Interview: Polish diplomat hails Chinese parliament session

In the eys of Zdzislaw Goralczyk, Poland's former ambassador to China, the ongoing plenary session of the Chinese parliament is drawing a blueprint for their country 's future.

"The plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) and that of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are a step forward toward rapid and quality development, thus drawing a blueprint for China," Goralczyk told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The discussions at the plenary sessions indicated that the Chinese government pays much attention to equality and social justice.

He said problems are inevitable in the course of economic development. Regional imbalances and the widening gap in wealth distribution are in essence development problems.

It is commendable that the Chinese government is not hiding these problems, but is rather taking appropriate measures to address them. He noted that the Chinese government is investing more money in the less developed interior areas and has vowed to build a harmonious society.

Goralczyk, 71, spent 25 years in China, first as a student, then a diplomat. He was the Polish ambassador in Beijing between 1994 and 1999. After his return to Poland, he served as advisor on Asian and Chinese affairs to former president Aleksander Kwasniewski, former prime ministers Leszek Miller and Marek Belka.

Goralczyk described himself as an eyewitness of China's development since he has been observing China in the past 50 years.

No other country in the world has surpassed China in terms of continuous, stable and rapid growth since 1980, he said.

Goralczyk travels to China every year. He said he could feel change every time he visits China. He highly commended China's openness, social progress and achievements in various fields.

He said he was particularly impressed by a string of figures published recently. China's annual per capital disposable income skyrocketed to 11,759 yuan (1,519 U.S. dollars) in 2006 from 343 yuan (44 dollars, current value) in 1978, when China opened itself and began economic reform. For people living in rural areas, their income rose to 3,587 yuan (463 dollars) from 134 yuan (17 dollars, current value) in the same period. The figures represent an annual increase of 7 percent for both urban and rural areas.

Such figures are evidence of improvement of people's living standards, he said.

Goralczyk expressed confidence in China's future development. " It would be ideal to continue the current policies and adapt them to actual conditions," he said.

He believed that China's development would be even faster in the next 20 years than the past two decades.

Source: Xinhua