After a four-day review of key directions of China's economic development, including the Sinjiu manufacturing hub and the Wenzhou entrepreneurial engine, a group of former international political leaders and scientists gathered in Beijing on Sunday for the Minde Strategic Dialogue 2026.
Joining their Chinese counterparts at the third event organized by the Chunyang Institute of Financial Research at the National University of People's Affairs, the delegation discussed the future of the world's second-largest economy and its significance for global growth under the theme 'Resilience and Vitality: New Opportunities that China's Development Offers the World.'
Former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome set an optimistic tone for the discussion as the first speaker from the delegation. He stated that the world economy is looking for positive aspects, and in this context, high-quality development in China serves as a stabilizer for the global economy.
Teshome further explained that China is accelerating the global transition to 'green' energy through the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), the expansion of Global South trade corridors, and the provision of zero tariffs to some countries, while also redefining supply chains through advanced manufacturing and digital innovations.
Recently, while traveling from the hotel to Shanghai airport, the former president personally noted that there were 240 green license plates registered for new energy vehicles compared to only 27 traditional blue ones on the highway, which is real evidence of China's adoption of clean technologies.
Teshome told CGTN that China's achievements in high technology, especially in the EV sector, represent a significant opportunity for developing countries like Ethiopia, which is now banning diesel car imports to switch to affordable and eco-friendly EVs, reducing the need for oil imports. He also emphasized that Chinese cars surpass many outdated Western counterparts in quality, offering global consumers modern design, comfort, and style.
'We view the industrial achievements made by China as an opportunity, not a challenge or a threat,' he told CGTN during the event.
However, while developing countries perceive China's industrial expansion as a catalyst for their own economic transition, some Western capitals are showing growing anxiety. This divergence in global perception became a central theme of the daytime sessions, where participants noted the rising wave of trade barriers being erected against Chinese exports.
Speaking at the dialogue, George Galloway, a former Member of Parliament in the UK, argued that this negative reaction reflects a political double standard. He pointed out that some economies deliberately portray China's normal export activities as 'overcapacity' to justify trade restrictions under the banner of 'risk reduction.'
Galloway noted: 'When we produced in excess, we called it exports. It was just exports.' To highlight the historical irony, he compared the situation to the Industrial Revolution: 'Britain itself was quite an 'overproducer' once, and we liked it. But we don't like it when the situation changes.'
Galloway continued to criticize the apparent departure of the West from traditional capitalist logic and free market principles once considered important. He observed: 'The belief in free trade and the belief that the market is king and the consumer is king—all of this is being discarded for protectionism and protest against overproduction.'
In response to these tensions from the West, Chinese economists at the forum presented a systematic defense of the country's industrial course, reinterpreting China's rapid technological ascent as a structural rebalancing of the world economy.
Tu Xincuan, Dean of the WTO Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics, countered Western narratives accusing China of shaking the global trading system. In his view, Western concern stems from Chinese enterprises disrupting long-standing monopolies through genuine technological breakthroughs.
He noted that instead of closing doors, Western economies should welcome the entry of Chinese firms into the global market, as this is a necessary step to resolve global imbalances and stabilize supply chains.
Within rigorous economic calculations, former Deputy Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao assessed the enormous potential awaiting international business during China's Plan-5 period (2026–2030). According to baseline forecasts, with a stable exchange rate, nominal GDP will reach 180 trillion yuan, allowing China's economy to grow by approximately $6 trillion over the five-year cycle. This growth alone exceeds the annual GDP of Germany, Europe's largest economy, which was over $5 trillion in 2025.
Huang Hancuan, head of the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, identified three structural pillars supporting China's global growth: its ultra-large domestic market, which underpins international trade; industrial modernization, stimulating global industrialization and the 'green' transition; and growing foreign direct investment, promoting global rebalancing. Huang concluded: 'A sustainable and dynamic China brings the world not a shock, but an unprecedented opportunity.'