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Arroyo meets hinese premier
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HOUSE Speaker Cloria Macapagal Arroyo and other officers ofthe Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) met.with Chi nese Premier Li Keqiang during the BFA Annual Convention in Hainan, China last week. The former president described the discussion as "valuable" as it mainly covered the direction China was takin8 on its 40th year of reforms and its relationship with the rest oftheworld.
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Arroyo meets Chinese premier Anoyo is on her second year
as
member of the board of the BFA, which gathers leaders in govern-
ment, business and academic institutions throughout Asia to share their thoughts on the most
.pressing issues in
t[e region and
the world.
During the meeting, Arr6yo
cited China's leadership in promoting what many refer to as 'Globalization V2," or the Belt and Road tnitiative, which aims to foster cooperation and development.
The speaker also expressed admiration for the Chinese lead-
ership's implementation of Deng Xiaoping's 'socialism with Chinese characteristics."
Arroyo noted that China's remarkable growth, particularly in the past two d€cades, showed rhe wodd that no development model could be applied universally and that the diveffity ofhistorical conditions determines the development paths that countdes could choose.
'China has given us the lesson that thqre is just not one path for development because prior to Chinat experlencg it was thought that the only way to development
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pAQ€o
is the Westem style rnodel of Jeffersonian democracy and coupled with a free market" she said.
"But China has ihown the world that you can have your own model ofdevelopment using
your own historical experience, especially China
in the last 40
years. Since thq opening ofChina 40 years ago, it has transformed
itseli it is the world's leading growth, unmatched in history. Four hundred million people lifted out from poveny. China is on the verge of becoming the largest economy in the world," Arroyo added.