Wu Yingqin: 'The nation with a 5,000-year history has finally begun to live a better life'

Key to success of the Chinese Communist Party

Exactly 100 years ago, in July 1921, Mao Zedong and 12 other people held the First Congress of the Communist Party of China, first in Shanghai, then on a small boat on Nanhu Lake near Jiaxing prefecture-level city in Zhejiang Province of China and announced the birth of the Communist Party of China. This is a great epoch-making event that opens up new horizons.

The CPC has evolved from a small party with 50 members to a party with a century-old history and with more than 95 million members. Going through various difficulties and obstacles, the CPC won one victory after another on the path of revolution and development. Why is the CPC always in an invincible position and enjoys the support of the people? What is the key to success of the Chinese Communist Party? We can find answers to all these questions by looking at the development trajectory of the CPC and its achievements in the field of management.

Creation of prosperous and powerful state is the priority task of the Communist Party of China

From the beginning of the Opium Wars in 1840 to the formation of the new China in 1949, China in the period of modern history was poor and weakened, was forced to cede land, pay indemnities, open trading ports for foreign trade and grant exclusive privileges to foreigners. After the founding of the Communist Party of China, the Communists showed “selfless selflessness for the sake of great ideals and fearless valour in building the new world” (Mao Zedong's verse), adapted the classical theory of Marxism-Leninism to the characteristic national characteristics of China, made the Great March of the Chinese Red Army with a length of 25,000 li (12,5 thousand km), united and led the Chinese people, defeated Japanese imperialism, overthrew the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang, won in the New Democratic Revolution and formed the People's Republic of China.

The creation of the new China put an end to the history of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society of the old China, finally completed the complete disorder and fragmentation of the old China, completely annulled the unequal treaties imposed on China by the powers of those times, and opened a new era of Chinese history. In the war of resistance to American aggression and assistance to the Korean people after the formation of the new China, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, risking their own lives, not being afraid to make sacrifices, destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the most powerful American army in the world at that time and effectively supported the independence and security of the country. For the first time after the formation of the new China, the country completed socialist transformations, created an independent and relatively integral industrial complex and national economy system, and achieved the first successes in the advanced areas of defence science and technology such as nuclear technologies, artificial satellites, launch vehicles and others.

At the third plenum of the CPC Central Committee of the 11th convocation in 1978, a strategic decision of historical nature was made on the transition to reform and openness, which significantly unleashed and deployed the productive forces of society and subsequently created the Chinese economic miracle. China caught up with the development trend of that time, completed the process of industrialisation in just a few decades, when it took hundreds of years for the developed countries of the West to do this.

China has created the most advanced modern industrial complex in the world. Since the 18th Congress of the CPC, the Chinese people, under the leadership of the CPC, headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, continued the struggle, realised the goal of comprehensively building a middle-class society and achieved a great victory in the fight against poverty. In 2020, China's GDP exceeded the 100 trillion yuan mark (approximately $15 trillion), reaching 70,38% of the total US economy and 17,38% of the global economy.

China has become the world's second largest economy, largest trading power, largest industrial country, largest state with gold and foreign exchange reserves and largest trading partner of almost 130 countries and regions. Under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese nation, with a 5,000-year history and a population of 1,4 billion people, finally got on its feet, began to live a better life and is turning into a strong and powerful nation.

The well-being of the Chinese people is the original goal and mission of the CPC

The CCP always cares about the welfare of the people and considers people the most important thing. The leaders of the CPC of all generations have always taken the interests of the people to heart. Throughout his life, Mao Zedong believed in “serving the people”, and “the fight against exploiters and the allocation of land” meant solving the root problem of land distribution, which determines the livelihood of peasants. Deng Xiaoping called himself “the son of the people”, introduced a system of family contracts, encouraged the development of village and parish enterprises, which significantly increased productivity. General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping said that “the country is the people, and the people are the country”, understanding the suffering of the people, he always cares about people.

The numerous people of old China, especially the peasants, of whom there were the most, suffered from hunger and cold and had absolutely no political rights. In 1949, the average life expectancy of the population was only 35 years, China's GNP was only about $12,3 billion, the population was about 540 million people, the GDP per capita was only $23, and the national income per capita was only $16.

With the growth of labour productivity, the standard of living of the population is continuously increasing. Today, China uses 6,6% of the world's fresh water reserves and 9% of the world's arable land to feed almost 20% of the world's population, and meets the demand for high-quality and diversified agricultural products. People do not know the need for food and clothing, household appliances are widely used, cars quickly appear in the families of ordinary people.

By 2020, China's per capita income was 100 times higher than in 1980, and its GDP per capita exceeded $10 thousand (previously, the total population in the world with a GDP per capita of more than $10 thousand was almost 1,5 billion people, and after China's GDP per capita exceeded $10 thousand, this doubled the world population with a GDP per capita of more than $10 thousand). Thus, the world's largest social stratum with an average income, numbering more than 400 million people, was formed.

China created the largest social security system in the world, with basic health insurance covering more than 1,3 billion people, basic pension insurance covering almost 1 billion people and an average life expectancy of 77,3 years in 2019. 1,4 billion Chinese not only solved the problem of providing food and clothing, but also created a rich spiritual and cultural life. In 2019, 169 million Chinese residents travelled abroad and spent more than $270 billion there.

Previously, the distance of 1,700 km from Beijing to Shanghai by train could be travelled in about 20 hours. Every time at the peak of passenger traffic during the Spring Festival, migrant workers return to their native lands. Many Chinese who are in a foreign country remember that time with those periods when it was “impossible to get a ticket” and how the trains were crowded with people. To mark the 10th anniversary of the official opening of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway this year, the maximum speed on the route is 350 km/h, the entire journey takes only 4 hours and 18 minutes. Over the past 10 years, a total of 1,35 billion passengers have been safely transported, which has significantly narrowed the space-time distance between cities along the route. Currently, the length of China's high-speed railways is approaching 40,000 km and ranks first in the world, which has led to a significant transformation of socio-economic development and the lives of people living along the routes.

China has long been no longer a “global factory” that relies on cheap labour, but an economy based on scientific and technological innovations that lead to economic growth. China has created the world's largest 5G network, and as of the end of May this year, 819,000 base stations for 5G were installed, which is more than 70% of their total number worldwide. With the spread of the Internet, communications and other infrastructure, e-commerce has penetrated into all corners of China's businesses, thereby optimising the allocation of resources and increasing their economic efficiency. Artificial intelligence is widely used. Chinese company Jingdong Mall, engaged in online commerce and e-commerce, created an automatic warehouse using more than a thousand sorting robots. It takes only a few minutes from the moment of ordering the goods to the export of the goods from the warehouse. If you make an online order in the morning, then after lunch, it will already be delivered to the door.

The Chinese Communist Party has created a miracle in the history of poverty reduction. After the 18th Congress of the CPC, in 2012, in China, on average, more than 10 million people were relieved from poverty every year, which is equivalent to the size of the population of one average country. The intensity and effectiveness of targeted assistance to the poor and the accuracy of poverty eradication are unprecedented in the history of mankind. Since the beginning of the policy of reforms and openness, according to the criterion in force in China, 770 million rural residents have been releived from poverty. China has become the country with the largest number of people in the world who have come out of poverty, and the first developing country to achieve the poverty reduction goal set out in the UN Sustainable Development Agenda for the period up to 2030. China has contributed more than 70% to global poverty reduction. China has achieved great historical achievements in solving the problem of absolute poverty, which has plagued the Chinese nation for thousands of years.

Protecting world peace and promoting the progress of humanity are the common goals of the members of the Communist Party of China

General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping noted: “The reasonable regulation of China's relations with the world is the main issue that matters for the success or failure of the party's affairs”. The development of China is not to challenge someone, win over someone or threaten someone, but to ensure that the Chinese people can really eat well, dress warmly, live well, use their own development for the development of the world economy, bring prosperity to all mankind, firmly adhere to the principle of “not only stimulate the development of the civilisation of their country, but also create conditions for the development of civilisations of other countries”.

Since the founding of the new China, the Chinese Communist Party has actively defended and firmly implemented the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence”, which has made these basic provisions widely recognised by the international community, they have become important criteria in the settlement of international relations. Since the beginning of the policy of reform and openness, the Chinese Communist Party has raised the banner of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, firmly adheres to an independent peaceful foreign policy, insists on a strategy of mutually beneficial and win-win openness, resolutely defends the basic norms of international relations, defends the fairness and impartiality of international relations and actively promotes the construction of global partnership.

Since the 18th Congress of the CPC, China has put forward a number of important initiatives aimed at promoting the construction of the community of common destiny of humanity and the creation of the new type of international relations, joint building of Belt and Road Initiative, and others. Building the Belt and Road Initiative brings prosperity to the peoples of countries and regions. After the global financial crisis of 2008, China became the stabiliser and engine of global economic growth, contributing more than 30% to global economic growth for many years. In 2020, the world economy is experiencing a serious recession due to the consequences of COVID-19, but China's GDP growth rate in 2020 was 2,3%. China has become the only major economy in the world to achieve economic growth, which has had a significant effect in the global economy and played an important role in stabilising and restoring the global economy.

At first, after the founding of the Communist Party of China, it received great help from the Soviet Union. During the Second World War, the armies and people of both countries fought, shedding blood, won a great victory over the fascists of Germany and Japan and jointly defended human justice. After the formation of the new China, the Soviet Union became the first country to recognise the new China, provided assistance in the implementation of 156 projects and thereby helped the new China to form its industrial base.

Today, the Sino-Russian relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation have entered a new era. The bilateral relations between the two countries have not reached their limit, they are close to the common people and have become a model of relations between great powers. The Chinese and Russian peoples firmly support the development paths chosen by their own countries, and always provide resolute mutual assistance to each other on issues affecting each other's fundamental interests.

As responsible powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia firmly support the international system based on the United Nations, resolutely protect the international order based on international law, and adamantly defend the impartiality and fairness of international relations. They have become the basis for maintaining peace and stability throughout the world.

Vladimir Lenin said that choosing the right path is a necessary condition for the success of the revolution. The path that China has chosen has been followed by generations of Chinese, especially members of the Communist Party of China, who gave their lives for it. The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party of every generation are able to make important decisions at key historical moments, rethink themselves, and preserve their vitality forever. The CPC led the state to power, the people to happiness, it gives impetus to the development of world peace. This is the secret of success, in which the Chinese Communist Party is always in the strategically advantageous position and has the support of the Chinese people.