The following is the full text of a keynote speech Chairman Jia Qinglin of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) delivered at the 2005 annual conference of the Boao forum for Asia Saturday:
Building a Harmonious and Prosperous Asia for All Through Comprehensive Cooperation
Distinguished Guests, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In this blooming season of spring, we have brought together in this pretty town of Boao so many friends from around Asia and the world. On behalf of the Chinese Government, let me begin by warmly congratulating this meeting and expressing our sincere welcome to all our friends.
Coming to this once-a-year gathering is a highly meaningful thing for all of us. Here, we draw plans for Asia-wide development, explore the path to Asian cooperation and rejuvenation, and chart out the future for a peaceful and prosperous Asia. Our presence here is just another testimony to the fervent desire of Asian countries for closer and win-win cooperation.
Right now, Asia is faced with a historic opportunity for development. With peace and development remaining the dominant theme of the times, pursuing peace, stability, development and cooperation has become the shared aspiration of all Asian peoples. Against the backdrop of surging economic globalization, many Asian countries have succeeded in restructuring their economies, accelerated their industrial upgrading, increased the level of science and technology and maintained development momentum. In the process of regional integration, the Asian countries have found themselves increasingly interdependent with closer dialogue and coordination, visibly improved capacity to fend off risks and with a burgeoning regional network of cooperation. All this has provided a solid groundwork and favorable conditions for Asia's peace, stability, development and cooperation.
In the meantime, we must not overlook the numerous difficulties and challenges still facing Asia. Historic disputes and present conflicts are eroding the mutual trust of certain countries. Traditional and non-traditional security threats, ranging from regional hot-spots and terrorism to transnational crimes are intertwined to render Asia insecure. Other problems, such as ecological degradation, natural disasters, infectious diseases and widening wealth gap are also drags on Asia's development. It remains a formidable task for Asian countries to maintain peace and stability in the region and achieve their common prosperity.
Facing both opportunities and challenges, we the Asian countries must get along with the tide of history, seize the opportunities and work in unison, so as to blaze a path of win-win cooperation to build a harmonious Asia where countries coexist in amity politically, conduct equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation economically, trust one another with close coordination on security matters, and complement each other culturally. To that end, I suggest that we the Asian countries should endeavor in the following aspects:
First, we should endeavor to maintain peace and stability. Peace is the basic prerequisite for development. It is imperative for us to seek common ground while shelving differences and live with one another in harmony on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. We should discard the Cold War mentality and cultivate a security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation. We should properly handle outstanding issues left over by history and current conflicts of interests through dialogue and consultation, taking into account the interests and concerns of both sides.
Second, we should endeavor to promote common development. Development is the ultimate solution to all kinds of problems. We should always make development our top priority and constantly improve our people's livelihoods. Development should aim to reinforce one another and achieve win-win results. It should make countries open, rather than closed to one another. It should provide a level playing field, rather than allowing countries to undercut each other. It should give full scope to the mutual complementarity of each other's strength, rather than advancing one's interest at the expense of the other.
Third, we should endeavor to push forward comprehensive cooperation. Cooperation is a key avenue to common development. We should take trade and economic cooperation as the engine to bring along cooperation in the political, security, social, cultural and other fields. And we should start with economic integration and gradually put in place a substantive, wide-ranging and institutionalized framework of regional cooperation.
Fourth, we should respect diversity. Asia has valued cultural harmony since ancient times. Differences in ideology, social system, religion or culture should not stand in the way of communications, but rather become a driving force for greater interaction among Asian countries. We must respect the right of every country to choose its own path of development and oppose discrimination and biases. We should increase mutual understanding through exchanges and make progress together through mutual emulation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the past 20 years and more since it introduced reform and opening-up programs, China has made a remarkable progress in economic development, resulting in a historic leap forward in social productivity and overall national strength. In 2004, China's GDP reached US$1.65 trillion, with a foreign trade volume of more than US$1.15 trillion and foreign exchange reserves of over US$600 billion. A socialist market economy has been basically put in place. With a per capita GDP of more than 1,000 US dollars, the Chinese are on the whole enjoying a life of moderate prosperity along with progress in all social undertakings in the country. Nevertheless, we are soberly aware that we still have a long and up-hill journey ahead as we try to modernize China, given its huge population, inadequate economic base and highly uneven development.
Right now, China is at a critical juncture of its modernization drive. Experiences of other countries suggest that the period in which a country's per capita GDP rises from US$1,000 to US$3,000 is often blessed with immense steam and potential for development and at the same time fraught with formidable difficulties and risks. The world has presented both success stories and bitter failures when it comes to development within such a period. Some countries, thanks to right policies and measures, achieved rapid economic growth accompanied with social stability and progress. Others suffered from prolonged economic stagnation and social instability because of misguided policies and measures. To get ourselves better prepared for all the problems associated with this crucial period of development, we have put forward a scientific concept of development that makes people the top priority and encourages an all-round, coordinated and sustainable development, and seen to it that the concept be earnestly acted upon in all aspects of China's socio-economic life.
The scientific concept of development requires that we pay close attention to better quality and efficiency of economic growth while focusing on our central task of economic development and ensuring a fairly high growth rate. We will press ahead with our reform and opening-up programs on the basis of ensuring a balanced development between urban and rural areas, between different regions, between economic and social progress, between man and nature, and between domestic development and opening-up to the outside world. We must adhere to the "people first" approach, unite with all forces that can be united with, give scope to all positive factors and galvanize all creative power of society. We should properly handle the interests of different sectors, so that all the people can share the fruits of reform and development.
To maintain a sustained, healthy, rapid and coordinated economic development, achieve socialist modernization, and build a harmonious and dynamic society with democracy, rule of law, justice, honesty and decency, stability and order, a society where man and nature live as friends in a country like China with its 1.3 billion people is an unprecedented undertaking. We will encounter no fewer difficulties and problems as we forge ahead, and there are bound to be new challenges. But we are confident in our ability to overcome them and arrive at our set goal triumphantly.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
China's development is closely linked with Asia's prosperity. We are committed to developing good-neighborly relationship and partnership by constantly deepening our friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with other Asian countries, ensuring a close convergence of our interests with the common interests of all Asian countries and integrating our development with the common development of Asia as a whole. Already the largest importer in Asia, China is now beginning to show its potential as a new major investor and source of outbound tourists. Dedicated to promoting multilateral security cooperation in the region and facilitating peaceful settlement of regional hot-spots, China has made a contribution to peace and stability in the region. China has also contributed its share for regional integration by actively participating in Asia-based regional economic cooperation.
China's development is a peaceful one. Deeply seated in China's history is a cultural tradition that honors promises and promotes harmony among all nations. The humiliation and bullying they were subjected to in the past have made the Chinese people cherish all the more dearly their sovereignty, peace and stability. At present, development is of overriding importance. We will stay on the path of peaceful development, devoting all our resources to development. There is neither reason nor possibility for us to threaten anyone. Even if China gets more developed in the future, it will never seek hegemony. This is our solemn pledge that will never change. A stable, open and prosperous China is bound to make even greater contribution to peace and development in Asia.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Building a harmonious and prosperous Asia and making its rejuvenation in the 21st century a reality is the shared goal of all Asian peoples. It is also a challenging task before us. Let us join hands in a best effort for the well-being of all the people in Asia, for peace and prosperity in all Asian countries and for a better future of Asia.
Thank you!
(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2005)
