Distinguished Singapore researcher Kishore Mahbubani has said China's slower economic growth is a natural phase instead of a sign of decline, emphasizing China's long-term investment in future industries as a key to its continued success.
As some Western media continue expressing doubts about the country's future trajectory, Mahbubani, a fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, offered a starkly different assessment, highlighting China's history of people-centered development.
"China's growth and development could not have happened if the people of China had not participated actively in this growth and development. Now, if you study economic growth, it is perfectly normal for countries to have phases where they grow very fast and then to have phases where they slow down. And so the fact that China’s economy has slowed down for a few years is not unnatural. It has happened before," said Mahbubani.
"The question is, what is the long-term trajectory of the Chinese economy? Has the growth peaked? Has the growth stopped? As the Western media often says, you'll find out the answer very soon. But I can confidently predict that China's economy will continue to grow and develop and will continue to generate jobs for its people, because there are very, very few countries in the world that have invested as much in the industries of the future as much as China has done so. So in contrast to the pessimism that you find in Western commentaries, I confidently predict a more optimistic outcome for China," he said.
The analyst also highlighted China's achievements in poverty reduction and governance, noting that it should not only be celebrated but learned from.
"Since I've been writing about the return of Asia for thirty years now, so far, most of my predictions about Asia have come true. Clearly, China has done some things exceptionally right to be able to rescue so many people from poverty. And if we can move into a world 10 to 20 years from now, where every country in the world replicates what China has done and eradicates poverty, then we would have improved the human condition dramatically. And that’s why China’s governance needs to be studied carefully by all the countries in the world," Mahbubani said.
He urged Western societies to engage directly with China to understand its real development.
"It is very important for the countries of the West to understand the real China. And I believe the best way for this to happen is for more people from the West, especially ordinary Western citizens, to come and travel inside China and to see the remarkable infrastructure that China has built in many dimensions," the research fellow said.
China shows promise for sustained growth despite Western doubts: Singaporean researcher
