China’s Positive Impact on the World in 7 (Recent) Examples

When it comes to a lot of media outlets (the overwhelming majority), it’s a well-known fact that controversy sells and that negative news or analysis tends to improve ratings. As such, while we tend to hear a lot about the things that are less than stellar in China, far less attention is given to the many improvements one cannot help to observe.

In no particular order, here are the seven most representative examples of situations in which China has recently and relatively recently had remarkably positive contributions to society:

1. Scientific breakthroughs. For example, China successfully cloning monkeys in a Shanghai laboratory in 2018, an extremely significant breakthrough in light of the similarities between monkeys and our species, paving the way for human organ cloning and transplants. Aside from medical research breakthroughs, China was involved in anything from moon probes to artificial intelligence… to potential moon missions aided by artificial intelligence!
2. Climate change, especially in light of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. China made its political move by filling the void left by the United States and has actually made tremendous progress when it comes to climate change collaborations with the EU and roughly 170 other nations. It is of course true that China remains an extremely significant source of pollution, but the fact that steps are being made in the right direction gives us valid reasons to be optimistic
3. Similarly, China has manifested a clear willingness to fill other voids left by the increasing tendencies of withdrawing from various obligations of the United States, a state of affairs made clear by examples such as China’s attitude in Davos at an event market by the absence of President Donald Trump
4. The Belt and Road Initiative of 2019, with China investing over 100 billion RMB in the Road Foundation, funds which will be used for much-needed infrastructure spending in neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Myanmar. From roads and bridges to energy infrastructure and sanitation infrastructure, this initiative provides important aid to less developed nations, enabling China to consolidate its position as a regional geopolitical player
5. On the same note, China’s commitment to investing in Africa represents yet another net contribution to humanity. Of course, there are long-term advantages associated with this approach for China as well but in the end, enabling African nations to experience decent economic growth can only be a win-win situation
6. United Nations contributions, with China raising its contributions to UN peacekeeping initiatives in both funding and manpower, from covering just 3% of UN-related costs in 2013 all the way to over 10% in the present. For the 2015 – 2020 period, China has pledged to contribute $1 billion to UN peacekeeping efforts
7. Being more flexible when it comes to allowing imports, an attitude in line with the growing percentage of its GDP represented by internal consumption, with China even organizing the first international import expo. Needless to say, the 1.4 billion Chinese market is a dream come true for any exporter, an extremely large and increasingly affluent market which can bring about generation-defining gains for well-positioned players