A bird's-eye view of Beijing Daxing International Airport. Photo: VCG

Beijing Daxing International Airport plans to open its first commercial passenger flight on Friday, which will mark the beginning of Beijing with two international airports. The Daxing airport has four runways, the world's most advanced management technology system and developed supporting transportation facilities. The rail transit line between the Beijing's South Third Ring Road and Daxing airport has a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour.

All of this was built in just five years. Over the past five years, China has continued to be the world's largest infrastructure site. Thus far, China has ranked first globally in terms of total length of railways, highways and urban rail transit. China's high-speed railway of the 30,000 kilometers accounts for two-thirds of the world's total length.

China's economy has greatly transformed people's livelihood. In 2008, the Beijing-Tianjin intercity railway, China's first high-speed railway, was put into operation. After only 11 years, China has now become the only country in the world to have formed a network of high-speed railways. Travelling by high-speed trains is favored by many Chinese. The network has greatly stimulated the development of tourism and improved the quality of travelling.

Western mainstream media are keen to hype a Chinese economic slowdown. US leaders and senior officials are particularly fond of contrasting Chinese and US economies, touting a "strong" US economic situation and a "weak" Chinese one.

There is no doubt that the US economy is, in general, stronger than China's. However, the two countries' speeds and trends of economic development are entirely different. China is maintaining the strategic growth momentum of an emerging economy, while the US is lingering at a high level. While China is developing in a solid and comprehensive way, US prosperity depends more on the renovation and expansion of financial and service industries.

China has been, and will continue to be, the fastest-changing major country in terms of appearance and its people's livelihood. Almost all big cities in China are in the process of building more subway systems. Beijing has constructed its new Daxing airport, continues to build in its central business district, and has made breakthroughs in ecological construction. This shows that major infrastructure and social engineering are advancing hand-in-hand in China.

People may wonder what the US has done in recent years. The US stock market has been doing well as a symbol of US prosperity. But what other big infrastructure projects does it have? Are there new developments in American people's livelihood? Employment seems to have increased in the US, but it is hard to tell what the US has been busy doing.

The Chinese economy has a clear goal and driving force: to meet people's ever-increasing needs for a better life. China has a huge population and the desire for a better life has been fully awakened. China's huge economy is still far from meeting the needs of 1.4 billion people. For example, China's infrastructure per capita is only 20 to 30 percent that of developed societies. The Chinese economy will have sufficient potential for a long time.

Because the Chinese economy has inexhaustible motivation, some from the US with Cold War mentality are vigilant toward China and have promoted policies to suppress it. But most of their calculations are wishful thinking. They cannot stop China from building new airports, opening new high-speed railways or connecting more counties by highways.

Improving its people's livelihood is always a major part of a country's economy. Developed countries should not be envious of China's economic growth. They cannot stop China's development. Cooperation with China is the wisest approach.

As a developing country, China will not practice arrogance. But we are absolutely justified to be confident. China's GDP is linked to the world, and the growth of China's comprehensive economic capacity will never stop or slow down. China's growth is not a bubble, but means continuous upgrading of Chinese people's livelihood. Such progress cannot be stopped because 1.4 billion Chinese people have hope for a better life and are working to achieve this.