China tips developing countries on modernisation
By Mathews Kasanda in Shanghai, China:
As many countries including Malawi are struggling to move out of poverty, People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping has advised developing countries to find locally available solutions to attain success.
Xi’s remarks are contained in his congratulatory message read by China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang to the Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernisation and the World held at the Meet-the-World Lounge in Shanghai on Friday.
Representatives of governments including Malawi, think tanks and the media from nearly 80 countries participated in the forum.
“Inpursuing modernisation, a country needs to follow certain general patterns. More importantly, it should proceed from its own realities and develop its own features,” Xi said.
He said, after “a long and arduous quest”, the Communist Party of China has led the entire Chinese nation in finding a development path that suits China’s conditions.
“We are now building a strong country and advancing national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernisation,” he said.
In his speech, Qin said “the modernisation of China has been a journey of hardship and perseverance of its citizens” but has turned out to be transformational.
New Development Bank President, Dilma Rousseff, said there is a need for every country to find a way of modernisation that suits its people and that it is possible to create a new world as demonstrated by China.
“This [China modernisation] is a great achievement ever seen in history,” she said.
Gambia Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Namadou Tangara, told the gathering that the People’s Republic of China stands as a beacon of hope to developing countries.
He said it symbolises that mankind has a shared future with collaboration, cooperation and unity being indispensable for global prosperity.
Egypt former prime minister, Essam Sharaf, dwelled on the need for all ethnic groups to live in harmony.
The Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernisation and the World was organised by the China Public Diplomacy Association and the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, and was supported by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.
Over the past years, China has managed to lift out of poverty 800 million of its citizens.
Malawi has been in diplomatic relations with China since 2007 and the Asian economic giant has been stressing its will to share development opportunities with Malawi for mutual benefit.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
