Global youth praise Chinese path to modernization

In the run-up to the two sessions, China Daily interviewed some international and regional students in Beijing to get their perspective on China's path to modernization and its development.

"Western modernization is driven by profit and capitalism. So, there are only small portions of population that are enjoying modernization and that's not so equal, but in the Chinese case, the aim of modernization is to let all the people, all the common people, enjoy modernization," said Gaia Vattiato, a student from Italy studying at the Beijing Language and Culture University.

"I was very impressed with how much these small efforts by local governments and their in-depth understanding of the reality have helped lift millions of people in this country out of poverty," said Enoch Wong, a Tsinghua University graduate from Hong Kong, who is currently serving as global ambassador of Tsinghua University. He said such targeted approach of poverty alleviation helps people to become financially strong rather than rely on subsidies.

Ahmedov Javohir, a Tajikistani student from Tsinghua University, said he thinks the Chinese path to modernization is different from that of the West in many ways, mainly for its green and peaceful development. "China has already installed 72 gigawatts of solar panel energy, which is bigger than the whole world combined. This is driven by the belief that economic growth must be sustainable and environmentally friendly. In the past two decades, China has invested huge amount of money in Central Asia infrastructure, building railroads, highways, pipelines, to promote regional economy and trade," he said.

Tomita Rio, a Tsinghua University student from Japan, said she is impressed by China’s technological development and internationalization. She cited shared bikes, mobile payment and food delivery as examples. She also hailed many Chinese innovations such as Taobao and cosmetics made in China that are very popular in Japan as symbols of internationalization.