By Elsbeth van Paridon & Ryan Perkins
An international academic conference on The Communist Party of China (CPC) Governing the Country: Experience and Enlightenment was held in Shanghai, birthplace of the CPC, on July 20. The event was jointly organized by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, China International Publishing Group and Fudan University. More than 200 academics and experts from home and abroad gathered for exchange and research discussions. Edited excerpts of the experts’ views follow:
Du Zhanyuan, President of China International Publishing Group
Facing the impact of COVID-19, compounded with major changes unseen in a century, hegemony and power politics, as well as insufficient economic growth, more and more countries and political parties want to learn about the practices of the CPC in governing the country. Four points can summarize the CPC’s success.
The CPC always adheres to its People First commitment. In the 1930s, Edgar Snow, a well-known American journalist who first publicized the CPC in his book Red Star Over China, pointed out that the CPC draws its strength from the Chinese people. For the CPC, People First is more than a concept, it’s a practice. It is not only the most valuable source of power in the Party’s century-long struggle, but also the essence of governance ideology deeply rooted in Chinese culture.
The great changes over the past 100 years in China have proved that only socialism with Chinese characteristics can solve the development problems of contemporary China. China’s successful practice sends a valuable message to the world: All countries should take the modernization path that suits their national conditions.
While governing the country, the CPC has never stopped innovating and advancing with the times. Over the past 100 years, the CPC has continued to innovate theoretically, developed in response to the risks and tests it has faced in various historical periods. Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress held in 2012, the CPC has undertaken a series of initiatives to promote a stronger organization and stricter Party discipline.
Over the past 100 years, the CPC has persisted in closely associating the future of the Chinese people with that of the other countries of the world.
China is ever closer to the world’s center stage. As the world’s largest ruling party, the CPC is making even greater contributions in advancing the development of humanity. Since last year, the CPC has been actively promoting international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, providing more than 100 countries and international organizations with more than 500 million doses of vaccines and concentrates, equivalent to one sixth of overall global production. This is the fourth guiding principle: building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Xie Chuntao, Vice President of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC
It has been 100 years since the founding of the CPC, and more than 70 years of the CPC in power. Its great success in governing the country is a worldwide recognized fact. The CPC has eight advantages in governing the country: the unique political party system; the unitary state structure; a strong organizational system; the dominant position of public ownership; Party control of cadre management; the concept of People First; inheriting and exploring Chinese traditional culture; and theoretical innovation and development.
China practices a multi-party cooperation and political consultation system led by the CPC. There are nine political parties in China of which the CPC is the ruling one. They consult with each other over the development of the country and the wellbeing of the people. Therefore, major decisions in China are made quickly and executed swiftly. The unitary state structure makes China’s Central Government concentrate all resources to accomplish large undertakings on the one hand and support the less developed regions through financial transfers and assistance on the other.
The medical teams from across China that went to support Wuhan at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak are a good example. The CPC is a strong organizational system. There are more than 4 million local Party organizations in China, and they play a great role in effectively organizing and mobilizing the community and society at large. China has the best infrastructure development in the world; China’s public ownership of land is one of the reasons making this possible. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) also play an important role in people’s livelihood.
–The Daily Mail-Beijing Review News Exchange Item
