Landmark congress to draw blueprint for China

BEIJING -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) will open its 20th national congress on Sunday, an event of momentous significance to China's epic journey toward modernity.

The congress will envision the two stages toward building a great modern socialist country in all respects and set out strategic tasks and major measures for the next five years, Sun Yeli, spokesperson for the congress, said Saturday.

"We have the confidence, resolve and capability to meet new goals and create greater miracles on the way forward," Sun told a press conference.

A new CPC Central Committee and a new CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be elected at the congress. The CPC Constitution will be amended.

More than 2,000 delegates will attend the congress, representing more than 96 million CPC members.

Journalists attend a press conference held by Sun Yeli, spokesperson for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 15, 2022. [Xinhua/Chen Yehua]

The Party has established Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defined the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

This reflects the common will of the Party, the armed forces, and Chinese people of all ethnic groups, and is of decisive significance for advancing the cause of the Party and the country in the new era and for driving forward the historic process of national rejuvenation.

In the modernization drive, China is following its own path under the leadership of the CPC, which celebrated its centenary last year.

The country has applied a new development philosophy featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development.

China's model offers an inspiration to nations who want to speed up their development while preserving their independence.

Delegates from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China  arrive in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 13, 2022. [Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei]

The congress comes at a time when the world is undergoing accelerating changes unseen in a century, and a new phase of uncertainty and transformation.

Amid headwinds, China remains an important anchor of stability and driving force of global economic growth.

"The Chinese economy has strong resilience, great potential and robust vitality, and the fundamentals for its long-term positive growth remain unchanged," Sun said.

China has implemented the new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other.

Fostering the new development paradigm will generate lasting momentum for the long-term development of the Chinese economy as well as the steady recovery of the world economy, Sun said.

"China will unswervingly advance opening-up to cover more fields in a broader scope and at a greater depth," the spokesperson said.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a well-received international public good and an important platform for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Over the past nine years, China has signed BRI cooperation documents with over 140 countries and more than 30 international organizations, Sun said.

Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2022 shows the reporter workspace of the press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, capital of China. [Xinhua/Yin Gang]

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era since the Party's 18th national congress in 2012.

In many ways, the past decade has been an unusual and extraordinary journey for China, the world's second-largest economy and most populous country.

China's GDP expanded by an average annual rate of 6.6 percent between 2013 and 2021, compared to 3.7 percent growth in developing economies and just 2.6 percent of global growth.

China had secured a complete victory in its fight against poverty, lifting close to 100 million people out of poverty in eight years.

"This had never been achieved in the Chinese history and it is a miracle in the human history as well," Sun said.

In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, China has managed to protect the health and safety of the people to the greatest extent possible and achieved the best results in the world in coordinating economic development with the COVID-19 response.

China's measures to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic are the most cost-effective and have worked the best for the country, Sun said.

Today, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process, but as Xi has often cautioned, it will be no easy task.

Addressing a study session of provincial and ministerial-level officials in late July, Xi said that achieving national rejuvenation will be no walk in the park, and it will take more than drum beating and gong clanging to get there.

Xi called for resolve to undertake a great struggle with many new contemporary features, and readiness to work even harder toward the goal of national rejuvenation.

An editorial to be published by the People's Daily on Sunday says the congress will make plans and arrangements for the cause of the Party and the country from a strategic and overall perspective, and guide the entire nation to break new grounds for developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.

On the new journey, we will be able to keep firmly in our own hands the destiny of the country's development and progress as long as we stay committed to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promote national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization, the editorial says.

Video reporters: Jiang Lei, Aximu, Wu Changwei, Guo Jun, Adewale Amzat, Nguon Sovan, Van Pov, Wang Feng, Meng Jing, Li Zhenbei; Video editors: Wu You, Zhu Cong, Zhu Jianhui