Nurshati, a taxi driver, plans to turn his house into a bed and breakfast (B&B) to capitalize on the tourism boom on Liuxing Street in Yining City.
In 2019, the local government renovated the street, originally built in the 1930s and located in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, aiming to boost tourism while protecting and promoting the area's original features.
"Look, there are so many cars parked on the roadside. This road used to be a quagmire; it was impossible to walk on it without boots," Nurshati said.
Today, the street is a cultural attraction. With summer being the peak tourism season, Nurshati is confident his family-run B&B will be profitable.
"I have three children, a house, and a car. Everything is fine," said the Uygur taxi driver. "If you look for them, there are many opportunities."
Like Nurshati, the other 1,000 residents of the street also enjoy more business opportunities and better lives thanks to the street's upgrading.
"The Chinese people's aspiration for a better life is the goal to strive for," said Xi Jinping when he first addressed journalists after being elected general secretary of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in November 2012.
Enriching the people
By the end of 2020, China had lifted all 98.99 million rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty, declaring the elimination of absolute poverty in the country in February 2021.
"The key to running a country is to first enrich the people."
This ancient Chinese saying was quoted by President Xi in a speech at the National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference in February 2021.
Xi stated that the CPC has always stood on the side of the people and consistently emphasized that eradicating poverty, improving people's lives, and achieving common prosperity are essential requirements of socialism.
When the People's Republic of China was founded in October 1949, the country was among the poorest in the world. Per capita GDP was just 119 yuan ($53) in 1952. However, boosted by the reform and opening-up policies implemented from 1978, which helped attract foreign investment, unleash market vitality and better allocate resources, living standards have transformed.
In 2019, per capita GDP reached 70,078 yuan, or $10,158 at the annual average exchange rate, exceeding $10,000 for the first time. It hit 89,358 yuan ($12,622) in 2023, representing an 89-fold increase since 1952, with an average annual growth rate of 6.5 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
China has eradicated extreme poverty and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects over the past 75 years. The country has also ensured access to better education, more stable jobs, reliable social security, and improved medical and health care.
The country now has the largest basic education system in the world, with 487,900 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens, according to Huai Jinpeng, the minister of education, in March.
China has consistently implemented pro-employment measures. Since 2012, the number of new urban jobs created each year has remained above 11 million, reaching 12.44 million in 2023, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
To ensure better access to medical care, the country has built the world's largest basic healthcare insurance network, covering over 95 percent of its citizens by the end of 2023, according to a report published by the National Healthcare Security Administration in July.
As China continues on the journey toward realizing modernization, reforms are set to continue. According to a resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in July, China aims to improve the income distribution system, enhance the employment-first policy and social security system, further reform the medical and healthcare systems, and improve the systems for facilitating population development and providing related services.