By H.E. TONG Defa, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana
Last month, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was successfully held in Beijing. The Plenum draws up a blueprint for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization, bring stability to the turbulent world, and increase momentum to promote a human community with a shared future. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once said when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, “The future of humanity largely depends on China.” That means China today closely interconnects and integrates with the wider world. I would like to share my understanding of the Plenum with three “Cs”: Consensus, Commitment and Contribution.
Consensus on Deepening Reform Comprehensively
As a Chinese poem goes: “How can the pond be so clear and cool? It’s because water comes fresh from the source.” Reform and opening up is the open secret for China to catch up with the times with big strides. It is also the widest consensus for promoting high-quality and sustainable development. Upon summarizing the historical lessons since the reform and opening up, the plenum reviewed and adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization, which proposes more than 300 important reform measures across the board, including building a high-standard socialist market economy, advancing whole-process people’s democracy, improving the people’s quality of life, building a beautiful China, advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level and improving the Party’s capacity for leadership and long-term governance. The Plenum formulates a roadmap and timetable for reform, which states that all tasks shall be completed within five years when the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 80th anniversary. This indicates the unprecedented determination, depth and breadth for a new chapter in comprehensively deepening reform.
Reform and opening up is a two-way street for China and the world. When China does well, the world will get even better. For years, China has contributed around 30% to global economic growth. From artificial intelligence, 5G and quantum communication, to low-carbon agriculture, clean energy and electric vehicles, China has further deepened reform to spur vitality, fostering new quality productive forces in line with local conditions for high-quality economic development. As one of the most promising growth hubs, China continues to bring opportunities to international enterprises and investors, driving global growth and sustainable development.
Commitment on High-standard Opening Up
President Xi Jinping repeatedly stressed, “China’s door will never be closed, but will only open still wider.” Reform and opening up are two sides of the same coin. China’s key to success is promoting reform and development through opening up. The Plenum spells out in detail the next steps in the area of opening up. First, we’ll steadily expand institutional opening up, promote alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules and unilaterally open our doors wider to the world’s least developed countries. We’ll also actively participate in the reform of global economic governance. Second, we’ll relax market access by shortening negative lists among others and further reform the management systems for trade and investment. Third, we’ll optimize the layout for regional opening up, promote further opening up in the central, western, and northeastern regions. We’ll also harness the institutional strengths of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy to encourage Hong Kong and Macao play a greater role.
The plan sends a clear signal to expand high-quality opening up. Amid a volatile world with headwinds against globalization, China’s dedication to building an open world economy brings maximum certainty to the international community. In the first half of 2024, China has attracted nearly 500 billion yuan of foreign investment, which remains at the highest level in the past decade. Nearly 27,000 foreign enterprises were newly registered nationwide, up 14.2% year on year. This is a valuable vote of confidence by international investors in China’s business environment and development prospects.
Contribution on Common Progress and Prosperity
The Plenum reiterates China’s commitment in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, improving the mechanisms for high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, pursuing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, calling for an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and getting involved in leading the reform and development of the global governance system, so as to promote a human community with a shared future.
The Plenum also stresses to advance Chinese modernization continuously through reform and opening up. Based on independence and our own efforts, Chinese modernization blazes a unique trail different form “Westernization”, providing useful experience for other developing countries to explore a path for modernization suited to their national conditions. Just as President Xi Jinping says, the modernization we are pursuing is not for China alone. We are ready to work with all countries to advance global modernization featuring peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity, and to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
From 4th to 6th September, the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing, an event to celebrate China-Africa friendship, explore cooperation and chart the course for the future. China is Ghana’s largest trading partner and major source of investment. In 2023, the bilateral trade reached $11.04 billion, up 10.4% year on year. Over 9,000 Ghanaian friends visited China for tourism, business, study and official purposes. China and Ghana enjoy promising prospects for bilateral cooperation in various fields. China stands ready to work with Ghana to deepen practical cooperation through strengthening exchanges and coordination in key areas, so as to chart a win-win path to address emerging challenges and seize new opportunities.
