Ambassador Guo Xiaomei gave an interview to The Baltic Times recently. The full text of the report is as follows:
Guo Xiaomei, China’s Ambassador to Estonia: “Openness brings progress, while self-seclusion leaves one behind”
While China and Estonia differ greatly in many aspects, Guo Xiaomei, the Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Estonia, emphasized in an interview with The Baltic Times Magazine that these differences should not prevent the two countries from enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation to improve the well-being of their peoples. “We are willing to work with Estonia towards further enhancing mutual trust, respecting each other's legitimate concerns, and injecting vitality into the bilateral relations,” Her Excellency, Guo Xiaomei, stated.
The Baltic Times: What interests could a global superpower like the People's Republic of China have in a tiny country like Estonia?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: Estonia is a sovereign country and an equal member of the international community. China’s diplomacy champions and practices the five principles of peaceful coexistence, staying committed to establishing and developing friendly and cooperative relations with all countries, and calling for equality of all countries regardless of size.
China views Estonia as an important partner in the Baltic region. Friendly cooperation has always been the main theme of bilateral relations. While China and Estonia differ in many aspects, it could not hinder the two countries from strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation to serve the well-being of their peoples. We are willing to work with Estonia towards further enhancing mutual trust, respecting each other's legitimate concerns, and injecting vitality into the bilateral relations.
The Baltic Times: What are the volumes of trade between China and Estonia in 2024? Last year? What trends can you discern?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: China is one of Estonia’s main trading partners outside the EU. According to Statistics Estonia, in the first ten months of 2024, the total trade volume between China and Estonia reached 810 million euros. Although it has declined a little bit compared with the same period of last year, the share of China in Estonia’s total trade volume doesn’t change much. China still ranks Estonia’s 8th import trading partner and 17th export partner. The total trade volume in 2023 between Estonia and China was 1 billion euros, with exports to China increasing by 20.6 percent.
The Baltic Times: The EU is China's largest trading partner. However, the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), negotiated and politically agreed upon in December 2020, was not fully signed or ratified as of now. What needs to be done to have it signed? Especially, when the new European Parliament is elected?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: According to Eurostat, the total trade volume for the first three quarters of 2024 is 743.9 billion euros. When compared with the same period last year, the trade volume decreased by about 13 percent, mainly because EU imports from China declined by about 17 percent. However, China and the EU were each other’s second-largest trading partners both in 2023 and in the first three quarters of 2024. Recently, the freight train trips by the China-Europe Railway Express surpassed one hundred thousand. That signals also the stability and vitality of China-EU economic and trade cooperation.
In recent years, however, China-EU economic and trade cooperation has encountered challenges, including trade frictions. China has always insisted on dealing with trade frictions properly through dialogue and consultation, accommodating each other’s legitimate concerns, so as to uphold the healthy cooperation between the two sides.
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment is a balanced, mutually beneficial, and win-win agreement. As an outcome of unremitting efforts, it is in the interests of both sides and for both sides to promote its coming into effect as soon as possible. I believe my colleagues in Brussels are still working in that direction with their EU counterparts.
Despite the pending CAI, it’s worth noting that the determination of China to further opening-up remains unchanged. In July this year, the Resolution on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization was adopted during the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, according to which China will further reform the management system for inward and outward investment, expand the catalog of encouraged industries for foreign investment, appropriately shorten the negative list and further reform the institutions and mechanisms towards the direction of foreign investment-friendly environment. I believe the China-EU investment cooperation will also benefit from China’s reforms.
The Baltic Times: The IMF expects China's economic growth to be 4.8 percent in 2024 and 4.5 percent in 2025, a much better result than the forecast for the EU, 1.5 percent, while the US GDP growth in 2025 is projected at 2.5 percent. The other BRICS countries are also projected to have growth well above 2 percent. What do you make of the numbers? In your opinion, why are the Western economies stalling?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: Indeed, the Chinese economy has shown very strong resilience, great potential and vitality. China has been the largest contributor to global growth for the past 10 years, contributing around 30 percent to the world economic growth. We have full confidence in achieving this year's economic growth target.
After more than 40 years of sustained and rapid development, the Chinese economy has ushered in a phase of transformation to high-quality development, along with further opening up to the outside world. We are confident and happy to provide more opportunities for and share more development dividends with other countries.
For the situation of Western economics, I’m looking forward to more professional analysis from experts. What I would like to stress is that China believes that a universally beneficial and inclusive globalization represents the trend of global development. China advocates openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, rather than bloc confrontation. Unilateralism and protectionism, as well as the abuse of the concept of national security by expanding its scope arbitrarily could hinder the healthy development of an economy.
The Baltic Times: Concerns about cybersecurity, 5G technology, and dependence on Chinese technologies have led the EU to implement stricter measures. The EU has specifically flagged China, targeting companies such as Huawei and ZTE. Similarly, the Baltic states have blacklisted Chinese firms over security concerns. But is this issue purely political? How is China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) developing? It has stalled in the European Union, hasn’t it?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: Is there any concrete evidence indicating that Huawei or other Chinese telecom companies did threaten European countries’ national security? There is no. In my opinion, the EU countries’ concerns stand on no solid basis but ideological fear and speculations.
There is an old saying in China: “Openness brings progress, while self-seclusion leaves one behind.”
China has always advocated harmony in diversity. Differences in political systems should not affect mutually beneficial cooperation. We hope certain EU countries as well as the Baltic states could abandon ideological prejudice, respect facts, come to a decision independently and rationally that conforms with its overall interests and international rules, and provide a fair, transparent, open and non-discriminatory market environment for companies from all countries, including China.
Since the initiative was put forth in 2013, major achievements have been made, which contributed to enhancing China's friendship with participating countries and promoting their economic and social development. So far China has signed BRI cooperation documents with 155 countries and over 30 international organizations. Last year, China’s trade with partner countries reached RMB 19.5 trillion, up by 2.8 percent, a record high since the BRI was put forward. By the end of 2023, Chinese companies had established 17,000 overseas enterprises in countries participating in the BRI, with direct investment stock exceeding 330 billion U.S. dollars, while the overseas economic and trade cooperation zones built under the initiative had created 530,000 local jobs.
The BRI provides a new platform for practical cooperation between China and the EU, and Belt and Road cooperation has achieved numerous tangible outcomes. As I have said before, the China-Europe Railway Express provided over 100,000 freight train services in total several months ago. Although the current international landscape is grim and complex, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, which brings risks and challenges to the construction of the BRI. We firmly believe that the principle of "planning together, building together, and benefiting together," the philosophy of open, green and clean cooperation, and the goal of pursuing high-standard, people-centered and sustainable cooperation of BRI is in line with the general trend of international cooperation and will surely gain more and more support.
The Baltic Times: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (this interview took place at the end of December – TBT) has promised substantial tariff increases on goods imported from China. How is China likely to respond? To what extent could Europe, including Baltic countries like Estonia, suffer as a result?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: I’m not in a position to predict what will happen, but as I have said before, China will pursue a universally beneficial and inclusive globalization in terms of the global economy. Tariff wars, trade wars and sci-tech wars go against it. A stable, healthy economic and trade relationship between China and the US will be beneficial to both of the two countries as well as the world. There will be no winners in a trade war.
The Baltic Times: What is China’s role in shaping international climate change and renewable energy policies, particularly in sharing goals for carbon neutrality? How would you respond to critics who claim that China is not doing enough in this area?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: Climate change is a common challenge for mankind that requires a joint response. China is a doer in fighting climate change. As early as 2020, China has promised to scale up nationally determined contributions and has announced the aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. It’s not an easy task, it would be the largest reduction in carbon intensity the world has ever seen and the shortest time to move from carbon peaking to carbon neutrality in world history. I’d like to point out that for China responding to climate change and achieving green development is not a provisional measure under external pressure, but a strategic choice based on the new development philosophy China upholds.
Just for example, in 2023, the proportion of non-fossil energy in China's total energy consumption increased to 17.9 percent, and the proportion of coal consumption dropped from 67.4 percent in 2013 to 55.3 percent. China stopped building new coal power projects overseas as well. China's total installed capacity of renewable energy power generation reached 1.516 billion kilowatts, accounting for 51.9 percent of the country's total installed capacity, and the proportion of coal-fired power generation capacity fell below 40 percent for the first time. China's installed capacity of new energy has been ranked first in the world for many years, accounting for about 40 percent of the world's total, which is the sum of the United States, the European Union and India. China’s “new trio (EVs, lithium batteries, and solar cells) have developed rapidly in open competition, forming advanced green production capacity and making important contributions to the global energy transition.
The Baltic Times: Amid significant geopolitical tensions, what concrete plans does China have to help end the bloodshed in Ukraine and the Middle East?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: China is neither a party to nor a creator of the Ukraine conflict. We sincerely wish that the relevant countries will reach reconciliation as soon as possible and that peace in the region be restored at an early date.
President Xi Jinping laid out four principles guiding the resolution of conflicts, namely the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be observed, the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, and all efforts conducive to a peaceful settlement of the crisis should be supported.
China has played a positive role in efforts to restore peace. President Xi Jinping had in-depth exchanges with world leaders including those of Russia and Ukraine. China’s special representative has traveled intensively to mediate among different parties. China has also published its position paper, jointly issued six common understandings on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis with Brazil and launched the Group of Friends for Peace on the Ukraine crisis together with other like-minded Global South countries. All these efforts are aimed at accumulating conditions for restoring peace.
For the situation in the Middle East, China has been closely following the development and actively participated in the consultations at the UN Security Council, making every effort to promote peace talks and help de-escalate the situation. China supports all efforts that are conducive to dialogue, ceasefire and peace, and will do its best to promote the implementation of the two-state solution and a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question.
The Baltic Times: Under what circumstances would China consider using military force against Taiwan? What are China's red lines on this issue?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: Taiwan is part of China’s territory. Taiwan's question is one left over by the Chinese civil war in the late 1940s. It is a matter of China’s internal affairs, which concerns the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, brooks no foreign interference. Our policy is quite clear—we will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with greatest sincerity. Our bottom line is also quite clear—we will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland.
The determination of China to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity is firm beyond imagination. It is essential for ensuring cross-Strait peace to unequivocally uphold the one-China principle and oppose “Taiwan independence”.
The Baltic Times: As of November 30, Estonians and citizens of eight other countries, including Latvia – but not Lithuania – can visit China visa-free for up to 30 days as part of a pilot program lasting more than a year. Why was this decision made, and why are Lithuanians excluded?
Ambassador Guo Xiaomei: The purpose of granting the visa-free policy to 38 countries including Estonia is to facilitate cross-border travel and promote people-to-people exchanges, it represents China’s efforts to advocate high-level opening-up policy.
As many are aware, the former government of Lithuania had been acting in serious violation of the one-China principle and breached the political commitment Lithuania made in the communiqué on the establishment of China-Lithuania diplomatic relations regarding to Taiwan question, which caused severe difficulty for bilateral ties. We hope the mistakes can be corrected as soon as possible so that the bilateral relations can get back on the right track.