The upcoming October 1st marks the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Over the past 73 years, tens of millions of Chinese people worked tirelessly and fearlessly to build the nation. Tested by hardships, tremendous achievements in development have been made, and China has realized its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects on schedule.
The past one year once again saw China making new progress in its social and economic development, as well as China’s new contributions to the international community in overcoming global challenges and achieving common prosperity.
The world witnessed China in pursuing high-quality development. Faced with severe and multiple challenges, China fully and faithfully implemented the new development philosophy featuring innovation, coordination, green, openness and shared development, and applied this philosophy to all areas throughout the process of economic and social progress. China kept on putting COVID-19 under control, and stabilized economic recovery and development. At present, the Chinese people are already on a new journey toward the second centenary goal of building a modern socialist country in all respects.
The world witnessed China in promoting global development and common progress. We fostered global partnerships, and played an active part in the reform and development of the global governance system. The Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by President Xi Jinping for achieving common development won wide cheers among the international community. Over 100 countries and international organizations, including the UN, supported the GDI over the past year, and over 60 countries including The Gambia joined the Group of Friends of the GDI. The Initiative has progressed from the stage of lying basis to building a framework, being transformed into actions of practical cooperation.
The world witnessed China in promoting peace and security. To answer questions of our time as what security concept the world needs and how countries can achieve common security, President Xi Jinping proposed Global Security Initiative (GSI), calling on the international community to stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; stay committed to respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; stay committed to taking seriously the legitimate security concerns of all countries; stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation; and stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains.
The world witnessed China in standing shoulder to shoulder with Africa. Since the successful Eighth FOCAC Ministerial Conference held last year, China and Africa have jointly made good progress in implementing the outcomes of the conference. The people in Africa are getting tangible benefits. Together, China and Africa have safeguarded international fairness and justice, kept our focus on development cooperation, tackled the global food crisis, built a strong shield against COVID-19, advanced resilient and sustainable development, and enhanced regional peace and stability. These achievements in our cooperation have not come easily, and we have much more to look forward to in the future.
In just a few weeks, the Communist Party of China (CPC) will convene its 20th National Congress. It will be a gathering of great significance, and will guide China’s future development. China will continue to follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy in particular, actively participate in international affairs, act with a sense of responsibilities as a major country, advance the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and work tirelessly for building a community with a shared future for mankind.
China and The Gambia are mutually reliable partners on each other’s development paths. In recent years, the China-Gambia friendship has been continuously promoted, with cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, health, agriculture and education yielding tremendous outcomes, which have been helping promote The Gambia’s social and economic progress, tangibly benefiting the people of both countries.
In his recent speeches, H.E. President Adama Barrow addressed many fronts of The Gambia’s future development agenda, pointing out that the country is working on the electrification to attain the 2025 Universal Access goal, implementing eight major projects to promote agriculture, promoting education and capacity building, strengthening resilience against climate change, and so forth. China is ready to work with The Gambia, and strengthen cooperation in areas set as priority in the Gambian government’s development agenda.
Both as developing countries, China and The Gambia are like-minded with vast common grounds on international and regional affairs. China firmly supports The Gambia in hosting the next OIC Summit, appreciates The Gambia in playing a constructive role in international organizations such as the UN, AU, and Ecowas, and commends The Gambia for its preventive diplomacy efforts in maintaining and restoring regional peace and stability. Looking forward, China is ready to work with The Gambia to actively implement the Global Development Initiative, and take concerted actions to safeguard the interests of developing countries and foster a balanced, coordinated and inclusive development landscape that embraces win-win cooperation, works for all and delivers common prosperity.
