Chinese are major tourists and big spenders – Envoy

The People’s Republic of China marks its Independence Day on October 1st. Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie, spoke to Daily Trust on the significance of the Day for China as well issues on education, agriculture and tourism in the world’s most populous country. Daily Trust: China will be 66 on October 1st. What does […]

The People’s Republic of China marks its Independence Day on October 1st. Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Gu Xiaojie, spoke to Daily Trust on the significance of the Day for China as well issues on education, agriculture and tourism in the world’s most populous country.
Daily Trust: China will be 66 on October 1st. What does this mean for your country?
Amb. Gu Xiaojie: It is a big deal for Chinese in China and in the Diaspora. China suffered civil war, concessions, invasions and all kinds of misgivings. Like Chairman Mao said, ‘the Chinese people have stood up and now we’re joining the communities in the world.’
DT: China and Nigeria are similar in a lot of ways. What do you consider most significant?
Xiaojie: First, we both celebrate our national days on October 1st. China has the biggest population in the world as Nigeria has the biggest in Africa. Both countries have the biggest economies in their respective regions and are both very important developing countries. We really have a lot of common grounds. Also, historically we are both faced with the task of nation building, practicing good governance and improving the people’s livelihoods. I have been here about a year and a half and I find that this country is full of potentials. People are really active, dynamic and energetic.
DT: A contending issue in China is land grab with farm lands being repurposed for urbanization. How is the Chinese government dealing with the issue and how are farmers compensated?
Xiaojie: I won’t use the word land grab. China is undergoing transformation and upper grading and doing modern agricultural urbanization. We are building an IT-based system. So urbanization is a major trend in many developing countries. The scales of cities are expanding because people are flocking to the urban areas. Government is encouraging this trend. We have a good plan for land reclamation in the urban areas and when land concerned is claimed for urban development, for commercial development, the households or people living in the area, will be looked after. First of all, you have to look for jobs for them, in China the practice is that many of these people living in the land now used for commercial/urbanization areas have been settled. They have been found jobs.
DT: What kind of jobs and are they content with this especially the elderly who have farmed all their lives?
Xiaojie: Manufacturing. Old people have a pension system. The old people in the villages rely on their offspring. But in some modern areas and rural places too, they have a developed pension system for the old people. Their children are employed by factories or even government offices and most importantly these people are going to service areas. They get very stable jobs and are well-paid and on a whole improve the welfare of their families. So the old people are looked after. People are satisfied with this practice. We call it ‘farmers/peasants turned workers/employees’ who are happy with their welfare. We pay much attention to agriculture in China.
DT: A growing trend in China’s educational system is educating through games in modular systems presenting real life situations forcing students to proffer solutions if they were faced with such. What does this mean for the young population?
Xiaojie: These kind of techniques of real situation simulation is purposed to get the people to be useful to society. This gets them to be attracted to society in a way that gets them to contribute. We create all kinds of scenarios, real situation problems so that they get training and ability to solve these problems. We share our experiences with other countries in this regard. We attach great importance to education.  In the past we had books and memorizing and not a lot of practice. In today’s world you need training, innovation. So that they can integrate their education with the developing and changing world; they have to solve practical questions and have the innovative minds for when they are absorbed into society.  It is a way of integrating tradition with new things. In ancient times, people complained about the traditional reading, memorizing and repeating which suppressed their creativity. We learned from some other cultures.
DT: On tourism, the Great Wall has been vandalized by people looking for treasures in it. Are treasures really buried in them or this is a myth?
Xiaojie: (Laughter) I don’t know. The Wall is a symbol of our tradition in many ways from construction to architecture and culture. It started two thousand years ago with sections of the Wall built in different dynasties and then were linked up. It has been vandalized even for the brick which is sold very expensive for its being an antique. The government is paying much attention to stopping its vandalisation because it’s a relic for the whole world.
DT: How much of Nigerian art and literature have you encountered?
Xiaojie: Not very much. But as a young person I knew Soyinka’s works. Then Nollywood which is popular. I think in China we have to develop such an industry. Although we have a rich commercial film culture, we don’t call it ‘wood’ or anything like that.  I try to follow and want to have more exposure of Nigerian arts and culture. Sometimes I read the weekend magazines with the pages. I love to see the beautiful faces of the gorgeous and glamorous ladies in their colourful and fanciful attires it’s one part of Nigerian culture I admire.
DT: How much do Chinese strive to promote domestic tourism?
Xiaojie: People in China promote tourism. But I would like to say that overseas tourism is increasing. Last year there were 100, 000, 000 trips abroad. They are touring other countries and not only visiting but spending. Brand names, cosmetics, LV, they buy a lot. The queues at outlets are full of Chinese. Even children get rewarded by their parents for shopping right. We hope there’ll be more Chinese traveling this way to Nigeria for tourism.
DT: What are the general misconceptions Nigerians have about China?
Xiaojie: There’s more understanding between us but still there is a gap due to lack of exposure. Some of the people here or in other countries still have the old stereotyped picture of China from years ago. Also, the inaccurate reporting from international media creates misconceptions. But China is fast changing but China has integrated into the international global system. With goods production, we produce according to specification. We also produce very good standards. Our producers produce to the order specification of clients. On both sides we need to lift the law so that those breaking the laws, begin to do things properly according to laws of both Nigeria and China.