‘China will always stay open’

(Remarks by Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua at a reception to mark the 69th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, held at the Makati Shangri-La, September 27, 2018.)

THE year 2018 means a lot to China. This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s adoption of reform and opening-up policy. During the past four decades, China achieved a marginal 21-time growth of its GDP, from RMB364.5 billion to RMB82.7 trillion, while our GDP per capita rocketed to nearly RMB 60000 from only RMB 385, representing an annual growth rate of 9.5 percent. We have lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty, and poverty headcount ratio has dropped from 97.5 percent to 3.1percent, far below the world’s average. The medical and health conditions in both urban and rural areas have been greatly improved and China’s life expectancy on average now stands at 76.7 years.