China is marking a major milestone this year. It is now 40 years since the country began to open up and launch economic reforms.

Today, China has been transformed. It has seen rapid economic development and has pulled more than 800 million people out of poverty. It is also playing a major role in the global economy and is a leader in promoting globalization and free trade. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping is promising more reform and opening up as the country plans for the next phase of development.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

Follow Owen Fairclough on Twitter @owefair 

To discuss:

• Pingkang Yu is the Chief Economist with Changjiang Pension Insurance Company.
• Martin Jacques is a Senior Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University.
• Perry Wong is the Managing Director of Research at the Milken Institute.
• Anil Gupta is a professor at the University of Maryland and also serves as Chairman of the China India Institute in Washington.

For more:

40 years after reform and opening-up: China witnesses an upgrade of the industrial structure, with the tertiary industry accounting for most, 51.6%, of the economy. https://t.co/x2jYr711Tn pic.twitter.com/58LfnVvhFi

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) May 25, 2018

It's been 40 years since the start of reform and opening-up marked the birth of modern China. Discover the place where it all began, and hear the stories of those who have been there since the beginning, in this latest video from China Daily. #OpeningUp pic.twitter.com/tm8sH8YlzG

— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) May 23, 2018