2018年CRI Innovation next stage of China's development: Cambridge Vice-Chancellor

 

“Mr. Trump¹ has very weak popularity ratings and I think he has to energize² the people who voted for him in the first place to try to get them out to vote in the mid-term elections. So I'm hopeful that overtime³ that saner⁴ heads will prevail and in fact we will not be heading towards what some people are calling a trade war.”

                                                                                 --Stephen Toope, Vice⁵-Chancellor of Cambridge University

China's economy is at the core of discussions at the ongoing⁶ China Development Forum⁷ in Beijing.

The annual event brings together globally renowned⁸ scholars as well as executives of Fortune Global 500 firms to discuss the next stage of China's development.

During his speech at the opening of the forum, China's Vice Premier⁹ Han Zheng described the country's shift toward high-quality development, and the emphasis China is placing on the further opening of its economy.

For more on China's economy and the international situation it's within, CRI's Yang Guang has spoken with Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, who is a guest of the China Development Forum.

Q: The first question is about the morning session. The Vice Premier emphasized multiple times of China's high quality development and opening up. What's your perception of this high quality development? 

A: I think that the Vice Premier obviously articulating the decisions of the party congress is really on the right track here. I think the first 40 years of China's opening and development have largely been focused around the evolution of manufacturing and the ability to produce goods that the world wanted. And the next stage is actually through research and development in innovation for China to be contributing to the big ideas and new products and new services that the world will be needing over the course of the next 40 years. So I think that does require a different focus in development, it requires huge investments in education at all levels, I think it also implies that there has to be real investment in research capacity within China both in the public university system and through investments of private corporations as it's happening in new research facilities. 

Q: Opening up is stressed multiple times at this forum. But there's a world trend of protectionism. What's your take on that? 

A: I suppose I'm an optimist¹⁰ by nature and I'm hopeful that some of what we're hearing right now is largely rhetorical flourishes that are designed to attract certain audiences at a particular moment in time. That moment in time in the United States is the upcoming mid-term elections. Mr. Trump has very weak popularity ratings and I think he has to energize the people who voted for him in the first place to try to get them out to vote in the mid-term elections. So I'm hopeful that overtime that saner heads will prevail and in fact we will not be heading towards what some people are calling a trade war. We're certainly not there yet. While being realistic, I think that there is an impetus¹¹ in parts of the world for closing down instead of opening up, but I would say there're other parts of the world that just have to keep resisting this and finding the connectivity, finding the partnerships¹², and if it means that for temporary reasons, we may see a lessening¹³ of engagement with some places, then we have to see more engagement with other places. 

Q: What's your top concern at this forum? 

A: I would say my top concern is to ensure, as was spoken about his morning in the Vice Premier's address, that we don't forget why some of these tendencies that people are worried about, such as challenges to free trade, ideas of nationalism that in some countries that have been heightened, why is that happening? I do believe that a large part of that relates to a sense that many people have that they have not benefitted from globalization over the course of the last 25 years. And there's actually truth to their concern if you look at the United Kingdom with Brexit and the election of Mr. Trump in the United States. I think one of the key factors in both cases was the reality that there has been no income growth in either of those countries for the last decade. In other words, many people feel that they're not better off than they were, and even more importantly, they're worried that their children will not be better off than they were. So I hope that, although we still see now growth in the world economy, we see tremendous progress in China, that we don't forget those people who feel left behind because I think if we do, then we're going to confront even more resistance to what actually is beneficial for the largest number of people but could be prevented from happening by those smaller groups that really feel disenfranchised and disempowered.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 energize   

vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量

参考例句：

• It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
• This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒，可以激活你的能量，让你有更多的活力！

3 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

4 saner   

adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 )；神志正常的；明智的；稳健的

参考例句：

• He seemed wiser than Hurstwood, saner and brighter than Drouet. 他看上去比赫斯渥明智，比杜洛埃稳舰聪明。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Such brooding didn't make him any saner. 然而，苦思冥想并没有使他头脑清醒。 来自辞典例句

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

8 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

9 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

10 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。

11 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

12 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

13 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。