Embassy of China marks 40th anniversary of policy of reform, openness in country

Chisinau, 14 September /MOLDPRES/ - The Embassy of China in Moldova marked the 40th anniversary of the policy of reform and openness in this country and the fifth anniversary of the One Belt One Road Initiative, at a reception held in Chisinau on 13 September evening.   

In his speech, Ambassador of China to Moldova Zhang Yinghong said that, in 1978, China had initiated a policy of reform and openness, starting a new age in the country’s history. In the last 40 years, the Chinese Communist Party has firmly promoted the reforms and has constantly extended China’s level of openness. According to the Chinese diplomat, the economic development entered a high-speed road, the aggregate economic scale reached a new level and the national power and international influence recorded a historic leap. Thus, the economic development level has increased significantly. In 2017, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeded 12.3 trillion dollars, being 33.5-fold bigger than in 1978, with a yearly average increase of 9.5 per cent, doubling in every eight years; it is much higher than the economic growth’s rate at the world level for the same period, which stood at 2.9 per cent.    

”The GDP per capita increased 22.8-fold in 2017 against 1978. The number of poor people in China decreased from 770 million to 30.46 million in 2017 against the same year and the poverty level dropped from 97.5 per cent to 3.1 per cent. China ranks first in the world according to the production of cereals, energy, meat, tea, etc,” Zhang Yinghong stressed.     

In 2013, the Chinese ambassador said, President of China Xi Jinping launched an ambitious initiative of joint development titled, One Belt One Road Initiative. It is aimed at strengthening the multilateral cooperation with the countries along the belt and the Silk Road, in order to get mutual benefits and common prosperity. “As many as 103 states and international organizations signed 118 cooperation agreements with China within the One Belt One Road Initiative. “As for the financial cooperation, 11 Chinese banks founded 71 financial institutions. China carries out cooperation in financing with the African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),” Zhang Yinghong also said.     

According to the Chinese diplomat, in the last 40 years, China has actively benefited from possibilities of economic globalization, by using resources of two markets, the domestic and the external one. In 2017, the overall export of goods amounted to 4.1 trillion dollars, thus growing almost 200-fold against 1979. The investments in science and technology increased on the same period. Thus, in 2017 alone, over 1.3 million applications on patenting inventions were submitted. The scholarship programme, Silk Road, was launched and school institutions were constructed abroad. In the last year, more than 300,000 students from 25 states studied in China and 60,000 Chinese students studied in these countries.      

Referring to the bilateral relations between Moldova and China, Zhang Yinghong highlighted that Moldova was an active participant in the One Belt One Road Initiative, and in the last years, the cooperation between China and Moldova in diverse sectors had witnessed important results. Thus, in 2017, the bilateral trade between China and Moldova reached 524 million dollars, increasing by 30 per cent. The export of Moldovan wines to China continues to grow and China has become the second biggest importer of Moldovan wine, accounting for 12 per cent of the exports.  

”The pragmatic projects on cooperation between the two sides progress successfully and the humanitarian exchanges have become more active. In last July, the two countries signed an agreement on the mutual recognition of diplomas, academic degrees and titles in the higher education, which represented an important achievement of the bilateral cooperation. It is worth highlighting the fact that the two sides presently actively negotiate the signing of a free trade agreement between China and Moldova. China strongly hopes that Moldova will make good progress in the economic and social development and is prepared to fully share the successful  experience with Moldova, and, at the same time, the fruits of the development,” the Chinese ambassador added. 

The diplomatic relations between Moldova and China were established on 30 January 1992.

(Reporter N. Roibu, editor M. Jantovan)