China’s Development in the New Era to Make Greater Contributions to the World

[Italy] Vladimiro Giacché

Since entering into the new era， China has made extraordinary achievements， most noteworthy being that the 5th Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee decided to accelerate efforts to foster a new development paradigm that is focused on the domestic economy but features positive interplay between domestic and international economic flows. This is a very attractive concept. The CPC leading the people to foster a new development paradigm will be the strategic move  for advancing Chinas high-quality development.

China in the New Era Sets Greater Store by Solving Practical Problems

At the convocation of the 18th CPC National Congress， though Chinas reform， open-up and construction of socialist modernization had already made great achievements， the country still faced a series of outstanding contradictions and problems crying for resolution， the contradictions and problems accumulated over the years or newly cropping up， protruding economic structural and institutional contradictions， unbalanced， uncoordinated and unsustainable development， and traditional development model difficult to go on. In 2017， the 19th CPC National Congress made it clear that the principal contradiction in the Chinese society is that between the ever-growing needs of the people for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development.

In face of such protruding contradictions， the CPC came up with the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy， organically synthesizing practices in various domains and an overall strategy with multiple goals. Against this background， Chinese socialism in the new era has achieved inspiring results： nearly 100 million rural people shaking off poverty， resolving the problem of absolute poverty in China once and for all， making great contributions to global poverty alleviation; Chinas GDP more than doubled over the past decade， accounting for 18.5% of the global total， an increase of 7.2 percentage points over that of 2012; China becoming the worlds largest food grain producer， the worlds largest manufacturing power， having built the worlds largest high speed rail network; and nationwide R&D spending increasing by nearly two folds （from 1 trillion yuan to 2.8 trillion yuan）， with the country joining the ranks of the worlds innovators， its ranking in Global Innovation Index rising from 34th place to 11th.

At the same time， the CPC has kept strategic sober-mindedness and the courage to reform itself， sparing no effort in solving problems encountered by the country in rapid development， such as uneven and inadequate regional development， development and income gaps remaining large between town and country， and bottlenecks standing in the way of high-quality development; hard nuts existing for reform of key areas; people facing many difficulties relating to employment， education， medical services， childcare， eldercare and housing; ecological environment protection remaining an arduous task; some Party members and officials lacking fighting ability or spirit for solid work， and affected by pointless formalities and bureaucratism. As it is clear that the above problems and challenges may grow in seriousness in proportion to Chinas huge population， the 20th CPC National Congress made plans and arrangements to deal with them.

Applying Systematic Thinking to Tackling Difficulties Arising in the Course of Development

The CPC has enhanced systematic thinking for solving problems， adapting the basic tenets of Marxism to Chinas specific realities， and applying scientific worldview and methodology to solving Chinese problems. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized time after time， “All things are interconnected and interdependent. We must view them with the understanding that they are universally connected， part of a complete system， and constantly evolving if we are to grasp the laws governing their development.” Such a systematic thinking involves two dimensions of time and space. To be concrete， it calls for improving a strategic perspective and applying a historical approach to thinking while giving coordinated consideration to relationship between Chinese affairs and issues concerning people of all countries， issues facing mankind， that is， to “expand our global vision” as emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping. It means that as the Chinese people contribute to human progress and world harmony， they should keep an open mind and draw inspiration from all of human civilizations outstanding achievements.

Going by this systematic thinking， the development model to be fostered cannot and should not be an imperialist， self-centered and exclusive model， but rather an inclusive one， not to impose ones own model upon others but to focus on learning from others， regardless of their development status. The purpose of learning from others is to improve ones own model so as to improve its efficacy， agility and resilience. The CPC will stick to the path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics， neither retracing its steps to the rigidity and isolation of the past， nor taking a wrong turn by changing its nature and abandoning its system. At the same time， the CPC respects and supports people of all countries in independently choosing their own development paths， drawing together with them a new picture of humanitys modernization in which “one hundred flowers are in full blossom”.

Important Practical and World Significance of Fostering a New Development Paradigm

While promoting high-level opening up， China accelerates efforts to foster a new pattern of development that is focused on the domestic economy but features positive interplay between domestic and international economic flows， which is of great significance to China and the world as a whole. The CPC has combined the strategy of expanding domestic demand with the focus on increasing total factor productivity， promoting high-quality development， and improving competitiveness of Chinese economy.

From the perspective of holistic social structure， China still features a mixed economy， consisting of a state sector of state assets and state-owned enterprises developing strong， and a private sector increasingly growing and thriving. The CPC has made clear time after time its determination to enhance both the state and private sectors， setting the goal of developing a high-standard market system， taking stronger action against monopolies and unfair competition， and doing away with local protectionism and administrative monopoly.

As General Secretary Xi Jinping remarked， the social security system is an extremely important part of stable and effective governance. China in the new era has made historic leap in developing social security： average life expectancy reaching 78.2 years; having built the largest education， social security， and medical care systems in the world; historic strides having been taken in making education universally available; bringing 1.04 billion people under the coverage of basic old-age insurance， and ensuring basic medical insurance for 95 percent of the population. Of course， much remains to be done for the CPC， especially population aging being a challenge China has to meet. In the future， it will be an important goal of fostering a new development paradigm to further improve the social security system， improve basic old-age insurance， and promoting orderly linking up of medical insurance programs at different levels. The CPC will further improve income distribution system， giving more weight to work remuneration in primary distribution， enhancing the roles of taxation， social security， and transfer payments in regulating income distribution， and providing guidance and support for enterprises， social organizations， and individuals who have the desire and ability to actively participate in charitable and public-interest initiatives.

Chinese modernization is one of harmony between humanity and nature. The CPC takes holistic and systematic approach to complex issue of environmental governance， especially having the clear understanding of the interaction between environment and governance concept and the background of the issue， as negligence of the side-effect of environmental governance may compromise the successful achievement of goals.

The CPC has taken measures for environmental protection and smooth transition to new energy on the basis of careful and thorough planning. Its planning mechanism provides important assurance for the Party to forcefully push forward the construction of socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics， bearing important inspiring significance for other government parties in the world. Chinas environmental protection measures deserve learning and taking reference by the West， as European green transformation plans， though ambitious， lack correct planning on concrete measures. It was precisely because of rejecting meticulous planning， and neglecting the principle of “establishing the new before doing away with the old” that triggered off upsurge of energy costs that have troubled Europe since mid-2021： before building sufficient replacement energy system， measures had been taken in practice against further investment in fossil energy， and once energy consumption rebounded due to major public health emergency and geopolitical crisis， energy prices necessarily soared.

The CPCs planning mechanism is very inspiring， as displayed by Chinas ability in taking action in building a Beautiful China. This is due to its ability to understand that all things are interconnected and interdependent and to avoid falling into the empty propaganda trap that is divorced from facts.

Chinas governance structure gives its government the power to plan development and implement the plan while seeing that the market plays the decisive role in resource allocation. The CPC leads the people in planning and fostering the new development paradigm， so that Chinese modernization will better address the concerns and meet diversified needs of the people.

The development philosophy of the CPC has always contained the thinking of win-win cooperation. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his keynote address at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting on March 15， 2023， a China that accelerates the building of a new development paradigm will provide the world with more and better public products， and with a Chinese market of a larger scale and stronger demand. Of this， we are convinced and full of expectations.

Vladimiro Giacché is Vice-President of Marx21 -- Political Cultural Association