World has high hopes from China's path to modernization

China's path to modernization has enriched the world’s understanding of modernization and contributed China's wisdom to the development of human civilization, experts said at a forum in Beijing on Monday.

The International Forum on Chinese Path to Modernization and Global Community of Shared Future brought together dozens of senior officials, business representatives, international delegates and experts from 14 countries. The China International Communications Group and the China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy had organized the forum.

“The Chinese model of modernization belongs not only to China, but also to the world,” said Yu Tao, deputy director of the China International Communications Group.

Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistani Senate’s Defense Committee, said that China’s emphasis on people-centered economic development and win-win cooperation not only provided new solutions and valuable experience for many developing countries to achieve their own modernization, but also made a positive contribution to maintaining fairness and justice and opposing hegemonic politics.

Binod Singh Ajatshatru, head of the BRICS Institute, New Delhi, India, said that the Indian government was emulating China in many ways, from setting up government departments for attracting business, to sending officials to study in China. “It is no longer a question of whether the Chinese model exists or not, but rather that India, a populous country, is taking a path similar to China’s,” he said.

Since the reform and opening-up, the Chinese government has helped lift around 800 million people out of poverty.

“This is a strong proof that China’s path to modernization can promote China’s social development and actively protect human rights,” said Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten, chairman of the Institute for East-West Strategic Studies in the United Kingdom.

The world is entering a period of turmoil and transformation, with global crises intensifying, said Ukeru Magosaki, former head of the Intelligence and Analysis Bureau of Japan’s foreign ministry. “Given China’s economic strength, it is poised to become the center of the emerging new world order.”

He hoped that China played a more active role as a responsible major power, accelerate the implementation of global development and security initiatives, issued more clear policy calls to the world, and promoted the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

“China’s path to modernization has demonstrated its feasibility and showcased the advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics, proving that modernization does not necessarily mean westernization,” said Boris Guseletov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Europe, the Russian Academy of Sciences.