The Communist Party of China (CPC) has created history by inviting more than 600 political leaders of major political parties from about 120 countries to Beijing for the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting (“CPC Dialogue”).

As a rule of thumb, politics is mostly local and political parties everywhere in the world care mostly about domestic matters. Political parties from different countries rarely gather together, and international meetings of political parties from different countries are practically unheard of. The CPC Dialogue is truly unusual in its global reach and high caliber. President Xi Jinping of China, who is also the general secretary of the CPC, delivered a keynote speech to the global political leaders.

One may naturally ask why China organized this extraordinary CPC Dialogue? What is the CPC or China going to achieve with this event? Does the CPC or China have an ideology or political model to export to other countries? Does the CPC or China want to convert these political parties from many countries in the world to communism? 

No. China does not have an ideology or political model to export to the rest of the world. China truly believes that its political system is unique and is suited to the circumstances in China. Although the Chinese political system has generated wonders in terms of political reform and economic transformation of China, China does not believe that the Chinese political system can be transplanted to any other country in the world and generate similar wonders.

So why hold the meeting?

The Chinese explanation is an elegant one: The world is curious and eager to learn about China and the CPC and the reasons behind the great transformation of China over the past 40 years. China has been able to overcome the odds and become the second largest economy, and it is surely on its way to become the most important economy in the world. What is the most important political force in China which has made all this possible? How did it do it?

The truth is that to understand the reasons behind the Chinese miracles over the past 40 years, the best way is to understand the CPC, the largest and the most important political party in the world today, with 89 million party members. 

Therefore, the CPC Dialogue is a deliberate attempt by the CPC to better introduce itself to the world, and to set up an institutional process and structure of engaging with the major political parties in the world for dialogue and exchange of views and opinions about many things of common interest. The CPC Dialogue will help make the CPC more transparent and accountable.  It will also help CPC to learn from the major political parties in the world.

In the world today, when globalization is under threat and free trade is under pressure, when populism and protectionism are raising their dangerous heads, the major political parties in the world have reasons to compare notes and discuss major issues which may have a global impact on mankind as a whole.

In this context, China has ample amount of experience and track record to share with the major political parties in the world. How to maintain domestic stability? How to keep peace and avoid using war as a means of international politics? How to focus on development? How to set up national development strategy? How to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty? How to promote industrialization and manufacturing? How to improve the living standards of the people? How to promote inclusive development? How to fight against illiteracy? How to improve people’s life expectancy and the quality of life? How to build up infrastructure and connectivity of all kinds? How to win more gold medals at the Olympics? How to train peace keepers to work under the UN banner? How the Belt and Road Initiative can help all the participating countries? And the list goes on and on. 

Yes, indeed, China has a lot to share with the rest of the world, and the rest of the world can learn more from the Chinese experience. This CPC Dialogue is exactly for this lofty goal of learning from each other and sharing experiences to reach more common understanding. Through such CPC Dialogue, the CPC will become more transparent, more accountable and more responsible. Major political parties in many countries in the world can learn how CPC has led the transformation of China and how they can improve their organization ability, performance and execution capacities in order to better serve the people in their own countries. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the CPC not only wants to serve the Chinese people, but also wants to work hard for the common destiny of mankind. It is hoped that the CPC Dialogue with the world political parties to discuss ways and means to overcome problems and difficulties facing mankind will make the world a better place for mankind in the future.

(The author is a political commentator and former interpreter for Deng Xiaoping. The article reflects the author’s opinion, not necessarily the views of CGTN. )