BEIJING: Even before the third decade of the 21st century began, China had already broken several world records. It had ended extreme poverty and landed a module on the far side of Moon. On December 4, 2020, China successfully commissioned its new-generation nuclear fusion research device, a crucial breakthrough in taming nuclear energy that could meet all our energy needs for centuries to come.
China has thus become a model for countries trying to lift themselves out of poverty, and also for all those in the West who have sat on their laurels and must today choose between falling into the dustbin of history, or resuming their scientific and technological prowess and responding to the legitimate aspirations of the people.
Secret of China’s progress
The secret of China’s development lies in the ideals its leaders have infused in the country: Chinese-style socialism, which puts the people first. In his speech at the closing meeting of the First Session of the 13th National People’s Congress in March 2018, President Xi Jinping called on all state personnel to “always put the people first, always serve the people wholeheartedly, and always work hard for the people’s interests and happiness.”
“The people are the creators of history,” he said, drawing his inspiration from the very cradle of Chinese civilization.
First, there were China’s great thinkers like Lao Zi, Confucius and Mencius. Then came the scientific inventions that have profoundly influenced humanity: papermaking, gunpowder, printing and the compass. Besides literary masterpieces, the ancient Chinese have also excelled in monumental projects that are still admired, like the Great Wall, the flood control and irrigation system in Dujiangyan of Sichuan Province, and the Forbidden City, the erstwhile royal palace in Beijing that is now known as the Palace Museum.
China now aims to reach a new level of prosperity by 2035. In this context, I was glad to read Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Volume III where several speeches are devoted to programs to reduce extreme poverty. We would like to hear about such programs from our leaders in the West.
Xi played a pioneering role in improving these programs when as a young official, he was deputed to poor areas that have since flourished. From 2012 to 2017, China’s rural poor population fell from 98.99 million to 30.46 million.
According to Xi, the success of these programs was also due to the fact that the poor areas had received help from the first Communist Party of China secretaries as well as the teams deployed there to identify problems and find solutions. In 2018, no less than 195,000 first Party secretaries were assigned in these areas, assisted by 775,000 working team members.
– The Daily Mail-Beijing Review News exchange item
