China’s Spokesperson Identifies Physical Economy: “It’s about making people’s lives better”

August 28, 2026August 28, 2026 Lawrence Africa, China, electicity, Global South, high-speed rail, Infrastructure, physical economy, rice, US

*Examine the exponential growth of electricity in China in a mere forty years*.

*China, in 2000 had zero high-speed rail trains, in 2025 it has 50,000 kilometers of rail, more than the rest of the world combined.*

August 28, 2026

The true measurement of an economy is not money, not macro statistics, not stock market indexes: it is the improvement in the material standard of living of the population. Liu Chang, Spokesperson for the China Embassy, speaking on July 31, described the elementary metric of economic development: It’s about making people’s lives better.

As the Chinese understand very well, a key factor in improving the standard of living of its population, requires massive infrastructure investments. The Chinese government are unsurpassed, among all nations of the world, in expanding vital categories of infrastructure that are indispensable to increasing the productivity of their entire economy. As African nations have experienced, without infrastructure, especially electricity and rail, real economic growth will be thwarted, if not impossible. Examine the two graphs above. These images are startling. However, they should not be shocking. For the last two generations China has concentrated on industrializing its economy, becoming the leading nation in manufacturing, ship building and the refinement of critical minerals. This has resulted in lifting 700 million of its people from abject poverty and improving the standard of living for all members of its society. China is committed to assisting the Global South, which encompasses the majority of the world’s population, land mass, and minerals. As the U.S. led Western alliance of nations thrash about in their collapsing rules-based order, China and the Global South can create a new system, a new paradigm of political-economic relationships premised on a common share future of economic development for mankind.

The presentation below is reprinted from the August 21, 2026 issue of Executive Intelligence Review magazine,

From a Grain of Rice to a World of Greater Equality—China and the Global South: A Story of Shared Development

*Liu Chang, Spokesperson for China Embassy*

by Liu Chang, July 31, 2026

Ladies and Gentlemen, first of all, I want to say thank you to the Schiller Institute for inviting me. It’s my real pleasure to join you today. Today’s topic is “A Dialogue of Civilizations: Development or World War III,” so I will emphasize the part of development, and share some thoughts of how China sees global development. My title is “China and the Global South: A Story of Shared Development.”

When it comes to development, people tend to think of GDP, investment, or massive infrastructure projects. But for most families, development looks much simpler. It means having lights during the night; roads remaining open through the rainy season; a doctor available when someone falls ill; a young person learning skills that lead to a decent job. These may sound like ordinary things, but that’s exactly what development is about. It’s not about making the numbers look better; it’s about making people’s lives better. Development matters when a family can feel the difference, and when an entire community can share in its benefits.

Not long ago, I read a story about farmers in Madagascar planting hybrid rice developed in China. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, these varieties can produce between 9 and 11 tons of rice per hectare, compared with about 2.8 tons for traditional local varieties. Those figures are more than statistics. To a local farmer, they could mean something more tangible; fuller granaries, a little more income, and a better chance of keeping a child in school.

So, what can a single grain of rice tell us? It reminds us that development cooperation is only meaningful if it improves ordinary lives. And in today’s inter-connected world, it raises four larger questions: How do we make development more inclusive? How do we protect it with lasting peace? How do we enable different civilizations to learn from one another? And how do we build a fairer system of global governance? These are exactly the questions that China has been seeking to answer.

China’s Four Global initiatives

First, how can the fruits of development benefit more people? China proposed the Global Development Initiative in 2021. Under the initiative, more than $23 billion have been mobilized and over 1,800 cooperation projects launched. But numbers alone do not tell the whole story. The more important question is whether these efforts can change people’s lives for the better. In Madagascar, as I mentioned earlier, change means higher yields from the hybrid rice. In Papua New Guinea, change could be a stand of Juncao grass allowing small farmers to grow edible mushrooms without cutting down forests, while creating new sources of income. Or it could be a Luban workshop in Kazakhstan, where local students learn practical skills in areas such as renewable energy, automation, and rail transportation based on the needs of local industries.

What China seeks is not simply to deliver a project and move on. It is to work with local partners to develop skills, share appropriate technologies, and create opportunities that can take root, continue to grow, and benefit local communities over the long term.

Rice is flourishing in Madagascar, the island nation which now has Africa’s largest area cultivating high-yield, hybrid rice. In 2007, China launched the hybrid rice demonstration center project in Madagascar, one of 10 such ag-tech specialty centers across the continent.

Second, what protects the gains of development? For many developing countries, security means far more than the absence of war. It also means hospitals can continue to operate during floods, droughts, or public health crises. It means stable access to food and energy. It means having the resilience to emerge from challenges. A war can destroy a school overnight. A severe natural disaster or public health emergency can set back the development of an entire community for years.

This is why China proposed the Global Security Initiative in 2022. It calls for a vision of security that is common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable. It emphasizes resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, while also addressing global challenges such as food security, energy security, public health, and climate change. Peace is the foundation on which development grows. And development itself can help address the root causes of conflict and instability, creating stronger foundations for lasting peace.

Third, can different paths of development respect and enrich one another? China’s answer is yes. Every country has its own history, culture, and path of development. Cooperation should not begin with the assumption that one country must first become a copy of another. True civilizational exchange is not about one side changing the other, nor replacing the other. It is about learning from each other with equality and respect, drawing inspiration from different experiences, and allowing diverse civilizations to grow together through dialogue rather than compete through exclusion.

In 2023, China proposed the Global Civilization Initiative, which recognizes that the greatest value of mutual learning between civilizations is not to erase differences, but to make those differences a starting point for mutual understanding and mutual reinforcement.

Last but not the least, who should shape global rules, and whom should those rules serve? Today, the contribution of the Global South to global development continues to grow. Yet in some international institutions, its representation and voice remain limited.

In 2025, China proposed the Global Governance Initiative, which emphasizes sovereign equality, the rule of international law, multilateralism, a people-centered approach, and action-oriented cooperation. The goal is not to tear down the existing international system or start over from scratch. Rather, it is to make that system more representative, more effective, and better able to respond to the concerns of developing countries. Global rules should be shaped through the participation of more countries, not written by a few and simply accepted by the rest. The affairs of the world should be discussed and decided together. And the benefits of development should be shared by all.

These four Global Initiatives reflect China’s vision for the future of our world: development gives people hope; security protects that hope; civilizations help us understand one another; and governance provides fairer institutions for shared progress.

From Poverty to Development

China has always been a member of the Global South. We have experienced the long journey from poverty to development, and we understand that there is no single model for modernization, nor any shortcut that can simply be copied and pasted. China is willing to share its experience, but not turn that experience into a prescription for others. We are willing to provide support, but not make decisions on behalf of our partners. We are willing to build bridges, roads, and hospitals, but we also want to work with countries around the world to develop the talent that allows people to shape their own future.

China looks forward to continuing to work with countries around the world so that development is no longer the privilege of a few, but a right shared by all; so that modernization is not painted in a single color, but reflects a landscape of diverse paths and possibilities; and so that every country and every people can take part in shaping our shared future.

Thank you very much.

Read below my earlier post on this topic.

Will China’s Global Governance Initiative Replace The West’s Failed “Rules Based Order?

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X @lkfreemansafrica

No Strategy From Pres Trump: We Need A Franklin Roosevelt, Today

April 17, 2026April 17, 2026 Lawrence Bretton Woods, development credits, Donald Trump, Franklin Roosevelt, Global South, Iran, regime change, rules-based order, strategy

Please watch our one hour dialogue offering unique analysis and solutions for these tumultuous and dangerous times

April 17, 2026

On April 12th, 2026, the 81st anniversary of the death of President Franklin Roosevelt, we discussed in the dialogue above, the current perilous state of world affairs. Presently, the Western political-financial elite, which sometimes goes by the name of the rules-based international order, is in disarray, collapsing. It is displaying a complete incompetence in dealing with the multiple crises facing civilization.

We should not insult the concept of genuine strategy by using it to describe President Trump’s conduct in his preemptive, unilateral regime change war against Iran that is entering its eighth week. True political strategy comes from a vision of the future, an idea in one’s mind, of how to improve conditions in the world. President Trump’s decisions are made on a day-to-day, sometimes hour to hour, in a haphazard manner, with no uplifting vision for the future of humankind. His lack of strategic thinking is not only endangering the world with the potential for new and expanded wars, it is also causing harm to the citizens of the United States,

Before the United States even entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt had developed in his mind a Grand Design for the world following the defeat of the Third Reich. A critical element of his strategy was to provide economic assistance to the less developed nations, to assist them in raising their standard of living. This was to be accomplished through long-term development credits with the creation of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), known as the World Bank today. President Roosevelt understood correctly that unless conditions of life improved for all people of every nation, we would never achieve lasting peace and security. That is why he made the IBRD the essential feature of his Brenton Woods Conference of July 1944. However, President Roosevelt’s policies, and his vision for the post-war world died with him on April 12th, 1945, even before Brenton Woods agreement was officially enacted. For eighty years, with some notable exceptions, the world has been dominated by the rules based-order with its diseased zero-sum mentality.

Today we have a collapse of the global system, which has ruled the world since the end of World War II. We desperately need a new paradigm to govern relations between nations. A paradigm based on development, which is in the common interest of all nations, as President Xi Jinping has emphasized, all nations have a shared common future. Therefore, it is incumbent on the so called advanced sector nations to align themselves with the needs of the majority of the world that is designated as the Global South. These nations of the Global South represent the majority of the world’s population, occupy the majority of the globe’s land mass, and are endowed with the largest concentration of natural resources and critical and rare earth minerals.

It should be obvious to every leader, that it is in a country’s national self-interest to eradicate poverty in every nation, as President Roosevelt well understood.

Read below my earlier posts on this topic.

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, consultant on Africa, and an analyst of global strategic relations. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, also publishes on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World, and on X @lkfreemansafrica

Will Africa Nations Replace U.S. Regime Change War vs Iran With New Paradigm For Development?

March 26, 2026March 26, 2026 Lawrence Africa, Donald Trump, Global South, industrtialization, Infrastructure, Iran, poverty, regime change, rules-based order

March 26, 2026

We are now in the fourth week of President Donald Trump’s regime-change war against Iran. There is no country in the world that is benefiting from this preemptive assault on the nation-state of Iran, which includes the potential for an expanding war. It is not in the interest of United States, it is not in the interest of the nations of the Middle East and Gulf, and it is certainly not in the interest of African nations.

No people, no nation, benefit from this neocon policy of military intervention to change and shape weaker governments around the world. In fact, this unnecessary war highlights the failings of the world economy and exposes the weaknesses of the economies of African nations. African nations are now paying more for everything. As I highlighted in the discussion above, the priority, the primary mission for the nations of Africa is: to become industrialized nations. This requires massive investments in infrastructure, in particular the generation of electricity and high-speed rail connectivity. The nations of Africa will always be vulnerable and will always suffer from any disruption in the world economy because their own economies have not been sufficiently developed.

The current Western based rules-based international order, which has dominated the world for four score years with its diseased ideology of zero-sum game winners and losers is collapsing. The focus of the Global South, which Africa is a large component of, should be to create a new political-economic system whose purpose is economic development. This requires, that during this time of extreme crisis, nations should focus on forming alliances with agreement on the critical task of developing their economies. This will require industrialization, massive investments in new infrastructure, and the nurturing of a healthy manufacturing sector that can produce the products needed to raise the standard of living of their people.

Peace through development, which I am advocating, is a more effective and advanced policy than President Trump’s so called peace through strength.

Watch and listen to my unique analysis for Africa in the video above.

Read below, my earlier posts on this topic.

Trump Adopts Neocon Regime Change: Was His MAGA A Hoax?

US-West Rules Based Order In Denial Regarding BRICS & Africa

Energy Poverty Is Killing Africans & Preventing Industrialization

Trump Expelling South Africa from G20 Is US Strategic Error

December 19, 2025December 19, 2025 Lawrence Afrikaners, BRICS, Donald Trump, G20, genocide, Global South, Marco Rubio, Ronald Lamola, South Africa, US

December 19, 2025

The decision by U.S. President, Donald Trump, to exclude South Africa from the G20, during the U.S. Presidency, is an afront to the entire G20, Africa, and all nations of the Global South, which are the majority of the world. The U.S. is now the President of the G20 from December 1, 2025, until the G20 Leaders’ Summit in December 2026. For this one year period, South Africa will suffer no harm while waiting for its participation in the G20 to be restored in 2027 when Great Britain will become the President of the G20. However, the same cannot be said for the U.S., which will experience a decline in esteem among nations throughout the world. It is still not too late for Trump to reverse his dreadful decision and function as an American Statesman in the footsteps of Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and John Kennedy; the latter two were loved by Africans.

Trump Violates the G20

The first official act of the United States’ Presidency of the G20 was on December 15, 2025, with the meeting of the G20 Sherpas and Finance Officers. However, unlike every other orderly transition for the last twenty-five years to a new Presidency of the G20, South Africa, a founding member of the G20 was excluded by President Donal Trump. The motivation for this egregious, unprecedented action by President Trump is his distorted geopolitical view of the world. There are no mechanisms in the G20 that allow the exclusion or addition of new member nations by a single nation. Such a decision can only be made by the consensus of the entire group of G20 nations.

According to the G20 South Africa website, the G20 was founded in 1999 as a response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997– 1998, as an informal forum for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the most important industrialized and developing economies to discuss international economic and financial stability. The G20 was upgraded to the level of Heads of State/Government in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007, and in 2009, when it became apparent that the necessary crisis coordination would only be possible at the highest political level.

The role of the G20 is to create the foundation for global economic stability, a vital catalyst for economic development…

G20 is composed of nineteen nations, reputed to be the wealthiest, representing around 85% of the global Gross Domestic Product, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population, plus the European Union and African Union, a recent member.

Some U.S. officials have questioned South Africa’s right to be a member of the G20 since it is not one of twenty the wealthiest nations. As the most industrialized nation in Africa, and a leader politically and morally on the continent, South Africa’s membership is more than justified. With Africa projected to have one fourth of the world’s population by 2050, it would be strategic folly to not include South Africa in the G20.

Lies About South Africa

U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in his article, America Welcomes a New G20 statedept.substack.com, exposes the outright venal lying attitude of the current U.S. presidency against the government of South Africa.

Rubio writes:

President Trump has rightly highlighted, the South African government’s appetite for racism and tolerance for violence against its Afrikaner citizens have become embedded as core domestic policies. It seems intent on enriching itself while the country’s economy limps along, all while South Africans are subject to violence, discrimination, and land confiscation without compensation.

Rubio perpetuates two lies.

One, anyone familiar with South Africa knows that the government does not have embedded policies of violence against Afrikaners. Two, land is not confiscated without compensation.

Rubio is not willing to stretch his lies as far as his boss, President Trump, who on multiple occasions has accused the South African government of practicing genocide against “white” Afrikaners. There have been accusations that white farmers have been killed and their land confiscated. No evidence has been provided to support such a claim. South African “whites” are in large part represented by the Democratic Alliance, a member of South Africa’s coalition government, who unequivocally deny Trump’s accusations of genocide. Additionally, leading Afrikaner groups have insisted that there is no genocide against Afrikaners in South Africa. Contrary to Trump encouraging “white” South Africans to emigrate to the U.S., leading Afrikaners have implored them to stay and participate in the development of South Africa, which they rightly consider their nation.

Rubio disingenuously whines that South Africa blocked the U.S. and other countries’ inputs into negotiations. It actively ignored our reasonable faith efforts to negotiate.

For these reasons, President Trump and the United States will not be extending an invitation to the South African government to participate in the G20 during our presidency.

This is the height of hypocrisy. It was Trump who refused to have an official U.S. representative at the G20 in Pretoria. In reality, as a result of Trump’s boycott of the G20 Summit, there was no one from the U.S. to negotiate with.

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, speakng at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa

In his Response to Secretary Rubio, South African Minister Ronald Lamola, emphasized that,

South Africa is a founding member of the G20, no single member of the G20 has a unilateral right to exclude South Africa from the G20…South Africa’s Presidency was built on a simple, powerful belief: that treating Africa and the Global South as equal partners and honestly addressing the systemic macroeconomic issues that impede their growth, is not an act of charity, but a strategic imperative for a stable, prosperous world.

It is a matter of public record that the United States chose not to attend our G20 meetings. Given that absence, the notion of our “sabotaging” consensus is not just incorrect, it misunderstands the very purpose of a forum like the G20. Our role as host was not to force agreement, but to create the conditions for it: a table of equals, governed by the spirit of Ubuntu. That spirit, “I am because we are”, is not a slogan. It is the philosophy that steered our nation away from the precipice of bloodshed and towards reconciliation. (emphasis added)

Admittedly, South Africa has serious challenges with its economy and has one of the highest crime rates in the world. However, it is abundantly clear that Trump’s groundless attacks on South Africa will not contribute to South Africa’s progress. More portentously, they are not intended to help South Africa.

Trump Falsely Attack South Africa

On February 7th, 2025, less than three weeks after Trump assumed the presidency of the United States, he launched his campaign against the nation of South Africa. In his Executive Order, Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa, Trump asserted that South Africa was undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests.

It is the policy of the United States that, as long as South Africa continues these unjust and immoral practices that harm our Nation:
(a) the United States shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa; and
(b) the United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.

He then proceeded to cut off $400 million in funds for South Africa in its fight against the AIDS virus, which kills more South Africans than any other population.

*President Trump spread lies about genocide in South Africa*. *Courtesy You Tube Al Jazeera*

Earlier this year, Trump started spreading the slander that South Africa is practicing genocide against white farmers in particular. It is reported that Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, first propagated this falsehood to Trump, who continued to spread this lie even after his breakup with Musk several months later.

To this day, absolutely no evidence has been provided to support this accusation of genocide. The Democratic Alliance, which represents many of the white farmers in South Africa has rejected Trump’s claim as nonsense.Trump preceded, without regard for the truth, to confront President Cyril Ramaphosa when he visited the White House in May of this year, displaying pictures of graves Trump alleged to be white South African farmers. In reality, these photos were actually graves from another African nation. Statistics of deaths in South Africa indicate that more black farmers have been killed than white farmers. Read: Trump’s Attacks on South Africa Are Wrong and Not in the True Interest of the USA

Trump’s Failed Presidency

Trump won both his first and second campaigns to become president as an outsider, not anointed by the Eastern Liberal Establishment. This was a positive feature of his presidency for which he was ruthlessly and unfairly victimized in his first term. Due to the harsh treatment he received in his first term as president, one could understand his lack of accomplishments in foreign and domestic policy. However, instead of making him stronger and more thoughtful, he has allowed his rage and thirst for revenge, among other weaknesses, to have thus far produced a failed presidency when it comes to Africa and the Global South. His inability to rise above the fray and articulate a vision for America that is coherent with a Grand Design for the world, (think Franklin Roosevelt) to promote global economic development, has shown to be a devastating defect in his character. Combined with his lack of an in-depth understanding of the principles of the American System of Political Economy, (think Alexander Hamilton) upon which America was founded, Trump has not succeeded in advancing a true American policy for home and abroad.

Despite his accurate criticisms of the “transatlantic elites” for imposing their ideology on the world, and his efforts to establish a more positive relationship with Presidents Putin and Xi, Trump is still a psychological prisoner of the West’s “rules-based international order.” Thus far, he has not succeeded in freeing his mind from the “zero-sum” mentality that dominates the “rules-based order.” Unfortunately for the U.S. and the world, Trump’s thinking is contaminated with this perverted world view.

Is Trump’s exclusion of South Africa from the G20 yet another attempt to weaken African nations and prevent them from assuming leadership positions in global institutions? It appears that under Trump, African nations will be reduced to cogs in the supply chain of rare earth minerals for the U.S. Trump’s marginalization of Africa is on display in his new National Security Strategy, which allots three paragraphs to Africa, despite the reality that Africa will be at the center of commerce in the next twenty-five years, with its burgeoning population markets. Read: Trump Security Doctrine Rightly Criticizes ‘Trans-Atlantic Elites’-But Strategically Flawed. Fails to Prioritize Africa

*BRICS and Global South growing. Courtesy of en.wikepedia.org*

Why South Africa

I will repeat here what I wrote earlier this year, because of its accuracy.

Let me be bluntly honest: I know that the nation of South Africa is no security threat to United States or our allies. The real crime, if you will, committed by the government of South Africa, is not to bow to the will of the United States and the so called rules-based international order.

Specifically, South Africa has provided international, moral, political, and economic leadership in the following spheres of its foreign policy:

South Africa’s courageous leadership in bringing before the International Court of Justice, the charge of Israeli genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza, which is specifically cited in the Executive Order: “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice.”
South Africa’s membership as the first African nation to join the BRICS, which is emerging with its nineteen members and partners, as an institution of growing influence and leadership of the new dynamic of the Global South. President Trump falsely views the BRICS as an enemy of the U.S., having twice said he will destroy the BRICS with a “100 percent tariff” and on February 14, declared that the BRICS is dead.
South Africa is a strong ally of China on the continent, and as a member of the BRICS has a close relationship to Russia. Iran, another target of the rules-based order is also a member of the BRICS. There are many “China-hawks” in President Trump’s cabinet and among his close allies, who following in the footsteps of Presidents Obama and Biden, erroneously assert that China is the number one enemy of the U.S. However, South Africa’s relations with member nations of the BRICS can be an advantage for U.S. policy.

Before the final G20 Heads of State Summit in December 2026, when the presidency is transferred to Great Britain, Trump still has the opportunity to amend his arbitrary exclusion of South Africa. For Trump not to repair its relationship with South Africa, would be a critical strategic error on the part of the U.S., further undermining its leadership in the world.

Read below my earlier posts on this topic:

Trump’s Attacks on South Africa Are Wrong and Not in the True Interest of the USA

U.S. Attacks South Africa For Its Moral Leadership & China Alliance

Advancing Human Life and Creativity: Foundation of Domestic & Foreign Policy

October 31, 2025October 31, 2025 Lawrence Africa, BRICS, creativity, development, Global South, Infrastructure, rules-based order

Watch above, my heard hitting, provocative discussion with Rasheed Muhammad, and learn the secret to all domestic, economic, and foreign policies, which the rules-based international order stubbornly rejects at their own peril, October 16, 2025

October 31, 2025

The planet is undergoing massive change–the political and economic tectonic plates are shifting. As we go through this incredible phase change across our planet, Africa is in a position to help determine its own direction and how it will cooperate with other nations. The western centered rules-based international order is no longer the dominant determinant force in the world. Its power and control are weakening. The emergence of the Global South, which represents the overwhelming majority of the world’s population, resources, and number of nations, is on the rise. In many ways, the leader of the Global South is the BRICS, and China in particular.

This creates an opportunity for Africa to develop its full potential, which will require massive investments in infrastructure, particularly energy and rail. Africa needs at least one thousand gigawatts of additional energy, and an additional 100,000 kilometers of rail lines. Despite what some people think, we will not achieve democracy or so-called good governance, without an improvement in the standard of living of the majority of the population of African nations. This requires an increase in the production of physical goods to satisfy the material needs of a population projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050. All the hundreds of billions of dollars spent fighting violent extremism has not worked.

President Franklin Roosevelt had intended the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development-the World Bank, to lend capital to the developing sector, to assist in building up their economies. After his death, the Bretton Woods system rejected Roosevelt’s outlook, with the Western financial institutions refusing to provide the necessary credit for economic growth.

Therefore, we need a new paradigm. A paradigm that understands that the most important aspect of our global economy is the improvement in the material standard of living of the world’s population. This will require a new credit system, a new financial architecture dedicated to bringing about economic growth and development. The West has done nothing to reduce the poverty level in the world. China has, by lifting over seven hundred million people out of poverty. Either out of ignorance or intention, the so called advanced sector has allowed world poverty to reach almost seven hundred million people—a crime against humanity. The extreme poverty level in Africa is approaching five hundred million people, which is immoral!

As a result, in our multipolar world, with the emergence of the Global South, we may come into a new phase where we will have two systems operating at the same time. The failed rules-based international order and Bretton Woods will compete against a new system, one based on development and led by the Global South and the BRICS. Andsupported by the majority of nations. During this process, the rules-based international order with its zero-sum ideology has to be weakened to the point that nations will no longer be treated like pawns on a chess board. The ideology of the rule-based international order is extreme. Their belief structure, that only the strongest should dictate policy according to their rules is actually evil. It is against the natural ordering of the world.

The essence of foreign and domestic policy must be the elevation of human life. Human beings are the only species uniquely endowed with the power of creativity. If policies are not promoting the development of the material existence of human beings, which is the prerequisite for the nurturing of his or her creative powers; it is the wrong policy and will fail. It is only the human species bequeathed with the power of the creative imagination that is in harmony with the development of our planet.

Read below, my earlier post. Africa Determining Its Own Future in a New Multipolar World

Freeman: Ethiopia Is Becoming An Economic Pillar Of Africa

June 26, 2025June 26, 2025 Lawrence Africa, BRICS, China, GERD, Global South, Infrastructure, port access, US, wheat production

Lawrence Freeman was interviewed by Addis Assefra on “Talk to OBN”-June 9, 2025

June 26, 2025

Watch my 23 minute interview posted above, in which we discussed the following subjects:

Benefits to the Horn of Africa for Ethiopia to have a negotiated agreement for port access to the coastal trade routes
Economic progress in Ethiopia
Ethiopia reaching higher levels of wheat production, including new export potential
GERD exporting electricity to nations in the region
New dynamic of the Global South and BRICS, which Ethiopia is a member
Need for massive infusions of infrastructure to achieve the goals of AU’s “Agenda 2063”
U.S policy towards Africa

You can view below my earlier posts:

Completed Ethiopia Dam-GERD Can Power East African Nations

Ethiopia Has A Commitment To Build Up Its Manufacturing Base

With Manufacturing, Modern Farming & Energy From GERD, Ethiopia Can Be A Leading Economy in Africa: Interview

Ethiopia Prioritizes Growth in Manufacturing

Hamilton versus Wall Street: Relevance to Ethiopia & Africa

Rules Based Order in Crisis: Losing Global Domination

May 3, 2025May 3, 2025 Lawrence American System, Anglo-American Establishment, BRICS, China, Global South, physical economy, President Trump, rules-based order, US

On April 24, 2025, I gave a lecture to the Rising Tide Foundation, which one viewer called: a geopolitical masterclass. My presentation ends at minute 42, and is followed by 35 minutes of discussion.

May 3, 2025

The world has irreversibly changed. The Anglo-American Establishment, also known as the rules-based international order, which has ruled the world since the end of World War II with brief exceptions, is in its most severe crisis in four score years. The multi-national world of the Global South, led by China and the expanded BRICS, represent a new dynamic. As you can hear from my lecture and read in my two recent articles below, the West is aware of its failings, noting that China is far ahead of the United States in vital categories physical economy. To challenge China’s economic superiority, the U.S. establishment would have to abandon their predatory financial system and revive the centuries’ old American System of Political Economy. Do the American elites and Presidency even understand the American System, and are they willing to reform their monetarist predatory system? Is President Trump capable of steering such a new direction for the U.S.? Their existential challenge is; can they survive and continue to exert global domination without resorting to war?

Read my earlier posts below:

U.S. Attacks South Africa For Its Moral Leadership & China Alliance

December 20, 2024December 20, 2024 Lawrence Africa, BRICS, China, Global South, Naledi Pandor, rules-based order, South Africa, US Congress

*South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Chinese President Xi Jinping (courtesy of the Pan African Review.*

December 20, 2024

The Republic of South Africa has been under attack in 2024, by the 118^th United States Congress. Thses attacks may escalate in the new Republican administration.

Congressman John James (R-MI), sponsored H.R. 7256-HR7256/text– earlier this year, which was voted up by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and may become law in a vote by the full Congress before the end of this year. South Africa is accused of threatening U.S. security by maintaining a dialogue with the Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation, and People’s Republic of China, all of which are members of the BRICS. In H.R. 7256, Naledi Pandor, then South African Foreign Minister, is singled out. South African President, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Pandor are also vilified for bringing Israel’s genocidal behavior against the Palestinian people to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a United Nations created court. Cong. James also criticizes South Africa for participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. His proposed legislation recommends, that upon review by the State and Defense Departments, South Africa could be removed from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

On October 29, 2024, six Republican Congressman wrote to President Biden:

Pretoria [South Africa] has consistently failed to demonstrate a consistent fidelity to the rule of law and routinely takes measures to undermine our nation’s vital security interests – both clearly contradict AGOA eligibility requirements…and merit re-evaluation of South Africa’s inclusion as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country

In this over the top assault, the letter also accuses South Africa of filing a “baseless claim” before the ICJ. The final paragraph exposes the motivation of these Congressman:

South Africa’s unmitigated embrace of the Chinese Communist Party raises further national security concerns and a present challenge. At the urging of the People’s Republic of China, South Africa is preparing to close Taiwan’s representative office in Pretoria by the end of the month. Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the President conducts an annual review of beneficiary states. As you conduct this statutorily prescribed annual review, we urge you to re-evaluate whether South Africa should continue to benefit from AGOA preference benefits, and make it known to the South African authorities that they risk losing these benefits if they pursue this unjustified course of action against Taiwan. There is no reason why our nation should continue providing economic benefits to a country that consistently and proudly prioritizes the interests of Beijing and Moscow over America’s. (emphasis added)

There is speculation that President Trump will make an example out of South Africa and punish South Africa politically by removing it from AGOA. This scenario is not farfetched. Trump has already declared he will wage war on the BRICS, if he believes they are undermining the supremacy of the dollar in currency transactions among themselves. Also, President Biden has used AGOA, a commercial trade agreement, to politically punish African nations, including Ethiopia. We shall see if the new president ironically follows in the footsteps of his predecessor.

*Anti-apartheid leader and African National Congress, ANC member Nelson Mandela raises his fist while addressing a crowd in Tokoza, during his tour of townships, Sept. 5, 1990 (courtesy voanews.com)*

Why South Africa Targeted?

The dominance of the rules based order’s diseased ideology of a zero-sum world of political relationships, has put South Africa in the crosshairs of the U.S. Its political-economic association with the nations that Washington characterizes as the “axis of evil,” especially China, have made South Africa a victim of U.S. animus.

As an early member of the BRICS, the first African nation to join this new formation, South Africa has played a special leadership role in the Global South.

South Africa’s historic struggle for liberation from apartheid, led by Nelson Mandella, has given South Africa the fortitude to express its moral outrage against oppression. It is not surprising that South Africa, of all nations, brought to the ICJ, the criminal oppression of the Palestinians in Gaza, by Israel. Nor should one be shocked by the vile response of the U.S. led rules-based order, to this courageous act by South Africa.

To understand why South Africa, China, and the BRICS, are targets of the rules-based order, one has to comprehend the changing dynamic in the world. The so called developed northern nations, the G-7, are experiencing the decline of their hegemony over the rest of the nations of the world. The BRICS-22 nations comprise a majority of the world’s population. The nations of the Global South, endowed with the majority of the planet’s natural resources, including critical minerals, are beginning to assert their rightful prominence. It is imperative today, at this historic juncture in the world, for the Global South to lead a movement to create a new just economic system, a new paradigm of development, for the benefit of all people of all nations.

Below is an excerpt from a discussion with Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation for South Africa, 2019-2024. Pandor eloquently expresses the aspirations of South Africa, and the Global South:

*Grace Naledi Pandor*, at *Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, March 19, 2024*.

The following is an edited transcript of Her Excellency Naledi Pandor’s presentation to Panel 1 of the Dec.7-8 Schiller Institute conference, featured in EIR magazine December 13, 2024

Our world today is experiencing a most profound and disruptive level of toxic politics, dominated by aggressive self-interest and neglect of the value of global cooperation. Multilateral bodies such as the United Nations have not been able to respond decisively. And the most powerful organ of the United Nations, the Security Council, is held hostage by great power competition and uneven use of the veto. Many commentators have referred to the past five years as a most toxic geopolitical environment, testing international relations and fraying long-established bonds that helped to avoid a world war for more than five decades. The period is also viewed by some as an inflection point, a period that offers up room for a new collective of progressive ideas that will seek to put people rather than interests first.

The South Must Step Up

There is hope that the South will step up. The concept of “South” is a contested one, as the region does not have a coherent connected grouping of nations with a shared hegemony such as exists with nations of the North. So, we are still grappling with the meaning and unity of the South. There are, however, promising signs of the emergence of new formations and policy perspectives. For example, South Africa has shown a positive commitment to international law and to the United Nations system, through its approach to the International Court of Justice in the effort to end the ongoing war against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian Territories. South Africa, in doing this, placed human rights and concern for those who suffer harm at the forefront of its foreign policy actions.

This was reminiscent of former President Nelson Mandela, who played a key role in several peace initiatives on the continent of Africa, and who shaped South Africa’s foreign policy as one that is based on the concern for others, on the promotion of human rights, and on international solidarity. So, “I care for you, because you care for me.” This relates to a very ancient African philosophy of Ubuntu, which means “I am human because you recognize in action my humanity.”

*BRICS Summit, Kazan Russia, October 2024 (courtesy voanews.com*).

A second positive development is the increased maturing of the BRICS forum into an expanded body that seeks a more inclusive approach in global politics and international partnerships. BRICS has emerged as a positive forum in that it seeks to discuss new ideas on key issues such as science, innovation, trade, international financing, and the development of the South. The establishment of the BRICS New Development Bank and its early success give further hope for the creation of new institutions and new practices.

One of the realities…the critical importance of science and innovation, is that grant funding to Africa rarely includes funding for research, funding for innovation capacity, funding for advancing science on the African continent.

We also believe that devoted attention to United Nations reform and democratization of the Security Council is another positive opportunity that we should use to reshape world relations. The General Assembly meeting of last September committed to advancing reform processes, and to making the Security Council more effective, more efficient, more democratic, and more representative.

Lastly, I believe the task of the next five decades is certainly the adoption of workable strategies for the fundamental transformation of Africa. Our continent has to address the difficult challenges of inequality, poverty, and joblessness. Africa has a significant, impatient youth population, eager to achieve a prosperous, democratic, empowering Africa. The global community should therefore work closely with our African Union to advance implementation of our African blueprint for development, Agenda 2063. In this blueprint, we set out the critical areas of development, including water, renewable energy resources, infrastructure, and logistics for intra-African trade, agriculture, and food security. And we require that our partners should provide support to the continent to enhance capacity for implementation of this development agenda. We don’t need new plans; we need to make sure that existing plans are effective and that they work to the good of Africa, to the good of all humanity in the South.

We believe that the South can be a source of progress, of peace and security. Countries of the South should embrace democracy, the practice of human rights, and respect for international law as key guarantees of the means to end the toxicity of power competition that has truly eroded human relations. In fact, the erosion of respect for human rights, of respect for international law, poses a very serious threat to the practice of science, because undemocratic governments hate the honesty of scientific research, hate the opportunity of innovation. And thus, it is incumbent on all of us to adopt the ideas set out in the Schiller Institute development framework to really ensure that all the aspects of human endeavor which advance human progress are embraced by governments in the South as well as governments in the North.

We should encourage a new human relation across the world; one that is devoted to empowering all human beings and ensuring that we develop a more prosperous, a more engaged, a more skilled humanity able to address the fundamental problems that confront all of us. Because alongside the problems, we have a human capacity—an ingenuity—of problem resolution; and we need to unite in drawing that capacity together and ensuring that we use international relations to resolve the problems of the world…

I think the notion of preparing for war is a very poor example of leadership. What we should be preparing for is using our innate abilities in order to advance the world. We’re at a point where many countries hold very worrying and lethal weapons. I come from South Africa, which is a country that agreed to destroy the nuclear weapons that it had had the opportunity to build in the apartheid era. One of the first decisions of the new government headed by Nelson Mandela was that we would be against the holding of nuclear weapons. And that while we have nuclear scientific capability, it would be put to peaceful purposes and not be directed to weaponizing South Africa against any country in Africa or any part of the world.

So, I believe that what we need is fresh thinking. We need a civil society, and particularly intellectual organizations, to be more visible and vocal in presenting alternative perspectives on how we should view the world, and setting out from research clear examples of what we can anticipate should we go the route of a negative confrontation between the most powerful in the world. This will harm all of us. If the great powers are able to reach a rapprochement, it will allow for enhanced development, particularly of the poorest countries of the South. It will set the world on a very new trajectory and would offer an opportunity for real change and independence that we’ve not had since the beginnings of the end of imperialism and colonialism on the African continent.

So, this environment, while toxic, offers a new opportunity to engage in a very different way through international relations in building new partnerships among all the various regions of the world. But it is the most powerful who must make the decision to do something positive. Otherwise, they are going to generate a reaction which will lead to the destruction of the world and increased world instability as we are seeing from week to week in different parts of the world today….

*Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Beijing, September 2024 (courtesy of semafor.com)*

China’s Role in Africa

Well, firstly it’s absolutely untrue that China has a colonial relationship with the African continent. In fact, through the partnership with China, many African countries have achieved a level of infrastructure development that they would not have achieved in the past 15 years, had it not been for resources provided from financial lenders in China.

What we have seen though more recently is rather than state-owned companies being the provider of grant or loan funding to African countries, it has become much more the private sector of China taking up that role. So, there have been concerns about increased indebtedness of African countries, but I think it’s an absolute creative imagination that suggests a similar relationship to the colonial experience. The roads that we see in several African countries, the development of railways, the building of bridges, the enhancement of port infrastructure are very different from the trade character of African countries under colonialism.

In the context of the G20, there is now much closer discussion about how the more developed countries, which include China as a G20 member, could collaborate more effectively in enhancing support to African countries. I think that’s a very positive development. Nonetheless, China remains a significant trading partner for the African continent, both in terms of exports from Africa, which are largely commodities, but also imports from China into Africa.

The change to the private sector has seen the establishment of local business plants in the African continent, so adding some productive capacity, which has for many decades been a desire of Africa. So, I think it remains a positive relationship. The issue of funding and particularly the growth in private sector debt is an area that many countries’ governments are now having to pay close attention to. But it is very different from the underdevelopment that we saw in the imperial and colonial periods. (emphasis added)

To read the full discussion click: Pandor

Read my earlier posts below:

South African Minister Pandor Speaks On Importance BRICS Economic Cooperation

South African Minister Pandor Speaks ”Truth to Power” in U.S.

South African Minister Pandor Articulates Principles of Development for Africa

Freeman Interview: Is The West’s Rules-Based Order Targeting Horn of Africa and South Africa?

A belated Happy Birthday to Ludwig van Beethoven, December 16, 1770, and an early Happy New Year to all!

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, and also publishing on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World

US-West Rules Based Order In Denial Regarding BRICS & Africa

November 29, 2024November 29, 2024 Lawrence Africa, BRICS, China, development, Ethiopia, Global South, Infrastructure, rules-based order, US

Interview with OBN-Horn Africa on November 15, 2024
November 29, 2024

The BRICS and Global South are a new reality in the multi-polar world that cannot be reversed or eliminated. It is a new paradigm based on development, not militarization. Is the West, with it so called rules-based order suffering from dementia or denial in refusing to face this new reality-this new dynamic changing the world?

Africa, with potentially six member nations in the BRICS will be in an excellent position to improve the living conditions of hundreds of millions of Africans. China, a leader in the BRICS and Global South has lifted over 700 million Chinese out of poverty. They have PROVEN it can be done with the right policies, which can be applied to Africa with 450 million still living in poverty. The Bretton Woods system and the rules-based order have failed Africa and the Global South. In the interests of the common aims of humankind, they should join the BRICS, and help develop all nations and the 8.5. billion people living on this planet.

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, and also publishing on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World

China Not An Enemy of the US, Could Be A Partner For Global Economic Development

October 1, 2024October 1, 2024 Lawrence China, creativity, development, Global South, high-speed rail, poverty, rules-based order, US, Xiangshan Forum, zero-sum

Beijing Xiangshan Forum Part II

*Courtesy of South China Morning Post, scmp.com*

October 1, 2024

Happy 75th Anniversary of New China

Read my earlier article on Xiangshan Forum: Freeman Speaks on China-Africa Strategy at Respected Beijing Xaingshan Forum

After attending three days of discussion at the 11^th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, from September 12-14, and spending over a week in China, it is apparent to me that neither the people of China nor the government, desire confrontation with the United States. However, it is also evident that China has no intention of submitting to the doctrine of the West’s so called rules-based order, with its demented zero-sum game doctrine.

As someone who has attended hundreds of conferences in Washington DC over many years, this gathering in Beijing was unique. It was comprised of a diverse and inclusive list of speakers from all over the world, with a sizable number of Americans participating. There was a refreshing open exchange of ideas with opposing points views expressed.

Over 500 delegates, scholars, security experts, and thirty defense ministers, from over 100 countries, plus a large delegation from China, attended this three day conference, as reported: Xiangshan Forum Global Times. There were thirty-six separate sessions. In the four plenary sessions, twenty-four speakers, predominantly representing their nation’s defense establishment, addressed the conference attendees. The composition of presenters was heavily weighted to the nations of the Global South. This included a dozen nations from Africa and Asia, the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Of special note, plenary speakers from the Ministry of Defense for the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the German Federal Ministry of Defense, addressed the conference. The Vice-President of the International Red Cross also delivered remarks.

Three most important and prominent themes of the conference were:

–China-U.S. relations

–China and the Global South commitment to development

–China’s challenge to Western domination through its “rules-based international order.”

China: Enemy or Competitor of U.S.?

In the first session on China-US relations the U.S. position was represented by John Richard Waters III, former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He was a key Coordinator for the U.S. Department of State for China and Taiwan for the administration of President Joe Biden, from 2021-2023. Although he repeatedly professed that he was not speaking for the Biden administration, he was the top American diplomat (former) at the conference and thoroughly knowledgeable about U.S. policy towards China and Taiwan.

Wu Xinbo, Professor, Dean of institute for International Studies, Fudan university, China, while also not a spokesperson for his government, articulated Chinese foreign policy in his exchange with Waters.

Rick Waters attempted to present a more reasonable view of U.S. attitude towards China then what one hears from President Biden and State Department on a weekly basis. Rick Waters espoused the position of the U.S. towards China as one of competition, and not always a zero-sum game. Wu Xinbo pointed out that the U.S. policy towards China is more than so called competition, but rather one of rivalry, with the U.S. treating China as an adversary. He said, if the U.S. policy towards China is not as an enemy, then it should “walk the walk” as opposed to “talk the talk.”

Wu Xinbu also accused the U.S. of being less sympathetic to China’s goal of reunification with Taiwan and that the U.S. uses the Taiwan issue to contain China.

As one who closely follows Washington’s strategy toward China, it is more than obvious that the U.S. does indeed see China as an enemy; a threat to the transatlantic political and military establishment. This hostile anti-China attitude is expressed by leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties, and the majority of the Congress. One can find, on almost any given week, a seminar in Washington DC, or a written commentary, by one think-tank or another, predicting when and how China will attack Taiwan, and suggested military counter measures the U.S. should take, even preemptively. The primary justification for the gargantuan U.S. defense budget of almost one trillion dollars, is to contain China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific theater.

*A zero sum game is one in which a participant wins at the expense of another. courtesy of phemex.com*

The Disease of the “Zero-Sum” Mindset

The real grievance that the U.S. (and the West) has with China, is its insistence to chart its own independent course of development for its people, not willing to be subservient to Western domination. China correctly, does not accept the precepts of the so called rules-based international order. Rick Waters let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, when he explicitly accused China of trying to change the rules of the West’s rules-based order. To that extent he is correct. China’s actions have produced rage in the Western establishment for its refusal to submit to their ideologically driven system.

Germany’s representative from the Ministry of Defense, was dripping with Western arrogance towards China in his presentation during the plenary session. After criticizing China for not condemning Russia, he stated the obvious, that we live in a multi-polar world. He went on to insist, that this multi polar fact must be embedded in an internationally accepted framework…the world needs rules based multipolarity.

Is it a crime for China to want to change the axioms of a structure created by the West, which is based on a false understanding of reality?

The following few paragraphs briefly explain the inherent flawed axioms embedded in their rules-based order.

The first thing to understand is that our universe and us humans in it, are not guided by rules, but rather, our ability to comprehend and act on the principles that govern our existence.

The most critically flawed axiom in the world view of those supporting the rules-based order geopolitical structure, is its fictitious view of a fixed universe. In their imagined world, the zero-sum mentality decrees that there are only winners or losers, victors or victims. This notion of “zero-sum,” stipulates that action must be taken to suppress China’s development, because it is perceived (wrongly) as a threatening hegemon to their existing rules-based order.

This warped outlook has three perilous epistemological defects. One, the actual physical universe in which the human race dwells, is not static. We do not exist in an unchanging world, where each nation is dependent for survival on acquiring a fixed, limited category of so called natural resources. Our universe is constantly advancing to higher levels of development. Two, all human beings are born with the potential for creativity, irrespective of nationality or ethnicity. We humans are uniquely endowed with the power to hypothesize previously unknown principles embedded in the universe. From this power of creative reason, not logic, these discoveries allow civilization to overcome any constraints. It is this inborn potential of creative mentation, which each of us possesses, that makes us exclusively human. Three, the physical universe is structured to respond fruitfully to human creative intervention. If we comprehend these three principles, we know unequivocally that there are no limits to the continuous advancement of our planet. There are no limits to growth!

All nations have the same common interest: satisfying the material needs of their citizens and nurturing their creativity. Thus, the anti-human, zero-sum game outlook should be abolished and replaced with the concept that humankind can act cooperatively for the benefit every nation and its people. This principle should form the corner stone of all foreign policy.

The Global South Demands Development

China’s leadership in the emerging Global South, which has led to an irreversible multi-polar world, has caused consternation in the West, even as they publicly dismiss it.

The First Plenary Session was opened by remarks from China’s Minister of National Defense, Dong Jun, whose theme was, building a community with a shared future for mankind. He discussed the shared pursuit of development, cooperation, and win-win, over conflict, and the need to abandon the zero-sum outlook. He also spoke of promoting economic development to narrow the gap between rich and poor nations.

This theme, and the linking of peace to development, in collaboration with China, was echoed by several speakers in the four plenary sessions.

Beti Assomo Joseph, Cameroon’s Defense Minister, called for a new just equitable world economic system. He said in a separate interview with China Central Television (CCTV)

“You have a Global South, it means we also have a Global North. So, if we can work hand-in-hand for all humanity so that those who have power, economic, political, or diplomatic power, can work hand-in-hand with those who are not developed or who are poor, so that there could be human solidarity. We have that dream, and we are doing that with China.

The defense minister from the Republic of the Congo, Charles Richard Mondjo, was emphatic about the need for economic development when he told the conference, no peace no development. He said the Global South was not industrialized, its economies are based on agriculture and mining. There is inequality between the North and the South; the North should reduce these inequalities. Any effort to support the Global South is an effort to support peace.

Sri Lanka’s Secretary of Defense discussed the need for a new economic order and reforming the current economic system to shape a more peaceful world.

Ignoring China’s Transformation

As China celebrates on October 1, its 75^th anniversary of the founding of New China by Mao Zedong, China’s accomplishments over three quarters of a century are quite remarkable.

The achievements over the last four decades, from the beginning of Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms in his “opening up” of China in 1978 are astonishing. The World Bank reports that China has lifted 770 million Chinese from poverty, with poverty defined as $2.15 income per day. This represents three quarters of the world’s reduction in poverty and is more than the 450 million Africans still living in poverty today.

Examining China’s demographic trend also reveals its successful transformation of economic conditions for its people. In 1960, average life expectancy in China was thirty-three years, in 1978 it almost doubled to sixty three years. Today, average life expectancy in China is seventy-eight years, comparable to U.S. levels.

*China intends to expand the current high-speed rail system to 70,000km, and increase its total length of track to 200,000km.* *Courtesy of www.theb1m.com.*

Infrastructure, which drives economic growth and productivity, has been an essential component of China’s incredible transformation. During my stay in China, I chose to travel on their High Speed Rail (HSR) from Beijing to Shanghai/Pudong, rather than flying. It was a delightful journey. The HSR travelled at 215 miles per hour (345 kilometers-km) and covered the distance of 819 miles (1,318 km) in four-hours and thirty-seven minutes, on a smooth ride that arrived on time. Currently, China has 46,000 km (29,000 miles) of HSR, out of a total of 155 thousand km (96,312 miles) of rail. HSR represents almost thirty percent of China’s total rail system. The U.S. has no comparable rail system. Amtrak’s Acela train is the most advanced, but only travels a maximum speed of 150 miles per hour and there is only forty-nine miles of track that can even manage the Acela. The total rail network in the U.S. is 160,000 miles (260,000 km).

Think of the savings in time and increase in productivity if Americans could travel at the HSR speed of 215 mile per hour. For comparison, today, traveling to Chicago from Washington DC, a distance of 593 miles (956 km) by train will take almost eighteen hours.

Yes, China has a different political, economic, and social system than the U.S. Would it not be wise to investigate how China achieved all these economic successes? Might it not be possible to learn from China? Cannot the U.S. and China embark on a joint mission to eliminate poverty throughout the world, in service of the shared-common aims of humankind? I made this proposal in my presentation at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. Freeman Speaks on China-Africa Strategy at Respected Beijing Xaingshan Forum

Read below my earlier posts:

Will FOCAC Summit Strategize For Africa’s Future Economic Growth?

Lawrence Freeman: Why The “Rules-Based International Order” Has Failed and Will Always Fail: The Case of Africa

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for 35 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com, and also publishing on: lawrencefreeman.substack.com, “Freeman’s Africa and the World.”