For the Chinese people, the year 2022 is a year of the Tiger, which begins from February 1st, 2022, and ending on January 21st, 2023. The Tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China. The zodiac sign Tiger is a symbol of strength, exorcising evils, and braveness. Many Chinese kids wear hats or shoes with a tiger image of for good luck.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, has urged the world to forge ahead with confidence and fortitude to jointly create a better post COVID-19 world.
Xi gave the admonition while delivering a special address during the just concluded 2022 World Economic Forum Virtual Session held on January 17, 2022.
Xi told his audience that in two weeks’ time, China will celebrate the advent of spring in the lunar new year, the Year of the Tiger.
Xi stated that in Chinese culture, tiger symbolised bravery and strength, as the Chinese people often refer to spirited dragon and dynamic tiger, or soaring dragon and leaping tiger.
Xi further said to meet the severe challenges facing humanity, the world must “add wings to the tiger” and act with the courage and strength of the tiger to overcome all obstacles on our way forward.
According to President Xi, “We must do everything necessary to clear the shadow of the pandemic and boost economic and social recovery and development, so that the sunshine of hope may light up the future of humanity.
“The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. These changes, not limited to a particular moment, event, country or region, represent the profound and sweeping changes of our times. As changes of the times combine with the once-in-a-century pandemic, the world finds itself in a new period of turbulence and transformation. How to beat the pandemic and how to build the post-COVID world? These are major issues of common concern to people around the world. They are also major, urgent questions we must give answers to.”
Xi also said as a Chinese saying goes, “The momentum of the world either flourishes or declines; the state of the world either progresses or regresses,” adding that “The world is always developing through the movement of contradictions; without contradiction, nothing would exist.”
Xi said: “The history of humanity is a history of achieving growth by meeting various tests and of developing by overcoming various crises. We need to move forward by following the logic of historical progress, and develop by riding the tide of development of our times.
“Notwithstanding all vicissitudes, humanity will move on. We need to learn from comparing long history cycles, and see the change in things through the subtle and minute. We need to foster new opportunities amidst crises, open up new horizons on a shifting landscape, and pool great strength to go through difficulties and challenges.”
Xi further told the world about the need to embrace cooperation and jointly defeat the pandemic, saying that strong confidence and cooperation represented the only right way to defeat the pandemic.
China, he stated, is a country that delivers on its promises, even as he said China has already sent over two billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.
“Still, China will provide another one billion doses to African countries, including 600 million doses as donation, and will also donate 150 million doses to ASEAN countries,” Xi assured.
Xi also called for the need to resolve various risks and promote steady recovery of the world economy, saying that the world should guide reforms of the global governance system with the principle of fairness and justice, and uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its centre.
In the same vein, Xi advocated the need to bridge the development divide and revitalize lobal development.
“The Human Development Index has declined for the first time in 30 years. The world’s poor population has increased by more than 100 million. Nearly 800 million people live in hunger. Difficulties are mounting in food security, education, employment, medicine, health and other areas important to people’s livelihoods.
“We need to discard Cold War mentality and seek peaceful coexistence and win-win outcomes. Our world today is far from being tranquil; rhetorics that stoke hatred and prejudice abound,” Xi also said.