AN INTERVIEW WITH RUSSIAN REPORTER SERGEI BRILYOV

AN INTERVIEW WITH RUSSIAN REPORTER SERGEI BRILYOV*

February 7, 2014

Sergei Brilyov: What is your impression of Sochi? How would you rate Russia’s hosting of the Olympic Winter Games? What are your expectations for the Chinese delegation’s performance? 

Xi Jinping: It is a great pleasure to be here in Sochi at President Vladimir Putin’s invitation for the opening ceremony of the 22nd Olympic Winter Games. I have dedicated this trip to the event to show the support of the Chinese government and people as well as my personal support for Russia as host of the Games. First of all, please convey my sincere greetings to the Russian people. 

This is my first visit to Sochi, a city that I have long known of. I read the novel How the Steel Was Tempered several times when I was young. Sochi is the place where Ostrovsky completed the book. Legend has it that Prometheus was chained in the mountains here. Sochi, home to many ruins of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and time-honored history. 

Sochi is also known for its special geographic location. It lies in the only subtropical region in the northernmost part of earth. What I have seen and heard here testifies to its reputation. It is green all year round. It has azure skies, a blue sea, and excellent natural alpine snowfields. People here are hospitable. The city, charming and full of dynamism, is an ideal venue for the Olympic Winter Games. After the Games, its fame will only grow, attracting more visitors, including those from China. 

Sochi has done a first-rate job of hosting the Games. President Putin attaches such great importance to the Games that he leads the preparations himself, with full support from the Russian people. I am sure that the Games will be an unforgettable international sports extravaganza and make a great new contribution to the Olympic movement. 

I would like to express three wishes: First, I wish for the opening ceremony tonight to be a wonderful event. Second, I wish athletes from around the world every success. Third, I wish for a better future for Sochi, for the city to become even more beautiful and develop closer ties with Chinese cities.

China’s century-long Olympic dream came true when it hosted the Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games. China has continued to make progress in sports. The Chinese government highly values this undertaking. Our goal is to make China a strong sporting nation. In the early 20th century when China was plagued by poverty and weakness, the Chinese asked three questions: “When will China be able to send athletes to the Olympics? When will a Chinese athlete be able to win an Olympic gold medal? When will China be able to host the Olympics?” The last of these ambitions was realized in 2008, when China successfully staged the Beijing Olympic Summer Games, leaving the Chinese people overjoyed. So we fully understand and share your joy in hosting the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. 

In winter sports – especially skiing – China lacks competitive edge compared to the countries leading the pack in ice and snow games. In recent years, we have made great strides in skating and are relatively good at certain disciplines such as freestyle skiing aerials.

I met with some of the athletes and coaches in the Chinese delegation this morning. The Chinese athletes have trained hard for the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. In keeping with the Olympic spirit, they will try their best to conquer themselves and surpass their limits.

I would like to mention that Beijing has submitted a formal application to the International Olympic Committee for the right to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in collaboration with Zhangjiakou City. We are here to learn from you, especially the Russian athletes. We would like to learn what makes Russia excel at sports and understand your best practices in hosting the Olympic Winter Games.

Brilyov: Russia was the first country you visited after taking office as Chinese president last year. You chose Russia as your first overseas destination again this year. The Russian people feel excited about this. Could you please share with us your considerations? How would you assess current China-Russia relations and their prospects?

Xi: In March last year, only a few days after I was elected president of China, I paid a state visit to Russia at the invitation of President Putin, making it the first country I visited after my election. During the visit, President Putin and I had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on a wide range of issues for long hours. We reached an important agreement on strengthening China-Russia comprehensive strategic coordination and made an overall plan. Since then we have met four times. During our meeting yesterday, President Putin and I conducted a review. We have jointly called on the two countries to firmly support each other on major issues involving our core interests and translate the political strengths of our relations into advantages for further cooperation. Cooperation in areas such as trade, energy, high technology, sub-national programs, culture, and international affairs has borne abundant fruit, giving a boost to our two countries’ development and prosperity and safeguarding international fairness and justice as well as world peace and stability. I am very satisfied with the achievements in China-Russia relations. Now is a period when our relations enjoy a more solid foundation, a higher level of mutual trust, and greater regional and international influence than ever before. 

The more visits we pay to our relatives and friends, the closer our relations become. Hosting the Olympic Winter Games is a jubilant occasion for Russia as well as a major event in the international Olympic movement. China and Russia are good neighbors, friends and partners. President Putin and I are old friends. According to Chinese tradition, one is obliged to attend the festivities of neighbors and friends to extend congratulations. That is why I am here to join you at this historic moment. 

President Putin and I held cordial and friendly talks again yesterday. We decided to ensure that China-Russia relations continue to develop at a high level, to strengthen mutual political support, and to expand both results-oriented cooperation and strategic coordination in international affairs. My trip to Sochi signals that our relations are off to a good start this year. 

Brilyov: The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee adopted the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Some Major Issues Concerning Further Comprehensive Reform, and you have been made head of the Central Leading Group for Further Reform. What I want to know is how you will govern. What will China’s reform focus on? What do you think of the prospects for China’s development?

Xi: These are important questions concerning China’s development. It has been more than 35 years since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee launched China’s reform and opening up in 1978. We have achieved remarkable successes, but we should continue to make progress. We have set the Two Centenary Goals. At present economic globalization is progressing rapidly, competition between countries in overall national strength is intensifying, and the international situation is complex and volatile. We have concluded from this that we must seize every opportunity for development, meet challenges head-on, strive to make greater progress, and fundamentally persevere with reform and opening up. Caught in this fierce international competition, we are like a boat traveling upstream: we must press ahead or the current will push us back. 

Reform in China is much broader and deeper. Stronger top-level design is needed to advance reform. Last November, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee made overall plans for advancing comprehensive reform and formulated a road map and schedule for reform. The plan includes over 330 reform measures for 15 areas, including the economy, politics, culture, society, eco-environmental progress and Party development. So we have sounded the bugle to advance reform. Our general objective is to improve and develop the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and modernize our national governance system and capacity.

To concentrate our efforts on advancing reform, we founded the Central Leading Group for Further Reform, which I head. The group is tasked with overall planning and coordination of major issues, and assignment of tasks to be implemented. I call it “10 percent planning and 90 percent implementation”. 

It is no easy job to advance reform in China, which has a population of over 1.3 billion. After more than 30 years, China’s reform has entered uncharted waters. It can be said that the easy part of the job has been done to the satisfaction of all. We are now left with tough bones that are hard to chew. This requires us to act boldly and progress steadily. To act boldly means to advance reform despite difficulties and be ready to take on challenges, and wade through dangerous shoals. To progress steadily means to stay on course and proceed in safety, and, more importantly, make no fatal mistakes. 

I have full confidence in the prospects for China’s development. Why? The underlying reason is that after much exploration we have found a development path suited to China’s actual conditions. As long as we rely closely on the 1.3 billion Chinese people and stay firmly on our own path we will overcome all difficulties and obstacles, make new progress, and finally reach our goal. 

The CPC exercises state power for the people. The people’s expectation for a better life is our goal. To put it briefly, I will govern by serving the people and fulfilling all my responsibilities. 

Brilyov: You have been the president of China for almost a year. How do you feel as the leader of such a big country? What hobbies do you have? What are your favorite sports? 

Xi: China covers a land of 9.6 million square kilometers and has 56 ethnic groups and a population of over 1.3 billion. China’s social and economic development level and its people’s living standards are not high. It is not easy to govern such a country, so I must climb high to achieve a distant view while planting my feet on solid ground. I worked in different regions in China for a long time, so I am fully aware that the differences are great between the country’s east and west, between central and local government, between different localities, and between different levels of local government. Therefore, as a Chinese leader, I must take all factors into consideration based on a correct understanding of China’s conditions, maintain an overall balance, and concentrate on priorities to promote overall development. I alternate my attention between major and minor issues, and, to put it figuratively, it is like playing the piano with all ten fingers. 

Since the people have put me in the position of head of state, I must put them above everything else, bear in mind my responsibilities that are as weighty as Mount Tai, always concern myself with the people’s security and wellbeing, work conscientiously day and night, share the same feelings with the people, share weal and woe with them, and work together with them.

Speaking of hobbies, I like reading, watching movies, traveling and walking. As you know, I almost have no private time in the position I am in. A song titled Where Did the Time Go became popular in China during this Spring Festival. For me, the question is where my private time goes. I spend all of it on my work. Now, the only thing I have managed to keep as a hobby is reading, which has become my way of life. Reading invigorates my mind, gives me inspiration and cultivates my moral strength. I have read many works by Russian writers, including Ivan Krylov, Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Lermontov, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolay Nekrasov, Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Mikhail Sholokhov. I remember clearly many extracts from their excellent stories. 

Speaking of sports, I like swimming and mountaineering. I learned to swim at the age of four or five. I also like football, volleyball, basketball, tennis and martial arts. Among snow and ice sports, I like to watch ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating and freestyle skiing. Ice hockey is my favorite. It requires not only individual strength and skill but also teamwork and collaboration. It is indeed a good sport.

* An exclusive interview with Sergei Brilyov, a reporter with the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, in Sochi, Russia.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)