Innovation opens up new possibilities for global economic growth

The world economy is currently confronted with slackening growth and rapidly mounting risks. Unilateralism and protectionism, placing severe impacts on the international order and the multilateral trading system, have become the largest risks that threaten global economic stability. “Innovation holds the key to fundamentally unleashing the growth potential.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarks on building an innovative global economy are of important immediate significance and far-reaching significance under the current international situation.

At the G20 Hangzhou Summit held three years ago, G20 members jointly formulated the G20 Blueprint on Innovative Growth under the proposal and promotion of China. The blueprint, supporting innovation, the New Industrial Revolution and the digital economy, stresses that innovation covers a wide range of domains and helps create innovative ecosystems. Besides, relevant parties had also delivered an enhanced structural reform agenda, resolving to raise mid-to-long term growth potential through a commitment to innovative growth.

These achievements were unprecedented in the history of G20. The upcoming G20 Osaka Summit is expected to continue highlighting the application of new technologies as a key area of cooperation, and conduct discussions on digital security, as well as the relations between digital economy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With rising scientific and technological revolution, innovation is playing an increasingly important role in global economic development, said Hiroshi Onishi, a professor of Japan’s Keio University.

President Xi proposed to build an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy at the 2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit. His proposal, aiming to address the most urgent economic problems seen by the world, revealed the sense of responsibility of China as a major country, and received broad recognition and applause from participating countries. Scientific and technological innovation must be achieved through cooperation and exchanges. Monopoly will never lead to progress. To improve the capability of technological innovation, a country has to not only invest capital and human resource, but also conduct adequate, open and sustained interaction with other countries to build an innovative ecology featuring openness and cooperation. It is of vital significance for developing global economy in today’s world. Innovation is constantly injecting dynamism into China’s economic development. At present, China’s investment in research and development ranks the second in the world, accounting for about 2.18 percent of the country’s GDP. The country is seeing continuous expansion of new driving forces represented by strategic emerging industries and sharing economy.

China’s innovation is achieved under an open environment that focuses on domestic-overseas interaction and seeks common progress. For instance, the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is exactly an innovative move made by China to realize common prosperity of the world and promote international cooperation. Innovation will serve as an important driving force to advance the high-quality development of the initiative. China has always championed innovation and is attaching high importance to it, which shows distinctive characteristics of China’s development in the new era, and points a direction for the sustainable development of global economy, said Swaran Singh, a professor at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. As Singh added, when the world is facing so many risks and challenges, it’s especially important for every economy in the world to start the engine of innovation and jointly build a road of innovation that features openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation.

(People’s Daily)