The rise of the Chinese nation is an inevitable trend, visiting chairman James Soong of the People First Party (PFP) in Taiwan said in Beijing yesterday in a speech at the Qinghua University.

Citing May 9 issue of US magazine Newsweek's cover story titled "China's Century", Soong said that the mainland has achieved "stunning achievements" since its open-up and reforms drive in late 1970s.

For instance, he said, more than 300 million people on the mainland have shaken off poverty over the past 25 years. Wal-Mart,a supermarket giant who contributed more than 2 percent of the United State's GDP last year, has 5,000 Chinese suppliers out of its 6,000-plus suppliers.

Chinese has replaced French to become the most favorite foreign language Americans like to learn, he noted.

As for the filming industry, once regarded as a symbol of American culture, movie directors like Zhang Yimou from the mainland and An Lee from Taiwan have became populous names worldwide.

"All of these facts and data have proven that China is rising rapidly," he said.