Distinguished Guests,

Dear Friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

Good afternoon! Namaste!

Today we are holding a forum on the theme of "Deepening Reform to Advance Modernization: How China and India Can Contribute to Each Other's Success". It aims to exchange experiences with Indian friends in deepening reform and advancing modernization with friends from India, and exploring ways to promote cooperation between China and India. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all the guests here, and express my sincere thanks to the co-organizers of the forum, the Center for Global India Insights and the Institute of Social Sciences.

Recently, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was successfully held, which attracted widespread attention from the world. This is a meeting of great importance taking place at a critical time for our endeavor to build a great country and move toward national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization. It drew up the grand blueprint for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese modernization. It sent a clear signal that China is determined to promote high-quality development and high-standard opening up. I would like to share with you my understanding of the key points of the plenary session.

Firstly, the plenary session sounded the clarion call for further deepening reform comprehensively. The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978 ushered in a new period of China's reform and opening up and socialist modernization. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2013 initiated a new era of comprehensively deepening reform with systematic and holistic plans. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made clear the overall objectives of further deepening reform comprehensively, which is to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernize China’s system and capacity for governance. By 2035, we will have finished building a high-standard socialist market economy in all respects, further improved the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, generally modernized our system and capacity for governance, and basically realized socialist modernization. All of this will lay a solid foundation for building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects by the middle of this century. It pointed out that the key direction for further deepening reform comprehensively is to focus on building a high-standard socialist market economy, advancing whole-process people's democracy, developing a strong socialist culture in China, raising the people’s quality of life, building a Beautiful China, advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level, and improving the Party's capacity for leadership and long-term governance. It unveiled the roadmap and timetable of reform, put forward more than 300 major reform measures, and emphasized that the reform tasks shall be completed by 2029. This shows the firm determination and confidence to carry out the reform to the end.

Secondly, the plenary session opened up broad prospects for Chinese modernization. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has united and led the entire Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups to successfully promote and expand Chinese modernization. The reform measures planned and deployed in this plenary session are centered on the theme of advancing Chinese modernization. We will build a high-standard socialist market economy, which provides an important guarantee for Chinese modernization. We will promote high-quality economic development, strive to create new growth drivers and strengths, support all-around innovation, and strengthen the basic and strategic underpinnings of education, science and technology, and talents. We will promote the development of new quality productive forces that are characterized by high technology, high performance, and high quality. We will establish a mechanism for ensuring funding increases for future industries, and elevate national standards to guide the upgrading of traditional industries. All these measures will provide strong impetus and institutional support, and open up new prospects for Chinese modernization.

Thirdly, the plenary session demonstrated China's firm determination to expand opening up. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that China’s door will never be closed, and it will only open even wider. This plenary session once again clarified that we will remain committed to the basic state policy of opening to the outside world, continue to promote reform through opening up, and develop new institutions for a higher-standard open economy. We will steadily expand institutional opening up, promote alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rule, and open up China’s commodity, services, capital, and labor markets wider to the outside world in an orderly manner. We will further reform the management systems for inward and outward investment, and remove all restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector. We will promote wider opening with regard to telecommunications, the internet, education, culture, medical services, and other sectors in a well-conceived way. We will ensure national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, and foster a first-rate business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized. We will facilitate international cooperation in industrial and supply chains. Recently, China has allowed the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in certain cities, which fully demonstrates that we do what we say. We will leverage the strengths of China’s enormous market, continuously expand the depth and breadth of opening-up, promote the benign interaction between China and the world economy, and provide broader market and more cooperation opportunities for the other countries.

 Since 1990s, India has actively promoted economic and social reforms. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Indian government put forward the policy of “Reform, Perform and Transform”, and India's economy maintains rapid development and people's living standards improve continuously. I would congratulate on the achievements India has made through reforms. Only China and India can understand how many efforts should be made to promote reform in a country with a population of 1.4 billion. We are willing to enhance experience-sharing on reforms with the Indian side, synergize our development strategies, learn from each other's strengths and make progress together.

Dear friends,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Achieving modernization is the common expectation of all countries in the world. The Western approach to modernization has inflicted immense sufferings on developing countries, including China and India. Since the end of World War II, developing countries such as China and India have achieved independence and development one after another, and have been endeavoring to redress the historical injustices of the modernization process. As President Xi Jinping pointed out, the modernization we are pursuing is not for China alone, but for all developing countries through our joint efforts. Chinese modernization has contributed Chinese wisdom, Chinese solutions, and Chinese strength to the world. Chinese modernization has debunked the myth that modernization equals westernization, expanded options for developing countries in pursuing modernization, and promoted the process of global modernization.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Computed by constant prices, China's GDP in 2023 was 223 times of that in 1952, with an average annual growth rate of 7.9 percent, which contributes 17% of the world’s GDP. China's manufacturing output has ranked first in the world for 14 consecutive years. China has become the largest goods trader, the second largest services trader, the second largest commodity consumption market, and the largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. From 2013 to 2023, China contributed more than 30% to global economic growth on average, and become the strongest engine for global economic growth. This fully demonstrates that the Chinese path to modernization is right and will continue to be successful.

Recently, President Xi Jinping attended the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and put forward that China and African countries should jointly advance modernization that is just and equitable, that is open and win-win, that puts the people first, that features diversity and inclusiveness, that is eco-friendly, and that is underpinned by peace and security. The six-point proposition answers the historical question of how developing countries can achieve modernization and what kind of modernization they can achieve. It is widely accepted by African leaders, and will have a significant and far-reaching impact on spearheading faster modernization of the Global South and advancing global modernization.

Friends,

Ladies and gentlemen,  

China and India are important neighbors, major developing countries and emerging economies, and both are at a critical stage of national development and rejuvenation. China has put forward the goal to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects through the middle of this century. India also has the vision of “Viksit Bharat 2047”. China would like to work with India to help each other succeed on the way to modernization, achieve common development and revitalisation, and join hands to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Firstly, we should adhere to the guidance of the important consensuses reached by the leaders of the two countries and jointly seek ways for neighboring major countries to live in peace. Every country needs a peaceful and stable environment to achieve modernization. Chinese modernization is the modernization of peaceful development. China will not tread the old path of war, colonization, and plunder taken by some countries. At the conference marking the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, President Xi Jinping reiterated that China’s resolve to stay on the path of peaceful development will not change. The leaders of China and India reached important consensuses such as “China and India are partners rather than rivals, and are not threats to each other but opportunities for each other’s development”. They not only point out the direction for the development of bilateral relations, but also provide important guidelines for the two countries to promote modernization.

Mahatma Gandhi once observed that China and India are fellow travelers sharing weal and woe in a common journey. In the new era, we should firmly implement the important consensuses reached by the leaders of the two countries, and carry forward the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. We should follow the principles of mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual accommodation and mutual accomplishment, and forge a right path for our two  neighbouring major countries to coexist in harmony and develop hand in hand, so as to provide solid guarantees for our modernization. We need to correctly view each other's development and strategic intentions, firmly steer bilateral relations in the right direction, and mutually accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns. We need to properly handle differences through dialogue, steadily promote exchanges and cooperation at all levels in various fields, prevent our cooperation from being disrupted by a single incident, and jointly usher in a new chapter in China-India relations.

Secondly, we should focus on the well-being of the two peoples and share the opportunities of modernization and development. China and India are both among the largest developing countries. We both shoulder the important task of developing the economy and improving people’s livelihood, and also enjoy broad space for mutually beneficial cooperation. Development is the greatest common interest between China and India. China has become India’s largest trading partner, and bilateral trade volume reached 136.2 billion USD last year. Chinese companies in India have created employment opportunities for the Indian people, and have made positive contributions to India’s economic development. Since last year, the Chinese Embassy and Consulates-General in India have issued more than 400,000 visas to Indians, greatly facilitating people from all walks of life in India to visit China for exchanges and cooperation.

At present, India is implementing the initiatives such as “Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India)” and “Make in India”, and is committed to becoming a global manufacturing hub. China is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts and promoting high-standard opening up, which will provide new cooperation opportunities to all countries including India. We are willing to strengthen exchanges of modernization experience with India, jointly make the cake of cooperation bigger, and better benefit the two countries and two peoples. The economic and trade structures of China and India are highly complementary. We welcome more Indian commodity to enter the Chinese market, and more Indian enterprises to invest in China. It is hoped that the Indian side could provide sound business environment for the Chinese enterprises in India. The foundation of China-India people-to-people friendship is profound. We are willing to advance exchanges and cooperation with India in science and technology, education, culture and tourism. We also expect positive measures from India in resuming direct flights and facilitating visas for Chinese citizens.

Thirdly, we should uphold the interests of developing countries and jointly advance the modernization in the Global South. The current transformations of the world unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace. The geopolitical conflicts are spilling over and dragging on, economic globalization encounters headwinds, and unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, which pose real challenges to the modernization in the Global South. Both China and India are important members of the Global South and backbones in safeguarding the interests of developing countries. China attaches great importance to the cooperation in the Global South. President Xi Jinping put forward the initiative of open and inclusive cooperation in the Global South, which injects strong impetus into the common development and cooperation of the Global South. Prime Minister Modi also proposed the "Global Development Compact" initiative to promote development cooperation in the Global South.

Modernization is an inalienable right of developing countries. The Global South countries are watching how China and India strengthen coordination and cooperation, and lead the development and revitalization of the Global South. We stand ready to work with India and other countries of the Global South to follow the trend of the times featuring peace, development and win-win cooperation, advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and practice true multilateralism. We should promote the political settlement of international and regional hotspot issues, bring development back to the center of the international agenda, and enhance inter-civilization communication and dialogue. We should safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and join hands to take the lead in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Dear friends,

Ladies and gentlemen,  

Achieving modernization is the common aspiration of China and India, and deepening reform is the only way to it. Advancing mutually beneficial cooperation and helping each other succeed will significantly promote our respective modernization causes. This is the biggest overall picture of China-India relations. A sound and stable relationship between China and India not only concerns the development of the two countries, but also the cause of peace and development of Asia and mankind at large. At present, China-India relations are at a crucial stage of improvement and development. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar twice in the past two months, and met with Indian National Security Advisor Mr. Ajit Doval a few days ago. They had in-depth communication and reached important consensus on the improvement of bilateral relations. We are fully confident about the future of our bilateral relations. It is hoped that people from all walks of life of the two countries actively contribute to the great cause of China-India friendship and cooperation, and push forward the sound and stable development of China-India relations.

Finally, I wish the forum a great success.

Thank you!