On 26 and 30 April, the Tehran Times and the Iran-Newspaper published respectively an article by Ambassador Pang Sen entitled "China Furthers its Opening-up". The full text is as follows:
On April 10, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2018 opened in the beautiful island of Hainan. The BFA was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Boao, Hainan Province, with the purpose of promoting Asia regional economic cooperation and offering intellectual support for the sustainable development of Asian economy. It has become a high-end platform for dialogue among leaders of national governments, industrial and business circles, and academic circles of countries in Asia and other continents about important issues in Asia and even the whole world. On the theme of "An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity", more than 2,000 guests made in-depth discussions around topics of globalization, the Belt and Road Initiative, the opening-up of Asia, innovation and restart of reform, and offered Asian wisdom and solution for a more open, inclusive, all-benefiting and balanced globalization. This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech themed with "Openness for Greater Prosperity, Innovation for a Better Future",
President Xi Jinping reviewed and shared the course and experience of China's 40 years of reform and opening up. The reform and opening up have brought enormous changes to China. China has grown into the world's second-largest economy, the largest industrial producer, the largest trader of goods, and the holder of largest foreign exchange reserves. The Chinese people have emerged from a life of shortage and poverty and are now enjoying abundant supply and a moderately prosperous life. China has lived up to its responsibility as a major country, and become a key anchor and driver for the world economy and a positive force in advancing the cause of global peace and development.
The world is undergoing great change and profound adjustment, humankind still faces instabilities and uncertainties. The new round of technological and industrial revolution brings fresh opportunities, but war, conflict, poverty and communicable diseases remain formidable challenges. To meet these challenges, China proposes the initiative to build a community of shared future for mankind, which follows the principles of mutual-respect and equality, dialogue and responsibility-sharing, cooperation for win-win results, inclusiveness and harmony without uniformity, and treating nature with respect and treasuring our planet, with a vision to make our Asia and the world more peaceful, tranquil, prosperous, open and beautiful.
It has been proved that opening-up was key to China's economic growth over the past 40 years and in the same vein, high-quality development of China's economy in the future can only be achieved with greater openness. Economic globalization is an irreversible trend of our times. China will continue to adhere to its fundamental national policy of opening-up. China's door of opening-up will not be closed and will only open even wider. China remains firmly committed to the path of peaceful development and the win-win strategy of opening-up. These significant ideas and theory have been written into China's constitution through the newest amendment to it during the latest session of the National People's Congress, China's supreme organ of state power, turning them into the will of the state and guidelines of China's foreign affairs.
President Xi Jinping also announced China's newest measures of expanding opening-up, including significantly broadening market access, creating a more attractive investment environment, strengthening protection of intellectual property rights and expanding imports. Specific policies include significant lowering of the import tariffs for automobiles, raising of foreign equity caps in financial industries, implementation of pre-establishment national treatment and negative list for foreign investment as well as holding the first China International Import Expo. China will translate these measures into reality as soon as possible, so as to deliver benefits of our opening-up efforts to all enterprises and people in China and around the world.
China and Iran have enjoyed friendly exchanges for a very long time. President Xi Jinping made a successful visit to Iran in 2016, and the two heads of state ushered in the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership. China attaches great importance to development of trust and cooperation with Iran in various fields, particularly Iran's role in the cooperation on the Belt and Road construction. Though faced with many difficulties in trade and economic cooperation, especially the obstacles set by external sanctions imposed on Iran, the two countries enjoy huge potential in cooperation and a broad prospect. China stands ready to work with Iran to seize the tremendous opportunities and translate the huge cooperation potential into tangible results for the welfare of our two peoples.