Milan Krajča: China's development is based on quality, technology and planning

Milan Krajča, Vice-Chairman of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) and Vice-President of the World Peace Council, spoke at a discussion on Czechia-China relations, sharing his personal experiences from a recent visit to China. In his speech, he focused primarily on the significance of the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan and the technological development that China is currently undergoing.

According to Krajči, Chinese planning is often perceived in Europe as bureaucratic and detached from reality. However, he believes that the experiences from the World Socialist Forum conference in Beijing paint a different picture. In his words, the Chinese five-year plan is the result of detailed analysis and a long-term strategy that emphasises stability, predictability and high-quality development.

According to Krajči, the fundamental shift is a focus on quality rather than quantity. China is concentrating on modern technologies, science and innovative industrial sectors. He had the opportunity to see these priorities first-hand in Zhejiang Province, which specialises in cutting-edge technology projects, including artificial intelligence.

He mentioned, for example, the Chinese company DeepSeek, which he says is a global leader in AI and proves that China can compete with even the most advanced Western technology companies. He spoke similarly about the Alibaba conglomerate, whose activities range from e-commerce and autonomous delivery systems to healthcare and the development of autonomous vehicles.

He also devoted considerable space to robotics and its use in medicine and healthcare. According to Krajči, this is no longer a matter of technological demonstrations for the media, but of real-world applications that have the potential to fundamentally change the way healthcare systems work.

Although he believes that the Czech Republic lags behind in these areas, Krajča sees room for cooperation. He pointed to a recent visit by a delegation from the Chinese province based in Xi'an, which offered Czech companies cooperation in energy, industry and logistics.

In conclusion, he emphasised that despite political provocations and efforts to hinder cooperation, there are real and promising opportunities for developing relations between the Czech Republic and the People's Republic of China. According to him, it is important not to overlook these opportunities and to develop them on the basis of mutual respect and a pragmatic approach.

CMG