What China’s People-oriented Development Has Conveyed to the World
The people-centered development concept has brought tangible results to every facet of Chinese society, making the country’s path appealing to the world.
THE patriotic fervor that the 70th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) kindled among the Chinese people burned for days after October 1. Cyberspace abounded with images of the throngs that converged across the country to sing songs extolling their beloved country.
The tens of thousands that came to the grand
National Day rally at the Tian’anmen Square sang in unison to the music that resounded there exalting the birth of new China.
When interviewed, those who were part of the parade and spectators alike spoke of their spontaneous emotional response to the Ode to the Motherland as it was played close to the finale of this magnificent event, and the surging sense of patriotism they felt as they watched the cloud of multi-colored balloons rise into the heavens.
Such unanimous patriotism is rooted in the tremendous changes that the country’s people-centered development have effected over the past seven decades and given the people a growing sense of gain and happiness. On the international stage, meanwhile, the country’s development saga has continued to draw ever more attention, inspiring many developing countries to follow China’s example.
People’s Fate Thus Changed
“My visit to the grand exhibition was both a thrilling and emotional experience. Its depiction of the country’s 70-year journey and its many achievements, including the first domestically produced tractor and car, gave me pause for pride and reflection. And the replicated examination room commemorating the resumption in 1977 of China’s national college entrance examinations released a flood of emotions,” was Minister of Finance Liu Kun’s response to a reporter’s question at the first news conference for the 70th anniversary celebrations on September 24 about the grand exhibition of achievements in commemoration of the country’s 70th anniversary. Liu Kun’s emotional reaction to this installation is understandable: he took an examination 42 years ago in a similar hall in southeast China’s Fujian Province.
“Back then I sat an exam in one of Beijing’s rural examination halls,” Governor of the People’s Bank of China Yi Gang said at the same press conference.
“I was one of the 1977 examinees in Guangde of Anhui Province,” Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission and head of the National Bureau of Statistics, chimed in.
With 519,000 schools of all kinds, 276 million students, and 16.7 million full-time teachers, China has the world’s largest education system, according to Minister of Education Chen Baosheng. Moreover, the average number of years of schooling of the country’s newly added work force, among whom 48.2 percent have received tertiary education, has increased to 13.6.
As to the nation’s healthcare, over the past seven decades Chinese citizens’ life expectancy has increased from 35 to 77 years, and its major health indexes outperform the average of those of middle and highincome countries, according to the director of the National Health Commission Ma Xiaowei.
China’s people-centered development concept has brought tangible results that are reflected in every facet of the country’s governance and the people’s lives.
Meanwhile China’s GDP skyrocketed from RMB 67.91 billion in 1952 to RMB 90.03 trillion in 2018, representing 174-fold growth in real terms, according to Ning Jizhe. During the same year, Chinese residents’ per capita disposable income rose 59.2-fold in real terms compared to that in 1949, and per capita consumption expenditure increased 28.5-fold in real terms compared to that in 1956.
Among the mass pageantry on the National Day parade’s 70 floats in 36 formations was a fleet of delivery men on their scooters. In recent years these workers have become an indispensable part of people’s daily life in the capital, so their appearance in Tian’anmen Square on this grand occasion prompted a rousing ovation.
“By adhering to firm ideals and convictions and working tirelessly to get their jobs done, any ordinary person can lead an extraordinary life and every ordinary job can make extraordinary achievements,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said on September 29 at the awarding ceremony of national medals and honorary titles of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
All for the People
“China has a system of governance that puts people at the forefront of its priorities,” Jallow Ebrima, a reporter for the Gambia Radio & Television Services, told China Today. In his view, this is the key to China’s success.
“This is people-centered development. I think China’s definition of human rights is the best one, because satisfying the people’s fundamental needs of healthcare, housing, food, and clothing signifies their greater rights generally. In the West, there is much talk about titles, personal liberty, and freedom of expression, but the people aren’t guaranteed their fundamental rights. So the China approach is the better one, because it ensures that the people have everything they need,” Ebrima said. Having visited many places in China and seen for himself the development trajectory cutting across the country’s different sectors, he has witnessed firsthand what the people have gained from the country’s development. “This is the kind of governance we want,” Ebrima said.
China’s people-centered development concept has brought tangible results that are reflected in every facet of the country’s governance and the people’s lives.
Shortly after the founding of the PRC, 80 percent of the people were illiterate, and enrollment in primary education was less than 20 percent. By 2017, national primary education enrollment had risen to 99.91 percent, and the consolidation rate (the proportion of enrolled students to graduates in the same year) of nine-year compulsory education reached 93.8 percent, so equaling, and often exceeding, the high-income country average. The same year also saw China’s college enrolment climb to 74.46 percent.
In regards to poverty alleviation, China has amazed the world, particularly since the inception of its reform and opening-up policy, by successfully lifting more than 700 million people out of poverty — a feat of human history.
Director-general of the Research Office of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee Luan Jianzhang said in an interview with China Today that party-to-party exchanges make clear that China’s poverty alleviation practices are what most interest political parties in other countries. “They are intrigued by China’s practices and experience in this field, because poverty is a grim challenge facing many developing countries,” Luan said.
Hlengiwe Buhle Mkhize, member of South Africa’s National Executive Committee and convener of the Eastern Cape Province African National Congress, who visited China in 2018, remarked to China Today about her impression that all poor people in China have access to assistance of various kinds. Citing targeted poverty alleviation measures and projects, she said, “The vital lesson we have learned from China is to provide direct help to poor families and communities, and not to tolerate any embezzlement.”
In China, people are the masters of the country. President Xi Jinping underlined in his speech at the 70th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the PRC the importance of ensuring the principal status of the people, calling for efforts to constantly meet people’s aspirations for a better life, and ending with the avowal, “Long live the great Chinese people!”
Gambian reporter Jallow Ebrima believes that his country needs to learn from China’s people-centered development concept that ensures their access to various resources and rights, such as education and all types of infrastructure facilities, rather than pay heed to empty talk about human rights. “In my country, certain people tend to believe in Western values. I think every country should try to adapt to their particular situation in order to reach a certain level of development. China’s success exemplifies this point.”
A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind
“On our journey forward, we will adhere to the path of peaceful development and pursue a mutually benefi
cial strategy of opening-up. We will continue to work with people from all countries to push for jointly building a community with a shared future for humanity,” Xi declared at the National Day parade.
The Chinese President received an avalanche of congratulatory messages from leaders of foreign countries and international organizations conveying their best wishes on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the PRC’S founding. All commended China’s glorious journey over the past seven decades and voiced expectations that China would assume more responsibilities in the international community and advance joint construction of the Belt and Road in order to benefit more countries and peoples.
However, at the same time, certain Western media interpreted the National Day military parade as way of flaunting China’s military strength, so stirring up the China threat theory and hawking the contention to contain China. But as Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi in early October, China cannot be contained. Over the past 70 years, certain Western media have constantly doubted and questioned China’s path and development. China has nevertheless steadily gained great development momentum and strength while moving closer to the world’s center stage.
Since its founding, the PRC has pursued an independent foreign policy of peace. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, as proposed by Xi Jinping, addresses the issue of how a rising China relates to the world, and provides a Chinese plan as to what kind of international relations and order the world should foster.
Xi has stressed that to build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, common security, and shared prosperity, the international community should promote partnership, security, growth, and inter-civilization exchanges, and build a sound ecosystem. To this end, the objective of China’s diplomatic work is to advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind by being a practitioner of peaceful development, a promoter of common development, a vindicator of a multilateral trading system, and a participant in global economic governance.
Talking about China’s role in the international community, Md Enamul Hassan, a reporter with the Bangladeshi newspaper the Daily Sun , told China Today , “China is very positive and very peaceful.” He elaborated, “China wants to maintain peace and make the world more equal. I think if China had risen earlier, the world would have had less bloodshed and conflicts.” In Hassan’s view, although Western media have misled people’s understanding of China to some degree, in general, people in the developing world tend to believe that as China takes on more major power responsibilities, the world will become more just, peaceful, and prosperous.
As a practice platform for building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative is planting the seeds of fairness that will bring justice and win-win cooperation to the world. Former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’alema said in an interview with China Today, “The Belt and Road Initiative may help foster a new vision of globalization — one that is more just and more human and that will enable reduction of poverty and inequality, stop global climate change, and promote win-win cooperation between different peoples, cultures, and civilizations.”
Widely acclaimed by locals as a dream bridge, the Padma Bridge, an important BRI project, is a multipurpose road-rail bridge that, upon completion, will bring considerable transportation convenience to local residents. “Construction of the bridge has greatly promoted Bangladesh’s economic development and boosted GDP growth at around one percent. Our people welcome the BRI projects because they will bring more investment, promote production, drive economic growth, and create lots of jobs,” Md Enamul Hassan said. He ascribed the popularity of the BRI to its win-win cooperation principle. C