Ambassadors and envoys from a number of African and Arab countries praised China's development over the past 40 years as "marvelous" and hoped China could share its successful experience with the world after seeing an exhibition on reform and opening-up in Beijing on Tuesday.

Ambassadors and envoys from a number of African and Arab countries see an exhibition on China's reform and opening-up in the National Museum of China in Beijing on Tuesday. (Photos: Zhao Juecheng, Liu Xin/Global Times)

At the invitation of the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors and envoys from many Arab and African countries, including Libya, Bahrain, Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine and Algeria went to the National Museum of China to see the exhibition. 

"Great Changes - An Exhibition Celebrating 40 years of China's Reform and Opening Up" started on November 13, 2018. The exhibition is divided into six sections showcasing the changes that have taken place in Chinese people's lives and China's development in the economy, technology and other fields in the past four decades.

"It is really educative and moving to provide in-depth information for those of us who know little about China… until you see the history, you don't know how much China has moved within 40 years from where it was to where it is now," John Andruga Duku, South Sudan's ambassador to China, told the Global Times.

It is impressive to see China has not only been able to feed its people but also developed into the second-largest economy in the world under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. China has made an achievement which took Europe 200 years to make, he said.

"South Sudan wants to learn from China," the ambassador said, noting that he expects to see more cooperation between China and his country under the Belt and Road initiative. 

The ambassador also said that his role in China is to enhance people-to-people exchanges, for example to encourage more people in South Sudan to learn Chinese and build cultural centers.

Fariz Medawi, Palestine's ambassador to China, noted that his grandmother used a similar sewing machine to one displayed at the exhibition. 

He told the Global Times that the secrets behind China's achievements of the past four decades are Chinese people's confidence in themselves and "proper leadership."

"Without the CPC, this will not happen," he said, noting that the Chinese people's hard-working spirit is also an important reason behind the nation's development.

Milia Jabbour, ambassador from Lebanon, told the Global Times that all sections of the exhibition are very interesting, and her favourite part was technology.

"Education is very important and education on technology is also very important. And this is the future of the world," she said. 

"It is marvelous... it gives me a clear picture about reform and development," Anwar Al-Abdulla, ambassador from Bahrain, told the Global Times. 

He said that he was very interested in the sections on China's economic development. It was useful experience that many countries could learn from China, he added.

"Belt and Road initiative is a very brilliant and useful initiative and there are many countries involved in this initiative and Bahrain is one of these countries to work hand-in-hand with China to benefit all countries and the whole world," Anwar Al-Abdulla said. 

Ahmed Berwari, the ambassador from Iraq, said that China is his country's largest trading partner and many Chinese enterprises have taken part in Iraq's infrastructure construction. 

He said that the exhibition showed him China's latest technological developments and he hoped Iraq could learn more from China in this field to push forward its domestic development.