Editor's note: Gao Lei is an associate professor at Center for Xi Jinping Thoughts on Opening-up, Research Institute of Globalization and China's Modernization, University of International Business & Economics. Xia Lu is an associate professor and research fellow at National Academy for Development & Strategy, the Academy of Xi Jinping Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Renmin University of China. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened at the Great Hall of the People on October 16, 2022. A major report was delivered by Xi Jinping, on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee, of which Xi has served as the General Secretary, to the 20th CPC National Congress.

To continue the ongoing task, it is imperative that all Party members shall never forget the original aspiration and mission, that all Party members shall remain modest, prudent, and hard-working, and that all Party members shall have the courage to carry on the struggle.

To comprehensively analyze and systematically review the 15 parts of the report is by no means an easy task, though we can still grasp the main points by following the logic of the document, which is to learn from the past, to conduct the present practice, and to set a path for the future. The starting point of the logic is hard-won achievements in the past decade while the ending point of the logic is to realize Chinese modernization.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. If we look at the decade from the perspective of the Party's 100-year-history, it's a decade of unswerving commitment to the original mission. With the strong leadership of the Party, as well as the endeavor of all ethnic groups, China has overcome many problems not solved for a long time and has made tremendous accomplishments that matter for a long time. It has withstood continual challenges in the fields of politics, economy, ideology, nature and other aspects.

The cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era has gained historic achievements and underwent historic changes, providing more solid material basis and a more active spiritual mindset for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. With the strong leadership of the Party, China has ushered in a great leap forward from standing up and becoming rich to becoming strong.

If we look at the decade from the point of the 70-year-history of the People's Republic of China, it is a decade of a typical developing country becoming stronger and stronger in every aspect. A group of multiple images of China could be depicted: a strong manufacturing production, a strong science and technology innovation, a strong aerospace exploration, a strong network expansion, a strong transportation setting, a strong maritime exploration, a strong trading potential, a strong cultural and sports output… With 10 years of trials and hardships, China has taken a great leap from being backward, keeping up with the times, to leading the times.

More and more people tend to believe that the new hope for the global future would originate from China and the development of the world in the 21st century would largely depend on China.

If we look at the recent decade from the perspective of the 40-year-history of China's reform and opening-up, it is a decade of deepening reform in an all-round way and moving forward in breadth and depth. The reform of the overall economic system is in full swing, the reform of the political and legal system is in process of deepening and widening, the reform of the cultural and educational system is making substantial progress, the reform of the social welfare system continues to innovate, the reform of the ecological civilization system is taking strong steps, the reform of the national defense and the military is taking bold steps, and the reform of the Party building system keeps advancing.

All in all, the reform engine has been fired up and would not be shut down. What's more, the scale of China's opening-up is getting wider and wider, and a new pattern of all-round, multi-level and wide-ranging opening-up has accelerated.

Drawing upon the above mentioned achievements, the CPC's central task in the next phase can fulfill the task of rejuvenating the entire nation by taking the Chinese path to modernization.

According to the report, Chinese modernization is a socialist modernization under the leadership of the CPC. Not only does it have the common characteristics of the modernization of all countries, but it also has unique Chinese features based on its own conditions.

The uniqueness of Chinese modernization has been elaborated into five aspects. It's a modernization impacting a huge population, while delivering common prosperity for all its people and ushering in a harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. It is also a modernization that coordinates between material and spiritual civilizations, as well as a modernization driven on the path of peaceful development rather than embarking on unequal exploitation employed by certain previous developed countries.

In fact, it's not the first time that Chinese modernization has been mentioned by the Party's central leadership. In 1979, when China's reform just began, former leader Deng Xiaoping mentioned Chinese modernization as the goal of reform and development. But at that time it was mainly about following the developed countries' model.

Four decades later in 2020, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC enshrined Chinese modernization in the 14th Five-Year-Plan and 2035 long-term outline. Now, it has been raised up to the national strategic level as China has gradually found its own path to prosperity, while setting up a model for other developing countries as a new form of human civilization to follow.

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