Author relishes China story

After reading the book Stories Told by President Xi Jinping earlier in 2017, which includes 109 stories that Xi told in speeches and articles, Pablo Rovetta wrote three articles for his website, saying that "the book is very helpful for me to understand Chinese President Xi Jinping. I learned some of his personal life experiences, as well as his conviction to eradicate absolute poverty and realize the Chinese dream, alongside with his views and thoughts on many big issues".

Pablo Revetta was awarded the National Achievement Medal of the Kingdom of Spain in 2016 for his contributions to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Spanish-speaking countries.

According to him, China has so many cultures of its own and a history of 5,000 years. Some people have misunderstandings and stereotypes about China as they know little about the country. Even now, some foreign media have no idea that the Chinese people put their surnames first.

With the fast development of China, he says the world is increasingly paying attention to China, and the relationship between China and the rest of the world is undergoing profound changes. "The West often lacks some basic understanding about China. It is important for the country to improve its ability of telling stories about China to the world, not simply translating some materials into different languages, but making use of thousands of years of Chinese culture to tell the Chinese stories."

At present, he is writing his next book about China, focusing on the dramatic changes and fast development of Chinese society since the 1980s. He says he hopes the book will help more international readers understand how Chinese people realized their Chinese dream by working hard in the past four decades.

The close ties of his family with China across two generations has lasted over half a century, which has greatly promoted cultural exchanges between China and Latin America. He says he will continue to write stories about China in Spanish.