SINCE the founding of the Communist Party of China, the past 100 years witnessed the four periods, new democratic revolution (1949 – 1978), the socialist revolution and construction reform(1978-2012), opening up and Socialist modernization(2012 – present),and new era of Socialism with Chinese characteristics(2020-2035). As a result, china has achieved three leaps from “standing upright” to “becoming prosperous” and to “growing in strength”, ac-cording to Chinese experts.
In the presence of a large population, Chinese modernization depends on common prosper-ity for all, material and cultural moral development, harmony between humanity and nature and peaceful development. Thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics are very clear, on which China’s new era is beginning with the desired results. To put the people first, maintain self-confidence, stand on our own feet, the basic principles and break new ground.
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
At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2022, the theme for entering a new era was apparent. China mainly focused on its sovereignty, secu-rity and development interests. The Chinese believe in action by setting targets. They re-ward enterprises with the certainty that there will be no compromise on maximum em-ployee benefits.
In July 2021, president Xi Jinping announced the achievement of the “first century goal” – building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. This milestone is defined by com-prehensive progress in economic, social and environmental fields: China stands today with countless achievements such as:
China has lifted all 99 million poor rural people out of poverty by the end of 2020. The coun-try moved from a low-income to an upper-middle-income country and became the world’s second-largest economy with substantial increases in GDP and per capita disposable in-come. China has achieved significant economic growth, with its GDP exceeding $100 trillion Yuan in 2024 and has developed the world’s largest social security system.
This includes vast improvements in infrastructure (e.g. high-speed rail networks, 5G base stations, Beidou Satellite, five-hundred meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, Shenzhou Spaceship, Satellite Based Quantum Communication, made passenger plane, Deep submer-gence vehicle ), higher average life expectancy and wider access to education, healthcare and social security for its large population.
Multiple achievements got in pollution control include significant reductions in CO2 emis-sions per unit of GDP, improvements in air and water quality and expansion of forest cover. The Yellow River Basin Ecological Protection and Environmental Pollution Control Program aim to protect land and water resources and address pollution, contributing to ecological and environmental protection goals.
At the same time, a campaign has been launched to address issues such as cyber bullying and privacy concerns on platforms used by minors, with the aim of improving the online en-vironment for them.
In 2025, China’s moderate policies have focused on maintaining economic stability while pursuing long-term goals like high-quality development, technological self-reliance and green growth. Key achievements include successfully promoting industrial upgrading in sec-tors like electric vehicles and solar energy, improving supply chain resilience through tech-nological development and maintaining stable employment and consumer prices.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
