Why China's 2025 Two Sessions matter for its strategic horizon

Editor's note: As the annual Two Sessions commences, CGTN's Visionary Voices has launched the "Global Think Tanks Unpack China Agenda 2025" series. Authored by experts from think tanks worldwide, these articles offer cutting-edge analysis of China's advancements in fields spanning the economy, technology, rural revitalization and cultural innovation. Each piece demystifies China's growth trajectory while illuminating its global significance. The ninth article explores China's achievements in urbanization and the role of the Belt and Road Initiative in helping the Global South countries accelerate their own development, as well as China's response strategy to U.S. tariffs. CGTN's Opinion Editor Yasir Masood (PhD) sat down for an insightful online conversation with Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute in Germany, to delve into her perspectives on China's evolving global role. The article reflects Zepp-LaRouche's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

"China's capacity to redefine conventional economic frameworks through unyielding innovation establishes it as the foremost architect of an emergent international paradigm," asserted Zepp-LaRouche, underscoring the nation's fusion of technological agility and economic fortitude as the bedrock of international development. She spotlighted hubs like Shenzhen and Zhuhai, where groundbreaking developments in artificial intelligence, quantum systems and clean energy continue to drive consistent economic growth resistant to market fluctuations. Referencing data from an Australian institute, she highlighted China's leadership across 37 out of 44 pivotal technological fields, paired with breakthroughs in lunar exploration, helium-3 harvesting and fusion energy. These advancements, she contended, are not isolated triumphs but seismic shifts recalibrating both global trade dynamics and geopolitical equilibria.

Zepp-LaRouche portrayed China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a strategic counterbalance to historical colonial practices, enabling nations in the Global South to attain mid-tier economic standing via infrastructure modernization and knowledge-sharing. Contrasting Western aid models laden with stipulations, she noted that African leaders increasingly view China as an "authentic collaborator" fostering equitable development. However, she warned of external interference, citing Panama's coerced exit from the BRI under geopolitical duress as emblematic of widening fissures. "The West's fixation on containment overlooks the unstoppable tide of South-South synergy," she argued.

On Western measures targeting semiconductors, electric vehicles and green technologies, Zepp-LaRouche rejected isolationist tactics as financially untenable, stressing that the interdependence within international production networks, coupled with the rise of BRICS, which now constitutes a significant portion of humanity's demographic footprint, render such maneuvers obsolete. "Sanctions inflate costs in Western economies while fast-tracking China's tech autonomy," she observed, citing Germany's waning industrial prowess and the EU's stumbling "de-risking" policies as symptoms of strategic myopia.

As the Two Sessions are underway, Zepp-LaRouche anticipated policies that would bolster China's position as a pacifying agent in a fractured world. She emphasized Beijing's diplomatic steps in facilitating dialogue in the Ukraine conflict and its vanguard role in fusion energy, forecasting a legislative agenda prioritizing collaborative frameworks over adversarial posturing. "These sessions must champion technological sovereignty and BRICS cohesion to offset Western dominance," she urged, advocating for measured, forward-looking strategies to mitigate geopolitical strife.

Zepp-LaRouche predicted the 2025 Two Sessions as a defining juncture for international governance. "China's aptitude to synchronize homegrown advancements with global partnerships presents a template for planetary equilibrium," she concluded. Beijing's deliberations could ultimately dictate whether the 21st century embraces unified progress or entrenches ideological schisms, positioning China not merely as a participant but as an arbiter of humanity's trajectory.

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