Article by H. E. Yan Xiusheng, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Barbados
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, convened in Beijing from July 15 to 18, 2024, is an important meeting that attracted worldwide attention with historic significance. The Plenary Session adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPC on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization, which made systematic planning and arrangements for further comprehensively deepening reform and drew a new grand blueprint of Chinese modernization.
Looking back on the development journey of China, our country has made significant strides in keeping up with the times through reform and opening-up. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has successfully achieved the first centenary goal by relying on reform and opening-up, which remain essential now for creating a new landscape for Chinese Modernization and strive towards the second centenary goal.
The Plenary Session presented to the world that China’s overall objectives of further deepening reform comprehensively are to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernize China’s system and capacity for governance. By 2035, China will have finished building a high-standard socialist market economy in all respects, further improved the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, generally modernized its system and capacity for governance, and basically realized socialist modernization. All of this will lay a solid foundation for building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects by the middle of this century.
The Plenary Session presented to the world the key points of China’s advancement of reform. China will focus on building a high-standard socialist market economy, advancing whole-process people’s democracy, developing a strong socialist culture in China, raising the people’s quality of life, building a Beautiful China, advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level, and improving the Party’s capacity for leadership and long-term governance. More than 300 important reform tasks laid out in the resolution shall be completed by the time the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2029.
The Plenary Session clearly sent a definite signal to the world about China’s commitment to expanding high-level opening-up. The plenary session made specific arrangements for promoting high-level opening-up, including expanding institutional opening-up, reforming the foreign trade system, managing foreign investment and outbound investment, optimizing the regional opening-up layout, and improving mechanisms for promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. China will orderly expand the opening-up of commodity markets, service markets, capital markets, and labor markets, optimize the business environment, and make the vast Chinese market a great opportunity for the world.
The Plenary Session further clarified to the world that Chinese modernization is a path of peaceful development. The plenary session emphasized that China will firmly pursue an independent and peaceful foreign policy, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, uphold the common values of humanity, implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, advocate for a multipolar world of equality and order, inclusive and beneficial economic globalization, participate in and lead the reform and construction of the global governance system, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
Chinese modernization has been continuously advanced through reform and opening up, and it will surely open up broad prospects through this approach. A prosperous and open China is an important engine for global development and prosperity, bringing more development opportunities to countries around the world, including Barbados. We look forward to China and Barbados continuing to be fellow travelers on the road to reform and good partners on the path to development, conscientiously implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of our countries during Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s visit to China. We aim to continuously enhance political mutual trust, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and jointly implement the GDI, GSI and GCI, and build a higher level of China-Barbados relations which will benefit the people of our two countries, leading to a closer China-Barbados community with a shared future.
