COMMENTARY: 18th CPC National Congress: Inherit and forge ahead on China path

EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is an article submitted by the Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, Wong Zonglai, on the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

On November 14, the 18th National Congress of Communist Party of China (CPC) was successfully concluded in Beijing. During the week-long meetings, more than 2,200 party delegates assembled to conclude the experiences and achievements in the past 5 to 10 years, summarize the challenges facing China at present and chart the blueprint for China’s future development. Furthermore, a new generation of leadership of CPC was also elected at the 1st Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee on Nov. 15, which will take the relay baton and lead Chinese people to move forward in the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

This 5-yearly congress is another important event after U.S. presidential election in international arena this year and has attracted unprecedented attentions from the world. More than 1,700 overseas journalists are registered to cover this event. The attention is as much on the congress itself as on the future of China and what impact China will have on the world in the process of its peaceful development.

The decade since the 16th National Congress of CPC in 2002 has witnessed an extraordinary period of growth of China. Over the past ten years, China has achieved average yearly economic growth of 10.7 percent, far above the world’s 3.9 percent in the same period. China’s economy has risen from the sixth to the second place in the world. In the meantime, China also made enormous achievements in other fields, such as lifting the urbanization rate to over 50 percent from less than 40 percent, the hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, and conducting manned space journeys and manned deep-sea expeditions.

In the international arena, China’s overall national strength and international competitiveness and influence have been enhanced substantially. While focusing on its own development, China has been providing aid to the best of its ability to other developing countries with economic difficulties, and fulfilling its due international obligations. Amid the world financial crisis, President Hu Jintao attended all the seven G20 summits, calling for joint efforts to overcome difficulties and safeguarding common interests of developing countries. In June 2012, China pumped an additional US $43 billion into the capital pool of the IMF, providing strong impetus for the recovery of world economy.  In close cooperation with international community, China positively addresses other international challenges such as climate change, energy security, and elimination of poverty, etc.

Many international observers have been trying to explore the reasons of China’s success. In my view, there are at least four principal experiences that are proven right and will be adhered to in the future:

Chinese characteristics. As national conditions vary from country to country, there is no such thing as a fixed mode of development which claims to be the only effective one and applicable to all. China has created a new path of modernizing a country conforming to China’s conditions and the trend of the times, which brought profound changes, drastic transformation to China.

Reform and opening-up policy. The deepening of the reform process highly motivated the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the people and injected new vigor and vitality into economic and social development. The win-win strategy of opening-up not only helped China gain broader space for our development and economic growth, but also made important contribution to economic development in the region and the world.

Development for well-being of the people. To some extent, what kind of position the people are placed at reflects the quality of a country’s modernization. China’s development is people-oriented. In the past decades, China has deepened the reform of income distribution to ensure all the people share in the fruits of development and provided basic social security for both the urban and rural population. It also dedicated itself to developing the areas concerning the people’s well-being directly, such as education, employment, health care, etc.

The Path of Peaceful development. Peace, development and cooperation are part of the irresistible global trend. The world today is moving towards multipolarity and economic globalization is gaining momentum. China’s achievements are inseparable from its peaceful coexistence and friendly cooperation with the outside world, and global prosperity and stability cannot be maintained without China.

Despite the remarkable achievements, China will not rest on laurels in time of change. The world is undergoing extensive and profound changes and China is also going through a wide-ranging and deep transformation. The CPC has vowed to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020. In addition, it has vowed to turn China into a modernized socialist nation being prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by mid-21st century.

18th National Congress has outlined China’s future development strategy. Under the new generation of leadership of CPC, Chinese people will inherit the successful experience, reach out to grasp the opportunities, as well as the nation’s future in hand, and forge ahead in the course of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Looking back at the past and looking ahead to the future, we are convinced that China will realize its development goals, and a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious China, will make more contribution to the world.

This article was published in its entirety as received by Dominica News Online. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Dominica News Online or its advertisers.