Statement by Chinese Ambassador Lin Xianjiang on 2022 Chinese National Day

*Editor’s note* The views expressed in this post are not necessarily those of DNO or our partners.

Dear all Chinese nationals in Dominica,

Dear Dominican friends,

Ladies and gentlemen:

Good day. This is Lin Xianjiang, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Commonwealth of Dominica. It’s my great pleasure to meet you on such a special day via video link. October 1st marks the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which is also a festival celebrated by all Chinese people. First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I wish to extend my greetings to our compatriots in Dominica and my gratitude to the Dominican friends who join us in celebrating the Chinese National Day.

How time flies. Over the past 73 years, the world has seen China’s rebirth, development and prosperity. Generations of Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, have persevered in the building of the country, composing a glorious epic of the historical transformation of China from standing up to growing rich and becoming stronger. Following the CPC’s 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has implemented the national rejuvenation strategy within the wider context of once-in-a-century changes taking place in the world, leading us to succeed in building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects and striding forward on the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all aspects.

In pursuing economic development, China continues to maintain a healthy economic growth. Its comprehensive national strength has been significantly enhanced, and its international influence has steadily increased. Since 2013, China’s GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 6.6%, and its ACP（Average Contribution Percentage) to world economic growth has exceeded 30%. In 2021, China’s GDP reached 114.4 trillion yuan, accounting for 18.5% of the global economy, and ranking second in the world.

In advancing political work, China has vigorously promoted the concept of whole-process people’s democracy, ensuring the people’s law-based participation in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight. It also integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy, and people’s democracy with the will of the state.

In promoting social well-being, China always upholds that living a happy life is the primary human right. Therefore, we keep strengthening social development by laying stress on ensuring and improving people’s well-being, improving people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security. Last year, we won a victory in the fight against poverty, lifting nearly 100 million rural poor people out of poverty. China has thus achieved the poverty reduction target laid out in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule, and created a miracle in the human history of poverty reduction.

In spurring ecological advancement, China stays true to the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and has in place sound systems of natural resources and environment protection, as well as relevant laws and regulations. Meanwhile, China has also played an active role in global environmental and climate governance, and pledged to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, demonstrating its commitment to act as a responsible major country.

In opening up to the outside world, China has always adhered to the principle of achieving shared growth through consultation and collaboration, and built the Belt and Road Initiative into a widely welcomed public good and platform for international cooperation in today’s world. We have advanced a large number of cooperation projects with significant implications for fueling economic development and improving people’s lives in countries along the BRI routes. Also, China has always supported the  multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as its core and committed to promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and building a globally oriented network of high-standard free trade zones, so that the world will share the common benefits and win-win results.

In bolstering the diplomatic front, China promotes the building of the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, champions the shared human values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, and steers the tide of human progress. Also, China has actively participated in the reform and development of the global governance system. It has worked to safeguard the international system centered on the UN, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China always upholds and practices true multilateralism.

Ladies and gentlemen!

The past year has been a year of great achievements and extraordinary events. I believe that every overseas Chinese national and Dominican friend who cares about China’s development will share the same feeling with me.

At the beginning of this year, China successfully hosted the XXIV(24th) Olympic Winter Games. This simple, safe and splendid Olympics event, with the official motto of “Together for a Shared Future”, encourages all mankind to face difficulties and look forward to tomorrow together. The green, inclusive, open and clean approach China followed for hosting the Olympic Games has conveyed the values that China has always advocated. This event has left a great mark in the history of the Olympic Games.

Since March, the COVID-19 variant Omicron has been rampant in China. Facing the ever-changing pandemic, China persisted in the general strategy of ensuring constant vigilance against imported cases and domestic resurgences, and the general policy of  dynamic zero-COVID approach, succeeding in a new round of pandemic prevention in Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities. In complicated and difficult economic situations at home and abroad, China has stuck to the requirement of ensuring effective COVID control, stable economic performance and safe and secure development, and has efficiently coordinated the COVID-19 response with economic and social development. China’s economy grew by 4.8% in the first quarter, and achieved positive growth despite the pressure in the second.

This year, major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics continued to deliver steady and lasting results. In April, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative at the Boao Forum for Asia, which complemented the previous Global Development Initiative. These two Initiatives contribute China’s wisdom and strength to the improvement of global development and security governance system, provide new ideas for the building of the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, and have won wide support from the international community including Dominica. In September, President Xi Jinping attended the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand and paid state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan upon invitation. This was the first overseas visit by President Xi Jinping since COVID-19 began. It effectively promoted the expansion of the SCO, steered China’s relations with relevant countries to new levels, and inject positive energy into the peaceful development of the Eurasian continent. It was another successful practice and vivid embodiment of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy.

Ladies and gentlemen!

This is first Chinese National Day that I have spent in Dominica. Over the past year, together with my overseas compatriots and Dominican friends, I have witnessed with joy that China-Dominica relations have further deepened and achieved fruitful results.

In terms of bilateral relations, the two countries’ leaders have maintained close communication through letters and other various means. Acting PM of the Dominican Government co-chaired the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Among China and the Caribbean Countries Having Diplomatic Relations with China with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two governments coordinate and cooperate in international and multilateral affairs, and work together to promote the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative. The Dominican government has always adhered to the One China Policy and firmly supported core interests of China. The bilateral relations have constantly reached a new level and become a model of mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries of different sizes.

In terms of practical cooperation, the donation of anti-pandemic supplies such as facial masks, vaccines and test kits by the Chinese government has provided strong support for Dominica’s continuous prevention and control of COVID-19. The Dominica-China Friendship Hospital has been put into use and will be handed over soon. Complemented by the MRI and HIFU machines, the cardiology department opened with the help of the Chinese medical team, as well as 2 brand new ambulance cars and an echo-cardiogram with a budget of 1 million USD soon to be donated by China, the Hospital will become the most sophisticated and modernized one in the Caribbean region. This year, the construction of the Agricultural Complex Facility has officially started, becoming another symbol of agricultural cooperation between the two countries, which will help accelerate the modernization and transformation of Dominica’s agriculture. The post-hurricane six schools project has been smoothly carried out under the guidance of Chinese experts, which will provide a spacious, comfortable and safe learning environment for local students. Disaster management and police vehicles cooperation are also underway.

In terms of people-to-people exchanges, the first Confucius Classroom in Dominica was opened at State College this year, which provides a high-quality platform for many Dominicans who are interested in Chinese culture and Mandarin. Recently, the establishment of the Dominica-China Friendship Association once again demonstrated our deep friendship, which will offer more opportunities and make more contribution to the people-to-people bond between the two countries.

All these strongly prove that over the past 18 years,  China-Dominica relations have always been progressing in the same direction and grown even stronger with time. As the Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, I would like to continue to make unremitting efforts to push forward bilateral relations, pragmatic cooperation in all fields, and constant exchanges at all levels, making China-Dominica friendship rooted in the hearts of the two peoples.

The 20th National Congress of the CPC is soon to be held, which will be very important at a historical moment when the  CPC has embarked on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and marching towards the second Centenary Goal. It is also a major event in the political life of the Party and the country. Hereby, I invite all my compatriots and friends of Dominica to follow this important congress and witness a new chapter in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Finally, I wish China prosperity and the friendship between China and Dominica to last forever! I wish you all a happy holiday!

Thank you.