The Chinese modernization is a term that is stressed in the Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). It is said to be a modernization which, on the one side, contains elements that are common to the modernization of all countries, but on the other, has features that are unique to the Chinese context. 

Today, I would like to share with you my understanding of the Chinese path to modernization which, I believe, can inspire other countries and offer new options and opportunities to the world.

China's practice shows that there can be different paths to modernization.

When China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, some people, especially in the West, thought that China was going to and could only follow the Western model of modernization. This is a misunderstanding of China. China has never wanted to copy the Western model of modernization, neither it wanted to impose its model on other countries. China wants to follow its own path to achieve modernization, a socialist modernization that is people-centered, attaches great importance to protecting the environment and promotes peaceful development. Moreover, China is willing to share its experiences and benefits with the world.

The modernization path of Western countries has major flaws.

The Western modernization has provided material wealth mainly for a minority of the world population in the Western developed countries, based on the exploitation of the great majority, on imperialism, colonialism and hegemony. It has caused more social injustice, exploitation, wars, territorial expansions, oppression of other populations, waste of natural resources, pollution, unbalanced and unsustainable development, and so on. This is not the path China wants to follow. 

The Chinese modernization is different from the Western model and suits China's national conditions.

The Chinese modernization is a modernization that suits China's national conditions, follows the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, relies on the people and is for the people's benefit. It promotes a development that brings common prosperity not only to the 1% or 10%, and not even only to the majority of the Chinese people, but to each single one of them. 

The Chinese modernization is also reversing the trend of developing at the expense of the environment and promotes a balanced, qualitative and sustainable development which allows a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Production, well-being of the population and preservation of the environment are considered as an inseparable whole in the process of development.  

The Chinese modernization is, moreover, not following the path of imperialism, of colonialism, or of hegemony, but the path of peaceful development. Indeed, China's development is based on cooperation, equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefits. The Belt and Road Initiative is a concrete example of this, and although this initiative was launched by China, it is about developing in common and sharing together with all countries the fruits of development.

Finally, the Chinese modernization uses the Chinese wisdom and approach to propose solutions to solve common problems faced by humankind. The Marxist perspective and method and some progressive Chinese traditional concepts are used to analyze the world and address problems faced by China and the other countries today, embracing, for instance, the Chinese traditional concept that "all under heaven we are one family”and the Marxist concept that“the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all".

The impact of the Chinese modernization on the world.

The Chinese modernization has and will have more and more impact on the world, not only because it contributes to the development of other countries, especially the developing countries which were plundered and left behind in the process of Western modernization, but also because it shows other countries that it is possible to follow a path of modernization different from the Western model and that this new path can provide other countries a win-win way of achieving their own modernization; they can choose from the Chinese modernization experience, the elements that are suitable for them according to their own conditions and needs, and continue to develop while keeping their independence and autonomy.

Therefore, while pursuing its own modernization, China offers a new path to modernization that can serve as a source of inspiration for other countries, and makes a greater contribution in promoting human progress, world peace and development, as well as building an ecological civilization and a human community with a shared future.

Excerpt from Peggy Cantave Fuyet's Speech at "Hong Ting Forum: Understanding the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China".