China-Grenada ties bear fruit of shared growth

Editor's Note: China Daily presents this series to tell the stories of how China is acting on the vision of President Xi Jinping, pursuing modernization not for the nation alone, but for all developing countries. The series starts with Grenada as the Caribbean nation's prime minister makes a weeklong visit to China.

In Grenada, an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea, the National Cricket Stadium is undergoing major repairs and an upgrade with aid from the Chinese government, bringing closer to reality the vision of the stadium becoming the premier sporting and entertainment venue in the English-speaking Caribbean region.

"The stadium is a good place and like a home," said 19-year-old Danny Joseph, a player on the Grenada national cricket team, who has been professionally trained at the stadium since childhood.

Joseph, who dreams of eventually playing for the West Indies cricket team, said he believes there will be more professional facilities, following the stadium's renovation, that can provide higher-quality training opportunities, which would take him closer to his dream. West Indies, nicknamed the Windies, is a men's cricket team representing a group of mainly English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean region.

The outdoor sport is not only an integral part of Grenadians' daily life, but also a source of national pride.

The stadium, renovated with aid from China in 2006, is one of numerous projects that have significantly improved the lives of local people while reflecting the friendship between China and Grenada in the 20 years since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations.

"The seed which was planted back in 2005 has blossomed into a tree that is bearing fruits for both the people of Grenada and China through agriculture, infrastructure, cultural exchanges and healthcare," Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said during his visit to China, which is to wrap up on Friday.

As the first foreign leader received by China in the new year, Mitchell brought with him a high-level delegation to learn about China's development in various sectors.

The first stop upon his arrival in Beijing was automaker BAIC Group, where he had a test drive of a Chinese new energy car. He even asked the Grenadian ambassador to place an order immediately.

On Monday, the two governments signed a total of 13 cooperation agreements covering a wide range of areas including agriculture, energy and the environment, renewable energy, arts, culture and tourism, and the blue, or ocean, economy.

"Through these agreements, we continue to build a stronger bridge of collaboration that will bring tangible benefits to our people, creating new opportunities for growth and development," Mitchell said.

"Although the road to development is full of challenges, we remain optimistic about the future. With the inspiration from China's progress, we can work together to address the challenges ahead," he told a bilateral trade and investment forum on Tuesday.

Chinese Ambassador to Grenada Wei Hongtian said in an article published on Jan 10 that China and Grenada have forged a strong relationship that has brought substantial benefits to the two nations and their peoples.

"This relationship sets a brilliant example for mutual respect, equality and win-win cooperation between countries of different sizes," Wei said.

Before his visit to China, Grenada's prime minister had told reporters that "many times, as small islands, we don't always get the respect from large islands because they see us as small or insignificant".

However, in the Grenada-China relations, "we are treated with the same courtesies, the same level of respect, and we are listened to in the same manner as any larger country", Mitchell said.

China's achievements in areas like eradicating poverty, which were built on decades of experience, serve as valuable lessons for Latin American and Caribbean countries, he added.

Yue Yunxia, deputy head of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China's cooperation with Caribbean countries has witnessed fast progress in recent years, and such cooperation has no political strings attached and does not target any third party.

In addition to the cricket stadium, 1,000 units of low-income housing, a gift from the government and people of China, have provided comfortable homes for families in Grenada. Furthermore, in the agricultural sector, China has carried out eight consecutive phases of technical cooperation, introducing and promoting advanced agricultural technologies and equipment to Grenada.

The project to upgrade Maurice Bishop International Airport, financed through a soft loan from the Chinese government, has significantly enhanced Grenada's connectivity with the world, opening new opportunities for the further promotion of trade, tourism and cultural exchanges.

According to Yue, the launch of China-aided projects as well as "small and beautiful" livelihood cooperation projects, such as refurbishing community centers, building pedestrian bridges and extending roads in the Caribbean region, have won recognition from countries in the region for their contribution to local economies and the public interest.

Observers noted that as China continues to deepen reform comprehensively, expand opening-up and pursue high-quality development, it has not only promoted its own development, but also provided a broader market and unprecedented cooperation opportunities for the rest of the world, especially Global South countries.

Such endeavors will help inject strong impetus into the modernization process of the Global South and make sure that no country is left behind in the process of global modernization, they said.

Nation's commitment

Speaking at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023, President Xi Jinping told foreign leaders that "the modernization we are pursuing is not for China alone, but for all developing countries through our joint efforts".

Two months later, Xi reiterated China's commitment when delivering a speech in San Francisco in the United States, saying, "We are ready to work with all countries to advance global modernization featuring peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity, and to build a community with a shared future for mankind."

Wang Bo, dean of the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics' School of International Development and Cooperation, said that as a significant gap still exists between developing countries and developed ones in terms of modernization, the modernization of the Global South therefore plays a key role in achieving global common development and prosperity.

"For a long time, the international order led by Western countries has posed many obstacles to the modernization of the Global South," Wang said.

"Hegemonism, unilateral economic sanctions and the practice of double standards on human rights issues are all factors that hinder this process," he said, noting that the modernization that China pursues has presented a new vision that is different from the path of Western countries.

The Belt and Road Initiative and the major global initiatives that China has put forward provide an important platform for Global South countries to board the express train of China's development in order to achieve their own development and facilitate the modernization drive of the Global South, he added.

Xinhua contributed to this story.