Daily Times

Under the extraordinary leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has made significant advances in the development of the Chinese nation and society. With the remarkable vision and vigour of President XI, China is rapidly moving towards its big objective of constructing a completely modern socialist nation. President Xi has made a significant contribution to the development of a new style of international relations by proposing important ideas such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the creation of a global community with a shared future.

The fourth volume of the recently published book “President Xi Jinping The Governance of China” is comprised of speeches delivered by President Xi on different occasions in 2020 and 2021. 2020 started with one of the most daunting challenges of this century of the widespread pandemic of Covid-19. The Chinese leadership, during this turbulent time, showed their resolve in how to cope with challenges of such magnitude. President Xi’s Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative are of great strategic importance in addressing the risks and difficulties facing the world today. With Xi Jinping’s vision, China has won the battle against extreme poverty and has achieved the First Centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects on schedule. Now the country is all set to begin the march towards the Second Centenary Goal, which is to build China into a modern socialist country.

One of the most inspiring facets of President XI’s leadership is his determination to put the interests of his people at the forefront. He once said that people’s support is our top political priority. By repeatedly representing public sentiments, President XI has won the hearts of his nation. While giving the message for the new year of 2022, he said that” The people’s concerns are my concerns, and the people’s expectations are my goals”. He also relates his experiences from a young age in the countryside when he was young to demonstrate his eagerness to address public issues. Having achieved so many feats in his two tenures, President XI is still determined to further improve the quality of the lives of his people, by acknowledging in his speeches that there is still a long way to go. During his speech at the deliberation session of the Inner Mongolia delegation to the Third Session of the 13th National People’s Congress on 22nd May 2022, he stressed that the sole aim of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in governance is to meet the needs of the people and give its all in serving them and striving for their wellbeing.

With Xi Jinping’s vision, China has won the battle against extreme poverty and has achieved the First Centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society.

President XI has not only inspired China through his governance but he is also inspiring the youth for a better future. Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of a training program for younger officials at the Central Party School (National Academy of Governance) during its 2021 spring semester, urged the new generation to emphasize strategic planning, grasp overall trends, address principle challenges and the key aspects of challenges to make judicious arrangements and gain firm control in any struggle. President XI’s moving words of wisdom are not only significant for the new generation of Chinese people but the youth across the globe can benefit from his knowledgeable pieces of advice. He also stressed the significance of dealing with worst-case scenarios. Younger people from developing countries can learn a lot from President XI’s struggle of dealing with uphill challenges, as the Chinese model of governance under his worthy leadership stands tall among all other modern governance models.

President XI’s leadership has not only addressed the local challenges but also shown the pathway for other nations to fight. The Chinese response to COVID-19 has been acknowledged across the globe. From limiting the virus to spread and swift treatment mechanisms to R&D for vaccine production, and administering the vaccine to the public in such large numbers in such a short period is definitely worth commendation. The hallmark of President XI’s leadership during COVID-19 was his inspiring leadership of uniting all the key segments of the society including epidemic control workers, police officers and community workers who diligently worked around the clock. When all other nations were struggling during Covid-19, the Chinese economy remained on a positive trend which speaks volumes of President XI’s vision and leadership. While speaking at a meeting on strengthening Covid-19 control and economic and social development, President XI on 23rd February 2022 stressed that we must unleash our great potential and momentum by turning pressure into motivation and crises into opportunity. This is another example and lesson for developing nations and their leaderships about coping with immense challenges.

President XI believes in actions, as he is leading action-oriented programs to address the post-Covid-19 socio-economic challenges, which is also guiding the other nations. He is leading a region-specific, tiered and targeted approach to reopen the economy. China has also established a mechanism for preventing people from falling back into poverty. China is supporting enterprises in difficult times to keep the job-market stable as the country is also promoting online unemployment registration and online application for unemployment insurance benefits. Farmers are facilitated to find the right market to sell their agricultural and livestock products, while migrant workers are also getting help from the government to resume their work. When traditional industries are bracing for a negative impact after Covid-19, China is focusing on smart manufacturing, unmanned delivery services, online consumption, healthcare and other emerging industries. To address people’s income issues, provincial governors and city mayors are ensuring the swift supply of vital foods. In the tough times, President XI’s leadership has taken revolutionary steps for the smooth operation of industrial and supply chains in foreign trade to maintain China’s international market. All these measures of socioeconomic development during Covid-19 were envisioned by President XI during the same speech during the meeting on strengthening Covid-19 control and economic and social development in February 2020.

Although the western developed countries proudly share their modernism China’s path to modernity under President XI’s leadership has some unique features. President Xi’s speech at the second full assembly of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee highlighted the Chinese path to modernization on October 29th, 2020. He argued that firstly, China’s modernization is for a population of more than 1.4 billion people, which exceeds in size of the combined total population of developed countries. Secondly, Chinese progress and modernism aim at common prosperity for everyone which has addressed regional divides, disparities between urban and rural areas, and the gap in income distribution. Thirdly, Chinese progress balances the material and cultural-ethical progress whereas material gains are dominated in other developed countries. Fourthly, China focuses on harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, as the country strives to synergize material and eco-friendly progress which has ensured sound development to ensure growth. Lastly, President Xi maintained that Chinese modernization follows the path of peaceful development, as some of the old capitalist countries pursued the path of modernization through violent exploitation of colonies and at the cost of other countries’ development.

Xi Jinping has led the party and the people in an effort to respond to changes and open up new prospects by freeing the mind, seeking truth from facts, maintaining the right political orientation, breaking new grounds, and making a penetrating analysis and acute assessment of major theocratic and practical issues concerning the development of the party and the country in the new era. He has addressed concerns about the present and future of China and its people, as well as the rest of the globe, by demonstrating vision, a comprehensive variety of ideas and methods, and extensive strategic thinking.

The writer is a senior Journalist. He is also President of Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR).