Experts: 19th CPC Congress has global impact

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has significant global impact, said a group of international experts that included former heads of state in Beijing on Thursday.

"The October's CPC National Congress not only opens a new stage for China but also a new global age, where China and all stakeholders committed to stability join in building cooperation and achieving shared prosperity," said Dominique de Villepin, former prime minister of France, who spoke at an international symposium in Beijing.

He said that China, as an important global player, is fully aware of its responsibilities in settling global crises, leading dialogues, and driving growth.

During General Secretary Xi Jinping's report to the 19th CPC National Congress, he reiterated the country's commitment to peaceful development and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

"The world is changing, and it will now change faster after the October congress," said Sudheendra Kulkarni, chairman at the Observer Research Foundation Mumbai. "The increased pace of change, also its new direction, will be set by China's rise."

Over the past four years, China's economy has grown by 7.2 percent on the average annually, contributing to over 30 percent of global growth.

During the 19th CPC National Congress and at various times elsewhere, Xi made renewed commitment to economic opening up and win-win cooperation.

After Xi met with U.S. President Donald Trump during his recent trip to China, the two countries inked cooperation deals worth US$250 billion, and China promised to further open its financial sectors to foreign investment.

Shaukat Aziz, former prime minister of Pakistan, applauded the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative in driving opening up and globalization.

"The initiative is historic, substantial, and will be a game-changer for the world," he said, adding that the initiative will facilitate connectivity, open market, promote trade and increase job opportunities for the countries along the route.

In his report to the 19th CPC National Congress, Xi said China will actively promote international cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative in order to achieve policy, infrastructure, trade, financial, and people-to-people connectivity, and thus build a new platform for international cooperation to create new drivers of shared development.

As the world's second largest economy, China vowed to increase assistance to other developing countries, especially the least developed countries, and do its part to reduce the development gap between countries, according to Xi's report.

Yasuo Fukuda, former Japanese prime minister and chairman of Boao Forum for Asia, gave high recognition to China's economic transformation in the past decades and said he hoped that China and the rest of the world could continue to facilitate connectivity both in infrastructure and people-to-people relations.

He said he also took note of China's commitment to building a community of a shared future and the country's refusal to hegemony, as said in Xi's report.