Xi, known for environmental initiatives in Xiamen to clean up Yundang Lake and in Hangzhou to protect West Lake, established the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, set ecological and environmental protection as an inviolable "red line," introduced inspections on ecological and environmental protection by central authorities, and asked local officials to be responsible for the protection of rivers, lakes and forests as their "chiefs."
Under Xi's leadership, China became the country with the fastest improvement in air quality, the largest increase in forest resources, and the largest area of afforestation globally. The country has also held a steady position as the world leader in installed capacities for hydro, wind, solar, and biomass power generation amid his campaign to revolutionize the energy field.
China has also developed the world's largest carbon market and vowed to achieve carbon neutrality after carbon peaking in a much shorter time than developed countries. "Green and low-carbon development is the order of the day, and those who follow it will prosper," he said.
Xi believes that protecting the environment and ecology is vital to sustaining the Chinese nation's development and is also crucial for protecting the Earth, which is "our one and only home."
FORGING AHEAD WITH COURAGE
"No other country around the world can comprehensively advance reform in the same way as present-day China does, with a commitment to its promises and a sense of urgency," said a report by the Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.
According to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey by consulting firm Edelman, China's overall trust level was 83, ranking first among all surveyed countries.
China was the only country among those surveyed that expressed optimism about economic prospects, according to the survey.
Observers believe that it is because Xi himself is the helmsman of reform in the new era that the socialist market economy heralded by Deng can continue.
Xi has ignited the engine propelling China on an irreversible journey toward modernization.
This is undoubtedly one of the most far-reaching reforms in human history. In the early 1990s, Deng's proclamation of "development is the absolute principle" liberated and developed China's social productive forces, enhancing China's comprehensive national strength.
Xi has held that high-quality development is the unyielding principle of the new era, and initiated a comprehensive and systematic transformation in China, which has contributed to the re-balancing of the world economy.
He has advocated for building a world economy that is innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive, injecting new vitality into global development.
Last year, China's economy grew by 5.2 percent, contributing one-third of global growth. The country's economic engine remains strong. The "next China," according to many analysts, is still China, when looking for investment destinations.
What and how will China reform in the future? The question is drawing worldwide attention.
Reforms aimed at promoting new quality productive forces will bring about a new emancipation of the mind. Zhao Zhenhua, director of the Department of Economics of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said that fostering new quality relations of production that adapt to new quality productive forces is indeed a profound revolution, involving elements such as ownership of means of production, distribution, and people's positions in production.
This year's "two sessions" sent the signal that China plans to establish "pilot reform zones for building a high-standard socialist market economy." The goal is to foster "a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized," where SOEs, private businesses, and foreign-funded companies all play an important role in China's modernization drive.
In addition, new reform measures will be introduced to foster new industrial growth engines, promote consumption growth, expand the middle-income group, and ensure equal access to basic services. These initiatives are expected to further unpack tremendous business opportunities in a market of over 1.4 billion people.
China is pushing for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
A Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said that China is willing to deepen reforms continuously, strive to meet the high standards required by the agreement, and make high-level opening-up commitments beyond its existing practices in the area of market access.
There are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects of reforms under the leadership of Xi.
This optimism is not only based on China's enormous economic and market size but also the unified leadership of the Party with Xi at the core. The CPC has the guts for self-reform and is capable of turning blueprints into concrete actions.
Furthermore, China is still a developing country with substantial growth space and potential.
Some Western observers perceive China's growing economic strength as a threat and China's large market as a "tool of economic coercion," fueling the attempt to decouple with or impose a blockade on China. These views need to be changed.
China's reforms are not intended to change or challenge the world order. Instead, the country is actively engaging in and impacting global economic governance, upholding fairness and justice on the world stage.
Xi has inherited and carried forward Deng's legacy through comprehensively deepening reform. This not only created economic miracles but also displayed the charm of the Chinese culture, contributing to the creation of a new form of human civilization.
"Our modernization is both the most challenging and the greatest," said Xi. "This is an unprecedented path, but we will continue to explore it and forge ahead with courage."
(by Xinhua writers Wang Jinye, Zhang Zhengfu, Cheng Yunjie, Wang Xiuqiong, Xu Lingui, Zhang Zhongkai, Shi Hao, Wang Yaguang, Zhang Bowen and Fu Min)
