Xinhua Commentary: Through deepening reform comprehensively, China and world witness profound changes

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) — A think tank report released on Tuesday offers a new perspective on China and its reform agenda following a key policy meeting last month that charts the course for the future reform of the world’s second-largest economy.
Titled “Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization: Major Achievements and Global Contributions,” the report was jointly issued by the think tanks under the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Xinhua News Agency. It elaborates on how China will pursue its broad-ranging reforms further and what impact this will have on the rest of the world.
The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC set major principles to be followed, including “upholding the Party’s overall leadership, adhering to a people-centered approach, breaking new ground, and staying committed to law-based governance on all fronts.”
These are all the valuable experience drawn from the success of China’s reform and opening up, and they should continue to serve as key elements in ensuring steady and sustained progress in the further comprehensive deepening of reform.
Chinese modernization provides a fresh perspective on human modernization. Since modernization began in Western capitalist countries, some nations tend to believe that there is only one model of modernization — Western modernization — and only one path to achieving it: capitalism.
However, by focusing on summing up experience and learning lessons while continuously and comprehensively deepening reform, China has successfully explored a modernization path distinct from that of the West.
Reform and opening up have been the most prominent features of China’s modernization. Through unremitting efforts, China’s gross domestic product now ranks the second largest in the world. Just within a decade, nearly 100 million people shook off poverty. The middle-income population has exceeded 400 million, the world’s largest.
The country is also the world’s second-largest consumer market, the biggest online retail sales market, and the second-largest import market. It is also backed by a stable and bumper grain output and has built the world’s largest carbon market and clean power generation system.
Facing complicated domestic and international situations and a new wave of technology and industrial revolution, the CPC is earnest and steadfast in further advancing reform.
Openness is a hallmark of China’s modernization. From steadily expanding institutional openness to deepening reforms in the foreign trade system; from reforming the management system for foreign investment and outbound investment to improving regional opening-up planning, a series of plans made at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC demonstrate China’s firm commitment to cooperating with the world for win-win outcomes and common development in the new era.
China’s contributions to the world are evident. Initiatives such as the establishment of 22 pilot free trade zones, the Hainan Free Trade Port, and the China International Import Expo have created significant opportunities for other countries.
On the new journey, China will stay committed to opening up to promote reform, expand international cooperation, and develop new institutions for a higher-level open economy.
The ultimate goal of China’s modernization is to ensure a better life for its over 1.4 billion people. At the same time, a continuously modernizing China will undoubtedly provide the world with more opportunities, inject greater momentum into international cooperation, and contribute significantly to the progress of all humanity. ■