August
22, 2014 was a very important day for the Chinese people as well people in
developing countries. On this day, we payed tribute to a man credited with
China’s economic miracle that continues to inspire all developing countries. Perhaps no one
in the twentieth century had a greater long-term impact on world history than
Deng Xiaoping. Therefore, as friends of China who continue to draw inspiration
and support from China’s economic prosperity, we stand together with our
Chinese counterparts to Celebrate the 110 birthday of paramount leader and
great reformist, Deng Xiaoping.
Deng
Xiaoping was a Chinese politician and reformist leader who led China towards a
market economy. He was instrumental in China's economic reconstruction
following the great leap forward in the early 60s. He is
widely considered an architect of a new brand of socialist thinking, having
developed socialism with Chinese characteristics and led the successful economic reforms in China through a
synthesis of theories that became known as the socialist market economy. Under him,
the world came to witness one of history's most dramatic stories of economic transformation in the once-isolated, formerly poor
and frail China. He is generally credited with developing China into one of the
fastest growing economies the world for over 30 years and
raising the living standards of hundreds of millions
of Chinese people.
Deng’s
sweeping economic reforms brought in copious flows of FDI and changed the face
of China in the over two decades from one of the poorest countries to the world's
second largest economy only after the US. He opened China to foreign
investment, the global market and limited private competition. He was a
revolutionary nationalist who wanted to see China standing on equal terms with
the great global powers.
China's
economic miracle represents an attractive model of state-led capitalist
development that has dramatically enhanced the economic fortunes of many
developing and emerging economies. The so-called "Beijing Consensus"
reshaped the terms of international trade and investment that opened up fair
trade policies for developing countries.
Therefore, Deng Xiaoping is a role model for
statesmanship and reformist leaders that all developing countries look up to.
He took power
in 1978, when China was in dire poverty. By the time he stepped down 14 years
later, over 200 million people had been lifted out of poverty, and the policies
he introduced set China on the path to become an economic powerhouse. We
celebrate him and wish our Chinese brothers a happy celebration of Deng
Xiaoping's 110th birthday to be celebrated on August 22.
