Historical Accomplishment and Leadership Vitality of the CPC

This July 1 is historically significant for the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese people. CPC is celebrating its 100th anniversary and it is a milestone on a political historical dynamism of the entire Chinese history. Since its founding, CPC has been serving Chinese people and contributing brilliantly to achieving great developmental goals. CPC’s entire history shows that the responsible political party has a deep impact and influence on Chinese society and its relations with people can be symbolized like fish and water.

CPC was formed in 1921 with an aim of transforming Chinese society and building a socialist, modern and prosperous China. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, with 28 years of hard struggle, CPC succeeded in establishing the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. CPC defeated feudal and corrupt ruling group Kuomintang, and played a crucial role in establishing a new modern China.

One thing we shouldn’t forget is that CPC not only became a leading political party in China, but also has become a benign and cooperative political party among global community. The Party maintains friendly relations with hundreds of political parties of many countries today. This scenario opens possibilities to further accelerate deeper cooperation and exchange between various institutions of different countries.

Before formally launching the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, Chinese leadership had experimented with various practices to explore the pathways in socialist construction. Chinese leadership formally launched reform and opening-up policy under the initiative of Deng Xiaoping. Some western experts mentioned that 1978 reform was only related to economic reform, but this is an ill-conceived judgement. With the grand vision of reform and opening-up policy, China had formulated and implemented multiple reforms on politics, economy, policy, science and technology, foreign relations, and many other sectors. The major vision for this entire process is based on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. China never blindly copied other’s experiences of Marxism, but implements Marxism theory based on China’s historical, cultural and political conditions, and people’s aspirations.

Becoming the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012, and President of China in 2013, Xi Jinping has made the party and Chinese nation even stronger and more confident. President Xi has accelerated all-around economic, social, political, cultural, and ecological development. Chinese leadership succeeded in eliminating absolute poverty last year.

CPC leadership always follows the people-centered approach. As President Xi said, the Party will be strong and vital forever as long as it stays together with the people very closely. CPC is different from western political parties in many ways, such as organization structure, vitality, system and management style. Based on China’s own characteristics and socio-cultural historical aspect, CPC has built an innovative and productive party system and leadership mechanism. Due to that, still at the 100th anniversary, this party is dynamic, active, and vibrant to carry out all-around development in China.

With over forty years of reform and opening-up under the CPC leadership, China is expected to overtake US economy by 2028 according to Japan Center for Economic Research and some other international financial institutions. Though the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic had affected on Chinese economy at the beginning, since the mid of 2020, the Chinese economy has come back to the dynamic track. This situation occurs because of the giant integrated efforts of CPC leadership, government, companies and working people.

As a foreign expert and academician working and living in China, what I have observed is that even in the difficult time of the pandemic, Chinese people worked hard while following the instructions of the government’s medical institutions. No doubt that the main reason behind it is the people’s deep trust upon a government led by CPC. Similarly, due to the trust of the people, CPC leadership seems even more confident of working to accomplish the remaining goals of the Chinese dream.

In 2020, the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee approved a new strategy called “dual circulation”, aiming to increase domestic consumption and reduce more dependence on external demand given the increasingly complex international economic environment.

The Chinese government has reiterated its commitment to broader cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Due to the severe impact of Covid-19 in many BRI countries, there have been some difficulties to complete the projects on time, but China has said it would continue to support the accomplishment of the projects.

Fairly speaking, CPC is the most successful political party for the overall socio-economic development of China. Many surveys show maximum satisfaction of Chinese people to the Party. The role of Chinese leadership in fighting against Covid-19 has been highly appreciated not only in China but also around the world. According to a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Science, 96 percent respondents were satisfied with the role of the government to control the pandemic.

Under the leadership of Xi, the international influence of the Party and the country has been increasing. The peaceful development approach of China has earned many friends in the world and contributed to the peace, stability and prosperity of the global community.

As Xi said, the purpose of China’s foreign policy is to maintain world peace and promote the construction of a new type of international relations with cooperation and win-win at the core, and promote the formation of a community with a shared future for humanity.

At a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on May 31, Xi underscored the importance to tell the country’s stories in a positive way, presenting the image of a credible, lovable and respectable China. Now at a time of critical situation during Covid-19 pandemic, China’s medical aid and vaccine supply to the countries affected by the pandemic are the stories.

In summary, while celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding, CPC is still an incredibly dynamic and successful political party. It makes policies and implements governance based on China’s characteristics. Under the leadership of CPC, Chinese people have stood up, gotten rich and stronger. Notably, history shows that the strong and prosperous China is cooperative and constructive for enhancing multiple relations with the global community. On this occasion, personally, I want to wish CPC leadership, its members and Chinese people success in their socialist modernization and greater future.

Dr. Buddhi Prasad Sharma is an Associate Professor at Leshan Normal University and Senior Research Fellow at Centre for Trans-Himalaya Studies.

The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of China Focus.