Beholding the enshrinement of a new era

The closing session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Tuesday marked the opening of another chapter in China's forward march under the Party's leadership.

It was honor to be present as the congress amended the Party Constitution, and elected a new Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

It was a monumental moment that will direct how China will change in the years to come.

The unanimous adoption of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as an amendment to the Party Constitution heralds a significant juncture in the history of China — and the world.

It will chart the course of the country's future.

Amendments to the Party Constitution include the two centenary goals — that China achieves moderate prosperity by 2020, a year before the Party's centennial, and that it becomes a “great modern socialist nation” by 2049, when China will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding.

Indeed, the Party's guiding document has been revised to reflect the realities of China's changing development needs under the leadership of the Party with Xi as its core.

The nation has made sufficient progress on its mission of serving the people that the time has come for a new era to be enshrined in the Party Constitution as a new paradigm to chart the way forward.

And forward is where we go from here.

From this moment in the Great Hall of the People on, Party members at all levels will roll up their sleeves and tackle the hard work of advancing China's development in a new era.

I'm fortunate to have witnessed the country's incredible progress under the Party's leadership during my 11 years working as a journalist in China — especially the outstanding transformations of the past five years.

And I'm eager to see how the outcomes of the congress' close in the Great Hall on Tuesday will manifest on the ground throughout the country in the years to come.