NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has lauded China's development achievements and said China will move forward despite difficulties in the coming years.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Kissinger extended congratulations to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which was in progress in Beijing.
Talking about the keynote report delivered by General Secretary Hu Jintao at the CPC congress, Kissinger said: "I was impressed by the report's emphasis on reform, on the expression of confidence in the future of China and on the conciliatory tone in foreign policy."
Known as "an old friend of the Chinese people," Kissinger has been keeping a close eye on China since his first visit to the remote country over 40 years ago.
The visit paved the way for a groundbreaking 1972 meeting in Beijing between China's late Chairman Mao Zedong (1893-1976) and former U.S. President Richard Nixon (1913-1994), which eventually led to the normalization of U.S.-China relations on Jan. 1, 1979.
Witnessing China's development on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the past four decades, Kissinger said it was an extremely impressive performance.
"If in 1971 when I first saw China, somebody had described to me what China looks like today, or maybe imagined some pictures of the buildings, I would have said that's crazy, that can't happen," said Kissinger. "But it was done."
As China is built into the global financial system and is itself a big part of it, it is possible that China is affected by crises in other parts of the world, referring to the financial crisis in the United States in 2008 and the current debt crisis in Europe, he said.
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