CHINESE Ambassador to The Bahamas Mr Hu Shan writes about Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese dream.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has on many occasions spoken of the Chinese dream since his inauguration. Now the Chinese dream has become a catchphrase or a buzzword throughout China. I have been frequently asked by Bahamian friends what exactly the Chinese dream is? Here I’d like to make a brief introduction to local readers on how President Xi annotates the Chinese dream.

On the concept of the Chinese dream, President Xi interpreted as follows: “To realise the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation in modern history. The Chinese dream, after all, is the dream of the people. We must realise it by closely depending on the people, and we must incessantly bring benefits to the people.

“To build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and turn China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally-advanced modern socialist country, and to attain the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is to achieve national prosperity, national revitalisation and happiness of the people, which not only deeply demonstrates the ideal of the Chinese people, but also represents the glorious tradition of our forefathers’ unremitting pursuit of progress.

“In face of the trends of the times and expectations of the people for a better life, we cannot have the slightest complacency, or be slack at work. We must make persistent efforts, press ahead with indomitable will, continue to push forward the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and strive to achieve the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

President Xi also expounded how to realise the Chinese dream.

He said: “To realise the Chinese dream, China must take the Chinese path, namely, the Socialist path with Chinese characteristics. This path does not come easy, it comes out of the great experience of more than 30 years’ reform and opening-up, out of the more than 60 years’ aspiration and exploration since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It stems from the experience and summing-up of the 170 years’ national development and , in a deeper sense, it originates from the inheritance of 5000 years’ civilization of the Chinese nation. So this path has not only a long historic origin but an extensive realistic basis as well.

“To realise the Chinese dream, we must promote the Chinese spirit, which is the combination of the spirit of the nation with patriotism as the core and the spirit of the time with reform and innovation at its core. This spirit is the soul that unites the whole nation to strive for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

“To realise the Chinese dream means we must unite all Chinese strength, which shall come form the unification of all ethnic groups. The Chinese dream is the dream of the nation, representing the dream of each and every individual Chinese. So long as we unite wholeheartedly as one and fight for the dream, the power to realize the dream will be invincible and we will enjoy abundant room to realise the dream. All Chinese people live in this great country and this great time deserve equal opportunities to enjoy a prosperous life, see their dreams come true and benefit together from the country’s development.”

As Chinese Ambassador, I take the view that the Chinese dream put forward by President Xi means to serve the people all the time, bring as much benefit as possible to them, resolve as many difficulties as possible for them, and solve the most pressing and real problems of the greatest concern to them. We should keep making progress in ensuring that all the people enjoy the rights to education, employment, medical and old-age care, and housing so that they will lead a better life.

The Chinese dream also serves as a manifesto on President Xi’s assumption of office.

To conclude, I would like to borrow the titles of two popular Chinese songs in the 1960s and 1970s to express my feelings.

Currently, ‘Our Life Is Full of Sunshine.’

On the realisation of the Chinese dream in the future, ‘Our Life Is Sweeter Than Honey.’