China enters a new development era

By Kimeng Hilton Ndukong 

Communist Party of China Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping has announced a major transition in the country's development strides. At the opening of the 19th CPC National Congress on October 18, 2017, while delivering a 3-hour, 15-minute report on the party's stewardship in the past five years, Xi Jinping said socialism with Chinese characteristics had entered a new era. This will be guided by a long-term plan, which the CPC must develop and adhere to, he insisted.

The leader announced a two-stage approach for developing China into a "great modern socialist country" from 2020 to the middle of the 21st Century. He said China would not close its doors to the world, but would become more and more open. Also, he promised that the country would significantly ease market access and protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors, stressing the urgency to advance law-based governance in all areas.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) opens the 19th National Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 18, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua]

According to Xi Jinping, the aspirations of the people to live better lives must always be the focus of leaders' efforts. He called on comrades at the 19th CPC national congress to aim high and look far, be alert to dangers even in times of calm, have the courage to pursue reforms and break new ground, and never become inactive or hardened to change. Xi Jinping made it clear that the achievements of the past five years were the result of strong party leadership and the willingness of the people to pull together. 

China's international standing has risen as never before with the party, country, and people changing in unprecedented ways. "The Chinese nation, with an entirely new posture, now stands tall and firm in the East," he said. Xi described China's socialist democracy as the broadest, most genuine and most effective to guarantee the fundamental interests of its people. 

Looking back at the past five years since the 18th CPC national congress in 2012 when he took over as CPC Central Committee General Secretary and President, Xi Jinping said a number of achievements have been made. These include Gross Domestic Product, and GDP rising from 54 trillion Yuan to 80 trillion Yuan. China's annual grain production reached 600 million metric tonnes, and more than 80 million people who moved from rural to urban areas secured permanent jobs after receiving skills training.

Breakthroughs were also made in deepening reforms with 1,500 reform measures taken, while democracy and the rule of law were strengthened and living standards improved with over 60 million people lifted out of poverty. Employment grew steadily with 13 million urban jobs on average created each year as China also became an important participant, contributor and torchbearer in the global endeavor for ecological civilization. Military training and war preparedness received strengthening and weapons and equipment development was stepped up.

As a fervent advocate of globalization, President Xi's announcement that China will open up its economy further to foreign investors did not come as surprise. China's proposals of notions such as a community of shared destiny, win-win cooperation, the Belt and Road Initiative and several international trade facilitation and benefit-sharing policies, are all pointers to its belief in the complementation of all nations no matter their sizes. 

There is no gainsaying that China has over the years drawn increasing sway in international political, economic and even military diplomacy. China is not only the world's most populous nation, but also the second largest global economy and contributor to 30 per cent of world economic growth since 2008. Like it or not, no nation – not even the most powerful on earth – can afford to ignore China's place in international affairs today.

The ruling party's willingness to undertake continuous reforms and open up the economy to more foreign competition explains China's phenomenal economic growth in the last 40 years. The roll out of this policy in 1978 by veteran leader Deng Xiaoping marked a turning point in China's economic and political transformation. Ever since, successive CPC leaders have continued to build on it by exploring innovative ways of invigorating not only the party's efficiency, but also foreign trade and the economy.

President Xi Jinping's launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2012 has continued to win international approval and acceptance. Never in modern history has any trade initiative proposed by a single nation won such across-the-board-support like Belt and Road. Today, its membership and would-be membership traverses regions and continents with nations in far-flung parts of the world like South America, North America, Africa, and Asia voluntarily joining the group. Belt and Road's growing appeal to the world lies in China's belief in a community of shared prosperity and future; and that no one nation can stand on its own; nor should it appropriate all the dividends of its prosperity for itself. 

While Communism and socialism collapsed in many parts of the world in the 1980s and early 1990s, Chinese communists quickly adapted to the fast-evolving times. Today, socialism with Chinese characteristics is no longer a notion, but a tested and efficient political and economic practice. As the Communist Party of China looks forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2021, the country is set for even greater heights beyond the middle of the 21st Century.

 "Many people talk about the Chinese miracle, but I have a different opinion. China's rapid development is neither a miracle nor luck. Rather, it is the result of focused, determined and committed leadership. You see this everywhere you go in China. Even in simple human relationships, personal relations, you can see the commitment of the Chinese," remarked Nigerian journalist Abdul Gombe last month in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, at the Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road.

One glaring example of the CPC's successful political, economic and social stewardship is found in Zhejiang Province. With a population of 55.9 million people, the 2016 Gross Domestic Product of 710 billion US dollars was first among all of China's provinces and autonomous regions. 60 per cent of the amount came from the private sector that also provides over 90 per cent of provincial jobs.

Zhejiang eradicated poverty in 2015, five years ahead of the national target in 2020. The province's total trade volume in 2016 was 326 billion US dollars or over 8 per cent of the national figure. Meanwhile, economic growth in the first half of 2017 stood at 8 per cent. On the other hand, Ningbo has been the biggest global commodity port for 8 years running. 

Economic growth averaged 10 per cent in almost 40 years of reform and opening up, while per capita GDP is now at 12,784 US dollars. Similarly, rural Zhejiang incomes have ranked first overall in China for 31 straight years. Zhejiang's exports in 2016 ranked 20th overall in the world, way ahead of several other nations. Also, foreign enterprises invested 470 billion US dollars in 2016 as the province carried out business with 142 nations.

 Perhaps, the most significant of Zhejiang's milestones is the decision by America's Boeing aircraft to set up a manufacturing base in the province, the first time the company did so outside the US. All these superlative gains only point to one conclusion - that Zhejiang Province can safely be described as China's current economic powerhouse. This is the big provincial picture. At the local level, there is also much to show for Zhejiang's meteoric development.

Addressing over 460 Chinese and foreign media practitioners on September 21, 2017 in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said: "We have achieved economic restructuring and the economy is growing at fast pace. This year, 8 million university students will complete their studies; 7.5 million jobs were added from January to June 2017." Zhang promised that the over 40 million poor people in the country will be brought out of their predicament in 2020, adding that those still remaining will be offered social security to enable them to live better lives.

 As China enters it's a new development era from 2020 with its own brand of enhanced socialism, it is with a high level of assurance and confidence, including assurance that the country's two centenary goals will be met. These goals insist on better livelihoods for the people. The first goal is to complete building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects by the time the Communist Party of China marks its 100th anniversary in 2021. The second is to build China into a modern socialist country, which is prosperous, strong, more democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious, by the time the People's Republic of China in 2049 celebrates 100 years of its foundation in 1949. All these goals are feasible, especially given the Communist Party of China's track record since 1978.   

(Kimeng Hilton Ndukong, a contributor to China Radio International's Opinion-Editorial column, is Sub-Editor for World News with Cameroon Tribune bilingual daily newspaper in Cameroon. He is currently a 2017 China-Africa Press Centre, CAPC fellow. )