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China needs local eye when going global

By Ding Gang (Global Times)    08:39, September 18, 2014
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(Illustration: Liu Rui/GT)

China's overseas infrastructure projects, be they direct investment or contract work, are always dubbed "strategic projects" by media both at home and abroad.

These wharfs, railways, dams and oil and gas pipelines, once labeled as "strategic," will be inevitably interpreted as China's efforts to reinforce its global strategy. That is why these projects are also described as China's "veins" and "lifelines."

In a just concluded visit to Sri Lanka, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a new port city project funded by China, and witnessed the official start of the Puttalam power plant project. Some media reported that this plant is worth $1.3 billion and located less than 200 kilometers from India.

Projects like this are often regarded as China's endeavor to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean, and these moves are China's "crucial strategic deployments" of its resources to gain a firm foothold in the busiest sea lane.

"Strategic" is not a derogatory term, and China, as a major power, has every reason to employ an overseas strategy. Most of its overseas projects are undertaken by large-sized State-owned enterprises and funded by the State. However, the overuse of "strategy" and the excessive interpretations by some media have brought misunderstandings about China's "going global."

It seems that China's massive overseas projects are simply carried out for China's own interests. China's investments in some ports in Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar are even interpreted by Chinese media as ways to ensure the security of Chinese oil shipping sea lane.

The rejuvenation of the maritime Silk Road cannot be realized by ensuring the accessibility of a sea lane for oil transportation. It is a 21st century project that aims for the common prosperity of the broad region around the Indian Ocean, including Asia, Africa and Europe, and it needs long-term joint efforts in various aspects.

US journalist Robert D. Kaplan comes straight to the point in his book Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power, saying "it is my contention that the greater Indian Ocean, stretching eastward from the horn of Africa past the Arabian Peninsula the Iranian Plateau, and the Indian subcontinent, all the way to the Indonesian archipelago and beyond, may comprise a map as iconic to the new century as Europe was to the last one."

This map is composed of different regions, not just China.

After Beijing decides to reach its hands across its border, its strategies cannot always work out as it expects, no matter how committed it is to safeguarding its core interests.

China's overseas strategy, once applied in foreign countries, must align with the local situation, regional development requirements and international norms. It means that some projects, even if they proved successful in China, might fail in some other countries.

High-speed rail, though given the cold shoulder by some Chinese people in the beginning, has developed beyond their expectations into a lifeline that interconnects urban and rural areas and has invigorated local economies.

However, the root cause for the success of high-speed rail is not the technology, but lies in the growing demand for economic exchanges between Chinese urban and rural areas, where the technological advantages of high-speed rail are given full play.

This demand gives impetus to the takeoff of China's high-speed rail industry, forming a Chinese-style cause and effect of the high-speed rail development.

This theory can be applied to China's other overseas projects, be they the maritime Silk Road or the New Silk Road economic belt.

The key to foreign investments is not how much capital China can provide, but whether the money can really shore up regional development.

Only when these projects are in line with the local situations, can they be sustainable, and can the economic profits truly benefit all stakeholders. 

(Editor:Kong Defang、Liang Jun)
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