Erik Solheim, former under-secretary-general of the UN and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme delivers a video address at the Global Times Annual Conference 2026 on December 20, 2025, in Beijing. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The Global Times Annual Conference 2026 took place in Beijing on Saturday, under the theme of "Trust in China: New Journey, New Opportunities." During the discussion on the topic "A forward-looking country: how important is 'predictability' to the world," Erik Solheim, former under-secretary-general of the UN and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme, stated that in 2025, the world experienced a lot of global turbulence, but over the past year, China has stood up as a force for global stability.

The following is the full text of Solheim's remarks:

Hello, everyone, Ni Hao. I'm really pleased to be asked to address the Global Times annual conference. This has been a year of a lot of global turbulence. But in this past year, China has stood up as a force for global stability. China has provided 5 percent economic growth, not only good for the Chinese people, but also good for the world.

China is the total dominant force in the green economy. 60percent or more of solar, wind, hydropower, electric cars, electric batteries, metros, high-speed rail, whatever you want to mention, is developed by one nation alone. That's China.

China has launched a number of good global initiatives, like the Global Governance Initiative, to help the world be more peaceful. China is now, in a year of fragmented trade, a stability in the global trade system. Nearly all nations in the world now have China as the main trade partner.

One factor underpinning this force of stability by China is that process of making the national plan. The national plan process of China is unique. No other nation is able to do this. There is a combination of a strong state with a very vibrant market, which we have seen in China since the reform and opening-up started in 1978. To do this, you need a strong state to set the targets, to make the direction, to define the goals, to take the nation in the right direction.

But you also need the forces of the market to make sure that what's decided is taken to scale, that innovation and new developments are happening. China has this unique combination of a very strong state and a very vibrant market, which many other nations struggle to develop. Some people focus on the state, and that's very important. But there's also a very vibrant market economy.

The reason why China, for example, is the leader in the solar economy is the state setting the direction, but there are also various emerging companies fighting for market share every day. Exactly the same with electric cars. The state makes the direction. But then BYD, Hongqi, Geely, all of them, even Huawei, Xiaomi, are making electric cars. So again, strong state and the market economy.

The buzzword for the 15th Five-Year Plan this year has been new quality productive forces. That will make sure that China is among the leading nations in the world, in the most important high-tech economies for the 21st century. Largely, it's the green economy, electric cars and batteries, renewable energies. It's the digital economy, and everything digital, including artificial intelligence. There's more, and also the biotech and medicine economy.

There are other areas, but these are the two main pillars. The green economy and the digital economy. In both these two areas, China can do very well for the people of China. But it can also make a massive contribution to the rest of us, to the rest of the world.

China is now the leading nation in everything green. Just in May this year, China provided 93 gigawatts of new solar energy. This amount in just one month in China is more than any nation in the world, except for China and the US, has made in the history of that nation. China also has 60 percent of the global market of electric cars. So that contribution in the renewable economy is absolutely essential to the world.

The other area is the digital economy, artificial intelligence. When DeepSeek made the new innovation and provided that to the world in January this year, they made it a global common good. Everyone can use it. We can sit in Ecuador, Cameroon or Germany, and you can use the platform provided by DeepSeek in your business. That's making them a global common good and contributing to a better world for everyone. China has a unique role to provide, based on the national plans, the technology which will shape this 21st century.

I wish you a complete success with the conference.