China and the World in the New Era

Over the past 70 years, China has defused many risks and overcome many challenges, and marched forward step after step. In particular, since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, China has witnessed historic achievements and changes. The Chinese nation has risen and become prosperous, and is becoming strong, closer to the goal of national rejuvenation than ever before. China's development path will look on brighter and brighter prospects as time moves on (see Box 4).

Box 4 Positive Opinion in and Outside China on Its Future Development

The Chinese people have full confidence in China's prospects. According to a report of public opinion on the state of society released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in November 2018, Chinese respondents were optimistic about the future of their country, with 91.4 percent believing that China will make progress towards being a better society in the coming decade, scoring the highest degree of satisfaction among all countries covered by the survey, which covered 3,221 people in 50 countries and regions around the globe.

China's international image is improving. According to the results of a survey jointly released by German nonprofit association Atlantik-Brocke and German polling company Civey in March 2019, 42.3 percent of respondents believed that China is a more reliable partner for Germany than the US. According to "China National Image Global Survey 2018", a report covering 11,000 people from 22 countries on 5 continents, released by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (ACCWS) under China International Publishing Group in August 2019, overseas respondents gave China's overall image a score of 6.2 from 10, praising China's domestic and foreign policies, with significant recognition of China's domestic governance. The report reveals that China's image as a contributor to global development is becoming prominent, acknowledged by 48 percent of foreign respondents.

Through 70 years of development, China has achieved remarkable progress. However, the basic dimension of the Chinese context - that China is still and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism - has not changed. China's status as the world's largest developing country has not changed. If it is to relieve the strain between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life, and ensure that its nearly 1.4 billion people enjoy a decent level of prosperity, China still has a long road to travel.