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I am a long-time member of The Society for Anglo Chinese Understanding, a Londonbased organization which aims to promote understanding and friendship between the British and Chinese people. In recent days, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has garnered global attention with its emphasis on Chinese modernization. I read the articles published on the official website ofChina Todayand was impressed by several of them, for example, “Always Putting the People First” and “The Chinese Path” in the column of China Today Exclusive under the special report of the 20th CPC National Congress, as well as some commentaries in the column of China in Foreign Eyes.

Here I would like to share some of my own views on these topics. As we all know, the 20th National Congress of the CPC took place at a critical time when the Chinese people of all ethnic groups are embarking on a new journey of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing toward the nation’s second centenary goal. The CPC leads a country with the largest population on Earth of some 1.4 billion people and is now the world’s second largest economy. Given China’s weight and role in the global arena, whether in economy, geopolitics, or climate change, its decisions will impact in some way every human being.

So far, the principal contradiction of Chinese society has changed to the one between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. It is different from the one that existed in the late 1970s between people’s ever-growing material and cultural needs and the country’s relatively backward social productive forces. To resolve that challenge, the most rapid and dramatic economic transformation of any society in human history took place. The lifting of hundreds of millions of people out of poverty has helped form the world’s largest middle income group, and a country known as the “workshop of the world” has become the top trading partner of more than 120 countries. However, it’s time for the country to make a change in its development pattern. The new definition of the principal contradiction in Chinese society means, therefore, that China is now looking to maintain steady growth rather than stellar growth – the emphasis has moved from quantity to quality, to sustainability and to a people-centered approach and results. In terms of the environment, one of Xi’s favorite expressions is that lucid waters and lush mountains are as precious as gold and silver. And while much remains to be done, China is clearly leading the world in fields such as renewable energy and reforestation. It has set a goal of reaching peak emissions by 2030 and being carbon neutral by 2060. Unlike capitalist countries, China has a good record of keeping to and meeting, if not exceeding, its targets. Let’s all keep a close eye on it.