Ian Bremmer: China’s rising influence ‘inevitable’

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US President Donald Trump is enjoying his visit to Beijing and tweeting that he had an unforgettable experience at the Forbidden City. He also expressed his "appreciation to President Xi and Madame Peng."

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Trump’s "successful and historic visit" to Beijing on Thursday afternoon, as the two leaders addressed the issue of tensions on the Korean Peninsula and bilateral trade relations at a press conference in the Great Hall of the People.

Things like the China-US trade relation, particularly the complaint from the American side, have been resolved. But the president of Eurasia group, Ian Bremmer, shared his worry on "the possibility of real confrontation on trade" as well as stressing on rising influence of Chinese model "inevitable."

Ian Bremmer, author and president of Eurasia group, receives an interview by CGTN. /CGTN Photo

"I think quite saying inevitable. But certainly today, the average Chinese is happier with Chinese model while the average American is [happier] with the American model. That’s the extraordinary thing to say," Bremmer told CGTN on the sidelines of APEC.

Bremmer’s word could be backed by China’s strong economic performances. The country is one of the major momenta of the global economy, whose GDP expanded by 6.9 percent in the first three quarters compared to the same period last year, official data shows.

Citing stronger than expected economic performance in the first half of the year and continuous policy support, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2017 and 2018 to 6.8 percent and 6.5 percent respectively on early October. Both a 0.1 percentage point higher than their previous forecast in July.

China's foreign trade volume rose by 15.9 percent year-on-year to 22.52 trillion yuan (3.39 trillion US dollars) in the first 10 months of this year. /VCG Photo

In that case, Time magazine’s latest edition is better understood, which directly declared "China won" on its cover in both English and Chinese-language editions last Friday. And Bremmer, as its author, caused quite a stir.

He concluded in the article that China is better positioned to lead the global economy, writing that "If you had to bet on one country that is best positioned today to extend its influence with partners and rivals alike, you wouldn’t be wise to back the US the smart money would probably be on China."

"I think everybody needs to be discussing the fact that the liberal democracy model right now doesn’t fulfill the purpose for the 21st century," Bremmer noted.

Ian Bremmer, author and president of Eurasia group. /CGTN Photo

On Wednesday, Bremmer began the first session of APEC CEO Summit with comparing discontent towards globalization to the love deprivation after marriage. He also said that we should snap out of this complacency; otherwise, there would be "divorce" like Brexit.

"Because of the chronic condition, it is not the sudden crisis. I mean there are a lot of geographic tensions in the world right now, but none of them have affected the US. So the America is losing the ability to get other countries to follow our model," Bremmer said.

But Bremmer, still shared his worry on "the possibility of real confrontation on trade," even with the total 253.5-billion-US-dollar worth of deals signed.

"We are not going to have world war three because the US and China expand their powers in such different ways. China is not a military power globally. The US is. So that’s not the concern," Bremmer stressed. "But the possibility of real confrontation on trade I think is very significant. I do worry about that. And I do worry about proxy fighting between the American and the Chinese over other issues."

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