Ｗｉｔｎｅｓｓ　ｔｏ　ａ　Ｃｈａｎｇｉｎｇ　Ｃｈｉｎａ.docVIP

Ｗｉｔｎｅｓｓ　ｔｏ　ａ　Ｃｈａｎｇｉｎｇ　Ｃｈｉｎａ 　　In three decades, 　　China has achieved what may not be achieved over centuries in some countries, 　　and it continues to grow along its chosen course. 　　 　　I have lived through a good part of the 30-year opening-up and reforms in China that began in 1978, having arrived in 1992, and I have been here since. My job has given me the opportunity to visit many parts of the country, and I have been able to see for myself the progress China has made. To know how different China is today from the way it was in 1992, the experience of the two flights I made that year, and then this October, may give you some idea. 　　Sixteen years ago my decision to go to China was met with consternation, even commiseration, from my friends in Egypt. Some asked: “Is there enough food in that big faraway country?” The stories of dire food shortage in China in the 70s and early 80s were still fresh in people’s minds. As a preparation, I packed into my baggage a big load of rice, Arab bread, beans and other life necessities. After a flight with Air China, I set foot on Chinese soil at the Beijing airport, whose size and facilities could draw no comparison with that in Dubai, where I made the transfer, or even the more modest one in my hometown Cairo. 　　But for my latest trip from Cairo to Beijing this year I carried nothing with me but some Egyptian souvenirs. My plane landed in the gleaming new Terminal Three of the Capital International Airport, a real architectural masterpiece with an annual capacity of 80 million passengers. It is a hub for airlines from all over the world, including four from Arabic countries ― Egypt Air, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways. 　　 The dramatic changes are not confined to the capital city. When I visited Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, one of the least developed regions in China, in 1998, it was still struggling with poverty. But when I returned a decade later, I saw a land of hope, ambition and an abundance of wealth.