On 24th June, Timor Post carried an article, both in English and Tetun, by Ambassador Dr. Xiao Jianguo entitled "Concentrate Efforts for Big and Key Projects". The full text is as follows:
The Communist Party of China (CPC), the ruling party of China, will celebrate its 100th anniversary of the founding of the party on July 1st this year. Looking back at history, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people in a continuous great struggle over the past 100 years, which has fundamentally changed the destiny of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. Especially since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) more than 70 years ago, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people to fully explore the advantages of the socialist system, concentrate on undertaking major tasks, thus laying a solid foundation for national construction, promoting the development of the national economy, and creating one after another "Chinese miracles".
At the earlier year of the PRC, facing weak technological foundation and imperialist blockade, the CPC united the whole country to consolidate the ruling power, keep the peace, and enhance the overall national strength. 26 ministries at the state level, more than 20 provinces, thousands of experts and scholars from more than 1,000 institutions pooled their wisdom and efforts on key projects, and made breakthrough in cutting-edge technologies such as nuclear bombs, missiles, and artificial satellites with less investment and in a shorter time, laying the foundation for China to be a major power. Under extremely difficult economic conditions, through the efforts of more than 30,000 workers, more than 5,000 factories, and more than 200 scientific research institutions, it took only three years to discover a huge oil field in northeast China, and build an annual production capacity of 50 million tons of crude oil. It changed the backwardness of China's petroleum industry and supported the national construction. The days when China relied fully on "foreign oil" were gone forever.
After the reform and opening up, in order to change the situation of excessive water in the south and insufficient water in the north, more than 110 academicians across the country offered their advice, and thousands of technicians worked hard to construct the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. By late 2019, the project has transferred nearly 30 billion cubic meters of water, becoming the lifeline of water supply in many cities in northern China, benefiting more than 120 million people. In 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 8 struck Sichuan, China. During the post-disaster reconstruction, 19 provinces and cities paired up with the hardest-hit counties with one province supporting one county. In 2 months, tap water, electricity, and communication in the disaster area returned to normal. In 3 months, millions of prefabricated houses were built, and more than 10 million homeless people were resettled.
Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC has placed poverty alleviation in a prominent position in governance, and has taken poverty alleviation as the essential task of building a well-off society in an all-round way. The CPC has mobilized the mass population to eradicate poverty; more than 10 million people were lifted out of poverty each year, equivalent to the size of a medium-sized country. By February this year, all 98.99 million poor people in rural China have been lifted out of poverty, while 832 counties and 128,000 villages have all been removed from the poverty list. China has achieved a "complete victory" in the fight against extreme poverty. In the face of the outbreak of COVID-19, China organized and deployed resources from across the country. In just over 10 days, the two large special hospitals, each with 4000 beds were built. Later, 16 cabin hospitals converted and more than 600 isolation centers constructed. The best expert doctors and nurses, resources and equipment were concentrated from every corner of the country. It took more than a month to curb the spread of the COVID-19, 2 months to reduce the daily infection to single digit, and 3 months to safeguard Wuhan and Hubei. Finally, China has achieved a major strategic achievement in the nationwide fight against COVID-19.
Thanks to the above "Chinese miracles", China's economy has grown steadily and its overall national strength has increased gradually. China's GDP has soared by 174 times from 67.9 billion Yuan in 1952 to 90.03 trillion Yuan in 2018. China has become the world's second largest economy, the largest industrial manufacturer, the largest trader of goods, the holder of the largest foreign exchange reserves. China has also become the second largest country in service trade and in foreign investment.
The living standard of the Chinese people has greatly improved in the same time. At the beginning of the founding of the PRC, the annual disposable income of Chinese urban and rural residents was only less than 20 dollars and 10 dollars per capita. By 2018, they had exceeded 5,000 dollars and 2,000 dollars respectively.
All of the above achievements are inseparable from a unique advantage of the CPC, i.e. concentrate efforts for big and key projects. President Xi Jinping pointed out that "concentrate efforts for big and key projects is an important magic instrument for us to accomplish our cause".
For countries large or small, national resources are always limited. Limited resources must first meet the development needs of key areas. Lack of resources or insufficient resources makes it difficult or even impossible to accomplish tasks. Concentrate efforts for big and key projects means using limited human, material, and financial resources in urgently needed fields to ensure breakthrough in major projects. Only by concentrating our efforts can we focus on the key points, and make breakthrough. Whether it is building a modern industrial system, or building a major national project,or implementing an important program, such as disaster prevention and relief, epidemic prevention and control, it is necessary to explore the advantages of the nationwide system under the conditions of a market economy, and concentrate the efforts to tackle major problems.
As the Chinese adage reads, "Victory is ensured when people pool their strength, success is secured when people pool their wisdom." The CPC's magic instrument will continue to lead the Chinese people forward, secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and strive for the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, China is not only willing to continue to provide selfless support to Timor-Leste, but also willing to share and exchange the experience of good governance with our good friend. China is pleased to see "Timorese Miracles" of national construction and development built on its own national condition and political system, and work together with Timor-Leste for a more promising future of bilateral relations.