Speech by Ambassador Cui Tiankai at the U.S.-China Business Summit
崔天凯大使在中美产业合作芝加哥峰会上的演讲
It is a great privilege to join you this morning in Chicago. Let me thank China Investment Corporation and Goldman Sachs for co-hosting this business summit.
非常高兴参加今天的活动。感谢中投公司和高盛共同主办今天的峰会。
This is indeed a very impressive gathering of business leaders of both countries. We need a strong voice from the business communities of both countries. You cannot leave it all to us diplomats to say all the right things. Neither can you leave it all to the people in Washington, D.C. to say all the wrong things.
这是中美两国工商界一次非常重要的聚会。我们需要两国工商界发出有力的声音。你们不能把这一切都交给我们外交官，好像只有我们在讲正确的话；也不能把这一切都交给华盛顿那些政客，让他们去讲那些错误的话。
My host asked me to say something about bridging the divide. I think there are pressing needs to address this issue, because more than ever before, people are so connected and divided at the same time. So I would like to share some of my thinking on some basic divides in today's world from the point of view of political economics.
主办方要我谈谈“弥合鸿沟”。我认为这是一个非常迫切的问题，因为人们从未像今天这样紧密相连，却同时又有如此大的鸿沟。我想从政治经济学角度，谈谈我对当今世界几个基本鸿沟的认识。
First, we have to deal with the economic and social divide in many countries. Over the past few decades, technological progress has greatly enhanced productivity, creating huge wealth around the world. So ideally, everybody should be better off.
第一，我们必须要解决好许多国家面临的经济社会鸿沟。过去几十年，科技进步极大提高了生产力，在全球范围内创造了巨大的财富。按理说，每个人都应该从中受益。
But the fact is the gap between the better-off and the worse-off is still growing even in some developed economies. On the one hand, there is a concentration of wealth and power. On the other hand, there is marginalization of so many people not only economically but also socially and culturally. This is not just because technological progress is too fast for the society to adapt. More important, I believe the neglect and lack of will to act on the part of some policymakers for an equitable sharing of the newly created wealth are also responsible. Clearly, this is not a matter of external trade. It is a matter of domestic governance.
然而事实是，即使在一些发达国家，贫富差距还在扩大。一方面，财富和权力日益集中到少数人手里。另一方面，很多人不仅在经济上，而且在社会和文化领域也被边缘化了。我认为，这不仅是因为社会无法适应飞速发展的科技，更重要的是，决策者们忽视且不愿采取行动，来公平地分配新增财富。很明显，这不是什么外贸问题，这是国内治理问题。
This growing divide will hurt not only the prospects of economic growth, but also social cohesion and political stability. Now technological progress is continuing, even at a faster pace. We have all seen how IT has changed the way we produce and do business. Now the emergence of AI could, in an even more significant way, change production, consumption, social interaction, and even our daily life. So there is a real possibility that economic and social divide could grow even wider and deeper. So all of us share the responsibility to help adapt to these tremendous changes and make sure that the newly created wealth will benefit more people.
不断扩大的鸿沟，将不仅破坏经济增长前景，也会伤及社会团结和政治稳定。现在科技进步还在加快发展。我们已经看到信息技术如何改变我们的生产和经营方式。人工智能的出现可能会对我们的生产、消费、社交甚至日常生活产生更加巨大的影响，经济社会鸿沟有可能进一步扩大和加深。所以我们大家都有责任去推动适应这些巨大的变化，确保新增社会财富惠及更多人。
Second, we have to address the international divide. Globalization has changed the world economic and political landscape. Many countries have seized the opportunity and thus achieved development. But still there are many other countries that are left behind. Even for the fast-growing emerging markets, poverty is still a formidable challenge. So the international divide between the more developed and the underdeveloped is still clearly there. But already in some parts of the developed world, people are getting worried that their developing partners are catching up too fast and becoming too competitive. And we see a clear rise of protectionism and economic nationalism in many parts of the developed world. I think we should all be alarmed by this emerging trend.
第二，我们必须应对国际鸿沟。全球化改变了世界政治经济格局，许多国家抓住全球化机遇，实现了发展，但也有很多国家被抛在了后面。即使对许多快速发展的新兴经济体而言，贫穷依然是其面临的巨大挑战。因此，发达国家和发展中国家之间的鸿沟仍然明显存在。尽管如此，一些发达国家却已经开始担心发展中国家发展得太快、竞争力太强。在这种情况下，我们看到发达国家的保护主义和经济民族主义日益显现。我认为，这一趋势应该引起我们所有人的警惕。
Economic growth and technological progress has its own logic. Higher productivity drives the expansion of the world market which, in turn, stimulates more economic development and spread of technology in more places. And this is a positive development. It creates opportunities for all. A world that is always divided between a few highly developed and a large number of underdeveloped holds little possibility or prospect for lasting peace and sustainable prosperity.
经济发展和科技进步有其自身的规律。生产力的提高使市场向全球拓展，而这又促进了更多地区的经济增长和技术推广。这是积极的动向，有利于为所有人创造机遇。如果少数发达国家和众多发展中国家之间总是存在巨大的鸿沟，那么世界实现持久和平和持续繁荣的可能性就很小。
Of course, with more countries growing, there will be more competition. But competition is also a good thing. Competition rather than protection makes everybody more competitive. In today's world, very often competitors could become partners as well. So we should be more open to competition. We should welcome and even encourage more competition. Even though sometimes we might lose, we still should be positive about competition – being ready to take risks, being open to competition, and always being resilient. I think this should be what entrepreneurship is all about.
当然，随着越来越多的国家发展起来，竞争会越来越激烈。但竞争也是好事。让我们更有竞争力的是投入竞争，而不是奉行保护主义。当今世界，竞争对手往往也可以成为合作伙伴。所以我们应该以更开放的态度来对待竞争，积极地看待竞争，欢迎并鼓励更多的竞争。即使有时候可能会在竞争中失败，但我们仍应该保持积极的态度——随时准备承担风险，以开放的态度迎接竞争、始终坚韧不拔。我认为这才是真正的企业家精神。
We recognize that a key element for competition is fairness. We have to make sure that competition is fair, and that there is a level-playing field. At the same time, against the background of very different levels of economic development among countries in the world, absolute reciprocity is not fairness. It could be very unfair.
竞争的一个关键因素是公平。我们必须确保竞争是公平的，并提供公平竞争的环境。与此同时，各国经济发展水平差异很大，在此背景下，绝对对等并非公平，而是极大的不公平。
Thirdly, we have to deal with the divide between 21st-century realities and outdated policies. Today, we live in a world that is pretty much globalized. We have global opportunities as well as global challenges. No country can handle all this by itself. And no country can prosper in isolation. But now we see policies that attempt to close the door and resort to unilateralism. And to succeed in today's world, the best choice is to take a win-win approach. But now we see policies that are so strongly influenced by the zero-sum mentality as well as policies that regard other people's success as their losses. Perhaps they believe that by doing this, they could gain more. But I don't think such a mentality would be helpful to anyone.
第三，我们必须处理好21世纪新现实与陈旧的政策之间的鸿沟。今天我们生活在一个高度全球化的世界，面临的机遇和挑战都是全球性的，任何国家都无法单独应对，也没有哪个国家能在孤立中实现繁荣。但是现在我们看到的却是试图关闭大门并诉诸单边主义的政策。要在当今世界取得成功，最好的选择是采取双赢共赢的方式。但是现在，我们看到的却是受零和博弈思想强烈影响的政策，是将他人成功视为自身失败的政策。这些人也许认为，这样做可以使其获得更多的利益，但我认为这种心态对任何一方都没有好处。
If you want a bigger share of the pie, let's work together to make the pie bigger so that everybody could have a bigger share. Following the zero-sum mentality however, you could lose the share you already have in your hands.
如果你想要更大的一份蛋糕，那就让我们一起把整个蛋糕做大，这样所有的人都能分得更大的一份；如果笃信零和博弈，那么已经到手的蛋糕很可能不保。
Recently, there has been so much talk about a possible trade war between China and the United States. So let me make this clear: Trade is for mutual benefit. War is about mutual destruction. A trade war will only destroy trade itself. So such policies are not in line with the reality of the 21st century. They did not even solve the problems of yesterday, still less the problems of today and tomorrow. So I believe the business community should give the policymakers good advice in a hope that they will adopt good policies.
最近大家都在谈论中美可能爆发贸易战，我想强调：贸易是互相获利的，战争是相互摧毁的，贸易战只能毁掉贸易。贸易战政策同21世纪的现实严重脱节，它们没有解决得了昨天的问题，更不可能解决今天和明天的问题。我认为，工商界应该向决策者们提出明智的建议，推动他们采取积极的政策。
And last but not least, the best way to bridge the divide is to enhance connectivity – not only in infrastructure, but also in cyberspace, trade, finance, policies, and people. And in this regard, the Belt and Road Initiative is an excellent example. It was designed and initiated exactly for the purpose of enhancing connectivity throughout the world so that everybody could share the opportunity of development and remove the divide more effectively. So I hope there will be stronger participation by the business communities of both countries in this Initiative.
最后，同样重要的是，弥合鸿沟最好的方法是互联互通，即实现政策沟通、设施联通、贸易畅通、资金融通、民心相通。从这一意义上来说，我认为“一带一路”倡议是一个极好的例子，它的设计和提出都是为了提升世界各国之间的联通，让所有人都可以共享发展机遇，从而更好地弥合鸿沟。我希望中美两国工商界能更加积极地参与“一带一路”倡议。
In conclusion, let me say there are still significant divides in today's world. Our job is to help narrow and bridge these divides so that we will have greater prosperity and equitable sharing of the benefits. Let's work together closely to build a bridge over the troubled water today.
当今世界仍然存在着巨大的鸿沟，我们应该弥合鸿沟，创造更广泛的繁荣，更公平分配红利。让我们携起手来，在急流险滩上架起那座弥合鸿沟的桥梁。
Thank you.
谢谢。