中国——一个古老而常青的国家[1]

尊敬的托尼·里特尔校长，

老师们、同学们：

我和夫人胡平华非常高兴访问伊顿公学。感谢伊顿公学“前沿社”社长弗雷德·金刚才热情的介绍。

你们来到伊顿求学，风华正茂，令人羡慕。在今天这个迅速发展的时代，我个人的体会是，学习是终身的。最近我就学习了两个英文单词。一个是Oxonian（牛津校友），因为就在上周，我刚访问了牛津大学，在牛津学联发表了一个演讲，在演讲中提到了不少曾为中英关系发展做出贡献的牛津校友。今天，我来到了伊顿，又学习了一个新词：Etonian（伊顿校友）。我要祝贺伊顿校友约翰·格登荣获2012年的诺贝尔生理学或医学奖，尽管他在校时曾被时任校长评价为“生物学得糟糕透顶”。伊顿和牛津同样具有数百年历史，同样坐落在泰晤士河畔，同样是《哈利·波特》的拍摄地，同样是英才辈出，我不知道英语中是否有这么一个词：Oxtonian，用来指先后就读于伊顿和牛津的学子。因为，“伊顿+牛津”，这是一个最富英国特色的黄金教育组合，培养了许多杰出人才。一个最为人津津乐道的例子是，伊顿和牛津共同造就了13位英国首相，包括现任首相，名副其实地成为英国政治家的摇篮。还有一个不为人知的例子是，詹姆斯·邦德据说也是伊顿和牛津校友，不过听说因为他惹了麻烦，伊顿开除了他。

今天在座的不少是伊顿公学“前沿社”的成员。刚开始看到“前沿”这个词，我一下子想到了我曾经两次工作过的美国。在美国历史上，“前沿”一词有着特殊含义，指19世纪后半期美国开发的西部边疆。20世纪60年代，美国总统肯尼迪又提出了开发“新边疆”，也就是探索太空。当然，你们社名中的“前沿”被赋予了新的后现代含义——新兴经济体或在未来有重要影响的世界大国，其中包括中国。今天，也有一些来自“东方社”和“凯恩斯社”的成员，你们三个社团共同感兴趣的话题无疑是中国。

今天，我演讲的主题就是中国，一个古老而常青的国家。

中国历史悠久，有一句话最能说明中国历史的特点：在世界四大文明古国中，中国文明是唯一未曾间断、延续至今的。我曾经担任中国驻埃及大使，埃及同样是一个文明古国，有文字记载的历史比中国还要早，但是古埃及文明由于外敌的持续入侵而湮没了。今天埃及使用的文字与古埃及象形文字已经完全不是一个体系。19世纪初，人们幸运地借助现存于英国博物馆的罗塞塔石碑，才解开了失传1 400年古埃及文字的谜团。而中国虽然也曾遭受外敌入侵，但是中华文明因其强大的生命力和包容性得以传承，并不断发展。

古代中国取得了非凡成就，曾经鼎盛辉煌。在过去的两千年里，大多数时间中国是世界上最大的经济体。英国《经济学人》杂志的数据表明，中国的GDP（国内生产总值）曾占全球总量的1/3左右。中国的丝绸、瓷器和茶叶曾是世界上最畅销的产品，那时“Made in China”（中国制造）代表着豪华、昂贵，属于“奢侈品”。中国人形成了博大精深的哲学思想和治世之道——儒家和道家，既富有进取心和使命感，又崇尚人与自然和谐共处。

中国创造的四大发明：造纸术、指南针、火药和活字印刷术，对世界文明和人类进步产生了重大影响。弗朗西斯·培根曾经写道：“印刷术、火药和指南针分别改变了文学、战争和航海，进而彻底改变了整个世界。”剑桥大学学者李约瑟博士为此悉心研究整理，花费近50年时间编写出皇皇巨著《中国科学技术史》。

但是，近代中国落后了。18世纪产生于英国的工业革命改变了世界，中国传统的农业文明迅速被时代甩在了后面。中国经历了一百多年的内忧外患，甚至一度处于民族危亡的关头。新中国成立后，中国在建设发展过程中也走了一些弯路。逆境中的人们都熟悉这样一句诗：“如果冬天来了，春天还会远吗？”这句诗的作者就是一位伊顿校友——英国诗人雪莱。

到了20世纪70年代末，中国终于迎来了改革开放的春天，开始了民族复兴。中国连续30年保持了GDP年均10%的增速，6亿多人摆脱了贫困，创造了世界经济增长的奇迹。今天的中国已成为全球第二大经济体和第二大贸易体，是世界经济增长的发动机和稳定器。中国不仅经济发展了，文化、政治、社会等各领域也取得了全面进步。就在上周，中国作家莫言获得了诺贝尔文学奖，这是中国籍作家首次获此殊荣。

世界非常关注当代的中国。英国的报纸、电视新闻里，几乎每天都有关于中国的报道。走进英国最大的连锁书店WATERSTONES（水石书店），书架上关于中国的书籍也是琳琅满目。面对海量信息和各种解读，如何清晰地认识当代中国？我认为，可以从三方面去把握。

一是中国正在走一条适合中国国情的发展道路。一个13亿人口的大国，该如何谋发展，历史上没有先例，教科书上没有答案，照搬国外不行，闭门造车也不行。中国人牢牢把握自己的国情，借鉴吸取世界各国有益经验，不断摸索实践和改革创新，获得了成功。这条发展道路的特点是以经济建设为中心，以人为本，全面协调和可持续发展，同时坚持社会公平正义，保障人民的民主权利。这条发展道路的政治制度保障是人民代表大会制度及中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度，经济制度保障是以公有制为主体、多种所有制经济共同发展，包括私营经济、个体经济和外资经济。这既与世界各国有共同点，又有着鲜明的中国特色。

二是中国仍然是一个发展中国家。中国经济总量很大，但2011年人均GDP仅约5 432美元，根据IMF（国际货币基金组织）的排名，居世界第89位，仅为英国人均GDP的1/7。中国的贫困人口仍有1.28亿（按中国的贫困标准相当于每人每天1美元），若按联合国制定的每人每天1.25美元的新标准，则这个数字还要大。中国单位GDP的能耗是国际水平的3~4倍，是英国的8倍。我曾经在中国最贫穷的西部省份之一甘肃省工作，走访了甘肃86个县区市中的60多个，深刻体会到中国西部地区与东部沿海省份相比、农村与城市相比还有很大差距。在甘肃农村的一些地区，基本生活用水都存在困难，脱贫还有很长的路要走。

三是中国致力于和平发展。今天的中国坚持独立自主的和平外交政策，将维护世界和平、促进共同发展作为中国外交政策的宗旨。中国倡导“互信、互利、平等、协作”的新安全观，秉持积极有为的国际责任观，奉行睦邻友好的地区合作观，主张世界各国一道建立持久和平、共同繁荣的和谐世界。中国绝不搞侵略扩张，永远不争霸、不称霸，绝不走历史上“国强必霸”的老路。中国致力于和平解决国际争端和热点问题。中国累计向联合国30项维和行动派出各类人员2万多人次，是派出维和人员最多的联合国安理会常任理事国。中国同12个陆地邻国解决了历史遗留的边界问题，主张通过和平谈判处理同邻国的领土和海洋权益争端，尽最大努力维护南海、东海及周边和平稳定。

最近，日本宣布对中国的领土钓鱼岛实施“国有化”，这是对中国领土主权的严重侵犯，引起中国人民的坚决反对和强烈抗议。我们敦促日本立即停止一切损害中国领土主权的行为，回到和平谈判解决争议的轨道上来。

我在英国工作两年多，经常看到西方媒体上对中国未来的各种“担心”，甚至“唱衰”。而事实上，中国民众对自己的国家抱有信心。根据美国著名民调机构皮尤研究中心2012年7月公布的调查报告，83%的中国民众对中国经济感到乐观，而在美国和英国，认为本国经济形势良好的分别只有31%和15%。作为一个中国外交官，我对中国未来发展更充满信心。

首先，中国经济发展潜力巨大，动力充沛。中国2011年城镇化率历史上首次超过了50%，而英国在1851年就达到了这一水平，发达国家目前的城镇化率普遍在80%左右。中国城镇化发展还将持续几十年，将创造出巨大的城市住宅、基础设施建设的需求。中国地区发展不平衡，而今后的平衡进程可以有效带动投资和内需的增长，提供更大的市场规模。中国的整体消费结构正从吃、穿等生存性消费向住、行、教育等发展性消费升级，提振空间很大。中国劳动力总量巨大的优势还会持续一段时间，并且随着政府加大教育投入，人力资本提升空间很大，这将形成新的“人口红利”。

其次，中国的发展将更加全面和谐，人民将更加幸福。中国将继续致力于民主法治建设，维护社会公平正义，实现人的自由和全面发展。中国将更好地保障和改善民生，使发展成果更好地惠及全体人民。中国将努力建设资源节约型、环境友好型社会，走可持续发展之路。中国人均GDP要向发达国家看齐，但人均能源消费、温室气体排放强度绝不能赶超发达国家。

最后，中国将在世界上发挥更加积极的作用。中国需要争取和平的环境来发展自己，也会以自身的发展来维护世界和平，促进共同发展。中国将积极参与国际体系和国际事务，努力发挥建设性促进作用。中国将继续奉行互利共赢的开放战略，积极扩大进口，增加对外投资，为各国创造更多的就业和财富，促进世界经济增长。

中国过去30多年的发展道路深刻地改变了中国，沿着这条道路走下去，我们完全有理由相信，中国的未来只会更加光明，更加美好！

同学们，

我曾经去过英国几十所大学，也去过多所中小学。每当我访问一所学校，我都很想知道这个学校是否教授中文。因为，我一直坚持这么一种观点：“了解中国，自中文始。”语言是构成一个国家和民族的基本要素，掌握了一门外语，也就是掌握了开启另一个世界的钥匙。学习汉语将让你们了解中国，了解中国丰富灿烂的文化、日新月异的发展和勤劳智慧的人民；学习汉语将让你们更加自豪，因为你们不仅掌握了世界上使用最广泛的语言——英语，也学会了世界上使用人口最多的语言——汉语。

我很高兴地获知伊顿是英国最早开设中文课程的中学之一，将中文课程列入学校A-Level课程（英国高中课程）。在此基础上，伊顿还开设了“短期中国游学”“中国学生伊顿夏令营”等项目，增强学生学习中文的兴趣。我也期待着孔子课堂早日在贵校开办，为你们学习中文、了解中国提供新的渠道。

为使你们更好地学习中文、了解中国，我此次也特意带来了一些关于中国文学艺术、风土人情的书籍和光盘，既有英文的，也有中英文对照的，希望你们喜欢。

老师们、同学们，

中国和英国都是伟大的国家，都曾为人类文明发展做出重大贡献。在新的世纪，中英应当携手合作，促进共同发展，同时为世界的和平与繁荣做出新的更大贡献。伊顿校友惠灵顿公爵曾有一句名言：“滑铁卢的胜利，是在伊顿公学的操场上决定的。”或许，中英关系的未来，很大程度上也还在这里，因为你们将成为中英关系的参与者、建设者。我衷心希望你们与中国的年青一代共同努力，缔造中英关系的美好未来。

谢谢。

下面，我愿回答你们的提问。

[1] 在英国伊顿公学的演讲。2012年10月17日，英国伊顿公学。

China: Ever Old, Ever Young[1]

Headmaster Anthony Little,

Teachers and students,

It is a real pleasure for me and my wife Pinghua to visit Eton College.

Thank you for the warm welcome. I also want to thank Secretary of the Frontier Society Fred Kim for the kind introduction.

You have come to Eton College to learn. I hope I may also encourage you that,in such a fast-changing world, the habit of learning will be a life-time occupation.Certainly, that is my experience!

Recently I have learned two English words.

One is Oxonian. I just visited Oxford University last week and gave a speech at the Oxford Union. In my speech I mentioned several Oxonians who made huge contributions to China-UK relations.

Today at Eton I have learned the other word—Etonian.

Many Old Etonians have made a profound impact on the world. The most recent is Sir John Gurdon who shared this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.I warmly congratulate him especially as he overcame the burden of former Eton Headmaster’s comment that he was “too stupid for biology!”

Eton and Oxford have a lot in common:

• They both have a history of hundreds of years.

• They are both located by the river Thames.

• They were both chosen to be the settings for the film Harry Potter.

• And they have both produced a wealth of talents.

I wonder whether you have a word Oxtonian for those attending both Eton and Oxford!

Eton plus Oxford is an optimal combination of education. This combination is distinctively British. Together they have cultivated a galaxy of great people. Thirteen Prime Ministers have come from Eton and Oxford, including the incumbent one. As a traditional description explains, Eton is truly “the chief nurse of England’s statesmen.”

James Bond is in the news again with the latest movie called Skyfall. You may be interested to know Bond films are very popular in China! A less known story is James Bond also went to Eton and Oxford. I gather the story goes that he was expelled by Eton for his talent in trouble making!

Many of you are members of the Frontier Society. The word “frontier” reminds me of the United States where I was posted twice.

In the US history, “frontier” was a term with special meaning. It referred to the “wild west” of the US in the second half of the 19th century.

In the 1960s President Kennedy made an initiative to explore the “New Frontier,”which meant space. I have been told that the word “frontier” in the name of your society has taken on a new post-modernist meaning—emerging economies or powers that will assume major influences in the future. These include China.

In today’s audience there are also members from the Oriental Society and Keynes Society. Obviously, a common subject of interest to all the three societies is China. So,my topic today is China, a country that is ever old, ever young.

China has a long history. Among the world’s four great ancient civilisations, China is the only one that has continued to this day without any break.

I was Chinese Ambassador to Egypt. Egypt is also a very old civilisation. Its recorded history started even earlier than that of China.

But due to many years of foreign occupation and rule, the Egyptian civilisation died out. The writing system currently used in Egypt is entirely different from the hieroglyph in ancient Egypt.

Luckily in early 19th century, archeologists deciphered ancient Egyptian characters that had been lost for 1,400 years. This was done with the help of the Rosetta Stone which is now kept in the British Museum.

China also suffered foreign invasion and aggression. However, unlike other civilisations, the Chinese culture and civilisation has had the strength and resilience to survive. As I will explain, it has survived well.

China was the biggest economy in the world for almost all of the past 2,000 years.Data from The Economist also points to China having about a third of global GDP for most of that period. So, it should not be a surprise that products from China were in high demand. For centuries, China’s silk, porcelain and tea were the most sought-after products around the world. In those times, “Made in China” was synonymous with the most expensive luxury goods.

Apart from its vast economy and wealth, China fostered a highly developed and sophisticated culture.

Two major native Chinese philosophies were Confucianism and Taoism. They encouraged the pursuit of success and stressed a sense of mission. At the same time,they aimed at harmony between man and nature.

The four major inventions by China—paper making, compass, gun powder and movable printing—contributed greatly to world civilisation and human progress.

This was partly recognised by Sir Francis Bacon. He wrote:

“Printing, gunpowder and the compass—these three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare,the third in navigation.”

The monumental impact on world civilisation and progress of humanity by Chinese inventions was fully recognised by a British scholar in the past century.

Ancient Chinese civilisation was so rich and advanced that it took that famous scholar from Cambridge University, Joseph Needham, 50 years to create almost 30 volumes called “Science and Civilisation in China.”

China fell behind in modern times. The industrialisation that started in Britain changed the world. The traditional agricultural civilisation of China struggled to find its place in the rapidly industrialised world.

In addition, in the 20th century, China was caught between the millstones of foreign invaders and civil war. The poverty, misery and humiliation that the Chinese people sufered are indescribable.

Even after the founding of The People’s Republic in 1949, China also made some mistakes in its development cause. People in hard times were inspired by one line of poem:

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”

The author of this poem was an Old Etonian—Shelley.

China finally ushered in the spring in the late 1970s when it embarked on reform and opening-up. In the more than 30 years that followed, the Chinese economy has grown at an annual rate of 10%. No country in human history has industrialised so fast and on such a scale. In addition, more than 600 million people were lifted out of poverty.

Today, China ranks number two in world economy and is the world’s second largest trading nation.

Since the financial crisis hit the world five years ago, China has become the powerhouse and ballast of global economic growth.

Besides economic prosperity, China has made across-the-broad progress in cultural,political and social fields. Last week, Chinese writer Mo Yan was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature. This is the first time that a Chinese writer has had this honour.

Now the whole world is watching China. China makes headlines in British newspapers and TV media. Walking into any Waterstone’s bookshop, you will find a full shelf on China.

So, how to get a clear picture of today’s China when there is a flood of information and so many perspectives? I would like to ofer you three observations.

First, China is following a development path suitable to its national realities.

So, how should a large country with 1.3 billion people achieve its development goals?

• There is no precedent in history.

• There is no ready answer in the textbook.

• Copying others won’t work.

• Wishful thinking in isolation of the world is a dead end.

So, the Chinese people have based their eforts on China’s national conditions while drawing on useful experience of other countries.

It has been a process of exploration, experiment, reform and innovation. With hard eforts China has succeeded in finding the right path. This path has the following features:

• It focuses on economic development.

• It puts people first.

• It promotes comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development.

• It upholds social equity and justice and protects people’s democratic rights.

The political institutional guarantee of this development path is built on:

• The system of people’s congresses.

• And the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

The economic institutional guarantee for this development path is a multi-ownership economy. Public ownership is the mainstay of the economy. At the same time, it allows development of private ownership and foreign investment side by side.

This development path has similarities with other countries. It also has characteristics only found in China.

My second observation to get a clear focus is that China is still a developing country:

• China is a large economy in total size.

• But per capita GDP of China was only 5,432 US dollars last year. According to IMF statistics, this figure was only one seventh of that of Britain.

• That ranks China at 89th place in the world.

• In China, 128 million people still live in poverty.

That means 128 million Chinese live on one dollar per day. If measured against the UN criteria of poverty, i.e., 1.25 dollars per day, then the Chinese poor population will be even higher.

Let me draw on my own experience to give a sense of this poverty. I once worked in one of China’s poorest western provinces—Gansu as Assistant Governor. I visited more than 60 of its 86 counties. Here I felt very strongly the wide gap between China’s western region and its eastern coastal areas. This is the divide between rural and urban areas. In some villages of Gansu even clean water was difficult to access. These people have a long way to go before they get out of poverty.

My third observation to help you focus is that China is committed to peaceful development:

• Today’s China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace. The goal of Chinese foreign policy is to maintain world peace and promote common development.

• China embraces a new security concept that stresses mutual trust, mutual benefit,equality and cooperation.

• China proactively fulfills its international responsibility.

• It insists on good neighbourliness and regional cooperation.

• It calls on all other countries to work together for a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

• China will never seek expansion or hegemony.

• The theory that “a strong country must seek hegemony” will never apply to China.

China is committed to peaceful settlement of international disputes and crisis issues.

As evidence of this, China has sent a total of more than 20 thousand personnel of various types to 30 UN peacekeeping missions. This makes China the permanent member of the UN Security Council that has contributed the largest number of peacekeeping personnel.

China has resolved boundary issues with its 12 neighbouring countries on land.China believes disputes over territory and maritime rights with neighbouring countries should be resolved through peaceful negotiations. China will do its best to maintain peace and stability in South China Sea, East China Sea and its surrounding areas.

Recently, Japan has announced its so-called “nationalisation” of Chinese territory Diaoyu Islands. This move has grossly violated China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It has sparked firm opposition and strong protest from the Chinese people. We urge Japan to immediately stop all its actions that violate China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and return to the track of resolving disputes through peaceful negotiations.

It has been over two years since I arrived in the UK as Chinese Ambassador.Since my arrival, I have often read in Western media worries about China’s future—sometimes even prophecies about China’s doom.

The reality is that we Chinese people are confident about our own country. This is backed up even by an American research company.

The Pew Research Centre’s survey last July showed that 83% of Chinese people were optimistic about Chinese economy. While in the US and the UK, the figures were only 31% and 15% respectively. As a Chinese diplomat, I have every confidence in China’s future!

So, what is the basis of my confidence?

First, the Chinese economy has great potential and a strong drive. Last year,urbanisation rate in China for the first time passed 50%. Britain already reached this level in 1851. The average urbanisation rate in developed countries now stands at around 80%. Urbanisation in China will continue for several more decades. This will create immense demand in housing and infrastructure.

As I said earlier, China’s development is not balanced between diferent regions. The regional balancing process will boost investment and domestic demand and provide a bigger marketplace.

China’s consumption mix is upgrading from living necessities like food and clothing to houses, cars and education. China’s strength in its large labour force will continue for a long period. With more government input in education, China’s human capital will be strengthened. This will bring new population dividends.

The second reason for my confidence is that China’s development will be more comprehensive and inclusive.

The Chinese people will be better of in these ways:

• China will continue to advance democracy and rule of law.

• China will uphold social equity and justice.

• China will realise free and all-round development of the people.

• China will ensure and improve people’s welfare so that all Chinese people will benefit more from development.

• China will build a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society.

• China will focus on sustainable development.

We will try to catch up with developed countries’ per capita GDP figures. But,most important, China must not overtake developed countries in energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions.

My third point about my confidence is that China will play an even more active role in world afairs:

• China needs a peaceful environment for its development.

• It will also safeguard world peace and promote common development with its own development.

• China will actively participate in international system and global afairs and play a constructive role in it.

• China will adhere to its win-win opening-up strategy.

• This will be done by expanding imports, increasing outbound investment and creating more jobs.

In turn, China’s actions will create wealth for all other countries and promote world economic growth.

The development path that China has followed for more than three decades has profoundly changed China.

We have every reason to believe that staying on this path will lead China to a brighter and better future.

Teachers and Students,

I have been to dozens of British universities and many middle and primary schools.Every time I visit a school, I want to know about language teaching, in particular,whether Chinese is being taught. The reason is that I always believe that understanding China starts from learning its language.

Language is one of the essentials that form the culture and character of a country and a nation. Mastery of a foreign language gives you a key to the wider world.

So, learning Chinese will help you understand China, its rich culture and fast development.You will also make many friends amongst its hard-working and ingenious people.

Mastery of Chinese will make you proud because you will be able to speak not only the most widely used language—English, but also the language used by the largest population—Chinese.

I am glad to learn that Eton was one of the earliest British schools to open Chinese language course and include it into the A-Level curriculum. I have also learned how this has motivated Eton to organise visits to China. These study tours in China and the Chinese summer school are bound to boost students’ interest in learning Chinese.

I hope a Confucius Institute will be opened in your college in the not-too-distant future. This will open up another channel to learn Chinese and understand China.

To help you learn Chinese language and understand China, I have brought you some books and discs on Chinese literature, art and folk customs. Some of them are in English. Some are bilingual. I hope you will find them interesting.

Teachers and Students,

China and Britain are both great countries.

We both made great contribution to human civilisation. In this new era, China and Britain should join hands to promote common development. Through our collaboration we can make even greater contribution to world peace and prosperity.

One famous Old Etonian was the Duke of Wellington. I believe I will quote him correctly when he said, “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”

Maybe the future of China-UK relations to a large extent also lies here at Eton.

The pattern of history suggests that you will be the major participants and builders of future China-UK relations.

Today, I hope my speech would inspire you to reach out and work with the young people of China.

Together you can build a bright future of China-UK relations.

That is the path to create a peaceful, sustainable and harmonious world.

Thank you!

Now I would like to take your questions.

[1] Speech at Eton College. Election Hall, Eton College, 17 October 2012.