Learning from China’s approach
Led by the CPC, the nation has risen up to the challenges of poverty, the pandemic
In the recently published third volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, President Xi has said, “Leadership organs and leading officials must fully understand the responsibilities with which they have been entrusted, (stay) sober-minded, and regularly examine and improve themselves.”
This speaks volumes about the importance Xi attaches to duty, principle, Chinese officials’ orientation and their commitment to serve the people. It is these very attributes that have helped China realize its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eradicating absolute poverty, which are milestones in development for not only China but also the rest of the world.
China has now embarked on the journey to achieve its second centenary goal of developing the country into a great modern socialist society that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, and beautiful by the middle of this century.
The resolutions of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee in November complement the country’s key development blueprints aimed at reshaping Chinese society and tackling the new developmental challenges facing the entire world. The plenary session’s resolutions raise hopes at a time when the world is facing great uncertainties due to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many countries are struggling to cope with these impacts while some are somehow managing the crisis. However, China’s approach to deal with the challenges has helped restore normalcy in the country and ensure economic recovery.
After suffering in the early days of the pandemic, the Chinese economy has bounced back and China is supplying medicines, medical equipment and COVID-19 vaccines to other countries to help them contain the pandemic, bringing new hope to the world, especially the developing world. China’s generous support should be praised, in particular because some developed countries have resorted to “vaccine nationalism”, even as many developing countries are struggling to save lives due to a lack of vaccines.
China’s strong political leadership, scientific planning and “people first” policy have been behind the country’s rise, and are also reflected in its support to other countries to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Indeed, the CPC is committed to helping other countries in need while taking care of the needs of the Chinese people.
China’s confidence in its own development path, which is different from the Western model, has helped the nation make miraculous progress in science and technology, promote innovations, and strengthen research and development, which in turn has helped it realize the first centenary goal.
But China also faces some challenges such as the declining working-age population and rapidly rising aging population, which could slow down its economic growth, put immense pressure on its social security system, and make it difficult for it to beat the “middleincome trap”.
Many developing and leastdeveloped countries, too, are facing multiple challenges and are in need of cooperation and help from other countries to overcome their economic woes, especially because the pandemic has restricted human mobility worldwide and climate change has increased extreme weather events.
The world order and the global economy are undergoing unprecedented changes at a time when people’s ability to cope with climate change-induced disasters has weakened compared with the earlier decades. Against this backdrop, global and regional cooperation and coordination to tackle the emerging challenges, including climate change, and ensure the well-being of the people around the world have become all the more necessary.
Though less visible, the challenges created by climate change have become so entrenched that they pose one of the greatest threats to people’s livelihoods and sustainable development.
In this regard, China’s approach to addressing the emerging problems can be useful for the rest of the world, particularly in the fields of infrastructure development, poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation.