BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The world in the past four decades has witnessed China's market-oriented reforms and ever-growing interaction with the rest of the world, say experts.

China's decades of miraculous development will never come to a halt and Tuesday's gathering celebrating China's 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up fired another starting pistol for a marvelous journey ahead, experts added.

CHINA'S WATERSHED MOMENT

China's reform and opening-up is "a watershed moment," William Jones, Washington bureau chief of the U.S. publication Executive Intelligence Review, told Xinhua.

"China has moved from a relatively impoverished country to one of the most important economic powers in the world today," Jones said. "And that process is not finished."

In 40 years, China lifted 740 million people out of poverty. China's share of global GDP rose from 1.8 percent to 15.2 percent, generating more than 30 percent of global growth for years.

"This is a staggering achievement by any international standard," said Ken Duggan, chairman of the Ireland-China Association.

China held a grand gathering Tuesday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the country's reform and opening-up. Addressing the meeting, President Xi Jinping described the reform and opening-up as a great reawakening of the Communist Party of China.

Xi "invited the world to recognise the significance of (late Chinese leader) Deng Xiaoping's vision and decision as one of those very special moments and events that changed the world -- for ever," said Alan Barrell, an entrepreneur in residence at the Center for Entrepreneurial Learning at the Cambridge Judge Business School.

The reform and opening-up, a cause started by Deng and is now being carried forward by Xi, has been "one of the biggest game-changers in global affairs in the post-war era," said Arab News, a local newspaper in Saudi Arabia. "China's rise to greater prominence has been one of the defining features of recent decades."

"It is widely acknowledged that China's achievement is a miracle. The policy unleashed the great potential of China and made the country a global manufacturing power, a global leader," said Luigi Gambardella, president of ChinaEU, a business-led international digital association in Brussels.

"The influence is far-reaching and global," added Gambardella.

SETTING AN EXAMPLE

China would not be where it is today without economic globalization.

For many countries in the world, China has become an important economic partner, and its "socio-economic achievements have also provided a major impetus to the global economy," said Farooq Sobhan, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute.

Since launching its reform and opening-up, China has attracted over 1.7 trillion US dollars of foreign investment and made over 1.2 trillion US dollars in direct outbound investment, Xi said in January 2017 at the opening session of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

"China will be investing more prominently in other countries," Jones said. "I think this is the answer to many of the problems of China ... (and) also the answer to many of the problems of the world."

The development path China has taken sets an example for other countries, said Filippo Fasulo, scientific coordinator at Italy-China Foundation's Center on Business Research.

"A key experience that China's reform and opening-up can provide for African countries is that we should self reflect, see reality clearly, seek a path that suits us, and make a decision and stick to it regardless of difficulties and obstacles," said Charles Onanaiju, director of the Center for China Studies of Nigeria.

The practice of reform and opening-up over the past 40 years has shown that openness brings progress, while seclusion leads to backwardness, Xi said at the Tuesday gathering.

EVEN GREATER WONDERS

Xi said at the Tuesday gathering that the world could expect more from China.

"We will create new and even greater wonders that will truly impress the world," Xi said.

"With regard to the future of the opening-up, President Xi has been very clear that this process is going to continue," said Jones. "The next 10, 20 years are going to see tremendous dramatic achievements similar to what we've seen in the last 40 years."

"Xi's speech extends the message that China is very positive on the reform and opening-up policy and more importantly, China will stick to it, continue this kind of effort in decades to come," Gambardella said. "As the world witnesses growing unilateralism, China's such commitment is of great importance."

"China has proved itself over the past 40 years that it can adapt to world development, (and that) it can make miracles," Gambardella added. "Xi's speech fires a starting pistol for China's next journey of reform and opening-up."

"I hope that China can continue to maintain global political and economic stability and continue to follow the path of peaceful development and common development," Marcin Jacoby, director for International Relations of the Warsaw-based SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

"I have very high expectations for this."

(Xinhua reporters Hu Yousong, Zhu Dongyang, Liu Chen in Washington, Zhang Qi in Dublin, Sun Xiaoling in London, Tu Yifan in Riyadh, Tian Dongdong in Brussels, Liu Chuntao in Dhaka, Li Jie in Rome, Guo Jun in Nairobi and Shi Zhongyu in Warsaw also contributed to the story.)