聂子瑞（Erik Nilsson，美国），《中国日报》资深记者，纪实作家，代表作《太阳升起：“美国小哥”见证中国扶贫奇迹》，中国政府友谊奖获得者。

事实上，于我个人而言，能在人民大会堂报道中共十九大，并在中共二十大期间为《中国日报》全国版和全球版的头版编辑团队出力，是我的荣幸。

对于《中国日报》的所有人来说，我们明白作为世界一流的媒体之一，向世界宣传报道二十大的意义和重要性。

十九大时，我在大会现场创作的《中国日报》视频，特别是《艾瑞克跑十九大》系列，以及我和当时8岁的女儿“小莉莉”一起制作的《改变中国：成长，向前》系列，在网上获得了上亿的播放量。我写的关于这些事件的分析报告也在世界各地以多种形式被广泛阅读。

我对十九大的报道重点是，在第一个百年奋斗目标即全面建成小康社会的过程中已经取得的进展以及下一步工作。显然，中国已经实现了这一目标。

今年二十大的重点是全面建设社会主义现代化国家，向第二个百年奋斗目标进军。根据我在过去16年中走遍中国的经验，我毫不怀疑，中国将如期实现这一目标。

我最近意识到，当中国实现第二个百年奋斗目标时，我的女儿正好是我现在39岁的年龄。这提醒我，中国共产党的使命不仅是提高改善20世纪贫困农民或本世纪所有人民的生活，更是为了子孙后代。这不仅延伸到整个国家，更延伸到整个世界。

刚刚结束的大会不仅概述了现代化和伟大复兴的宏伟构想，而且还明确阐述了党将如何领导国家实现这些目标。例如，它解释了科技创新将如何推动持续增长和发展，这有助于确保中国不会陷入任何类型的 “中等收入陷阱”。

得益于技术进步，《中国日报》拍摄了第一部使用XR技术报道大会的视频，作为节目的共同主持人，我很开心，这是我们媒体集团新时代斯诺工作室的一个项目，我很荣幸能成为该工作室的核心成员。中国日报社于2021年6月成立的工作室旨在让一流的国际记者和专家能够向世界讲述真实的中国故事，特别是基于他们在该领域的亲身经历来讲述。能够与如此杰出的国际人才一起工作，讲述真实的中国故事及其对全球的影响，确实是我的荣幸。

事实上，作为新时代斯诺工作室的一员，我认为讲好中国故事并不只是一份任务，甚至不只是一份工作，而是一份人生使命。这份使命，促使我前往位于四川的中国最后一个与公路系统相连的村庄、新疆的广阔沙漠和福州的狭窄小巷。

我在中国的这些年证明，中国是一个值得期待意外之喜的地方，也是一个永远不应该说 “从未”的地方。16年前，也就是我从美国来到中国之前，有许多事情是我从未想象过的。但中国是一个“从未”都可以实现的地方。

我从未想过，我会穿越地震灾区，在乱葬岗中庆生，去青藏高原为当地学校供电，或者去购物、骑行、挤奶，甚至被牦牛踢到。

我从未想过，我会成为有史以来最年轻的中国政府友谊奖获得者。这是中国政府授予外国专家的最高荣誉，以表彰他们对中国社会和经济发展所作出的贡献。

我从未想过，我创作的中国日报视频会收到数以亿计的播放量。

我也从未想过，我的书《太阳升起：“美国小哥”见证中国扶贫奇迹》会成为一本畅销书，在中国顶级媒体的数百个视频和报道中出现，甚至一度成为微博上的第二大热门。

这并不是一本介绍中国的典型著述，而是我在访问鸵鸟竞技场、麻风村和农民经营的虚拟现实公园时，发现的有关中国发展的意想不到的方方面面。

我探索了改革开放史，它以出乎意料的方式推动了中国扶贫奇迹。我加入了 “棒棒军”，并在沿长江经济带旅行时用一架带操纵杆的无人机摄像机拍摄。这些旅程都是冒险。它们把我从地震灾区的黑暗带向光明，从美国到 “世界屋脊”，更接近天堂的地方。它们是以一手资料介绍中国如何让那么多人脱离贫困这个地狱，走向幸福生活的天堂。

我很高兴书的中文和英文的第一版很快就销售一空，五洲传播出版社不仅将其列入“新时代的马可·波罗”丛书，还以新时代斯诺工作室的名义重印，并增加了新的内容。

我在《太阳升起》一书中写道，在过去的16年中，我走访了中国各省份的偏远地区，讲述了中国扶贫奇迹的故事，并为之作出贡献。同时，在鸵鸟、马、骆驼和牦牛的背上，我发现了这个国家的沙漠、山脉、森林和苔原。

这促使我11年前在玉树曲麻莱县发起了志愿者活动，向没有电的学校捐赠太阳能电池板、电脑、图书馆、食物、衣服、煤炭、药品、教室设备、3G Wi-Fi，甚至还有牦牛。随着政府解决了这些物质上的“硬件”问题，我们团队已将重点转移到为牧民子女提供全额大学奖学金，以及为游牧民族的残疾儿童提供手术、轮椅、假肢和治疗。

同样，我从未想过，中国能够克服如此不可思议的地质困难，在曲麻莱县和全国各地实现这一目标。然而，中国做到了，正如我看到和从实地亲身体验到的那样。

中国的扶贫奇迹不仅仅是今年的故事，更是十年的故事，是世纪的故事。它不仅是中国人的故事，也是我们人类的故事。

见证这一切，讲述这个故事，我为自己贡献的微薄之力感到荣幸。这也是我以前从未想过的。这再次表明，中国确实是一个将“从未”实现的地方。

但是，消除绝对贫困只是中国第一个百年奋斗目标的支柱之一。

我期待着在未来几年甚至几十年继续讲述中国故事，并为中国的进步贡献自己的力量。

除了著作、视频和演讲之外，我还计划再写几本书。我对共同富裕这一点非常感兴趣，这不仅能确保从前难以脱贫的人口不会重新陷入绝对贫困，而且也是中国下一步的发展方向。共同富裕之于第二个百年奋斗目标，正如消除绝对贫困之于第一个百年奋斗目标，虽不是全局，却是支撑整体结构的必要基石。它是现代化的主要支柱，因为中国正在解决人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾。

我虽然不是中国人，但我从亲身经历中意识到，中国梦，无论是个人的还是共同的，都属于世界上的所有人，也就是说，它属于我们所有人。

因此，我今后工作的另一个重点，特别是在二十大之后，将是帮助世界了解中国的现代化如何为大家打造一个更美好的世界，不论你我，不论身在何处，最终，朝着人类共同的未来迈进。

Indeed,for me personally,it has been an honor to cover the 19th Party congress forChina Dailyfrom the front lines of such venues as the Great Hall of the People,and to work on the editing team for the front pages ofChina Daily’snational and global editions during the 20th CPC congress.

And for all of us atChina Daily,we understood the importance of our role as one of the top world-class media groups telling the story of what the congresses meant and will mean for the country and the world we all share.

The China Daily videos I created from the field for the 19th Party congress,and especially the series,Progress Points: Looking Back,Moving Forward,and another series I did with my then 8-year-old daughter “little Lily”,Changing China: Growing Up,Going Forward,received hundreds of millions of views online.And the analyses I wrote about these events were also widely read around the world in print and digital formats.

The focus of my coverage of the 19th Party congress was on the progress that had been made,and was still needed,to reach the flrst centenary goal of buildingxiaokang,or a moderately prosperous society in all respects,which the nation has since achieved.

The focus of this year’s congress has been the vision and strategies to advance toward the second centenary goal of building a great modern socialist nation in all respects.I have no doubt,based on my experience of traveling throughout the country over the past 16 years,the country will achieve this on time.

I recently realized that my daughter will be my exact age of 39 when China accomplishes this second goal.And that reminds me that the mission of the Communist Party of China isn’t only to have improved the lives of poor farmers of the last century or of all people of this century but also for the children of tomorrow.And that extends not only to the entire country but also to the world.

The just-concluded event has outlined not only the big picture concepts of modernization and rejuvenation but also spelled out exactly how the Party will lead the country to achieve these.For instance,it explained how scientiflc and technological innovation will propel continued growth and development that can help ensure China will not fall into any kind of “middle-income country trap”.

Befltting of this emphasis on technological advancement,I was delighted to cohost China Daily’s flrst video using XR technology for the congress as a project for our media group’s Edgar Snow Newsroom,of which I am proud to be a core member.The Newsroom,which China Daily founded in June 2021,seeks to enable leading international journalists and experts to tell the true story of China’s realities to the world,especially based on their actual flrsthand experiences in the fleld.It has truly been an honor to work alongside such outstanding international talent to tell the real stories of the country and their global impacts.

Indeed,as a member of the Edgar Snow Newsroom,I don’t consider telling China’s story well to be a job or even a career but a life mission - one that has led me to travel to the last village in China to connect to the road system in Sichuan,the vast deserts of Xinjiang and the narrow back alleys of Fuzhou.

My years in China have proved to me that China is a place where you should expect the unexpected and where you should never say,“never,ever”.There are many things I never,ever imagined before coming to China 16 years ago from the United States.But China is a place where never,ever can come true.

Never,ever did I imagine that I’d journey through quake zones,spend birthdays at a mass grave,bring electricity to schools on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau or that I’d end up buying,riding,milking and getting kicked by yaks.

Never,ever did I imagine I would become the youngest-ever winner of the Chinese Government Friendship Award,the highest honor the country bestows on foreign experts for their contributions to the country’s social and economic development.

Never,ever did I imagine the China Daily videos I created would receive hundreds of millions of views.

And never,ever did I imagine that my book,Closer to Heaven:A Global Nomad’s Journey Through China’s Poverty Alleviation,would become a bestseller featured in hundreds of videos and stories by top national media and even at one point trending in the No 2 spot on Weibo.

It’s not your typical China book.I discover unexpected dimensions of China’s development while visiting ostrich rodeos,leprosy villages and virtual-reality parks run by farmers.

I explore the reform and opening-up that has propelled the development driving China’s poverty-alleviation miracle in often-unexpected ways.

I join the “bangbangarmy”,and steer a gut-drone camera with a joystick while traveling along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

These journeys have been adventures.They’ve brought me from the darkness of the quake zone toward the light,from the US to the “Roof of the World” and closer to heaven.

And they’re a flrsthand exploration of how China,in turn,has lifted so many people out of the hell of poverty and closer to heaven,as it exists on Earth.

I’m delighted the flrst editions in Chinese and English sold out quickly,and China Intercontinental Press has reprinted it with new content not only under the label Marco Polo of the New Era but also as an Edgar Snow Newsroom book.

As I chronicle inCloser to Heaven,I have spent the past 16 years traveling to often remote and isolated communities in every province on the Chinese mainland,telling the story of-and contributing to-China’s poverty alleviation miracle.That is,while discovering the country’s deserts,mountains,forests and tundra on the backs of ostriches,horses,camels and yaks.

This led me to found the volunteer initiative in Yushu’s Qumarleb county 11 years ago,starting by donating solar panels to schools without electricity,followed by computers,libraries,food,clothes,coal,medicine,classroom equipment,3G Wifl and even yaks.As the government has resolved such material “hardware” issues,our group has shifted focus to providing full university scholarships for herders’ children,and surgeries,wheelchairs,prosthetics and therapies for nomadic children with disabilities.

Again,I would have never,ever imagined China could overcome such incredible geological difflculties to achieve this in Qumarleb and throughout the country.Yet,it has - as I’ve not only seen but also experienced flrsthand,from the fleld.

China’s poverty alleviation miracle isn’t just the story of the year.It’s the story of the decade.It’s the story of the century.And it isn’t just a Chinese story but a human story.

It has been incredible to witness this,to tell this story and an honor to make my own small contributions to it - something I previously never,expected.Again,it shows that China truly is a place where “never,ever” can come true.

But the elimination of extreme poverty was just one pillar of the flrst of China’s centenary goals.

Especially since the 20th Party congress,I look forward to continuing to tell the story of and contribute to China’s progress in the years and decades to come.

In addition to writings,videos and speeches,I am planning several more books and am especially excited about focusing on common prosperity,as this not only ensures the previously intractably poor don’t end up taking steps back into extreme poverty but also is the next step forward.Common prosperity is analogous to the second centenary goal as to what the elimination of extreme poverty was to the flrst.It is not the whole picture but a necessary cornerstone that props up its overall structure.And it is a major pillar of modernization,as China continues to go beyond simply meeting people’s material needs to enabling them to lead happy lives and pursue their dreams.

Now,I’m not Chinese.But I realize from firsthand experience,that the Chinese dream,individual and shared,belongs to all the people of the world we all share.That is,it belongs to all of us.

As such,another focus of my work going forward,especially after the 20th congress,will be to help the world understand how China’s modernization can contribute to a better world for everywhere,whoever you are,wherever you are.That is,ultimately,for a shared future for mankind.