Editor's note: Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

China had achieved its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in July this year and it's clear to the world that the China of today is remarkably different from the one of 1979 when its former leader Deng Xiaoping first presented this vision.

This ambitious goal was finally achieved a little more than four decades later, which inspired the Chinese government to publish a white paper detailing all that's been accomplished during that time.

Titled "Moderate Prosperity in All Respects: Another Milestone Achieved in China's Human Rights," the document is chock full of useful information for better understanding the concept of "Xiaokang" in a contemporary context.

It's worthwhile reading in full for anyone who's interested in learning about the impressive socioeconomic and political statistics connected to this success. They're far too plenty to list individually, so to avoid any redundancy, the present piece will only review the gist of what's been achieved so far as a result of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) masterful management and how it compares to the U.S. 

According to the paper, "the CPC decided to focus on economic development to drive social progress on all fronts", which is different from the approach undertaken by the U.S. The latter's Declaration of Independence famously proclaims its citizens' unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness but doesn't account for how they're to be advanced.

The First Amendment protecting the freedoms of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly, and petition concerns sociopolitical rights but once again ignores people's economic ones. This oversight arguably contributed to America's growing poverty crisis over the years.

By contrast, with economic development at its core, the CPC is able to more effectively ensure its citizens' sociopolitical rights. Extreme poverty has finally been eliminated, and everyone now has adequate food, clothing, and shelter. Their cultural and material needs are finally met too, with everything continuing to improve by the year.

None of this is guaranteed by the U.S. founding vision, which explains why Americans' standard of living regularly fluctuates with stock market and other macroeconomic trends. These structural shortcomings are all connected to the U.S. origin as a political experiment that neglected economic concerns.

The American conceptualization of human rights only involves physical, legal, and political dimensions related to the protection of one's personal security, lifestyle, views, equal standing before the law, and opportunity to vote (the latter of which wasn't universal until the early part of the last century). China's conceptualization builds upon that by incorporating cultural and economic dimensions. The first-mentioned led to the reinforcement of "Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength, and cultivated stronger cultural confidence" while the second concerns the material guarantees associated with eliminating extreme poverty.

The white paper enumerates how China sustainably eliminated that social scourge. The CPC ensures equitable and accessible health services, upgrades the quality of life, maximizes employment, enhances public cultural services, guarantees the right to an education, expands social security to cover all citizens, and improves the eco-environment.

There's a crucial difference between Americans' and Chinese's political rights too. The former simply vote in elections and then remain absent from the political process until the next cycle while the latter have the right to play an active role all throughout the process due to their country's socialist consultative democracy.

In a nutshell, this strengthens community self-governance by allowing people to advise their representatives on the allocation of resources and implementation of resources. China's meritocracy also holds politicians accountable and ensures transparency, unlike the American system that's unaccountable and not always transparent.

Upon comparing the Chinese and American systems, it's clear that the former's people have more human rights than the latter's and they're better protected too. No Chinese has to worry about having their most basic needs met, unlike the over half a million homeless people roaming the U.S. right now.

Extreme poverty was eliminated in China but is growing in the U.S. Politicians are held accountable in China, but those in the U.S. rarely have to answer to the American people until the next election cycle unless there's a recall election before then like the upcoming gubernatorial one in California, which is extremely rare in any case.

Americans' human rights would vastly improve if their government incorporated an economic dimension into this concept like China has. The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can't be protected without a solid material basis guaranteed by the government.

Those who are struggling to make ends meet care more about their and their family's immediate needs than who they plan to vote for during the next election cycle. These pressing challenges deprive them of their fundamental human rights to happiness and a decent life.

The American Dream will therefore always remain incomplete so long as it neglects people's economic rights.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)