Foreign news

What drives China’s success in 2020?

Published

4 years ago

January 11, 2021

Facing unprecedented challenges brought by COVID-19 and the complex changes in the external environment, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has led China to achieve substantial progress in 2020.

Upholding the authority of the CPC, putting people first, and giving full play to institutional advantages are the key factors driving China’s success in its epic battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and poverty last year.

People first’

Under Xi’s command, the constant theme of China’s war against coronavirus has been “people first.”

“The people’s safety and health always come first, and thus the prevention and control of the outbreak is the country’s most important work for now,” said Xi on his meeting with visiting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last January.

Stressing CPC is the most reliable backbone for Chinese people in times of trouble, Xi ordered the use of the entire country’s resources to tackle the pandemic, which is also an advantage of China’s socialist system.

As a result, China has emerged among the first countries to contain the virus, reopen the economy safely, and restore economic growth. The country’s GDP is expected to exceed 100 trillion yuan (about $15.38 trillion) in 2020, with per capita GDP reaching $10,000.

Meanwhile, China has sent 36 medical expert teams to 34 countries and offered help for 150 countries and 10 international organizations to fight the virus, echoing President Xi’s call for building a community of common health for mankind.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be made a global public good, which will be China’s contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries, Xi announced in May at the opening of the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly.

‘No one should be left behind’

On November 23, as southwest China’s Guizhou Province cleared all the names on its poverty list, China had eradicated absolute poverty and regional poverty.

At a symposium on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation in March, Xi said lifting all rural residents living below the poverty line out of poverty by 2020 is a solemn promise made by the CPC Central Committee and it must be fulfilled on time.

Xi put the poverty relief center in front of his governance and spent the most energy on it. During his domestic inspections last year, Xi often went to the frontline to supervise poverty relief efforts.

No one should be left behind on the road of socialism,” Xi said in May. “Everyone should be on the path toward a moderately prosperous society in all respects and common prosperity.”

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

1 month ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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