H.E. Dr. Huang Shifang
Consul-General of the People's Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu
Modernization is the unremitting pursuit of the Chinese people since modern times, and it is also the common pursuit of people all over the world. The modernization of a country should not only follow the general laws of modernization, but also conform to its own reality and have its own characteristics. For a long time, the Chinese government has united and led its people of all ethnic groups to actively deal with the difficulties and challenges on the way forward, unswervingly deepen reform and opening up, and create a mighty force that enables its people to realize the Chinese dream. It has successfully opened up a new path to comprehensively promote the development of a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization, and made world-renowned achievements. This is a solid and distinctive path, which is unique in the international community. "Chinese Path", "Chinese Model" and "Chinese Miracle" are becoming hot topics in the media of various countries in recent years. Global problems and challenges are emerging today, the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic still hitting the world, the impact of the Ukraine crisis continues to spill over, the deficits in peace, development, security and governance have become more prominent. The modernization process of mankind has once again come to a crossroads in history. China is willing to work with other countries to provide new opportunities for development, friendly exchanges and cooperation with new achievements in Chinese modernization, to provide new assistance to mankind in exploring the path of modernization and a better social system, and to promote the building of a community of shared future for mankind.
The modernization of China with such a huge population will be a stronger boost for global economic recovery. With over 1.4 billion people on course toward modernization, a number larger than the combined population of all developed countries, China will give a much stronger impetus for the global economy. Today, China is the main trading partner of over 140 countries and regions, making US$320 million direct investment around the world each day and attracting over 3,000 foreign businesses every month. Over the past decade, China has contributed more to global growth than all the G7 countries combined. Analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that every 1 percentage point of China's GDP growth boosts the economies of other Asian countries by 0.3 percentage points. In Malaysia, the potential of China-Malaysia pragmatic cooperation is continuing to expand, bilateral trade volume between China and Malaysia reached 203.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, an increase of 15.3% year-on-year. China has become Malaysia's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. The Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, as a demonstration base under the cooperation model of "Two Countries, Twin Parks", has accumulated a total industrial output value of nearly 40 billion ringgits since its establishment 10 years ago, creating 15,000 temporary and 5,000 long-term jobs respectively.
The modernization of China with common prosperity for all will open up a broader path to the common development of all countries. Modernization should not make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Nor should it serve the interests of only a few countries or individuals. As an advocate, promoter and practitioner of global poverty reduction and development, China actively supports and helps the majority of developing countries to eliminate poverty. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Global Development Initiative are public goods that China offers to the international community. They are also open platforms for pursuing common development and prosperity. Ten years on since the start of the BRI, over 3,000 cooperation projects have been launched, involving close to US$1 trillion of investment and creating 420,000 jobs for participating countries. As one of the first countries to respond to the BRI, Malaysia has also reaped fruitful results in the process of constructing the BRI together. Entered its accelerated construction period, the current 600-kilometer-long Malaysia East Coast Rail Link project is regarded as a "bridge on the road" connecting the east and west coasts of Malaysia, and is a landmark project for China and Malaysia in building the BRI together. The project will change the status quo of no rail access between Kelantan on the east coast and Selangor on the west coast, and the travel time will be shortened from about 8 hours to 4 hours, which will greatly improve the travel efficiency.
The modernization of China with material and cultural-ethical advancement will open up bright prospects for human progress. The ultimate goal of modernization is the free and well-rounded development of people, which means not only material abundance but also cultural-ethical enrichment. Compared with some countries, while highly developed in economy, science and technology, have descended into a capital-centric mode, rampant materialism, cultural impoverishment, moral degradation, and public disorder. The Chinese nation always yearns for a world of great harmony in which people are free from want and follow a high moral standard. It is a world where people put their cultural pursuit before material needs. Chinese modernization will add new vigor and vitality to the profound Chinese civilization, and contribute more Chinese wisdom to global peace and prosperity and to human progress. China and Malaysia belong to the same Asian civilization, and have a long history of friendly relations. The tree of China-Malaysian friendship is now flourishing in the fertile soil of Sabah. In the post-pandemic era, Chinese tourists have come back to the "Land Below the Wind" again, reconnecting the friendship between the two peoples. A series of cultural exchange activities such as the China-Sabah Short Film Competition, essay writing contest and general knowledge quiz competition have attracted more and more young people to participate in them. It has deeply explored and promoted the touching stories and brotherhood between the two countries in sharing weal and woe, and jointly strengthened the new path to further deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields.
The modernization of China with harmony between humanity and nature will provide a more viable pathway to a clean and beautiful world. Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. China readily takes on its responsibility of protecting the environment and tackling climate change, and leads the world on many counts: in terms of afforested area, which accounts for a quarter of the world’s total; in the development and utilization of renewable energy, with one-third of the world’s installed capacity of wind and solar power; and in the output and sales of new energy vehicles, with half of the world’s NEVs running on Chinese roads. China has made the solemn pledge of achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality to the world, and committed itself to moving from carbon peak to neutrality in just 30 years. That is at least decades less than the United States and Europe. In addition, China has taken the initiative to set up and invest in the Kunming Biodiversity Fund, and contributed to the conclusion of the Paris Agreement. Sabah has good ecological environment and rich natural resources. China and Sabah have a broad prospect to deepen cooperation in clean energy and green production. Some projects such as hydroelectric power station and solar power generation have already made important progress, and we expect both sides to make further new achievements in electric vehicles and diversity research.
The modernization of China on the path of peaceful development will bring more certainty to world peace and stability. China is the only country in the world that has put in its Constitution the commitment to a path of peaceful development. China is the top contributor of peacekeeping personnel among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the only country among the five Nuclear-Weapon States that has made the promise of no-first-use of nuclear weapons. Last year, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative, which pursues the long-term objective of building of a community of common security, and advocates a new path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum. Facilitated by China, Saudi Arabia and Iran resumed diplomatic relations. In the face of the Ukraine crisis, China does not inflame or take advantage of the situation. Rather, China has taken an impartial stance and pushed for peace talks. At a time of accelerated adjustment in the international landscape, China and Malaysia share a broad consensus on many international issues, and have always worked closely together in multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, APEC and East Asian regional cooperation, opposing unilateralism and protectionism, and greatly contributing to the peaceful development, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
Chinese modernization has broken the myth of "Modernization = Westernization", abandoned the old Western modernization path of capital-centered, bi-polarization, foreign expansion and plunder, and provided the world with a new modernization model. Developing countries have the right and ability to independently explore their own distinctive path of modernization based on their own national conditions. China, as the world's largest developing country, is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Malaysia, deepen high-quality cooperation, and combine the realization of Chinese modernization with "Malaysia MADANI", so that the peoples of the two countries will benefit more from the China-Malaysia relations and create a better tomorrow for China-Malaysia friendship and China-Sabah cooperation.