Latvian scholar reveals China's success secrets

RIGA - China's achievements of the past few decades came from a huge and dedicated labor force as well as the strong character of the Chinese people, a renowned Latvian Sinologist said in a recent interview.

Professor Peteris Pildegovics, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia and founder of the Latvian embassy in Beijing, has devoted over 50 years of his life to Chinese studies.

Pildegovics said that of the roughly 1.4 billion inhabitants of China, about 900 million make up the country's labor force. This is the basis of China's success over the past few decades.