China striving to achieve second centenary goal
Villagers work at an agricultural industrial park in Luhuo County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, on July 19. Photo: CFP
As China has eradicated absolute poverty and realized its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the country is advancing towards the second centenary goal of building itself into “a great modern socialist country in all respects.”
Zhang Qi, dean of the China Institute for Poverty Reduction at Beijing Normal University, said that completing building a moderately prosperous society in all respects has completely changed China’s long-term poverty and gaps in development since modern times. As such, economic, political, cultural, social, ecological, and other fields have reached heights that have not been seen in modern times.
“China is the most populous country in the world. Eradicating absolute poverty and completing building a moderately prosperous society in all respects not only benefits the Chinese people, but also provides an important reference for promoting global poverty reduction,” said Li Guoxiang, a research fellow from the Rural Development Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Rural areas remain the key and a tough point for consolidating the achievements and improving the quality of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Zhang said that to further improve the level and quality of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, it is necessary to explore solutions to deeper problems of poverty, including relative poverty.
“We need to focus on rural vitalization, constantly pay attention to the construction of rural infrastructure, and realize the integrated development between urban and rural infrastructure,” Zhang said. Rural vitalization also needs to follow a green path.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–25), China seeks to facilitate high-quality development on the basis of consolidating the achievements of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
Wei Longbao, deputy director of the China Academy for Rural Development at Zhejiang University, suggested tapping and consolidating the domestic demand and market’s potential to promote a virtuous economic cycle. It is also important to facilitate the coordinated development of urban-rural integration and consolidate the major achievements of targeted poverty alleviation.
It is advisable to nurture international metropolitan areas and several world-class growth drivers in China, Wei said.
Lei Ming, director of the Institute of Rural Vitalization at Peking University, said that in the new journey of building a great modern socialist country in all respects, it is necessary to put the promotion of “common prosperity for all” in a more important position.
To pursue common prosperity, Guan Xinping, director of the Institute of Social Construction and Management at Nankai University, suggested strengthening and optimizing the market mechanism so that it can play a fundamental role in stimulating vitality and allocating resources. At the same time, reasonable government intervention should be adopted to regulate income distribution and narrow income gaps, Guan concluded.
Edited by JIANG HONG