Background: Mr. Phoday M Jaiteh comes from Gambia. He has long committed himself to standardizing and improving the efficiency of The Gambia’s fiscal governance and public resource allocation, took part in the Seminar for Senior Financial Leaders from Belt and Road Countries from 25th May to 3th June, organized by Beijing National Accounting Institute (BNAI). Rooted in China’s opening-up and international cooperation strategies, this seminar gathers senior financial officials from various countries.This article is compiled from his speech.
My very first glimpse of China stretches back to my childhood. On my elder brother’s desk sat a magazine published by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in The Gambia. It contained introductions to Mao Zedong Thought alongside a portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong, impressions that remain fresh in my memory to this day. Though I could not fully comprehend the profound historical significance behind these contents as a child, the stories recording China’s development deeply captivated me and touched my heart.
Since then, a question has lingered in my mind: how does a nation break free from hardship and embrace prosperity? Later, I entered the field of public governance and took up fiscal governance duties for my country, constantly reflecting on what inspiration The Gambia could draw from China’s experience in development and governance.
As I prepare to depart for Beijing to join the Advanced Training Program for Financial Leaders under the Belt and Road Initiative hosted by the Beijing National Accounting Institute, I realised this was the perfect opportunity to find the answers I had long sought.
During classroom sessions, Chinese professional experts delivered systematic lectures covering China’s fiscal and taxation reform,the transformation path of green development and the logic underpinning macroeconomic governance. Gradually, I came to recognise that China’ s growth is built upon a strategic mindset of long-term planning and steady implementation. From institutional framework design and robust execution capacity to coordinated governance between central authorities and local grassroots practice, China translates grand national objectives into concrete, deliverable action plans. This down-to-earth development approach that unites theory and practice is incredibly enlightening.
The study tour arranged by the training program enabled me to witness an authentic, multi-faceted China and deepened my comprehension of its social system. We visited four landmark sites across the city. We successively visited Guang’ anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Changyu Wine Museum and Dongfang Electronics Group. At Guang’ anmen Hospital,I spotted photographs capturing the First Lady of The Gambia’ s previous visit, a tangible testament to the long-standing friendly ties binding our two nations. These on-site visits pulled China out of the pages of books, letting me personally feel the genuine pulse of its continuous development.
When standing atop the Great Wall gazing into the distance and wandering through the Temple of Heaven to soak up thousands of years of historical heritage, I suddenly understood that The Gambia and China are never distant from one another. Both countries boast profound time-honoured civilisations, grapple with identical challenges of development and transformation facing developing nations, and share a common aspiration for steady growth and lasting prosperity. When exchanging ideas in class with instructors and other 19 fellow participants, I shared my view that China does not merely provide material support to these nations. It places greater emphasis on sharing mature development philosophies. The country helps its partners build endogenous capacity for self-reliant development via practical cooperation, technical backing and experience sharing. This approach delivers much more profound long-term significance than simply supplying resources.
This training programme has resolved many of my lingering doubts and also sparked new lines of thinking. I am no longer the child who only held fragmented, superficial impressions of China. Now I can view this country from a comprehensive, objective perspective, and think more strategically about the future of The Gambia.The Gambia is endowed with abundant natural resources and a large young population, yet we still face the critical task of transforming our consumption-driven economy into a production-focused one.
Sages and wise figures from all eras have all affirmed a universal truth: all human beings share an inherent, unified nature. We hail from diverse nations, civilisations and ethnic groups with varying skin tones, yet we set aside all differences and formed a united, cohesive cohort throughout this training. This is the inherent kindness of humanity, and a consensus shared by all people across the globe.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to BNAI for its thoughtful arrangements, diverse field study itineraries and profound, professional curriculum.I would like to express my sincere gratitude to BNAI for creating this valuable platform for us to observe and understand China in depth. It has tailored insightful thematic lectures and diverse field visits, offering us a holistic perspective on China’s development through both theoretical study and on-site practice. I also appreciate all staff’s attentive support throughout the program, whose thorough services guaranteed a smooth and fruitful training experience.
Long live the enduring friendship between Africa and People’s Republic of China!
