By Moacy Carlos
First Secretary of Federação Nacional dos Jornalistas – FENAJ, Brazil
The end of the Soviet Union and the fall of aligned governments in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s ushered in a unipolar world order, with harmful consequences for peripheral countries, which were suffocated by the imposition of neoliberalism. Fortunately, alongside this geopolitical tragedy, a promising alternative to unipolarity was gaining strength: China.
Since then, what was once just a possibility has become a concrete reality. Today, as the current United States government attempts to impose its power through force and pressure, it is China that serves as a counterweight, allowing the world not to be diminished in the face of American imperialism.
China currently stands out in various strategic and technological fields, combining economic growth, innovation, and global expansion. The country is developing its economy, producing cutting-edge technology, modernizing its industry, including its vast population, and offering constructive and long-lasting partnerships to different peripheral nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The news we receive portrays China as the world’s second-largest economy and a leader in industrial production, the largest global exporter of consumer goods, electronics, and manufactured products, and a major player in developing cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, big data, digital surveillance, 5G and 6G internet, robotics and automation, and electric vehicles—with global companies such as Huawei, ZTE, BYD, Xiaomi, Tencent, Alibaba, among others, standing out in their respective fields.
China also stands out for its logistics and energy infrastructure, with over 40,000 km of high-speed rail—the largest network in the world—as well as megaprojects involving bridges, ports, tunnels, and smart cities. It is also the world’s largest producer of renewable energy (solar, wind, and hydroelectric).
And this Asian giant brings its grandeur to the world through the Belt and Road Initiative (the New Silk Road), with investments in dozens of countries, including Brazil, through projects such as the Port of São Luís (MA), the West-East Railway/Fiol (GO/BA), the Salvador-Itaparica Bridge (BA), the BYD and GWM auto plants in Camaçari (BA) and Iracemápolis (SP), and the Transoceanic Railway connecting Brazil to Peru and from there to China.
For all these reasons, China represents, to the peoples of the world, a possibility for cooperative growth and advancement—an inclusive path for the underprivileged and the construction of a political alternative to segregating and exploitative capitalism.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.