Global Times (1 July 2021) – At a grand ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing on Thursday, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, solemnly declared the completion of the goal of building China into a moderately prosperous society in all respects, marking the culmination of a 2,500-year journey of the Chinese people to pursue xiaokang – a peaceful and happy life, a century of earnest endeavor by the CPC and over four decades of relentless government efforts and Chinese ingenuity.
The decisive voice of Xi when he made the declaration at the very beginning of his speech and the loud and lasting cheers from the crowd on the Tiananmen Square that was immersed in a festive atmosphere underscored the pride and exhilaration of the entire Chinese nation over the magnificent and hard-fought achievement reached with the blood and sweat of generations of Chinese. The historical weight of the announcement at such a historical moment cannot be overstated.
The achievement is truly a milestone in almost every regard, and befitting the once-in-a-century occasion where a slew of achievements was highlighted by Xi, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission. The objective contains a sweeping set of goals ranging from economic growth and political reform to environmental protection, but several breakthroughs shed further light on the historical significance of the mission.
In the four decades or so since building a xiaokang society became an official goal for China’s social and economic development, China’s economy outstripped what were once considered economic miracles in Germany, Japan and South Korea by leaps and bounds and is closer than ever to overtake the US No.1 spot in economy, which it has held for 120 years. China lifted 770 million people – roughly the equivalent of the combined population of the US, Indonesia and Pakistan (the world’s third, fourth and fifth most populous countries) – out of poverty.
A confluence of factors contributed to such an achievement unparalleled in human society, but chief among them is the people-centered governance and the excellent policymaking and execution of the CPC, officials, economists and ordinary Chinese people said. Declaring the completion of the goal on such an important occasion is not just aimed at celebrating the remarkable achievements of the past but also inspiring confidence and unity as China embarks on a higher mission to build a modern socialist power amid challenges and uncertainties, they noted.
“By any measurement, the goal has not only been completed but actually surpassed,” Cao Heping, a professor of economics at Peking University in Beijing, told the Global Times. “There are countless standards, but the bottom line is that the Chinese people now live a life that they didn’t even dare to imagine just four decades ago.”
The dream of a peaceful and happy life actually started 2,500 years ago, when the term xiaokang, which translates into “a moderately prosperous society,” first appeared in ancient Chinese classic shijing ̶ “the Book of Poetry.”
The concept was revived in 1979, when the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping used the term to describe the goal of China’s social and economic development during a meeting with then Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira.