By Xinhua,
Kuala Lumpur : China could not have today’ s achievements if it had not carried out the policy of reform and opening-up some thirty years ago, says a Malaysian media expert.
China’s reform and opening-up has navigated into its 30th anniversary now, and its astonishing achievements since 1987 have not only been experienced by its own people, but also witnessed bythe world, Kee Hong Tan, a Malaysian researcher working for Malaysia Press Institute, told Xinhua during a recent interview.
Kee used to be a senior desk editor of Malaysia’s Chinese-language newspaper Nanyang Siang Pau before he retired in 1995. He made his first tour of China in 1991, a visit that he described as amazing and highly impressive.
During the tour, he traveled across vast parts of China, from Guangzhou to Beijing, and then all the way up north to Shenyang. Kee said he felt astonished with all of the changes he saw everywhere in China at that time.
“I saw tall buildings in cities, cars packing the streets, shops and stores full of commodities,” he said.
“People dressed well too. They followed the international fashion trend. Maybe it’s because China was turning to a ‘world factory’ for clothes,” he added.
After his trip, Kee wrote a story about China’s economic development.
He took another tour of China in 2006, mainly to cities in east China, such as Shanghai and Hangzhou, and again was surprised by the fresh changes. He was deeply impressed by seeing many young people starting to set up their own businesses, especially in finance, accounting and law.
According to Kee, China couldn’t have scored its present achievements without China’s late leader Deng Xiaoping, who pushed through many obstacles to start reform and opening-up in the country.
After 30 years of reform and opening-up, China’s economy has grown rapidly with the country’s living standards improving year after year, Kee said.
In recent years, China’s “soft power” in culture and education has also been seen to be on the rise. Currently, more people around the world are learning the Chinese language, waging a wave of “Chinese fever,” he said.
China’s rising “soft power” was also mirrored in its successful hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games this year, Kee said.
Reform and opening-up to the outside world is the right road that China has chosen, which is also necessary, Kee said. The policy is not only beneficial to China, but also has a positive influence on the world, he added.
In recent years, the Chinese government has started to take a “people-oriented” approach in its reform and opening-up, which showed vitality and humanity of the policy, Kee mentioned. He hoped China could smoothly push forward its reform and opening-up process, and properly handle the emerging problems alongside the economic development, such as environmental and humanity issues.