Stories of CPC: Promoting High Quality Development in Zhejiang Sidelights of a Special Briefing
SIDELIGHTS OF A SPECIAL BRIEFING
On November 23, 2018, a special briefing titled Stories of CPC: Practice of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in Zhejiang co-hosted by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. With the theme of promoting high quality development, it briefed foreign political parties on the concept of high quality development in Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and its concrete practice and successful experience in Zhejiang. Among participants there were leaders and representatives of 80 political parties from over 30 countries.
CPC Initiative for High Quality Development and Zhejiang Experience
Delivering a speech at the meeting, Song Tao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, remarked that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was a guiding ideology to be held by the CPC for a time to come and promoting high quality development was a necessary demand of sustaining steady and healthy economic development. Socialism with Chinese Characteristics has entered a new era, and so also has China’s economic development, featuring a switch from a period of high speed development to that of a high quality one. How to achieve development of higher quality has become an important issue crying for solution all across the globe.
From political party perspective, Song Tao made a four-point proposal for promoting high quality development. The first point is to be firm in adhering to a people-centered development approach. As General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, to meet the people’s desire for a happy life is our mission. High quality development is one centered on the people. It is necessary for political parties of various countries to be mindful of the people-centered development approach and see to it development not to deviate from the correct direction.
The second point is to make full use of the guiding role of good concepts. The new concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development has made clear the direction of high quality development, also contributing Chinese wisdom to the solution of global development issue. Political parties in most of the countries in the world are core of decision making and source of policy as well as leader of public will and opinion, and as such they should take long-term perspectives, follow the law of development and endeavor to spread about advanced concepts, forge public consensus, promote policy formulation and mobilize participation of all quarters, in a word to provide ideological and conceptual leadership in promoting high quality development.
The third point is to improve the party’s own capacity and competence in an all-round way. Promoting high quality development involves not only drawing blueprint but also, more importantly, personal practice. Parties are both policy makers and doers and organizers in policy implementation. As such, they should continue to enhance their capacity building so as to shoulder the arduous task of leading their members and the people in making true their magnificent blueprint and developing their countries.
And the fourth point is to vigorously strengthen exchange and learning. Through its practice in reform and opening-up of forty years, the CPC has blazed a trail of socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics. It wishes to increase swap of ideological concepts and governing experience with various parties and to make contributions to promoting common development of various countries and construction of a community with a shared future for mankind and building an even more beautiful world.
Addressing the gathering, Che Jun, Secretary of CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee remarked that Zhejiang was an early starter of China’s reform and opening-up and also an important birthplace of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. When he worked in Zhejiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping worked out and carried out the “88” Strategy (to take eight advantages by eight policy measures), which has become the general program of action for development in the province that guides it to the track of high quality development. Embodying the new concepts of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, the “88” strategy is a “golden key” to the door of high quality development.
Che Jun stressed that the core concepts of the “88” Strategy boiled down to four aspects. First, it is necessary to
have both effective market and diligent government. Ultimately, diligence of government is to make market more effective. Zhejiang has taken “one-stop government services reform” as a fulcrum to move reform in various fields, creating a world top-notch doing business environment, promoting modernization of governance system and governance capacity and providing high quality development with optimum institutional supply.
Second, it is desirable to go beyond Zhejiang in developing it. For all regions, there is a limit to the space of development. Therefore, in order to achieve high quality development, it is necessary to take the road of open development. Facing the globe, Zhejiang has coordinated attracting foreign investment and Chinese companies going global. In the future, it will uphold the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration, render high quality participation in the Belt and Road construction and advance comprehensive opening-up on a high level.
Third, “emptying the cage for new birds” leads to phoenix’s nirvana in fire. The process of economic development is one of upgrading economic structure and changing mode of development. Zhejiang has gone in depth in implementing innovation-driven development strategy, eliminating backward production capacity, emptying development space and facilitating industries to move toward the high end of the value chain by taking innovation for primary driving force and coordinating efforts in fostering new industries and transformation and upgrading of traditional ones.
Fourth, lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. Ecological protection and economic development are in dialectical unity. In opening the channel to convert lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets, Zhejiang has vigorous worked for a beautiful economy and everyone’s good life that is “green, rich and beautiful”.
Zhejiang will go further in studying and putting into practice Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deepening the “88” Strategy, soaring again in reform and opening-up and taking more profound and practical moves for still better results in high quality development.
Shared Narratives on High Quality Development
The special briefing invited speakers to share their Zhejiang narratives on high quality development in different perspectives, speakers including Li Yanyi, Executive Deputy-Director of Office, Comprehensively Deepening Reform Committee, CPC Zhejiang Committee; Shen Mingquan, Secretary of CPC Anji County Committee; Gao Hongping, Vice-President of the Alibaba Group and Wang Licheng, Chairman of the Board of the Holley Group.
Li Yanyi said that in today’s Zhejiang, from metropolis to rural areas, from islands at sea to hilly regions, from blackletter day to red-letter day, everyone everywhere could feel the profound changes brought about by “one-stop government services reform” and wit
ness original aspirations of the CPC in seeking happiness for the people.
Shen Mingquan remarked that in today’s Anji, the whole county was a scenic area. Every village is a scenic spot. Not only do the people enjoy beautiful environment, they also lead a quality life of prosperity and happiness. Anji has taken the road of high quality development featuring developing under environmental protection and protecting environment with development.
Gao Hongbing said that the Alibaba Group was born in Zhejiang, being a beneficiary of the “88” Strategy. It has benefited from government forging quality environment for doing business and helping grass-roots people achieve their dreams. The Alibaba Group not only promotes global innovation but also innovation of ordinary people and small businesses. It wishes to share its innovation dividend with the whole world.
Wang Licheng observed that the fact that Zhejiang businesses had grown from small to large and from weak to strong could not be separated from the CPC setting great store by developing private economy. Guided by the Belt and Road Initiative of General Secretary Xi Jinping, Zhejiang businesses have set up production centers in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and invested on factories overseas, generating tax revenue and jobs for hosting countries and taking concrete actions in building, on social level, a community with shared future for mankind.
The Special Briefing also put on a photo exhibition on High Quality Development in Zhejiang and organized post-briefing site visits for foreign participants
CPC’s Experience on Governing the Party and the Country Offers a Chinese Approach of Reference Value to the World
During the Briefing, Mahmoud ElSharif, First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Egypt; Arshad Dad, Secretary-General of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Peter Goodfellow, president of the National Party of New Zealand shared their views that under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China has produced great development results and entered into a new stage of reform and openingup and that they wish to take an active part in the Belt and Road construction and work for building a community with a shared future for mankind.
El-Sharif remarked that the CPC has led the Chinese people in making great advance, who have made development achievements attracting worldwide attention. On the one hand, the CPC has carried forward traditional values and ancient heritage of the great Chinese people, and on the other, it upholds the principles of freedom and openness in opening to the whole world while absorbing new ideas. Its experience is a most successful one worldwide, worthy of learning for Arab countries in general and Egypt in particular. As a vanguard of China’s reform and openingup, Zhejiang is attentive to quality behind speed in development and to ecological environment behind growth, blazing a unique trail of high quality development.
Arshad observed that under the outstanding leadership of President Xi Jinping, China had attained high speed development. It is creating a harmonious and orderly international order together with the international community and making joint responses to the challenges of the 21st century. It is for sharing China’s development results with all countries of the world that President Xi Jinping put forward the Belt and Road Initiative, which will surely benefit various countries the world over and their people. The Pakistani side wishes to learn the secret behind China’s high speed development, particularly the CPC’s experience on running the Party and the country. President Xi Jinping once presided over the work of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee for years, the prosperity and level of economic development of the province fully attesting to the success of his ideas.
Goodfellow considered the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people as good news rather than threat to the world. He said that under the leadership of the CPC, hundreds of millions of Chinese had successfully rid poverty in the past forty years, which was a very remarkable achievement. The Belt and Road Initiative of President Xi Jinping is committed to preserving common interest of various countries in the world and to promoting multilateral cooperation, from which New Zealand wishes to benefit. When he was Secretary of CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, President Xi Jinping put forward the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, which is a fundamental cause for Zhejiang to have attained not only high speed development but also great attainments in ecological protection.
In 2017, the International Department of the CPC Central Committee initiated in Beijing series special briefings titled Stories of CPC: Practice of Local Party Committees in making active response to the great attention paid by the international community to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, presenting China’s historical changes and achievements that happened under the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core since the 18th CPC National Congress. Since the 19th CPC National Congress, the International Department of the CPC Central Committee has transformed and upgraded the original Stories of CPC series Special Briefings and launched series Special Briefings titled “Stories of CPC: Local Practice of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”. In May 2018, the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee co-hosted the first edition of the series special briefing with the theme Reform and Opening-up Being the Key Maneuver for Determining the Fate of Contemporary China, expounding on General Secretary Xi Jinping’s strategic thinking on comprehensively deepening the reform and results of the CPC Guangdong Committee putting it into practice since the 18th CPC National Congress.