Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in south China's Guangdong Province, a landmark in China's reform and opening up drive.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has on many occasions stressed deepening reform in all areas and promoting opening up. The following are some highlights of his quotes.

-- Reform and opening up is always an ongoing task and will never end. Without reform and opening up, China would not be what it is today, nor would it have the prospects for a brighter future.

-- Innovation is the lifeline of reform and opening up.

-- Openness brings progress, while isolation leads to backwardness. China cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the world; and the world needs China for global prosperity.

-- The Chinese market is so big that you should all come and see what it has to offer.

-- We shall form a new development pattern that takes the domestic market as the mainstay and allows the domestic and foreign markets to boost each other.

-- China will see its status continue to rise in the world economy with closer ties, and the country will provide more extensive market opportunities for other countries.