When the new top leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are elected at the 18th CPC National Congress, slated to convene Nov 8, they will inherit great wealth from the past success while facing unprecedented challenges, Xinhua reported Wednesday.
The CPC’s achievements, especially those made in the past decade, are praiseworthy — a point acknowledged even by some sceptical Western media, said an article titled “China’s future leadership to inherit fortune, burden” that was released by the state-run news agency.
The CPC ushered in efficient management for the world’s most populous country, bringing China back to the center stage of world affairs.
In the past decade, China has become the world’s second-largest economy, the world’s biggest manufacturer and exporter and the owner of the world’s greatest amount of foreign exchange reserves. Not since the Opium War in 1840 when the country was crashed by Western powers has China held such power.
The country’s growing middle class and the drastic decrease in the number of people living in poverty all testify to the CPC’s ruling capacity and will generate future development opportunities.
China’s potential has yet to be tapped in terms of industrialization, urbanization, informationization and agricultural modernization, as pointed out by Premier Wen Jiabao at the Summer Davos Forum in September.
Economic restructuring has become more noticeable recently, with new economic zones, which used to be located almost exclusively along the country’s eastern coastal area, extending inland.
In the first three quarters of this year, inland provinces and municipalities have outshined their coastal counterparts in terms of the economic growth rate. Green energies, high-tech industries and some other emerging industries are moving into China’s central and western regions.
Many experts believe that in the long term, China will thrive due to its strong political leadership and great market potential.
“With growing integration with global development, China is able to make full use of markets and resources, both internally and externally, to achieve its growth,” said Qin Gang, a professor with the teaching and research department of scientific socialism at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
China is stronger and now has more room and power to maneuver its development than it did 30 years ago. Meanwhile, more advanced experience from other countries is available for China to learn from, he added.
“Apart from the improvement in its all-around strength, China shows another significant competitive advantage — a whole set of self-created mechanisms with which it can respond to challenges, which have been revealed and proven effective,” he adds. Qin cited China’s countermeasures taken in response to the 2008 global financial crisis as an example.
China’s future leadership faces unprecedented challenges
