CPC to Hold Video Summit with World Political Parties, Exchange Experience in Governance

By Global Times

Jul 06, 2021 09:37 AM

Tourists visited Tiananmen Square to relive the exciting moment of the CPC centennial Photo:Li Hao/GT

After the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded its grand centennial celebration last week, it invited political parties from 160-plus countries to a video summit, where the CPC will help those parties better understand its history and share its experience in governance. They are also expected to discuss improving the well-being of people and address challenges against the backdrop of rising isolationism and populism. 

China will hold the CPC and World Political Parties Summit via video link on Tuesday, and the theme of the summit is "For the People's Wellbeing: The Responsibility of Political Parties," Hu Zhaoming, spokesperson for the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, announced on Monday. 

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president, will attend the summit in Beijing and deliver a keynote speech, said Hu. 

According to Hu, more than 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from 160-plus countries, and over 10,000 party representatives will attend the summit.

The summit is an extension of the high-level dialogue between the CPC and world political parties in Beijing in 2017, where they agreed in a joint statement to institutionalize a dialogue mechanism between CPC and world political parties, Yu Kejie, a professor from China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. 

Yu said that different from then, China's international status has been greatly elevated during the past four years, and the CPC has led its people to fight many arduous battles, including poverty alleviation and the COVID-19 pandemic. "Those achievements under the CPC leadership have made those parties want to increasingly learn about our experiences and stories."

Guo Yazhou, vice minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee said at a Monday's conference that with the advent of 2021, world's political parties have been focused on the CPC's century-long history, achievements, experience and method of development. 

Guo noted that there are palpable changes when world political parties look at China and the CPC. First is that they are focused more on political reasons and institutional secrets behind China's success, rather than just the achievements themselves.

Second, being that they no long ask whether the CPC can succeed, but are eager to know why it does, and how they can emulate the success themselves, according to Guo.

Guo said the summit aims to actively respond to the expectations of political parties from various countries on the CPC and share with the international community the CPC's original aspiration and founding missions.

Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, in Beijing told the Global Times that the most valuable lesson the CPC can offer those parties is "always put people first." "Any political party can stand firm in the political arena, and win people over once it is committed with this principle."

Last year, a report by Harvard University based on its survey in China spanning 13 years shows that the Chinese people's overall satisfaction with the central government exceeds 93 percent.

Yu noted that another valuable piece of experience the CPC can share is to choose its development path independently. "One party should always choose a development mode that fits its country the best. Never copy other's mode, or even bet its development on other countries," said Yu.

As Xi said at the 2017 high-level dialogue, the CPC would neither import foreign models of development nor export the Chinese model.

He reiterated that the CPC strives for both the well-being of the Chinese people and human progress; therefore, besides taking care of China's internal matters, the CPC will create opportunities for the world through China's development.

At the Monday conference, Guo said that some countries are still ravaged by the COVID-19, the global economy affected by the pandemic, and isolationism, as well as populism, is on the rise globally. Many political parties and governments are faced with the question, "What is going on with the world? What should we do?"

Against this backdrop, the CPC, as the world's biggest ruling party, as well as a party that seeks progress for humanity as a whole, is willing to join hands with other political parties to contribute its wisdom, gain consensus and energy in solving the challenges that the world faces right now, said Guo. 

At the summit, they will discuss how to jointly respond to challenges brought by modern changes and the global COVID-19 pandemic, enhance the philosophy and capability of seeking happiness for their people, advance world peace and development, and promote the construction of a community with a shared future for humanity, said Hu.