Wang Zhimin says General Secretary Xi Jinping's report to the 19th CPC National Congress marks the culmination of Chinese wisdom, a systematic Chinese solution and the compass for the country's future development

The first is new era and new thought. The report lists "10 great achievements" to summarize the historic changes resulting from all the hard work in the past five years and thoroughly analyzes nearly 40 years of reform and opening-up, with the conclusion that our country's comprehensive national strength is now one of the strongest in the world and has elevated the nation's international status to a new level. It means the pursuit of socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, having experienced so much hardship in modern times to finally stand on its own feet, build up a better life and arrive at the threshold of brighter future for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It also means scientific socialism is more vibrant in the 21st century than ever, thanks to China's socialism with Chinese characteristics, which proves scientific socialism is very much alive after the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe fell by the wayside as a result of abandoning Marxism and Leninism. And it means the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics has expanded the path for developing nations to achieve modernization without losing independence with Chinese wisdom and "the China solution". China's success in "choosing its own path" of fast development shows the world modernization does not necessarily equal westernization.

The "new era" is real, vivid and tangible, because we are all witnesses who are experiencing and sharing its reward. In this new era, China must advance democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, environment and more simultaneously. And those keywords should sound quite familiar to Hong Kong youths, because they are pursuing them as well. New era spawns new thinking; while practice generates theory. The top highlight of Xi's report is the scientific summary of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era and its most outstanding contribution is making this the long-term guiding principle of the CPC. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era is a scientific and complete system of thought that covers areas such as reform, development, stability, domestic affairs, foreign relations, national defense and governance of the Party, the country and the armed forces, providing all-encompassing guidance to the progress of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The fundamental strategy of "14 insistences" put forward in the report is the embodiment of the thought. The 19th National Congress of the CPC accomplished advancement with the times of the guiding thought of the CPC and marked another significant milestone in China's development and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The second is a new goal and new journey. Every new era marks the start of a new journey. Xi's report states that, upon achieving the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in 2020, the country will begin the next stage of all-round construction of a modern socialist country in two steps: one covers 2020 to 2035 and the other spans the following 15 years to 2050, during which we will build the country into a prosperous, strong, democratic, harmonious and beautiful socialist society. This new goal and new journey update the timetable of the national development program.

The third is new position and new opportunity. The 19th National Congress of the CPC has elevated "one country, two systems" to a fundamental national strategy, according to a continuous historical progression. From this progression, we can sense Hong Kong's new position in the national governance system after China resumed sovereign rule over the region. And it is a logical requirement of complete national reunification. Along with this new position come new opportunities for Hong Kong going forward. For example, the report puts forward the need to "implement new development philosophy and build a modernized economic system". It also emphasizes policy efforts to support the Hong Kong and Macao SARs in their development under "one country, two systems" and treat SAR residents as nationals like their mainland compatriots. As long as we hold on to the "one country" basis and make good use of "two systems" advantage, the original intent of national reunification will be realized eventually.

The above are excerpts from the keynote speech by Wang Zhimin at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Boao Youth Forum for Asia in Hong Kong last week.

(HK Edition 11/06/2017 page1)