The Global Times Annual Conference 2026 was held in Beijing on Saturday, under the theme of "Trust in China: New Journey, New Opportunities." Experts and scholars engaged in discussions on the topic "A forward-looking country: how important is 'predictability' to the world." Wu Xinbo, Dean of the Institute of International Studies of Fudan University, said China's development has advanced through exploration. While the journey has not been smooth sailing, China has clear goals and strong execution capabilities, and it can grasp the future direction of industries and the trend of international cooperation, thus winning growing trust from the world.

Wu stated that the international community's comparison between China and the United States has been particularly prominent this year, and during his exchanges with Americans, their evaluations of China have mainly focused on three aspects.

First, China's goals and direction for the next five years are very clear, and it has strong execution capabilities to deliver on its commitments. In contrast, US policies are often swayed by rotation in ruling parties, making it difficult to sustain long-term plans.

Second, developments represented by progress such as DeepSeek have made some Americans realize that China not only holds advantages in manufacturing, but is also capable of achieving technological progress and driving economic development through the large-scale commercial application of advanced technologies.

Third, in the new energy industry, many Americans, particularly the Democrats, believe that China has taken the world's leading position, while the US relatively lags behind in this regard. In their view, the energy industry bears on a country's competitiveness and economic status, which is why some Americans feel both anxious about and envious of China.

When talking about the China-US comparison, Wu argued that many in American society not only struggle to judge the country's trajectory in the next five years, but also harbor deep concerns about its political, economic and social outlook even for the next three years. In addition, during the current US administration, some of the policies have shown a retrogressive tendency - including the emphasis on unilateralism, the advancement of tariff measures, and the greater focus on traditional energy sources - which has left many observers with the impression that the US has taken a wrong turn in its national direction.

Wu said that for a long time in the past, the international community generally regarded the US model of development and governance as a replicable template, but this perception is now eroding. Against this backdrop, "China's performance in many fields has made the world see it as a paradigm that worth learning in the future."


Global Times