Plenum marks milestone in further reform

CPC leadership strikes right balance

The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China serves as a prime example of how China's reform and opening-up policy has evolved since the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978. The communique released after the conclusion of the plenum on Thursday shows how the Party leadership strikes the right balance, dialectically, between internal and external factors.

While dealing with the variables as China's economy and the world economy evolve, the Party remains committed to pursuing Chinese modernization. To steer such a large economy and a country with such a large population in uncertain times is indeed a mind-boggling task.

The third plenum shows the Party remains committed to preserving a socialist market economy and improving Chinese people's living standards, while giving more opportunities to the private sector to shine, and vitalizing rural areas to bridge the urban-rural income gap.

The Party, according to the document, will continue pursuing modernization and industrialization with emphasis on scientific and technological progress, promoting innovation in all areas of the economy and better protecting the environment.

The third plenum also vowed to balance material improvement and spiritual civilization, and enhance "the excellent traditional Chinese culture" while using the rapid development of information and communications technology to cultivate cultural talents.

The Party will also strengthen the military while remaining committed to the peaceful rise of China with a foreign policy based on win-win cooperation through such mechanisms as the Belt and Road Initiative, and further open up the economy to the outside world.

Most importantly, the third plenum emphasized that the Party will implement measures to overcome challenges. In the past, China has taken decisive actions during pandemics and trade wars, enabling the nation to leverage opportunities amid risks and challenges.

This strategic approach positions China to maintain sustainable growth and advance toward achieving socialist modernization by 2035.

This delicate balance between short-term and long-term goals is the unique and admirable feature of China's policymaking today.