China will remain a major contributor to global growth and a key economic partner to the European Union (EU) as long as the country successfully tackles the demand side of its economy and work with the EU to achieve a level playing field in trade and investment, said a German economist.
Lars-Hendrik Roller is founder and chairman of Berlin Global Dialogue, an economic forum bringing together experts from various sectors. He is in Beijing to attend the China Development Forum (CDF) 2025, which has attracted representatives from a wide array of multinational companies as well as organizations from around the globe.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of the CDF, Roller shared his insight into how China can effectively address problems in the consumption sector, while also expressing confidence in the supply side of the world's second largest economy.
"I think these recent consumption-related activities are important, but the problem is they take time and it's also a matter of trust. The saving rate is, I think, 50 percent in China, so it's very high, but I think still the supply side of China is very impressive. You look at recent developments in AI and the dynamism also in the car industry. I think the country, if it manages this trust and confidence issue well, then I think there's quite a lot of fundamentals in China. Given that the situation stays stable, which I think it will, this country is going to make a major contribution [to global growth]," he said.
The chairman also pointed out that Europe is becoming increasingly aware of the need to rethink its foreign policy amid a shifting global landscape.
"China is a world leader and a big economy. So I think one of the things which I alluded to earlier is that as the world is changing and as maybe Europe is realizing that alliances are being redefined to some extent, I think that Europe should also be ready and open up towards (this). There's a debate in Europe where we need to basically build relationships with the rest of the world, also the Global South," he shared.
Roller said a level playing field is needed for both sides to expand their economic cooperation in a multipolar world.
"I think now it's being reassessed for the developments which are taking place. But I think that a more constructive relationship, a multipolar world is something we should move towards. And economic relationship, [if we] look at trade or investment over many many years, has been very strong. From a European point of view. I think China could be very well a partner where we could work together more on some of this development, some of these technologies, assuming that the level playing field is there," he said.
German economist on China's consumption sector, EU-China economic partnership
German economist on China's consumption sector, EU-China economic partnership
It's impossible to build a system of governance that ensures artificial intelligence (AI) systems always operate and police themselves in alignment with both human and machine well-being without the participation of China, American columnist Thomas L. Friedman said in an article on Tuesday.
Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and the author of "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century," attended the China Development Forum 2025 held on March 23 and 24 in Beijing.
Based on what he saw and heard during the event, Friedman published an article in the New York Times titled "What I'm Hearing in China This Week About Our Shared Future" on Tuesday.
"There is an earthshaking event coming — the birth of artificial general intelligence (AGI). The United States and China are the two superpowers closing in on AGI — systems that will be as smart or smarter than the smartest human and able to learn and act on their own," the article reads.
Friedman cited an M.I.T. Technology Review report on the "16 humanoid robots" that danced on stage during China's televised Spring Festival gala this year which read: "Clad in vibrant floral print jackets, they took part in a signature ... dance, twirling red handkerchiefs in unison with human dancers."
Friedman wrote in his column that "In their day job, these robots work assembling electric vehicles. Dancing was just their hobby."
"The advances that China has made on AI in just the past year have made it absolutely clear that Beijing and Washington are now the world's two AI superpowers," Friedman wrote.
He mentioned a recent report by Morgan Stanley describing China's dominance over the West in the humanoid robot industry, saying the country is home to a majority of the top-listed companies in this sector.
Noting AI systems and humanoid robots offer so much potential benefit to humanity, Friedman warned they could also be hugely destructive and destabilizing if not embedded with the right values and controls.
He repeatedly stressed the importance of collaboration between the U.S. and China in AI.
"Because what Soviet-American nuclear arms control was to world stability since the 1970s, U.S.-Chinese AI collaboration to make sure we effectively control these rapidly advancing AI systems will be for the stability of tomorrow's world," Friedman wrote.
"China has greatly narrowed the gap with us and surpassed the other democracies. This can't be done without Beijing. So guess who's coming to dinner. It's a table for two now," he said.
Friedman wrote in the article that "Once AGI arrives, if we are not assured that these systems will be embedded with common trust standards, the United States and China will not be able to do anything together."
He pointed out that in this case, neither side will trust anything they trade with the other, because AI will be in everything that is digital and connected, including cars, watches, toasters, chairs, implants, and notepads.
"So if there is no trust between the U.S. and China and each of the two countries has their own AI systems, it will be the TikTok problem on steroids. A lot of trade will just grind to a halt, with only soybeans for soy sauce sold to each other," Friedman wrote, saying "It will be a world of high-tech feudalism."
Friedman said he was taken with a speech by Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari during the conference, who said that "We should build more trust between humans before we develop truly superintelligent AI agents. But we are now doing exactly the opposite. All over the world, trust between humans is collapsing. Too many countries think that to be strong is to trust no one and be completely separated from others. If we forget our shared human legacies and lose trust with everyone outside us, that will leave us easy prey for an out-of-control AI."
Global AI governance cannot happen without China: American columnist
