A detailed analysis of all the opportunities that China offers the world was the main topic of the seminar in the historic premises of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute in Prague's Lesser Town. The event, organised by iportaL24.cz in cooperation with China Media Group (CMG) and under the auspices of the Czech-Chinese Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was accompanied by a friendly atmosphere and a clear call for cooperation, peace and stability.
The debate responded to the annual meeting of the All-China People's Congress (ACPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). During this year's dual session, key documents were approved, including the outline of the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). „This action plan for China's high-quality development also presents a new ‚opportunity list‘ for the world,“ emphasized in his opening remarks the representative of China Media Group (CMG) Mr Zhang.
„The meeting highlighted the need to expand high-quality opening up to foreign countries, develop global markets widely and better connect the international cycle. This reaffirms China's firm resolve that China's door opening will only expand,“ Mr Zhang said. „Since the beginning of this year, the new quality productivity in China has been in full swing. From the global success of China's big models, to the amazing performance of intelligent robots at the Spring Festival Gala, to the film economy activating the consumer market, China, this oasis of stability is constantly spawning new development opportunities,“ he joined.
China will pay more attention to building a modern industrial system and emphasize the development of key areas such as artificial intelligence, he said.
He revealed that the Chinese economy is no longer in a „growth at all costs“ mode, but is focused on high-quality development, with new high-quality productivity at its core. The outline of the „Fifteenth Five-Year Plan“ proposes to increase the supply of high-quality technologies, focus on key areas such as integrated circuits, machine tools and biomanufacturing, and make decisive breakthroughs in core and core technologies.
Mr Zhang noted that strategically important new industries such as quantum technologies and brain-computer interfaces are being actively developed. He also talked about the development of the green economy. „Since this year, China has officially switched from dual control of energy consumption to dual control of carbon emissions, supporting the transformation towards a green and low-carbon economy. The newly established fund will provide long-term and stable financial support for green technologies. Thanks to these measures, China's economy is not only stable but also continuously creating new growth centres of gravity. From intelligent robots to new energy vehicles, from artificial intelligence to green technologies,“ described a representative of China Media Group.
China plans to unlock a new space for global cooperation. It is in global affairs that it is playing an increasingly important role. „China's development cannot do without the world and the world's prosperity needs China. This interdependence is the basis for building deeper cooperation between China and Europe, as well as between China and the Czech Republic,“ Mr. Zhang mentioned.
According to him, there is a wide scope for deepening cooperation in many areas between the two countries. „The Czech Republic has strengths in precision engineering, automotive and other traditional industries, while China has a huge market and a rapidly developing new quality productivity sector. The two sides can work together in high-tech, green energy and digital transformation. China and the Czech Republic can strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, new materials and other cutting-edge fields to jointly promote innovation and development. Strengthening exchanges in education, tourism and culture can deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the two nations and lay a solid foundation for long-term and stable relations,“ added the CMG representative.
CMG President also sent greetings to the participants Shen Haixiong. „As shown in a global opinion poll conducted by CGTN, more than 80 percent of respondents appreciated that China's concept of high-quality economic development sets the trend for the development of the world economy. It brings more valuable stability and positive energy to today's volatile world,“ said, among others, the president of CMG.
His words were complemented directly in the hall of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute by the Ambassador of the PRC in the Czech Republic Feng Biao. He said China was opening its arms to Europe to share opportunities for development. „It always considers Europe a key partner in its modernisation and opens its arms to all countries,“ said the ambassador, adding that work is being done to develop Czech-Chinese relations. „We are now working with the new Czech government, so we have a very positive outlook for the future of our cooperation,“ Feng Biao praised the new cabinet of Andrej Babiš (ANO), whose approach contrasts with the previous government of Petr Fiala (ODS). He also recalled the recent meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries, Wang Yi and Petr Macinka (Motorists), at the Munich conference, which resulted in a commitment to „expand friendly cooperation“.
The interest in mutual positive relations was also demonstrated today by video contributions of MEPs Ondřej Dostál (ENOUGH!) and Ivan David (SPD). „Rivalry is not appropriate. Instead, it is better to promote friendship, peace, prosperity and partnership. This is what the business meetings should serve to teach Chinese and our businessmen how to take advantage of mutual benefits, mutual synergies. In order to achieve common prosperity, it is important to look for ways to position Czech Republic products on the Chinese market and to take advantage of innovations that have succeeded in the People's Republic of China in the Czech Republic, but also in other third countries where we can work, invest together,“ urged Dostál.
According to David, there is not enough space in the EU for even closer cooperation in trade and culture. „And there is still a suspicious, even hostile attitude towards China on the part of the leaders of various countries. This is partly due to a persistent mentality of superiority, especially in the former colonial powers. The view of China today is not realistic and, despite its growing technical dominance, China is still credited with producing cheap and low-quality products. It is time to start tapping into the Chinese experience,“ David said.
Chairman of the Board of the Czech-Chinese Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vojtěch Filip mentioned specific things where the Czech Republic can benefit China. One example was clean air and clean water. „This relates to the technologies we have always built here in the past. After 1990 there was a boom here in air purification by desulphurisation of power plants and so on, but we have world patents in water purification and we can offer these in terms of technology and technological cooperation, both at the level of supply but especially by setting up joint ventures or service organisations that would be able to repair and service the equipment at any minute in the wastewater treatment system. Because it's not just about regular maintenance, it's about not discharging that water into the environment,“ described Filip.
Former Prime Minister and Chairman of the ČSSD Jiří Paroubek However, he compared that the foreign trade between China and the Czech Republic is unbalanced. „We all know that. If the vision had come true as we imagined it 20 years ago when I was prime minister, it would have looked a little different. Unfortunately, foreign trade between our countries is a bit dependent on political developments. Not in China - that is stable, it is predictable. It is dependent on political developments in the Czech Republic. And it moves in sinusoids here,“ Paroubek mentioned the difference in the attitude of individual domestic governments towards the PRC.
This was smoothly followed by the editor of the weekly Our Pravda Helena Kočová, who had just returned from a trip to China three days before the event, where she had attended the double session in person. „We're planning for a couple of years here, and maybe with every government, with every election, the situation changes, which makes it terribly difficult to try to work together,“ Kočová said. However, she also sees huge potential in mutual relations. „When we talk about cooperation, it is good to understand the size of the market. The Chinese middle class alone now numbers over 800 million people. And more than half of the economy is based on domestic consumption, which the state wants to further strengthen. And this is where I see a huge scope for the Czech Republic,“ said a journalist specializing in the PRC. „There are many opportunities for cooperation today. The question is not whether they exist. The question is whether we can take advantage of them,“ she said.
Member of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Josef Nerušil (SPD), who will be sworn in next week, mentioned a concrete example in the form of electromobility. He admitted that he is a big fan of it. „But I'm not a fan of the way the EU is trying to force electromobility. Because that's our European approach - to make standards, rules and regulations, impose something on people and wonder why the capitalist system doesn't react much to it, even with all the various subsidies, subsidies and so on,“ criticized, adding that it would be necessary to go in incremental steps, not in leaps and bounds. „Sometimes we tend to scoff at the word five-year, that it's such a pejorative term, but on the contrary, we see that it is thanks to the five-year plan that the development of electromobility is thriving in China,“ Nerušil leveled.
He was smoothly followed by the Vice-Chairman of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Milan Krajca. „It is good to remember that it was the Five-Year Plans that were behind the extraordinary development of the People's Republic of China in recent decades. From 1953, when the first Five-Year Plan was announced, China has undergone a tremendous transformation until today. After centuries of humiliation, it has gone from being a country that was poor and subversive to one that is second, perhaps even first, in many respects in the world. And I am convinced that this is in large part because our Chinese friends are practicing thoughtful development under the leadership of the Communist Party of China precisely by thinking about development over the long term through five-year plans,“ Krajča said.
Long-time MP and current regional councillor of the Central Bohemia Region Jiri Kobza (ENOUGH!) stressed that the key words used were „peace“ and „stability“. „In today's world, when basically the whole Middle East is on fire, when the conflict in Ukraine is not ending, when the war between Afghanistan and Pakistan continues, plus various tribal frictions and so on, peace and stability are becoming terribly important,“ Kobza pointed out.
„Wars will one day end, leaving behind disrupted, plundered and starved countries, which will of course have a huge interest in being able to reconstruct and rebuild. And I am convinced that it is China's enormous potential that will play a decisive role in the post-war order.“ Kobza added.
The Chairman of the Czech-Chinese Association also spoke in a positive spirit Pavel Havranek. „Most of all, I wish China to continue on its path. I thank it for its ability to share its technology with the world and its willingness to continue to help developing countries,“ said Havránek, who was joined by other members of the association at today's event - Karel Nedbálek a Jiří Novák. Nedbálek, an experienced manager and university lecturer, mentioned that while China has developed over the last 30 years into its current form, „we have lost 30 years“. In this context, he said that a book „China and Us“ is being prepared and a publisher is being sought. He offered to cooperate with the Chinese side in publishing it.
Energy expert Vladimir Vlk He then stressed that the main thing that struck him personally about the 15th Five Year Plan was the emphasis on sustainable development. „In environmental protection or low-carbon technologies, China is somewhere else compared to Europe. China has percentages there that are realistic. Whereas Europe puts unrealistic values in the Green Deal,“ Vlk said it is important that China sets economic, social and environmental conditions for development. „And these are the three pillars that must be respected at the same time. Whereas the European Union has only the environmental pillar. It doesn't care about social issues at all, and that's the biggest problem.“ Vlk added.
Political scientist and columnist, assistant to MEP Kateřina Konečná Vitek Prokop (ENOUGH!) said that the only real way to fulfill Europe's strategic autonomy is through cooperation with China. „Unfortunately, this autonomy will only be illusory as long as dozens of US military bases are scattered across our continent. Then you cannot conduct a sovereign foreign policy,“ warned.
Regional Councillor of the Ústí Region and candidate to the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Ivana Turková looked at the whole thing not only from the point of view of her profession as an economist. „China is the world's largest economy, which affects the whole world globally. But I'm not just an economist who relies on concrete numbers, I'm a woman and a mother. And what I hate from the bottom of my heart is any aggression, any war, any hurting of anyone. And I am very sympathetic to the fact that what China is putting a huge emphasis on is peaceful development.“ Turková stressed.
Chairman of the HOME Party David Tiger Ploc In his speech, he compared what China provides with what the United States provides. „China offers open arms, cooperation and friendship, while the United States offers only very expensive invoices for armaments and war. That is simply a fact. China has never started a war. Now, let's have a reverse conversation about whether there's ever been a military conflict in which the United States hasn't participated.“ Ploc asked himself a rhetorical question.
He was thematically followed by the Chairman of the Czech Friends of BRICS Martin Teyrovsky. „The positive news is that we are entering the Age of Aquarius, and I believe, according to the predictions, that we are entering a thousand years of peace, even if it doesn't look like it now. I believe that the military situation will quickly come to a close and the whole planet will enter a new age. And there you can see that China has taken the reins and is taking it where everyone needs it to go.“ praised Teyrovsky.
Pavel Mrštík, assistant to MEP Ondřej Dostál, reiterated his readiness to cooperate with the PRC. „We are in favour of cooperation and we will do everything we can to establish further contacts and be able to network,“ he stated.
In her final speech, the statutory vice-chair of the ČSSD Jana Volfová summarised the biggest difference between Europe and China: „In China, these people just work. And it doesn't matter if they have a high position or if they are workers. For them, it's a given that when there's a problem, they go to solve it. Our politicians tactfully bypass the problem and expect someone else to solve it. And that's the trouble. We are declining because we don't solve problems, we go around them, while China is growing for the opposite reason.“
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