China celebrates 60 years

TODAY marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and it is expected that more than 1,3 billion people in China and across the world will be watching the celebrations at a grand parade in Beijing via satellite.

At a celebration attended by several government officials and members of the diplomatic corps on Tuesday evening, Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Ren Xiaoping gave a summary overview of the country’s achievements over the past 60 years.She said that upon realising that ‘economic development is the key to the revival of our nation and the success of a country must be proved by whether its people’s livelihood is improving’, China began an all-round reform in 1978, marking the beginning of 31 years of economic growth.Xiaoping said that since these reforms, China has lifted more than 200 million people out of poverty, extended special care to 83 million people with disabilities, introduced a free nine-year compulsory education system, established a co-operative medical system in rural areas, and improved the social safety net. She also highlighted the country’s transformation from a highly centralised economy to a ‘vigorous socialist market economy’ through institutional reform, improvements on the political and legal fronts, and China’s contributions to the global economy.But Xiaoping also admitted that China, which remains a developing country despite being a worldwide economic powerhouse, has a long way to go.’China still lags behind more than 100 countries in terms of per capita GDP. With one fifth of the world’s population, our difficulties are multiplied,’ she said.She added that the country also needed ‘to speed up rural development to reduce urban-rural disparity’, and ‘to balance economic and social development’, among other issues that remain to be tackled.Information and Communication Technology Minister Joel Kaapanda, and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo Ben Gurirab, were present at the function to extend their congratulations on behalf of the Government. The Ambassador noted that former President Sam Nujoma is currently in China to participate in the celebrations taking place there.nangula@namibian.com.na