Comments from Mr. Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, CEO of the Asian Institute of Eco-civilisation Research and Development in Pakistan

[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

President Xi Jinping delivered a comprehensive and forward-looking speech at the 20th National Congress. He delivered the speech at a time when the world is facing multifaceted and complicated challenges. The world is struggling to overcome the challenges of COVID-19, climate change, poverty,energy and food insecurity. On the other hand, the economic crisis is creeping in with an alarming speed.It has threatened the social and economic system of the world. Higher inflation and lower growth are the new normal in the global scenario. The world is struggling to find answers for these questions and looking for opportunities to reverse the process, but with limited success.

In this context, the speech of Xi is extremely important because policies of China influence the global system. Being a major power, every policy or action of China has relevance for global economic and political landscape. There is a consensus among the community of experts and policy makers that the economic performance of China has determinant impact on the global economy and politics. Xi is cognisant of this new reality and delivered his speech by keeping in mind global political, security and economic situations and complications.

Firstly, Xi started his speech by congratulating the Chinese nation for their marvellous achievements.He declared that China has accomplished the task of the first centenary goal by ushering in a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the eradication of poverty and helping to build a moderately prosperous country. However, it is not the end of the work, rather it is the beginning of a new journey to achieve the second centenary goal: a developed,prosperous country and responsible major power.However, in new endeavours China will have to keep the philosophy of people-centred development and people-first policy at the heart of all future policies and actions. He also proposed new drivers of economic growth and sustainability.

Secondly, he prescribed "common prosperity" as a key goal for future economic and development policies.He shared his view that "common prosperity" should be achieved without compromising the market needs, efficiency and greater role of the market. It is a new concept, which is extremely important at this point in time. As the mankind is facing economic and development challenges, an existing economic model is unable to present solution. Therefore, it is expected that new concept of common prosperity can help the world, especially common citizens to find solutions.But the real challenge would be how to regulate the markets, which can ensure common prosperity without compromising on the efficiency and leading role of the market. Xi is aware of this dimension and has been working for many years to define the right set of policies and policy tools like eco-civilisation,new philosophy of development, dual circulation model, the 14th Five-Year Plan, Vision 2035 etc.All these documents and policies carry extremely important lessons to understand and implement the philosophy of common prosperity and market.

Thirdly, Xi highlighted the importance of the environment and shared the success story of China.He emphasised to further enhance the role of the environment in economic decision making and implementation. New philosophy of development and high-quality development led by innovation will be the leading instrument to protect the environment and achieve a goal of eco-civilisation.

Fourthly, Xi talked about the value and importance of the whole-process people’s democracy, which is a unique model based on a continuous two-way interaction and follows the principles of core socialist values. It provides the basis for the people-centred development policies and actions. Owing to wholeprocess people’s democracy and a people-centred approach, China was able to build the biggest education, health and social security systems.

Fifthly, Xi put a lot of importance on the proactive and positive role of the youth to define the future of the country. For that purpose, China will be putting education at the highest priority and provide exemplary opportunities for the youth to polish their skills. He advised the youth to aim high but always stay grounded. It is extremely important advice because it is required to denounce arrogance, remain humble, and keep on working for the betterment of the society, the country and humanity.

Sixthly, he reiterated his and the Party's commitment to eliminate corruption, at all levels.He unambiguously announced that there would be zero tolerance for corruption. More importantly,he categorically mentioned that there would be no mercy for corrupt people.

On the global front, Xi reiterated China's commitment to global system and promised to play a positive and active role. He urged the global community to work for enhancing cooperation by adhering to the principles of justice, equality, respect and integrity.Furthermore, he denounced the hegemonic behaviour and described it as a major reason of global problems. He categorically highlighted the importance of sovereignty of nations is needed to be respected by all. He opposed the third country interference in internal affairs of sovereign countries.He assured the world that China will never look for hegemonic power, neither will China interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Simultaneously,China will not tolerate interference in the internal affairs of China by any country. He specifically talked about Taiwan and made it clear that Taiwan is an internal matter of China and China has the wisdom and capability to tackle it. Xi asked the world to work together to achieve sustainable development, peace and the community with a shared future. China is already playing a positive and proactive role in global development through its Belt and Road Initiative and Global Development Initiative. China is also on the way of a comprehensive opening up. It will create multiple opportunities for the world and help to move on the way to achieve a goal of community with a shared future.

In conclusion, from the above discussion, we can infer that Xi's speech carries a message of hope in desperate times. The message is not only for the people of China but for the whole world. He reassured the people that through cooperation,selflessness and putting people at centre, we can solve any problem.