Photo:Xinhua

The CPC (Communist Party of China) and World Political Parties Summit has been held on Tuesday. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president, attended the summit and delivered a keynote speech via video links in Beijing. Photo: screenshot from Xinhua footage

During a summit with leaders of more than 500 world political parties, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, urged attendees to uphold multilateralism, seek cooperation in addressing current challenges that humanity faces and pursue development. 

Development is not the exclusive privilege of a few, and any attempt to thwart other country's development is not welcome, and will end up in vain, said Xi. 

Xi made the remarks in a keynote speech he delivered at the CPC and World Political Parties Summit via video link in Beijing on Tuesday.

"We need to enable all countries to step up development and cooperation, and see to it that the fruits of development are shared by all," Xi said in his speech, calling for joint efforts to bring greater equity, higher efficiency and stronger synergy to global development.

In an attempt to promote human progress, Xi also stressed that the CPC is willing to contribute more Chinese solutions and Chinese strength to the poverty reduction process worldwide; and China will spare no effort to support international cooperation against COVID-19. 

The summit was held after the CPC concluded a grand ceremony for its centennial held on Thursday, when Xi announced China's arduous fight and glorious achievements during the past 100 years, and highlighted the second centennial goal of building China into a great modern socialist country. The summit serves as a channel for the CPC to discuss its successful governance experience with other world political parties, which are eager to learn, said experts. 

The summit, with the theme "For the People's Well-being: The Responsibility of Political Parties," also projected CPC's image as a responsible ruling party to engage political parties around the world to discuss solving challenges that humanity faces. It also serves as a powerful counterstrike to the Western world's constant mudslinging at the CPC, analysts noted. 

Iranian Ambassador to China Mohammad Keshavarz-Zadeh told the Global Times during the summit that when the CPC was founded 100 years ago, China, just like Iran used to be, was "invaded by foreign troops, people humiliated by foreigners… but the achievements the CPC and Chinese [have] made are tremendous, and such experience should be shared with other political parties."

Graphic: GT

Changed perception

Guo Yezhou, deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at a Monday conference that with the advent of 2021, the world's political parties have been focused on the CPC's century-long history, achievements, experience and method of development. 

Guo noted that there are palpable changes in ways the world political parties look at China and the CPC. First, they are focused more on political reasons and institutional secrets behind China's success, rather than just the achievements themselves. Second, they no longer ask whether the CPC can succeed, instead, they are eager to know why it does, and how they can emulate the success themselves, according to Guo.

The summit is an extension of the high-level dialogue between the CPC and world political parties held in 2017 in Beijing, where they agreed in a joint statement to institutionalize a dialogue mechanism between CPC and world political parties, Yu Kejie, a professor from China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. 

Yu said that different from then, China's international status has been greatly elevated during the past four years, and the CPC has led its people to fight many arduous battles, including poverty alleviation and the COVID-19 epidemic. "Those achievements under the CPC leadership have made those parties want to increasingly learn about our experiences and stories."

Guo said that some countries are still ravaged by the COVID-19, the global economy still affected by the pandemic, and isolationism and populism are on the rise globally. Many political parties and governments are faced with the question, "What is going on with the world? What should we do?"

Against this backdrop, the CPC, as the world's largest ruling party, as well as a party that seeks progress for humanity as a whole, is willing to join hands with other political parties to contribute its wisdom, gain consensus and energy in solving the challenges that the world faces right now, said Guo. 

Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times on Tuesday that under the CPC's leadership, Chinese people have stood up, become wealthy and stronger during the past 100 years. "China's development has shaped the globe development pattern." 

This summit serves as a new start, new signal for engaging world political parties into discussions and a learning process. It also serves as an opportunity for the CPC to warm up relations with political parties worldwide when the century-old party marching into its next centennial journey, Zhang noted. 

Graphic: GT

CPC experience to share

Chen Dongxiao, president of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the most valuable lessons the CPC can share with the world are: focusing on "people first" in governance; independently seeking a development mode that suits itself, and "embracing all advanced cultures and thoughts of the world."

One party should always choose a development mode that fits its country best, and never copy other's mode, or even bet one's own development on other countries, said Yu. 

As Xi said at the 2017 high-level dialogue, the CPC would neither import foreign models of development nor export the Chinese model.

He reiterated that the CPC strives for both the well-being of the Chinese people and human progress; therefore, besides taking care of China's internal matters, the CPC will create opportunities for the world through China's development.

Xi also reiterated at the Tuesday summit that there's no fixed path for modernization, "what fits one most is the best," and that every country's exploration for its own modernization should be respected. 

Zhou Shuai, a professor from Beijing International Studies University, said that by taking part in this summit, more than 500 political parties around the global demonstrated their approval for the CPC's governance and achievements, as the CPC has led 1.4 billion people to keep the coronavirus at bay in a short time, as well as to have built a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Zhou said that the wide and in-depth connections between CPC and world parties are on full display at the summit, which shows that the CPC's "circle of friends," which transcends ideological differences, has been expanding. It also serves as a strong counterstrike to the West's constant smearing of the CPC.

Angolan Ambassador to China Jo?o Salvador dos Santos Neto also emphasized that the summit organized by the CPC helps world unity, as the platform gives world political parties a chance to exchange views and experiences with emerging new challenges on politics, economics and society. 

Analysts noted that the CPC is not only a party that generously laid out its experience to others, it is also a party that keeps its word.

Chen gave an example of the CPC's fulfillment of providing COVID-19 vaccines as a type of public goods, noting that the China has weathered difficulties and provided the world with more than 480 million doses of vaccines, covering over 100 countries in need.