The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on  February, 4, 2022. (PHOTO:VCG)

By Ershad Shikdar

At the advent of 2023, one more memorable and eventful year of my life has elapsed. Just like the last two years, I also ushered in this new year in China, far from home. While looking back on the outgoing year, I could see China's many achievements in 2022.

China embarked on its year-long journey of success by hosting the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing at the beginning of the year.

In my eyes, it was not just a sports tournament, but a platform to showcase China's capacities and prowess as the world's second -largest economy. Through this platform, China showed the world its innovations in the field of science and technology, as well as commitment to dealing with climate change by staging a green and sustainable games.

The Olympics also earned Beijing the title of "the city of two Olympics," as the capital held the Summer Olympics in 2008. The Beijing Winter Olympics also set several rarest records in the history of the Olympics. China stunned the world by applying its exciting and cutting-edge technologies at the games. From designing and evaluation, to construction and operation, scientific innovation and technology were applied in every aspect of the games.

High-tech was also used in the prevention and control of the pandemic, reducing carbon emissions, ensuring the safety of the events, and creating a better viewing experience for spectators. To set a new benchmark for a sustainable and intelligent games, robots were employed for disinfection, body temperature checks, and environment monitoring against aerosol transmission of the novel coronavirus. Much to the surprise of many, robots cooked mouth-watering dishes and served the guests, as well as serving as butlers in the Olympic village canteen.

Another epoch-making event last year was the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The congress elected Xi Jinping as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee for the consecutive term, as well as introduced new faces to the party leadership.

This congress was important for not only electing new leaders, but also for raising hopes of the Chinese people and the world alike. This is because the Chinese leadership at the congress reiterated that China will continue promoting broader and deeper reform and opening up the country across the board.

In 2022, China reached another milestone of its success in space exploration. The country became the third nation in the world to establish and operate a permanent space station called Tiangong, which means "heavenly palace."

With such tremendous success, China has raised the hope across the world, especially in developing countries, to be part of space exploration, and encouraged them to dream of carrying out their own research in space. The world believes that China's space feats will not only help the Chinese people, but also contribute to human progress.

China made several major scientific and technological breakthroughs in 2022, including building the world's largest clean energy corridor and delivering its first self-developed aircraft, the C919, to China Eastern Airlines. It is the first medium-haul passenger airplane designed and produced by China. Beijing also launched its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is completely designed and built at home.

As a foreign journalist, the most important development in China for me is the optimization of its control measures of COVID-19. It was a timely and scientific measure, as the virus is now not as deadly. China has already proved its mettle in updating and optimizing its measures during the pandemic.

In conclusion, China has bidden adieu to a year with several outstanding successes in different sectors, not least of all in diplomacy and global politics. The country has declared its presence in the international arena by attending the G-20 summit and spreading its footprint in the Arab world. The peace -loving Chinese people have hailed their country's progress for the greater interests of humanity.

Ershad Shikdar is a journalist and opinion writer from Bangladesh living in China.