On September 28th, 2023, Indian mainstream media The Indian Express and Financial Express published special page on celebrating the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The special page contained Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Chinese Embassy in India Ma Jia’s National Day Message, Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, China’s economic and social achievements and Hangzhou Asian Games.
Full text of Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Chinese Embassy in India Ma Jia’s National Day Message:
Over the past 74 years, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have successfully charted the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and brought about the two miracles of rapid economic growth and enduring social stability. China’s GDP has grown from 30 billion US dollars to 18 trillion US dollars in 2022. China has become the world’s second largest economy, largest manufacturer and trader in goods, and second largest consumer of commodities and recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI).
China has contributed initiatives and resources to maintain world peace and promote common development. President Xi Jinping put forward the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, which has gained extensive recognition and support from the international community. The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative are bearing fruits. China has been and will continue to be a builder of world peace, contributor to global development and defender of the international order. We will further inject stability and positive energy into today’s world fraught with uncertainties.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up. Over the past decade or so, China’s economy contributed up to more than 30 percent on average to world economic growth. For the first half of this year, China’s GDP grew by 5.5 percent year-on-year. According to IMF, China’s economy is expected to grow by 5.2 percent and account for one third of global growth this year. The fundamentals sustaining China’s economic growth in the long run have not changed. The economy’s remarkable resilience, potential and vitality have not changed. The conditions underpinning high-quality development have not changed. The giant ship of the Chinese economy will continue to sail ahead.
China is a major trading partner of over 140 countries and regions. Confronting with the headwinds to economic globalization, China would like to work with partners to build an open world economy, oppose the politicization of economic issues, work together to keep global industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, so that the fruits of globalization could be enjoyed by all in a more equitable way.
As the only two major developing countries with a population of over one billion and major emerging economies with broad development prospects, China and India shoulder increasingly important responsibilities in maintaining global stability and promoting common development. China-India relations have gone beyond the bilateral scope and acquired global and strategic significance.
This year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi attended the SCO and BRICS Summits and had a conversation during the BRICS Summit. Premier Li Qiang attended the 18th G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi. The two sides maintained communication through diplomatic and military channels to move the border situation from emergency response to normalized management and control. Bilateral trade has performed strongly, and the trade volume reached 77.6 billion US dollars in the first seven months of this year. People to people exchanges between the two countries continue to increase.
Going forward, we hope that the two sides will follow the important consensus reached by the two leaders and translate it into concerted actions taken by all departments and in all fields, so as to bring China-India relations back to the track of sound and steady development at an early date.
We hope to firmly stick to the correct direction of China-India relations. China and India are eternal neighbors who need to accurately understand each other’s strategic intentions, and to support and contribute to each other’s success instead of undermining and doubting each other. We need to jointly oppose zero-sum games and keep our region away from geopolitical calculations. China and India have the ability and wisdom to find a way for friendly coexistence between neighboring major countries and jointly create the “Asian Century”.
We hope to accelerate the resumption of practical cooperation and deepen it. China’s second centenary goal and India’s “Amrit Kaal” development goal are the biggest strategic objectives for the two countries respectively. China-India economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win in nature, and an important booster to “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. We need to provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for each other’s enterprises, promote bilateral trade facilitation, maintain contacts and exchanges in youth, culture, education, tourism and other fields, work for an early resumption of passenger flights, and continue to enhance mutual understanding and people-to-people bond.
We hope to properly manage and handle differences and sensitive issues. Many of the problems in China-India relations are left over from history and will take time to resolve. There is an old Chinese saying, “the finer details fall into place when they align with the bigger picture”. We need to consolidate and develop the overall situation of friendly cooperation between our two countries and properly manage and resolve specific issues in this process, rather than allowing specific issues to define our bilateral relations, so as to promote more mature and stable relationship between our two countries.
We hope to strengthen multilateral cooperation. The theme of the G20 Summit in New Delhi was “One Earth, One Family, One Future”, which is highly consistent with the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind. China and India are both members of the Global South. We need to stand firmly on the side of developing countries, uphold independence, work for unity and rejuvenation, advance the economic globalization, oppose hegemonism and power politics, and fully support the improvement of the representation and voice of developing countries in the reform of the global governance system.
We are ready to work with people from all walks of life who care about and support China-India relations, and promote the stability, improvement and development of bilateral relations for the benefit of the two countries and two peoples.
