Nation prospers as result of grand vision
The celebration of the centenary of the Communist Party of China on July 1 marked a historic achievement, as the world’s most populous nation has built itself into a “moderately prosperous society in all respects”.
Experts said that the hardwon success marks a watershed in the nation’s “threestep” modernization drive. The plan was rolled out 34 years ago with the aim of making a “great modern socialist country” out of a largely agrarian China over a span of about 70 years.
The concept of a moderately prosperous society, known as xiaokang in Chinese, first appeared in The Book of Songs, a series of folk poems collected from around China between the 11th and sixth centuries B.C.
The term describes an ideal society that is stable, affluent and secure, as desired by Chinese people for centuries. It entered politics through leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, when Masayoshi Ohira, then Japanese prime minister, visited China.
Deng used the phrase to describe his prescription for China’s modernization, which he said would be different from Japan’s approach.
“Since then, xiaokang has become more frequently used in Party documents,” said Liu Dongchao, a researcher on socialism with Chinese characteristics at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
The merits of xiaokang as a political term soon led to it becoming a central plank of China’s all-important “threestep” modernization plan, which was unveiled at the CPC’s 13th National Congress in 1987.
Designed by Deng, the plan aimed to double GDP between 1980 and 1990; double the number again in the following decade to make China a moderately prosperous society; and see the nation become fully modernized by 2050.
At the time, China’s annual GDP was the sole benchmark for tracking progress toward the building of a moderately prosperous society. However, that began to change at the start of this century, after the figure surpassed the $1 trillion mark in 1998.
At the CPC’s 16th National Congress in 2002, the central authorities announced that China had hit the GDP target set by Deng’s modernization plan for a moderately prosperous society. However, the development was uncomprehensive, uneven and of low quality.
As a result, the gathering called on attendees to strive for a better version of xiaokang in the first two decades of the new century, so the development benefits could be shared equally by all Chinese people.
To that end, more wide-ranging efforts would be needed. The old development model had put China on a fast track, but some growth had been achieved at the expense of the environment.
Socialist democracy, science and education, culture and civil society became added focuses, making xiaokang a multidimensional development index tracking a wide range of progress.
More recently, the focus was expanded to include targets ranging from rule of law, cultural prosperity and ecological civilization — a concept promoted by President Xi Jinping for balanced, sustainable development that highlights the harmonious coexistence of mankind and nature.
Considering ways to address this imbalance, Xi said: “This is a society to be enjoyed by each and every one of us. On the march toward common prosperity, no one will be left behind.”
One notable endeavor of the central authorities was the detailed action plan to include everyone in the nation’s fledgling social safety net, irrespective of their ethnic group or physical condition.
Du Shuangqing, a resident of Gansu province, which was once home to some of the country’s poorest families, was one of the beneficiaries of the improvements.
In 1988, Du was born into a poor farming family in mountainous Longnan city. At age 9, he lost his right arm in a rockslide, which resulted in medical expenses his family was unable to meet.
The 33-year-old, who works for the local disabled people’s federation, recalled wearing his two older sisters’ clothes throughout primary school to reduce the financial burden on his parents.
He said he would have dropped out of school had it not been for government allowances designed to help poor students.
“Our grain harvest was usually small and my parents had too many children to support. Back then, life was really hard,” he said.
In recent decades, China’s fast-growing economy has helped pull tens of millions of rural residents out of poverty by creating new jobs and bolstering the infrastructure in the countryside.
However, by 2012, almost 100 million rural residents were still grappling with absolute poverty. And the smog that shrouded urban skies was coming under greater scrutiny.
Poverty and pollution were among the most pressing issues as the CPC worked to finish the last mile to hit the xiaokang target, said Wu Haitao, a professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.
The situation prompted the central authorities to redouble efforts to tackle poverty via increased State funding, tailored programs and the deployment of capable people in administrative positions.
In February, Xi announced that China had secured a “complete victory” in its fight against poverty by lifting 98.99 million rural residents out of absolute poverty since late 2012.
The number of Chinese who escaped poverty in the past four decades accounted for more than 70% of the world’s impoverished people during that period, measured by the poverty threshold set by the World Bank.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the central authorities have also reinforced the push for greener development.
Environmental conservation has been added to the Party’s blueprint for the overall construction of a socialist country, extending the four previous areas of focus: the economy; politics; culture; and civil society.
Huang Minxuan, 30, works for an internet company in Beijing. After the city’s air quality improved markedly in recent years, he started jogging outdoors in 2018.
“For us regular people, xiaokang is more about a better environment and a more colorful life,” he said.