II. How is the CPC's scorecard?

On 23 March 1949, weeks before the CPC founded the New China, Chairman Mao Zedong and other members of the CPC central leadership left CPC's "last rural command" – Xibaipo in Hebei province, and set off for Beijing. Chairman Mao said that they were going to Beijing for the entrance exam. And Zhou Enlai added, "I think we will all pass, and no one will have to be sent back." Why would they have such a conversation? Because there were too many examples of the "sudden rise and fall" in the Chinese history, a "historical cycle" as it was called. The most famous story might be that of Li Zicheng, a peasant uprising leader in the late Ming Dynasty. His army conquered the capital, Beijing after 18 years of ferocious battles. They only occupied the city for 42 days and were forced to flee south. So could the CPC break this cycle and hold on to its power? The world waited and watched.

Now, 72 years have passed, and I can confidently say that the CPC has turned in an impressive score sheet, and created three miracles that are rarely seen in the world.

The first miracle is fast economic development. In the early days of the People's Republic, China was one of the poorest and most backward countries. Chairman Mao once said, "What can we produce? Of course, we can make tables and chairs, tea cups and pots; we can grow grains and produce flour; and we can make paper. Still, when it comes to cars, planes, tanks or tractors, we cannot even make a single one." That was probably why some of the capitalists in China scorned the CPC, saying that it could get 100 points on military, 80 points on politics, but zero on economy. Secretary Acheson said that "the first problem which every Chinese government has had to face is that of feeding this population. So far none has succeeded", neither would the CPC.

What happened afterwards was much beyond what they could fathom. Under CPC's leadership, China has achieved an economic takeoff. On industrialization, China has realized in just a few decades what took developed Western countries several centuries. China now has the most complete modern industrial system in the world. It is the second largest economy. It is also the biggest trader in goods. China's GDP was 67.9 billion yuan in 1952, and 90.03 trillion yuan in 2018, up by 174 times in real terms. Per capita GDP soared by 70-fold, from 119 yuan to 64,600 yuan. Scholars call it "the greatest economic revolution in the history of mankind". Early in the 1980s, China already met its people's basic needs for food and clothing. Today, grain output is as high as 650 million tons per year. Getting enough to eat is not a problem any more. What the Chinese people care about today is how to eat well and healthy.

The second miracle is long-term social stability. You may have heard about the paradox of Huntington, which says, "Modernity breeds stability and modernization breeds instability." China is a super-large country with over 1.4 billion people. No matter how big the economic aggregate is, when divided by 1.4 billion, it will become very small. On the other hand, any small challenge will become big when multiplied by 1.4 billion. The CPC has stood the great tests, the formidable and complex task of development and reform, the economic and social changes, among others. And it has effectively preserved long-term political and social stability in China.

Sustaining social stability depends not only on the volume of wealth to be added to the society. More importantly, it also depends on how far poverty reduction can go. Making the cake bigger and dividing it fairly are both important. China is able to achieve long-term stability thanks to its fast development as well as its commitment to equity and justice. In the early days of reform and opening-up, Mr. Deng Xiaoping put forth a policy to let some people and some regions prosper before others, so that they can help the underdeveloped regions to catch up for common prosperity. President Xi Jinping has made it clear that we will leave no one behind as we pursue moderate prosperity in all respects and for all the Chinese people. Today, the middle-income population in China is over 400 million, and as many as 800 million people have emerged from poverty. This is unprecedented in the human history. Facing the impact of COVID-19, the CPC has, as always, put people and life first, and enforced strict health protocols. It effectively coordinated COVID response with economic and social development, and put life and work back to normalcy within a short span of time.

The third miracle is peaceful rise. New China abandoned the obsolete colonialist path of traditional powers. It always pursues an independent foreign policy of peace. Over the past seven decades, China never provoked a war, or took an inch of land from any other country. China is the only country in the world that incorporates peaceful development into its Constitution. Some claim that a growing power is bound to seek hegemony. But China's millennia-old wisdom tells us that hegemony leads only to failure. China does not seek hegemony. We stand firmly with the world against hegemonism. Words like "coercion" and "bullying" are not in the dictionary of China's diplomacy. We are committed to a new path of state-to-state engagement, a path that advocates dialogue and partnership, instead of confrontation or alliance. We seek to grow our friendship and cooperation with all countries based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. We advocate equality among all countries, regardless of their size, wealth and strength. We respect the rights of people of all countries to choose their own development path. We oppose the strong bullying the weak or seeking supremacy.

China is always a force for peace, development and progress. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China firmly maintains world peace and stability, and stands for international fairness and justice. China is the second largest funding contributor to the United Nations and UN peacekeeping operations. It is the top contributor of peacekeeping personnel among P5. Since 1990, China has taken part in nearly 30 UN peacekeeping operations. As the largest developing country, China makes every effort to promote global common prosperity. Our economy has contributed more than 30 percent of global growth for over 10 consecutive years.

Since 2008, 25 percent of LDCs' total exports come to China. Under the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries, China has put off more loan repayments than other members. In the past seven years since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched, China has registered more than 7.8 trillion US dollars in trade and 110 billion US dollars in direct investment with BRI partner countries. We have hosted the China International Import Expo for three years running to share China's market with the world. In COVID response, China has provided medical supplies to over 150 countries and 13 international organizations. Despite difficulties at home, China has provided over 300 million doses of vaccines to the world.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has kept developing, including its path, theory, system, and culture. It has blazed a new trail for other developing countries to achieve modernization. It offers a new option for other nations who aspire to speed up their development while preserving their independence.

You may ask, what do the Chinese people think about the three miracles? One figure is quite telling. Between 2003 and 2016, Harvard University conducted eight surveys in China, and it published its findings in July 2020. It shows that over 90 percent of the Chinese public are satisfied with the Chinese government. That is quite extraordinary by any measure in any country.