In a few days, the People’s Republic of China will celebrate its 64th birthday.

The recent past witnessed a series of important events and development in China. The Communist Party of China convened the 18th National Congress. The new cabinet was sworn into office. The new season of the Chinese economic miracle, one of better quality and higher efficiency, is unveiled. And we have also made innovations in China’s diplomatic theory and practice under the new conditions.

While people all over the world are keenly interested in the message that China conveyed to the world, one phrase seems particularly appealing, “Chinese dream”. Many wonder what the dream implies to the future of China and how relevant it is to the future of other countries.

Every person has a dream, and so does every nation. Last month, the Americans celebrated the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous address entitled I have a dream. King would not know, at that moment, that an African American has become the President today.

Malawians share similar pride. For the first time in Malawian history a female president is steering the country toward economic recovery. During her first State of Nation Address to the Parliament, President Joyce Banda said that she also has a dream.

She sees a Malawi where her citizens enjoy their freedom, dignity and a sense of pride. She sees Malawians maximize their capacity to realize their social, political and economic empowerment. She sees Government eradicate poverty of its people through economic growth and wealth creation.

In the past one year, the Malawian people have made headway toward these dreams. I am sure one day they will be fully accomplished.

The Chinese people have various dreams too. For many years, we had dreamed of hosting Olympic Games. It finally came true in 2008. With the slogan of “One World, One Dream”, Beijing showed the whole world a warm-hearted China and wonderful matches.

Other dreams turned into reality when we built Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River and railway on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, sent astronauts into airspace and manned submersible into deep sea.

Among all these dreams, however, the biggest one is to achieve the great renewal of the Chinese nation. Generation after generation, this Chinese dream has been shared by the country, the nation and the people.

China, as one of the Four Ancient Civilizations, has made remarkable contributions to the progress of the human society. However, from the middle of the 19th century China suffered humiliation due to its backwardness and subsequent foreign invasions. From then on, the Chinese people have made unremitting efforts to rejuvenate the nation.

It was a daunting task to fight against a corrupt feudal empire on one hand, and Western powers on the other. One after another, reforms were carried out and revolutions broke out, some of which came from the ruling class and some from the grassroots.

Should we import more guns and warships? Should we build modern factories, railways and schools? Should we draft a constitution to limit the power of the emperor, or simply put an end to the monarchy? Should we learn from the West, or maybe from the Soviet Union?

To find answers to all these questions, numerous Chinese people shed their blood, which we believe has painted our national flag into red. These forerunners might vary from one to another on the way forward. But they shared one ultimate aspiration in common. That is to realize the great renewal of the Chinese nation, or what we call the Chinese dream.

In the end, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people won national independence and liberation.

On 1 October 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and stated that the Chinese people had stood up. Since then, the Chinese society has gone through profound social transformation. We have managed to rely on our own efforts to develop the country, which was plagued by years’ war and blockaded by the Western world. Yet for a long time China was still in a state of poverty.

Through decades’ arduous endeavor, the Chinese people have finally discovered a right developmental path that conforms to our national condition. In the late 1970s, China adopted the policy of reform and opening up, embarking on a road of enduring economic and social progress.

The GDP of China kept on growing at an average annual rate of 9.8% in the past 30-odd years. Even after the outbreak of the recent global financial crisis, Chinese economy has remained resilient and robust, contributing to nearly one-fourth of the global economic growth.

Today, China has the largest foreign exchange reserve and trade volume, and has become the second largest economy and the third largest provider of FDI around the globe. China also boasts the top producer of 220 types among the major 500 types of industrial products over the world. Wherever you go, you can hardly find a decent shop without commodities made in China.

Most Chinese people over the age of thirty can vividly reflect on the old days when everything was in short supply and food coupons were even more useful than money. Today, what annoys the Chinese government and citizens is another social problem, the waste on the table.

Apart from providing people with enough food and clothes, we have significantly improved people’s livelihood in all respects. Per capita housing area has reached 36 square meters. There are around one billion cell-phones users and over 500 million internet users. The total private automobiles in China have exceeded 100 million. China has become top tourism market, with over 83 million citizens travelling overseas last year.

The journey ahead of us is by no means easy. Despite huge achievements registered in poverty relief, there are still 128 million Chinese people living under poverty line, accounting for 10% of the whole population. Per capital GDP of China ranks the 89th on the global list. Income gap needs to be narrowed down between rural and urban areas, as well as between coastal and inland regions. Complains are mounting over corruption of some government officials and environmental pollution.

Nonetheless, China has never been so close to realizing the goal of the nation’s great renewal. Rapid economic growth and social progress over the past decades have laid a solid foundation for further reform and development. Endowed with a big domestic market, abundant supply of human resources and ever-deepening reform measures, China is bound to sustain steady and healthy economic development, and scientifically managing the Chinese society.

It is against this background that the Chinese new leadership calls upon all party members and the entire society to strive for the fulfillment of the Chinese dream, namely to achieve the great renewal of the Chinese nation.

We have charted a roadmap with two main goals. The first goal is to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, in which every child is in school, every piece of work is rewarded, everyone has a roof over the head, every sickness is treated and every elderly taken care of.

In order for that, we should double the GDP and per capita income for both urban and rural residents by 2020 on the basis of the 2010 level, which is simplified as the “two doubles”.

The second goal is to turn China into a socialist modernized country. It means that, by the middle of this century, China will be rich, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious.

The accomplishment of these two goals will coincide respectively with two centenary celebrations: the centenary of the Communist Party of China and the centenary of the People’s Republic of China. So these aims are also known as the “two centenary goals”.

The current generation in China is lucky enough to benefit from the “two doubles” and “two centenary goals”. And they are also the ones to dash to the finishing line with the last relay baton bestowed by history. Everyone has a share of responsibility for the fate of the country. As President Xi Jinping has pointed out, the Chinese dream is shared by the Chinese people of all ethnic groups and cherished by each and every individual in the country.

Some Westerners may find it hard to understand the passion of the Chinese people on the dream of national renewal. One possible reason is the lack of basic knowledge about China’s history, in particular its experience in the past two centuries.

History teaches the Chinese people an essential lesson: without a strong and mighty nation, the ordinary residents cannot protect their own lives or fortune. Thus for the Chinese people, the national greatness and individual happiness are the two sides of the same coin. As a Chinese idiom says, “the river and all its branches have the same level of water”.

Such dream, shared by the Chinese nation and people, is also highly relevant to the rest of the world.

Chinese dream requires a peaceful and stable international environment, and China is committed to realizing the dream through peaceful development. Since the Chinese dream is closely linked with the dreams of other peoples around the world, China is more than willing to help other countries with their development and share the huge business opportunity with the rest of the world.

In particular, Chinese dream resonates with the dream of Africa. A win-win partnership could boost the development of China and unleash the economic potentials of Africa. Therefore, immediately after assuming the presidency in March this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid state visit to three African countries.

President Joyce Banda also visited China in June this year, during which she had fruitful discussions with Chinese national leaders. The two sides are committed to carrying on our friendly cooperation, which has greatly benefitted the people of both countries in the past five years.

Next year, Malawi will embrace its jubilee of independence. Among the 50 years, the five years do not seem very long, yet the potential of our friendly and pragmatic cooperation has fully unfolded.

In Lilongwe, the Parliament Building and Bingu International Conference Centre have become landmarks of the city.

In the North, the Kalonga-Chitipa road links the mountainous hinterland with the outside market.

In the South, the Malawi University of Science and Technology has a magnificent campus to welcome the first group of students.

In the East, the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre has been launched.

For many years, Malawians have a dream of a modern stadium, where FLAME can compete with a visiting team. Before long, that dream will come true with a state-of-the-art National Stadium built in Lilongwe.

While we marvel at the beauty of these grand infrastructures, we should not forget those ordinary people who have contributed to our friendship.

In Kamuzu Central Hospital and Mzuzu Hospital, Chinese doctors are devoted to the lofty mission of rescuing Malawian patients. In their mind every life counts because behind it there is always a family full of dreams.

In the engineering battalion in Kasongu, nine Chinese military experts have stayed for almost one year, helping Malawian soldiers master the technique to operate the engineering machinery donated by the People’s Liberation Army of China.

Recent years have also seen more and more Chinese investors coming to Malawi.

Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation, also known as Sogecoa, has heavily invested in the four-star hotel and supermarket in Lilongwe. Malawi Cotton Company in Salima, a joint venture between China and Malawi, is expanding its business from trade to agro-processing. Henan Guoji Construction Group has partnered with Malawi Housing Corporation to build 7500 houses in the three major cities of Malawi.

These Chinese enterprises, through investment, have developed themselves and realized their respective dreams. In the mean time, they deserve to be called dream-makers, who have brought techniques and job opportunities to thousands of Malawian people.

Chinese investors are also actively involved in various corporate social initiatives. For example, Henan Guoji is going to provide a couple of Malawi students with scholarship to study in China every year. Huawei, a leading global ICT solution provider, has donated a maternity waiting house and a borehole to the rural community.

In 2010, Sogecoa sponsored China-Malawi Friendship and Brightness Trip, during which over 300 Malawian cataract patients received free surgeries and regained their eyesight. One person back into brightness can make a difference to the whole family. And a visionary enterprise can also make a difference to the whole society.

In addition, our cordial relations have fostered closer people-to-people interaction.

Last year, a memorandum of understanding has been signed to facilitate Chinese group travelers to come to Malawi. This year, agreements have been reached to establish a Confucius Institute in Lilongwe, where local people can learn Chinese language and culture. These instruments will pave the way for more frequent exchange of visits on the grassroots’ level.

Not everyone in Lilongwe is aware of their sister city in China. Like Lilongwe, Nanning is a city of green. Apart from its natural beauty, the city of Nanning has a dream to serve as the hub of the increasingly closer economic exchanges among China and Southeastern Asian countries. The city council of Lilongwe sends delegation to Nanning every September when the Expo is held there. As Malawi moves from aid to trade, such interaction is beyond a mere gesture of goodwill.

A few weeks ago, I hosted a reception for 29 Malawi students who were about to fly to China the next day to study under Chinese Government Scholarship. They all shared with me their imagination about life in Chinese universities, overwhelming me with joy and excitement. I could not help thinking that their personal dreams have indeed become part and parcel of the overall dreams of both countries.

There is a famous African proverb: if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together. I think we can also put it like this: if you want to have a beautiful dream, dream alone; but if you want to realize your dream, share your dream with your friends.

China and Malawi are good friends, good brothers and good partners. China will forge ahead, shoulder to shoulder with our Malawian partner, to achieve common goals in the long run.

Let’s share our dream of peace, prosperity and development!