As China celebrates the 40th anniversary of its historic reform and opening-up, I am about to celebrate the 30th anniversary of my first coming to China in January 1989. I was hooked from the moment I arrived. 

The Chinese had a fresh, if naïve, enthusiasm; they were eager to learn, and ready to improve their civic and material lives. I realized then that China’s economics, politics, society, science and culture would soon come to matter a great deal to the world. What I did not realize then was how much China would come to matter to me.

Once a backward economy and a closed society, China is now the world’s second-largest economy, engaged openly with every country on earth, and involved in every matter of global importance: economics, business, science, technology, education, healthcare, environment, culture, diplomacy, defense, global infrastructure construction, battles against poverty at home and abroad. China’s transformation is unprecedented in world history and for three decades I am privileged to bear witness. 

As President Xi Jinping addressed the grand commemoration of 40 years of reform and opening up in the Great Hall of the People on December 18, 2018, the occasion was a time to reflect on all that China has accomplished and a call to action for all that China still needs to accomplish.

When historians of the future write the chronicles of our times, one highlight will likely be China’s 40 years of reform and opening up. In his speech commemorating its 40th anniversary, President Xi Jinping stated with confidence that China's direction is clear: Socialism with Chinese characteristics, the leadership of the Communist Party of China, putting people and their well-being and happiness first, and the need to further implement and deepen reforms.

 As part of commemoration, I was privileged to receive the China Reform Friendship Medal, recognizing ten foreigners who have helped China throughout this historic four-decade transformation, when China’s per capita disposable income increased about 23 times, and over 740 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty. 

In this new era of China’s reform and opening up, in this transitional time of China’s enhanced engagement with the world, and in this difficult period of US-China relations, my receiving this Medal is not so much personal but rather represents how seriously China takes international communications with the world - to learn more about the world and to tell the world the true story of China. For 30 years I have been learning about China and communicating what I’ve been witnessing and experiencing. 

To all those who have helped me along this remarkable journey, I express my profound appreciation. The need to facilitate communications between China and the world has never been greater. 

To celebrate China’s 40 years of reform and opening-up, and to gauge what it means for China’s future, is to be…. Closer To China.