Chinese President Xi Jinping showed true leadership and made the right call at the Group of 20 summit as he urged concerted efforts from the members to fight COVID-19 and strive for economic recovery, experts say.
Zhu Ying, director of the Australian Centre for Asian Business at the University of South Australia, said: “Xi came across as a true leader who spoke of the issues that affect mankind such as COVID-19, the environment, and the global economy.”
Xi attended the virtual summit meetings on Nov 21-22 hosted by Saudi Arabia, rotating G20 chair this year.
Xi’s speech was balanced and showed true global leadership
Zhu Ying
director of the Australian Centre for Asian Business at the University of South Australia
“He spoke with sincerity about these issues,” Zhu said. And “Xi’s speech was balanced and showed true global leadership,” adding that the speech shows China’s vision for the future.
Ngeow Chow Bing, director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya, was impressed by Xi’s message in the first session of the 15th G20 Leaders' Summit that the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic requires more international efforts and cooperation.
“China will play a very important role in any post-pandemic economic recovery,” said Ngeow. “It is the right call in terms of China being more open and being the major economic driver.
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“We do want China to fully commit to its openness and multilateralism. We look forward to China playing this kind of role in helping other countries and working together with many countries in overcoming both the public health issues and economic recovery.”
Vannarith Chheang, president of Cambodia-based think tank Asian Vision Institute, said "The global governance is facing mounting pressures for reform. Multilateralism is under siege due to rising protectionism and unilateralism."
"Therefore it is urgent to restore the global governance system in order to address the increasingly complex and multidimensional global issues.
“Promoting an inclusive and open multilateral system is key to strengthen global governance,” Chheang said.
Noting Xi underlined the importance of development in tackling poverty in his speech at the second session of the summit on Nov 22, Chheang said poverty reduction has been on the global community's top agenda but not much effort and practical cooperation have been made.
"Inequality remains wide and this has been accentuated by the pandemic," Chheang said, adding that the digital divide, skill gaps, and financial gaps are major issues that need to be addressed.
"The international community needs to double their efforts in narrowing the development gap and promoting inclusive and green recovery to ensure that no one is left behind," said Chheang.
READ MORE: Xi calls for building poverty-free world
Citing Xi’s emphasis on developing the digital economy during his speech, Ngeow from ICS said the pandemic has shown the world how vital the digital economy is. “Digital economy will be a fully necessary component in the years to come,” he said.
Referring to Xi’s proposal of a global QR code health system to help facilitate cross-border travel amid the pandemic, Ngeow said technical issues including data privacy “should be discussed in good faith among different countries”.
Veronika S. Saraswati, China Unit convener of Jarkata-based think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies, noting China has managed the COVID-19 outbreak well, said China can take the responsibility to lead the world to fight the pandemic and revive the economy.
“China has shown the world that its method to control the pandemic is an effective one, and now many countries, including Indonesia, hope that they can work with China, whether in terms of vaccines or medical equipment,” she said.
“Pandemics know no borders. Therefore, all countries worldwide should face it together,” said Saraswati. “There is no other way (the world can win the battle against COVID-19).”
Saraswati also pointed out that Xi’s speech has shown China’s commitment to peaceful and joint development of the world.
“The Chinese government does not want hegemony,” said Saraswati. “China has been emphasizing cooperative and common development. The world should learn from China.”
