The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) convened its third plenary session in Beijing from July 15 to 18, 2024, and adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPC on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernisation. On the new journey of promoting the Chinese path to modernisation, China's reform and opening up have set a new milestone.

The plenary session pointed out that the overall objectives of further deepening reform comprehensively are to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernize China's system and capacity for governance.

By 2035, China will have finished building a high-standard socialist market economy in all respects, further improved the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, generally modernised its system and capacity for governance, and basically realized socialist modernisation. All of this will lay a solid foundation for building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects by the middle of this century.

To steadily advance reform, China will focus on building a high-standard socialist market economy, advancing whole-process people's democracy, developing a strong socialist culture in China, raising the people's quality of life, building a Beautiful China, advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level, and improving the Party's capacity for leadership and long-term governance.

The reform tasks laid out in the resolution shall be completed by the time the People's Republic of China celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2029.

The plenary session stressed that, to further deepen reform comprehensively, China must review and apply the valuable experience it has gained from its efforts to deepen reform comprehensively since the launch of reform and opening up, particularly in the new era.

China must implement the principles of upholding the Party's overall leadership, taking a people-centered approach, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, taking institution building as its main task, exercising law-based governance on all fronts, and applying systems thinking.

The plenary session stated that opening up is a defining feature of Chinese modernisation. China must remain committed to the basic state policy of opening to the outside world and continue to promote reform through opening up.

Leveraging the strengths of its enormous market, China will enhance its capacity for opening up while expanding cooperation with other countries and develop new institutions for a higher-standard open economy.

China will steadily expand institutional opening up, deepen the foreign trade structural reform, further reform the management systems for inward and outward investment, improve planning for regional opening up, and refine the mechanisms for high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Reform and opening up is an important magic weapon for the CPC and the cause of the Chinese people to catch up with the times by leaps and bounds, and is the most prominent feature and the most magnificent atmosphere of contemporary China. China's reform and opening-up have profoundly changed itself and also had a profound impact on the world.

China is now the world's second largest economy, largest manufacturing country, largest goods trader, and second largest commodity consumer. China has successfully eliminated absolute poverty, and established the world's largest social security system. Significant progress has been made in energy conservation and emission reduction, and historic turning point and global changes have taken place in ecological and environmental protection.

China adheres to high-level opening up to the outside world, deeply participates in global industrial division of labor and cooperation, from reform and opening up to "joining the WTO" and becoming a "world factory", from "Made in China" to "Created in China", benefiting the world with dividends.

China has contributed to the global governance system. It advocates a correct concept of justice and fairness, and does not engage in the law of the jungle; It advocates the principle of openness and inclusiveness, and does not engage in closed door mentality; advocates multilateralism and opposes unilateralism.

The miracle of China's reform and opening up indicates that every country has the right to choose its own development path, and the development path that adapts to its own history and national conditions is the best.

China's proposals and plans demonstrate global justice and strong cultural inclusiveness, providing the first opportunity for developing countries to participate in global governance.

China has been taking continuous steps to deepen reform and opening up, and will always be a developing country and a member of the "Global South".

To develop relations with Pacific Island countries, China upholds the principle of "four full respects" (fully respects their sovereignty and independence, fully respects their will, fully respects their cultural traditions and fully respects their effort to seek strength through unity), and works together with them to build a closer community of shared future, benefiting their people, the region and the world.

Fei Mingxing is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Independent State of Samoa.