On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded. The Chinese people, who have suffered vicissitudes for more than a century, have finally embarked on a great path of rejuvenating the nation and enriching the people.
We look back on the past only to create a bright future. If we look back at the last 66 years, we see that the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, kept blazing new trails in a continuous manner and wrote a glorious chapter in history with remarkable achievements.
Over the last 66 years and the last 30 years of reform and opening up in particular, the Chinese people have followed the trend of the times by upholding socialism on the basis of the actual conditions of China, continued to promote reform and opening up and unleashed social productivity by achieving developments in a scientific and harmonious manner. In so doing, we have provided a solid basis for building China into a rich, democratic, civilised and harmonious country.
Over the last 66 years, we have managed to lift the largest population ever seen in the world from poverty by unleashing social productivity and improving overall national strength. Now, the Chinese people are generally leading happy lives. At present, the Chinese Government is making new efforts to stabilise economic growth by economic restructuring, achieve a balanced development in economy, politics, social and cultural affairs, thus enabling the Chinese people to lead a better and more decent life with dignity.
China is now establishing new records in its development. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) has had a growth rate of around 10 per cent on an average for the last 30 years. Average life expectancy for the Chinese people has increased from 32 to 75. All this is no mean feat. As many as 106 enterprises from China are listed in the top 500 in the world. It is expected that the length of high-speed railways in the country will have hit 19,000 kilometres by the end of the year, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the world total of such tracks. High-speed railway will have covered almost all cities with a population of more than 500,000 in China by 2020.
China is now also the biggest investor in the world in clean energy, as evidenced by the fact that investment by China in clean energy accounts for 29 per cent of the total of the G20 countries. Also, hydropower and wind power capacity, as well as capacity under construction for nuclear energy and solar electrical energy generation all rank first in the world. Green development has become the mainstream of energy development.
University graduates in China will number 7.5 million in 2015, more than the population of many countries in the world. In 2014, China’s outbound tourists totalled 104 million, with spending outside China reaching $160 billion (Dh588.48 billion). By 2022, Beijing will have become the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
As a developing country with 1.3 billion people, China is still faced with the problem of imbalanced and unsustainable development. However, just as Chinese President Xi Jinping has indicated, China has a total area of more than 9.6 million square kilometres, enabling us to draw brilliant pictures therein. Therefore, China has a bright future with full potential.
Today’s China deserves the title of the world economic engine. After the global financial crisis in 2008, world economy has been mired in lack of development. Under such circumstances, China made joint efforts with other countries in the world to stimulate world economy and contributed more than 50 per cent to global economic growth, thereby providing a new model of development that can be chosen and copied by other developing countries. As the second-largest economy in the world, China’s economic aggregate will exceed $1.1 trillion.
Initiatives such as the Belt and Road, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank by the Brics states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are being realised, thus allowing for more room and choices for global economic development. Even against the backdrop of the global economic downturn, China’s economy is still enjoying ample room and leverage for further development and will meet the conditions for a growth rate of 7 per cent. In so doing, China will still contribute one percentage point to world economic development. At present, the quality of China’s economic development has a lot to do with the stability and recovery of the world economy. Also, China’s successful economic restructuring will work together with other factors to bring about more business opportunities for the world rather than constitute a menace. China is willing to share with other countries its development bonus. The Chinese Government will make fresh efforts to further regulate the economy by relying on capital, human, science and technology advantages so that its development is at a reasonable level with a strong internal force, thus making due contributions to world economic recovery.
Today’s China will keep its solemn commitment for peaceful development. The Chinese people, who have gone through a lot during wars in the last 70 years, cherish peace all the more and are more determined to safeguard peace and development. Not long ago, the Chinese Government celebrated the 70th anniversary of the victory over the Japanese with grandeur. In so doing, we aimed at remembering the history and the fallen, cherishing peace and ushering in a new future. Righteousness is the common virtue of all people. The path of peaceful development is the correct choice of the Chinese people and also a solemn promise to the world. Xi has announced that China will reduce its army by 300,000, which is a concrete action of the Chinese people to demonstrate their willingness for peace.
Let us go back 31 years. On November 1, 1984, leaders of China and the UAE, bearing in mind the fundamental interests of the people of the two nations, demonstrated remarkable political wisdom and made the historic decision of establishing diplomatic ties between the two nations. Ever since, the two countries, once connected by the ancient maritime Silk Road, embarked on a new path hand in hand.
Over the last three decades, bilateral political relations have matured with fruitful cooperation and deep people-to-people friendship. In particular, since the two countries established a strategic partnership in 2012, bilateral relations have been on the fast track. I entered into foreign service in the 1980s and was twice posted to the UAE, thus witnessing the earth-shaking changes of the two countries and the course of development of bilateral ties.
China and the UAE are always strategic partners of sincerity and mutual trust. The two countries respect each other’s development strategies that are highly complementary. The initiative of building the Belt and Road by China coincides with the initiative of rejuvenating the Silk Road by the UAE. There has been frequent contact at all levels, such as diplomatic consultation and economy and trade commission. The two countries have conducted close cooperation in multilateral affairs, supported each other on issues concerning the fundamental interests of each other and safeguarded the interests of developing countries together. In so doing, we have become real friends and partners safeguarding regional peace and development together.
China is one of the most important trading partners of the UAE while the UAE has, for many years, been the second trading partner and biggest export market of China in the Mena [Middle East and North Africa] region. Bilateral trade volume hit $54.8 billion last year with many new points of cooperation in finance, investment, technology and new energy. At present, there are more than 4,000 Chinese enterprises operating in the UAE, including both large enterprises and medium and small ones as well as self-employed enterprises in Dubai’s Dragon Mart. They cover many areas such as energy, telecommunications, transportation, construction, trade, securities as well as services. As economic relations between the two countries became increasingly closer, cooperation in the energy sector has been going upstream and that in the financial sector has been deepening. Chinese products, from mobile phones, electrical appliances and garments to infrastructure such as roads and bridges, have entered into the everyday life of people in the UAE. ‘Made-in-China’ has brought tangible benefits to the people of the UAE.
China and the UAE are always partners, learning from the civilisation of each other. People-to-people exchanges have long been an important page in the annals of bilateral friendship. More than 1,000 years ago, Chinese, Arabic and Persian civilisations learned from each other through the ancient Silk Road.
During the International Book Fair held in Beijing not long ago, many cultural activities organised by the UAE deeply impressed the Chinese people, with its unique history and culture. Many people in the UAE are now showing an increasing interest in learning Chinese. China and the UAE opened Chinese courses in Mushrif School of Abu Dhabi and established two Confucius Institutes in Zayed University and Dubai University, spreading Chinese languages and Chinese culture. Not long ago, a delegation of Youth Ambassadors, dispatched by the Crown Prince’s Court visited China, feeling for themselves the changes and development of China, bringing the friendship of the UAE people to the Chinese people and coming back with stories of China’s development. In the era of globalisation, the UAE is no longer a geographic term for the Chinese. More than 200,000 Chinese are now leading happy lives in the UAE and more than 500,000 Chinese tourists will visit the UAE this year.
As the Chinese ambassador to the UAE, I passionately long for a brighter future for bilateral relations and a better life and lasting friendship for the people of the two nations, like all those caring for the development of China and the UAE and China-UAE friendship. Opportunities abound and we must grasp them. If we look into the future, bilateral cooperation is faced with historic opportunities. China has always viewed the UAE as a natural partner in building the Belt and Road and will make continuous efforts with the UAE to carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road of peaceful cooperation, mutual accommodation, learning from each other and the pursuit of mutual benefit. Also, we will continue to respect and trust each other, connect our development strategies and carry forward our cooperation in all areas so that the banner of peace and development can fly high and sail towards a brighter future.
Chang Hua is the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the UAE.
