China's Future Is Promising, Former German StatesmanHelmut Schmidt, former German Federal Chancellor, said November 30 that he believes China's economy will maintain a good momentum of development in the coming few decades.Retrospecting on China's economic development during the past two decades, he said that "one can hardly believe China has made such remarkable achievements since the 1970s." Speaking at a symposium hosted by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, Schmidt said that China's progress can be attributed to its gradual reforms. The 80-odd-year-old German statesman said that the world will have to encounter three major problems, namely the population expansion, the rise in global temperature, and regional conflicts in the new century. No single country can solve those problems, he said, adding that only through cooperation among all nations can those difficulties be overcome. China has made "enormous progress" in controlling the rapid growth of the population, Schmidt said, stressing that it is also a great contribution to the development of the whole mankind. China will continue to participate in world affairs as a big power and play a significant role in solving the above human problems, according to the German statesman. On the Taiwan issue, Schmidt said that he believes the "one country, two systems" model can be implemented and China will realize its full reunification. He commented that China should pay more attention to the values and moral education on the younger generation while developing the economy. "Anyway, I am very optimistic about China's future," he said. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |