Asian countries will benefit from 'Chinese dream'

The "Chinese dream" will benefit Asia and the world while opening up new opportunities for other countries to realize their own dreams or visions, a senior Chinese lawmaker said Tuesday.

Speaking at the 27th Asia-Pacific Roundtable forum, Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress, briefed the fellow participants on the concept of "Chinese dream" and how it relates to Asia and the world.

Quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech after he was elected by delegates of the 12th National People's Congress as the country's top leader in March, Fu said the "Chinese dream" is as much as a dream of the whole nation and a dream for every individual Chinese.

"So 'the Chinese dream' is for individuals to have better lives and for the country to provide conditions for achieving it, and individual efforts would add to the country's prosperity."

China achieved significant economic growth in the past three decades, with hundreds of millions lifted from poverty. But Fu said the Chinese people are not "necessarily" happier now, as the younger generation "found themselves struggling to meet life's demands from high mortgage, competition in jobs to rising cost of living."

"As China is going beyond basic needs, people are embracing new dreams," she said.

"The concept of the 'Chinese dream' came just in time. It reflects the reality in China and people's expectations and serves the need to unite the people to achieve a higher objective."

On the relations between the "Chinese dream" and China's neighbors and the outside world, Fu said "the 'Chinese dream' can' t be realized without a good external environment and in return the 'Chinese dream' will add to peace and prosperity of the region and the world."

The seasoned diplomat and former vice foreign minister of China said her country has greatly benefited from a peaceful and cooperative environment and China's regional policy of peace, domestic stability and prosperity are important contributors to the region.

According to Fu, in 2012, China's contribution to Asia's development was 58 percent and China's trade with the rest of Asia amounted to 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars.

Half of China's 77 billion U.S. dollars of overseas investment is in Asia and China has become the largest trading partner of Malaysia, Vietnam as well as Japan and South Korea.