As the New Year approaching, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, held cordial talks with foreign experts working in China at the Great Hall of the People on December 5, 2012.

A total of 20 foreign experts from 16 countries attended the gathering. Shaking hands and exchanging greetings with each of these experts, who have worked in China for a long time and made important contributions to China's development and progress, Xi extended his sincere gratitude to them and to all foreign friends who had shown care and support for China's modernization drive. Quoting a saying from Confucius: "If three of us are walking together, at least one of the other two is good enough to be my teacher," Xi said he was open to suggestions of the experts.

After the greetings, representatives of the foreign experts presented their views. They expressed their pleasure at being invited to the meeting with General Secretary Xi shortly after the conclusion of the 18th CPC National Congress, which gave full expression to determination and aspiration of the CPC and the Chinese Government to continue the policy of reform and opening up and strengthen cooperation with the outside world. They also thanked China for providing good working and living conditions and expressed their willingness to make more contributions to China's modernization.

Pedro Nueno, a Spanish expert in business administration and European Director of the China Europe International Business School, suggested China should encourage companies' innovation and promote the development of venture capital activities. He also proposed more frequent exchanges between Chinese and foreign students to implant a global vision in the students. Katharina Kohse-Hoinghaus, a German scholar in applied chemistry and professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, thought China should improve its institutional and academic environment to promote multidisciplinary partnerships, equip young researchers with a keen determination in the pursuit of truth as well as innovation, and accelerate the building of an innovation-driven country. Cyrille Breard, an American expert in aircraft noise reduction and senior engineer at the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., proposed encouraging citizens' initiative and participation to enhance society's awareness of environmental protection, and strengthening the links between university courses and the industries to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into actual productive forces. Atanas Blago Stoyano, a Bulgarian agricultural specialist with the Yantai Agricultural Sci & Tech Institute in Shandong Province, said he was ready to help boost and vary orchard yields in China and launch more Chinese agricultural products into the international market.

After listening to the experts' "insightful and inspiring" suggestions, Xi said he would carefully study them with his colleagues.

Opening China to the world

Xi said the 18th CPC National Congress clarified the goals for China's future development. To achieve these goals, there is still a long way to go and China has to make arduous efforts over the long term. Xi stated China is a responsible country. China would do a good job in its own affairs; at the same time it should also handle its relations with the outside world appropriately. In so doing, China can not only expect to have a better external environment but also make greater contributions to world peace and development.

Xi said China has pursued a cause that is supported by people from all over the world. To reach the goals that have been set, China needs the understanding and support of people from all over the world in addition to the fundamental factor of the Chinese people's hard work. During those extraordinary revolutionary years, foreign friends such as Canadian physician Norman Bethune (1890-1939), U.S. journalist Edgar Snow (1905-72) and Indian physician Dwarkanath Kotnis (1910-42), all made important contributions to the cause of the Chinese people's liberation. Some of them even sacrificed their lives. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, a great number of foreign experts devoted themselves to the building of a new China, making great contributions to China's development in various fields. Foreign experts have also played a vital role in the great achievements China has made in its reform and opening up. As one Chinese saying goes, successful state-to-state relations depend on friendship between their people. In this sense, foreign friends, including foreign experts working in China, serve as bridges and bonds in China's ties with the outside world.

Xi said the cause China pursues encourages openness and emulation of useful experiences in other countries. China cannot achieve success in development with its door closed. He reiterated China's unswerving policy of opening up, pledging that the country will continue to open the door to the outside for further development. Quoting an ancient Chinese proverb: "One loses by pride and gains by modesty," Xi said China remains a developing country facing a series of grim challenges and problems in spite of the great progress that has been achieved. The Chinese people feel neither unduly humble nor conceited, and are ready to learn from the achievements of all other cultures to make up for their own deficiencies. Xi expressed his welcome and support for foreign experts of various specialties to participate in China's drive for modernization, start businesses and pursue their dreams in China.

Seeking win-win results

Xi said China's cause is one that will bring win-win results to both China and the rest of the world. The world has become an interdependent community, in which everyone shares the same fate; no country can prosper without others, so all countries should make concerted efforts to address the current complex economic situation and other global issues. He called for the establishment of a more equal and balanced global partnership, in which countries should accommodate others' legitimate concerns in their pursuit of national interests, while the implementation of a country's development strategy should also lead to better development opportunities for other countries. With such a global partnership, we can expect to safeguard the common interests of all human beings and create a better world.

Xi said China follows a path of peaceful development, and that China's progress is not a selfish kind that will be detrimental to other countries. China's development will never be a challenge or a threat to any other country or the world at large. China will never seek hegemony or expansionism. The more China develops, the more it is conducive to peace and development of the world. Xi added China is not only an active advocate but also a real practitioner of win-win cooperation in the world, committed to pragmatic cooperation with all other countries and providing assistance to other developing countries as much as it can.

At the end of the meeting, Xi extended New Year's greetings to the foreign experts, saying China would never forget their contributions to China's development and progress and their friendship with the Chinese people. The Chinese Government would continue to create good conditions for foreign experts so that they can live and work comfortably in China. Xi also expressed the willingness of the Chinese Government to hold future exchanges in various forms with foreign experts.

State Councilor Ma Kai, Minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee Zhao Leji, Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee Li Zhanshu and State Councilor Dai Bingguo also attended the meeting.