(By Chinese Ambassador to Liberia H.E. Ren Yisheng)

From October 16th to 22nd, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was successfully held in Beijing, and a new leadership was elected with Comrade Xi Jinping continuing to serve as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC. The 20th National Congress of the CPC is a very important conference held at a critical moment when China embarks on a new journey to build a modern socialist country in an all-round way and marches towards the second centenary goal. The conference is a milestone in the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and it is of great and far-reaching significance for ensuring that socialism with Chinese characteristics always advances successfully in the right direction.

In his report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping comprehensively summarized the work of the past five Years and the great changes in the first decade of the new era since the 18th National Congress of the CPC. In the past ten years, China’s economic strength has achieved a historic leap. The GDP has increased from 54 trillion yuan to 114 trillion yuan, and the proportion of the total economic volume in the world economy has risen from 11.3% to 18.5%, ranking second in the world. The per capita GDP has risen from US$6,300 to over US$12,000, and people's lives have been improved in all aspects. China has won the largest poverty alleviation battle in human history. In less than ten years, nearly 100 million rural poor people have been lifted out of extreme poverty, making significant contributions to the cause of global poverty reduction. China's average contribution to world economic growth exceeds 30%, ranking first in the world.

The report clarified the mission and tasks of the CPC in the new journey of the new era, and pointed out that “From this day forward, the central task of the CPC 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”, issuing a general mobilization to build a socialist modern country in an all-round way from a new starting point.

China will accelerate the creation of a new development pattern and pursue high-quality development, invigorate China through science and education and develop a strong workforce for the modernization drive, advance whole-process people’s democracy and ensure that the people run the country, exercise law-based governance on all fronts and advance the rule of law in China, build cultural confidence and strength and secure new successes in developing socialist culture, improve the people’s well being and raise quality of life, pursue green development and promote harmony between humanity and nature, modernize China’s national security system and capacity and safeguard national security and social stability, achieve the centenary goal of the People’s Liberation Army and further modernize national defense and the military, uphold and Improve the policy of One country, Two systems and promote national reunification, promote world peace and development and build a human community with a shared future, exercise full and rigorous self-governance and advance the great new project of party building in the new era.

The CPC promotes an all-round rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese path to modernization, and accelerates the construction of a new pattern of development that is focused on the domestic economy and features positive interplay between domestic and international economic flows. China emphasizes adherence to high-level opening up, promotes the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road”(B&R) Initiative , and firmly pursues an opening-up strategy of mutual benefit and win-win results. There are not only far-sighted strategic planning, but also solid and stable policy arrangements, from steadily expanding institutional openings such as rules, regulations, management, and standards, to accelerating the construction of a trading power and promoting the high-quality development of the B&R. China's multiple measures to maintain a diversified and stable international economic structure and economic and trade relations will provide huge development opportunities for developing countries and inject confidence and impetus into regional and world economic development.

Peaceful development is an important feature of Chinese path to modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized in his report that China has always adhered to the foreign policy of maintaining world peace and promoting common development, and is committed to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. China remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries, and remains committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world. China upholds the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and pursuing the greater good and shared interests to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with developing countries and safeguard the common interests of developing countries. The Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI) proposed by China are in line with the common aspirations of the international community for justice, peace and development. China is willing to walk hand in hand with the people of the world, gather together the strong synergy to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and make the world more peaceful, safer and more prosperous.

The 20th National Congress of the CPC is an important milestone, which not only has a profound impact on China, but also injects impetus for countries around the world to work together to tackle challenges and achieve common development. Under the strong leadership of the CPC, China will continue to provide new opportunities for the world with new development, and make new contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind and building a better world.

The successful practice of Chinese path to modernization has also expanded the way to modernization for developing countries, including African countries, and provided Chinese solutions for countries to explore different paths to modernization. As long as a nation adheres to the “people-centered” philosophy, anchors its own modernization goals, and independently explores the modernization path based on its own national conditions, a leapfrog development can be achieved.

Entering the new era, China will continue to walk hand in hand with the African and Liberian people, firmly follow the path of mutual benefit and common development, and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields with full play of the leading role of the FOCAC. China will vigorously implement the “Nine Programs” of the FOCAC by integrating the BRI, the GDI and the GSI closely with the AU Agenda 2063, the “Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development” (PAPD) and other African development strategies, on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and jointly build a China-Africa and China-Liberia community with a shared future.