China’s eagerness to end its isolation in the world, whether on account of Covid or its continuing differences with the west, is making it re-invent itself as a friendly Asian giant. The new image was on display at the recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Uzbekistan, but there is no information as yet if there were any takers to the new public relations spiel.
President Xi Jinping made it a point to meet the heads of all the central Asian states attending the meeting and trying convince them of his country’s genuine interest in the development of their nations. It was a déjà vu moment as several Asian and African nations have, in the past, heard the same stuff when China was imposing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on them.
In the meetings on the SCO sidelines, China sought to sell certain images. One was that the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone has opened 17 international freight train routes to Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe Bridge, the Kazakhstan-China pipeline, the China-Kazakhstan International Logistics Base, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan International Highway, CPEC projects, etc.
China made it a point to see that the SCO’s Samarkand Declaration referred to the following: “…the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, while reaffirming support for China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, acknowledge the ongoing work to jointly implement the project, including efforts to link the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and OBOR.”
The Chinese state–controlled media helped spread the message further. The focus on “trade expansion” among SCO countries. “The China-SCO demonstration zone has cultivated 10 trading platforms, including a Cross-border Trade Service Center, to provide enterprises with one-stop cross-border e-commerce comprehensive services, such as customs declaration, cross-border logistics and supply chain finance. From January to July this year, the import and export from the zone to the SCO countries is expected to reach 4.3 billion yuan, an increase of 86.2% over the same period of last year.”
Simultaneously, China is propagating its developmental goals to convince the world and the new list of countries it has targeted for trade agreements. The goals, by themselves, are quite attractive, poised to increase the confidence among the targeted countries.
They include: By 2025, China will have substantially increased its total R&D spending, attracted more top scientists, boasted a large number of scientists and technologists in strategically important and core technological fields, top-level sci-tech leaders and innovation teams. By 2030, China will be significantly more attractive to global talent, boast some frontrunners in main sci-tech fields and pioneers in emerging frontier and interdisciplinary areas. By 2035, the country will have competitive advantages in talent competition in many areas, and its strategic sci-tech strength and high-caliber talent teams will be among the strongest in the world.
There is also the constant highlighting of changes in attitudes to encourage domestic talent and attract international talent. For instance, there is the case of party committees in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities setting up bodies for talent work. There is talk of allowing researchers greater autonomy for focusing more on their work than compulsory state affairs. A notice from the Ministry of Science and Technology says that it is necessary to reduce the burden on young scientific researchers. The note, reported by a newspaper, says: “Scientists aged under 40 are the focus of the latest policy. The document calls for young scientists to be excused from unnecessary meetings and social activities, and to be guaranteed to have at least four-fifths of their work day available for scientific research.”
These measures are expected to convince countries to allow their citizens, whether employees or students, to visit China for research or educational purposes. The media reports insist that the Chinese government, right from the top, is aware of preparing China for greater global interaction in the future. Here is a statement to that effect, as reported by the Chinese media: “All localities and departments have grasped the new trend and characteristics of talent globalisation, implemented more active, open and effective talent policies; innovated ways and means; improved work measures; and vigorously promoted international exchanges and cooperation. ‘The latest data shows that the number of overseas students returning to China for innovation and entrepreneurship in 2021 exceeded 1 million for the first time, and a total of 1.18 million work permits have been issued to foreigners in China. At present, China has established scientific and technological cooperation relations with more than 160 countries and regions around the world, and is participating in more than 200 international organisations and multilateral mechanisms’.”