Month: June 2021

BEIJING, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — “It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white so long as it catches mice.”

The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s words go straight to the truth of China’s rapid growth – the country has chosen a development path that suits its actual conditions.

Before Deng led China onto the path of reform and opening-up in 1978, China was locked in the ideological box, splitting hairs over socialism vs. capitalism. It insisted that everything and anything regarding socialism must be, by nature, better than capitalism.

At that time, China may have achieved egalitarianism on an unprecedented scale, but it was of poverty – everyone was equally poor.

Deng declared that if socialism means poverty, it is not for China. The choice was socialism with Chinese characteristics for the benefit of the people.

But this has not meant rigid adherence to a centrally-controlled economy. As the country entered a new stage of development, the focus shifted to opening up and overhauling the economy to accelerate industrialization.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has since become China’s most powerful liberating force, igniting innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship and productivity.

It has made the country more dynamic, test-based and forward-looking, and turned the Chinese people into the final arbiters of reform and social experimentation.

It is in this broad context that China has transformed itself into the world’s second largest economy.

Being a socialist country also does not conflict with its efforts to promote a market economy and international trade.

Since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, China’s exports rose nearly ten times to $2.59 trillion in 2020, and imports nearly eight-and-a-half times to $2.05 trillion.

National institutional flexibility explains these strides. It has saved the Chinese people from poverty as well as political and ideological hair-splitting and instilled a strong spirit of pragmatism, realism and hard work among them.

Fast-forwarding to the 21st century, President Xi Jinping has declared that China is now in a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

It is one based on multiculturalism and multilateralism. The country has become a leading champion of free trade, sustainable development, poverty alleviation and environmental protection.

As Deng said, it doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white so long as it catches mice. It doesn’t matter if the system is perceived as socialist or capitalist so long as it can satisfy people’s needs.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-06-28/Development-not-ideology-is-the-hard-truth-11sgoCycZu8/index.html

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1554997/Development_ideology_hard_truth.jpg

BEIJING, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — “As long as I am breathing, I will continue to stand on the podium and give whatever I have to my students. I will never regret this,” said Zhang Guimei, who joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1998 and has spent her entire career providing free education to girls in remote rural areas in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

She made the remarks on Tuesday on behalf of the awardees of the July 1 Medal, the highest honor in the Party, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

As the world explores academic theories that can explain the long-term success of the CPC, an answer is given by its members.

CPC’s original aspiration unchanged

“The recipients are ordinary heroes that fulfill their duties and make quiet contributions,” said President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, when delivering a speech at the ceremony granting the July 1 Medal.

Recipients of the July 1 Medal embody the fundamental tenet of Chinese Communists, which is putting the people at the very center of their hearts and wholeheartedly serving the people, he added.

Since its founding a century ago, the CPC has always kept in mind its founding mission – to seek happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation – and this has been firmly practiced by its members.

The stories of the outstanding Party members as July 1 Medal awardees vividly explain staying true to the original aspiration and founding mission of the Party and more examples in this regard can be easily found in the development of China under the CPC leadership.

In China’s fight against COVID-19 epidemic, more than 39 million CPC members fought the virus at the front line, and more than 13 million volunteered their services. Nearly 400 CPC members have defended others’ lives and safety at the cost of their own.

In China’s poverty alleviation campaign, from 2013 to 2020, more than 3 million Party members were selected and dispatched as first Party secretaries and resident working team members to carry out targeted projects nationwide.

Through continuous efforts, the remaining 98.99 million impoverished rural residents had all been lifted out of poverty by the end of 2020.

Generations of CPC members have fought tenaciously for national independence and liberation, for prosperity and strength of the country, and for the happiness of the people, Xi said.

CPC’s political commitment: People first

The year 2021 marks the centenary of the founding of the CPC and throughout those years, the CPC has remained committed to a people-centered philosophy of development, and serving the people was the main mission of the Party when it was founded in 1921.

In his speech at the awarding ceremony on Tuesday, Xi stressed that the CPC members should put the people’s interests first, work to serve the people, address their needs and stay close to them.

“People” is always a keyword in Xi’s speeches. “The people are the creators of history; they are the fundamental force that determines our Party and country’s future,” he has said, and China’s development is in line with this philosophy.

China’s macroeconomic achievements have also been translated into the well-being of its people. As of 2020, the social security system had covered more than 1.3 billion people.

As China embarks on a new journey of fully building a modern socialist country, Xi in his speech called on CPC members and officials to boldly advance toward the second centenary goal, as well as the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-06-29/CPC-holds-ceremony-to-honor-outstanding-Party-members–11tUUiGwBOM/index.html

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWuZOqZTjTY