Striving to create a miracle in human history

Editor’s Note: On Sept. 29, People’s Daily published a commentary on its front page, expounding on China’s achievements over the past 70 years and the reasons behind them.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has achieved the dream of the millennium, marched toward national rejuvenation, and led one-fifth of the world’s population to approach the center of the global stage, said the article titled “Striving to create a miracle in human history.”

The article pointed out that China made a massive success in the economic field and became the most stable and prosperous economy in the world. In just several decades, the country has finished what took developed countries several hundred years to complete.

It has fully proved that the Communist of China (CPC) plays a crucial role in leading the country and the people to make new advances unseen in the century and supporting the nation to manage its own affairs well. It also shows the world that the CPC and the Chinese people are fully confident to provide a Chinese solution for the exploration of a better social system for all humankind.

Shanghai (Photo/Pudong Times)

The main points of the article are summarized as follows:

Seventy years is merely a fleeting instant in the history of human development. However, the Chinese people have created a magnificent miracle with 70 years of hard work. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the CPC has led the people to create a miracle of rapid economic development and a miracle of long-term stability and guided the country to stand up and become vibrant and influential.

The past 70 years is a historical process in which the ancient civilization pursued the dream of the millennium and marched toward national rejuvenation. It is also a process for China to lead one-fifth of the world’s population toward the center of the global stage.

Chairman Mao Zedong described China’s national industry as incapable of producing a plane, a tank, a car or a tractor. Besides, there were doubts that the CPC did an excellent job in making military strategies and political strategies, but performed poorly in the aspect of developing the economy. Some even asserted that the victory of the CPC would not last long.

Reform and opening-up was a game-changing move in making China what it is today. It enables the country to liberate the mind and break institutional barriers that hinder its development, replace the highly centralized planned economic system with a socialist market economy full of vigor, become an open economy from a closed and semi-closed one, and put its economy on a fast track of development.

From 1952 to 2018, China's GDP jumped from 67.9 billion yuan to 90 trillion yuan, an increase of 174 times. The GDP per capita increased from 119 yuan to 64,600 yuan, an increase of 70 times.

China has risen to the second-largest economy in the world, the number one trader of goods, holder of the world's most substantial foreign exchange reserve and home to the longest high-speed mileage and largest banking system in the world.

In one day, China’s GDP increases by 246 billion yuan, trade of goods by $12.6 billion. In one day, 140 million parcels are delivered and sent, and 76,000 vehicles are manufactured in China.

These achievements were beyond imagination in the past.

Today, China is one of the world’s 20 top players in terms of innovation and is home to more than 100 million market entities. With a strong determination to pursue high-quality development with unceasing efforts, the country has become full of innovation momentum, and everyone aspires to become better.

US economist Jeffrey Sachs said that China is a very successful story in the world of economy.

From stressing that youth is the hope of the nation, to yearning for rebirth and reconstruction of the nation and calling for national rejuvenation, generations of our predecessors have fought for the country.

Those who could not stand on their own feet cherish most the joy of being able to stand up; those who were impoverished aspire to become wealthy; those who are marching toward rejuvenation are most confident to become strong and healthy.

China, which contributed 30 percent to global economic growth for years in a row, has become the primary stabilizer and source of power for world economic growth. The country, which has managed to lift 700 million impoverished rural people out of poverty, or 70 percent of the total world impoverished population, has created a miracle in global poverty reduction.

China, which has been through ups and downs in the past 70 years, is still full of energy to swim against the tide in the new era. The country, having a long history, embraced modern civilization along its development course. The country, which has undergone many vicissitudes, carries the dream of rejuvenation with it while making strides toward a better future.

With a burning passion to strive for what it pursues China has experienced the joy of handling crises successfully. With the spirit of never retreating in the face of setbacks, the country has made epic accomplishments.

The grand rejuvenation of the nation, which carries the exploration of people with high ideals in the past more than a century and gathers together aspirations of millions upon millions of people, is like a sun shining in all its splendor.

For many people, what is amazing about the dramatic changes in China is that they are enormous in terms of scale. China has a population of nearly 1.4 billion, which is much bigger than the total population of all other major countries in the world before its rise. Besides, China made these achievements in a very short time. In just several decades, China has finished what took developed countries several hundred years to complete.

While making considerable achievements in a short time, China has also maintained long-term social stability, and let vitality of economic and social development come out in an orderly manner. In this way, it has struck a balance between vigor and order, and between development and stability.

The principles of historical development have indicated that a country experiences social contradictions and risks while it is in the process of modernization.

China was compared to a “compressed capsule” on the way of modernization, as it had been through many changes in a short time while meeting and solving all kinds of contradictions and problems. A tiny issue will be maximized in China, given its huge size.

From this perspective, China’s capacity to maintain stability is as important as its capability to create a development miracle. It should be valued that the country, even after undergoing complicated and drastic economic and social changes, remains a stable society in the long run. After thorough research on China’s development, a foreign scholar pointed out that the correct economic strategies and the stable political system of China are the secrets of China’s continuous economic growth.

With effective social governance and good social order, today’s China can deliver a better sense of gain, happiness, and security to its people. The country is hailed by foreign guests as one of the safest countries in the world and the most stable and prosperous economy in the world by foreign media.

Looking back on Chinese history, stability seemed intertwined with chaos, and unity was usually followed by separation. For thousands of years, China had witnessed more turbulent days than peaceful ones, not to mention prosperous times. The long-term turmoil and frequent wars had caused people to suffer.

As a result, whether the country can maintain lasting peace and order has become the essential criterion for people to decide whether the regime and system are good enough.

From such a historical perspective, it is a miracle that China has maintained long-term stability for the past 70 years.