Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday expressed "much confidence
in Asia's future" in his keynote speech at the opening session of
the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2004 Annual Conference held in the
southern China province of Hainan.?
He said that in the past few years, with the support of the
fellow Asian countries and the larger international community, the
BFA has developed steadily, playing an increasingly prominent role
in regional cooperation and demonstrating to the rest of the world
the fervent desire of the Asian people for a win-win scenario
through closer cooperation.
Coming into the 21st century, the international situation has
continued to undergo profound and complicated changes. World
multi-polarization and economic globalization are progressing amid
twists and turns. Science and technology are advancing with each
passing day.
"We have before us both development opportunities that we must
seize and grave challenges that we must deal with," he said.
Despite the widespread conflicts and clashes of interest and
increasing numbers of factors of uncertainty and instability, peace
and development remain the overriding themes of the times. The
world needs peace, countries desire development and people want
cooperation. This has become an irresistible trend of history.
"We are glad to see that Asia has, on the whole, enjoyed
stability, with peace, development and cooperation becoming the
mainstream of an advancing Asia. With concerted efforts, Asian
countries have freed themselves from the shadow of the financial
crisis, overcome the impact of SARS and bird flu, succeeded in
domestic economic restructuring, and quickened the tempo of
industrial upgrading and transformation, promoted a robust regional
cooperation, and increased the capacity to tide over potential
risks. Asia retains its position as one of the world's most dynamic
regions and a key growth point in global trade."
"All these have given us much confidence in Asia's future," he
said.
China needs long, uphill battle for modernization
President Hu said that it still needs a long and uphill battle
to make China's modernization program a success and deliver a
prosperous life for all the Chinese people.
The president said that in the past 25 years, while pressing
ahead with reform and opening up, China has put initially in place
a socialist market economy, an economy that is open to the outside
world.
China's productive forces and overall national strength have
been constantly enhanced. With various social undertakings
developing in full swing, the Chinese people as a whole have made
the historical leap from subsistence to modest prosperity.
In the course of 25 years between 1978 and 2003, he said,
China's economy grew by an average annual rate of 9.4 percent, with
its gross domestic product (GDP), foreign trade and foreign
exchange reserves jumping from US$147.3 billion, US$20.6 billion
and US$167 million to over US$1.4 trillion, US$851.2 billion and
US$403.3 billion respectively. China now is the world's sixth
largest economy and the fourth largest trader.
"The reason why China has produced such tremendous changes is
because we have adhered to the road of building socialism with
Chinese characteristics and persevered in reform and opening-up,
thus galvanizing the Chinese people's initiative, enthusiasm and
creativity," Hu said.
Though China has achieved impressive results in its development,
there are still many acute problems, such as overpopulation, weak
economic foundation, underdeveloped productivity, highly uneven
development, and a fairly sharp contradiction between the country's
ecological environment and natural resources on the one hand and
its economic and social development on the other. China's per
capita GDP, though reaching the record high of US$1,000 last year,
still ranks behind the 100th place in the world.
"To make China's modernization program a success and deliver a
prosperous life for all the Chinese people still require a long and
uphill battle," he said.
China's development strategy?
In building a well-off society of a
higher standard in an all-round way for the benefit of well over 1
billion Chinese people, Hu said, China will quadruple its 2000 GDP
to US$4 trillion with a per capita GDP of US$3,000, further develop
the economy, improve democracy, advance science and education,
enrich culture, foster greater social harmony and upgrade the
texture of life for the people.
To achieve this goal, the country will continue to follow the
guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thoughts of
"Three Represents" and conscientiously act, in an all-round way, on
the concept of people-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated and
sustainable development.?
This scientific concept of development crystallizes the
successful experience of China's reform, opening-up and
modernization drive in the past 25 years and that of other
countries in their course of development, and reflects a new
understanding of the issue of development by the Chinese government
and people.
"We will take economic development as our top priority, aim
ourselves to the all-round development of man, and follow a
development path characterized by high productivity, affluent life
and sound eco-system by properly balancing urban and rural
development, development among regions, economic and social
development, development of man and nature, and domestic
development and opening to the outside world," the president
said.
At the same time, China will continue to push vigorously its
reform and opening-up program, concentrating on building and
perfecting our socialist market economy and making it more dynamic
and more open to the outside world.
"Taking the initiative in our own hands with independence and
self-reliance in development is an important experience of ours. We
persevere in reform, because we need to remove the institutional
barriers that impede the development of productive forces and
unleash the dynamism that exist in our society for development and
creativity."
"In so doing, we mainly rely on institutional and technological
innovation, on expanding domestic demand and on increasing the
professional aptitude of our citizens. In the meantime, we firmly
stick to our opening-up policy, taking an active part in
international economic and technology cooperation, and making
contribution to China's own development and the common development
in the world."
"On our road to progress, we are still encountering the
multitude of contradictions and problems, and the various risks and
challenges. However, the Chinese people have the confidence and the
capability to overcome all kinds of hardships and difficulties and
make China's modernization and great rejuvenation a reality," Hu
said.
China's development important opportunities for
Asia
President Hu Jintao said China's development is closely related
to Asia's prosperity and a developing China generates important
opportunities for Asia.
China has and will continue to make a positive impact on Asia in
the area of development, Hu said.
As the world's biggest potential market, China has presided over
in the past 25 years a steadily expanding and maturing market with
import growing at an average annual rate of over 15 percent, which
has made China the third largest importer globally and the largest
importer in Asia, he said.
In 2003, China imported from the rest of Asia a total of
US$272.9 billion worth of merchandise, up by 42.4 percent, with
imports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
Japan, the Republic of Korea and India increasing by over 35
percent.
Direct investment in the rest of Asia by China has risen at an
average annual rate of 20 percent in recent years. In 2003, more
than 20 million outbound visits were made by Chinese nationals, as
more and more Chinese tourists made Asian countries and regions
their choice destinations.
With China's development, the size of its market and its
overseas investment will grow even larger and still more Chinese
will travel to the other parts of Asia for sightseeing, business
and visit.
Hu said China's economy will integrate still more closely with
Asian economy, giving rise to a new type of partnership
characterized by mutual benefit, mutual complement and mutual
assistance.
China's development contributes to peace and stability
in Asia
China's development contributes to peace and stability in Asia
and a stable and prosperous China is in itself an important
contribution to peace and stability in the continent, Hu Jintao
said.
China since ancient times has had a fine tradition of sincerity,
benevolence, kindness and trust toward its neighbors, Hu said.
The very purpose of China's foreign policy is to maintain world
peace and promote common development, and China always practices
what it preaches.
"Persisting in building good-neighborly relationships and
partnership with the neighboring countries, we pursue a policy of
bringing harmony, security and prosperity to neighbors and dedicate
ourselves to strengthening mutual trust and cooperation with the
fellow Asian countries, easing up hot spot tensions, and striving
to maintain peace and tranquility in Asia," the president said.
China's development injects fresh vigor to regional
cooperation in Asia
China has been extensively involved in the various mechanisms of
Asia-based regional cooperation, emphasizing its cooperation and
coordination with all the parties and promoting regional economic
integration, Hu said.
China has joined the fellow Asian countries in discussing the
possibility of free trade areas, conducting various forms of
security dialogues and cementing cooperation on the bilateral level
while promoting regional cooperation, he said.
China to enhance good-neighborliness for Asian
rejuvenation?
Hu Jintao said that China will enhance friendship and political
trust and good-neighborliness as it sincere wishes to cultivate
with other Asian countries an overall and close partnership geared
to Asian rejuvenation.
This is a partnership that features equality and mutual trust
politically, mutual benefit and win-win economically, exchange and
emulation culturally, and dialogue and cooperation on the security
front, Hu said.
As part of its efforts to this end, China will develop
partnerships with other Asian countries on the basis of the United
Nations Charter and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence,
treating all countries as equals irrespective of size and
committing to settling whatever disputes there might be through
dialogue.
China hopes to see stronger high-level ties and interactions at
other levels with other fellow Asian countries, and more timely
consultations and coordination on major international and regional
issues, the president said.
China to expand cooperation with other Asian
countries
China will expand and deepen bilateral economic cooperation with
other Asian countries, President Hu said.
In this regard, Hu said, China is ready to develop all-round
economic cooperation with fellow Asian countries with emphasis
placed on trade, investment, natural resources, information,
pharmaceuticals, health service, environmental protection,
transportation, science and technology, agriculture, poverty
alleviation, and development of human resources.
China will continue taking practical steps to help other
developing Asian countries with their economic development through
preferential policies.
At the same time, China will encourage its enterprises to take
Asia as their principal destination for "going global" strategy,
and combines its western development strategy and the Northeast
rejuvenation strategy with strengthened economic cooperation with
the neighboring countries, the president said.
China to promote cultural interaction, personnel exchanges
with other Asian countries?
China will promote cultural interaction and personnel exchanges
with other Asian countries, President Hu Jintao said.
Hu said China is committed to stronger cultural exchanges in
Asia, and encourages media cooperation to jointly build an
Asia-wide cultural market.
China supports inter-culture and inter-religion dialogues in
Asia, and advocates greater understanding and tolerance, and is
ready to work with other Asian countries in promoting youth
exchanges, and providing greater convenience for people's travel on
public, business and tourist purposes, the president said.
China to accelerate regional economic integration
in Asia
President Hu promised China's readiness to accelerate regional
economic integration in Asia.
Hu said China hopes to study with fellow Asian countries on
possible free trade arrangements of various forms consistent with
prospective cooperation network of free trade areas in Asia.
China is ready to step up coordination with other Asian partners
on macro-economic and financial policies and probe into the
establishment of regional cooperation regime of investors,
securities market, and financial institutions.
The president said China will work actively to promote the
institutional building of all kinds of economic cooperation
organizations with a view to consolidating resources, prioritizing
the key areas and conducting performance-oriented cooperation.
China to facilitate security dialogue with other Asian
countries
President Hu said that to facilitate security dialogue and
military-to-military exchanges with other Asian countries, China
will stick to its new security concept featuring mutual trust,
mutual benefit, equality and cooperation.
China also hopes to establish a security relationship and
cooperation featuring non-alignment, non-confrontation, and
non-targeting at any third party, Hu said.
He said China will step up its cooperation and dialogue with
other Asian countries in such security areas as regional
counter-terrorism, combating transnational crimes, maritime
security, and non-proliferation, giving full play to existing
multilateral security mechanisms.
China is ready to set up a military security dialogue mechanism
with other Asian countries and actively promote confidence-building
cooperation in the military field, the president said.
China to work with other Asian countries for Asian
rejuvenation
President Hu said that China's development cannot be achieved in
isolation of Asia, and Asia's prosperity also needs China.
China will follow a peaceful development path holding high the
banners of peace, development and cooperation, join the other Asian
countries in bringing about Asian rejuvenation, and making greater
contribution to the lofty cause of peace and development in the
world, he said.
China to continue contributing to regional, global economic
development
President Hu said that China's economy will keep a long-term
robust development momentum and continue to contribute to regional
and world economic development.
To this end, the Chinese government will strengthen and improve
macro-control and give full play to the role of the market
mechanism, the Chinese president said while answering a question
raised by a US business leader at the opening ceremony of the BFA
annual conference.
Asian economic integration to keep forging ahead
President Hu said that Asian economies will surely make constant
progress in the process of regional integration, as long as they
continue to deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields, enhance
existing regional cooperation, gradually push forward Asian
cooperation as a whole, while keeping communication and
coordination with other countries, regions and international
organizations.
Hu made the remark when answering a question from a participant
of the BFA annual conference.
(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2004)