Xi leads China toward modernization

In the report delivered to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Sunday, Xi Jinping said that from this day forward, the central task of the CPC will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China with Xi Jinping at the core, China has adopted the right policies both domestically and internationally for common development. Due to his evolving strategy, China has been playing an exceptional role in international relations and global governance.

Also, the Xi-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and his call to build a community with a shared future for humankind have been promoting global development.

However, despite its growing influence across the world, China has been reiterating that it will never seek to "dominate" the world. Instead, as always, it will respect the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. In fact, unlike the previous US administration's "America first" policy, Beijing has never adopted a "China first" policy because, as Xi said, no country alone can address the many challenges facing humankind and no country can afford to retreat into isolation.

The 21st century has seen the emergence of many non-traditional security challenges including climate change, cybersecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic which can be overcome only through a common approach and joint global efforts. Perhaps the adoption of China's governance model can help the international community to meet such challenges.

It is because of its governance and development models that China, under Xi's leadership, has eradicated extreme poverty and succeeded in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and maintained a healthy economic growth rate which has helped it remain a major driver of the global economy. And now it is on its path to achieve common prosperity.

More important, by eradicating extreme poverty, China has met the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development's target 10 years ahead of schedule and contributed to more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction. China's achievements in science and technology, on the other hand, have made life and work for people within as well as outside the country more convenient while promoting innovation across the world.

Under the leadership of Xi, China has supplied medicines, COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment to many countries to help them cope with the pandemic, and thus strengthened the global fight against the novel coronavirus.

As a result, the Chinese leadership has gained the trust of many countries around the world. In fact, China has been providing assistance for other developing countries without any political strings attached to boost their economies ever since the People's Republic of China was founded.

Now, with the ongoing 20th National Congress of the CPC, it is expected that China will continue to help resolve global development issues and implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

China's increasing investments around the world have been expanding its global outreach, and prompting it to make more efforts to maintain global peace and stability, in order to better protect its core interests including economic interests.

To safeguard its international investments and further expand its global influence, China has also been providing more and more public goods for other countries. The Belt and Road Initiative is a perfect example of such a policy drive. As a global infrastructure development plan, the initiative has now incorporated many new fields of cooperation, including cultural integration, people-to-people exchanges and academic cooperation.

By doing so, China has more or less ensured the stability of the global economy and strengthened its ties with partner countries. Given these developments and Xi Jinping's leadership, it is very likely that China will once again enter a golden period of peace and development after the 20th Party Congress. And China's path to modernization will provide one more option for the whole world, especially developing countries, to seek their own modernization.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

The author is executive director of the Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future, Islamabad.