I am very pleased to come to London to host together with all of you the launch ceremony for the multilingual versions of the second volume of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," during the London Books Fair, the most important spring pageant of the global publication industry. On behalf of the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China, I warmly welcome the friends who have come here to attend the launch event and express my heartfelt thanks to various circles who have made great efforts for the preparatory work of the event. I would like to extend my particular thanks to your royal Duke of York, an old friend of the Chinese people, for your attendance at today's launch event given your tight schedule.

The second volume of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" has been jointly compiled by China's State Council Information Office and the China International Publishing Group, containing 99 speeches, talks, instructions or congratulatory messages made by President Xi Jinping from August 18, 2014 to Sept. 29, 2017, as well as 29 photographs from this time. In September 2014, the first volume of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" was published, which received wide attention and praise from both Chinese and foreign readers. The first and second volumes of the book, which are a holistic entirety, constitute the main content and the basic structure of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

To my knowledge, quite a few foreign friends are studying Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, in an effort to understand Xi's thought and find clues on where the thought, which has already been written into China's Constitution and the Constitution of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will lead the world's most populous nation. Here I want to tell you that all the CPC has done, as President Xi has promised, is to seek happiness for people, seek national rejuvenation, and seek greater harmony for the world. With such kind of knowledge and perception, we can acquire the key code to the ideological treasure house of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China." The charm of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

First, it is a thought rooted in fertile humanistic soil. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has a profound humanistic and historical background. "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" moves people most because it is full of profound humanistic feelings and historical and cultural gems. President Xi is good at absorbing ideological wisdom on State governance from China's traditional culture and philosophies such as "man is an integral part of nature," "harmony but not sameness," "governing a big country is like cooking a delicious fish." Being good at grasping the development direction of contemporary China from the Chinese nation's pursuit of "peace," "amity" and "harmony," President Xi has drawn references from other world civilizations, combined the Party's missions with the country's future and the nation's fate, and made integrated analyses of the country's past, present and future. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand where today's China under the leadership of President Xi came from and where it will go tomorrow after one has read "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China."

Second, it is a thought built on the people-centric stance. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era upholds people's dominant status, respects people's innovative spirit, and consistently speaks for the people. The simplest emotional impression harbored in "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" is the warm feelings for all people. We can see throughout the book phrases and sentences that warm people's hearts such as "we should create for ordinary people a better life," "we should take the path of common prosperity and no single person should be left behind on our road to building a well-off society," and "people's pursuit of a better life is the goal of our struggle," which demonstrate the fundamental value orientation of the CPC's governance of China. Under such kind of ideological guidance, a large number of measures benefiting people have been taken since the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012, lifting more than 60 million impoverished people out of poverty, and annually creating more than 13 million new urban jobs. The income of urban and rural residents has grown faster than that of the country's economic growth over the past years, and people's sense of gain, happiness, security has improved greatly. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why President Xi has become a people's leader sincerely supported by people if one understands "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" after reading it. 

Third, it is a thought that takes aim at the future of the mankind. The current world is at a crossroads of its development, and many countries are now at a loss over such governance issues as "what is wrong with the world" and "where is the world going". President Xi, with a broad field of vision and strategic thinking as a great statesman, has put forward a series of new concepts concerning the future and fate of mankind in a clear-cut manner, and contributed Chinese solutions to addressing the issues facing the mankind and to building a beautiful world. He has presented to the rest of the world Chinese proposals on building a new type of international relations and constructing a community of shared future for the mankind, and expounded on China's perspectives on security, development, interests, globalization and global governance. People all over the world live under the same blue sky and own the same homeland and thus they should live like the members of the same family. We should have an open mind and understand each other. We should seek common ground while shelving our differences and work together to build a community of shared future for the mankind. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why President Xi as a leader of a big country harbors sagacious thinking and unique views on the future development of mankind if one understands "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" after reading it. 

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era will lead socialism with Chinese characteristics as it enters a new era, opens a new chapter for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and draws a new picture scroll for China's strengthened integration with the world. According to the arrangement of the 19th CPC National Congress and the keynote speech delivered to the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia, a China that has entered the new era will continue to make unremitting efforts in the following aspects:

Pursuing higher-quality development

China's economy has shifted from the stage of high-speed growth to that of higher-quality development, which marks an epoch-making historic change. In 2017, China's economic growth reached 6.9 percent, higher than expected, with its total economic output exceeding 82 trillion yuan ($13 trillion). Such an outshining economic performance has caused some international organizations to rate China as the world's "best-performing major economy of the year." This is an achievement that is good-looking not only on the surface but also in substance, one that shows the Chinese economy has taken an important step toward higher-quality development. Adhering to the new development concepts and continuously pursuing good and steady progress will be the main theme of China's economic development. China's economy will continuously act as a major stabilizer and ballast of the world economy.

Promoting more energetic innovation

China takes innovation as the driving force for its development. As a strategic supporter for the construction of a modern economic system, China adheres to the development of an innovation-driven and energetic growth model. China has achieved a series of innovative developments in recent years, from manned spaceflight and deep-sea exploration to quantum communications and large aircraft. "Internet Plus" has extensively been applied to all walks of life and the "innovative economy" represented by high-speed trains, Alipay, sharing bikes and e-shopping is leading the trend of the times. In less than 10 years, the number of patents granted to Chinese companies in the United States has increased tenfold. The innovation-driven model is reshaping China's economic landscape, which will not only inject a powerful impetus into China's development, but also help explore new ways for the world economy to pick up steam.

Promoting more in-depth reforms

Over the past five years, the Chinese government has rolled out more than 1,200 reform measures, and a number of new and bigger reform tasks were once again deployed at the 19th CPC National Congress. The program worked out by the authorities not long ago on reforming Party and government institutions is aimed at promoting the modernization of China's national governance, with a view to continuously improving its governance system and mechanism through scientific installation of institutions so that the market can play a decisive role in resources distribution, the government can better play its role and people's ever-growing desire for better lives can be satisfied. This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up and China believes the best way to celebrate the milestone initiative is to make new progresses on the road of reform and opening-up and carry out reforms to the end in the spirit of "cutting a path through the mountain and building a bridge across the river".

Advancing higher-level opening-up

China adheres to the basic State policy of opening-up, and will open wider to the outside world for domestic economic construction, further expand market access, and create a more attractive investment environment. It will strengthen intellectual property rights protection, and take initiatives to expand imports so as to share opportunities and interests with other countries and realize win-win cooperation with them in the process of expanding China's opening-up. China will continue to vigorously advance the Belt and Road Initiative, pursue synergy with other countries' development strategies, and uphold the "consultation, co-building and sharing" principles, to work hand in hand with the rest of the world to weave a new historical picture scroll for common development. In his speech delivered to the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia, President Xi clearly told the world that the door of China's opening-up will not close, but will only open wider. China's opening-up is sure to achieve all-new scenarios. 

Good friends,

China and the United Kingdom are both influential countries in the world. President Xi's successful state visit to the UK in 2015 has ushered in the prelude for a "golden era" of China-UK relations and promoted in-depth development of bilateral ties in various fields. During his meeting with visiting UK Prime Minister Theresa May in February, President Xi pointed out that China and the UK should follow the tide of the times, and, based on their respective development stages and cooperation demands, endow the "golden era" of China-UK relations with new historical connotations. We believe that as long as our two sides work together, the future of the "golden era" of China-UK relations is worth looking forward to, and the "golden fruits" of bilateral ties that benefit the peoples of the two countries and even the world are worth looking forward to. 

A good book is like a good friend, as a British proverb puts it. I have worked in the field of books publishing for many years, and I also view good books as good friends. I have made many good friends in the publishing field because of good books. Facts prove that people need and also look forward to good books at any time. I believe that "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" is a good book all can look forward to.

Thank you.

The author is Jiang Jianguo, Minister of State Council Information Office. The article is an excerpt from the speech he delivered at the launch of the multilingual versions of the second volume of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" in London on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.