This year marks the 30th anniversary of the economic reform and opening up of our country. It is now necessary for us to look back at the last three decades and seek out the most valuable assets to celebrate.

In my opinion, we should review the phrase "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts", which was popular 30 years ago, and make it our motto today to seek further development.

In the late 1970s, the 10-year "cultural revolution" had just ended. The country's authorities with Deng Xiaoping as the leader displayed immense political and theoretical courage by underscoring the principle of "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts".

They repudiated the theory and practice of "taking class struggle as the key link" and shifted the focus of the work of the Communist Party of China as well as the administrative onto economic development.

It is against such a background the economic reform and opening was launched.

Therefore, the principle of "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts" was the starting point for all the policies regarding economic reform and opening up and it became the banner to lead us ahead in the past three decades.

Just as it had helped the Chinese people to shrug off the old mindset and embrace the economic boom of the late 1970s, it will also serve us to overcome the various difficulties ahead.

"Emancipating the mind" and "seeking truth from facts" are two sides of the same coin, each being indispensable. And the current prosperity of China is the fruit of their combination.

In President Hu Jintao's report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November last year, he said that China was seeing unprecedented challenges.

This is a remarkable statement by the country's leader, especially when it was made before the upcoming 30th anniversary of the reform and opening up.

To deal with the unprecedented challenges, we need powerful weaponry, firm determination and the courage of breaking the bottleneck to seek further success. At the same time, a social atmosphere is also an essential element to facing these challenges.

Under our current circumstances, "emancipating the mind" and "seeking truth from facts" are the most suitable catch phrases to activate the whole society to face and overcome the development obstacles ahead.

In the rapid development of last three decades, China had come across several obstacles that are difficult to explain.

When the economic reform was in its early stage in the early 1980s, it was a common prediction that China might only see a strategic opportunity for growth in next 10 to 15 years.