Foster Our Confidence in System, Tell China’s Story Well

The fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee made special research and important plans on some of the important issues of upholding and improving socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance. This Plenum was a milestone meeting of our Party convened at a historical point in which the timeframes of the two centenary goals converge and a crucial period of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 2020 marks the year of completion of China’s construction of a moderately prosperous society and that of conclusion of its 13th Five-Year-Plan as well as the first year of implementing the principles of the fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee. In order to fulfil the above strategic tasks against the background of profound interaction between domestic and international situations, it is necessary to further foster the confidence of the whole Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups and to continue to enhance the international community’s understanding, support and recognition of our country, for which it is of special importance to tell China’s story well. The Party’s international work is an important front of the Party, an integral part of the overall diplomacy of the country, and an important embodiment of major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. It is duty-bound for the Party’s international work to tell China’s story well, especially that of the CPC and to effectively increase China’s international influence, ability to inspire, and power to shape.

It is necessary to foster our confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is the premise to tell China’s story well. General Secretary Xi Jinping teaches comrades of the entire Party to connect learning, thinking and application and to unify knowledge, faith and practice, among which faith is the key. Only with true faith can there be true learning and true application of what is learned. Only by having selfconfidence can one be self-conscious and self-strengthening. Not only does telling China’s story well depend on the force of logic, more importantly it also depends on the force of confidence. In order to convince others, first of all it is necessary to convince ourselves. The path, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics take deep roots in the fertile soil of Chinese culture, are synthesized closely with conditions of China’s development and in line with the development trend of the world, and have created many a historic and groundbreaking miracle, which is the ultimate strength of our self-confidence. “Of all the political parties, countries, and peoples in the world today, none have as much cause to be confident as the CPC, the People’s Republic of China, and the Chinese people.” Only by confidence can we tell the CPC’s story well in a righteous and self-confident way, can we constantly retain strategic resolve in face of questioning, misunderstanding, distortion and even accusation from

the outside world, and can we tell China’s story well in a self-confident and undaunted way.

It is necessary to underline the strength of our system, which is the key to tell China’s story well. As General Secretary Xi Jinping observes, the strength of its system is the greatest strength of a country; and competition between systems is the most fundamental competition between countries. At present, the reasons why individual countries hold this or that prejudice against China rest with the fact that they do not accept our system, do not recognize the great achievements of a socialist China under the leadership of the CPC, and attempt to separate the CPC from China’s achievements. Therefore, it is essential to tell Chinese system’s story well. The fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee listed notable strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics in thirteen aspects, especially in the aspects generally acknowledged by the international community such as our outstanding performance in poverty reduction and poverty alleviation, our unprecedented forcefulness in fighting against corruption, our efforts in adhering to reform and innovate and in continuing to develop economy and improve livelihood of the people, the strong leadership and administrative capacity of the CPC, and China’s initiatives such as the construction of the Belt and Road and a community with a shared future for humanity.

In particular, it is necessary for us, in combination with the practice of completing the construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, to tell well the logic of the system behind, underlining the strength of our system and enabling the international community to understand that it is owing to the fact that “we have embarked on a successful road of building the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics” that China has been able to make today’s achievements.

It is necessary to adhere to the spirit of mutual learning, which is the principle for telling China’s story well. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out that diversity spurs interaction among civilizations, which in turn promotes mutual learning and their further development. He also calls for building a new type of party to party relations that features seeking common ground while shelving differences, mutual respect and mutual learning, and at the same time, emphasizes that we do not want to “import” models from other countries, nor do we want to “export” the Chinese model, still less will we ask other countries to copy the Chinese practice. All of the above has provided the guideline and made clear the direction for us to tell China’s story well. China’s development has drawn on and taken reference of the achievements of other civilizations. It is neither to export China’s path, theory and system nor to ask other peoples to accept Chinese culture wholesale that we tell China’s story to the outside world, but rather to wish to enhance the international community’s understanding of China and to jointly build a better world by mutual learning and drawing on the strengths of others to make up for the weakness of our own, by upholding the beauty of each civilization and the diversity of civilizations in the world, and by achieving common development.

As General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “Since we have the ability to run China’s affairs well, should we not have the ability to tell China’s story well?” It is a grand project of system engineering to tell China’s story, which demands our lasting and unswerving efforts. In this process, we need to both have full confidence and enhance our capacity, both strengthen platform building and, more importantly, take content for focal point, both take ourselves for the principal and connect our efforts to international concerns, and bring to our audience both the facts and the reasons. The Party’s international work has its unique advantage in this regard, and as long as we make concerted efforts, firm up our confidence, temper our ability, and integrate Chinese and foreign advantages, we will surely do well in telling China’s story and telling the CPC’s story, and help create a more favorable international environment for achieving the two centenary goals and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.