Somewhat eye-opening bluntness has in recent days come from the mouth of a Chinese politician. Their meanings usually hidden between the words of flowery language, this was a wake up call for a city in our own Jiangsu to not fall behind those all around.
最近几天，一位中国政客的口中直言不讳，令人大开眼界。它们的含义通常隐藏在华丽的语言文字中，这为我们江苏这座城市敲响了警钟，不能落后于其他城市。
The morning of 16 January saw the opening of third meeting of the 13th Nantong Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Wu Xinming, Secretary of the Nantong Municipal Party Committee, was surprisingly direct in his address.
1月16日上午，政协南通市第十三届委员会第三次会议开幕。南通市委书记吴新明的讲话出人意料地直接。
The word, “competition”, ran through Wu’s speech. He was likely referencing a commentary by Xinhua News Agency on 19 December, 2022, entitled, “Seven Tigers’ Competition for Nantong”, which showed the views of the seven cities and districts under the jurisdiction of Nantong in overcoming difficulties to forge ahead in pursuing their goals. It can be said that the word, “competition”, describes a scene where a myriad of tigers vie for supremacy.
吴宇森的演讲中贯穿了一个“竞争”二字。他很可能指的是新华社2022年12月19日发表的一篇题为《七虎争南通》的评论，该评论展现了南通所辖7个市、区克服困难、奋力拼搏的心声。可以说，“争”字描述的是万虎争霸的景象。
The Secretary said that competition is an enterprising spirit full of passion that never slacks, a firm will that is not afraid of difficulties and hardships, and a tenacity that dares to fight and win.
书记说，竞争是一种充满激情、永不懈怠的进取精神，是一种不怕艰难险阻的坚定意志，是一种敢于拼搏、敢于胜利的顽强意志。
Wu also mentioned General Secretary Xi Jinping as saying, “History will only favour those who are determined, those who strive and those who struggle, and will not wait for those who hesitate, those who are slack and those who are afraid of difficulties”.
吴邦国还提到习近平总书记的名言：“历史只会眷顾那些坚定的人、奋斗的人、奋斗的人，而不会等待那些犹豫的人、懈怠的人、怕困难的人”。
Soon to be released economic data for 2023 is expected to put Nantong’s growth at approximately 6 percent, far exceeding the 2.1 percent for 2022.
即将公布的2023年经济数据预计，南通经济增速将在6%左右，远超2022年的2.1%。
Perhaps fearing a return to such a number, that’s when the Secretary started talking tough.
也许是担心回到这样的数字，国务卿就开始采取强硬态度。
“If we blindly rely on the unique advantages of location resources to be content, we will always be stuck in the small-town mentality of being in a corner, and will always muddle along with the middle-of-the-road train of thought that makes us worse than inferior”, said Wu.
“如果一味依靠独特的区位资源优势来满足，我们就会永远陷入被逼入绝境的小城镇心态，永远以中庸之道的思维得过且过。”吴说。
It was also a speech which called for an awareness for the opportunities presented by times never to be repeated, as The Paper has reported.
据澎湃新闻报道，这次演讲还呼吁人们认识到不会重演的时代所带来的机遇。
The Secretary in particular referred to Suzhou, which seized the opportunities of the export-oriented economy and introduced advanced concepts from Singapore that helped it become the strongest prefecture-level city in Jiangsu, if not the entire country.
书记特别提到苏州，抓住外向型经济机遇，引进新加坡先进理念，成为江苏乃至全国最强的地级市。
Then Wu spoke of Changzhou, which has just become the fifth city in Jiangsu with an annual GDP of over ¥1 trillion. It has taken the lead in the new-energy industry, with estimates suggesting Changzhou to be responsible for 70 percent of the province’s electric vehicle production. “New Energy Capital” is the City’s new calling card.
随后，吴邦国谈到常州，该市刚刚成为江苏第五个年GDP超万亿元的城市。它在新能源产业中处于领先地位，据估计，常州的电动汽车产量占全省的70%。 “新能源之都”是这座城市的新名片。
“We will often blame everyone because of a severe and complex external environment, daring to not compete with the top dogs. If you don’t want to compete with the strong, don’t want to compete with the fastest, and don’t want to climb to the highest, you will inevitably fall behind on the new journey of Chinese-style modernization.”
“我们常常会因为严峻复杂的外部环境而责怪大家，不敢与强者竞争，不想与强者竞争，不想与最快者竞争，不想攀登最高点，在中国式现代化的新征程上就必然落后。”
With his closing, the Secretary had got it back on track, returning to the standard Party rhetoric that is the present trend, namely calls to strengthen the modernisation of China, and in particular those places away from the top tier cities, i.e. those not altogether unlike Nantong with their small-town mentalities.
随着他的结束，国务卿让事情重回正轨，回到了当前趋势的党的标准言论，即呼吁加强中国的现代化，特别是那些远离一线城市的地方，即那些与南通完全不同的小城镇心态的地方。
