Editor's note: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Director of the China Economic Policy Research Office, Margit · Molna, recently shared the opportunities and challenges of Chinese modernization at the Matilda Strategic Dialogue 2024 event, and was interviewed by Global People after the meeting about how it feels to return to China after more than 30 years.
"We can just speak Chinese." In an interview, Marjit · Molna said with a smile to the Global People reporter.
In 1988, she came from Hungary to study at the Chinese University of China and obtained a bachelor's degree in economics.
On September 4, she returned to her alma mater after a long absence, and participated in the "Mingde Strategic Dialogue" organized by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Chinese University to discuss the future of China's economy with Chinese and foreign scholars.
01
The study of economics is far more romantic than poetry
"I studied at Renmin University many years ago. I also went to the new library of the National People's Congress this time. It's really nice there, world class! It's completely different from when I was studying. Magit said.
When she was in high school, Margit had the idea of going abroad to see the world. Although China was still in the early stages of reform and opening up, she had already recognized the potential of China's economic development and decided to study in China.
"At that time, I often took the train, and the Chinese around me would read to me the poem "Freedom and Love" by the Hungarian poet Pei Duofi when they heard that I was from Hungary."
In Magit's mind, the study of economics is far more romantic than poetry. China's reform and opening up has sparked her interest.
"In my eyes, China's reform and opening up has many characteristics, one of which is very important: as a socialist country, China emphasizes both the role of the government and the role of the market in economic development. The rapid development of China's economy has been achieved under such a framework. Magit said.
02
"China's industrial upgrading has brought opportunities to the world"
"For more than 30 years, I have been to many provinces in China. Even in some of the more remote places, I can see the dramatic changes taking place there. Even people who do not understand economics can feel that the living standards of the Chinese people have improved significantly."
In recent years, the trend of China's economic transformation has become more and more obvious, which has attracted the attention of Majit.
She said that China's economic growth has long relied on the input of production factors such as labor, capital and natural resources, "for example, surplus labor from rural areas will come to work in cities and create economic value." Investment of all kinds is also an important factor in China's economic growth. ”
With the continuous rise in the prices of factors such as land and labor in recent years, and the volatility of the international market, this growth model is facing challenges. How to solve this problem? According to Majit, the focus is on improving the productivity of China's economy through industrial upgrading.
Majit said that in recent years, China's production capacity of high-tech products has been continuously enhanced, and many scientific and technological progress achievements have been made.
"China's industrial upgrading has brought opportunities to the world. In the industrial fields of various countries, some enterprises may not have competitors originally, but with the expansion of opening up and market access, the entry of Chinese enterprises will bring competition. I think competition is a good thing, because it leads to productivity gains and economic growth. I am opposed to any form of trade barriers. ”
03
The challenges of China's economic transformation
According to Majit, China's economic transformation also faces some challenges.
"In recent years, China's scientific and technological output has been growing, and technology patents have increased, but China needs to further improve the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements so that they can generate more economic value. Taking Heilongjiang Province as an example, we note in our study that although the provincial government's financial resources are not abundant, the province's scientific and technological output and conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements are very high. This shows that when realizing the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, it is not that the more money invested, the better the effect, but that we should pay attention to the efficiency of investment. Magit said.
Majit said that China's manufacturing industry has achieved full competition, but there is still room to expand competition and further stimulate industrial vitality in the service industry.
"For example, in our research, we have found that in some places, there are local protective policies in the transportation industry, such as not allowing large truck drivers from outside the city to enter the local market, which is not good for economic development."
At the end of the interview, Majit left a message for the "younger students" in Chinese universities: "I think young people need to learn to 'get out of the classroom' and practice in society. This is especially important for students studying economics. If you don't get in touch with economic activity, you will never understand what 'development' is and what 'efficiency' is. Only by being in touch with the world can you truly know how to see the world. ”
04
Some of the challenges and opportunities of Chinese modernization
Thank you very much for inviting me to participate in this exchange today, I am very happy to return to my alma mater, and I am very grateful for providing us with the experience of these days, I have gained a lot, especially Yiwu I went for the first time, Wenzhou has been there about 20 years ago, but the development of these 20 years is very fast, so I am very happy to have the opportunity to return to Wenzhou after 20 years to see the development status of Wenzhou.
Today, I would like to talk about some of the challenges and opportunities of Chinese modernization.
I think the biggest challenge is to find a new economic growth model. Because until now, China's economic growth model has been a typical factor input economic growth model. The surplus rural labour force moves to the cities and works in urban factories, which also depends on investment. It is often said that there is a surplus of investment in China, and I don't agree with this view. Although China's capital savings are very fast, looking at the amount of capital savings, the per capita capital savings are still a little lower than those in developed countries. While there are some areas where there are more than others, there are still areas where capital can continue to be accumulated. But this model is not sustainable, so we have to find a new model of economic growth, which is the biggest challenge, and this new model must rely on productivity, not on factor inputs. Moreover, in order to increase productivity, structural reforms must be carried out.
So what kind of structural reforms should be undertaken? According to some of our estimates, the most likely impact on economic growth is product market reforms. For example, there are three kinds of monopolies. One is the natural monopoly. The Third Plenum also proposed a way to deal with natural monopolies, mainly by separating the services of the monopoly infrastructure and promoting competition in services. This is true in other countries, especially in some of our member states; The other kind of monopoly is the administrative monopoly, which must be abolished. The main content of our report a few years ago was the administrative monopoly, and we separated the administrative monopoly. We looked at all the examples, probably what kind of administrative monopoly is the most. We found that it was not the monopoly of the old industry, but the new industry with the most administrative monopoly, especially the computer industry. Therefore, these administrative monopolies must be removed; The third type of monopoly is market monopoly, and market monopoly must be dealt with with by the Anti-Monopoly Law.
Therefore, the Third Plenum proposed to deepen the reform, so that the deepening of such structural reform can get a relatively stable, maybe not as high as before, but there is a certain degree of economic growth, and this economic growth is more sustainable. So I think it's not just a challenge, it's an opportunity.
Important! Important! Important!
The WeChat revision disrupted the release time
It is common for readers to miss article updates
You can set "Chongyang of the National People's Congress" as a star
Click on the Official Account card above
Tap the top three dots in the upper right corner
You can see "Star"
Stay connected and move forward together
Chongyang, the National People's Congress
///
RDCY
Established on January 19, 2013, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Chinese University of China (Renmin University Chongyang) is the main funding project donated by Chongyang Investment to Chinese University and set up an education fund for operation.
As a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics, Chongyang has hired dozens of former politicians, bankers, and well-known scholars from around the world as senior researchers, aiming to pay attention to reality, advise the country, and serve the people. At present, the Chongyang National People's Congress has 7 departments and 4 operation and management centers (the Center for Ecological Finance, the Center for Global Governance, the Center for China-US People-to-People Exchange, and the China-Russia Center for People-to-People Exchange). In recent years, the Chongyang National People's Congress has been highly recognized at home and abroad in the fields of financial development, global governance, major-country relations, and macroeconomic policy.