The spotlight on the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in Beijing has been shining possibly far brighter than that homing in on any other ruling party convention in the world. This is an indicator of China’s magnitude of influence on the world stage. 

In the past 10 years, China’s international role has been visibly growing through its active participation in different global organizations and its deployment of peacekeeping troops serving under the authority of the UN Security Council. It has evolved from a mere passive follower of the existing world order to a staunch defender of multilateral international cooperation based on the UN Charter.  

An increasingly confident China with greater discourse power is in the making. The proactive offering of solutions to the various concerns humanity faces has characterized China’s governance under the CPC’s leadership.  

The resounding success of absolute poverty elimination in China has made it a model to emulate in the global endeavor to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goal of poverty alleviation. The coming of age of the Belt and Road Initiative, a China-proposed project that aims to boost connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes, has essentially reshaped the global landscape of connectivity, notably through infrastructural development in the Global South. The rolling out of both the Global Development and Global Security initiatives in anticipation of realizing the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity witnessed China’s further commitment to offering more public goods to the international community in the face of escalating challenges confronting mankind.   

Parallel to this, all eyes and ears are now on the new CPC leadership line-up, all of whom are mandated to chart the Party’s direction for the next five years and beyond. Alongside a guarantee to observe its policy’s continuity, the CPC is known for displaying resilience in its inherent nature of self-improvement to halt any arising weaknesses in the process of implementation.  

Time and again, this model has proven its capable edge in delivering policies linked to long-term nation building endeavors in China. A case in point, and next on the agenda, here is the Party’s second centenary goal of building a modern and powerful socialist state by 2049—the centenary celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.  

The author is chairman of the Center for New Inclusive Asia, a think tank based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

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