H.E. Excellency Mr. Cui Aimin, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Sweden, keyonoted the webinar organized by the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden under the title “The Outcome and Implications of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China”. (See full text below!)
The webinar held on November 29, brought together a select group of international scholars from Europe, United States, and China to discuss the importance and implications of the decisions taken at the recent 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, especially with regards to the Belt and Road Initiative and China’s role in the world now and the future.
Watch recording of the webinar!
Keynote Speech by Ambassador Cui Aimin at the Webinar
“The Outcome and Implications of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China”
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,
Good morning! I’m pleased to be invited to attend the Webinar “the Outcome and Implications of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China”. At the outset, on behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I’d like to extend my warm welcome to all the guests who join us today, my respect to all the friends who have offered continuous care and support of China’s development. Meanwhile, I’d also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our host, BRIX, for your elaborate preparations for this webinar.
Over a month ago, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which attracted worldwide attention, was successfully held, charting the course and drawing a blueprint for China’s development for the present and years to come. Many leaders of foreign political parties and governments worldwide have congratulated on the success of this Congress and are full of expectations for the new opportunities brought by China’s new development to the world. It is in tune with both the times and the circumstances that today’s webinar focuses on the outcome and implications of the 20th National Congress of the CPC. I’d like to take this opportunity to share my thinking and perspectives, and hopefully can offer some help to our friends to better understand China, the CPC, and the 20th National Congress of the CPC.
This is a Congress that holds the banner high and meets people’s expectations. History has proved that a strong core of leadership and advanced theories that are scientifically effective are the key to the development and growth of a country. The first plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee elected the new central leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. This is a central leadership that is fully trusted by the 1.4 billion Chinese people. It is also a politically resolute, united, and dynamic central leadership that meets the long-term development needs of the cause of the CPC and China. On the basis of integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and fine traditional culture, the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has opened up a new realm of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times. We will fully implement and uphold it for a long time to come. We firmly believe that with General Secretary Xi Jinping continuing to steer the ship and with the scientific guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will be able to seize opportunities, overcome risks and challenges, and achieve the strategies and goals set by the 20th National Congress of the CPC.
This is a Congress that points out the direction and clarifies the tasks. General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly declared in his report to the Congress that the central task of the CPC will be 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. Chinese modernization 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. The modernization of China’s more than 1.4 billion people will be an unprecedented event in the history of human development. It will provide the world with an ultra-large market and provide more opportunities for global enterprises.
- It is the modernization of common prosperity for all. Now that China has won the battle against poverty and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, we will continue to promote common prosperity for all, so that more gains of development will benefit all the people more equitable and in every aspect of their lives, linking closely the great dream of the Chinese nation with the daily lives of every family. China’s efforts on common prosperity for all will also promote the common development and progress of all countries, help the world solve the problem of unbalanced development, and promote the building a human community with a shared future.
- It is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement. Over the past decade, China’s share of the world economy has risen from 11.3% to 18.5%, and its per capita GDP has risen from 39,800 yuan to 81,000 yuan. China has built the world’s largest education system, social security system and health care system, and the average life expectancy has increased to 78.2 years. We will keep raising people’s living standards and enriching their cultural and spiritual lives, so that every family will enjoy a decent life and everyone will be imbued with a strong sense of moral integrity. At the same time, we will promote human advancement along a balanced, positive and upward trajectory by actively promoting exchanges and mutual learning among human civilizations.
- It is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. In the spirit of being responsible to both itself and the world, China is committed to the theory of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” and the efforts in building a beautiful China with blue skies, green lands, and clean waters. In the past decade, China has been one of the countries with the fastest energy consumption reduction and has built the largest carbon market and clean power generation system. China has restored 520 million mu of forest from farmland in the past decade, contributing a quarter of the world’s new forest area. In the next decade, China will strive to plant another 70 billion trees. The Chinese path to modernization will inject strong impetus into the global response to climate change and help build a cleaner and more beautiful world.
- It is the modernization of peaceful development. The Chinese path to modernization is not a reprint of the rise of traditional powers, still less is it the old path that “a country growing in strength invariably seeks hegemony”. Instead, it is the right path that delivers benefits to both China and the world. China is the only country in the world that has put “keep to a path of peaceful development” in its constitution. It is the only country among the five nuclear-weapon states that commits to no-first-use of nuclear weapons. It is also the second largest contributor to the UN peace-keeping budget and the largest contributor of peace-keeping troops among permanent members of the UN Security Council. China will always be committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursue a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up. We will strive to safeguard world peace and development as we pursue our own development, and will make greater contributions to world peace and development through our own development.
This is a Congress that pursues the common good of the world with a global mindset. At present, the momentous changes unseen in a century continue to evolve, the pandemic still drags on, the geopolitical environment remains tense, and crises in global finance, economy, food and energy are intertwined with one another, the world is once again standing at a crossroads. Facing this situation, the solution given by the 20th National Congress of the CPC is to promote world peace and development and to promote the building of human community with a shared future. We are firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, adhering to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries. We strive to create new opportunities for the world with our own development and to contribute our share to building an open global economy that delivers greater benefits to all peoples. We play an active part in the reform and development of the global governance system. We pursue a vision of global governance featuring shared growth through discussion and collaboration. China upholds true multilateralism, promotes greater democracy in international relations, and works to make global governance fairer and more equitable. On the journey forward, the CPC will work with people from all countries to uphold humanity’s shared values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom. China will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, a defender of international order, a provider of public goods, and a mediator of hotspot issues, and will continue to promote the development of a human community with a shared future, and push the wheels of history towards a bright future.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an important platform for building a human community with a shared future. It will continue to play an important role for the development of China and the world. Since President Xi Jinping proposed the BRI in 2013, the vision of the BRI is becoming a reality and bearing rich fruit. It has become a road of development, a road of opportunities, and a road of health for all countries. It has also been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. China has signed over 200 BRI cooperation documents with over 170 countries and international organizations. Since 2013, China’s annual trade volume with BRI countries has increased from USD 1.04 trillion to USD 1.8 trillion, up by 73%, and our cumulative trade volume has reached USD 12 trillion. Thanks to the BRI, East Africa and Cambodia now have highways; Kazakhstan is connected to the sea; Maldives has a cross-sea bridge; and Laos, the once land-locked country, is now a land-linked country. The BRI has brightened the life of the people in more and more countries. The world sees it more and more clearly that the BRI originated in China, and its opportunities and benefits belong to the world. The BRI is a public road open to all.
The 20th National Congress of the CPC has put “promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative” in its report, which means it is a solemn commitment made by China for promoting global development and prosperity, and building a human community with a shared future. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the BRI. President Xi Jinping has recently announced that China will consider hosting the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation next year. It will inject new momentum in and broaden the prospects for global development and prosperity.
Sweden is a founding member of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. The Swedish business community has shown a strong interest and positive attitude in promoting mutually beneficial cooperation with China under the BRI framework. Currently, both China and Sweden are actively promoting green development, which provides enormous opportunities for broader and deeper cooperation. China is willing to continue to uphold the principle of shared growth through discussion and collaboration, to work together with all sides including Sweden, to synergize the BRI with the development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives of other countries, and to realize broader and smoother inter-connectivity. We are willing to elevate our practical cooperation to a higher level, provide more opportunities for the world, inject stronger momentum into international cooperation, and make greater contributions to the progress of humanity!
Let me conclude by wishing the webinar a great success.
Thank you!