CPC: A magnetic force of social revolution
CHINA celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on 01 July. It was founded in 1921 with a total membership of 50 people.
The CPC has acted as a magnetic force of an equitable and equal social revolution in China. It has actually transformed poverty into community development.
It has successfully introduced new norms of social contract doctrine in China which consequently revolutionized social norms, society, civility, and governance.
According to Chinese official data (June 2021), the CPC has over 95.1m members and nearly 4.9m primary-level organizations. It has 27.45m female members, representing 28.8% of the total. There are 7.135m members from minority ethnic groups, accounting for 7.5% of the total, and around 52%, roughly 49.51m, of the membership has obtained a college degree or above.
It shows ethnic diversity and rich multiculturalism in China. Moreover, it shows that 134,000 of the current members devoted themselves to the party before October 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.
A total of 14.55m became Party members between 1949 and 1978, before the opening of the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, at which China introduced the policy of reform and opening-up. 60.94m joined the Party between 1978 and 2012, when China held its 18th National Congress of the CPC. And 19.51m of current members joined the Party after 2012.
As of June 5, 2021, the number of applicants for CPC membership had reached 20m which reaffirms national wide popularity of the CPC which has actually maintained an irrevocable trust level with the people.
By 2020, China eliminated absolute poverty. Its global efforts for poverty eradication remained 70%.
People’s living standards have been on the rise. It was at a meagre stage in 1952 (69.9 CY&US$10.5), 1978 (367.9 CY & US$ 56.8 and 2020 (101,159,8.6 CY & US$ 15,677.1). Moreover, GDP per capita income has been on the increase since the beginning, 1952 (119 CY & US$ 18.4, 1978 (385 CY & US$ 59.4), and 2020 (72,000 CY & US$ 10,450).
It increased life expectancy from about 35 in 1949 to 77 in 2019, expanded GDP per capita by roughly 600 times since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, lifting 100m people out of poverty in the last eight years.
CPC has been triumphant of social development due to which life expectancy has increased.
All the medical charges and fee during deadly COVID-19 remained free which actually lessened people’s worries and enhanced their trust towards the CPC. By April 2021, China donated more than US$ 50m to WHO. It sent 37 medical expert teams to 34countries.
In the education sector by 2020 the completion of the free nine-year compulsory education reached 95.2%. In the field of environment the CPC has significant footprints to reduce carbon Dioxide footnotes.
It had 48.4% ratios of carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP in 2020 which was lower than 2005.
Moreover, China has announced it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Basic medical insurance was extended to 1.36b people in China till April 2020.
Basic old age insurance extended to more than one billion Chinese people which shows the CPC’s holistic and human centric philosophies and policies.
In terms of infrastructure development, the CPC introduced the concept of integrated mechanism to achieve world class means of communications in the country.
During 2020, China road network totalled 5.2m KM. 99.4% of administrative villages/counties had bus service. Rail network extended 146,000 KM in which 38,000 KM had speed rail.
CPC in terms of protecting and respecting the rights of ethnic minorities has been playing a tremendous role to achieve the optimal level of multiculturalism.
All 55 ethnic minorities groups have deputies at the NPC and members in the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
They had their solid representation in the 13th NPC (total members 438) 14.7% and 13th CPPCC (total members 247) 11.5% which vividly reflects China’s constitutional guarantees and provisions of basic human rights of minorities. Thus Western propaganda does not have any substance.
In terms of building a global community of shared future CPC economic policies and projects of BRI, CPEC and many others are creating economic stabilization, stability and sustainability in the world.
One Belt and One Road Initiative (BRI) could lift 7.6m people from extreme poverty and boost trade by 2.8% to 9.7% for the corridor economies and 1.7% to 6.2% for the remaining world.
China was among the very few countries hard-hit by poverty and was counted as the second poorest country in the Asian region. Its poverty index almost touched 88%.
However, the CPC led a drive to eliminate absolute poverty. Poverty eradication is the most glowing demonstration of the philosophy of putting people front and centre.
More than 850m people have been dragged from the levels of poverty in China which is the height of the CPC.
CPC has enabled consensus-building and participatory governance where everybody “respective of their geographical position, irrespective of their rank, within government, within the societal system has equal opportunity.
In this connection, the CPC social project of the century “combating corruption” has increased public trust, augmenting confidence in the Party’s continuing leadership.
The CPC philosophy of human rights is different from the Western human rights view which has been notorious for its planned actions of using human rights as a tool to crack down on others politically or economically.
On the contrary, the Chinese concept of human rights has developed in the fight against the “three mountains” of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, and in the socialist construction and reform and opening-up.
Successful persuasions of this the CPC ensured economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, put in place the world’s largest social security system and coordinated the protection of civil and political rights.
Meanwhile, China has been an active participant in matters of international human rights, engaging in international human rights undertakings such as UN peacekeeping operations and working with other countries to forge a global community of shared future.
China’s achievement on human rights, especially since the reform and opening-up, has been witnessed by the international community, which proves the validity and rationality of the human rights patterns with Chinese characteristics.
During the period of socialist revolution and development (1949-1978), CPC united and led the entire nation in completing socialist revolution, establishing socialism as China’s basic system, and advancing socialist development.
Being a prominent regional expert of China, BRI and CPEC, I fully endorse the CPC broadest and most profound social transformation in the history of the Chinese nation, laying down the political and institutional foundations necessary for achieving all the development and progress that China would later enjoy, and providing valuable experience as well as the theoretical and material basis for developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.
—The writer is Director, Geopolitics/Economics Member Board of Experts, CGSS.
