Xinhua Insight: CPC's new governance theories steer China on fast track to "two centenary goals"

New governance theories and practices proposed by the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are putting the country on a fast track to realizing its "two centenary goals."

The world's second-largest economy is aiming to have doubled the 2010 GDP and per-capita income of urban and rural residents and completed the building of a moderately prosperous society by 2020. By the middle of this century, it should be a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious.

With only five years to go till 2020, China is facing a whole new set of tasks, but innovation and solid efforts by the CPC leadership are giving the country a headstart, experts interviewed by Xinhua have said.

"We have never been so close to achieving the grand goal of national rejuvenation," said Yan Shuhan, chief expert on Marxism studies with the Party School of the Central Committee (CCPS) of the CPC.

"We have successfully established a socialist system. The more challenging task ahead is to design a self-contained, more viable governing system to realize the moderately prosperous society and the Chinese dream," Yan said.

His words were echoed by Li Junru, former vice president of the CCPS.

Faced with downward risks, volatile securities and sluggish manufacturing at home and a fragile world recovery prospect, the CPC leadership is exploring a new approach to rein in the slowdown and reboot the economy, Li Junru said.

For the past three decades, China's miraculous achievement was envied and admired by major economies, but a slowdown since the 2008 global financial crisis has left many jittery. Last year's GDP growth of 6.9percent slipped to its lowest notch in a quarter of a century.

Given the changing economic landscape, the term "new normal" was adopted by policymakers to describe the present stage of slower but higher quality growth.

According to Yan, since the new leadership took office in 2012, China has made up its mind to push forward its modern governance capabilities, and build a socialist country ruled by law.

The CPC's governance ideas and practices served as a fundamental guide to China's development in the coming years to prosperity.

On the road to rejuvenation, the central authorities have promulgated several new concepts, including the Chinese Dream and the Four Comprehensives.

In addition, over the coming five years, development will be underpinned by the notions of innovation, coordination, green, opening up and sharing.

"All these represent a new, modernized, future-oriented development mindset," said Hu Min, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Governance.

"As long as we can follow them through, we will surely accomplish our first centenary goal in time by 2020 and lay a solid foundation for the realization of the second," he said.

Indeed, significant achievements have been made across all sectors of governance in the years since the Party's mission "to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" was set, said Han Qingxiang, director of the department of philosophy with the CCPS.

In order to steer through the new normal and achieve all its 2020 targets, the CPC leadership has proposed supply-side structural reform, which values the quality and efficiency on the supply side, and stimulates market vitality and the creativity of society.

It also proposed a new set of development concepts, with innovation foremost in strategies for a balanced, coordinated and sustainable growth pattern.

A basket of policies has been underlined, including more cuts to red tape, support for innovation and entrepreneurship, closure of redundant factories and consolidation of torpid state-owned enterprises.

Han meanwhile noted that the CPC's governance practices had been problem-oriented.

Describing the approach as "pragmatic," Han said there are still weak points in achieving the national goals, such as the stagnation of reform in certain areas, and wide-spread corruption in the face of an on-going anti-graft campaign.

Only by resolving these problems can China chip away at the hard bones of reforms and realize the 2020 goals, he said. Endi