HAVANA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The reform process China embarked on 40 years ago has given the country "an unprecedented push" and served as a roadmap for its development, a Cuban newspaper said on Wednesday.

"Four decades ago, maybe only a few could imagine that one day China would become a world power," said Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party.

China once struggled with many of the problems facing a developing country, including widespread poverty, it said.

But in December 1978, the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China "adopted a policy that succeeded in giving the Asian giant an unprecedented push," the newspaper said.

China's process of reform and opening-up was one of the "most transcendental events of the 20th century," said the daily.

The policy served as a roadmap that pointed the way out of underdevelopment by opening up to the world and introducing modern technologies.

Among China's achievements over the past 40 years, Granma listed increasing agricultural output and lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, a feat "no other country has been able to achieve in such a short time."

It also highlighted the creation of special economic zones that attracted foreign investment along with modern technology and know-how.

"In 1978 Chinese exports amounted to 10 billion U.S. dollars, but in 2000 the country exported goods worth 200 billion U.S. dollars," said the daily.

"China represents great hope for the world because of the many opportunities it offers to share in its development," said the daily, though it noted the country faces trade wars and protectionist policies unleashed by "other powers, such as the United States."