In a lively discussion on the CGTN debate show Talking China live-streamed on Monday, experts clashed over China’s role as a developing nation within the Global South.
Liu Zhiqin, a senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, asserted that despite China’s impressive gross domestic product (GDP), significant regional disparities persist. “If you go to the western part of China, even the central or southwestern regions, you can see big differences with the first-tier cities,” Liu explained.
Liu argued that China’s status should be assessed beyond GDP figures, emphasizing the shared history of countries in the Global South fighting against colonialism and imperialism. He believes these factors solidify China’s place within this group.
Contrasting Liu’s perspective, Li Cheng, founding director of the Center on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong, highlighted China’s rapid economic growth. “China is the second largest economy in the world, and its GDP per capita keeps rising,” Li noted.
Li disagreed with portraying China as a poor nation. “I don’t think the world, whether it be the West or the South, looks at China in that light,” he said. Li emphasized the importance of empathy between countries, regardless of their status, to foster better mutual understanding.
The debate sheds light on the complex narrative surrounding China’s global position and prompts a deeper examination of what defines a developing nation in today’s world.
