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Monday, March 12, 2018, 11:29
Party key to building socialism in the new era
By China Daily
Monday, March 12, 2018, 11:29 By China Daily

(LI MIN / CHINA DAILY)

The defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China, which has been rightfully written into the country's Constitution as the nation steps into the new era.

The leadership of the Party is the right historical choice made by China and its people, which has been reflected not only in the hard times of war, but also in New China's painstaking exploration for socialism which began in 1949 and its socialist modernization since implementation of reform and opening-up in 1978. In nearly one century of its leadership, the Party has served as a basic political guarantee and a strong power for the Chinese people to achieve one victory after another.

As a new historical stage of China's social development, the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a critical period linking the past to the future, throughout which the Party will continue to play its powerful, essential leadership role. This is closely related to not only the historical contribution of the CPC to the Chinese nation and people, but also associated with the leadership quality and governance capability the CPC has acquired in its long struggle to meet the fundamental needs for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

On the basis of its military struggles during the period of war and arduous explorations in the 29 years before the reform and opening-up, and through its efforts to build socialism with Chinese characteristics over the past four decades, the Party has accumulated rich experiences in China's governance.

On the macro level, the Party's governance experiences include innovatively advancing its guiding ideology with the times and constructing major systems, such as the evolution and upgrading of the socialist theories with Chinese characteristics and the optimization of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

On the medium level, the Party's governance experiences include important perceptions and methods of governance in various fields, as indicated by the report General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered to the 19th CPC National Congress which stresses 14"adheres to". And on the micro level, the Party has never stopped devising concrete methods of work based on the changing situations, such as the targeted poverty alleviation measures.

Party governance reflects characteristics of socialism

These governance experiences are marked by not only distinct development features and national characteristics, but also the essential characteristics of socialism. They reflect China's particularity, as well as its ability to develop features that are applicable to other developing countries. These experiences of the CPC are immensely valuable for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

With 89 million members, the CPC is the world's largest political party, and through its arduous and painstaking struggles, it has built unbreakable ties with the Chinese people. By adhering to the Party Constitution - as a basic principle - and democratic centralism, the CPC has formed a set of strict, resilient and adaptable Party governance systems.

The source of the Party's power lies in its army of self-disciplined and united Party members.

In the different historical situations and missions, the Party members have performed with high efficiency to fulfill the tasks entrusted to them by the Chinese people. So during the intensified efforts to advance the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Chinese people should be fully confident that the Party will meet their expectations.

Leadership core unites people to achieve success

Another source of the Party's strength is the establishment of a powerful leadership and leadership core. The Party has always attached great importance to building such a leadership and leadership core. Deng Xiaoping, the core of the second-generation Party leadership, said the possession of a leadership and leadership core is a "key issue to China", "the Party and Chinese people need such a leadership", and "any leadership should have a core, otherwise, it would be undependable".

Since the 18th Party Congress in late 2012, the CPC has formed a new leadership with Xi Jinping as the core, which, with its strong theoretical courage, governance capability and political wisdom, has consolidated China's foundation and opened up a new landscape for the cause of the Party and the nation. The Party and its powerful leadership core are the most important guarantee for the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The Party also attaches great importance to combining theories and practice, and using practice to examine the theories, which has helped raise the scientific quality of its guiding ideology. The set of Party principles, from Mao Zedong Thought to Deng Xiaoping Theory, from the Theory of Three Represents to the Scientific Outlook on Development and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, show the CPC's guiding ideology has advanced with the times and developed based on practices.

Among them, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, presented at the 19th Party Congress, is the latest Marxist applicable to China and the crystallization of practical experiences of the Party, the Chinese people and collective wisdom. As an important component of the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics, Xi's thought is an action guide for the entire Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups to struggle for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, which should always be adhered to and developed by the Party.

Under the guidance of the scientific ideology, the Party has continuously demonstrated its pioneering, struggling and innovative spirit. In his Spring Festival address, President Xi Jinping said that helping the people fulfill their pursuit of a better life is the goal of our work. He also said we should stay true to our original commitment, keep in mind our mission, and continue to cut a path through the mountains and build a bridge across the rapid currents. Such remarks reflect the struggling spirit of the Party.

Party system contributes to democracy in China

Every political party has its internal institutional system. Due to their different missions, guiding ideologies, compositions of members, and historical and cultural resources, different political parties have different institutional systems. Thanks to its long-term reform and construction, the CPC has built a strict scientific institutional system, which has laid an important institutional foundation for the leadership core to build socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The CPC's institutional system adheres to democratic centralism, which guarantees democracy for Party members, and takes into account the efficiency of the Party's work. It also resolutely safeguards the Party's solidarity and unity. The Party Constitution clearly stipulates that individual Party members must obey the Party organization, the minority is subordinate to the majority, the lower-level organizations are subordinates to higher-level ones, and all Party organizations and members should obey the Party Central Committee. It also demands self-governance, self-improvement and self-purification.

Stricter self-governance is the Party's long-cherished tradition. In recent years, the Party has further strengthened institution building to prevent officials from indulging in corruption, in a bid to rid the Party of destructive factors, and offer an important institutional guarantee for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a great cause pioneered by the CPC, and the development of the cause has greatly enhanced the Party's overall capability, and expanded its development space. Hence socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Party are mutually driving, mutually optimizing and mutually enabling powers.

Chen Wenhui is a researcher in economics at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology.

Liu Dongchao is a professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance.

Unified leadership boosts structural reform

In China, President Xi Jinping heads the Party, the military and the country. Unlike the head of the Party and the military, the president had a term limit, which was revised through an amendment to the country's Constitution. Consequently, the amendment allows a more unified leadership.

In reality, the amendment does not indicate changes in the retirement system for Party and national leaders. Nor does it mean a life-long-term for leading officials.

Rather, the new consolidation is vital to expedite structural reforms and intensify the fight against corruption, which is supported widely. Indeed, after Xi's first term, the Gallup World Poll in January found that more people in the world approved of China's leadership than the current US leadership.

At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was added to the Party Constitution.

Chairman Mao Zedong made possible a sovereign China that led to first efforts at industrial take-off. But China's industrial revolution materialized when late leader Deng Xiaoping took over in the 1980s. After more than three decades of dramatic industrialization, Xi's first team began building a post-industrial society in 2012, which his new team is likely to complete.

Under Xi, China's rebalancing from investment and net exports to innovation and consumption has intensified, and is likely to be completed by 2030, which could be Xi's most important economic legacy. During his term, Chinese people's living standards have grown almost 50 percent. And extreme poverty will be eradicated by 2020.

Chinese foreign investment is creating jobs and bringing capital worldwide. And the yuan has been playing an increasingly vital role in the portfolios of central banks and institutional investors.

While Washington has distanced itself from global cooperation and environmental protection, China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative and is morphing into a leader in the fight against climate change.

And the major-country diplomacy is heralding a greater role for China in large emerging economies, which is fuelling global growth prospects and may well prove Xi's most important international legacy.

Dan Steinbock is the founder of Difference Group and has served in the India, China and America Institute (USA), Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Centre (Singapore).

Xi leadership key to winning anti-graft fight

Corruption has severe harmful effects on a country. It gives an unfair advantage to the corrupt businesspeople in their competition with honest individuals.

As a consequence, the honest suffer at the hands of the dishonest, and money power supersedes public interest in official decisions, leading to policies and actions by government agencies that favor the few corrupt tycoons instead of the honest hundreds of millions engaged in productive activities. Also, the costs of projects go up so as to cover the bribes paid to ensure their completion.

In this context, the anti-corruption campaign led by President Xi Jinping is necessary for China to escape the "middle-income trap" to become a high-income country in the near future. And China has been trying to institutionalize the anti-graft fight by setting up a nationwide supervisory mechanism.

But such a campaign is bound to face opposition from those officials affected by the strong measures that Xi has implemented to first reduce and finally eliminate official corruption.

Usually, so-called anti-corruption campaigns punish only a few junior officials while allowing high-level officials to escape unpunished. The fact is that corruption cannot be controlled unless the fight against graft reaches the top, and it is clear that Xi is not afraid to bring to justice even those officials who are very powerful and influential.

The best defense against the efforts of the officials working to block the anti-corruption campaign is strong leadership, a quality that Xi has in abundance.

Of course, to win this battle against corruption, Xi needs to be given time and the required authority and power. And should he succeed in his endeavor, which seems highly likely, the Chinese people will celebrate their country becoming the world's most powerful economy in a few years. This will be a remarkable journey for China that until a few decades ago was an impoverished country.

M.D. Nalapat is a professor of Geopolitics at Manipal University, India.

Constitutional revision to help build beautiful China

Building a beautiful China and an ecological civilization has been written into the country's Constitution to reconcile economic development and ecological protection, fill the gaps in terms of environmental governance and comply with people's aspirations and wishes. The move was in response to serious air, water and air pollution that affected China because of rapid economic growth.

Acutely aware of the serious environmental problems caused by breakneck industrialization, the Chinese government has been putting in place increasingly stricter environmental protection measures to improve people's life and health, and protect the ecosystems.

Industrial development and widespread use of coal for power generation and heating have resulted in heavy air pollution. Unregulated industrial (including mining) and domestic discharges have contaminated the soil and water bodies in many areas. In 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said 16.1 percent of China's productive soil was polluted.

The latest plan announced is expected to ensure steady economic growth continues, so as to lift millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Action plans for prevention and control of soil, water and air pollution have also been prepared as integral components of this ambitious but implementable vision.

Since a beautiful China cannot be built overnight, targets have been set for 2020 and 2030, and the results will be regularly monitored and assessed to ensure the process progresses smoothly. And officials will be made accountable for their environmental actions and decisions.

The latest plan is an important shift in the country's development paradigm, which will help build a prosperous and beautiful China. This includes new ways of generating energy, and managing air, water and soil to progressively reduce pollution levels.

A greener development model will include generating hydropower, and harnessing wind and solar power to produce energy, and steadily decreasing the use of coal. Policies will be backed by strict regulations and enforcement, actions that were mostly missing in the past.

China has been pursuing green development for some years now. For example, by 2015, it had already installed almost half of the world's added wind power. And in 20 years, it is expected to lead the world in the use of renewable sources of energy, fast transition to electric vehicles, and tougher rules and regulations for controlling the harmful effects of industrialization on the environment.

Recent attempts to reduce air pollution in Beijing have been successful. In January, the government reported that the levels of PM 2.5, one of the most dangerous air pollutants, had dropped to 34 micrograms per cubic meter, nearly one-third less than the level five years ago. In 2013, when the government announced that the PM 2.5 target for 2018 will be less than 60 microgram per cubic meter, even many Chinese people, let alone foreigners, considered it to be too ambitious and thus unachievable. But thanks to good planning and determined implementation, the target has been achieved.

Just like China's economic development over the past four decades has been unprecedented, the country will make good progress in controlling environmental pollution - much faster than any developed country has managed over the past century - which will pave the way for building an ecological civilization and a beautiful China.

Cecilia Tortajada is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.

Asit K. Biswas is a distinguished visiting professor at the same school.

Xi's policies offer peaceful future

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative has emerged as the brightest prospect to develop a long new era of peace, mutual cooperation and stability across Asia.

China has supplanted the United States and far outstripped Japan as the main driver of economic growth in Asia. Such a profound evolutionary jump in global patterns of investment and trade cannot be made without considerable disruptions and short-term discomfort on all sides.

China's investment in Africa is now the main locomotive driving economic growth. The value and importance of this development are immense. It has also increased the importance for global prosperity as well as peace, by securing the long sea trade routes across the Indian Ocean and through the archipelago nations of the Western Pacific.

In such times and to address such enormous challenges, continuity of policy and stability of government is essential in China for domestic development, sustained international investment and expanded trade. For this reason, the revision of the two-term limit for China's president should be welcomed around the world.

President Xi Jinping has continually followed policies of peace, and increased trade with and boosted investment in the rest of the world while applying wise and beneficial investment and development policies at home. International investors will therefore respond positively to the move to ensure his continuation in office.

China's growth has been so fast and impressive it is inevitable that it should have provoked some concern in xenophobic pockets around the world. But there should be no mistake about what is really at stake here. China has provided an admirable model for peaceful growth and development throughout the 21st century. These policies have immeasurably benefited not only the Chinese people but also other peoples and economies across the world, especially across Asia and Africa.

The real conflict and policy debate over China's policies therefore is clear: It is not between China and its neighbors or between Xi and the critics of his policies. It is between a shared future of peace, trade and growing living standards - and those opposed to that future.

Martin Sieff is an adjunct professor of Transnational Threats at BAU International University in Washington DC.


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