that plays a central part in the communist-led work of the United Front of China.

At the embassy the NCP leader, together with Alex Gordon of the CPB and Ranjeet Brar from the CPGB-ML along with a number of long-standing friendship activists, were briefed on China's efforts to expand domestic demand and promote high-quality development under the 15th  Five-Year Plan which began this year.  

In the discussion Andy Brooks said “the success of the Chinese revolution led by the Communist Party of China, is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. The communists were the only force capable of building the broad front in the struggle against Japanese aggression. They were the only ones able to unite China’s millions in the struggle against the landlords and exploiters during the civil war that ended with the establishment of the people’s government in 1949.

“Since then we’ve seen  an amazing transformation of a country which was the poorest in the world to a prosperous pillar of the Global South that is paving the way forward in the 21st century.  

“There may only be one road to people’s power but there are many roads along the way of socialist construction. Chinese-style socialism, based on the experience of generations of struggle,  is one of them”.

During their stay in London Ma Jiantang and his delegation also held discussions with government, business and academic circles as well as representatives of leading UK media outlets.

China charts the future!

by New Worker correspondent

Zheng Zeguang opens the seminar

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined social scientists, businessmen and other communists for a seminar at the Chinese embassy in London last week. The participants, which included solidarity campaigners, academics and politicians like Vince Cable, the former Liberal-Democrat leader, all spoke on the importance of the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of China’s highest civic authorities that were held in Beijing last month. 
Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, opened on the new developments in China and the opportunities it gave to the world that was the theme of the symposium and the discussion that followed.
He said that in the international arena unilateralism and bullying are on the rise, regional conflicts persist, and the international order is facing serious challenges. The more turbulent the world becomes, the greater the need to promote dialogue and co-operation. 
Ambassador Zheng highlighted that the implementation of the current Five-Year Plan will bring new opportunities for the development of other countries and open up new prospects for China-UK cooperation. China will work with the UK in the same direction to follow through on the important common understanding reached between the leaders of the two countries and the outcome of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to China. It is important that China and the UK strengthen exchanges at all levels, expand practical cooperation, properly manage differences, and continue to enrich the long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership, in order to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples and make due contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity.
In his contribution Andy Brooks said “This has been a stormy month. While the millions upon millions of people in all five continents recoiled in shock and horror at the American-Israeli onslaught on Iran plunging the Middle East into the flames of a war that threatens the entire stability of the world another event – in the heart of China – charted the future not only for the Chinese people but for the cause of peace and socialism throughout the world.
“The Chinese revolution that established the people’s government in 1949 has transformed the country that was then the poorest in the world. China has now risen from being a weak semi-feudal, semi-colonial country to becoming a force for peace in the global arena, with the second largest economy in the world. Productivity gains, innovation and consumption need have become the main drivers of growth.  As a major manufacturing country, China's manufacturing, innovation and construction will continue to serve the world during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. As China transforms it shares what it has learned from managing large transitions at scale with other developing countries facing similar development challenges. And the communist party which led and continues to lead the Chinese people’s march to socialism equally is always ready to share its knowledge and experience with the rest of the communist movement around the world.
“Democracy is a shared value of humanity and a right of the people of all countries. In China a prosperous society is being created for everyone to enjoy.  And people’s democracy is an instrument to solve problems for the people who are the masters of the country. We see it in the Two Sessions and in the words and deeds of the Communist Party of China”.

Go-ahead for China's new London embassy

by Feng Gan

Royal Mint Court -- soon to be the new embassy

The Starmer government has approved the plan for a new Chinese embassy in London, a decision that has brought to an end years of delays driven by pressure from some US and UK politicians. Steve Reed, the Housing Secretary, announced on Tuesday that Beijing's application to build on the former Royal Mint site in east London has been approved. The decision comes at a sensitive time for Anglo-American relations, after Donald Trump threatened Britain and other European countries with tariffs for defending Greenland against his ambitions to take it over.

The process ending this week started in 2018 when China paid £255 million for the site of the Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London, on which to build a diplomatic complex that would be its biggest in Europe.
Ahead of the expected decision junior foreign minister Seema Malhotra had sought to reassure MPs on Monday of the involvement of Britain's security services in the process of the new embassy project. She said "resolutions" had been reached over concerns about public access to the embassy and the consolidation of China's diplomatic buildings across London into the single site.
he decision regarding the 20,000 square metre site at the historic Royal Mint Court had been delayed twice. The saga reflected a UK government that was "hot and cold on China", according to the Guardian, quoting Prof Kerry Brown, the director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London, "What was originally a relatively straightforward issue has become symbolically quite difficult," he said.
China, Prof Brown said "felt they had an understanding that they bought this £250 million place to use as an embassy … if there were going to be issues, they could have been told then".
The newspaper also cited voices from within the UK intelligence community, noting that while politicians eager to raise concerns about China's proposed "mega embassy" near the Tower of London, the espionage community quietly takes a different view, arguing that concerns about the development are exaggerated and misplaced.

New challenges for China

by New Worker correspondent

Zheng Zequang opens the seminar

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined social scientists, businessmen, solidarity workers and other communists for an economic seminar at the Chinese embassy in London last week. 
And the Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, opened on the new developments in China and the opportunities it gave to the world that was the theme of the symposium and the discussion that followed.
He said China is marching towards the second Centenary Goal – a call to action for the entire country to seize the momentum and advance Chinese modernisation.
With this meeting, the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core sets to unite and lead the Chinese people to write yet another chapter on the miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability and to open up new horizons for Chinese modernisation.
China was ready to share opportunities and seek common development with the world. China cannot develop in isolation from the world, while the world cannot prosper without China. While pursuing modernisation, China will strive to safeguard world peace and development.
Zheng pointed out that since last year, under the strategic guidance of the leaders from both China and Britain, positive progress has been made in China-UK relations. But, from time to time, this relationship has also been undermined by anti-China forces. The improvement and development of China-UK relations is in the fundamental interest of people in both countries, and it requires the concerted efforts of both sides.
The UK side should have the right perspective. Those who attack China by touting "China threat" and fabricating lies are ignorant and arrogant. They do not represent the mainstream of the UK, and their attempts are doomed to failure. Both sides should uphold mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The UK must honour its commitment, and properly handle Taiwan-related issues in accordance with the one-China principle. The two sides should commit to mutually-beneficial cooperation, create new highlights of cooperation and bring more benefits to the two peoples.
In his contribution Andy Brooks said “stable growth, stable policies and stable expectations – this is what the people want. China's development follows a clear direction that is taken with confidence and determination...this is China’s answer to Western calls for tariff walls and trade wars. China's approach to development is not about fighting for your own corner but about serving the people for the benefit of the entire world...
“The imperialists think that their guns will ensure that they can ignore the will of the people for as long as they like. But they were proved wrong in the 20th  century and they will be proved wrong today. The days when people listened to the rich men who told us that the greatest virtue of humanity was the possession of the largest amount of money are over...
Everywhere we look in the capitalist world we see unemployment, homelessness, poverty, drug abuse and crime. The symptoms of industrial decline, inflationary pressures, stock market volatility and economic stagnation. This is capitalism. And working people are being made to carry the burden of its failure. But in People’s China working people aren’t simply reacting to global challenges – they are shaping the very future of our world”. 

Celebrating China’s victory over fascism

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined hundreds of music-lovers to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War last week. The Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang and his wife Counsellor Hua Mei were the guests of honour at the Royal College of Music in London’s West End  to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
The event with the theme Honour History for a Better Future was supported by the Chinese Embassy and the Bank of China. And other guests included the Labour peer Lord Davidson and Timothy Hailes, the Lord Mayor Elect of the City of London, along with members of the Chinese community in Britain and representatives of Anglo-Chinese business and cultural bodies.
Ambassador Zheng said that 80 years ago the Chinese people fought heroically, made huge national sacrifices and defeated the Japanese aggressors. The Chinese people and the British people fought shoulder to shoulder as allies, made great contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, and helped to establish a new international order. China has always been a peace-loving nation...this concert in London is intended to use music to remember history, honour those who gave their lives for the cause of justice, express an aspiration for world peace, and reaffirm a commitment to building a community with a shared future for humanity.
The concert featured ten pieces of Chinese and Western music presented by the Hunan Provincial Song & Dance Theatre and New Elements Music and guest performances from the London City Orchestra and the Camden Philharmonic.
 It opened with a stirring rendition of Ode to the Red Flag, followed by classics from both countries, including the haunting theme from Schindler's List and Elgar’s Nimrod which is traditionally played on Remembrance Day in the UK. Chinese favourites included Defend the Yellow River and My Motherland performed by the Chinese Embassy Choir, the Bank of China London Branch Choir, and the London Chinese Philharmonic Choir. The Chinese spirit of resistance and love for their motherland conveyed in the two songs resonated deeply with the audience, who responded with prolonged applause and acclaim.

Guardians of Peace

 by New Worker correspondent

Ambassador Zheng welcomes the guests

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats and politicians at a reception at the Chinese embassy in London last week to celebrate the 98th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA). The Chinese Ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, and Defence Attaché Major-General Feng Min addressed over 300 guests that included government officials, politicians, diplomatic envoys and defence attachés together with Ben Merrick, the Director of International Security at the Ministry of Defence.
During the formal part of the event Ambassador Zheng pointed out that under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the PLA has braved wind and rain and grown from strength to strength over the past 98 glorious years. It has made remarkable contributions to the liberation of the people, the development of the country, and the security of the motherland, making indelible achievements for the Party and the people. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought the PLA is stepping up efforts towards the goal of building a world-class military by the PLA’s centenary. The PLA will continue to provide strategic support for realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and make new contributions to peace and stability in the world.
Ambassador Zheng pointed out that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism in the second world war. The peoples of China and the UK fought valiantly against fascist aggression on the main Eastern Front and the European battlefield, making huge sacrifices for the cause of justice and important contributions to the global victory against fascism. China’s fight was the earliest to begin, and the longest-lasting. The Chinese people suffered the most significant human and material losses before ultimately defeating the Japanese aggressors. Now the current international situation is experiencing transformation and instability. The international community should resolutely defend the outcomes of the victory in 1945, firmly uphold true multilateralism, steadfastly safeguard world peace, stability, fairness and justice, and jointly build a community with a shared future for humanity. 
He also noted that this year also marks the 80th anniversary of the recovery of Taiwan. Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China’s territory since ancient times. The Chinese people and their armed forces will never allow Taiwan to be separated from China. Nor will they allow any external forces to undermine their efforts for complete reunification.
And in her speech, Major-General Feng Min said the PLA had made steady progress in its modernisation and combat capability. The PLA is firmly committed to defending national sovereignty, security and development interests, to putting people first, and to safeguarding peace. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Chinese military's first participation in UN peacekeeping operations. China is the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the second-largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping assessments. Over the past 35 years, the Chinese military has undertaken 26 peacekeeping missions, dispatching more than 50,000 peacekeepers in total. Among them, 17 Chinese peacekeepers have made the ultimate sacrifice, dedicating their youth, passion, and lives to the cause of UN peacekeeping.

Spotlight on China

by Andy Brooks

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other communists, academics and businessmen at a symposium at the Chinese embassy last month that looked to the future following the conclusion of China’s recent parliamentary ‘two sessions’. This is his contribution to the discussion.

The world spotlight was on China in March. There, in Beijing, the annual legislative sessions of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPC) was the focus of discussions on the way forward for the people’s government and the 1.4 billion people it represents.  
The ‘two sessions’ are always a significant event in Chinese people's political life, bringing together thousands of deputies and delegates from every corner of the country and all walks of life. Their proposals are aimed at solving everyday issues to build a better life for the people. 
The government’s economic targets and policy priorities for 2025; green issues and artificial intelligence; the digital economy; boosting consumer demand, ramping up investment and enlisting the private sector were all on this year’s agenda. But the debate takes place against a backdrop of domestic pressures and global uncertainty due to Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian Arabs and the continuing conflict in Ukraine.
On climate change the people’s government pledges to reduce energy intensity – a measure of energy consumption per unit of GDP – by three per cent in 2025 while many in the Global South fear the new Trump administration will seriously undermine international efforts to deal with the ecological crisis.
Donald Trump is a climate change denier who serves the interests of the big American oil and gas corporations. “We have more liquid gold than any country in the world,” Trump said during his victory speech, a statement backed by the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute who said that “energy was on the ballot, and voters sent a clear signal that they want choices, not mandates”.
During his first presidential term Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, the 2015 international climate accord that guides the actions of more than 195 countries; rolled back 100-plus environmental rules and opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The Biden administration reversed some of these measures but Trump has pledged to restore them during his second term. Climate change campaigners believe that this could lead to a rise of an additional four billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – equalling the combined annual emissions of the European Union and Japan.
But while the Trump team turns its back on scientific opinion People’s China leads the way with its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of its economy and society.
China is now an indispensable nation for global climate efforts, says former UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim adding that it is essentially "impossible for the world to go green without China”.
China plays an important role in the global green energy transition, accounting for 60 per cent or more of global production in key green sectors, including solar, wind, and hydropower, as well as electric cars and batteries. The former UN official stressed the need for more investment to tackle climate challenges, saying multilateral platforms, like BRICS, are increasingly significant for addressing climate change.
"BRICS has become very important since that's an avenue for the Global South to come together and lead the world," he said, adding that the initiative will move to countries of the Global South. "The Belt & Road Initiative has recently turned into a major vehicle for green investment in the world, in solar, wind, hydropower and green corridors".
The Chinese communists are striving to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed to build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security. 
This is, of course, a quantum jump from the post-war Soviet policies of “peaceful co-existence” and “detente” that failed to end the Cold War and accelerated the collapse of the USSR. Peaceful co-existence mistakenly believed that the capitalists could be economically beaten at their own game while detente was, in essence, a futile Soviet attempt at achieving nuclear parity with the Americans to divide the world into Soviet and American spheres of influence.
The Biden administration that stoked the flames of war in the Middle East took its last bow by orchestrating regime change in Syria and fermenting unrest in a number of countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. 
The new Trump administration has changed tack in a bid to end Biden’s proxy war against Russia and establish a new detente with the Kremlin. This decision reflects the needs and demands of the wing of the American ruling class that wants to cut its losses in Ukraine to enable them to strengthen their grip over the Middle East in their efforts to control the entire global energy market. 
Spurning the United Nations some of the Trump team talk a “new Yalta” that would redefine the world into spheres of influence while retaining the lion’s share for American imperialism. At the same time the Trump administration seeks to “Make America Great Again”, largely at the expense of its own allies, and boost American manufacturing through tariffs and protectionism while using secret diplomacy and economic blackmail to achieve its goals.
Both the Russian and American sides are clearly working towards a win-win agreement over Ukraine. If that ends the war with a peace settlement that recognises the rights of the Crimeans, southern Ukrainians and the people of the Donbas to live in the Russian Federation well and good. But secret diplomacy is rarely the best pathway to peace. 
In these turbulent times China is a stabilising force ready to defend world peace. People’s China has taken the lead in helping to build the economies of the Global South while working for peace and harmony throughout the world.
Imperialism fans the flames of war in the Middle East, blocks the return of Taiwan to its Chinese homeland and prolongs the unhappy partition of many countries including Cyprus, Ireland, Kashmir and Korea. China’s perspective, on the other hand, is based on the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ and the principle that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’.
The Chinese revolution that established the people’s government in 1949 has transformed the country that was then the poorest in the world. Since then China has risen from being a weak semi-feudal, semi-colonial country to become a force for peace in the global arena with the second largest economy in the world.
People’s China, the fifth permanent member on the UN Security Council, is the only veto-power actively supporting proposals for multilateral nuclear disarmament. Pledging never to be the first to use nuclear weapons in any conflict, China stands for the complete prohibition and total destruction of all atomic weapons.
China, backed by many other countries, has repeatedly challenged the West to implement the entire non-proliferation treaty, signed in 1968, that not only called a halt to nuclear proliferation but also committed the signatories to work towards universal nuclear disarmament.
The struggle to abolish nuclear weapons is crucial for the survival of humanity. But central to averting a Third World War is the need to eliminate the causes of war. And that is why communists have always understood that the struggles for peace and socialism are indivisible. The Chinese communists are striving to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed to build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security. 

China’s next steps in 2025

Ambassador Zheng opens the seminar

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other communists, academics and businessmen at a symposium at the Chinese embassy last week that looked to the future following the conclusion of the annual meeting of China’s highest civic bodies. There, in Beijing, the annual legislative sessions of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPC) was the focus of discussions on the way forward for the people’s government and the 1.4 billion people it represents.  
The ‘two sessions’ are always significant events in the Chinese people's political life, bringing together thousands of deputies and delegates from every corner of the country and all walks of life. Their proposals are aimed at solving everyday issues to build a better life for the people. 
Ambassador Zheng Zeguang said that given the evolving international and domestic landscape this year's Two Sessions attracted even greater attention and carried profound significance.
The Two Sessions demonstrated the Chinese people's confidence, resolve, and their spirit of unity and readiness to take action. They also projected China's main economic and social development targets and outlined a series of important policy measures. 
The Chinese leadership made it clear that challenges arising from reform and opening up can only be solved by pressing ahead with reform and opening up, demonstrating a firm determination to address the risks and obstacles on the path ahead. The Two Sessions also highlighted the unique advantages of China's political system. They serve as a vivid practice of  ‘whole-process people's democracy’ under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.   
The British representatives at the symposium acknowledged that with increasing global uncertainties and instabilities, the current international landscape is undergoing its most profound changes since the end of the Second World War. 
As Andy Brooks noted “the new Trump administration has changed tack in a bid to end Biden’s proxy war against Russia and establish a new detente with the Kremlin. This decision reflects the needs and demands of the wing of the American ruling class that wants to cut its losses in Ukraine to enable them to strengthen their grip over the Middle East in their efforts to control the entire global energy market. 
“Spurning the United Nations some of the Trump team talk a “new Yalta” that would redefine the world into spheres of influence while retaining the lion’s share for American imperialism. At the same time the Trump administration seeks to “Make America Great Again”, largely at the expense of its own allies, and boost American manufacturing through tariffs and protectionism while using secret diplomacy and economic blackmail to achieve its goals.
“Both the Russian and American sides are clearly working towards a win-win agreement over Ukraine. If that ends the war with a peace settlement that recognises the rights of the Crimeans, southern Ukrainians and the people of the Donbas to live in the Russian Federation well and good. But secret diplomacy is rarely the best pathway to peace. 
“In these turbulent times China is a stabilising force ready to defend world peace. People’s China has taken the lead in helping to build the economies of the Global South while working for peace and harmony throughout the world”.

A friendship forged in war

Ambassador Zheng welcomes the guests at the reception

by New Worker correspondent

The Chinese Embassy hosted a special reception in London last weekend for the families of the Lisbon Maru survivors, commemorating a heroic rescue during World War II and celebrating the Spring Festival.
In October 1942 the Lisbon Maru, a freighter requisitioned by the Japanese army to transport more than 1,800 British prisoners of war  from Hong Kong to Japan, was torpedoed by an American submarine near the Zhoushan islands off Shanghai. As the ship sank, local fishermen risked their lives to rescue over 300 POWs.
At the event the Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang recounted the rescue that stands as a testament to the time when China and Britain fought side by side against Japanese fascist aggression. The rescue has left tales of the profound friendship between the people of the two countries – a friendship that "will never fade" and "has become a valuable asset" for bilateral relations, he added.
Lindsey Archer, the niece of a British soldier who perished when the ship went down, said that events like this help strengthen bonds and foster new friendships. She expressed that the families of both the British survivors and the Chinese rescuers have become a new community for her. Keeping the memory of their ancestors alive, she said, is crucial, as "what they suffered, lost, and sacrificed has shaped where we are today".
Last year, Lindsey, along with a dozen other descendants of the British POWs visited China to pay tribute to the fallen at the wreck site in Zhoushan. Kenneth Salmon, whose father was a Royal Artillery sergeant rescued from the sinking Lisbon Maru, described the emotional connection he felt during the visit. Reflecting on the friendships forged during the trip, he said there is "an emotional attachment" in Zhoushan.
He also expressed his appreciation for the presence of young children at the reception, stressing the importance of preserving the story of the rescue for future generations to learn about their ancestry and their family history.

China condemns Sunak’s slander

by New Worker correspondent

People’s China is urging British politicians to end their belligerent rhetoric and stop stoking up confrontation. They should, instead, focus more on domestic economic and social issues, and act in a way that is truly in the interests of world peace and justice the Chinese Embassy in London said last week following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's criticism of the China-Russia relationship and his listing of China as an “authoritarian state”.
Sunak said the British increase in military spending "is a turning point for European security and a landmark moment in the defence of the United Kingdom". Speaking at the base of the Warsaw Armoured Brigade in Poland, he told a regiment of the Queen's Dragoon Guards that "I want to talk to you about how we equip you to do your duty in an increasingly dangerous world," with Britain and NATO confronting an "axis of authoritarian states" naming Russia, Iran, north Korea, and China.
But Sunak is simply trying to look for excuses to ramp up British military spending through his unwarranted accusations and malicious slander said a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in London noting that China firmly rejects his Cold War rhetoric that incites antagonism and confrontation.
"China is a peace-loving country, and has all along stood on the side of peace and justice," said the spokesperson in response to Sunak's accusation. "We have always promoted peace talks and sought peaceful settlement of international conflicts. We have contributed more than one-third of global economic growth for many years running, and we are a force for international cooperation and stability in the world. These are indisputable facts”.
Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, says Sunak's attack on China is largely just "clout-chasing". "Because of the numerous issues both domestically and internationally that the UK faces, Sunak is worried about the country's status as a major power," he said. "As a result, he is eager to make a statement on China-related issues, as only through this can he demonstrate his supposed political stance".
There is another reason for Sunak's hype. In order to enhance the UK's competitiveness, he must hype geopolitical conflicts, presenting so-called external challenges, including China and Russia as his targets, Cui noted.
In contrast to China, the current UK government seems to be stirring up trouble and heightening tension around the world. 
In Ukraine, it has been providing offensive weapons to one side of the conflict, adding fuel to the fire. Over Gaza it has repeatedly opposed resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire at the UN Security Council.  The UK shows no support for Palestine's application for full UN membership and continues to supply weapons to Israel. Now, the UK lacks morality and has no sense of responsibility when it comes to matters of international peace and justice.
But as relations between China and Europe improve and both sides strengthen high-level exchanges, British politicians who are hyping up anti-China rhetoric are more likely to harm the interests of the UK itself.
"At present, China-Europe relations are on a positive track," Cui noted. "If speculative hyping remarks are allowed to ferment and affect a wider range of China-EU relations, it could in turn serve to help anti-China Western politicians achieve their goals”.

People’s China and the world we want

the CPB's Rob Griffiths and Andy Brooks

by Andy Brooks

New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks took part in a seminar on China’s diplomacy and building a community with a shared future for humanity at the Chinese embassy in London in February. This is his contribution to the discussion.

The key issue of the 21st century is what kind of world do we want and how are we going to build it. It revolves around peace. The struggle to abolish nuclear weapons is crucial for the survival of humanity and eliminating the causes of war is central to averting a Third World War. That is why communists have always understood that the struggles for peace and socialism are indivisible. The Chinese communists are striving to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed to build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security. China’s perspective is based on the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ and the principle that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’. But the most aggressive sections of the American ruling class now at the helm in Washington clearly believe in “one world, one system” and that nuclear war is, under certain circumstances, entirely winnable.
This is the era of the “global village” and “globalisation”. But what does that actually mean? It clearly means different things to different people.
For China and the other countries of the Global South it means working together to build a universally beneficial and inclusive economic global system that meets the common needs of all countries, especially the developing countries, and properly addresses the development imbalances between and within countries resulting from the global allocation of resources.
In America, however, globalisation simply means US hegemony. Some call it the “new world order” – others the “American dream in the 21st century” but there’s nothing new about the American dream of world domination. 
US imperialism and it lackeys destroyed the Yugoslav federation and the Libyan Jamahuriya. It fans the flames of war in Ukraine and the Middle East, blocks the return of Taiwan to its Chinese homeland and prolongs the unhappy partition of many countries including Cyprus, Kashmir and Korea. US imperialism has, indeed, established its hegemony over Western Europe – forcing British, French and German imperialism to accept the model of subservience imposed on Japan by US imperialism in 1945. 
This is what the Americans call the “free world” and “rules-based” order. But the “freedom” they recognise is that which allows the big corporations to exploit and plunder and the only rules are Rudyard Kipling’s rules of the jungle. But the dreams of the bourgeois elites who talked about the ‘end of history’ and a new golden age of capitalism that they said would inevitably follow the collapse of the Soviet Union died on the streets of Baghdad and the hills of Afghanistan.
  Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance and now imperialism is on the defensive. The Palestinian Arabs keep up the fight against Zionist aggression. Cuba, Iran and the DPR Korea stand firm in the face of the US blockade and the people of the Donbas remain steadfast in resisting the Nato-backed Ukrainian onslaught.
Capitalism is in the throes of a deep crisis. The slump that began in 2008 continues without any sign of real recovery while China and the Global South build an alternative economic and political system based on mutually advantageous terms and equal shares for all.
Some 85 per cent of the world’s population live in the Global South – the ‘developing’ world that is still largely excluded from the international institutions set up by US imperialism after the Second World War with the support of the weaker imperialist forces who rely on American might to defend their global interests now that their colonial empires have long gone. 
The people of the Global South are sick and tired of the fact that the Americans and their minions in Western Europe have economically dominated the world for decades, forcing and imposing transactions in dollars with the fear that failure to comply with US directives would result in economic and financial sanctions or even “regime change” à la Iraq and Libya.  
Now new structures like the BRICS bloc are challenging the old imperialist system of oppression and exploitation. The BRICS bloc, named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa who set it up some 15 years ago, has become a pivot for the Global South in the struggle to end the economic and political stranglehold of Anglo-American and Franco-German imperialism in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
BRICS is open to helping countries develop, as well as promoting investment and trade without strings or preconditions. BRICS is fighting against the concept of a new Cold War and opening the possibility of building a fairer and more equitable international economic order from which the world can benefit. The BRICS bloc is helping to build the multi-polar world that will put an end to the American dream of the “new world order” and world domination. No wonder Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have applied to join the group. Many more will follow in the future.
A new world is indeed possible but it’s not the European Union or the hell-hole of the United States.  It’s the world being built now in People’s China and the new institutions of the Global South that offer an even playing field to all countries to trade and peacefully resolve disputes to build a better future for everyone on the planet.

China’s path for peace and socialism

Zheng Zeguang opens the seminar

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks took part in a seminar with other communists, academics and businessmen at the Chinese embassy in London last week to celebrate the Chinese New Year and engage in in-depth discussions on China’s socialist path and the global significance of building a community with a shared future for humanity.
The Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, delivered a keynote address in which he pointed out that building a global community with a shared future is the core tenet of Xi Jinping Thought on diplomacy. It is the Communist Party of China’s answer to the question of what kind of world we should build and how to build it. It is also the noble goal pursued by China in conducting major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
He pointed out that this has developed from a conceptual proposition to a scientific system, from a promising vision to substantive actions and from a Chinese initiative to an international consensus that has become a glorious banner leading the progress of the times.
 Over the past year China’s economy grew by 5.2 per cent, contributing about one-third of the global economic growth. China's rapid green and low-carbon transition propelled global sustainable development. And China shared more development opportunities with the world through expanded high-level opening up.
China made active efforts to improve relations between other major countries, successfully mediated a historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and played a constructive role in addressing regional hotspots such as the Palestine-Israel conflict and the Ukraine crisis, making new contributions to world peace.
China actively contributed to the UAE Consensus at the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference, enhanced solidarity of the Global South, promoted the historic expansion of BRICS and gave support to the African Union in joining the G20, playing an important role in improving global governance.
Ambassador Zheng said People’s China is calling for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation. “We will work with all countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind. We call on all countries to uphold dialogue and cooperation and oppose rivalry and confrontation, uphold peace and stability and oppose conflict and war, uphold openness and inclusiveness and oppose “decoupling” and suppression, uphold mutual learning and oppose clash of civilisations, and uphold true multilateralism and oppose unilateralism and bullying” he declared.
China's commitment to interpreting and promoting building a community with a shared future for mankind through its actions serves as a model for the international community. Western disinformation cannot hide this truth as China's proposal and practice are being welcomed and endorsed by a growing number of countries and their people. The participants expressed their readiness to strengthen exchanges and dialogue with China, and make unremitting efforts to build a better world.

An evening with Lang Lang

 

By New Worker correspondent
The internationally acclaimed Chinese pianist, Lang Lang, toured England last month giving concerts in Birmingham and Manchester as well as a musical soiree at the Chinese embassy in London hosted by the ambassador, Zheng Zeguang.

   Ambassador Zheng pointed out that cultural exchanges between China and the UK have become increasingly vibrant this year, with a growing number of artists and cultural groups flowing both ways. The Chinese Embassy in the UK is willing to work with people from all walks of life in the UK to further advance cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

    Lang Lang performed live renditions of renowned melodies from both China and other countries, including Autumn Moon on a Calm Lake and Chopin's Mazurka which was warmly received by the guests. The piano virtuoso returns to the Albert Hall in London on 21^st November. The internationally acclaimed Chinese pianist, Lang Lang, toured England last month giving concerts in Birmingham and Manchester as well as a musical soiree at the Chinese embassy in London hosted by the ambassador, Zheng Zeguang.

74 years of victory!

Chinese artists entertaining the guests

By New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats, academics, businessmen and solidarity workers at a reception to mark the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China last week.
The ball-room of the Landmark Hotel in central London was packed with hundreds of guests celebrating the establishment of the people’s government on 1st October 1949. Chinese diplomat Yang Xiaoguang warmly welcomed the guests in an opening address in which he outlined the extraordinary achievements of China's economic and social development in the 74 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. He pointed out that the fundamentals of the Chinese economy, characterised by strong resilience, enormous potential, great vitality and long-term sustainability, remain unchanged and that there is a bright future for China’s economic prospects.
China will solidly promote high-quality development with a people-centred approach, commit to high-level opening up and keep to the path of peaceful development. Recently exchanges between China and the UK, at various levels, have increased. 
On behalf of the British government Lord Johnson, the Minister of State for International Trade, spoke highly of China’s  economic miracle. He said that UK-China relations are crucial  and expressed readiness to strengthen engagement with China and jointly deal with major global issues.
During the reception a short film was screened showcasing China's economic and social achievements and artistic troupes from the Guangzhou province in southern China staged a wonderful cultural performance.

People’s China: taking the lead for peace

New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks took part in a seminar on the role of the Communist Party of China and the world today at the Chinese embassy in London in August. This is his contribution to the discussion.

We meet at a time of sharpening contradictions — and the primary contradiction in the world today is between United States imperialism and the rest of the world it seeks to dominate..
    Generations of Chinese communists struggled against dogmatism and sectarianism to build a people’s democracy in their own way, to serve the needs of the working people of China and throughout the wider world we live in – a world torn apart by war and stricken by poverty and disease. While the American imperialists incite conflict and sectarian division People’s China has taken the lead in helping to build the economies of the Global South while working for peace and harmony throughout the world,
    We too must struggle for peace and nuclear disarmament – as well as the abolition of other weapons of mass destruction.
    Imperialism fans the flames of war in Ukraine and the Middle East, blocks the return of Taiwan to its Chinese homeland and prolongs the unhappy partition of many countries including Cyprus, Ireland, Kashmir and Korea. China’s perspective, on the other hand, is based on the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ and the principle that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’. But the most aggressive sections of the American ruling class now at the helm in Washington clearly believe in “one world, one system” and that nuclear war is, under certain circumstances, entirely winnable.
    The Chinese revolution that established the people’s government in 1949 has transformed the country that was then the poorest in the world. Since then China has risen from being a weak semi-feudal, semi-colonial country to become a force for peace in the global arena with the second largest economy in the world.
    People’s China, the fifth permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is the only veto-power actively supporting proposals for multilateral nuclear disarmament. Pledging never to be the first to use nuclear weapons in any conflict, China stands for the complete prohibition and total destruction of all atomic weapons.
    China, backed by many other countries, has repeatedly challenged the West to implement the entire non-proliferation treaty, signed in 1968, that not only called a halt to nuclear proliferation but also committed the signatories to work towards universal nuclear disarmament.
    The struggle to abolish nuclear weapons is crucial for the survival of humanity. But central to averting a Third World War is the need to eliminate the causes of war. And that is why communists have always understood that the struggles for peace and socialism are indivisible.
    The Chinese communists are striving to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed to build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security. 
    This is, of course, a quantum jump from the post-war Soviet policies of “peaceful co-existence” and “detente” that failed to end the Cold War and probably accelerated the collapse of the USSR. Peaceful co-existence mistakenly believed that the capitalists could be economically beaten at their own game while detente was, in essence, a futile Soviet attempt at achieving nuclear parity with the Americans to divide the world into Soviet and American spheres of influence.
    Sadly the United Nations has been marginalised by the imperialists who only pay lip service to UN institutions when it suits their purposes. When it doesn’t the world forum is ignored and discarded.
    So though the United Nations remains a prime focus China has taken the initiative in setting up other platforms for economic and diplomatic co-operation including BRICS, the Belt & Road Initiative and the Shanghai Co-operation Council.
    China has become a beacon of hope for all the peoples of the world struggling to build their own independent economies without imperialist interference. While Anglo-American and Franco-German imperialism use their military and economic might to impose their neo-colonial rule throughout the Global South the Chinese people can, and do, provide the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America with an alternative source of high technology and economic assistance without the odious strings attached that always go with deals with the West.
    China puts people first. China has become a pivot for peace in a world torn apart by imperialist greed and aggression. China is strong but it threatens no one. China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. It stays true to the principle of equality of all countries big or small, strong or weak, and rich or poor, and it respects the development paths and social systems independently chosen by all the world’s peoples. The people’s government is dedicated to promoting a human community with a shared future.
    China stands ready to work with all countries and peoples who love peace and aspire to happiness to address all kinds of traditional and non-traditional security challenges, protect the peace and tranquility of the planet, and jointly create a better future for humanity, so that the torch of peace will be passed on from generation to generation and shine across the world.
    Earlier this year the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, launched the “global security initiative” that lays out core concepts and principles regarding global peace and security.
    The first is to eliminate conflict through the establishment of a balanced, effective, and sustainable security framework under which countries respect the legitimate security concerns of each other and promote political solutions to cope with hotspot issues.
    The second is the promotion of economic development in the Global South.
    The third is respect for diversity. It is the right of every country to choose its own political system and development path.
    Finally all international disputes should be resolved through dialogue not unilateralism and hegemonic acts. The UN can play a positive role in international affairs if the voice and representation of countries throughout the Global South is expanded in the world forum.
    This is what we should all be working for. Hopefully we will live to see it happen in the years to come.

China: Expanding horizons for peace

 by New Worker correspondent

Andy Brooks speaking

NEW COMMUNIST Party leader Andy Brooks took part in a seminar with other communists, academics and solidarity activists on the role of the Communist Party of China and the world today at the Chinese embassy in London this week.
The NCP delegation, that included national organiser Theo Russell, joined Robert Griffiths, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain and Ella Rule, the Chair of the CPGB (ML) in the discussion that looked at China’s new Global Security Initiative and its long-standing efforts to promote sustainable development in the Global South and throughout the rest of the world.
The symposium was opened by Ambassador Zheng Zeguang who said that the Chinese people are acting upon the goals set forth at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China and working hard to achieve the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through a Chinese path of modernisation. “We are also taking concrete steps to promote high-quality development. Many British friends who have recently visited China are amazed by the prominent progress China has made over the past few years in green and low-carbon development and the digital economy. And they are full of confidence for China’s economic progress”.
People’s China has always upheld the principle that all countries, big or small, are equal. “We never engage in economic coercion, and we oppose bullying and coercion by others. It’s only when China’s core interests are undermined by certain countries that we take legitimate and reasonable counter-measures”. 
In his opening Andy Brooks said “imperialism fans the flames of war in Ukraine and the Middle East, blocks the return of Taiwan to its Chinese homeland and prolongs the unhappy partition of many countries including Cyprus, Ireland, Kashmir and Korea. China’s perspective, on the other hand, is based on the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ and the principle that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’. But the most aggressive sections of the American ruling class now at the helm in Washington clearly believe in “one world, one system” and that nuclear war is, under certain circumstances, entirely winnable”. 
China is striving to achieve lasting world peace through the traditional United Nations framework and through other platforms for economic and diplomatic co-operation including BRICS, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Shanghai Co-operation Council.
This, the NCP leader said, “was a quantum jump from the post-war Soviet policies of “peaceful co-existence” and “detente” that failed to end the Cold War and probably accelerated the collapse of the USSR. Peaceful co-existence mistakenly believed that the capitalists could be economically beaten at their own game while detente was, in essence, a futile Soviet attempt at achieving nuclear parity with the Americans to divide the world into Soviet and American spheres of influence”. 
China, backed by many other countries, has repeatedly challenged the West to implement the entire non-proliferation treaty, signed in 1968, that not only called a halt to nuclear proliferation but also committed the signatories to work towards universal nuclear disarmament. 
The struggle to abolish nuclear weapons is crucial for the survival of humanity. But central to averting a Third World War is the need to eliminate the causes of war. And that is why communists have always understood that the struggles for peace and socialism are 
indivisible.

A New Journey for a New Era

Zheng Zeguang and Andy Brooks

by New Worker correspondent

NCP General Secretary Andy Brooks joined other communists, academics and friends of China at a seminar at the Chinese embassy in London on Monday. The symposium on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was opened by the Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang who gave a 20 minute summary of the main points of the Congress that met in Beijing last month.
    This was followed by short interventions by all the guests including the NCP leader who said: “the 20th Congress was a congress of victors and we are certain that there’ll be plenty more victories to come as the Chinese people march forward to build a modern, socialist China. The New Communist Party of Britain stands with the Communist Party of China in the common cause of the communist movement and we will continue to strive to strengthen the efforts of everyone working in solidarity and friendship with the Communist Party of China and the people of China”.

Building a fairer society

 

Echoes from the Chinese Communist Congress

A week after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party drew to a close, the CMG Europe media group assembled experts from different fields to discuss key messages about the direction the world’s most populous country is heading. On this special one-hour show, CMG Europe’s Juliet Mann was joined by China’s Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, and a host of experts from across the world to consider exactly what that new journey will look like, and how it will impact on relations with the UK and Europe. 

In any discussion about the policies that have steered China’s recent past, the topic of poverty alleviation is impossible to avoid. The numbers are well known - around 100 million rural residents lifted out of poverty in just eight years through 2020; 800 million in the past four decades; a middle class that has swollen to 400 million people. But the achievement goes far beyond incomes, into access to education, clean water, internet and transport connections.

    That is the development strategy of China, one that goes beyond economic growth and puts people first. China cannot develop in isolation from the world and the world needs China for its development. And the message from the country’s leaders in recent weeks has been a firm commitment to that path.

    The Chinese ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, shared his thoughts on how China and Europe can work together to tackle global problems. He told Juliet Mann: “China will respond to external uncertainties with its own certainty and inject positive energy into world development with its high-quality development and high standard opening up.”

    There are “several key messages that are essential for the future global order: that China vision of a fairer and more inclusive global order; a more cooperative global order; and more importantly about a global order that has a safety net for the left-behind so that everybody can benefit,” said Yin Zhiguang, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University.

    David Ferguson, senior translation editor at the China International Publishing Group, agreed: “A huge amount of emphasis has been placed on shared development, which means that everybody shares the fruits. That was one of the fundamental bases of the whole poverty alleviation programmje. Targeting poverty alleviation was designed to make sure that nobody was left behind. And I think that that fundamental concept of shared development, people-centered development, is something that President Xi places increasing emphasis on.”

Balanced growth

On a panel focusing on China’s economic development, guests discussed how China has ensured that its growth - powering the global economy for the past two decades - has also been sustainable. With a “trilateral, hybrid” structure built around a 60 per cent contribution from domestic private businesses, a 20 percent participation from the state and a further 20 per cent from multinational companies, China has been able to create a modern economy, says Wang Huiyao, founder and President of Centre for China and Globalisation.

    The challenge the country’s leadership is now taking on is about how to adapt governance structures designed for an economy of around $2 trillion for an economy that has now grown to closer to $20 trillion, noted Mark Ostwald, chief economist at AGM Investor Services.

    As it makes those changes, other economies will have the opportunity to learn from them, says Stephen Perry, the Chairman of the 48 Club. “We may find ourselves where we could have been several hundred years ago when we used many of the innovations from China to make our industrial revolution happen,” Perry noted. “It's important, I think, for every country around the world to participate in China in order to learn all these great innovations which are going to be, in many cases, led from China.”

    One advantage China has in the course of its development is the long-term perspectives that its political system affords. The stability offered by the Communist Party means that rather than changing tack every few years, policies can be targeted decades ahead.

    “It's astonishing to see a governance system, a governing party that's able to look forward 27 years and be able to make specific plans for what the country is going to be looking like then,” said China International Publishing’s Ferguson.

    That philosophy is exemplified in the commitments made to education at the Congress. China’s science and education strategy has been in place since 1995 and has evolved to focus on new areas of growth such as artificial intelligence and space technologies.

Environmental leadership

It is in actions, not words, that China’s impact on the global economy is being felt, said Christoph Nedopil, Director of the Green Finance and Development Center at Fanhai International School of Finance, and nowhere is that more obvious, or important, than the battle against climate change.

    “Over the past years, based on its huge size and strategic capabilities in manufacturing and research, China has seized the opportunity to innovate and to develop globally leading bases for green transport and energy, and [become the largest supplier of solar and wind power in the world. And I think this is just the beginning of a great opportunity for China to scale up infrastructure domestically and internationally,” he said.

    China’s message to the world is to take a holistic view - thinking about people first, the panellists agreed, summed up in a message to the corporate world from Fundan University’s Yin: “Business needs to include much more concerns of the society in general, the social responsibility not only in China, but also globally…engaging with stakeholders instead of shareholders.”