YANGON -- Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Beijing has chosen the right path of development which has brought prosperity to its people, Chairman of the Myanmar-China Friendship Association U Sein Win Aung told Xinhua in a recent interview.
After decades of reform, China has established a market-oriented economy based on its own national conditions, said U Sein Win Aung who is also former Myanmar ambassador to China.
Since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, China has become the world's second largest economy and economists expect that Beijing may surpass Washington to rank first in the near future, he said.
China adopted a market-oriented economy and established special economic zones along its coastal areas, which has successfully attracted foreign investment to boost the economy in the country's east, he said.
Meanwhile, Beijing unvelied a strategy in 2000 to open up the country's west, and has achieved remarkable economic development that continues today, he added.
He also praised China's multi-party cooperation and consultation under the leadership of the CPC as a good political system because party representatives can make proposals at the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Commenting on the Belt and Road Initiative, U Sein Win Aung said the initiative, which benefits China as well as the rest of the world, is a project of peace connecting Asia, Europe and Africa.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes.
The initiative will bring about common prosperity, upgrade infrastructure, facilitate flow of commodities and enhance mutual understanding through cultural exchanges, U Sein Win Aung said.
Myanmar dominates an important position geographically on the Belt and Road, he said, expecting the country to play a larger role within the initiative's framework.
China has been working to maintain peace and stability globally, he said, adding the world will be more stable if common prosperity is achieved.
He expressed hope that the CPC will further develop and lead China to continue contributing to global development.