Our Due Share in Promoting National Rejuvenation and Human Progress

The past year of 2018 marked the 40th anniversary celebration of China’s reform and opening-up. In 2019, we shall hail the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Looking back from this juncture of the new era, one cannot help but marvel at the sea changes on the Chinese soil that symbolize one milestone after another towards the goal of the great national rejuvenation as the Communist Party of China (CPC) has led all the Chinese people in the pioneering undertaking. In the course of building up a New China, reform and opening up and advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC’s external work has made unique contribution by bringing into full play its distinctive strength. The Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs convened in 2018 established Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy as the fundamental guideline, among which the first and foremost principle reads, upholding the authority of the CPC Central Committee to strengthen centralized and unified leadership of the Party over external work. It was also underlined that we shall enhance our strategic confidence based on upholding

the advancement of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the face of new tasks and new imperatives, an indepth review of the past experience and the continued appreciation of objective laws are necessary to secure even greater accomplishment in the conduct of the CPC’s external work.

First, we need to always remain focused on the principal task of promoting national rejuvenation and human progress. As General Secretary Xi Jinping enunciated, “the Communist Party of China is a political party working for the well-being of the people as well as the progress of mankind”. The development of China has become increasingly interconnected with that of the rest of the world, a trend that remained so since modern times began. Since the founding of the People’s Republic, the CPC has upheld the principle of scientific socialism of integrating patriotism with internationalism despite the fact that the focal attention of the Party might not always be completely identical in different periods. On one hand, the Party unswervingly safeguards China’s sovereignty, security and development interests. On the other, it undertakes to create more opportunities for the rest of the world through promoting China’s own development and to share its experiences with other countries through exploring laws of human society development with its own practice. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, along with the advocacy for the realization of the Chinese dream of great national renewal, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken a clear-cut stand in advancing the building of a community of shared future for mankind and striving for world peace, global development and international order. All those have demonstrated CPC’s broad mind of selfimprovement and benefiting the world as well as its sense of responsibility to make even greater contribution to mankind.

Second, we should be bold in carrying out responsibility of the time as political leader and strength puller. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out that political parties not only play key roles in national political life, but also serve as important force in promoting the progress of human civilization. Both national rejuvenation and human progress need support and collaboration of political parties from all countries.

The distinctive role of political parties in policy making, public opinion guiding and strength converging should be given a full play. As the biggest political party in the world, the CPC should play its due role, which signifies being a role model, fulfilling duties and shouldering responsibilities. Being a role model refers to uniting and leading the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to struggle for a better life, which is also contributing to building a community with a shared future for humanity. Fulfilling duties means unswervingly following the path of reform and opening-up, pursuing a win-win strategy to benefit all and upholding the concept of global governance featuring extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. As an accountable major country, China should continue with playing its due role by contributing Chinese wisdom, Chinese power and Chinese solution for solving the problems faced by mankind. Shouldering responsibilities is to enhance the guiding of direction, ideas and perception of political parties from different countries, in particular to safeguard world peace and justice and promote the progress of mankind by doing a good job in telling the stories of CPC and what Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in new era means to the world. By doing so, China could eliminate suspicions of international community and win more people who understand, support or even make joint efforts with China in its building of socialism with Chinese characteristics. By doing so, our Party will make more friends and pull more strength from other political parties for building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Third, we need to make steady progress on advancing theoretical and practical explorations of the Party’s external work. As was enunciated by General Secretary Xi Jinping, only those creative explorers are able to make meaningful progress, grow stronger and prevail. The era is the mother of thought; practice is the fount of theory. Just as there are no bounds to practice, there is no end to theoretical exploration. To successfully accomplish the historic mission of promoting national rejuvenation and human progress, theoretical exploration must never stop so as to ensure that the development of theory stays abreast with that of the times. Corresponding to the shift in the focus of the Party, and indeed of the whole country, onto economic development after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, the CPC expounded the four principles regarding party-to-party relations, namely independence, complete equality, mutual respect and noninterference in each other’s internal affairs. By following these principles, the CPC managed to make further breakthroughs in its external work. Likewise, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has proposed since the Party’s 18th Congress a series of expositions on the Party’s external work. They include, among others, the clear-cut advocacy for the building of a new type of party-to-party relations that seeks to expand common ground while reserving differences and enhances mutual respect and mutual learning, and emphasis on neither “importing” models from other countries nor “exporting” the Chinese model. These expositions have elevated the theoretical exploration on the Party’s external work to a new height and shall be applied as guidelines in our continued exploration to further improve party-to-party exchanges in both content and scope so that positive progress can be achieved in building a multi-form, multi-level international network for party-to-party exchanges and cooperation. All of these will be conducive to the enhancement of strategic trust through the sharing of governance experiences as well as the exchange and dialogue among civilisations. Consequently, our efforts to build a new type of party-to-party relations shall contribute to the development of a new model of international relations.

Our world today is in the midst of great changes unseen in a century. Peace and development remain the call of our day and yet, as a world we face growing uncertainties and destabilizing factors. As these two aspects overlap and interact with one another, the relationship between China and the rest of the world enters a new phase. From a global perspective, the immediate and indeed the future success of the Party’s external work are faced with both abundant conducive conditions and considerable challenges that are complex and severe. Hence the Party’s external work entails greater responsibilities, more glorious mission and heavier tasks. Rallying closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and in advocacy of the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity, we shall remain pioneering and enterprising to make even greater contribution to the promotion of national rejuvenation and human progress.

Our efforts to build a new type of party-to-party relations shall contribute to the development of a new model of international relations.