Chandran Nair, founder of an Asia-based think tank, says he hopes China will play a greater role in helping the world develop better, and ensure that the Chinese people continue to prosper.

He made the remarks on Wednesday, four days before the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a vital meeting that will chart the country’s development path for the next five years. The event will begin on Sunday in Beijing.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, the Malaysian business leader and founder of the Global Institute for Tomorrow said China has made a great achievement by lifting so many people out of poverty in recent years.

Chandran Nair said he hopes China can continue the momentum and announce new initiatives at the milestone Congress to improve the livelihood of Chinese people

He said he hopes the country can continue the momentum and announce new initiatives at the milestone Congress to improve the livelihood of Chinese people.

He also called on the country to be alert to the fast-changing international political landscape and double its endeavors to showcase to the world its contributions to protecting global order and driving economic development.

Many countries, led by the West, are using various means to draw China into the ongoing tensions in the world, such as the conflict in Ukraine, as a major strategy to contain its development.

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He said that some foreign politicians are still playing the “China threat theory” card as a bargaining chip in international relations. For example, Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, recently revealed her government’s intention to formally designate China as a “threat” in the UK’s new foreign policy.

Nair said the political stance shift is ridiculous, but cautioned that China should not ignore such a development.

He suggested China continue pursuing its nonalignment policy and seek peaceful development, while strengthening efforts to better demonstrate its good intentions, benevolence, and its great contribution to a peaceful world order to the international community.

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Nair said that in the age of information explosion, China is still being misunderstood in many ways. He encouraged more foreign people to come to the nation in person after the pandemic, especially to its northwest regions, to experience the country’s beauty, harmony, coexistence, and great developments.

An expatriate based mainly in Hong Kong, Nair has visited many provinces and regions on the Chinese mainland, including some remote areas, and witnessed the nation’s extraordinary developments in various fronts. After three years of not being on the mainland, he is desperate to set foot on the vast land once again, he said.