General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 16. Makhdoom Babar, President and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Mail, Pakistan, shared his comments on the report with Beijing Review reporter Li Nan. Edited excerpts of the interview follow:

Beijing Review: What impresses you the most in the report to the 20th CPC National Congress? And what’s your understanding of the Chinese modernization?

Makhdoom Babar: We all know Xi Jinping has been constantly insisting on innovation, asking that everybody in China to focus on innovation, come up with innovative technologies, innovation in education, and innovation in business and trade. He has asked the Chinese to pull together with one mind to achieve this goal.

When he talks about modernization, he means to make life easier, not only for the people of China, but also for people like me who are very much engaged with China and who are going to introduce China to the world.

I think Xi and the CPC can steer the nation into a complete new era. This is, I think, the most impressive aspect of this report.

The CPC wants to transfer the benefits they have gained from the scientific and technological development to the people of China.

Last time, I visited Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. We were taken to Xinjiang’s Silicon Valley, where they showed us how the Chinese Government is going to use drone technology for medical purposes, providing medical assistance to its people, including for the supply of medicines in medical emergencies, like heart attacks.

Today, China is really the land of opportunity and it has a wonderful future, not only for the Chinese nation, but also for all those who want to benefit from China's scientific, educational and technological development.

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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