General Secretary’s trip to Shandong｜Reporter’s Notes: It’s time for the tide to rise in the East

Jinan, May 26th: Reporter’s Notes: It’s the time when the tide rises in the East

The wind comes from the sea, the waves surge, and the heaven and earth are vast.

The Shandong Peninsula has 26 large and small ports lined up along the coastline of more than 3,500 kilometers. Rizhao Port is like an emerging bright pearl, embedded on the shore of the Yellow Sea.

On the afternoon of May 22, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Rizhao Port as the first stop of his inspection tour in Shandong. Walking along the port area, the operation scene of the fully automated container terminal caught the General Secretary's attention.

In the vast sky and sea, towering bridge cranes stretch their long arms to accurately grab containers one by one from the shore freighters. Driverless trucks shuttle back and forth to transport the containers to the corresponding storage yards...

The responsible comrade of Shandong Port Group told the General Secretary that among China's coastal ports, Rizhao Port has three distinctive features: first, it only started construction in 1982 and is a newly built port after the reform and opening up; second, it is the "youngest" 500-million-ton port in the world. The port ranks seventh in the world in annual cargo throughput; third, it is an important national energy and bulk raw material transfer base, playing an important role in ensuring the security of national strategic resources.

From obscurity to sudden emergence and then to the forefront, it is the magical power of reform and opening up that created this deep-water port.

General Secretary Xi Jinping said with emotion: "You are the vanguard of reform and opening up. From this, we should strengthen our belief that China's reform and opening up will be successful."

Zhang Liangang, the leader of Shandong Port Group’s fully automated terminal construction innovation team, was also present this time.

Born in 1960, he has been pursuing his dream in the port for more than 40 years. More than 10 years ago, China was still blank in the field of fully automated terminals. "When I visited automated terminals in Europe, no one was allowed to get out of the car and take photos."

In 2013, Zhang Liangang, who was recovering from a serious illness, resolutely shouldered the heavy responsibility. Under the "three noes" situation of no experience, no information, and no foreign aid, he led the team to innovate and tackle key problems day and night, and built Asia's first project in just three and a half years. Fully automated container terminal - Qingdao Port fully automated container terminal.

Now, he has led the team to apply fully automated technology to the transformation of container terminals, including Rizhao Port, and promoted it to countries building the “Belt and Road”.

"We just want to build our own Chinese automated terminal." Zhang Liangang said. The wind is strong in the port. This great craftsman has a straight posture, and his eyes are bright and resolute under his black-rimmed glasses.

"If we want to move from a big country to a powerful country, we must pass this hurdle and take the road of independent innovation." General Secretary Xi Jinping praised, "Your contribution is great and reflects the spirit of model workers and craftsmanship."

Determined to innovate and never turn back, this is how the road to reform and opening up has been taken.

Facing the sea breeze, General Secretary Xi Jinping walked to the shore of the pier and cast his gaze into the distant future.

The sea breeze blows and the waves hit the shore, which can't help but make people's thoughts wander.

Time goes back to 6 years ago. In June 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Shandong for inspection, and his footprints were also along the coastline, including Qingdao, Weihai, and Yantai. During the inspection, the General Secretary said: "I have always had such a belief in building a maritime power." On that occasion, the General Secretary also visited the Sino-Japanese War Museum on Liugong Island.

Throughout the ages, the ocean has witnessed many ups and downs, honors and disgrace. Throughout history, a country prospers when it faces the sea, and declines when its back is turned to the sea.

The General Secretary once said: "Looking at thousands of years of history, change and opening up are generally the historical norm of China."

From seclusion to seeing the world and then to reform and opening up, we witness the awakening and struggle of a nation from suffering to rejuvenation.

Comrade Xi Jinping has been thinking and planning to manage the ocean and seek strength in the sea.

In Fuzhou, he proposed building a maritime Fuzhou. After serving as the leader of Fujian Province, he proposed the strategy of building a strong maritime province. In Zhejiang, he proposed building a strong maritime economic province. After working in the central government, he proposed building a strong maritime country. The general secretary has profound thoughts: "An economic power must be a maritime power and a shipping power." "What does a modern country look like? It is not only a land power, but also a maritime power, a modern power that builds both land and sea."

Isn’t the Road to the Sea the epitome of reform and opening up?

At the pier, there was warm applause and cheers. The ones wearing white work clothes are crew members, the blue ones are technicians, the yellow ones are production schedulers, and the orange ones are on-site operators...

Facing the high-spirited and high-spirited port people, the General Secretary said affectionately: "We are all strivers. From the past to today, we have achieved such brilliant achievements. Our future goals are very clear and great. To achieve it, we still need to It’s up to us to continue to work hard.”

General Secretary Xi Jinping’s trip to Shandong has attracted much attention at home and abroad. The inspection comes just as the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is about to be held.

Jinan, the spring city, has a hotel in the southern suburbs, with lush vegetation and beautiful everything. On the afternoon of the 23rd, a symposium between enterprises and experts on reform was held here.

In the venue, there were representatives from state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-funded enterprises, specialized and new "little giant" enterprises, individual industrial and commercial households, experts and scholars from the economic field, and representatives from relevant departments and localities. Responsible comrade.

"When the Party Central Committee makes major decisions and formulates important documents, it conducts in-depth research and listens to opinions from all sides. This is our party's consistent practice and fine tradition." said the general secretary.

In July 2013, before the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Hubei for investigation and investigation and hosted a symposium with provincial and municipal leaders to solicit opinions and suggestions on comprehensively deepening reforms;

From July to September 2020, before the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in order to draft the "14th Five-Year Plan" planning recommendations, the General Secretary presided over 7 symposiums in various fields;

From April to May 2022, in accordance with the instructions of the General Secretary, opinions on the work related to the 20th National Congress of the Party were solicited online. This is the first time in the history of the party that the work related to the National Congress of the Party has been publicly solicited for opinions from the whole party and the whole society...

Research to open up paths, research to break problems, brainstorming and consulting the people, runs through the entire process of the General Secretary's governance of the country.

"After the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, I have been thinking about further deepening the reform in an all-round way. After the reform and opening up, the third plenary session of the Party Central Committee has been to study reform. This time, we will closely follow the theme of promoting Chinese-style modernization." At the symposium, General Secretary Xi Jinping made it clear, "We will listen to everyone's opinions and suggestions face to face, and everyone is invited to speak freely."

Six business representatives and three experts and scholars spoke successively, and the speeches and interactions lasted for more than an hour and a half. The general secretary took notes from time to time, interjected again and again to ask questions, understand the specific situation, and exchanged in-depth responses.

Keeping close to the theme of reform, highlighting the key points of reform, holding fast to value orientation, and paying attention to methods and methods - General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly clarified the major theoretical and practical issues of further comprehensively deepening reform from four aspects. He not only clarified the epistemology, but also provided methodology.

Ten years ago, during the 2014 National Two Sessions after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping said this when participating in the deliberations of the Guangdong delegation:

"The era we grew up in is an exciting era. Facing the tide of reform, we must be the tide-turners of reform and have a strong spirit of historical responsibility. In the revolutionary war years, this spirit of responsibility meant charging into battle and making heroic sacrifices. Now, it is We must be brave in reform and be good at reform.”

This year is another important year for comprehensively deepening reforms. A grand new blueprint for reform is being drawn up.

At a new historical starting point, facing the unprecedented Chinese-style modernization cause, our mission is more glorious, our tasks are more arduous, our challenges are more severe, and our work is greater.

Only through reform can we grasp the present and win the future.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to the Sunshine Coast Greenway in Rizhao and had cordial exchanges with citizens and tourists.

Seeing the energetic children in the crowd, the General Secretary was particularly happy and said sincerely: "Their generation is very happy. By the time the second centenary goal is achieved, they will all have grown up. We have realized Chinese-style modernization. , the younger generation is the backbone. We must work hard to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and make the people’s lives better and better.”

Rizhao, the place name means "the sun shines first at first light". Every New Year's Day, many people go to the seaside here to welcome the first ray of sunshine in the new year, make good wishes and imagine a bright future together.

The tide is rising in the east, the wind is strong, and China's reform and opening up have begun a new journey.