Foreign diplomats hail development blueprint

Foreign diplomats in China have hailed the country's development blueprint for the next five years starting from 2021 and said that China's development will create opportunities for other countries amid the global economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cypriot Ambassador to China Antonis Toumazis, who attended a briefing in Beijing on Monday on the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held at the end of last month, said China has got a "detailed and ambitious" blueprint for its development in the next five years, which will help promote world economic recovery while enhancing its socioeconomic growth.

The world's major economies, such as the United States and the European Union, should work together with China to get the global economy out of recession at an early date, Toumazis said.

The Party meeting attracted international attention as it adopted the CPC Central Committee's proposals for the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035.

The policy document laid out specific targets for China to basically become a modern socialist country by 2035, and it stressed the need to step up the building of the "dual-circulation" development pattern in the next five years given the changes in the domestic and international situation.

Senior diplomatic officials from more than 100 countries, including over 60 ambassadors, attended the briefing organized by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee. They expressed strong interest in China's new development pattern, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while the domestic and international markets complement each other.

Fernando Lugris, Uruguay's ambassador to China, said he understands China aims to leverage its vast market to expand domestic consumption and imports in the next five years, so multinational companies can seize the opportunity to actively involve themselves in China's development for mutual benefit and win-win results.

Foreign countries, including Uruguay, need to understand the value of China's upcoming five-year plan and learn about the increased opportunities for cooperation with China, Lugris said.

Luis Diego Monsalve Hoyos, Colombian ambassador to China, said he was aware that China remains committed to expanding opening-up while tapping the potential of its domestic market.

He said that many countries, including Colombia, are very willing to develop cooperation with China and access the Chinese market.

Speaking at the briefing, Song Tao, minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said that the new development pattern comes as China has to cope with various challenges in economic globalization.

He said that the Fifth Plenary Session has given a strong impetus to China's development, and at the same time, will inject confidence into world economic recovery and create more opportunities for other countries' development.