By staff reporter ZHANG HUI
I’M very happy that I’ve received a national award for science and technology in China. You know, President Xi Jinping personally presented that prize to me. I was so excited that I didn’t wash my hands for several days because I had shaken hands with President Xi,” Professor Jan-Christer Janson said. Janson is an academician of the Swedish Royal Society of Science in Uppsala, winner of the 2015 China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. He amused his audience with these remarks at the beginning of his speech at a thematic briefing on innovation-driven transformation and development organized by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee on August 31. A world renowned scientist in biology, Professor Janson of Uppsala University in Sweden has been engaged in cooperation with Chinese research institutions and enterprises since the 1980s and contributed to the improvement of China’s related theoretical and technological levels. He is also the founding shareholder and technical director of a Jiangyin-based biochemistry company. Professor Janson held that without the Chinese government’s support for innovation initiatives, he couldn’t have carried out so many cooperation projects with Chinese institutions and companies and reaped such abundant fruits.
In an interview with China Today, Professor Janson said, “China’s achievements over the past several years are marvelous, in particular in manufacturing. This has brought us many opportunities and allowed us to bring our new ideas to China and transform them into products made in China.”
Over the past five years, China’s economy has entered a “new normal” stage. To effectively address new problems in economic development and provide a driving force for sustainable economic growth, the CPC Central Committee proposed supply-side structural reform, and meanwhile gave top priority to innovation in the country’s overall development. By the end of 2016, the effective patents for invention in China totaled 1.1 million, making China the third country in the world possessing more than one million invention patents. The global innovation index released by the World Intellectual Property Organization indicated that China’s comprehensive innovation capability has topped the middle-income economies group. No wonder all foreign diplomats and leaders of foreign parties and groups that China Today interviewed unanimously agreed that China has made amazing achievements. In addition, China is quickening its pace in establishing an innovation system, and advancing the construction of innovation centers for manufacturing. Now, there are thousands of start-up incubators across the country, and hundreds of new and high-level technology and industrial development zones; thus, a relatively complete innovation ecological chain is taking shape. On top of that, the CPC Central Committee proposed five new development concepts of innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up, and shared benefits to guide the country’s economic and social development. Moreover, the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping, has been warmly received by the international community.
All these have drawn widespread attention worldwide. To learn more about the international response to China’s new governance concepts, proposals, strategies, practices, and achievements, China Today interviewed ambassadors and diplomats of various countries to China as well as several party leaders of some countries at a series of thematic briefings held by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee.
The CPC’s Fundamental Role
“I think it’s very important to mention that the role of the Communist Party of China is crucial at this stage of the country’s development, when the world is facing lots of problems, risks, and challenges. The Party is central, decisive, and fundamental. I think a lot of China’s achievements are attributable to the Party and its leading role, in particular the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Mr. Xi Jinping at the core,” Georgian Ambassador to China David Aptsiauri said in an interview with China Today.
Ali Mashal, an official of Palestinian Fatah’s department for relations with Arab countries and China, in an interview with China Today, remarked, “The CPC is a great and wise party. It always asks for advice from the people. Its policies and strategies are based on the needs of their people. It is doing a great job by giving people the chance to live better and do better. It takes all people’s needs in every aspect into account.”
Nepali Ambassador to China Leela Mani Paudyal shared his view on the CPC-proposed new strategies with China Today, “China’s achievements are impressive. I’m impressed by the new strategies, and policies (introduced by the CPC) in particular the innovation-led economic development. That has brought about a lot of opportunities for producing new products. This has better served people of China and also benefited people from other countries as well.”
General Secretary of Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) and Nepal’s former Deputy Prime Minister C.P. Mainali spoke highly of the CPC, “The CPC has played a vital role in advancing China’s economic and social development owing to its wise development strategies and foreign policy. China has upheld an independent foreign policy of peace since its founding. China has never been against any other country or sought hegemony.” Later, he added, “As its development has depended on peace, China has served as a force in maintaining regional peace and stability, which is the necessary condition for a country’s development. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative is bringing benefits to people in countries along the routes. That’s why China is making more and more friends in the world. China is not just seeking its own prosperity; it also wants to help other countries’ development.”
Incredible Achievements
“I’ve been around the world. What China has achieved is very impressive, I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Vice Ambassador of Argentina to China Gonzalo Sabate told China Today. “I think Argentina can learn from China through its development strategies. You can see that China makes progress under the guidance of its plans,” he added.
Georgian Ambassador to China David Aptsiauri applauded China’s achievements in innovation-driven development by saying, “I think when we speak about the economic progress of China, and the success of its economic reform, one of the core elements is innovation. Today, without new technologies, without innovations, without new ways of thinking and new strategies, it’s very difficult to maintain long-term sustainable development of an economy. In this case, I say your achievements are very impressive, in particular over the past several years, in many fields like industry, agriculture, education, trade, and other sectors of economy. So it’s really important to share the experience. That’s why Georgia, the country I represent, is very interested in sharing the experience, to acquire the best knowledge, and carry out all-round cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.”
China’s innovation-driven development has also impressed Minister Counselor of Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Hamzeh Al-Omari, “I’m amazed by China’s development. I’ve been to Jiangsu Province, and witnessed the innovation-driven development there and applications of new technologies. I was thinking when I was watching and listening that there are actually many opportunities that we can make use of in Jiangsu. Maybe we can send some students to Jiangsu or invite some experts from there to our country to discuss cooperation.”
Iranian Ambassador to China Ali Asghar Khaji in particular endorsed the Belt and Road Initiative in an interview with China Today, saying, “Over the past five years, China has made great progress. The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China has not only fueled China’s development, but also propelled the development of West Asia and North Africa, in particular Iran. China is playing a bigger role in the international community. Some new concepts proposed by China, like a community of shared future for all humankind, are leading a new trend on international governance. We congratulate the CPC on its great achievements. We hope under the CPC leadership China will achieve greater progress and introduce more policies to bring more benefits not only to its people, but also to those around the world.”
Supply-side Structural Reform, a Successful Practice
At a thematic briefing organized by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee on the CPC-led supply-side structural reform in late May, Zinaida Greceanii, chairwoman of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, told China Today that China’s supply-side structural reform would not only benefit China’s development, but is of international significance. “China’s economic development doesn’t just concern itself, but relates to the development of many other countries, including those in Europe,” Greceanii said. “Despite being a small country with a population of four million, Moldovans are interested in cooperating with China and keeping a close eye on China’s development,” she added.
When asked about her views on the CPC, Greceanii told China Today, “The Communist Party of China is the world’s biggest political party and a role model for other parties of the world, which is testified through its past practices. We are willing to have exchanges and cooperation with the CPC, which we believe will greatly benefit us. I believe our cooperation with the CPC will progress.”
Victor Bostinaru, vice president of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, said in an interview with China Today that China’s practice of supply-side structural reform was “part of China’s gigantic progress.” “China has achieved a great deal since its opening-up, to an extent that no one had ever thought possible. I first came to China in 2004. Since then, I have visited China almost every year. China has moved at an impressive pace and achieved great social and economic progress, which has made it possible for China to become the world’s second largest economy,” Bostinaru told China Today.
In his speech delivered at the briefing, Tawfiq al-Tirawi, member of the Palestinian Fatah Central Committee, agreed that the supply-side structural reform was a great practice under the CPC leadership with General Secretary Xi Jinping at the core.
Days before, the Palestinian Fatah delegation led by Tawfiq al-Tirawi took a tour of Hubei Province, which he said had deepened his understanding of China’s reform. “We visited several cities including Wuhan, Qianjiang, and Xiantao, and witnessed the remarkable achievements made by the province in agriculture, science and technology, urban construction, and infrastructure. It showed us that the CPC-proposed strategy is on the right track. Great success has been demonstrated in such fields as innovation, new industrialization, and balanced development. Our delegation unanimously agreed that China has set an example for the whole world,” al-Tirawi said.
In addition, in his speech, al-Tirawi also spoke highly of the CPC’s core principle that all work aims to improve people’s livelihood. “We’re happy to have the CPC as our friend and a role model,” he said. Al-Tirawi said that the delegation would take China’s successful practice back to Palestine to advance their country’s progress in institutional construction, poverty alleviation, and tackling unemployment.