China News Agency Boston, April 17th: On the Charles River, people from all walks of life in China and the United States discuss challenges and cooperation

  China News Agency reporter Madlin

  The new crown pneumonia epidemic has been raging in the United States for more than two years. As the largest and oldest student-organized Sino-US relations seminar in North America, the Harvard China Forum finally returned to the Harvard campus on the Charles River in Boston on April 16.

  Due to the epidemic in the United States, the 2020 Harvard China Forum will be held online and in 2021 in Beijing.

The theme of this year's forum is "Extraordinary Time", and there are several sub-forums on macroeconomics, international relations, and new energy vehicles, blockchain, biotechnology, and entertainment.

Political, business and academic people from China and the United States discussed various related issues.

Focus on China's economic development: many challenges and promising prospects

  As in previous years, China's economic development was one of the most talked about topics at the forum.

Anthony Sage, professor of international politics at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, said in a keynote speech on China policy that real estate accounts for a high proportion of China's economy, and the resulting debt risks cannot be ignored; consumption contributes less to economic growth , the economic structure still needs to be optimized; the recent epidemic, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and other emergencies have also brought obvious difficulties to economic growth.

To sum up, he believes that it will be difficult for China to achieve the expected economic growth rate of about 5.5% this year.

  At the macroeconomic keynote forum held that morning, Dwight Perkins, a professor of political economy at Harvard University and former dean of the Department of Economics, also commented on this expected goal.

He pointed out that looking at the world, in terms of China's current economic size, a growth rate of about 5% is already very good.

Over the next few years, even if growth gradually slows to 3% to 4%, it will be good enough.

  Mao Zhenhua, chairman of China Chengxin Group, pointed out that after more than 40 years of rapid development, China has strong economic resilience and a certain ability to resist shocks; China is gradually adjusting its monetary policy and exploring ways to suit its own conditions.

As long as the current problems can be solved in combination with macro policies, China's economic prospects are still worth looking forward to.

 Reflections on Sino-US Bilateral Relations: Managing Differences and Finding Consensus

  Sino-US relations were also an important topic of focus for the participants.

Graham Allison, professor of government at Harvard Kennedy School, read out the written speech sent by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to the Harvard China Forum at the keynote forum on international relations that afternoon.

If both the US and China see each other as evil adversaries, the outcome is likely to be disastrous, Kissinger said.

Therefore, in any case, both sides should strengthen dialogue and communication in deciding strategic policies.

  Former US assistant secretary of defense and senior diplomat Freeman believes that in the past four decades, the US and China have achieved great achievements through cooperation.

In recent years, there have indeed been various differences between the two countries, and the bilateral relationship has faced multiple challenges. However, the two sides can still find many common interests in areas such as climate change, non-proliferation and global economic recovery.

"No matter what happens, 'seeking common ground while shelving differences' is the fundamental principle of US-China relations," Freeman said.

  Orlens, President of the National Committee on US-China Relations, reviewed the process of normalization of US-China relations and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and pointed out that the situation of the relations between the two countries was worse than now, but the leaders of both sides gave full play to their leadership at that time. Finally break the "ice".

  "Today, the governments of our two countries still have many simple, small things that can be done to help rebuild a constructive and productive bilateral relationship." Ohlens emphasized that the United States and China are not "adversary" relations," Although this view is now on the decline in the United States, we must continue to drum and cheer for it.”

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