Shen Yiqin:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. As we prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, it is a great pleasure for me to introduce colorful Guizhou. First of all, on behalf of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and the People's Government of Guizhou Province, let me begin by extending a warm welcome to you all, and expressing my sincere gratitude to the media for your long-term interest in and support for Guizhou.

Guizhou is a sacred and blessed place of the Chinese revolution. During the Long March, the Red Army spent the longest time and had its most extensive presence in Guizhou. The Central Red Army fought important battles in the province, such as Crossing the Wujiang River, the Battle of Loushanguan, and Crossing the Chishui River Four Times. In particular, the Zunyi Meeting, a key turning point in the Chinese revolution, saved the Party, the Red Army, and the Chinese revolution at a highly critical historical juncture, leaving us with valuable spiritual wealth. For 100 years, the revolutionary legacy has been continuously carried forward in Guizhou. The spirits of the Long March and Zunyi Meeting have been encouraging people of all ethnic groups in Guizhou to remain true to the original aspiration and mission, and forge ahead on a new Long March. Thanks to their efforts, Guizhou has achieved historic changes from being poor to moderately prosperous in all respects, and from lagging behind to catching up with and even overtaking some regions.

The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to and provides strong support for Guizhou's development. Caring greatly about Guizhou, General Secretary Xi Jinping has inspected the province many times, setting the direction for us at every crucial juncture. In particular, General Secretary Xi was elected delegate to the 19th CPC National Congress in Guizhou, and his inspection ahead of this year's Spring Festival gave us enormous encouragement. Bearing General Secretary Xi's remarks in mind, we have been striving forward in gratitude making profound changes for colorful Guizhou. General Secretary Xi commended Guizhou's achievements as epitomizing the great strides in the development of the Party and the whole nation since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012; and said the province displays a picture of prosperity.

First, colorful Guizhou in the new era has achieved a complete victory in eliminating extreme poverty, which had been our dream for thousands of years. Guizhou used to have the largest population of poor people and suffered the most extensive and serious poverty in China. Following General Secretary Xi's instructions to "make concerted efforts and adopt targeted measures to secure victory on schedule," we took poverty elimination as our top priority and the most important project for improving people's wellbeing. All 66 poverty stricken counties were removed from the poverty list, all 9.23 million impoverished people were lifted out of poverty, and 1.92 million people were relocated from mountainous areas. Guizhou now has the largest number of people both lifted out of poverty and relocated for poverty alleviation. For five consecutive years, Guizhou has rated "good" in the national evaluation of poverty elimination, making a significant contribution to China's miracle of poverty eradication. Today's Guizhou has removed the label of extreme poverty it carried for thousands of years and is moving forward on a broad and bright path toward common prosperity.

Second, colorful Guizhou in the new era has caught up with and overtaken some other regions, and greatly improved its overall strength. In accordance with General Secretary Xi's important instructions to "develop advantages as a latecomer and strive to catch up," we have been making tireless efforts with a down-to-earth spirit. Guizhou has entered a golden period of economic development unmatched in history. For 10 consecutive years, Guizhou's GDP growth rate has been among the highest in the country. In 2020, Guizhou's GDP reached 1.78 trillion yuan, moving the province from 26th to 20th place nationwide, and from 31st to 25th in terms of per capita GDP. Today's Guizhou enjoys a strong momentum and broad prospects for development, and is becoming an appealing destination for investors, businesses and entrepreneurs.

Third, colorful Guizhou in the new era has made huge progress in transportation, historically reshaping its structure of opening-up. Guizhou is a mountainous province without any plains. With unremitting efforts, we cut paths through the mountains and built bridges across the rivers, achieving complete access to the outside. Guizhou is the first province in the western region to connect all its counties to highways. The length of highways in service reached 7,607 km, ranking fifth in the country. Nearly half of the world's 100 highest bridges are in Guizhou. The provincial capital Guiyang has become a high-speed railway hub with fast-track connections to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Sichuan, Chongqing and Yunnan. Each of the nine cities and prefectures in Guizhou has its own airport. Advanced transport infrastructure facilitates a high-level of opening-up. Guizhou has made considerable progress in building an inland opening-up pilot economic zone and is accelerating its steps to go out along the "Belt and Road." With hugely improved transport links, today's Guizhou has transformed itself from a relatively closed inland province into an easily accessible and leading open area.

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