China must retain its strengths as it goes global

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

2011 marks the 10th anniversary of China's accession to the World Trade Organization. International public opinion on the accession is generally positive as China and the rest of the world have achieved mutual benefit and common progress over the past 10 years.

At present, the United States and European countries are facing difficult economic times, and no one would be naive enough to ignore the role of the Chinese economy in pushing the world economy toward recovery.

However, certain media outlets have voiced negative opinions about China's development over the past decade. The Economist recently published two representative articles, one titled "China's Economy and the WTO: All Change" and the other titled "Chinese Politics and the WTO: No Change."

The Economist's mixed opinions about China are not an isolated phenomenon. It has been more than three years since the beginning of the global financial crisis, but the U.S. and European economies remain sluggish, not to mention their political problems.
Certain people have to give the fast-growing Chinese economy a high mark but seek to find flaws in China's political system and use the flaws to claim the un-sustainability of China's development. Some people have even gone as far as to suggest developed countries jointly set new "game rules" to counter China's threat.

China is still the world's largest developing country and has to make long-term and arduous efforts to achieve modernization. We firmly believe that doing our own things right is the biggest contribution to the world, and have no intention of impacting the political and economic systems of the West.

However, the United States and some European countries have had "good days" for too long, and have to release their sense of loss when they fail to find a strong support for their deep-rooted sense of superiority. This is the background for the "aggressiveness" of the West.