On October 26, 2022, Mme. Guo Haiyan, Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, published an article entitled "Chinese Modernization: Goal for China, Opportunities for the World" in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper. Below is the full article:
Many Guyanese friends might have learned from newspapers, television and the Internet that China just had a very important event, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (the CPC), which has drawn an overarching plan for China's future development. As the Chinese ambassador, I would like to do some brief introductions.
Under the leadership of the CPC, in 2021, the Chinese people completed the historical task of eradicating absolute poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. Starting from the 20th National Congress, the central task of the CPC is to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to build 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.
As President Xi jinping, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, pointed out, “there is no fixed model when it comes to the path of modernization, the one that suits you well will serve you well. Every country’s efforts to independently explore a path to modernization that suits its own national realities should be respected.” The Chinese Modernization path, which aims to achieve China’s better development and promote the overall progress of human society, has a rich connotation.
Chinese Modernization upholds the unity between CPC leadership, the running of the country by the people, and law-based governance. The CPC has always represented the fundamental interests of all Chinese people and is the strong leadership core for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. According to a Harvard University tracking poll for 13 consecutive years, Chinese people's support for the CPC and the Chinese government has remained above 90%, ranking first in the world.
The CPC and the Chinese people have always cherished democracy and the rule of law, which are crucial to the successful governance of a country as big as China. China will continue to develop Whole-Process People's Democracy and guarantee Chinese people’s ability to practice democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight in accordance with the law. China will continue to exercise law-based governance on all fronts, and take integrated steps to build a country, government, and society based on the rule of law. We will make all-around efforts to ensure sound legislation, strict law enforcement, impartial administration of justice, and society-wide observance of the law and that all work of the state is carried out under the rule of law.
Chinese Modernization emphasizes on High-Quality Development. China’s economy has been transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to one of high-quality development. In the past, we mainly assessed China's economy by the growth rate of gross product. Now we attach importance to both appropriate expanding in quantity and effective upgrading in quality, emphasizing that economic development should apply the New Development Philosophy of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development.
China will further expand domestic demand, deepen supply-side structural reform, and continue to meet the more personalized, diversified and upgraded needs of the people. China will continue to focus on the real economy, implement the innovation-driven development strategy and move faster to boost China's strength in manufacturing, product quality, aerospace, transportation, cyberspace, and digital development. China will accelerate efforts to foster a new pattern of development that is focused on the domestic economy and features positive interplay between domestic and international economic flows, promote high-standard opening up, make the industrial and supply chains more resilient and secure, and endeavor to preserve the diversity and stability of the international economic landscape and economic and trade relations.
Chinese Modernization is the modernization of a huge population. China has become the world's second largest economy, the largest industrial country, the largest trader of goods in the world with the largest foreign exchange reserve. But China has a population of 1.4 billion, which means that any index in large amount, if divided by 1.4 billion, becomes a rather small number. For example, the GDP per capita of China is just over 12,000USD, ranking 60 plus in the world. It also means that the Chinese government, which upholds a people-centred development thinking, carries a greater responsibility to ensure food security, pandemic prevention and control, social employment and livelihood protection.
At the same time, huge population also brings abundant talent resources, vast market space and strong economic resilience. To date, there are less than 30 countries in the world which have become modernized, with a total population of no more than 1 billion. China’s modernization means that a population that exceeds in size the combined total of all the developed countries, will step into modernization, which would be a miracle in human history.
Chinese Modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all. Recently, Guyana's former President Mr. Donald Ramotar said in an interview that China has made tremendous achievement in removing absolute poverty, and the CPC’s next step is to tackle the question of relative poverty, which would be more difficult. To solve relative poverty is, in other words, to achieve common prosperity. For a long time, the excessive gap between the rich and the poor has been an notable factor hindering the development of many countries, and how to narrow the gap is a worldwide problem.
China has made some progress in this regard. In the past decade, the urban-rural ratio of disposable income per capita has dropped from 2.88:1 to 2.5:1, and the east-west ratio of regional GDP per capita has dropped from 1.87 to 1.68. We will endeavor to bring prosperity to all, and prevent polarization.
Chinese modernization is the modernization of coordinated material and cultural-ethical advancement. History and reality show that material abundance does not necessarily bring cultural-ethical enrichment, but may lead to materialistic expansion, confusion of faith, moral decline and spiritual emptiness. Just as inner strength is indispensable for individuals, it is also essential for nations. China must forge a strong spiritual strength to solve the various problems on its own development path and to meet global challenges together with other countries.
We will promote traditional Chinese culture, extensively apply the core socialist values, continue the civic morality improvement campaign, and actively exchange with and learn from other civilizations around the world, so that people can enjoy a good life both in material and cultural-ethical spheres, so as to achieve people's well-rounded development. Since I arrived in Guyana last year, I have often been cordially invited to participate in various cultural events, such as the Diwali celebrations last week, and I am deeply impressed the diversity and inclusiveness of Guyanese culture. The Government and people of Guyana are not only keen on advancing the development agenda, but also on promoting conscience and unity through various events, which coincides with us.
Chinese Modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. We resolutely abandon the modernization model that overlooks nature and devastates it. In the past decade, we have protected nature and the environment as we have protected our own eyes, and contributed a quarter of the world's new forest area. China's green development has taken solid steps, with a cumulative reduction of 26.4 percent in energy consumption per unit of GDP and an increase in the proportion of clean energy consumption to 25.5 percent, making China’s skies bluer, mountains greener and waters clearer.
We will continue to maintain harmony between humanity and nature when planning our development, accelerate the transition to a model of green development, intensify pollution prevention and control, work actively and prudently toward the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, and play an active role in global governance against climate change.
Chinese Modernization is the modernization of peaceful development. In pursuing modernization, some countries took the path of war, colonization, and plunder. That brutal and blood-stained path of enrichment at the expense of others caused great suffering for the people of developing countries, including China. China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism.
China has always been committed to upholding world peace and promoting common development, and it is dedicated to implementing the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, promoting a community with a shared future for mankind.
China is committed to broadening the convergence of interests with other countries, deepening and expanding global partnerships based on equality, openness, and cooperation. Guided by the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity, and good faith and with a commitment to the greater good and shared interests, China endeavors to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries and safeguard the common interests of the developing world.
China is committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up. It strives to create new opportunities for the world with its own development.
Chinese Modernization displays a multi-dimensional path of modernization for late-developing countries and offers a new possibility to explore a better social system. The Chinese people are ready to join hands with the rest of the world to create a brighter future for humankind!