Interview: China’s economic growth vital to global development, economic stability, says Egyptian expert

China’s economic growth plays a key role in promoting global development and maintaining global economic stability, an Egyptian expert has said.

“China defends the causes of developing countries on the international stage, and also plays an active role in important international organizations such as the Group of 20 and the BRICS,” said Mohamed Fayez Farahat, director of Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Farahat said that China-proposed initiatives, including the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Global Development Initiative (GDI), reflect China’s contribution to global development and support for developing countries and emerging economies.

The BRI is important given the wide participation of countries and its positive impact on the global economy, the expert said, highlighting that the BRI “enriches the concept of development, which is a basic issue that concerns developing countries.”

“This gives the BRI a philosophy different to other international initiatives that only focus on trade and neglected development, or on political dimensions,” Farahat said.

The expert, who has traveled to China several times, said he has witnessed in person a big transformation in the country, attributing China’s development achievements to such factors as the internal consensus among the people and the fact that China works according to plans “with specific terms and goals.”

“I believe China provides an important model for the concept of a development-based country, which is an attractive model for emerging economies in the world,” Farahat said.

In the past when the world saw economic crises, China greatly contributed to restoring the stability of the global economy, he said, expecting China to play an even greater role in this aspect.