The
three-day 2003 Forbes Global CEO Conference came to an end
in Shanghai Thursday, focusing global attention on China's
new role in the world economy.
Rich Karlgaard, publisher of
Forbes, told the conference that when the global economy
stood at a crossroads and sought a new engine for growth,
China's success gave hope.
With the theme
"Energizing Global Business: The China Factor",
the conference echoed the 1999 Fortune Global Forum which
was also held in Shanghai with the theme "China: The
Next 50 Years".
But the
different topics indicated that the whole world was also
focusing on China's increasing role in promoting the global
economy.
"The great
success of China's economy plays an important role in the
global economy, becoming a model for the whole world,"
said Nobel economics prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, Professor
of Economics of Columbia University.
Since 1995, Chinese
enterprises' on the list of Fortune Magazine's top 500
companies had changed a lot. In 1995, only three Chinese
companies were listed, compared with five in 1999, and 11 in
2003. Among the top 2,000 companies selected by magazineare
13 Chinese companies.
More
overseas companies had also entered the Chinese market dueto
its great business opportunities. Statistics show that in
Shanghai alone, 23,000 foreign companies had invested by the
end of 2002, and 270 of the top 500 had entered Shanghai.
"The name of new
opportunity is China," said Siaou-Sze Lien, senior
vice-president of HP Services Asia-Pacific. As the first
UShigh-technology investor in China, the company had decided
to invest 200 million US dollars in China to expand its
information business, and to establish a financial services
center in Shanghai.
As Chinese
products were exported to more countries, worries emerged
about global deflation. The debate over whether China should
revalue its currency and how China should develop was a hot
topic at the 2003 conference.
Steve Forbes, president, chief
executive and editor-in-chief of Forbes, said deflation in
the United States should not be attributed to China, and the
problem lay in US trade policy itself. Revaluation would
hurt China's economy and influence the global economy.
He also warned speculators who
had brought large sums of "hot money" into China
would be "greatly disappointed".
Stiglitz agreed that China's
economy would maintain its fast growth and would not
"over heat", adding China still had much roomto
grow in the future, so as to shorten the gap in per capita
income between China and the developed countries.
The economist also said
China's accession to the WTO (World Trade Organization)
brought changes to the world. China would play a
"leading role" in securing the interests of the
developing countries when negotiating with developed
countries.
"With China's
efforts, we are pleased to see a more energetic global
economy, and also a fair global economy in the future,"
said Stiglitz.
(from XINHUANEWS)