Celebrating Forty-Years Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up, China Hopes to Join Hands with Afghanistan on a New Journey

In 1972, I was born in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which neighbors Badakshan Province of Afghanistan. When I was young, the whole family lived in a small room of a dozen square meters and had to exchange grain and meat ration tickets for food and clothing coupons for clothes. Life was by no means well-off. In 1978, when I was six, China started reform and opening up, which was later proven to be a magnificent historical journey. In the past forty years, with great courage, the Chinese people have cut paths through mountains and built bridges across rivers, creating ‘the most exciting miracle in human history’ with hard work and realizing a leapfrog development from trying to catch up to taking the lead. Unprecedented and earthshaking changes have taken place and eye-catching historical achievements have been made in China.

 

My country’s economy has been developing fast. China’s GDP stood at a mere 364.5 billion RMB yuan in 1978 and it reached 82.7 trillion in 2017, a 225-fold increase and at an average annual growth rate of 9.5%. Foreign trade volume increased from 12.3 billion US dollars to more than 4 trillion. Chinese contribution to world economic growth has been over 30% for many consecutive years. As world’s second largest economy, largest industrial country, largest trader in goods and largest holder of foreign exchange reserve, China has successfully moved from the group of low-income countries to the middle-income rank.

 

Democracy prospers. With a firm belief that all power of the state belongs to the people, the Chinese government respects and facilitates the realization of various rights conferred on the people by the Constitution and laws with regard to their persons, properties and participation in political, economic and social lives. We follow the rule of law in China. Various systems, laws and regulations are formulated and sustained. Mechanisms of accountability and supervision are constantly strengthened through laws and CPC disciplines to safeguard reform and opening-up.

 

Cultural life thrives. Self-service libraries are available all over China in both big cities and small towns. Foreign art ensembles frequently visit China, bringing our people operas, symphonies and exhibitions from all over the world. Since last year, cultural relics from Afghanistan have been on an exhibition tour in China, attracting many visitors and enriching their cultural lives. China has become the world’s largest film market, producing 970 movies in 2017, obtaining a total box office of 55.911 billion yuan and attracting 1.62 billion viewers.

 

People’s lives have been markedly improved. The focus of consumption has shifted from feeding and clothing ourselves to a more well-off style. In the past our demand was about availability and now it’s about quality. There are now over 100 million middle-class urban residents in China. In July 2018, the number of netizens reached 802 million, among whom 533 million people shop online. The society is increasingly cashless. You don’t need to have cash to pay even with street vendors. Almost all payment transactions can be completed with a smart phone. People have beautiful expectations for the future and great confidence in it becoming better and better.

China’s international influence is increasing with each passing day. The international community ardently hopes that China play a leading role and the expectation for China has shifted from undertaking international responsibility and obligation to leading the world’s new development. It is hoped that China will contribute its wisdom for global stability and prosperity, present its solutions to problems confronting mankind and provide more international public goods like the Belt and Road Initiative. It is also expected that China will continue playing a strong leading role for more countries to engage in mutually-beneficial and win-win cooperation and development.

China has accumulated many valuable experiences in the forty years of reform and opening up. The followings are the most outstanding in this regard.

First, the leadership of a strong political party is critical. China is a socialist country and the most fundamental feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Every step in the past forty years has been taken under the CPC leadership in a well-planned, step-by-step and orderly manner. The CPC has constantly strengthened and reformed itself in line with the trend of the times and the will of the people. It has managed to remove all ideological and institutional barriers to the development of our country and nation and won the approval of the people and its party members with tangible achievements.

Second, emancipation of mind and theoretical innovation play a key role. Whenever there is a major reform, the Chinese government always encourages all walks of life to engage in a full discussion. Such discussions lead to a social consensus that drives reform and opening up, which in turn drives economic growth and social changes, thus creating a rational cycle from emancipation of mind to reform and opening up and then economic growth. By keeping pace with the times, a theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has been developed, including the Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of ‘Three Represents’, scientific outlook on development and Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era. These have been guidelines for action at different stages of reform and opening up.

Third, reform measures must allow flexibility. Reforms in China have been conducted in a gradual manner and by taking pilots before rolling out, i.e., wading across the river by feeling the way. As such, when there is a sign of mistake, it could be addressed and remedied in a timely manner. Pilot projects are conducted where conditions allow so that reformers find out the rules, accumulate successful experience and then roll out the proven measures. China attaches great importance to economic planning, which, with necessary legal and administrative effect, must be implemented by all levels of government. All the activities of the nation are coordinated like pieces in a chess game to ensure implementation of various reform measures.

Fourth, relationship between reform, development and stability must be properly handled. Here are the fundamental beliefs held by the Chinese government in this regard: reform drives development and provides a basis for long-term stability; development is the objective of reform and offers the most reliable guarantee for stability; and stability is the precondition for reform and development. Bearing these in mind, the Chinese government has managed to strike a balance between the intensity of reform, speed of development and affordability of the society and thus advanced reform and development while maintaining social stability.

As a Chinese idiom goes, a man has no doubt at forty. In other words, a man gains internal determination at middle age and the path of life no longer baffles him. China’s reform and opening up is moving into its next forty years. Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed on many occasions that ‘China’s reform will cover more areas and involve more and stronger steps’ and that

‘China’s open door will not be closed and will instead be open even wider’. This means new opportunities for China-Afghanistan relations in all fields, which will be conducive to further consolidation of mutually-beneficial and friendly bilateral cooperation. Last year our two countries reached agreement on saffron export to China. Not long ago, export of Afghan pine nuts directly to China was realized, giving ordinary Afghans a real ‘sense of gain’. At the recently concluded China International Import Expo (CIIE), Afghanistan presented to potential buyers from the whole world a rich array of products. Specialties such as Afghan carpets, tapestries and lapis lazuli attracted much attention from Chinese and foreign consumers.

In both the Chinese and Dari languages, there is a proverb: a single flower makes no spring. China and Afghanistan have been friendly neighbors for long and are now strategic partners. ‘Neighbors wish each other well just as loved ones do to each other.’ The Chinese side sincerely hopes that Afghanistan will enjoy peace and prosperity at an early date. Afghanistan is located at the ‘heart of Asia’, with prominent geostrategic advantages and rich natural resources. While China further expands its reform and opening up, our two countries should develop more cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, thus helping Afghanistan to create more jobs and export more, facilitating an improved international environment for Afghanistan and creating better conditions for connectivity in Afghanistan.

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