A parterre themed on the “Two Centenary Goals” and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation at Fuxingmen in Beijing Photo: CFP

In recent years, the global academic community has not only praised China’s remarkable progress in the past decade under the new era, but has also undertaken extensive research on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, which serves as a guiding principle for China’s impressive achievements. Fernando Reyes Matta, former Chilean ambassador to China and director of the Center for Latin American Studies on China at Andrés Bello University in Chile, recently shared his insights on Xi’s thought on governance, socialism with Chinese characteristics, and China’s “Two Centenary Goals” with CSST.

Global implications of Xi’s thought

“Xi’s ideas on governance are strongly shared and well recognized by many developing countries, especially those still in fragility and poverty,” Matta told CSST.

“In European countries and the US, there is difficulty of understanding how in a few decades China has been able to make a leap to development that in other countries required much more than a century. Western liberalism does not like that the current political alternative in China has achieved these victories. However, it is the fact that since reform and opening up, China has not only created the magnificent history of its own, but also deeply influenced the transformation of international order,” Matta said.

In Matta’s belief, the main merit of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, reinforced by the current leadership of the CPC, is to define long-term strategies and move towards them with certainty.

“There is a knowledge of where you want to go and, at the same time, there is a positive management of the circumstances to reach those goals,” Matta said. “That is where solidity and political wisdom is essential. In many aspects, China is strong for this reason from its own political system, with fewer turbulences than those registered in other countries and regions of the world. The stability of the political system is one of the keys to social stability and development, especially in today’s world where changes are constantly accelerating.”

“China’s story of success shows that socialism with Chinese characteristics both strengthens itself and benefits the world,” Matta added.

Clear roadmap for future

At a grand gathering to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC on July 1, 2021, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping announced that China has realized the First Centenary Goal—building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

“This means that we have brought about a historic resolution to the problem of absolute poverty in China, and we are now marching in confident strides toward the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects,” Xi said.

“On the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in 2021, I said that there was a historical coincidence between the reality of 1921 when the party was born and the one that exists now: in both cases we are experiencing a time of major changes,” Matta said.

“A century ago, the world maps changed after World War I. There was an industrial transformation among developed powers. A century later, it is also a time of changes as emerging economies and developing countries rise,” he explained.

As Matta observed, China in 1921 was still somewhat uncertain about its future path. The birth of the CPC illuminated the reality for the suffering Chinese nation. In China, the CPC comrades knew that the millennial period of emperors and dynasties was behind them, but there were still no concrete national initiatives to launch China into the 20th century. Fast forward a century, China now stands firm on its vision of the future.

Matta continued to say that in moving towards the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving the First Centenary Goal, Xi is aware that the idea of “integral construction” is important. Within the conceptual framework, all sectors continue to offer opportunities, resources, and protections. At the same time, no sector or region with local authority deviates from the central government’s main strategy in an uncoordinated manner.

“For China, the construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects only marks the end of an extraordinary journey, and what awaits China is the next new journey,” Matta said.

In the 20th CPC National Congress report, it is stated that to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects, China has adopted a two-step strategic plan: Basically realize socialist modernization from 2020 through 2035; Build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful from 2035 through the middle of this century. “This maps out the grand vision of the Second Centenary Goal,” Matta said.

As Matta summarized, the process of fulfilling the strategic plan will translate the political theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics into detailed national development goals at the practical level, and the way in which China achieves the Second Centenary Goal will also demonstrate the validity of this theory as a viable political model.

“To transform the vision into reality, the road is not easy. The road will continue to deal with the challenges and tasks that may arise from domestically, as well as the problems and contradictions from a changing world. Fortunately, the Chinese authorities have been cautious about the future path with continuous efforts,” Matta concluded.