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EPA
Xi Jinping praised China’s “epic accomplishments”
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed that his country will not develop at the expense of other nations, in a speech marking 40 years of reform.
However, he also said that the global super power would not be told what to do by anyone.
Late leader Deng Xiaoping’s campaign of “reform and opening up” began four decades ago.
The resulting growth has made China the second largest economy in the world.
Mr Xi said despite China’s growth, it would “never seek global hegemony” and also highlighted China’s contributions towards a “shared future for mankind”.
However, critics have pointed out that China continues to crack down on political dissent and take a hard stance on ethnic tensions.
Also in recent years, the country has struggled with mounting debt and slowing economic growth.
Asserting Chinese strength
Mr Xi spent much of his long speech listing examples of China’s progress over the past decades, praising them as “epic achievements that moved heaven and earth”.
He said that given its success, “no one is in a position to dictate to China what to do or not to do”.
At the same time, he stressed what he described as Chinese efforts to work towards the greater global good, saying Beijing was a “promoter of world peace,” a “defender of international order” and holding “a leading role in dealing with climate change”.
China’s economic reform was initiated by then leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978 and the program was ratified on 18 December that year.
Xi Jinping described the reforms as a “break from the shackles” of previous mistakes.
The reform path turned the country away from the old style communism of Mao Zedong when collectivisation had led to an impoverished and inefficient economy.
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Reuters
China’s reform process was kicked off in 1978
He said the last 40 years had been a “quantum leap for socialism with Chinese characteristics,” driving China’s “great rejuvenation in modern times”.
The transformation focussed on agricultural reform, private sector liberalisation, industry modernisation and opening to international trade.
No political changes
The reforms have not though changed the country’s one-party system of communist rule.
China’s president gave his speech in the so called Great Hall of the People in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, where calls for political reforms were brutally crushed by the military in 1989.
Mr Xi reiterated his belief in strengthening the party leadership and praised Beijing’s crackdown on corruption.
Critics say the rule of Xi Jinping has been marked by an ever intensifying crackdown on political dissent.
Authorities have also been accused of brutally repressing the country’s Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang province.
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Xi Jinping is widely seen as China’s most influential leader since Mao Zedong.
In 2017, he cemented his power, enshrining his political views in the constitution.