World will gain from more open China, Malaysia ex-envoy insists
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FOUR decades of China’s reform and opening-up have greatly transformed the country and elevated its global status, and countries like Malaysia are set to benefit from a more open China, according to a former Malaysian ambassador.
Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia’s ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005, still remembers what China looked like in the early 1980s when he had his first diplomatic posting here, shortly after the start of the reform and opening-up.
“What we observed at that time in China is that everything was scarce,” he told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Later, he witnessed how the policy had transformed China.
“When we look back 40 years from now, the transformation and changes have been very phenomenal and this change is real. It affects every corner of China. It has transformed all aspects of Chinese lives toward betterment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the benefit of China’s reform and opening-up goes beyond national borders, he stressed, noting that China’s status has grown in recent years “from a nobody in global trade to the No. 2 economic power” and China’s global influence has been expanding.
“China has not only created wealth for itself in the last 40 years, but is now also able to share that wealth with other countries through its aid programs, trade,” the former envoy said.
Since retiring as a diplomat, Majid has served as the president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association. He remains active in pushing for greater ties between the two countries and keeps a close watch on China’s development.
He said he will be closely following the “two sessions,” the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and political advisory bodies.
“I think not only me (but also) the whole world is looking at this,” Majid claimed.
“We hope China can play a stronger and wider role in the world. Our expectation is that as we move on, with trade and commerce becoming very important, China, in the coming years, will open its door wider.”
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