HELSINKI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- While the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) focuses mainly on domestic issues, it deserves close attention of the rest of the world, said a former Finnish diplomat.

Commenting on the report Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered Wednesday at the opening session of the meeting, Mikko Puustinen told Xinhua that the most noteworthy is the announcement of new strategic plans for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The former press counselor at the Finnish embassy in Beijing said he has encouraged his fellow citizens, particularly the business community, to pay more attention to the CPC conference, because it is related not only to China's development, but also the world's economic growth.

As China's most important political event in five years, the 19th CPC National Congress kicked off Wednesday in Beijing. Among other tasks, it will draw a blueprint for China's development in the next five years and beyond.

Noting that the meeting concerns foreign businesses that want to obtain better opportunities, he said he believes the issue most relevant to foreign companies is whether China will further implement reform and open up to the outside world.

"China's opening up is a great opportunity for Finnish companies," he said. "China's economic policy has a significant impact on the world economy."

"China is determined to develop into one of the world's most innovative countries. Finland is very interested in it, as currently Finland is one of the world's most innovative countries," he added.

As the world faces such dangerous factors as the Korean Peninsula issue and increasing protectionism, the attitude of the Chinese leadership on major diplomatic and security affairs is also worthy of attention, he said.

Meanwhile, Puustinen, who once lived in China for 15 years and has followed China-related issues for 20 years, said the biggest change in the past two decades is the reversed status of China in the international market.

He recalled that when he started working in China in 2001, the country was in urgent need of foreign technology and foreign investment.

"So far the situation has changed completely. Many foreign countries, including Finland, would like to receive China's investment and hope to see more Chinese enterprises to enter our markets," he said.

"China has moved from a relatively passive position to a more active position, and it leads the world economic growth and also plays a vital role in the aspects of politics, diplomacy and security among others," he added.