By He Yin, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Dec. 2 sent a congratulatory letter to the 2023 Understanding China Conference (Guangzhou) held in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province.
“To understand China, the key lies in understanding Chinese modernization. China is advancing the noble cause of building a great country and national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” Xi said. “China’s future is closely linked with the future of the entire humanity.”
Xi’s letter scientifically analyzed the general trends of the world today. It noted that to understand China, the key lies in understanding Chinese modernization, conveying the message that China looks forward to working hand in hand with the rest of the world to realize global modernization that features peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and prosperity for all.
The Understanding China Conference celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Over the past 10 years, Xi has sent congratulatory letters, delivered video speeches, or met with foreign representatives at the conference, expounding on China’s path and propositions to help the international community better understand China.
Facing accelerating changes unseen in a century and intertwined risks and challenges, China has acted as a responsible major country, making significant contributions to solving common problems and enhancing the well-being of mankind. The importance of understanding China and working together with China to create a better future is becoming increasingly prominent.
To understand China, the key lies in understanding the significance of Chinese modernization to the world. Thanks to a century of exploration and struggle, China has found the development path that suits it. It is now advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization.
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.
Chinese modernization is deeply rooted in its fine traditional culture and reflective of the advanced nature of scientific socialism. It emulates and absorbs all outstanding achievements of human civilizations, represents the future direction of human progress, and displays a new prospect distinct from the Western model of modernization, thus creating a new form of human advancement.
Chinese modernization expands the channels for developing countries to achieve modernization and provides a Chinese solution to aid the exploration of a better social system for humanity.
To understand Chinese modernization, we need to see the opportunities brought to the world by Chinese modernization. As the largest developing country, China has always placed its own development within the larger context of human development and created new opportunities for the development of the world through its own development.
Xi said that China is committed to broadening the convergence of interests with other countries, and will continue to provide the world with new growth momentum and opportunities through its own development.
As the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation unfold, China firmly adheres to the win-win strategy of opening up, accelerating the creation of a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development. This will provide the world with more and better products made and created in China, and with a Chinese market of a larger scale and stronger demand.
Former Chancellor of Austria Wolfgang Schussel said that China has been building a market-oriented business environment, governed by the rule of law and internationalized, demonstrating its determination to adhere to a high-level opening up. Both China and the world stand to benefit from these efforts.
To understand Chinese modernization, we need to see that the modernization China is pursuing is not for the country alone. China looks forward not only to pursuing modernization for all developing countries through joint efforts, but also to realizing global modernization that features peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and prosperity for all.
Eying on the historical development of mankind with a broad vision of the world, Xi has proposed to build a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. These have contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions to promote the progress of human civilization and building a better world and assisted other developing countries in exploring a path to modernization that suits their respective national conditions.
Former Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf believes that the important initiatives proposed by Xi have provided significant public goods for the world. When these initiatives are accepted by people who pursue peace and development, a road to common prosperity is built.
Realizing modernization is the common aspiration and due right of all peoples. As China’s own future is closely connected with that of other countries and peoples, China will strive to provide new opportunities for world development, add new impetus to humanity’s exploration of paths towards modernization, and make new contributions to the theory and practice of humanity’s modernization as it makes new progress in Chinese modernization.
