Promoting bilateral, regional cooperation

Since the first G20 summit last November in Washington, D.C., China has rolled out two-year economic stimulus packages worth 585 billion US dollars.

While striving to maintain steady economic growth at home, China also has sought to help other countries spur economic growth with pragmatic bilateral and regional cooperation in promoting the free flow of trade and investments.

Chinese leaders launched a so-called "diplomacy of the first lunar month" in February as Hu, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping visited 15 countries and the European Union. The three leaders sent a clear message of confidence during those tours.

China signed more than 20 cooperation agreements with five Asian and African countries during Hu's visits.

Under those agreements, China promised to increase aid and expand trade and investment with African countries. It also wrote off part of the debt owed by some African countries as part of the agreements.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has said that China has become the most popular partner of developing countries.

Following Wen's visit to four European countries and the EU, the Chinese government signed a series of agreements worth 13.6 billion US dollars with European companies.

China also signed several agreements on bilateral cooperation with some Latin American countries during Xi's visit to the region.

Ahead of the G20 summit, China signed currency swap deals with South Korea, Malaysia, Belarus, Indonesia and Argentina, worth about 650 billion Chinese Yuan.

China has also worked actively within regional blocs such as ASEAN and APEC to promote regional economic cooperation as part of its efforts to help other countries weather the financial crisis.

Initiating possible international reforms

The current situation has highlighted the vulnerabilities and deficiencies of the existing international economic and financial system.

Senior Chinese officials have recently initiated several key proposals to reform the global monetary system in an effort to avoid a recurrence of such problems in the future.

The international community should push for reform of the international monetary system, including improving internal governance of major global financial organizations and increasing representation and voting rights of emerging economies within those organizations, the British newspaper The Times recently quoted Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan as saying.

"The desirable goal of reforming the international monetary system, therefore, is to create an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run, thus removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies," Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, said in one of his recently published articles.

Zhou recommended expanding the use of the Special Drawing Right of the International Monetary Fund in international trade, commodities pricing, investment and corporate bookkeeping.

Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren has also said that it was necessary to build a new international monetary system based on more reserve currencies so as to maintain the stability of the system.

The proposals raised by senior Chinese officials have been echoed by officials from many other countries and some international organizations.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, said Zhou's proposal for a new international reserve currency was reasonable.

Russian leaders also said that their country shares many of the same views expressed by Chinese officials on reforming the international monetary system. The idea of creating a new global reserve currency also was entertained by such major emerging economies as Brazil, India, South Korea and South Africa.]

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2009)