Turning 60 is an important milestone in the life of any person, let alone a country. A big parade was held in Beijing yesterday to celebrate the dramatic improvement in living standards in the 60 years of the People's Republic, and the party continues, with a national holiday running until next Thursday.

    A mood of nostalgia has also prevailed, people comparing photos and telling stories. This has led me to reminisce over an old handkerchief parcel of food coupons my mother left me. For decades in China there was rationing of everything from meat to cloth. I grew up knowing and experiencing hunger. My mother kept the coupons in case such times were to return. They never did.

    In 1949 China's GDP was $18bn, or $50 per capita. In 2008, total GDP reached $4.3 trillion and $3,260 per capita. In the past 30 years, 200 million people came out of poverty. Today, Chinese society has become open and dynamic. There are close to 2,000 newspapers, more than 9,000 magazines and 287 TV channels. With 700 million mobile phone subscribers, 300 million internet users and 180 million bloggers, not surprisingly the Chinese lead the world in texting, blogging and surfing the web. Some 800 international journalists sat in some of the meetings of the National People's Congress this year and asked questions. And more than 30,000 journalists covered the Olympics last year.

    There has also been major progress in developing the rule of law and local democracy. In the past 30 years, 223 laws were promulgated, a task that has taken many countries hundreds of years. When the labour law was debated, the National People's Congress received 200,000 suggestions, largely from public letters, emails and web comments. Elections were introduced at rural level 10 years ago, and all of the 64,000 village committees are directly elected. The government is working hard to introduce democratic decision-making at all levels to ensure that people's voices are heard.

    But we know we still have much to do. After all, China's per capita GDP ranks 104th in the world while the UK's is 20th. Britain is about the size and population of China's Hunan province, yet Britain's GDP is 17 higher. Per capita overseas investment in China is only 1/25th of that of Britain. Some 135 million people across the country still live on less than a dollar a day.

    Any small problem can grow into a huge one if multiplied by 1.3 billion. A big achievement can become too tiny to notice once divided by that number. China will press ahead with reforms aimed to build a strong and harmonious society, where every child is at school, everyone has work to do and a roof over their head, every sick person is treated, and every elderly person is taken care of.

    China's rapid progress would not have been possible without close interaction with the world, the west in particular. In the past 30 years, China's trade increased from $20.6bn to just under $2.6 trillion, a more than hundredfold rise. Thirty years ago, foreign direct investment in China was virtually nonexistent. In 2008 it grew to $92.4bn, ranking first place among developing countries. As of the end of 2008, China has invested $150bn in 170 countries and regions. In the past 30 years, 1.39 million Chinese studied in 109 countries. In 2008, 45 million Chinese travelled overseas as tourists.

    China's rise in the world was not achieved through war or aggression but through exchanges and trading. Seeking friendship and fostering a peaceful and co-operative international environment is China's constant objective. We are learning to fulfill our growing international responsibilities, from restoring global growth to fighting climate change, and will continue to partner Britain in this process. My mother's food coupons will go to the British Museum as I have promised. On this 60th birthday we celebrate our past and our future.

    Fu Ying is China's ambassador to the UK

    中國(guó)人看重60周年的紀(jì)念，無(wú)論是一個(gè)人的年齡，還是一個(gè)國(guó)家的歷程都是如此。昨天在北京舉行了盛大的閱兵儀式，歡慶建國(guó)60年來(lái)人民生活發(fā)生的巨大變化，節(jié)日的喜慶氣氛將持續(xù)到下周四。

    人們也產(chǎn)生了懷舊情緒，用照片和故事的對(duì)比，回顧著家庭生活的變遷。在這個(gè)情緒的影響下，我也翻出了母親留給我的包在手絹里的舊糧票。多年來(lái)，中國(guó)從肉制品到布料，幾乎所有的日用品都實(shí)行過(guò)配給制，我本人也曾經(jīng)體驗(yàn)過(guò)饑餓的滋味。我母親保存著這些糧票，是防備短缺的日子再度出現(xiàn)。但這樣的日子已經(jīng)一去不復(fù)返了。

    看看這組數(shù)字：1949年建國(guó)時(shí)，中國(guó)的GDP總量只有180億美元，人均GDP只有50多美元，而2008年GDP總量達(dá)到了4.3萬(wàn)億美元，人均GDP達(dá)到3263美元。過(guò)去30年，2億中國(guó)人擺脫了貧困。中國(guó)社會(huì)也變得越來(lái)越開(kāi)放和充滿活力。全國(guó)共有近2000種報(bào)紙、9000多種雜志，287家電視臺(tái)，還有7億手機(jī)用戶，3億網(wǎng)民和1.8億博客，毫不奇怪，中國(guó)人是世界上發(fā)短信、寫(xiě)博客和上網(wǎng)最活躍的國(guó)家。今年，800名外國(guó)記者參與了兩會(huì)的采訪，他們還能夠旁聽(tīng)一些會(huì)議的討論并提問(wèn)。去年共有3 萬(wàn)名記者采訪了北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)。

    中國(guó)在民主法治建設(shè)方面也取得了重要進(jìn)展。過(guò)去30 年共制定了223項(xiàng)法律。討論勞動(dòng)法期間，全國(guó)人大收到20萬(wàn)多條建議，大部分是民眾直接通過(guò)信件、郵件和網(wǎng)上留言提出來(lái)的。10多年前，中國(guó)開(kāi)始實(shí)行基層選舉，六萬(wàn)四千個(gè)村民委員會(huì)由村民直接選舉產(chǎn)生。政府堅(jiān)持推進(jìn)政治體制改革，加強(qiáng)各級(jí)民主決策，傾聽(tīng)民眾意見(jiàn)。

    但是，我們清醒地認(rèn)識(shí)到，還有很長(zhǎng)的路要走。中國(guó)人均GDP排名第104位，英國(guó)排第20位。英國(guó)的國(guó)土面積和人口與中國(guó)的湖南省差不多，但英國(guó)的GDP卻是湖南省的17倍。中國(guó)人均海外投資額僅為英國(guó)的1/25.目前仍有1.35億人每天生活費(fèi)不足一美元。

    在中國(guó)這樣的人口大國(guó)，任何小的困難只要乘以13億就會(huì)成為大難題，任何成就除以13億就變得微不足道。中國(guó)將繼續(xù)堅(jiān)持改革開(kāi)放，建設(shè)富強(qiáng)與和諧的社會(huì)，目標(biāo)是實(shí)現(xiàn)全國(guó)人民學(xué)有所教、勞有所得、住有所居、病有所醫(yī)、老有所養(yǎng)。

    中國(guó)的快速發(fā)展離不開(kāi)與世界，特別是西方國(guó)家的交往。改革開(kāi)放30年來(lái)，中國(guó)的貿(mào)易總額由206億美元增加到2.5616萬(wàn)億美元，增長(zhǎng)了100多倍。30年前，中國(guó)基本沒(méi)有外商直接投資，2008年，外商直接投資達(dá)到924億美元，在發(fā)展中國(guó)家名列第一。到2008年年底，中國(guó)共在170個(gè)國(guó)家和地區(qū)投資近1500億美元。過(guò)去30年，共有139萬(wàn)中國(guó)學(xué)生在全球109個(gè)國(guó)家留學(xué)。到2008年，中國(guó)出境游達(dá)到了4500萬(wàn)人次。

    中國(guó)的崛起不是通過(guò)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和侵略得來(lái)的，而是在與他國(guó)的交流與貿(mào)易中實(shí)現(xiàn)的。因此，推動(dòng)友好關(guān)系、營(yíng)造和平、合作的國(guó)際環(huán)境是中國(guó)孜孜以求的目標(biāo)。我們將認(rèn)真履行從恢復(fù)全球增長(zhǎng)到應(yīng)對(duì)氣候變化等各方面的國(guó)際責(zé)任，并將繼續(xù)與英國(guó)發(fā)展合作。我已經(jīng)答應(yīng)把母親留給我的糧票捐贈(zèng)給大英博物館。在中國(guó)60周歲的生日之際，我們?yōu)槿〉玫某删投鴼g慶，也為更加美好的未來(lái)而歡慶。