Remarks by Ambassador Tan Jian at the Seminar of Sustainability Across Sectors in Hong Kong and China’s Great Bay Areas
2022/12/09

Remarks by Ambassador Tan Jian at the Seminar of Sustainability Across Sectors in Hong Kong and China’s Great Bay Areas 


(6 December 2022, Amsterdam)



A very good evening to all of you. 

Happy to come to this event -- an important gathering.  


You are important, the host, and guests from the business community, engaging with China. I very much cherish my relations with the business. 


The topics are important. We are exchanging views on issues of interest, including the sustainable development, Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. 


The time is important. We are approaching the year-end, when we reflect on the past and plan for the future, looking back and ahead. 


Last but not least, the venue is a good choice. 

Amsterdam is the capital and heart of the Netherlands. This small area is the heart of the heart. 


There is the Palace, where many royal events are held, I am often welcomed. 


The Dam Square, where a lot of demonstrations staged, I am more than often condemned. 


And this Club, Royal IGC, where real business is discussed, I am now invited. 

Good to be here. Business is business, let’s mean it. 



Ladies and gentlemen, 

Allow me, first of all, say a few words on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), convened in mid-October, a meeting held once in every five years. 


It has unveiled the blueprint for China’s future development. Here are some highlights. 


1. What is our central task or goal? 

Development continues to be the paramount task for China. 

We set forth the centenary goal, that is, by the year of 2049 -- the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. 


2. Why such a goal? 

It is determined by what we call the primary challenge facing China, namely, the gap between unbalanced and inadequate development on one hand, and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life on the other. 


3. How to realize the goal? 

Through a two-step strategic plan, first step from 2020 through 2035, and second from 2035 through 2049. 


China will continue to reform and open up, no change in this policy, only deeper and wider. 


I would like to use 3 Cs to characterize the development policy put forward by the Party Congress: clarity, certainty and consistency.  


I wish to highlight two messages. 


One, China will stay focused on its own development . 


The top priority for the governing party and government is to continue to pursue economic development with a view to meeting the aspirations of the Chinese people for a better lives.


There have been allegations that China has pivoted away from economic development as its central mission, which is a misconception of China’s policy stance. 


While we will resolutely defend our country’s sovereignty, security, and development interests as an independent nation, we have NO interest whatsoever in geopolitical competition, to replace any country, to rival for hegemony. 


The challenges ahead, externally and internally, are by no means easy to tackle. We have got a full plate.


Two, China’s development is a good opportunity for the rest of the world. 


China's average contribution to global economic growth exceeded 30% during the past decade, ranking first worldwide. 


China will foster a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other -- dual circulation as it is called. This is an overarching strategy for China’s economic development. 


It will be a misrepresentation to say China will turn inward. We will expand our domestic market and exploit our consumption power. 


Among the troika that propel growth -- trade, investment and consumption, China is strong on the first two -- trade and investment, and weak on the third. 

Yet China’s consumption potential is huge and should be tapped. 


With a per capita GDP US$ 12,000, 400 million middle-income group, which is expected to expand to 800 million in 15 years, China is the largest consumer market of super-size in the world. 


Dear friends, 

Let me address the theme of sustainability. 

Among President Xi’s many achievements, three things stand out: eradicating poverty, fighting corruption, improving the environment. 


On the environment, China has acted on the idea that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. 


We have persisted with a holistic and systematic approach to conserving and improving mountain, water, forest, farmland, grassland, and desert ecosystems, and we have ensured stronger ecological conservation and environmental protection across the board, in all regions, and at all times. 


China’s ecological conservation systems have been improved, the critical battle against pollution has been advanced, and solid progress has been made in promoting green, circular, and low-carbon development. 


On climate change, China has declared that it will realize carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. (You may note the word is “before”, not “by”.) 


The 14th Five Year Plan from 2021-2025, now in the implementation, covers the reduction of energy consumption per unit of GDP, and the reduction of CO2 emission per unit of GDP. 

More importantly, for the first time, China gives the timeline and roadmap for achieving the goal, with breakdown and quantified targets in different sectors and regions. 

We will work faster to adjust and improve the industrial structure, the energy mix, and the composition of the transportation sector. 


We will implement a comprehensive conservation strategy, conserve resources of all types and use them efficiently, and move faster to put in place a system for recycling waste and used materials. 


Fiscal, taxation, financial, investment, and pricing policies and systems of standards will be improved to support green development. 


We will boost green and low-carbon industries and improve the system for market-based allocation of resources and environmental factors. 


We will accelerate the R&D, promotion and application of advanced energy-saving and carbon emission reduction technologies. 


We will encourage green consumption, and promote green and low-carbon ways of production and life. To give an example, on June 24 this year, President Xi launched the Initiative of “Bamboo as a Substitute for Plastic”, to reduce plastic pollution. 


If you listen to the media, the parliament, and some politicians, China is a problem, a challenge, a threat. 


If you look at what is happening on the ground, and you may find China is a true partner. 


China has contributed greatly in addressing the deforestation, biodiversity, and is instrumental in reversing the ozone layer depletion, a successful story of international cooperation.  


China was a champion in realizing the UN Millennium Development Goals in the first quarter of the century, and is now a front-runner in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the second quarter. 


Likewise, China will do its job on climate change, and do it well. 

Not for praise, not because of international pressure, but because we believe it is in our own interest and therefore it is our own choice. 

We Chinese are not good at talking, we are good at action. 

We mean business. 

Contrary to the media’s report, China is part of the solution. 

On climate change, China will do the job much better than the US. 

I place my bet on it. 


Now on Hong Kong. 

China will fully, faithfully, and resolutely implement the policy of One Country, Two Systems, under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy.


Let me quote the following words from the Party Congress report:  

“We will ensure that the capitalist system and way of life remain unchanged in Hong Kong and Macao in the long run.” 


You might have noted the word “capitalist”? It appears only once in the Communist Party Congress report -- and not in a negative way.  


You might have also noted the word “in the long run”?  

Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, and China promised that its capitalist system would remain unchanged for 50 years; 

So this year, 2022, marks the 25th anniversary of the return. Half-way through already. 


China has made it very clear that there is no reason for us to change such a good policy and we must adhere to it in the long run. 


How long is the long run? 

China is an age-old civilization. Long could be really long. 

Just give you an example, in 1972, when Premier Zhou Enlai was asked by Dr Henry Kissinger to comment on the implications of the French Revolution, his response was: “too early to say”. 


China will continue to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. 

The Central Government will continue to support Hong Kong to consolidate and elevate its international position in finance, trade, shipping, aviation, innovation and technology, culture and tourism, and other fields. 


Hong Kong is the Pearl of East, and its future will only be brighter. 


Dear friends, 

Many are questioning the zero-Covid policy. 

We all recognize the fact that this policy has saved a lot of lives in China. 

The death toll is less than 5,300, compared to more than one million in the US. 


At the same time, we also recognize the changing situation and new reality, to which we should adapt. We will improve. 

We might have become somewhat a victim of our past success. 

For one thing, people’s expectation are high and may not be ready to accept the rise of deaths. 

For the other, the vaccination rate is not high enough especially among the elderly, as many do not feel the need or urgency because the infection cases are low. 


We are now in the transition. Given the size of our population, we have to be careful and do things in an incremental way. 

There shall be no quick swing of policy from one side to the other. Today people say zero-Covid is unacceptable, tomorrow, they may say high death toll is unacceptable. 


Meanwhile, China has been improving the exit-and-entry measures to ease travel for foreign business people in China and their families. 



Before conclusion, I wish to say that, China is a major force for peace and prosperity. 


I know many will not buy it, especially some politicians, parliamentarians, and the media. 


It is really difficult to make the case of something good about China with these people. 


Then let’s take a look of the past and talk logic. 

The ancient Chinese built the Great Wall, for defense purpose; and sailed to Africa in the early 15th century, with no colonization ensued. 


Could you recall that China has done anything that harmed the interest of the Europeans over the past decades, over the past hundreds of years or thousands of years? 


Could you recall that any international agreement suffered failure because of China’s opposition? 


The simple logic is that, China has benefited from reform and opening up, so why wavering or going backward? 

China has benefited from the international order and system, so why undermining it? 

It just makes no sense. 


China will concentrate on development, peaceful development, people-centered, high-quality and sustainable development. 

The success in the most populous country will be a huge contribution to the humanity. 


We are bidding farewell to 2022, and ringing in 2023. 


I have many wishes for the new year. 


I hope there could be balanced report on China. If Chinese companies have violated any rules, please produce evidence. 


I hope to have access to the parliament and could talk to the MPs. 


And I hope to strengthen good relations with the business.  


I believe 2023 will be much better. 

Happy new year!  


Thank you.