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E-mail China Daily, November 15, 2012
The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China concluded on Nov 14 after making some amendments to the CPC Constitution.
But even before the Party Constitution had been amended, many Western media outlets and commentators were ready to twist and distort the outcome - no matter what it would be - and glorify the Western political system. But the rumors that China would deviate from the road of socialism were pure rubbish, and it is important for China not to allow such canards to resonate louder than its own voice of reason.
China should not try to "appease" the West on this point. Instead, it should proceed determinedly to establish socialism with Chinese characteristics in the country. In practice, it would be a continuously evolving system, which, while successful economically, be in sharp contrast to what has been promoted by the West.
In Western countries, markets are supposed to dictate the direction of economies, social systems and even national development. Markets rule in Western countries because they are above political systems, elections and the people. In contrast, the Chinese model is to make the economy, markets and production serve the people.
Apart from other important issues, the 18th CPC Congress also paid great attention to the environment. The health of the environment is closely related to not only the well-being of the nation, but also of the entire planet. In his speech, CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao stressed the Party's desire to "reverse the trend of ecological deterioration and build a beautiful China". If successful, the Chinese development model could establish harmony between nature and the people.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, some Western politicians, media outlets and observers concluded that socialism had been dwarfed by Western democracy, which was far from true. The Soviet Union made the strategic mistake of competing with the United States for hegemony by sacrificing its people's livelihood, which led to a distorted economic structure and ultimately its collapse.
The CPC learnt a lesson from the Soviet Union's mistake. And although the Chinese economy comprises many improved elements of Lenin's New Economic Policy, the Chinese system - unlike that of the Soviet Union - is mixed and flexible and, despite imperfections, designed to serve the nation and its people.
Under the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, China has managed to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, providing them with better education and longer life expectancy. So the system is socialist and, to the dismay of the West, extremely successful.
A key reason why the CPC has been successful in leading the country through difficulties is its capability to catch up with the times. After Deng Xiaoping initiated the concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the theory kept developing and adapting to the changing situations.
That is precisely why the amendments to the Party Constitution at the 18th CPC Congress are so important. China's fast economic development is well known. But it has come at the cost of cheap labor and the environment, which is not sustainable.
The Chinese leadership knows this fully well, and that is why it lays so much importance on Scientific Outlook on Development, propounded by Hu Jintao. The official explanation for Scientific Outlook on Development reads: "To put people first, we should take people's interests as the starting point and foothold of all of our works, make continuous efforts to meet various needs of the people and promote overall development of the people. To enact comprehensive development, we should quicken the pace of building socialist political and spiritual civilizations while we constantly improve the socialist market economy and maintain coordinated, healthy economic development, thus constructing a structure that features mutual improvement and common development of material, political and spiritual civilizations."
That the CPC is treating Scientific Outlook on Development on par with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents is reflective of how it will lead the nation in the next decade.
The amendments to the Party Constitution says the CPC will try to achieve sustainable development by improving people's well-being, which means China will increase people's income to boost domestic demand in order to expedite the transformation of the development model from an investment- and export-led to a consumption-led economy.
The Chinese leadership is pragmatic. It doesn't want to build Rome in one day. It has laid out a road map for China's modernization, and its first goal is to build a xiaokang or moderately well-off society by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC.
The CPC also attaches greater importance to environmental protection to build a green and beautiful country. For the first time, the CPC has given as much importance to ecological civilization as to economic, political, cultural and social civilizations. This comprises one of the five aspects of the fundamental cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
What is happening in China is in total contrast to the recent "democratic" presidential election in the US, where neither candidate offered any substantial change to the increasingly disillusioned and dissatisfied American citizens.
In China, people's concerns are discussed, analyzed and dealt with. This is the essence of Scientific Outlook on Development. Socialism and reality go hand in hand, and China is on the way to improve the lives of its people.
The author is an American novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist.
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