Editor's note: Sudheendra Kulkarni, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a well-known Indian intellectual who was an aide to late Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

When we look at the current state of the political systems of the two major powers in today's world, the United States and China, we see a glaring contrast. On one side are worrying signs of disorder. On the other side of the globe, China presents a picture of order, stability and self-assurance. This was once again on display when the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded its third plenary session. It is not that China is not facing challenges and problems. But the intrinsic strengths and resilience of China's political and governance system, and its resolve to find sound practical solutions from a long-range perspective, are both undeniable and impressive. Moreover, contrary to the Western propaganda that China lacks democracy, the CPC functions on the basis of far greater internal consultation, including seeking advice from experts, rigorous inner-Party debate and consensus-building than can be seen among Republicans and Democrats in the U.S., or in any other political party in the Western world.

From the communique issued after the third plenary session, it is apparent that the CPC, under the leadership of its General Secretary Xi Jinping, has confidently addressed two big challenges confronting the country. One is the slowdown in the economy. The other is the daunting set of tasks in governing a large and dynamically changing country like China in a law-based manner and meeting the expectations of diverse sections of its citizens in a way that advances whole process people's democracy.

The third plenary session did not produce any big-bang decisions. Nevertheless, its comprehensive and in-depth approach to a wide range of critical issues suggests that the CPC has done the necessary thinking and planning to accomplish the goals it has set for itself – namely, raising the people's quality of life and building a "great country and moving toward national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization."

Although details of the specific pathways to implement the third plenary session's decisions are yet to be made public, the communique makes it clear that the 20th CPC Central Committee has made "systematic plans for further deepening reform comprehensively." This will entail "building a high-standard socialist market economy." For this, the CPC has pledged to "better leverage the role of the market" and lift "restrictions on the market" along with "effective regulation."

The third plenary session has promised that "economic entities under all forms of ownership" – that is, the public and private sectors – will "have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law, compete in the market on an equal footing, and are protected by the law as equals, thus enabling entities under different forms of ownership to complement each other and develop side by side." This sends a reassuring message to entrepreneurs and investors, both domestic and foreign.

For many years, China has been pursuing the goal of "high-quality development," and not just faster economic growth, which is the obsession of capitalist economies. The exclusive focus on achieving and maintaining higher and higher GDP growth rates has three risks: growing wealth disparity; instability in society and governance; and environmental degradation that in turn devalues the quality of life for all. China wants to remove these risks from its developmental model.

Therefore, the third plenary session has sought to balance the demands of growth, which can reverse the current economic slowdown, with the larger societal and governance imperatives. This is evident from the CPC's resolve to create "new growth drivers and strengths" for speeding up growth that promotes common prosperity and integrated urban-rural development.

The U.S. is determined to halt China's high-tech-driven economic rise, which it sees as a threat to its global domination. China needs to overcome the severe pressure imposed by Western entities. The third plenary session has responded to this challenge courageously. One of the most striking features of the CPC's new development philosophy is its strong reliance on new quality productive forces, which has now become a new buzzword in China. It signifies the country's determination to emerge, through self-reliant efforts, as a world leader in cutting-edge technologies such as AI, robotics and quantum computing, and achieve efficiency-enhancing innovation in all economic activities.

China has already achieved extraordinary success in this respect, as is evident from its emergence as a global leader in green energy, large-storage batteries, electric vehicles, high-speed railway, telecom equipment, and execution of huge infrastructure projects.

To achieve further progress in Chinese modernization, the third plenary session has also called for "promoting full integration between the real economy and the digital economy," "enhancing the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains," and improving the quality of education and developing a quality workforce.

Another welcome feature is the third plenary session's categorical affirmation that "Chinese modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature." To achieve this, it has called for improving "ecological conservation systems, make concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development," and "actively respond to climate change." This shows China's readiness to meet its global obligations to mitigate the climate crisis, something we don't see in many Western economies.

As a keen and long-time Indian observer of China's rise, I have two main takeaways from the third plenary of the 20th CPC Central Committee. First, India, China and other developing countries have to enhance mutual learning since we have several developmental challenges in common. Second, the U.S. and its Western allies should stop daydreaming that they can halt or reverse China's progress with sanctions, threats or military muscle-flexing. It is better for them – and for the rest of the world – to cooperate with China for mutual benefit and for the benefit of humanity as a whole.

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