Ambassador Zhao Xiyuan - welcome remarks

Good afternoon, everyone. Professor Neuman Hu and distinguished professors, scholars, students, and friends. It is a great pleasure to join you today at Trinity College Dublin. And I thank the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies for organizing this discussion. For centuries, this university has brought generations of thinkers into a thoughtful conversations. Before I came to Ireland as the ambassador here, the only university I know in this island is Trinity. Our topics today bring together three closely connected questions. How can countries sustain development in the era of economic uncertainty? How can we make the green transition both ambitious and affordable? And as relations between major economies become more complex, how can we preserve cooperation? We meet at a challenging moment. Conflicts in Ukraine and Middle East continue to bring human suffering and economic destruction and disruption. Global growth is uncertain. Energy security remains a big concern and some major economies are turning inward. On these challenges, China and Europe will not always agree, nor should we pretend that our interests are identical. Yet, we share one planet and face problems that no country can resolve alone. The question is not whether differences exist, but whether we can manage them constructively. It is from this uh perspective that I would like to share some reflections on China's experiences. China's development is often described as an economic miracle, much like Ireland's Celtic Tiger years. Since reform and opening up in 1978, China has combined market mechanisms with a strategic role for the state in infrastructure, education, and investment. Under this socialist market economy, the market plays a decisive role in setting prices and allocating resources, while the government provides long-term strategic direction and stability. The results have been remarkable. More than 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty, accounting to almost a 70% of the global uh poverty reduction. While China's GDP has growth 344-fold, reaching approximately US dollars 19.3 trillion by 2025. But China's development has never been smooth sailing. Instead, it has evolved continuously in response to new challenges. Two moments illustrate this experience. The first was China's accession to WTO in 2001. The negotiations lasting uh for uh 15 years, in the 1990s, China faced limited foreign exchange uh reserve reserves, heavy bank bad debt, uh, debts, uncertainty in international trade relations, and many technological lagging industries. Against this backstop, backdrop, China committed to substantial tariff reduction, opened more than 100 service sectors to foreign investment, and accepted WTO plus obligations. The risks we widely, uh, were widely recognized. Domestic industries feared they could not withstand foreign competition. Banks worried about losing their best customers, and farmers were concerned about rising agricultural imports. Yet, China also reformed over retreat and, deeper integration over isolation. Domestic industries restructured, upgraded their technology, and improved efficiency. Foreign competition became a catalyst for transformation and modernization. The second example is the global financial crisis in 2008. Rather than casting blame on others, China recognized recognized that a downturn in global consumption would inevitably impact everyone. In response, China launched a 4 trillion yuan stimulus package to sustain domestic demand, investing heavily in infrastructure, rural development, environmental, uh, protection, and, uh, high-tech industries, while supporting households and businesses. The impact went beyond short-term crisis management. High-speed rail is a good example. Before 2008, China had almost no high-speed rail network. Today, it operates more than 50,000 km, accounting for more than 70% of the world's total. Let me give you example of my my own. When I was in the university, over 30 years ago, my hometown is in Northwest China. It's like 1,200 km from Beijing. So, I need to go through the 1,200 km by train. At that time, the speediest train takes 17 hours, 17. But now it takes like 4 hours. So, what happened partly as a response to crisis helped create infrastructure that continues to connect regions and support growth. These facts counter the narratives of the so-called China collapse theory and China treat China treat theory, which often reflect a zero-sum message. If one country becomes stronger, another one becomes weaker. In reality, China has continued to develop by confronting successive challenges while contributing around 30% of global economic growth for many years. Today, China is shifting towards higher quality and greener development, pursuing modernization centered on its huge population, common prosperity for all, material and cultural ethical advancement, harmony between humanity and nature, and peaceful development. These priorities are reflected in China's energy transition. Total installed solar and wind power capacity has surpassed 1.8 billion kilo kilowatts. Just yesterday, it's uh uh September 1 uh 2026 uh China's installed uh solar energy has surpassed coal-fired uh power energy. So, this uh for the first time. Major investment in batteries, electric mobile mobility, and great infrastructure is creating industrial foundations for a more sustainable future. In Europe, concerns are sometimes raised about Chinese industrial capacity and trade surpluses. It is sometimes argued that the influx of Chinese goods has squeezed the space available to European industries. Yet, headline trade figures do not always show where value is actually created. Consider the iPhone. China's annual export of uh 150 billion 150 million iPhones creates a nominal 60 billion US dollars trade surplus on paper. But, China remains only a small fraction of the gross profit. Well over 60% flows back to Apple in the United States. A similar pattern can be seen in European industries. BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen generate more than 30% of their global sales in China. Where European products in sectors such as chemicals and aerospace amount for more than 30% of China's total imports. Nearly 40% of exports by European companies operating in China are sold to Europe. Modern supply chains are deeply integrated. Goods may be manufactured in one country, designed in another, and generate profits in a third. The Draghi report underscores that Europe's declining industrial competitiveness is primarily driven by slowing productivity growth, demographic shifts, high energy costs, and insufficient investment in agreeing and digital transitions. These examples show why trade should not be viewed simply as a contest of surpluses and deficits, and also point a concern for China. Some European critic criticisms do not always appear to take the full picture into account. For example, I'm using the car uh manufactured by Volkswagen Audi. Uh I would still remember last year when I uh has a had a meeting with a Les Can Cola uh in Leinster House. Uh after the meeting, he uh insisted on walking uh walking me out to my vehicle. He said, "I would like to see what kind of vehicle are you using?" Then when he saw that, he said, "Oh, it's a European car." He think that the Chinese ambassador must be using a Chinese EV car. But yes, this is the reality. This is the new uh the the real picture. The Chinese ambassador is using a European car. Nevertheless, China takes Europe's concern seriously and remains committed to engaging in constructive discussions regarding trade and industrial policy. In its 15th 5-year plan, China has committed to strengthening monitoring and early warning mechanisms for production capacity, while using planning guidance, price regulation, and industry self-regulation to curb excessive competition. At the same time, China remains the world's second largest consumer and import market in import market. We have a Now the new figure is 500 million middle-class consumers. In 2025, its imports reached nearly 2.6 trillion US dollars, while trade in services recorded a deficit of more than 120 billion US dollars. And China's commitment to opening up to the outside world remains unchanged. Next week, China will host the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade with Finland and Saudi Arabia as the countries of honor. Delegations from from 123 countries and regions have registered with 60 setting up exhibition booths. More than 140 leading financial institutions and listed companies will participate. Trust must run both ways. Just as foreign investors expect stability when entering China, Chinese enterprises abroad need predictable, transparent, and non-discriminatory treatment. Consider Nexperia in the Netherlands and British Steel in the UK. In both cases, Chinese investment provided capital at difficult moments, supporting operations, technology, and employment. Yet, both cases have subsequently become subject to strong political intervention in the name of national security. If foreign investment is welcomed is welcomed when economies are under pressure, but becomes politically contested when circumstances improve, invest- investor confidence inevitably suffers. A stable international economic system requires clear, predictable rules applied consistently. The same principle is also essential to international relations and to the stability of the wider global order. Many of the solars Many of the scholars may familiar with China's vision of building a human building a human community with a shared future for for humanity. This is not simple rhetoric. China has sought to translate this vision into action. Five years ago, President Xi Jinping proposed the global development initiative. Last year, he proposed the global governance initiative. Built around five core principles, adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating the people-centered approach, and focusing on taking real actions. And there are tangible results. More than 23 billion US dollars has been mobilized on the global development initiative. These resources have supported more than 1,800 livelihood projects and provided professional training to more than 200,000 people. Similar efforts can also be seen in Belt and Road Initiative and international development cooperation. China has sought to shoulder responsibilities commensurate with its abilities, including in in areas where other major powers have sometimes been less willing to do so. Those efforts have been recognized by many people around the world. A Pew Research Center survey conducted last July among more than 40,000 people across more than 30 countries found that in 25 countries, views of China were more favorable than the views of of United States. In 22 countries, respondents also expressed a greater confidence in China's leadership than in the American leadership. We do not take these findings as a matter of pride or competition. The world today stands at a critical historical juncture. The choices before us are not only between peace and war, but between openness and protectionism, between upholding free trade and undermining it, between continuing globalization and allowing the world to drift towards division. Recent geological disasters along the China-Nepal China-Nepal border are a heart-breaking reminder that climate change respects no borders. China and Europe have demonstrated leadership in addressing this shared challenge before, and we should continue to do so. Common challenges require common responsibilities. China does not claim to have all the answers, but we are willing to listen, learn, and cooperate. Rather than view viewing every global challenge through the lens of competition, we can learn from one another's experiences. China and Europe have advanced technologies, vast markets, and enormous potential for cooperation. By choosing pragmatic cooperation over protectionism and constructive dialogue over blame, we can turn mutual interdependence into greater stability, shared prosperity, and new economic opportunities. Universities, such as Trinity College Dublin, play a vital role by providing space for rigorous and independent debate. The scholars joining us today bring uh invaluable expertise and unique perspectives to these uh critical issues, which will undoubtedly enrich our collective understanding in the discussions ahead. As we begin this event, I look forward to your active engagement and constructive contributions, and hope that the challenges uh the exchanges throughout the day will foster deeper mutual understanding and enduring collaboration.