Why CPC Congress garners global attention
The upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has captured world attention. French newspaper Le Monde on Sunday published a front page article headlined “China, the rise of the great power” in Chinese characters and carried eight pages on the topic, the epitome of Western reporting on the 19th CPC National Congress.
What does the outside world care about this event? A country’s foreign policy is often an issue of attention but the outside world has little knowledge or interest in a country’s domestic politics in most cases. China is under the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core and its diplomacy is the steadiest among major powers.
Explosive news coming out of China is quite scarce, but the global media is excited about this Congress. It’s studying China’s policymaking process to figure out whether the country can deal with the coming challenges and sustain the strong growth momentum of recent decades. The media is weighing the possible impact of China’s future development on power patterns of the world. This is one of the fundamental issues of 21st century international politics and the CPC Congress is the most reliable and valuable information source for it.
The world has witnessed China’s rapid development and the CPC’s ability to lead and learn. But some are still suspicious about whether China can avoid falling into the same old trap that terminated the Soviet Union and find solutions to problems that have accumulated since reform and opening-up.
The answers to these questions have gradually emerged. First and foremost, the CPC leadership has been consolidated and strengthened since the Party’s last Congress and the country’s political path is clearer and more rooted in all of society. Problems that once bewildered Chinese society have been clarified and China’s development direction is widely recognized by the public.
Secondly, China has been able to balance between building up national strength and improving people’s livelihood and ecological protection. China is becoming stronger and the public is sharing the maximum benefit during the process.
Thirdly, the things a modern society values – scientific innovation, technological progress, justice and clean governance – have all improved. Various “China collapse” theories have fallen apart.
Fourthly, a rising China has been actively adapting itself to the outside world over the last five years, and viceversa. China has already become the world’s second-largest economy and has a strong sense of win-win cooperation.
China is more powerful than five years ago but collaborates more closely with the rest of the world. Most bilateral issues have been better controlled and the Beijing-proposed Belt and Road initiative is now the largest platform for international development cooperation.
China is forming a robust growth momentum and its development is shifting the world toward a winning direction. China’s development has never been so important to the world as now. The CPC and the Party Congress bear a heavy responsibility.