October 1 this year marks the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. There is a lot to recall for the year 2011 in China, while three things stand out.
Malta offered a warm helping-hand and generous big heart at such a crucial moment- Zhang Keyuan
Firstly, the year marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). When founded in 1921, the CPC witnessed a semi-colonised, divided, and impoverished China. In the past 90 years, the party led the Chinese people in the founding of new China in 1949, realised the nation’s independence.
Over the following six decades, particularly since the introduction of the reform and opening-up policies in 1978, the CPC has successfully explored a path of socialist modernisation and peaceful development for the country.
In 2010, China’s GDP reached $6.27 trillion which is over nine per cent of the world’s total. China surpassed Japan and became the second largest world economy. The Chinese people, once with inadequate food or clothes, are now leading a decent life.
Secondly, 2011 is the first year of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. New in this plan is that China will shift its model of growth to a greener, more sustainable programme. The government sets a GDP growth target at seven per cent instead of double-digit growth over the past three decades. It is shifting to a slower economy that saves more energy, emits less greenhouse gases, and maintains more efficient, sustainable growth.
The government will allocate more financial resources to social security, such as housing and financial assistance to the poor, medical care, retirement pensions, and facilities for senior citizens, making sure all Chinese share the benefits of development.
More important to our trading partners, the new plan encourages more imports than exports. China’s imports have increased consecutively in the past several quarters.
Thirdly, 2011 is the 40th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations.
Since 1971, China has gradually become a major player in world affairs, making a contribution to the peace and stability of the world community, as well as development of the world economy.
In trade, China imports $750 billion every year, keeping 14 million jobs for its trading partners. Since the international financial crisis in 2008, China has taken an active part in the G20’s efforts to coordinate world economic policies. Its contribution to the global economic growth was 50 per cent in 2009 and 25 per cent in 2010, according to the World Bank. In the recent sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the Chinese government has repeatedly stated its confidence in the EU and that it will continue its investments in the region.
In safeguarding world peace, China has been following a path of peaceful development and defied the general idea that a rising power is a dangerous one when it is strong enough to assert its demands.
China is the only country that denounced the first-use of its nuclear weapons against another nuclear or non-nuclear country. With 21,000 personnel on 30 UN peacekeeping missions, China is the biggest contributor to peace-keeping forces among the five UN Security Council permanent members. China has sent naval fleets to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia for anti-piracy operations.
On bilateral front, as chaos started in Libya last February, with a swift responsive support from Prime Minister Laurence Gonzi’s government, 5,000 Chinese were evacuated smoothly via Malta and went home safe and sound.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, to extend once again our most sincere thanks and appreciation to the Maltese people and government agencies for your warm helping-hand and generous heart at such a crucial moment.
The year 2011 also witnesses new progress in other areas of China–Malta relations. Our two-way trade in 2010 topped €179 million, up by 45 per cent over the year before, and it reached €131.8 million in the first seven months of this year, with Maltese exports to China increased to €40 million.
Of equal importance, people-to-people exchanges and communications this year at all levels flourished. There were lively exchange visits between political parties, parliaments, young students, business, police forces and groups of artists. The list is long.
Looking ahead, in January next year we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of our bilateral diplomatic relations. There is no doubt that China and Malta have provided an example of how diversified countries can get along well, even if they differ in size, geography, culture and political systems.
Mr Zhang is China’s Ambassador to Malta.