Although a shared human value and goal, democracy has never been easy to achieve. There are no ready models to copy, and countries must explore their own paths by drawing on the shared wisdom of Eastern and Western civilizations. Democracy is progressive in nature and comes in all forms.
Over the past 100 years, China has achieved unprecedented success in advancing democracy. This success is explained in its efforts to pursue democracy in the context of domestic cultural traditions and national conditions. Two millennia ago, Confucius, Mencius and other Chinese philosophers believed that the people were the basis of any state, emphasizing that stability must be built on firm foundations. This was fundamentally different from the system of city-states in ancient
Greece. China’s 5,000-year-old civilization cradled its unique culture, which laid down the groundwork for socialism with Chinese characteristics and its many successes.
Shortly before the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) adopted the Common Program of the CPPCC as the provisional constitution of the new republic, stating that the PRC is a state of new democracy, or the people’s democracy. Since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in 2012, democracy has been incorporated in the Party and state constitutions as a component of the core socialist values. As its understanding of democracy grows, in the spirit of people-centered governance, the CPC has created whole-process people’s democracy—a distinctively Chinese approach with global values.
China pursues and promotes authentic democracy. It practices people’s democracy within its borders and contributes to the development of more democratic international relations.
First, a democratic global governance system should be open and inclusive. Democracy is not the prerogative of a few nations, but the common right of the peoples of all nations. In today’s world, globalization has resulted in economic interdependence and the coexistence of different political ideals and systems. According to Democratic Practices and Governance Effectiveness in China, a global survey report recently released by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, “peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom”—those very values advocated by China—achieved an average approval rating of 96.7 percent from the peoples of 23 countries. This indicates that its vision has garnered global support.
Earlier this year, China announced the eradication of absolute poverty in the country, making a historic contribution to eliminating poverty worldwide. While learning from the international community in addressing the problem, it has also shared its experience without reserve. China’s juncao technology, an agricultural technology to cultivate edible and medicinal mushrooms, has been introduced to more than 100 countries and created hundreds of thousands of jobs.
In stark contrast, some countries are aggressively exporting their models of “democracy,” as they want to be hegemons in a unilateral world. An annual report on the global state of democracy in 2021 adds the U.S. to the list of “backsliding” democracies, and shows that its allies are experiencing a democratic decline twice as fast as its non-allies. This further demonstrates that behind closed doors, democracy declines—it can only be nourished through open exchange. Second, a democratic global governance system should aim for common development. A sound global governance system should contribute to the wellbeing of humanity and advance human civilization.
– The Daily Mail-Beijing Review News exchange item
