Interview: Always staying with the people is secret of CPC's great achievements -- former Japanese PM

TOKYO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The secret of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s great achievements over the decades is that it has always stayed with the people, said former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

"Looking back over the one hundred years of history, always staying with the people is the secret of the Communist Party of China's great achievements in the annals of history," Hatoyama told Xinhua in a recent written interview.

"In the past century, China has suffered many misfortunes and difficulties, including the aggression caused by Japan, but the CPC has always worked with the people to overcome many difficulties. In particular, the reform and opening up has become a huge engine for China's economic development. These great achievements will go down in the annals of history. For that, I have great respect," Hatoyama said.

In the interview, the former prime minister recalled his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2019 Imperial Springs International Forum held in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. Hatoyama said he has been promoting the spirit of "fraternity" for many years, and was "deeply moved" when he knew "that Xi also cherishes the spirit of 'fraternity,' and will work hard to strengthen exchanges with Japan and the world."

During their meeting, Hatoyama recalled, Xi mentioned many times that he attaches great importance to multilateral cooperation, and particularly hopes to establish good relations with neighboring countries.

"At the same time, the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind advocated by Xi has something in common with the vision of an 'East Asian community' that I have been advocating. So I will do my best to support it," he said.

Hatoyama said China not only brought the COVID-19 pandemic under control early in the past year, but also achieved a 2.3-percent GDP growth, making great contributions to supporting the global economy.

China has also successfully developed COVID-19 vaccines at an early stage, and provided them to other countries, which is not only saving the lives of the Chinese people, but also the lives of the rest of the world, he said.

Besides, China's success of lifting nearly 100 million people out of poverty in the past eight years is unparalleled in the world, he said.

Hatoyama noted that China has set a GDP growth target of more than 6 percent this year, and institutions like the World Bank also think China's economic outlook is bright.

There is no doubt that China will lead the development of the global economy this year, when the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet subsided, and in the post-pandemic era, he said.