Stephen Roach at CCG: A World Without China Cannot Maintain Sustainable Growth

At CCG’s invitation, Stephan Roach, a distinguished professor at Yale’s Jackson Institute of Global Affairs and also known as a prominent economist, delivers a speech at CCG’s luncheon roundtable on Dec. 12, 2016, discussing China’s crucial role in the global economy and the importance of maintaining constructive Sino-US relations.

On Behalf of CCG, President Wang Huiyao extends warm welcome to Dr. Roach and Pro. James Levinsohn, the founding Director of Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, as well as other CCG guests, including He Yafei, former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs; He Ning, the former director-general of the Department of American and Oceanic Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, and Wang Chaoyong, the founding chairman & CEO of ChinaEquity Group.

In his keynote speech “A World Without China,” Dr. Roach points out that there are major defects in President-elect Donald Trump’s economic strategy. For one, protectionism serves no useful purpose but significantly increases the cost of living for general public. It is neither conducive to the US sustainable economic growth nor helpful to solve its internal economic problems such as deficiency of deposit. Besides China, the United States has trade deficit with nearly a hundred of countries, which cannot be reduced by simply banning imports from China.

The author of Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China, Dr. Roach believes that a world without China can hardly maintain sustainable growth. As the United States enters into the era of dissaving, it will become more dependent on the deposit surplus overseas, especially China’s. Therefore, as he argued, Trump’s economic policies, if enacted, will slow down the US economic recovery to a certain extent and need adjustment.

President Wang also highlighted China’s increasingly important role in the world’s political, economic and cultural development and its growing influence in international community. As globalization continues, a trade war will benefit no one. The Sino-US relations will move forward at overall the same direction since both sides acknowledge that a healthy relationship is mutually beneficial.

In his closing remarks, Mr. He Yafei notes that, despite those concerns, China has taken a leading role in the world economic recovery since the 2008 global financial crisis and global affairs, making significant contribution to the promotion of free trade and the solution of climate change. Regarding the future of China and globalization, he remains optimistic, noting that the “One Belt, One Road” initiatives will enhance the cooperation between developed and developing countries and help accelerate globalization.