Press Briefing on the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the media, Good morning. I am Chu Maoming, Chinese Ambassador to Dominica. It is a great pleasure to have you here in this press briefing. This is my first press briefing since assuming my post, and I am delighted to meet and engage with all of you. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your support and assistance in the work of the Chinese Embassy, and I look forward to strengthening our cooperation in the future.
The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened its third plenary session in Beijing from July 15 to 18, 2024, which attracted the world’s attention. All those concerned with China’s development and seeking to understand the country’s next policy directions were keen to gather the latest insights from this session. The plenary session was of great importance, held at a time when the CPC was steadfastly upholding the banner of reform and opening and focused on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese Modernization on its new journey in the new era. The most significant outcome of the plenary session was the adoption of the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization which was drafted under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. Today, I will brief you on the key points of the session’s spirit and how its outcomes will benefit Dominica.
1. Why Was the Theme of “Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization” Chosen for this Plenary Session?
If you are familiar with Chinese politics, you may know that, according to the Constitution of the CPC, the Party’s National Congress is held every five years, during which the Central Committee is elected. So, “the third plenary session” always refers to the third plenary session of the Central Committee of the CPC elected by the National Congress.
In China’s recent history, third plenary sessions have held significant importance. For example, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in 1978 ushered in a new period: one of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. Similarly, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee in 2013 marked the start of a new journey of comprehensively deepening reform in the new era with systematic and holistic plans, thus paving the way for a brand new stage in China’s reform and opening up endeavors.
The decision to make “Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization” the theme of this plenary session was made after thorough consideration by the Party Central Committee. On the one hand, the advancement of Chinese modernization faces many complex contradictions and challenges, which require overcoming various difficulties and resistance. To better align production relations with productive forces, superstructure with economic base, and national governance with social development, it is essential to further deepen reform comprehensively. This will provide strong momentum and institutional guarantees for Chinese modernization. On the other hand, as Chinese modernization is the central task of the Party on its new journey in the new era, all major strategic arrangements of the Party and the state, including further deepening reform, must be planned and carried out with this central task in mind. Making “Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization” the theme of this plenary session captures the key to advancing our cause, and is of great significance.
2. What Major Achievements Have Been Made in Deepening Reform Comprehensively in the New Era?
This plenary session focuses on further deepening reform comprehensively, marking a deeper exploration into comprehensive reform. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC in 2013 initiated the process of deepening reform comprehensively in the new era, which has continued for over a decade now. During this period, China’s reform and opening-up has evolved from a variety of trials and breakthroughs limited to certain areas into an integrated drive being advanced across the board. Foundational institutional frameworks have been put in place in all sectors. All this has provided strong institutional support for completing the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and set China on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country in all respects. The outstanding achievements can be seen in the following key areas:
First, the advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics have been consolidated and developed. Fundamental systems have been increasingly strengthened, basic systems have been continuously improved, and significant innovations in important institutions have yielded fruitful results. The development of the whole-process people’s democracy has led to a more robust system in which the people truly run the country, with comprehensive, extensive, and well-coordinated institutional arrangements. In building a socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, mechanisms for sound legislation, strict law enforcement, impartial administration of justice, and society-wide observance of the law have been further enhanced. The guiding role of Marxism in the ideological domain has been upheld, and the institutional framework for advancing socialist culture has been continuously improved and developed.
Second, strong momentum has been injected into economic development, propelling China onto the path of high-quality development. Adhering to the direction of reform toward a socialist market economy, efforts have been made to improve the modern market system, advance market-oriented reforms for factors of production, and deepen reforms in state-owned assets and enterprises. Simultaneously, the development and expansion of the private sector have been encouraged. Institutional mechanisms supporting comprehensive innovation have been established, along with deepening reforms in fiscal and financial systems. The system for promoting integrated urban and rural development has been improved, and progress has been made in building a new pattern of development. A new institutional framework for a higher-level open economy has been built, continuously refining the institutional environment that ensures effective market mechanisms, dynamic microeconomic entities, and well-calibrated macroeconomic regulation.
Third, historic, systemic, and holistic transformations have been achieved in many fields, and modernization of the system and capacity for governance has been enhanced. For instance, two large-scale rounds of Party and state institutional reforms have been carried out, continuously improving the functional system of Party and state institutions to adapt to new conditions. An ecological civilization system has been established, forming a framework for strict prevention at the source, rigorous management during the process, compensation for damage, and severe punishment for violations making blue skies and clean waters the norm. Additionally, the most extensive and profound reforms of national defense and the military since the founding of the People’s Republic of China have been implemented, leading to a revolutionary overhaul of the People’s Liberation Army.
Fourth, the sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security among the people has continuously improved. Reforms have advanced in key areas such as income distribution, employment, education, healthcare, and social security, contributing to the establishment of the world’s largest education system, social security system, and healthcare system. Mechanisms for targeted poverty alleviation were established, supporting the historic victory in the largest poverty eradication campaign in human history. The leadership system for national security has been refined, emphasizing centralized, unified, efficient, and authoritative leadership. Additionally, emergency management mechanisms have been improved, and a social governance system has been built that promotes co-construction, co-governance, and shared benefits.
Fifth, the Party has become even stronger and more resilient through revolutionary tempering. The institutional system for Party leadership has been continuously improved, and the supervision system of the Party and the state has been refined. Mechanisms have been established to advance the integrated strategy of ensuring that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to be corrupt. All this has ensured the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership and guaranteed that the Party fulfills its core role of exercising overall leadership and coordinating the efforts of all sides.
- What is Chinese Modernization?
In October 2022, President Xi Jinping declared in his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China: “From this day forward, the central task of the Communist Party of China 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.” Therefore, this plenary session’s focus on advancing Chinese modernization ultimately aims at promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Specifically, Chinese modernization is socialist modernization pursued under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It is a new model of modernization that the CPC has successfully promoted and expanded, based on our decades of exploration and practice since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, especially since the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, as well as the breakthroughs made in theory and practice since the 18th National Congress. 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.
It is the modernization of a huge population. China is working to achieve modernization for more than 1.4 billion people, a number larger than the combined population of all developed countries in the world today. This is a task of unparalleled difficulty and complexity; it inevitably means that our pathways of development and methods of advancement will be unique. We will, as always, bear China’s realities in mind as we address issues, make decisions, and take action. We will neither pursue grandiose goals nor go by the rulebook. We will stay patient in advancing the course of history and take steady and incremental steps to sustain progress.
It is the modernization of common prosperity for all. Achieving common prosperity is a defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and involves a long historical process. The immutable goal of our modernization drive is to meet the people’s aspirations for a better life. We will endeavor to maintain and promote social fairness and justice, bring prosperity to all, and prevent polarization.
It is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement. Material abundance and cultural-ethical enrichment are fundamental goals of socialist modernization. Material want is not socialism, nor is cultural impoverishment. While continuing to consolidate the material foundation for modernization and improve the material conditions for people’s well-being, we will strive to develop an advanced socialist culture, foster strong ideals and convictions, and carry forward China’s cultural heritage. We will thus promote all-around material abundance as well as people’s well-rounded development.
It is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. Humanity and nature make up a community of life. If we extract from nature without limit or inflict damage on it, we are bound to face its retaliation. China is committed to sustainable development and to the principles of prioritizing resource conservation and environmental protection and letting nature restore itself. We will protect nature and the environment as we do our own lives. We will continue to pursue a model of sound development featuring improved production, higher living standards, and healthy ecosystems to ensure the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.
It is the modernization of peaceful development. In pursuing modernization, China will not tread the old path of war, colonization, and plunder taken by some countries. That brutal and blood-stained path of enrichment at the expense of others caused great suffering for the people of developing countries. We will stand firmly on the right side of history and the side of human progress. Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, we will strive to safeguard world peace and development as we pursue our development, and we will make greater contributions to world peace and development through our development.
Therefore, the essential requirements of Chinese modernization are as follows: upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China and socialism with Chinese characteristics, pursuing high-quality development, developing whole-process people’s democracy, enriching the people’s cultural lives, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmony between humanity and nature, building a human community with a shared future, and creating a new form of human advancement.
- The Overall Objectives and Guiding Principles of Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively
What I have just introduced was the background information on the CPC’s efforts to further deepen reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. I hope that it will be easier now for you to understand the theme of this plenary session.
Now, let’s turn back to the most significant outcome of this plenary session: the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization. The Resolution is divided into three major sections. The first section is the general outline, which primarily explains the great significance and overall requirements of further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. The second section delves into specific discussions, focusing on economic system reform as a driving force, and comprehensively outlining reforms across various fields and aspects. The third section emphasizes strengthening the Party’s leadership over reform and deepening reforms in the Party’s institutional development.
As I have just covered the significance of further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization in the first section, I will now introduce the overall objectives and guiding principles. It was stated that the overall objectives of further deepening reform comprehensively are to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernize China’s system and capacity for governance. By 2035, we will have finished building a high-standard socialist market economy in all respects, further improved the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, generally modernized our system and capacity for governance, and realized socialist modernization. All of this will lay a solid foundation for building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects by the middle of this century.
Under these overall objectives, the Resolution provides a more detailed explanation of specific objectives in the following seven areas:
—Building a high-standard socialist market economy. We will see that the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation and that the government better fulfills its role. We will uphold and improve China’s basic socialist economic systems, achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and promote high-standard opening up. We will build a modernized economy, move faster to create a new pattern of development and promote high-quality development.
—Advancing whole-process people’s democracy. We will uphold the unity between leadership by the Party, the running of the country by the people, and law-based governance. We will improve the institutions through which the people run the country, promote extensive, multilevel, and institutionalized development of consultative democracy, and refine the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. We will move to a higher stage in building a socialist country under the rule of law.
—Developing a strong socialist culture in China. We will uphold the foundational system for ensuring the guiding role of Marxism in the ideological domain and improve the institutions and mechanisms for developing cultural programs and industries. We will promote cultural prosperity, enrich the intellectual and cultural lives of our people, and enhance China’s cultural soft power and the appeal of Chinese culture.
—Improving the people’s quality of life. We will refine the income distribution, employment, and social security systems, make basic public services more balanced and accessible, and facilitate more notable, substantive progress in promoting people’s well-rounded development and common prosperity for all.
—Building a Beautiful China. We will ramp up the green transition in all areas of economic and social development and improve the environmental governance system. We will prioritize ecological protection, conserve resources and use them efficiently, and pursue green and low-carbon development, to promote harmony between humanity and nature.
—Advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level. We will strengthen the national security system, enhance integration between national strategies, and improve our capacity to safeguard national security. We will create new institutions, mechanisms, and methods for social governance and build a new security architecture.
—Improving the Party’s capacity for leadership and long-term governance. We will develop new and improved ways of exercising leadership and governance, deepen institutional reforms related to Party building, and improve the system for exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance.
In addition, the Resolution also outlines the guiding principles that must be adhered to for further deepening reform comprehensively:
●Upholding the Party’s overall leadership. We must firmly uphold the Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership and ensure that the Party fulfills its core role of exercising overall leadership and coordinating the efforts of all sides. We must ensure that Party leadership is exercised in every aspect and throughout the entire process of reform so that it always advances in the correct political direction.
●Adhering to a people-centered approach. We must respect the principal position and pioneering spirit of the people and make our reform measures highly responsive to the call of the people, to ensure that reform is for the people and by the people and that its fruits are shared among the people.
●Upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground. Staying committed to socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must keep pace with the times, adapt to the evolution of practice, and take a problem-oriented approach, so that from a new starting point, we can promote innovations in theory and practice, in our institutions and culture, and all other aspects.
●Strengthening institutional building as our main task. We must strengthen top-level design and overall planning, always establishing new systems before abolishing old ones while attaching equal importance to efforts in both respects. We must consolidate foundational systems, refine basic systems, and innovate important systems.
●Staying committed to law-based governance on all fronts. We must deepen reform and advance Chinese modernization under the rule of law and ensure unity between reform and the rule of law, seeing that all major reforms have a solid legal basis and that reform achievements are elevated to law promptly.
●Applying systems thinking. We must properly handle the major relationships between the economy and society, between the government and the market, between efficiency and fairness, between vitality and order, and between development and security, thus pursuing reform in a more systematic, holistic, and coordinated manner.
- Reform Measures in Various Fields and Aspects
The Resolution proposes over 300 important reform measures, covering various aspects of systems, mechanisms, and institutional frameworks. Some of these measures are improvements and enhancements of past reforms, while others are newly proposed based on practical needs and pilot explorations. Specifically, the measures address the following 14 areas:
- Building a High-Standard Socialist Market Economy
It was stated that a high-standard socialist market economy provides an important guarantee for Chinese modernization. We must better leverage the role of the market, foster a fairer and more dynamic market environment, and make resource allocation as efficient and productive as possible. We need to lift restrictions on the market while ensuring effective regulation and strive to better maintain order in the market and remedy market failures. By doing so, we will ensure smooth flows in the national economy and unleash the internal driving forces and creativity of the whole of society.
- Promoting High-Quality Economic Development
It was stated that high-quality development is our primary task in building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. We must apply the new development philosophy to steer reform and ground our efforts in the new stage of development. We must deepen supply-side structural reform, improve incentive and constraint mechanisms for promoting high-quality development, and strive to create new growth drivers and strengths.
- Supporting All-Around Innovation
It was stated that education, science and technology, and talent function as basic and strategic underpinnings for Chinese modernization. We must fully implement the strategy of invigorating China through science and education, the strategy of developing a quality workforce, and the innovation-driven development strategy, make coordinated efforts to promote integrated reform of institutions and mechanisms about education, science and technology, and talent, and improve the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide, to boost the overall performance of our country’s innovation system.
- Improving Macroeconomic Governance
It was stated that sound macro regulation, along with effective governance by the government, is essential for ensuring that we can fully leverage the institutional strengths of our socialist market economy. It is, therefore, vital that we improve our macro regulation systems. We must pursue coordinated reforms in the fiscal, tax, financial, and other major sectors and work to enhance the consistency of macro policy orientation.
- Promoting Integrated Urban-Rural Development
It was stated that integrated urban and rural development is essential to Chinese modernization. We must pursue coordinated progress in new industrialization, new urbanization, and all-around rural revitalization, facilitate greater urban-rural integration in planning, development, and governance across the board, and promote equal exchanges and two-way flows of production factors between urban and rural areas, to narrow the disparities between the two and promote their shared prosperity and development.
- Pursuing High-Standard Opening Up
It was stated that opening up is a defining feature of Chinese modernization. We must remain committed to the basic state policy of opening to the outside world and continue to promote reform through opening up. Leveraging the strengths of China’s enormous market, we will enhance our capacity for opening up while expanding international cooperation and develop new institutions for a higher-standard open economy.
- Advancing Whole-Process People’s Democracy
It was stated that developing whole-process people’s democracy is integral to Chinese modernization. We must firmly stay on the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics and uphold and improve our country’s foundational, basic, and important political systems. We will develop diverse forms of democracy at all levels and ensure that the principle of the people running the country is manifested in concrete and visible ways in all aspects of China’s political and social activities.
- Promoting Socialist Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics
It was stated that the rule of law provides an important guarantee for Chinese modernization. We must ensure full implementation of the Constitution and uphold its authority, coordinate the reforms to promote sound legislation, law enforcement, administration of justice, and observance of the law, and improve the mechanisms for ensuring that all are equal before the law, to promote socialist rule of law, uphold social fairness and justice, and see that all work of the state is carried out under the rule of law.
- Deepening Reform in the Cultural Sector
It was stated that Chinese modernization is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement. We must boost our cultural confidence and work to develop an advanced socialist culture, promote revolutionary culture, and carry forward fine traditional Chinese culture. We must move faster to stay abreast of new dramatic developments in information technology, cultivate a vast pool of talented personnel in the field of culture, and ignite the cultural creativity of the entire nation.
- Ensuring and Improving the People’s Wellbeing
It was stated that ensuring and enhancing the people’s well-being in the course of development is one of the major tasks of Chinese modernization. In line with the principle of doing everything within our means, we will refine the systems of basic public services, with a focus on providing inclusive services, meeting essential needs, and providing a cushion for those most in need. We will strive to resolve the most practical problems that are of the greatest and most direct concern to the people to meet people’s aspirations for a better life.
- Deepening Reform in Ecological Conservation
It was stated that Chinese modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. We must work to improve ecological conservation systems and make concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development, and boost economic growth. We must actively respond to climate change and move faster to improve the institutions and mechanisms for applying the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.
- Modernizing China’s National Security System and Capacity
It was stated that national security provides a pivotal foundation for ensuring steady and sustained progress in Chinese modernization. We must fully apply a holistic approach to national security, improve the institutions and mechanisms for safeguarding national security, and ensure that high-quality development and greater security reinforce each other, to safeguard the country’s long-term stability and security.
- Deepening National Defense and Military Reform
It was stated that national defense and military modernization is an integral part of Chinese modernization. We must maintain the Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s armed forces and fully implement the strategy of strengthening the military through reform, to provide a strong guarantee for realizing the centenary goal of the People’s Liberation Army in 2027 and modernizing national defense and the armed forces.
- Improving the Party’s Leadership
It was stated that Leadership by the Party provides a fundamental guarantee for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. We must acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We must be more conscious of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. We must stay confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must uphold Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership.
We must maintain a keen awareness of the need to use the Party’s self-reform to steer social reform and continue to apply both the spirit of reform and rigorous standards in conducting Party self-governance. We will improve the systems and regulations for the Party’s self-reform and continue working to purify, improve, renew, and excel ourselves. All this will enable our Party to retain the strong leadership core in building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
In addition, the plenary session also stressed that Chinese modernization is the modernization of peaceful development. In diplomatic work, China remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace and is dedicated to promoting a human community with a shared future. We will stay committed to the common values of all humanity, pursue the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, and call for an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We will deepen institutional reforms related to the work of foreign affairs and get involved in leading the reform and development of the global governance system. We will resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests and foster a favorable external environment for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization.
- How the Spirit of the 20th CPC Central Committee’s Third Plenary Session Benefits Dominica
Recently, my two articles were published in the Chronicle: The Important Chinese Session Will Provide Opportunities and Chinese Modernization: Aiding in the Fight against Climate Changes. These articles provide an in-depth analysis of the reform measures mentioned earlier, including pursuing high-standard opening up, deepening reform in ecological conservation, and promoting peaceful development. They also explore how these reforms create opportunities for Dominica. Here, I would like to offer a further detailed interpretation of these aspects.
- Pursuing High-Standard Opening Up
Since the beginning of the new era, President Xi Jinping has led China to a new stage of reform and opening-up. In the business sector, China’s consumer market has continued to expand, with goods trade ranking first globally for seven consecutive years and service trade positioned among the top in the world. China’s status as a major player in bilateral investment has become increasingly solidified. In the face of a challenging and complex international environment and the daunting tasks of domestic reform, development, and stability, we must continue to uphold the banner of reform and opening up. This will provide powerful momentum and institutional guarantees for Chinese modernization.
From a domestic development perspective, only an open China can become a modernized China. Achieving the largest and most challenging modernization in human history requires us to actively expand domestic demand, leverage the advantages of a super-large market, and enhance the interaction between domestic and international markets. Therefore, we need to drive high-quality development through high-level openness, laying a solid material foundation for Chinese modernization.
From the perspective of international cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, and win-win collaboration are the right paths forward. In recent years, economic globalization has faced headwinds, with some countries adopting “decoupling” and “small yards with high fences” strategies, leading to a decline in the world openness index. This requires us to consistently stand on the right side of history and advance economic globalization. Therefore, we need to expand high-level openness, promote international cooperation in industrial and supply chains, and work towards building a community with a shared future for mankind.
In the future, China will better align with international high-standard trade and economic rules, ensuring compatibility and coherence among rules, regulations, management, and standards, and steadily expanding institutional openness. We should seize the opportunity presented by advancing our accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) to build a new, higher-level open economic system. This includes establishing compliance mechanisms aligned with international norms, creating new advantages in openness, and unlocking new dividends from openness.
China will seize the initiative of opening up and expand its unilateral opening up. They are all new requirements introduced in this plenary session. High-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, the establishment of free trade pilot zones, and hosting the China International Import Expo (CIIE) are all examples. On the new journey, high-level opening up aims to further relax market access and actively open the market to the world, allowing China’s vast market to become a significant opportunity for the global community.
China will promote the development of new quality productive forces. A notable feature of new quality productive forces is innovation. For instance, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and the green economy are at the forefront of innovation and represent current new arenas. We need to expand open cooperation and create an open innovation ecosystem. We will continuously create new consumer scenarios, cultivate new drivers for foreign trade, and enhance the “Invest in China” brand, making China’s vast market a strong magnet for global innovation activities.
China will better promote win-win cooperation and advocate for inclusive and equitable economic globalization. Given the increasing development challenges faced by countries, open cooperation, and mutual benefit are the correct choices. We aim to expand the pie of openness, extend the “list” of cooperation, fully participate in World Trade Organization (WTO) reforms, broaden the “circle of friends” for free trade, and advance the building of an open global economy.
China will advance the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We will enhance the BRI international cooperation framework, and strengthen multilateral cooperation platforms in areas such as green development, digital economy, artificial intelligence, energy, taxation, finance, and disaster reduction. We will promote the signing of free trade agreements and investment protection agreements with more countries. Efforts will be coordinated to advance major landmark projects and “small but beautiful” livelihood projects, establish pilot zones for “Silk Road e-commerce” cooperation, and build high-quality overseas cooperation parks. The goal is to transform the BRI into a “road of happiness” that benefits all parties and the world.
Currently, China-Dominica relations have become a good example of South-South cooperation. China welcomes the Dominican side to board the “express train” of Chinese modernization to expand bilateral cooperation in trade and economy and will continue to assist within its capacity for Dominica’s economic and social development.
- Deepening Reform in Ecological Conservation
The Resolution identifies the focus on building a Beautiful China and promoting harmony between humanity and nature as crucial aspects of the overall goal for further deepening reform comprehensively. It lays out major plans for deepening ecological civilization reforms and advancing the construction of a Beautiful China in the new era on its new journey, which is of significant and far-reaching importance.
Deepening reform in ecological conservation is the fundamental driving force for advancing modernization features harmony between humanity and nature. Currently, China faces two major strategic tasks: achieving fundamental improvements in the ecological environment and reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. Deepening reform in ecological conservation will help accelerate the creation of a new pattern for building a Beautiful China oriented towards harmony between humanity and nature.
Deepening reform in ecological conservation is an inevitable requirement for supporting high-quality development with high-level protection. China’s economic and social development has entered a stage focused on accelerating green and low-carbon transformation. Deepening reform in ecological conservation will facilitate the transition to a green and low-carbon development mode, cultivating green productivity and supporting high-quality development through high-level protection.
Deepening reform in ecological conservation is an important guarantee for continuously enhancing the ecological and environmental well-being of the people. China values responding to the growing demand from the public for a better ecological environment. Deepening reform in ecological conservation will help continually improve the modernization of ecological and environmental governance, promote sustained and comprehensive environmental improvements, and ensure that the benefits of construction are more equitable and widespread.
Deepening reform in ecological conservation is an urgent need for participating in and leading global environmental and climate governance. Facing global environmental challenges, humanity is a community with a shared future where mutual prosperity and loss are interconnected. Deepening reform in ecological conservation will enhance China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality efforts, climate change strategies, ecological and environmental strategies, and international and diplomatic strategies, contributing to the creation of a clean and beautiful world.
In the future, China will continuously enhance its ecological and environmental governance, expand international cooperation, and continue to serve as a doer on ecological conservation and climate governance and also a a trailblazer on the world’s environmental governance.
Recently, Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, causing severe damage in many countries. It is reported that we might be experiencing the most active hurricane season on record, which is just a glimpse of the climate challenges faced by small island developing states like Dominica. In a recent speech, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica called for greater international solidarity to help developing countries tackle climate change, a viewpoint that aligns closely with China’s stance. In March this year, President H.E. Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit during his official visit to China and stressed that China attaches importance to the issues of Small Island Developing States related to climate change.
In May, the Representative of the Chinese government and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu attended the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), held in Antigua and Barbuda. He noted that Climate change poses an existential threat to SIDS. We must adhere to the goals and principles established by the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, and work together to achieve positive outcomes at COP29, helping SIDS enhance their capacity and resilience in addressing climate change. China is willing to work with all parties to actively implement the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda, fully support SIDS in achieving resilient and sustainable prosperity, and jointly build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind.
As a member of the Global South, China has always shared a common destiny with other developing countries, including SIDS. Looking forward, China will further strengthen South-South cooperation and continue to assist the best of our capability to Dominica and other developing countries in coping with climate change, as it further deepens reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization.
- Promoting Peaceful Development
It was stated in the Resolution that Chinese modernization is the modernization of peaceful development. Peaceful development is a distinctive feature of Chinese modernization. Looking back at modern world history, the old path taken by Western powers to achieve modernization through war, colonization, and exploitation was self-serving and caused immense suffering to the people of many developing countries, including China. We will stand firmly on the right side of history and the side of human progress. Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, We have made it clear that China will unwaveringly adhere to the path of peaceful development.
Adhering to peaceful development means realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and promoting the progress of human civilization through positive interaction and mutual benefit between China and the world. Whether peaceful development is viable largely depends on our ability to transform global opportunities into opportunities for China, and vice versa, advancing through positive interaction and win-win cooperation with all countries. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has actively promoted the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and fostered a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation. These efforts have made significant contributions to maintaining world peace and promoting common development, opening up broader prospects for China to continue on the path of peaceful development.
Adhering to peaceful development requires steadfastly upholding the bottom line of safeguarding national core interests. The protection of national interests and the promotion of world peace and development are dialectically unified. Peaceful development concerns the common well-being of the international community and people around the world, and it should be a shared responsibility of all countries. China remains committed to mutual respect and win-win cooperation with all nations. Only when all countries follow the path of peaceful development can they achieve mutual development and coexist peacefully.
In the future, China will continue to stay committed to an independent foreign policy of peace and safeguarding a peaceful and stable international environment. We will continue to form our position and policies based on the merits of the matter, uphold the basic norms of international relations, and safeguard international fairness and justice. We will advance friendly cooperation with other countries based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and push for the building of a new type of international relations. We will promote coordination and sound interactions with other major countries, adhere to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness as well as the policy of developing friendship and partnership in our neighborhood, and strengthen unity and cooperation with fellow developing countries and safeguard the common interests of the developing world.
China will continue to fully implement the Global Development Initiative (GDI), give full play to the role of the GDI Group of Friends, and make good use of the GDI project pool and capital pool as well as the Global Development Promotion Center Network to build partnerships and nurture new drivers for global development. We will fully deliver on the Global Security Initiative, and encourage all countries to act on the new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security. We will follow the approach with Chinese characteristics on settling hot-button issues, and play an active part in global security governance. We will put in place mechanisms for promoting the implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative, advocate equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness between civilizations, make good use of platforms such as the Ancient Civilizations Forum, and promote broader international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.
China will continue to call for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and promoting the reform and improvement of the global governance system. “Equal” means truly promoting democracy in international relations, increasing the representation and say of developing countries, and rejecting hegemonism and power politics. “Orderly” means firmly safeguarding the U.N.-centered international system, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter and upholding true multilateralism. “Universally beneficial” means making the economic pie bigger and sharing it more fairly, addressing development imbalances properly between and within countries, and facilitating international macroeconomic policy coordination, to achieve win-win outcomes and shared prosperity. “Inclusive” means supporting all countries in pursuing development paths suited to their national conditions, upholding the WTO-centered multilateral trading regime, actively participating in the reform of the global economic governance system and in international financial governance, and opposing unilateralism and protectionism in all forms.
China will continue to build a community with a shared future for mankind and work together for the modernization of the world. Building a community with a shared future for mankind is the way forward for all people around the world. We will hold high this noble banner as we work to blaze the right path of lasting tranquility and shared prosperity for humanity in a changing and turbulent world, and keep in the right direction of solidarity and cooperation amid complex risks and challenges. We will champion humanity’s common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, and enhance mutual understanding and amity among people of all countries. We will build more bilateral and regional communities with a shared future, and work for more solid and tangible outcomes in the building of such communities in various fields including health, climate change, and cybersecurity. We will advocate transcending conflict and confrontation through peaceful development, replacing absolute security with common security, choosing win-win outcomes over zero-sum games, preventing the clash of civilizations through exchanges and mutual learning, and preserving the planet Earth through green development. We will work with all countries toward an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security, and shared prosperity, and pool efforts and create synergy for advancing the modernization of the world and building a better future for humanity.
This is all the information I would like to share with you about the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Thank you for listening. Now, we will open the floor to the Q&A session of this briefing. If you have any other questions about China-Dominica cooperation or other related topics, please feel free to ask. Thank you!