Much to my delight, the key commitments to putting people first, promoting common prosperity, and safeguarding people’s well-being were reaffirmed in the Communist Party of China’s communiqué from the recent 4th Plenary Session of its 20th Central Committee. The session, headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, was held in Beijing from October 20 to 23.
Due to its significance, our newspaper released the full text (4,024 words) of the English-language version of the communiqué on its website on October 24.*
Foreign Affairs Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa hosted a presentation consisting of 46 PowerPoint slides about the achievements of the 4th Plenary Session on Wednesday at the Commission in Zape, which coincided with the Double Ninth Festival. Newly arrived Deputy Commissioner Cheng Lei was also in attendance, along with diplomats, journalists, and academics. This public holiday in Macau is traditionally considered an auspicious date, as it is a combination of “double yang” numbers.
As an aside, in Chinese philosophy, odd numbers are associated with yang (masculine, positive energy), and the number nine is considered the highest yang number. The repetition of this auspicious number is seen as a day of peak yang energy, traditionally celebrated with customs like honouring the elderly – a praiseworthy custom indeed, considering my age.
Be that as it may, I have attended several presentations by Commissioner Liu in the past few years, all of which have been intellectually rewarding due to their wealth of information and, last but not least, their interesting explanations. Liu’s one-hour presentation in English focused on the 4th Plenary Session’s commitment to ensuring significant progress in achieving Chinese modernisation.
Liu stated that the most important outcome of the session was the review and adoption of the recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for formulating the new 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development. He underlined that these recommendations, based on an in-depth analysis of both the domestic and global landscapes, will play a pivotal role in the next five years of Chinese modernisation. Consequently, “the session will not only impact China but will also carry global significance,” Liu said.
Undoubtedly, China has global significance – it covers nearly 2 percent of our planet’s landmass, about 17.5 percent of its population, and around 19 percent of the world’s GDP at Purchasing Power Parity, apart from being the world’s second-largest economy (after the US and before Germany). China matters a lot globally in socio-economic, scientific, technological, and cultural aspects.
Liu stressed that it is important for China to seize the window of opportunity to “secure decisive progress toward basically achieving Chinese modernisation.” He described the drafting process of the recommendations as a “vivid example of intra-party democracy and whole-process people’s democracy in action,” pointing out that Xi headed the drafting group, which, after soliciting opinions online, received more than three million comments.
According to Liu, the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Political Bureau and its Standing Committee reviewed and revised draft versions of the document five times and made 218 revisions, covering 452 opinions and suggestions. Liu mentioned that he was one of those who submitted suggestions in the run-up to this month’s session.
Regarding the country’s 15 Five-Year Plans so far, Liu pointed out that Chairman Mao Zedong urged the whole Party back in 1944 to develop industry and called upon Party members to learn technologies and knowledge for China’s industrialisation. Liu helped me remember a gap in my historical knowledge. Mao was certainly right when, as Liu stressed, industrialisation is essential to securing China’s national independence. I am convinced that a country must be economically strong to be able to be truly independent.
On the historical front, Liu noted that China’s first Five-Year Plan was launched by the Party in 1953 (the year I was born) when Mao proposed the Four Modernisations, i.e., the development of modernised industry, modernised agriculture, modernised transportation, and modernised national defence.
In the 1980s, Liu recalled, Deng Xiaoping launched the Party’s Three-Step Strategy for the nation’s modernisation process: with 1980 as the base point, China’s GDP would be doubled and people’s food and clothing problems solved by 1990; China’s GDP would be quadrupled and reach a moderately prosperous level by the end of the 20th century; and after another 50 years, or in the middle of the 21st century, per capita national income would reach the level of moderately developed countries, thus basically realising modernisation.
I expect the third step to be achieved well before the mid-21st century.
In 1997, Liu pointed out, the Two Centenary Goals were first proposed by the Party: by 2021, to celebrate the CPC’s centenary, the goal was to “build a moderately prosperous society in all respects.” The first goal has been roundly achieved. By 2049, the centenary of the People’s Republic of China (and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region), the goal is to “build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious.” I believe that the second goal is set to be achieved even earlier.
In 2012, Liu noted, the Party, under Xi’s leadership, launched the New Era concept, which has attained a more profound comprehension of the essence and nature of Chinese modernisation, such as by stressing the importance of “distinctive Chinese characteristics” in the nation’s ongoing modernisation drive, for which “a preliminary theoretical framework has been designed.”
Then in 2020, Xi proposed a two-step strategic plan to build China into a great modern socialist country: basically realise socialist modernisation from 2020 through 2035 and 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. Anyone who has visited the Chinese mainland over the past five years can see that the two-step strategy’s implementation is in full swing–possibly even ahead of schedule.
Liu’s presentation also detailed the significant achievements of the outgoing 14th Five-Year Plan, such as an average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent between 2020 and last year, significantly higher than the global average of 3.9 percent over the same period. Besides, China contributed approximately 30 percent annually to global economic growth, becoming the main source of global economic growth and an important engine.
When I first visited China in 1980, NO ONE would have thought that China would be able to achieve this economic miracle within less than half a century. Of course, it’s not really a miracle – it’s progress created by hard work, determination, and, saving a key point for last, Chinese wisdom.
Nowadays, Liu underlined, China boasts over 500,000 high-tech industrial enterprises, figures among the Top Ten of the Global Innovation Index for the first time, has 26 of the world’s top 100 science and technology innovation clusters, ranking first globally in proportion, and holds 60 percent of global AI patents.
For me, all this proves that China’s politico-economic development drive is a model for the whole world—both the Global South AND the Global North. All this, of course, has included the world’s most successful poverty alleviation drive of scale in history—800 million Chinese in a matter of decades.
Liu also highlighted that China now has the world’s largest education, medical care, and social security systems, which are continuously being consolidated.
Moreover, Liu showed in his presentation – 46 power points in all – that China now has the world’s largest carbon emission trading market and clean power supply system.
I was positively stunned to hear that China’s forest coverage has increased to over 25 percent, contributing a quarter of the world’s new green area. Even on the environmental protection and climate change response front, I have no doubt that China is now one of the world’s “green champions.”
Liu stressed that Xi’s leadership ensured the successful implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan, which ends this year, by “uniting the entire Party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, and leading them in meeting difficulties head-on and forging ahead with determination.”
The Commissioner also singled out Xi’s New Development Philosophy, pointing out that, in 2015, Xi put forward this new development philosophy, featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development, according to which “innovation is the primary engine of development, and coordination is not only a means but also a goal of development.” I find the latter concept particularly interesting.
Moreover, Liu said that, in 2020, Xi put forward the Party’s New Development Paradigm, consisting of domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, aiming to fully unlock China’s market potential and create greater demand; to open up wider to the outside world and share more opportunities for common development; and to deepen international cooperation for shared benefits.
In 2023, Liu noted, Xi proposed the concept of new quality productive forces, in alignment with the New Development Philosophy, featuring high technology, high efficiency, and high quality; innovation taking the lead; and advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth models.
Liu also gave a detailed introduction to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030): “Chinese modernisation can only be realised through a historical process of gradual and ongoing development, requiring the unremitting hard work of one generation after another; the 15th Five-Year Plan period will be critical in this process, as we work to reinforce the foundations and push ahead on all fronts toward basically achieving Chinese modernisation by 2035; it will serve as a key link between the past and the future; in this period, China’s development environment will face profound and intricate changes.”
I fear that the next quinquennium will be particularly challenging, not just for China but for the rest of the world, due to a range of negatives such as anti-globalism, proxy and civil wars, and winology (an emerging theory which posits that the West, steeped in supremacist thinking, finds it difficult to accept China’s success because it challenges the Western-dominated world order).
I hope that Beijing and Washington – the world’s paramount bilateral relationship – will be able to establish constructive ties based on pragmatism, realism, and mutual benefit that would benefit the international community as a whole. As the European Union, unfortunately, lacks strategic autonomy, it only plays second fiddle on the world stage. As an EU citizen, I hope that the 27-member bloc will eventually get its act together and play a role commensurate with its status as one of the world’s top economies.
Liu also presented the seven major objectives of the upcoming Five-Year Plan, such as significant advancements in high-quality development, further improvements in quality of life, and further advances in strengthening the national security shield. I agree that without national security, national development would be jeopardised. That’s true for any political system.
Liu also stated that China remains committed to advancing open innovation and fostering mutually beneficial international cooperation, providing new opportunities and certainties for global growth.
At the end of his presentation, which was captivating all the way through, Liu also mentioned the role of Hong Kong and Macau within the ambit of the 15th Five-Year Plan, such as leveraging the unique advantages and vital roles of Hong Kong and Macau in serving as bridges between the mainland and the world, and supporting both special administrative regions (SARs) in building themselves into international hubs for high-calibre talent.
The Commissioner noted that since 2011, i.e., the 12th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong and Macau-related work has been incorporated as one chapter in the Five-Year Plans. He also stressed the need for Macau to continue working on the appropriate diversification of its economy.
That, I am sure, will continue to be a work in progress for some time to come–including the Macau-Hengqin integration process.
Most importantly, obviously, will be for the local government to remain committed to Xi’s advice of always putting people first, promoting common prosperity, and safeguarding people’s well-being.
– Harald Brüning
https://www.macaupostdaily.com/news/list?search=communique
Foreign Affairs Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa speaks during Wednesday’s power-point presentation at the Commission in Zape on Wednesday. – Photo: Staff Reporter
