Spotlight: Chinese Dream connects aspirations of the whole world for peace, development

BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The world has come to a better understanding of the "Chinese Dream" over the past five years since Chinese President Xi Jinping put it forward to lay out an inspiring vision for realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

It is not confined to national boundaries but aligns with aspirations of the whole world for peace, sustained development and common prosperity.

PARADIGM FOR GLOBAL POVERTY ERADICATION

While speaking of his tour to a mountainous area in southwestern China's Yunnan Province in April, Javier Miranda, president of Uruguay's Broad Front party, could not but express amazement at the poverty alleviation efforts he saw there.

"A 60-year-old man has transformed his home into a minshuku (a kind of affordable Japanese hotel) with a dining hall," he said. "He told me that his house used to have leaking roofs and blackouts a couple of years ago."

Over the years, the emergence of vocational schools, e-commerce and alternative planting has brought dramatic changes to the Lisus living there, an ethnic minority.

Similar success stories are pouring in from China's countryside. The past five years saw more than 60 million people lifted out of poverty, marking an epic chapter in the global battle against poverty.

China is set to complete building a moderately prosperous society by 2020, which requires the eradication of poverty. It means more than 10 million people have to be lifted out of poverty every year. That is nearly 1 million people per month, or 20 people per minute.

During his visit to China earlier this month, UN World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley said China can play a significant role in ending hunger around the world because it has proved its commitment and capability in the last few decades.

"China doesn't just talk about it. It acts. It gets it done," he said.

COMMITMENT TO COMMON DEVELOPMENT

Over the past five years, China has maintained its position as the world's second largest economy and contributed more than one third of the global economic growth. It has also become a major international investor and leading global trader.

An example of China's commitment to common development is the Belt and Road Initiative, which was proposed by Xi in 2013.

The initiative, comprising the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to build a trade, investment and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

It has been implemented in cooperation and alignment with participating countries' respective development strategies, making its projects beneficial to all involved.

The under-construction China-Laos railway will help turn land-locked Laos into a land-linked country; the 472-km Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway built with Chinese assistance and expertise becomes Kenya's single largest infrastructure project since its independence in 1963, among others.

In a message sent to a Belt and Road forum in New Zealand on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "clear synergies" exist between the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Both strive to "stitch countries together in networks of trade and mutual gain," and both aim to "deepen global connectivity," Guterres said.

ADVOCATE OF COMMUNITY OF SHARED FUTURE

The Belt and Road Initiative embodies Xi's concept of building a community of shared future for mankind, which connects the "Chinese Dream" with the aspirations of the whole world for peace and development.

Guided by the concept, which has gained worldwide recognition and been inscribed into multiple UN resolutions, China is playing an increasingly important role in global affairs.

Amid rising trade protectionism and anti-globalization sentiment in Western countries, it has remained a steadfast champion of free trade, open economy and inclusive globalization.

Against headwinds in fighting climate change, China has become an important participant, contributor and torchbearer in the global endeavor for an ecological civilization.

China is also the largest troop contributor and the second largest funding source for UN peacekeeping missions around the world, and a staunch supporter of peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts.

"The dream of us Chinese is closely connected with the dreams of people of other countries," Xi reiterated at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in Vietnam earlier this month.

"Our world is full of challenges and the road ahead will not be smooth. But we will not give up our dream. We will double our efforts and work with all others to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys durable peace, universal security, and common prosperity." Enditem