Modernization path lauded for peaceful growth

Vision set out at 20th CPC National Congress to help spur global progress

In the eyes of Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying, China's commitment to peaceful global development and common prosperity is illustrated by a new banknote in Madagascar with the image of Chinese hybrid rice printed on it.

The inspiration for the image on the Madagascan banknote is the late pioneering Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping. Yuan and his team worked for more than a decade on the cultivation of several high-yield hybrid rice strains suitable for Madagascar's climate and soil conditions. The team also taught Madagascans the techniques to cultivate the high-yield rice.

"Now, Madagascar is the country with the largest area of hybrid rice and the highest production in Africa. And it is also the first country in Africa to develop the chain of the hybrid rice industry," she said.

"We sincerely believe that a better China contributes to the world, and China goes well when the world goes well. Instead of putting itself first and seeking supremacy, China believes in harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation," she added.

Peaceful development stands out as one of the five major features of "the Chinese path to modernization" — a holistic vision set out at the recent 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

At the congress last month, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a report and said, "In pursuing modernization, China will not tread the old path of war, colonization, and plunder taken by some countries."

"Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, we will strive to safeguard world peace and development as we pursue our own development, and we will make greater contributions to world peace and development through our own development," Xi said.

During Xi's recent Southeast Asia trip, he explained in detail how the Chinese path to modernization will help advance the world's progress in economy, security, the environment and culture through tangible approaches such as implementation of the Global Development Initiative.

Leaders and officials from different countries have welcomed the recent remarks by Xi about China's blueprint for its future growth.

When meeting with Xi in Bangkok on Nov 17, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said China's rise is unstoppable, and a strong and friendly China will have a positive impact on the region and the world as well as helping small and medium-sized countries achieve common development.

Sierra Leone's Deputy Minister of Agriculture Theresa Tenneh Dick said that Chinese modernization is suitable for China's national conditions, benefits everyone, and echoes the country's peaceful rise.

China's modernization drive will bring more opportunities for the two countries to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and provide a new and powerful force for the common development of their people, she told a local symposium on Nov 11.

Chen Xulong, a professor of multilateral diplomacy and UN reform studies at the University of International Business and Economics' School of International Relations, said the Chinese path to modernization is "an encompassing, innovative concept", which includes and presents the country's fresh ideas and belief in diplomacy. As a major country, it is also of great significance for the practices and innovation of China's diplomacy, Chen said.

When addressing foreign diplomats in Beijing earlier this month, Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng said that China is the only country in the world that has pledged to "keep to a path of peaceful development" in its Constitution. It is also the only one of the five nuclear-weapon states that has pledged no first use of nuclear weapons.

Beijing adheres to settling disputes through dialogue and negotiation, pursues a defensive national defense policy, and its development "strengthens the world's forces for peace", he added.

Right side of history

Wang Fan, president of China Foreign Affairs University, said Xi's statement that the country "will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress", made it clear that China will help make the world order more fair and reasonable, and also inject more certainty and dynamism into an uncertain world.

"We have seen some countries going backward to Cold War era thinking, creating and exploiting crisis, and attempting to fan another round of confrontation. Some nations resort to trade protectionism, unilateralism and backpedal on globalization. All these (factors) are worsening imbalances and injustice in the world, and the global community needs a positive push," he said.

In the report delivered by Xi at the 20th CPC National Congress, he reaffirmed China's commitment to building a community with a shared future for mankind. "Only when all countries pursue the cause of the common good, live in harmony and engage in cooperation for mutual benefit will there be sustained prosperity and guaranteed security," Xi said.

Xi first proposed the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind in 2013, and since then the Belt and Road Initiative has developed into an international public good and a flagship for fulfilling this vision.

As of June, the total volume of commodity trade between China and other countries involved in the Belt and Road has registered around $12 trillion.

China has signed documents on co-building the Belt and Road with over 140 countries and more than 30 international organizations, according to Sun Yeli, spokesman for the 20th CPC National Congress.

Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of American Studies, said: "Time will further testify that China will overcome various (instances of) resistance and challenges to advance the building of the Belt and Road and the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, and we will see an even stronger momentum of building a community with a shared future for mankind."

Su Xiaohui, associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said that as the Chinese path to modernization is popularized, China's circle of friends will expand.

"The country will continue to contribute to the joint development and globalization with the support of the public goods it provides, such as China International Import Expo in Shanghai," Su said.