- 10 months ago
CGTN anchor and chief business news editor Guan Xin discusses the trajectory of the Chinese economy and its complex relationship with the United States and India at Davos. Addressing the impact of Donald Trump's policies, Guan Xin stated, "We are not going to be bullied by a country that is using strength to pressure others," while emphasizing that China's countermeasures remain proportionate. The interview highlights China's massive 1.2 trillion dollar trade surplus in 2025 and its resilience against tariffs through high-end manufacturing and innovation. Guan Xin also touched upon China-India relations, describing India as an important partner and growth driver despite occasional frictions. Defending the Chinese political system, the editor characterized China as a "vibrant democracy" driven by long-term planning and unity. The conversation concludes with a focus on China's commitment to global openness and mutually beneficial trade, positioning the nation as a stable anchor for the Global South amidst shifting geopolitical alliances.
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00:00Now, all eyes in Davos, in a way, are on the U.S. President Donald Trump, but there is another elephant in the room, or should we say dragon in the room, and that's China.
00:10What China does or doesn't do in the next 12 months could also determine the trajectory of geoeconomics and geopolitics and affect the world and India too.
00:20To get a Beijing perspective, I'm joined by a special guest now. Guan Jin is an anchor with Global Chinese Television Network and also the chief business news editor at CGTN.
00:35Appreciate your joining us there, Guan. Thank you very much.
00:38Thank you for inviting me. Glad to be here.
00:41Just want to get a sense. A lot of attention, as I said, on Donald Trump.
00:46How does China see Donald Trump today and what he's done over the last 12 months, the tariff war and then the tariff truce with Beijing?
00:55Is he also seen by China as someone who's disrupting the world order?
01:00That's a difficult question.
01:02Well, I think China's thing that China and the United States have been one of the most important relationships in the world.
01:10And China as a very responsible, a big power, China and the U.S. share the same responsibility to properly handle any kind of frictions or disagreements between China and the United States.
01:23Of course, last year we had this tariff war, which indeed created a lot of disruptions for China's economy.
01:31But China has managed to navigate through this intense period.
01:36And I think the two sides have a truce in October last year.
01:41And that is a testament that confrontation between the two largest economies of the world serves neither side's interests.
01:50And we are committed to foster mutually beneficial relationships with the United States because it is not only in the interest of the two countries,
02:00but also it goes a long way to provide more certainty for the global economy and creates more certainty for global businesses and, you know, bring stability to the world economy.
02:13It's almost as if you're talking about G2, the U.S. and China.
02:17In a sense, you're talking about cooperation more than competition at the moment.
02:21But the world doesn't see it as that.
02:23The world sees China pushing back.
02:25Every time the U.S. pushed at China, China's pushed back.
02:28You have this huge advantage of rare earth minerals.
02:32And you've used and leveraged that to push back.
02:35Is that the Chinese approach?
02:37We are not going to be bullied by Donald Trump.
02:40I think you're absolutely right.
02:41We are not going to be bullied by a country that is using strength to pressure others.
02:48But I think China's countermeasures are legitimate and proportionate.
02:55And it aims to, it does not aim to escalate the tensions.
03:01We are still fully committed to resolving our differences through mutually beneficial consultations.
03:08And we have established this working group with the United States and keep the communications going.
03:15So, I think, ultimately, China hopes to foster a mutually constructive relationship with the United States.
03:23You know, what's fascinating one is that China registered a trade surplus of 1.2 trillion in 2025, despite the Trump tariffs.
03:32And there is one view or a criticism of sort of China, that China is using low-cost exports to dump them across the world,
03:40to, in a way, to transform the way it negotiates with other countries.
03:47Is that how China sees its future?
03:51If America engages in these tariff wars, China will use the opportunity to strike deals with other countries, including India,
04:00to China, to China's advantage through low-cost exports.
04:06Thank you for the question.
04:08Actually, you know, a trade surplus is not the policy objective of China.
04:14China is committed to pursue balanced trade with our major trading partners.
04:20But that's not happening.
04:21I mean, the reality is that you've got huge trade surpluses with large parts of the world, including India.
04:27That is unexpected last year, because due to the tariff war, we didn't expect such robust performance of China's foreign trade sector.
04:38But I think there is a combination of factors at play here.
04:43For example, China's continued investment in its manufacturing, especially high-end manufacturing capabilities,
04:50and innovation-driven strategies are really, you know, increase the competitive edge about China's export sector.
04:59You know, there are some stereotypes about China's products being cheap.
05:02But actually, you know, China is not the source of those low-end manufacturing products.
05:10Many companies have moved these supply chains outside of China because of China's rising labor costs.
05:16But China has advantages in more skilled labor, more integrated supply chain system, and an ecosystem of high-end manufacturing.
05:26And as we have the talent dividend, we have the world's largest number of engineers.
05:31And that has really contributed to the competitiveness of China's export sector.
05:35But I have to stress that China also introduced a lot of measures to expand its imports with its trading partners.
05:42China's imports remains the world's second largest for 17 consecutive years.
05:49And China is actively expanding domestic demand.
05:52And China is hosting the China International Import Expo.
05:57And we are fully confident our consumer market, the expanding, you know, middle-income consumers,
06:04will create more opportunities for global businesses and will import and continue to grow.
06:10So you're saying China is ready to open itself up to the world?
06:12Because one of the interesting aspects of this is while you have this huge trade surplus,
06:19while China becomes a dominant player in supply-linked chains, in particular in manufacturing, innovation, information technology, AI,
06:30at the same time, Chinese domestic demand has been tepid, consumer spending has been tepid,
06:36you still have a property crisis, your population has slowed down, you've got a lot of challenges at home.
06:44Isn't that true?
06:45Is there a recognition of that, that China has now, in a sense, got to almost reboot itself for the next,
06:52if it has to move away, move forward and grow faster?
06:57I think you're absolutely correct about your observation about China's economy.
07:01Indeed, we're having some structural issues about the economy.
07:05And actually, it's very difficult to navigate China's economy, which is now at a huge size compared to, like, a decade ago.
07:15However, we have fully recognized these challenges, like, we are actively expanding our domestic demands,
07:24and we're trying to invest in human capital and increase the household incomes,
07:30create more social security net for them.
07:33These measures are aiming at long-term rebalancing of China's economy,
07:39and that can foster sustainable growth momentum going forward.
07:46Meanwhile, you mentioned those new growth areas.
07:49Indeed, we're investing heavily on, you know, green industries, the artificial intelligence sectors,
07:56and we hope these areas will generate more, you know, growth avenues for the economy,
08:02so as the country is overcoming the so-called middle-income trap.
08:07You know, it's interesting you mentioned at the outset that you don't see Donald Trump in the United States as an adversary.
08:13How do you see India?
08:15You know, the two big powers, in a way, of the region,
08:19the relationship between the two countries has been blow-hot, blow-cold over the years.
08:25We've had border disputes with China.
08:29How do you see it from Beijing?
08:32How do you see New Delhi?
08:33Do you see India as a partner with alliances possibly like BRICS getting strengthened over the next decade?
08:40I think definitely India is a very important partner of China.
08:44We have to admit there are some, you know, frictions or even disputes.
08:48It is very normal because we're now the, you know, one of the major economies in the world.
08:53However, I think the common interests between our nations far exceeded those disagreements,
09:00and we will continue to, you know, we're making efforts to continue to narrow the list of, you know,
09:05these conflicting issues.
09:08I think the shared interests between China and India are manifested in, you know,
09:14we are important growth drivers of the world.
09:18But we have, combinedly, we have one-third of the global population,
09:24and we are important growth drivers to the region's economy.
09:28And we are also the largest developing countries, and we are the anchors of the global south.
09:33So working together, we can also improve the voice in global governance
09:37and to reflect more of emerging markets and developing economies.
09:41But do you see us as a competitor?
09:43Do you see India as a competitor with China, particularly in the future, let's say, for supply chains?
09:50Or does China believe that it's reached a stage where India doesn't necessarily matter
09:57to the larger Chinese strategic objectives?
10:00Of course, there will be competition, you know, in economic theory, these competitions are mostly healthy.
10:08And I think the point is we need to manage these healthy competitions instead of, you know,
10:14escalating tensions or even politicalizing trade issues.
10:18I don't mean we're politicalizing.
10:20I mean for the world trade.
10:22It is in the interest of other nations to foster healthy competition instead of politicalizing trade issues.
10:30In conclusion, and this is from a New Delhi perspective, we look at China
10:35and we look at the way your economy has expanded over the last three decades.
10:41Some believe that it's because you are an authoritarian regime,
10:44the communist regime can do what other countries cannot.
10:47You can push ahead because there are no roadblocks, there are no checks and balances.
10:51But if I were to ask you, what explains the Chinese success story?
10:55What is it that makes China, according to you, such a successful powerhouse of the 21st century?
11:03Well, it's a very difficult question, but thank you very much for that.
11:07It's a big look, complimentary of China's achievements in the past.
11:11I mentioned the fact that from an Indian perspective,
11:15there are those who will say China's authoritarianism
11:17and the fact that, you know, you can push ahead with...
11:21I totally understand.
11:24Yeah, so what's the success?
11:25What is that secret sauce that makes China tick?
11:28I think we Chinese actually think we are a very vibrant democracy.
11:33If you go to China and go to the two sessions at the beginning of this year,
11:37you can see thousands of, you know, experts gathered in Beijing
11:42and they have all kinds of meetings
11:44and they will submit their proposals about how to improve the economic governance
11:49and policies through their year-long work.
11:52Some of them are really deep-rooted in the rural areas
11:56and they really see how China's economic policies work in rural areas
12:01and they bring their wisdom and their contributions
12:04and they sit together and discuss China's economic priorities.
12:08And, you know, this unity and this planning in advance
12:14and implementation really give us this long-term vision going forward.
12:23You know, I think it is very unique in the world
12:27because sometimes you have those swings in politics
12:32and that, you know, does not align with China's value
12:39because we're really a hard-working nation
12:42and with a strong determination.
12:44So we made great changes in our economy in the past decades
12:50and I think that is how we got here and we keep going.
12:55And so interesting whether Donald, whatever Donald Trump does,
12:58many believe that actually China is a beneficiary.
13:01If you've got Russia, if you've got Europe and America clashing,
13:04if you've got America in a way alienating some of its traditional allies,
13:09China becomes the beneficiary.
13:12All kinds of countries are now coming to China to do business with China
13:15and China's business is business.
13:17Am I correct?
13:19We welcome international, you know, investors.
13:21You've signed deals with Canada.
13:23You're signing deals with more and more countries.
13:25So China is focused, in a way, of growing its influence across the world.
13:30I think they come to China to sign deals for a reason
13:34and that is openness and dialogue is still, you know, the way forward.
13:39It has underpinked the prosperity of the world economy in the past decades.
13:45Right now there are a lot of talk about fragmentation and de-risking,
13:50but the global economy is still deeply, you know, interconnected.
13:54And China is constantly committed to, you know,
13:58shared development and, you know, mutually beneficial trade relationship.
14:04And so I think this value is shared by many countries,
14:08including emerging economies, developing economies,
14:12even some Western economies like Canada and Europe, as you mentioned.
14:16And so it's not because China, you know, intentionally or –
14:21it's a value, I think.
14:23And that is a fundamental of global growth
14:26and it will continue to exist in the future.
14:28Okay. I'm going to leave it there, Guan,
14:31because you've given us a business perspective
14:33of what makes that Chinese economy tick,
14:37Donald Trump or no Donald Trump.
14:39Good to have you here in conversation in Davos.
14:43It takes us – it takes a Chinese and an Indian journalist
14:46to come to Davos to have a civilized conversation like this.
14:49So thank you very much for joining me
14:51and giving our viewers that viewpoint from Beijing.
14:55Thank you for this opportunity to share with you.