日本经济新闻(Nihon Keizai Shimbun,Nikkei)——其官网自称为“全球最大的经济新闻类媒体”

 

 

习近平的秘密经济武器：华侨

   对于国家主席习近平而言，华侨的作用是巨大的。从1985年任厦门市副市长起，到福州市委书记，再到福建省省长至2002年间在福建省工作17年，福建省堪称华侨之乡。习近平通过印尼和菲律宾等华侨的资本实现了高速经济增长。对于习近平和中国而言，华侨充当着何种角色呢？对此，向华侨研究第一人华侨大学讲座教授、厦门大学特聘教授庄国土进行采访，习近平也曾为其著作撰写过序言。

对习近平而言，华侨的作用是什么？

   “华侨人数（包括中国移民变更国籍者）包括华人，预测约为6000万人。目前通过留学还在增加。从人口而言6000万相当于世界第25位国家的规模。在经济面而言，相当于世界第8位的先进国的影响力。华侨的资产规模预计2万5000亿美元以上。”

　“习主席工作过17年的福建省，有钱的华侨很多。菲律宾、印尼、新加坡的大部分富豪是福建省出身。在泰国广东省北部的潮州籍的华侨偏多，而文化上偏于福建省。厦门市和福州市的经济开发项目大部分以华侨参与为主，所以习主席对华侨非常重视。”

具体政策

　  “首先回顾一下历史。中国的历史华侨所起的作用是极大的。（发起辛亥革命）孙文是移民夏威夷的华侨。推行中国改革开放的邓小平之所以重视华侨，把经济特区定位华侨之乡来招商引资就可见一斑。如果没有华侨的参与中国的改革开放成就不会这么快。1989年6月4日后外资停止了对华投资，而华侨没有停止投资。”

“习仲勋（习近平之父）在早期开始就重视华侨的政治家。1984年召集地方的华侨部门领导会议上曾主张，华侨拥有资金、技术、经营管理，所以应在中国经济建设上调动其积极性发挥其作用。

一带一路由陆路和海路组成。陆上丝绸之路在安保上意义重大，而海上丝绸之路是通过华侨居住众多的区域，其经济意义不言而喻。之所以理解华侨的作用，才能制定出包括海陆的一带一路政策。”

“一带一路离不开沿线国家的理解和合作，其成功与否取决于华侨。华侨居住于沿线各国并对其情况非常了解，因此华侨既是‘一带一路’倡议的参与者也是传播者。中国所推行的开发区“侨梦苑”就是为引进华侨的资金和技术为目的的。”

特朗普当选了美国总统。在对美政策上如何发挥华侨的作用？

   “美国是华侨增加最快的国家，预计约为460万人。10年后会达600万人，推测20年后将会达到1000万人，很可能达到左右美国大选结果的规模。起初的大陆移民以劳动者居多，福建籍占比最大达到100万人。从1960年代开始赴美移民以台湾留学生为主，在美国台湾籍达60万人。在美国多数移民包括台湾籍的华侨在政府单位任职，近年从中国大陆赴美留学生不断增多，今后中国大陆出身的政府干部也会增加。不论是台湾籍、大陆籍、还是东南亚籍的在美华侨，均不希望中美关系恶化，或将成为中美关系改善的重要力量。”

   “改革开放后从中国大陆移民海外的华侨称为“新移民”。新移民预计达到1500万人，其大多数有以下三个特征。第一，文化程度高；第二，拥有丰裕的财富；第三，与中国大陆保持密切关系，其特征与过去不同。新移民与以往的移民不同，在改善中美关系上会起着至关重要的作用。在南海问题上，多数华侨不希望发生重大纷争。因为如果发生重大纷争，周边国家会发起排华运动。”

访谈者——多部田俊辅

庄国土：在制定中国政府的华侨政策上，学术上提供支持的华侨研究第一人。华侨大学讲座教授，厦门大学特聘教授，中国国务院侨务办公室专家咨询委员会委员，中国华侨华人研究会副会长。福建出身。64岁。

 

 

 

 

英文报道

April 3, 2017 10:00 am JST

Interview

Xi's secret economic weapon: Overseas Chinese

Scholar says today's 'new immigrants' can boost China-US ties

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping believes that overseas Chinese play a huge role in shaping the country's economy and politics. That view is no doubt informed by the large contribution Chinese immigrants in the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere have made in driving China's spectacular growth during Xi's tenure -- a time marked by his increasingly strong grip on power.

 

 

Many of those overseas Chinese originally hail from the southern province of Fujian, where Xi spent 17 years in high-level government posts. He became the vice mayor of Xiamen in 1985 before going on to serve as mayor of Fujian's capital, Fuzhou, and later governor of Fujian, a post he held until 2002.

One person who shares Xi's views about the importance of Chinese immigrants is Zhuang Guotu, 64, a chair professor at Huaqiao University, a distinguish professor at Xiamen University and a leading expert on the subject. His research helps the government formulate policies for engaging with those overseas communities. Xi even wrote the introduction to one of Zhuang's books.

The Nikkei recently spoke with Zhuang about the roles overseas Chinese play in Xi's China.

Q: What roles do ethnic Chinese living abroad play for Xi?

A: The number of Chinese immigrants, including those who have changed their nationalities, is estimated at about 60 million. The number continues to rise as more people study abroad. In terms of population, 60 million is nearly equivalent to the world's 25th-largest country. As a whole, they hold the eighth-largest amount of assets in the world, meaning they can exert the same amount of influence as a developed country. We estimate they own more than $2.5 trillion in assets.

The richest Chinese immigrants come from Fujian, where Xi spent 17 years. It's where most of the affluent people in the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore originally hail from.

Thailand has a large population of Chinese born in the Guangdong Province city of Chaozhou, which is culturally close to Fujian.

Chinese immigrants have been involved in most of the economic development projects in Xiamen and Fuzhou, so Xi regards them as enormously important.

Q: What is Beijing's policy toward overseas Chinese, specifically? distinguished professor at Xiamen University

Many of those overseas Chinese originally hail from the southern province of Fujian, where Xi spent 17 years in high-level government posts. He became the vice mayor of Xiamen in 1985 before going on to serve as mayor of Fujian's capital, Fuzhou, and later governor of Fujian, a post he held until 2002.Thailand has a large population of Chinese born in the Guangdong Province city of Chaozhou, which is culturally close to Fujian.Chinese immigrants have been involved in most of the economic development projects in Xiamen and Fuzhou, so Xi regards them as enormously important. Q: What is Beijing's policy toward overseas Chinese, specifically?A: Their role in Chinese history has been huge. Sun Yat-sen [who led the 1911 revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty], for example, had immigrated to Hawaii.

Deng Xiaoping, who spearheaded China's reform and opening-up policy [in 1978] also placed importance on Chinese immigrants. That's why, to attract more investment, he created special economic zones in areas where large numbers of them originally hailed from.

Were it not for Chinese immigrants, the reform and opening-up push would have taken much more time to bear fruit.

Foreign companies slowed their investment in China since June 4, 1989, but Chinese immigrants more than picked up the slack.

[Xi's father] Xi Zhongxun is the first politician to recognize the value of Chinese immigrants. At a meeting in 1984 that brought together executives from rural areas in charge of matters related to their communities, he said Chinese immigrants were equipped with financial, technological and business management abilities, and that China needed to entice them to play an active role in building the country's economy.

Xi's Belt and Road Initiative [to develop infrastructure along economic corridors connecting Asia and Europe] comprises land and maritime routes. The land route is of great significance to national security. The maritime route is even more important in that it has not only security but also economic significance because it passes through areas with large populations of Chinese immigrants.  

Because Xi understands the importance of those overseas Chinese, he wanted the initiative to include the maritime route.

For the undertaking to succeed, Xi needs the countries along the routes to understand his aims and partner with China. Its success depends on the ethnic Chinese in these countries, because they have a deep understanding of the local situations and run business there. They are the guides, go-betweens and participants in the initiative.

China is also moving forward with the creation of a new development zone aimed at harnessing the financial and technological power of that community.

Q: Now that Donald Trump is the U.S. president, what role will Chinese immigrants play in terms of China's policy toward the U.S.?

A: The U.S. is seeing the fastest increase in the number of Chinese immigrants, who now number an estimated 4.6 million. The figure is forecast to swell to 6 million in 10 years, and to 10 million in 20 years, meaning they could be the deciding factor in the U.S. elections. Today, many of those immigrants used to work in mainland China, with around 1 million coming from Fujian.

The number of Taiwanese going to the U.S. to study has been growing since the 1960s, with the cumulative total reaching about 600,000.

Many Chinese immigrants in the U.S., including those from Taiwan, hold high-level government posts. Given the large number of mainland Chinese studying in the U.S. in recent years, I assume such positions will increasingly be taken up by them.

Whether they are from Taiwan or China or Southeast Asia, I don't think they will want to see a deterioration in the relationship between Beijing and Washington and will contribute to improving bilateral ties.

We call the people who have moved from the mainland as a result of the reform and opening-up policy "new immigrants."

They now total an estimated 15 million people, many of whom share three characteristics: they are highly educated, wealthy and helping forge close relations with mainland China. These characteristics are unique to that group, and because of those attributes, I think they will play a big role in enhancing the China-U.S. relationship.

The bulk of Chinese immigrants do not want the South China Sea dispute to flare up, because if it does, anti-Chinese immigrant movements could erupt in the surrounding nations.

Interviewed by Nikkei staff writer Shunsuke Tabeta