Speech at the opening ceremony FORTUNE Global Forum in
Dear Richard D. Parsons
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening! I am very delighted to be with you here to join in the opening ceremony of the 2005 FORTUNE Global Forum in Beijing on this beautiful evening. To begin with, I’d like, on behalf of the Chinese government, and also in my own person, to express my sincere welcome to all of you, and congratulations to the forum sponsor, Time Warner Inc.
Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up program pioneered by Mr. Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China has undergone a profound transformation never seen in the country before. In a short span of 26 years form 1978 to 2004, China’s GDP increased from 147.3 billion US dollars to 1.6494 trillion US dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 9.4 percent. Its foreign trade rose from 20.6 billion US dollars to 1.1548 trillion US dollars, averaging an annual growth rate of over 16 percent. China’s foreign exchange reserve increased from 167 million US dollars to 609.9 billion US dollars. The number of rural poor has dwindled from some 250 million to 26 million, The overall nations strength of China has increased remarkably and the texture of life of its people improved steadily. While inheriting and carrying forward their proud past, the 1.3 billion Chinese people are writing a new chapter in history as they march with one mind on the road of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, We in China have identified the goal for the first 20 years of this century, That is to firmly seize the important window of strategic opportunities to build a moderately prosperous society of higher standards in an all-round way for the benefit of our over one billion people. BY 2020, we will quadruple China’s GDP of 2000 to approximately 4 trillion US dollars with a per capita level of some 3,000 US dollars, and further develop the economy, improve democracy, advance science and education, enrich culture, foster greater social harmony and upgrade the texture of life for the people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
China and the rest of Asia and the world at large are closely related when it comes to development. A developing China will, as always, generate cooperation opportunities with win-win results for other countries in Asia and the world over, By the end of 2004, China has attracted a total of 562.1bilion US dollars in FDI(foreign direct investment), approved the establishment in china of more than 500,000 foreign-funded enterprises and created a huge import market of some 560, billion US dollars annually.
At present, most countries and regions have enterprises with investments in China, and over 400 firms out of the FORTUNE 500 have invested in China. The number of R&D (research and development) centers set up by foreign investors in China has exceeded 700. As China becomes more developed, its cooperation with other countries and their corporations of various types is bound to increase in scale.
China will keep opening up its market, find new ways of using foreign capital, improve laws and regulations for encouraging and protecting foreign investors, revamp foreign economic management, step up protection of intellectual property rights, and work still harder to help foreign investors and create an even better environment for trade and economic cooperation between China and the rest of the world.
Facts have proved that such cooperation serves our mutual interests, We look forward to continued expansion of your investment in China and your still closer economic and technological cooperation with Chinese enterprises, I believe that you will give greater scope to the advantages of your companies and your rich managerial expertise and play a critical role in facilitation international economic and technological cooperation and promoting economic development regionally and globally, Les us join hands and work together to contribute a greater share to world peace and common development.
May I conclude by wishing the 2005 FORTUNE Global Forum in Beijing a complete success.
Thank you!
