PRESIDENT Xi Jinping yesterday stressed the leadership of the Communist Party of China over all endeavors while calling for constantly enhancing and improving the Party’s manner of leadership at a gathering commemorating the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up.

The reform and opening up over the past four decades has shown that the leadership of the Party is the most essential attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the greatest strength of this system, Xi said.

“It is by upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the Party that we have been able to achieve the historic transformation, usher in a new era of reform and opening up and embark on a new journey toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” he said.

On the question of ensuring leadership by the Party, a fundamental principle that bears on the future of the Party and the country, all Party members and all the people must maintain a high degree of self-awareness in terms of thinking, political orientation and action, Xi said.

The success of reform and opening up doesn’t come easily. In the years to come, risks and challenges of all sorts are inevitable, he said.

“The Party must guide the overall situation and coordinate the work of all sides, remain committed to practicing scientific, democratic and law-based governance ... and see that China’s ship of reform and opening up will break waves and sail on the right course,” Xi said.

Continued efforts should be made to exercise full and rigorous governance over the Communist Party of China to strengthen its capacity to innovate, power to unite and energy to fight, the president said.

The people’s well-being

Xi said that the country has continuously been improving the people’s livelihood and well-being over the past 40 years.

China has lifted 740 million people out of poverty in these 40 years, reducing the poverty headcount ratio by 94.4 percentage points, he said.

The nation has built the world’s largest social security system, with the basic old-age pension covering more than 900 million people and medical insurance covering over 1.3 billion people, Xi said.

The ratio of permanent urban residents in the total population rose 40.6 percentage points to 58.52 percent during the period, he said.

“The country has maintained its social stability over a long period, making it one of the countries that provides the greatest sense of safety in the world,” Xi said.

China has bid farewell to the problems that plagued its people for thousands of years, including hunger, shortages and poverty, Xi said.

Better life

The people-oriented approach must be adhered to and efforts should be made to keep delivering on the people’s aspirations for a better life, Xi said.

The practices over the past 40 years have shown that seeking happiness for the Chinese people and striving for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are the founding aspirations and missions of the Communist Party of China, and also those of the reform and opening-up endeavor, Xi said.

“In considering and introducing a policy, we must first and foremost ensure the backing, approval and endorsement of the people,” he said.

The wishes the people express, the best practices they create, the rights they are entitled to and the role they play must be respected, said Xi, who demanded efforts to fully stimulate and unlock the creativity of the people.

What has been achieved in economic, political, cultural, social and ecological fields must be shared among all the people, Xi said, stressing that it must be ensured that the people have a stronger sense of fulfillment and greater happiness, and feel safer and more secure in a more direct and tangible manner.

Upholding Marxism

Xi called for upholding Marxism as the guiding ideology and exploring theoretical innovations based on practice.

The practices over the past 40 years have shown that innovation is the lifeline of reform and opening up, Xi said.

Xi called for efforts to base the Party’s theory on reality and “answer the questions of our times and of the people” in a timely manner.

“We must update and popularize Marxism in the context of a modern-day China and make new breakthroughs in developing Marxism,” Xi said.

Path of socialism

Xi stressed staying on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.

All of the theories and practices of the Communist Party of China in the past 40 years of reform and opening up are based on the theme of upholding and advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics, he said.

There is no textbook of golden rules to follow for reform and development in China, a country with over 5,000 years of civilization and more than 1.3 billion people, Xi said.

“No one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done,” he said.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics provides a broad pathway for China to advance with the times and steer the course of development today, Xi said.

“We will resolutely reform what should and can be reformed, and make no changes where there should not and can not be any reform,” he said.

System of socialism

Continued efforts should be made to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics to harness and enhance the advantages of China’s system, Xi said.

As the reform and opening up in the past four decades has shown, the system is of fundamental and overarching significance for the long-term stability and development of all endeavors of the Party and the country, said Xi.

Xi also stressed that China should step up the building of a set of institutions that are well-conceived, procedure-based and efficiently functioning to secure a more mature and established system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Reform, opening up

Xi underlined China’s commitment to opening up wider to the world and promoting joint efforts to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

The practice of reform and opening up over the past 40 years has shown that openness brings progress, while seclusion leads to backwardness, Xi said.

“China cannot develop itself in isolation from the world, and the world needs China for global prosperity,” Xi said.

“Bearing in mind China’s internal and international imperatives, we have stayed committed to the fundamental national policy of opening up, followed a proactive approach to opening up and entered a new stage of comprehensive, multi-level and wide-ranging opening up, thus creating a sound international environment and broader development space for China,” he said.

A review of the past several thousand years shows that reform and opening up remains the norm throughout China’s history, Xi said.

Since ancient times, China has seen numerous movements aimed at strengthening the nation through reform, and the Chinese nation has engaged in interactions and cultural exchanges with foreign nations in a confident and broad-minded manner, Xi said.

Such profound historical and cultural heritage has dictated that the Chinese nation will continue to embrace the future through reform and opening up, according to Xi.

Xi called the pursuit of reform and opening up and socialism with Chinese characteristics a milestone in realizing the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation.

The founding of the Communist Party of China and the founding of the People’s Republic of China were also milestones on the way toward the great national rejuvenation in modern times, Xi said.

They represent three major historic events that followed the May Fourth Movement in 1919, according to Xi.

Striking balance

Xi stressed striking a balance between reform, development and stability by maintaining the worldview and methodology of dialectical and historical materialism.

He said China must be bold and enterprising, and take a proactive yet prudent approach, with prompt yet steady steps, to pursue reform, development and stability simultaneously.

“We must maintain the right direction, stay on the right path and forge ahead with undiminished intensity in pursuit of greater progress in the reform and opening up in the new era,” he said.

As the reform and opening up over the past four decades has shown, a major country like China cannot afford any disruptive mistakes on fundamental issues, Xi said.

“We must adopt a strategic perspective, develop a dialectical approach to thinking and creative thinking, think in terms of the rule of law and consider worst-case scenarios,” he said.

China must also keep reform-related decision-making in line with legislative moves to ensure the decision-making on reform is sound, and show the utmost tenacity and persistence in seeing through all of the major reform measures, he added.

(Xinhua)