Recently, the media at home and abroad have been busy reading and decoding the latest remarks in Xi's keynote speech delivered in an event marking 95th founding anniversary of Communist Party of China (CPC), which is regarded as the guiding principle for the ruling party.

In my view, one of his noteworthy remarks is that Xi and the CPC comrades are getting ever confident of providing a "Chinese solution" to mankind's exploration of better social systems.

"Chinese solution" may sounds a bit new and odd, but China watchers are certainly familiar with the Beijing Consensus (sometimes called China Model) – a phrase coined by Joshua Cooper Ramo, a scholar at Kissinger Associates. Ever since the term's birth into the mainstream political lexicon in 2004, China's way of pragmatic governance with an authoritarian market economy that doesn't call for democracy has been heatedly debated and increasingly recognized. This so-called "Chinese solution", still in the process of experimentation, has its many flaws, though, it does provide an alternative for developing countries to the Washington Consensus, which is characterized with the US -led Bretton Woods system featuring a free market economy and democracy.

Somewhat like Chinese traditional medicine, "Chinese solution" actually works by providing the right dose treatment to cure its many social ills, making the re-emergence of China as a major player on the global stage, one of the most significant phenomena in modern history.

China was once undoubtedly the leading economic power about 900 years ago, but the Middle Kingdom had been unfortunately turning inward-looking, and was essentially left out in the Industrial Revolution with virtually zero growth from 1800 to 1950. But the geo-political landscape has changed dramatically in 1978, when China embarked on the reform of opening to the outside world. At the time China was one of the poorest countries on the earth, with its per capita GDP only one-fortieth of the US level and one-tenth the Brazilian level. Now, as a result of Chinese government's unwavering will to explore ways to dovetail China's development path with foreign experiences, the country has been able to lift much of its 1.4 billion population out of poverty, turning China into the world's second-largest economy.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has won the country due respect from the international community. For instance, Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, spoke highly of Xi's speech, saying that CCP has combined Marxism with China's national condition, which has not only secured the huge success of its own development, but also inspired Indian political parties and people to pursue a path suited to India's real condition. The Hindu, a mainstream media outlet, carried an article entitled "Can India catch up with China", admitting that in India's "noisy democracy", the problems are compounded by the existence of multiple political parties with no coherent approach to development, and "China has outrun India in every area of economic endeavor in the last 35 years".

With its successful story of a Chinese solution, the CPC is at home promoting the "Chinese Dream" – an inspiration that could rival the "American Dream" for more than 20 per cent of the population on this planet. At the same time, the grand strategy of "Belt and Road" initiated also by Xi, which involves more than 60 countries, is expected to reap a bumper harvest. All these counties along the belt and road, regardless of their economic development levels and existing discrepancies, can benefit. According to our unofficial count, Xi has over the past three years since taking office visited more than 50 countries around the globe, demonstrating to foreign audiences the wisdom, merits and virtues of the Chinese solution.

No joke, considering the CPC as an enterprise and its general secretary as the CEO, the party's achievement of historic significance could be made a classical MBA case study. Founded in 1921, with some 50 members nationwide under extremely humble and difficult circumstance, the CPC has ensured numerous setbacks and frustrations and thrived. Nowadays its 88 million-strong membership makes it the biggest political party in the world, larger than the entire population of Germany and many other small to medium-sized countries.

The party's vigor and vitality has not only been shown in sheer numbers, but its capability. Image of the communists as revolutionary old guards are long gone. Among its current members, only approximately 10 million are identified as workers and peasants, 12.5 million are identified as elite professionals, some 9 million as administrative staff.

Perhaps the most essential ingredient in the Chinese Solution is its strong ruling party. Unlike Western parties, the CPC is far more self-reflective, self-improved and learning-initiated political party. This explains why the humiliated history of old China being a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society was brought to an end once and for all under the CPC leadership, and how China could make a impressive comeback on to the world stage after being joked about as "East Asia's sick man".

Another indispensable ingredient in the Chinese Solution is that the CPC faithfully stick to and never stray from socialism with Chinese characteristics. While most of the world and political parties have discarded Marxism and socialism, the CPC eyes it a treasure. As Xi emphasized in his 80-minute address, the party would lose its soul and direction if deviated from or abandon Marxism, its fundamental guiding theory.

Xi likes to use colloquial, down-to-earth expressions to elaborate his thoughts, such as "you only know if the shoes fit by wearing them yourself". Indeed, there is no such thing as a universal formula for economic and political success. The Chinese Solution, though from time to time drawing a lot of controversies worldwide, has its merits that could enrich the philosophy of global governance.

Bo Lee is chief writer and director of the Research Unit, China Daily Asia Pacific.

This article was first published at Chinausfocus.com To see the original version please visit

http://www.chinausfocus.com/political-social-development/what-on-earth-is-the-chinese-solution/

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