"While Chinese modernization is conceived in China, the opportunities it brings belong to the world," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said in the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernization and the World on Friday.

He emphasized that Chinese modernization will not only provide more opportunities to the world, but also inject new momentum into the recovery of the global economy and give other developing countries the confidence to pursue their own modernization.

Additionally, Qin noted that Chinese modernization will advance the sustainable development of the world and safeguard world peace as China is dedicated to a peaceful path of development and rejects geopolitical confrontation.

The Lanting Forum, established by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2010, is a platform for the government departments, business groups, academia and media outlets to discuss China's foreign policy, international affairs and other important matters of mutual interest.

How will Chinese modernization benefit the world?

Qin said that Chinese modernization entails the common prosperity of over 1.4 billion Chinese people. Given China's large population, Chinese modernization will also give greater impetus to global economic recovery, he said.

Qin listed figures that illustrated China's modernization, saying it has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, enlarged the middle-income group to over 400 million people, and attracted over 140 countries and regions to become China's trading partners. Additionally, Qin pointed out that every day Chinese direct investment worth 320 million U.S. dollars flows to the rest of the world, and more than 3,000 foreign businesses are set up in China every month.

"Over the past decade, China has contributed more to global growth than all the G7 countries combined," Qin said, adding the modernization of a country with over 1.4 billion people, which is bigger than the combined population of the developed countries, will surely provide more opportunities to the world economy. 

The modernization of China with common prosperity for all will open up a broader path to the common development of all countries, Qin noted. He brought up the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Global Development Initiative (GDI) in his speech, saying the two initiatives provide platforms for common development and prosperity for all countries.

The BRI has generated more than 3,000 cooperation projects, attracted nearly one trillion U.S. dollars of investment and created 420,000 jobs in countries along the routes since it was put forward ten years ago, according to Qin. And the GDI also received great support: nearly 70 countries joined the Group of Friends of the GDI, which provided an important boost to the realization of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Qin said, adding China also attaches great importance to the debt issue of developing countries and has contributed as much as 63 percent of the total debt payments suspension.

"It's fair to say that China's modernization has kindled the confidence of all countries in achieving modernization," Qin said, adding every country can achieve modernization from scratch.

China has always taken environmental protection and sustainable development as its responsibility. The Chinese government has issued numerous related policies and great results have also been achieved in recent years, which means that the modernization of China with harmony between humanity and nature will provide a more viable pathway to a clean and beautiful world, Qin said.

Qin said that China is leading the world in terms of ecological and environmental protection, as well as in addressing climate change. For instance, China is number one in terms of afforestation, accounting for a quarter of the world's total, the scale of renewable energy utilization is the world's highest, with one-third of the world's installed capacity of wind and solar power, and the production and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) are the highest, with half of the world's NEVs being driven on Chinese roads.

In September 2020, China announced that it would strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, which is ten to forty years less than the U.S. and the European Union to achieve carbon neutrality from the carbon peak. 

Additionally, China also takes the lead in setting up the Kunming Biodiversity Fund and is preparing to set up a carbon neutrality center with France, which will make new contributions to the Paris Agreement, an international treaty that includes commitments from all countries to reduce carbon emissions and work together to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Chinese modernization is a growing force for peace and justice and will bring more certainty to world peace and stability, Qin said, adding there is no gene of hegemony in Chinese culture. 

He noted that China is the only country that has put peaceful development in its constitution and is the top contributor of peacekeeping personnel among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the only country among the five Nuclear-Weapon States that has made the promise of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.

So far, China has joined over 20 multilateral arms control treaties and pushed for the conclusion of a joint statement among the five Nuclear-Weapon States on preventing nuclear war. And the country also proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI), brokered the resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and called for dialogue and peaceful settlement for international disputes such as the Ukraine crisis.

On the Taiwan question, Qin stressed that Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China's territory since ancient times, and both sides of the Strait belong to one and the same China. This is Taiwan's history, and it is also the status quo of Taiwan. Taiwan's return to China is a component of the post-war international order, written in black and white in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

It is not the Chinese mainland, but the "Taiwan independence" separatists and a handful of countries attempting to take advantage of "Taiwan independence," that are disrupting international rules. "China will safeguard the international order with greater resolve," Qin added. 

"It is right and proper for China to uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We would like to make it clear to those who seek to sabotage international justice in the name of international order: The Taiwan question is the core of the core interests of China, and there will be no vagueness at all in our response to any one who attempts to distort the one-China principle; we will never back down in the face of any act that undermines China's sovereignty and security. Those who play with fire on Taiwan will eventually get themselves burned," he continued. 

To conclude his speech, Qin noted that China's modernization has made advances in the course of opening up and China will keep opening to the world and safeguard globalization. China firmly opposes decoupling, unilateral sanctions and maximum pressure, Qin said. He also emphasized the importance of exchanges among civilizations, calling on all countries to promote peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, and oppose discrimination against races, countries and civilizations in international relations.

"We are ready to work together with all parties to promote diverse ways of modernization and create an even brighter future for our planet," Qin said.

(Cover: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernization and the World, Shanghai, China, April 21, 2023. /China's Foreign Ministry)