Editor's note: With a doctoral degree in communications from the Communication University of China, Dr. Summer, the author, has been working in the field of international journalism for 30 years. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the view of CGTN. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a grand gathering to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up in Beijing on Tuesday. After hearing his speech, I came away with three observations: 

A glorious past for China

President Xi Jinping said that the past four decades have witnessed tremendous changes in China. He referred to the reform and opening-up as “a great revolution in the history of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation,” and has led to a "quantum leap forward in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Xi identified three milestones in realizing the Chinese nation's rejuvenation: the founding of the Communist Party of China (the CPC), the founding of the People's Republic of China and the pursuit of reform and opening-up. He characterized each milestone with three corresponding phrases: the Chinese people have stood up, the Chinese people have become better off and the Chinese people are building their country into a world power.

The Chinese president summed up 10 achievements over the past 40 years, as testimony of the success of the reform and opening-up drive, citing detailed numbers to show the progress made in the country's economy and the improvement of people's livelihood, as well as the country's contribution to the world.

-- The country's economic development: The purpose of reform and opening-up is to make economic development a top priority and unleash its productive forces. As a result, China's GDP has increased from 367.9 billion yuan in 1978 to 82.7 trillion yuan in 2017, with an average annual growth of 9.5 percent, which is much higher than the world's average annual rate of 2.9 percent during the same period. China now ranks first as the world's manufacturer, trader of goods and holder of foreign exchange reserves. It ranks as the world's second largest economy, second largest consumer of goods and recipient of foreign investment.

-- Improvements in people's livelihood: Over the past 40 years, people's lives and well-being have continued to improve. Per capita disposable income has increased from 171 yuan to 26,000 yuan nationwide. A total of 740 million people have been lifted out of poverty, reducing the poverty headcount ratio by 94.4 percentage points. China has also set up the world's largest social security system, providing basic old-age pension for over 900 million seniors and medical insurance for over 1.3 billion people. 

Life expectancy has been extended from 67.8 years in 1981 to 76.7 years in 2017. Permanent urban residents now account for 58.52 percent of the total population, up by 40.6 percentage points during the period.

-- The country's contribution to the world: China's reform and opening-up was also the start of its endeavor to achieve common development as well as closer ties with the rest of the world. The country's share of the global GDP has risen from 1.8 to 15.2 percent, generating more than 30 percent of global growth for years. Its foreign trade of goods has soared from 20.6 billion U.S. dollars to four trillion U.S. dollars. Over the past 40 years, China has attracted more than two trillion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment and invested 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars overseas.

Factors behind China's success

Xi Jinping also took the occasion to summarize the country's experience over the past four decades. I think three points need to be stressed.

-- Xi underscored the work of Party leadership: He stressed that “the reform and opening-up in the past four decades has shown that the leadership of the CPC is the most essential attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the greatest strength of this system.” As there is no textbook to follow for reform and development in China, Xi stressed the need for the CPC to strengthen its capacity to innovate, the power to unite, and the energy to fight.

He pointed out that a review of the past several thousand years shows that reform and opening-up remains the norm throughout China's history so it's important to strike a balance between reform, development and stability by maintaining the worldview and methodology of dialectical and historical materialism.

-- Xi called for continuous efforts to deliver on people's aspirations for a better life: He said that the practices over the past 40 years have shown that seeking happiness for the Chinese people and striving for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the founding aspiration and mission of the Communist Party of China. 

-- Xi vowed to open up wider to the world: He underlined China's commitment to opening up wider to the world and promoting joint efforts to build a community with a shared future for humanity because the practice of reform and opening-up over the past 40 years has shown that openness brings progress, while seclusion leads to backwardness. This commitment also indicates that China's growth will further reinforce the promotion of global peace and development.

A better future for the world

My conclusion is, the past four decades of China's reform and opening-up have not only witnessed common development and progress through in-depth interactions with other countries, but also shown China's confidence and ability to promote global growth. Amid new challenges arising from a changing world, China has never stopped seeking solutions, including its Road and Belt Initiative and its vision to build a common community with a shared future for mankind.

Looking ahead, as China opens wider to the outside world, contributing more to the world, the country's approach of aligning its interests with the rest of the world's is a bid to build a more inclusive, democratic, open, innovative, and efficient multilateral world, which in turn, will contribute to a better tomorrow for mankind.

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