On December 1, 2022, Local media PointeXpress carried an article authored by Her Excellency Madame Zhang Yanling, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Antigua and Barbuda, titled “Open up for shared benefits and cooperate for win-win outcomes ” which introduces spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress. The full text is as follows:
Today, our world is changing in ways like never before. Deficit in peace, development, security and governance is growing and is posing unprecedented challenges for human human society. The world has reached a crossroads in history, and its future course will be decided by all the world’s peoples.
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held from Oct 16th to 20th 2022. The Congress summarized the work of the past five years and the changes in the first decade of the new era, as well as laid out the goals, tasks and guiding policies for China’s development in the next five years and beyond. I would like to share my takeaway of the meeting captured in four words, certainty, new development, opening-up and win-win cooperation.
Certainty: During the past decade, China has been bringing certainty and stability in its own ways to an uncertain and unstable world. Once and for all, the country has eradicated absolute poverty and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Food for more than 1.4 billion people are ensured with the grain output ranking first in the world. The life expectancy has reached 78.2 years. 1.04 billion people are covered by basic old-age insurance, and 95 percent of the population have basic medical insurance .
The Congress laid out objectives and missions of the country for the next five years and beyond, which will continue to focus on meeting the people’s aspirations for a better life, ensuring that China’s socialist modernization advances along the right path, and that China continues to develop and add certainty to the world.
New development: Going forward, the central task will be 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 nation through a Chinese path to modernization.
The Chinese path to modernization will not tread the old path of war, colonization, and plunder taken by some countries. Instead, China will strive to safeguard world peace as it pursues its own development, which will be interconnected and mutually reinforcing with the development of other countries. To achieve modernization for more than 1.4 billion people, responsible, sustainable and high-quality development will be pursued, bearing in mind the country’s realities and following its unique pathways. More efforts will be made to adjust the energy mix, aimed at taking 30 years to move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality.
Opening-up: China will further deepen its approach to opening-up. For the past decade, by pursuing a proactive strategy of opening up, China has become a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions. Looking forward, the country will keep on pursuing a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up, adhere to the right course of economic globalization and amplify the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources.
China will contribute its share to building an open global economy, while working with all countries and all parties to share the opportunities in its vast market. It will further deepened international cooperation, create new drivers for global growth and provide all nations with greater and fairer access to the fruits of development.
Win-win cooperation: China is committed to its foreign policy goals of upholding world peace and promoting common development, and is dedicated to promoting a human community with a shared future.
The country remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, upholding the basic norms governing international relations and working to make global governance fairer and more equitable. Guided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China will deepen and expand global partnerships based on equality, openness, and cooperation, in an effort to broaden the convergence of interests with other countries. It is also prepared to invest more resources in global development cooperation and is committed to narrowing the North-South gap, so as to assist other developing countries in accelerating development.
Dear friends, as China embarks on the new journey, it will achieve further development and create new opportunities for the world. We stand ready to work with all countries including Antigua and Barbuda to pursue common development, engage in cooperation for mutual benefit, jointly meet all types of global challenges, and create an even brighter future for humanity.