Foreign minister says Chinese economic prospects are good for the region, which should not be treated as a ‘geopolitical chessboard’.
Southeast Asia stands to gain from China’s economic development, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday, while dismissing regional concerns over the country’s slowing economy . In his first press conference since succeeding Wang Yi in the role two months ago, Qin also stressed that the region should not be treated as a “chessboard for geopolitical contest”. “Some are concerned about China’s economic outlook. I think that’s quite unnecessary,” Qin said, noting that international institutions have recently revised their growth forecasts upwards for the world’s second-largest economy. “I believe as China accelerates high-quality development, promotes high-standard opening up and fosters a new development paradigm, it will surely bring new opportunities to all countries in the world, especially regional countries.” Qin was fielding a question on whether the region had found it increasingly difficult to rely on China – its largest trading partner – for economic development as the Chinese economy faced downward pressure.
