Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng: You can't ask others to open up while closing your own door

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On January 16, Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said in his keynote speech at the 2023 Annual Macro Situation Forum and the 4th International Impact Forum of Chinese Think Tanks that to promote the building of a community of human destiny, it is necessary to promote common openness and create opportunities for deepening win-win cooperation.

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China’s average contribution to world economic growth from 2013 to 2021 reached 38.6 percent, more than the combined contribution of the Group of Seven (G7) countries, said Xie Feng.

Xie Feng said that openness is a two-way street, and one cannot ask others to open up while closing their own doors, which is self-contradictory and detrimental to others. Competition should be fair and reasonable, you catch up with me, not you die and I live. In order to win competitive advantage, some countries use state machinery, hijacking financial, scientific and technological resources, contrary to market rules and economic laws, tariff wars, trade wars, science and technology wars, chip wars, rule wars, trying to suppress and deprive each other of the right to development, which is not legitimate, and is not allowed to see the sun. Science and technology is the common wealth of mankind, not a geo-gaming tool. The politicization of science and technology issues weaponized ideological, artificially blocking scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, will ultimately only cause the stagnation of scientific and technological progress and self-imposed closed backwardness. Seal the door of others, will also block their own way. Western strategic circles, business and academic insightful people see this more and more clearly, and their voices against “decoupling and breaking the chain” are converging into an increasingly powerful voice.

Xie Feng said, recently, China adjusted its epidemic prevention and control policies to the situation and further opened its doors, which not only paved the way for China’s economic stabilization and recovery, but also injected new momentum into the world economic recovery, which was generally welcomed by the international community. When China strengthened its control when the epidemic was serious, some countries asked China to open up; when China opened up the flow of people, they instead set unreasonable restrictions on China. The Chinese people are very confused and have a lot of opinions about this. What do these countries really want? For those countries that disregard scientific facts, engage in political manipulation, and take discriminatory measures against China, it is only natural that we should launch reciprocal countermeasures.