Xi Jinping delivers a report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee in Beijing on October 16, 2022. The 20th CPC National Congress opened on the day. Photo: Xinhua

 The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday unveiled its blueprint for building a modern socialist China in all respects for the next five years and beyond as the 20th CPC National Congress opened.

The five-yearly meeting is the first national congress of the CPC after its centenary in 2021, when the Party led the Chinese people to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

"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," Xi Jinping said in a report at the opening session of the congress.

The theme of the congress is holding high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implementing the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, carrying forward the great founding spirit of the Party, staying confident and building strength, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, forging ahead with enterprise and fortitude, and striving in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts, Xi said. 

Chinese political experts said the theoretical innovation of the CPC showed in the 20th Party Congress has global significance as it offers countries around the world which are seeking modernization an alternative and an example, and in its new journey, China will continue to uphold the great banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics with firmness and confidence.

Chinese modernization

Xi expounded on the missions and tasks of the CPC on the new journey of the new era.

The CPC aims to basically realize socialist modernization from 2020 through 2035, and build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful from 2035 through the middle of this century. 

Shen Yi, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, said that "the concept of Chinese modernization was raised for the first time as one of the most important conclusions the CPC made from its past experiences."

Shen said that as there is no ready-made development path or mode for China to directly copy or imitate, China has finally concluded a Chinese path to modernization after more than a hundred years of exploration and construction since the Revolution of 1911, providing a completely new alternative, a third choice for all developing countries in the world which are searching for or struggling with their development modes with the wish to both realize rapid self-development and maintain sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. 

Xi underscored the unique features of Chinese modernization, which he said is the socialist modernization pursued under the leadership of the CPC. It contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context.

Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature and of peaceful development, Xi said. 

Analysts said that the Chinese path of modernization is about common prosperity for all, and it will be realized by the peaceful development, and from this aspect, it is completely different from Western modernization, which resulted from the rise of hegemony and based on plundering and invading other nations, and domestically, was based on uneven development between different classes and racial groups.

Chinese modernization will be successful together with other nations' modernization, and it will create chances for other countries to realize their modernization and development, and it will not lecture or force others to accept its ideology. It will not use alliance systems to let other countries to surrender their autonomy or be subject to hegemony, experts noted.

Many foreign journalists shared the same feeling as they highly value the achievements that China gained in the past century, especially the past five to 10 years. They wanted to explore how China accomplished these great missions and how these experiences could help their countries.

Abdurakhmannova Albina, a journalist from CBC TV of Azerbaijan, told the Global Times that the congress is not just important for China, "but also for many other countries around the world too," and the most impressive part for her is that she learned the CPC has done so much for China and the Chinese people in just the past five to 10 years, and she considers that it is important for her to report this to the people of her country. 

David Lopez, a journalist from Colombia's media El Tiempo, told the Global Times that the congress is a historic event, and it is important for journalists like him to be here to witness this event closely because "we need to let the people from the other side of the world to understand what's happening here" in China, and "we are interested in [China's] development, economy and technologies and so on."   

Future tasks and challenges

Xi said that the next five years will be crucial for ensuring that the efforts to build a modern socialist country in all respects get off to a good start.

"Building a modern socialist country in all respects is a great and arduous endeavor. Our future is bright, but we still have a long way to go. We must therefore be more mindful of potential dangers, be prepared to deal with the worst-case scenario, and be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms," Xi said.

Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday that "the potential risks that could bring 'dangerous storms' would come from the risk of war amid profound changes the world hasn't seen in the past century and a potential global economic and social crisis, and such as the obstacles for national reunification, as foreign interference to support Taiwan secessionism could bring extreme danger."

The fundamental reason why China needs to be prepared for the worst-case scenario and even "dangerous storms" is that Chinese modernization, which is very different from Western modernization, will bring challenges to the hegemony which is now dominating the current world order. This hegemony and its followers do not accept that China will succeed, because that could bring about the end of the system they built to unfairly serve their interests, experts noted.

So as long as China keeps developing itself, and keeps seeking improvement for the livelihood of the Chinese people and puts efforts into offering more public goods, like the Belt and Road Initiative, to other countries which also want win-win cooperation, modernization and peaceful development, the existing hegemony will impose pressures, suppressions and even attacks against it. This has already happened in the past decade, referring to the US-launched trade war and suppression against China's sci-tech industries, as well as provocations and interference on the Taiwan question, said analysts.

Xi also stressed modernizing China's national security system and capacity and safeguarding national security and social stability. 

"National security is the bedrock of national rejuvenation, and social stability is a prerequisite for building a strong and prosperous China," Xi said. "The Party will take coordinated steps to ensure external and internal security, homeland and public security, traditional and non-traditional security, as well as its own security and common security.