The CPC welcomes global scholars for direct dialogue

More than 60 renowned think tank experts from all over the world gathered in Beijing on Sept. 3-5 for the Party and the World Dialogue 2014, the first of its kind in China.

The Dialogue, with a theme of "China's New Reforms: The Role of the Party”, was sponsored by the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS) and the China Foundation for Peace and Development.

The scholars, from various backgrounds, held in-depth discussions at three panel discussions on the way the Communist Party of China (CPC) is steering reforms in China and touched on a wide range of challenges and common concerns.

The three-day event presented foreign participants a general picture of China through face-to-face dialogues with high-ranking Chinese officials, including Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao, Wang Jiarui, Vice-Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and Honorary Council President of CCCWS, and other Chinese policy makers and scholars.

The participants visited the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC Central Committee, China’s anti-corruption watchdog, which has won praise both at home and abroad for its iron fist clampdown on “tigers and flies” (high- and low-level corrupt officials).

In addition, a field trip to East China’s Shandong Province offered foreign participants a first-hand glimpse of China’s development, where they attended a salon discussing the role of traditional culture in China’s reform. They also interacted with local officials, enterprises and rural families in Qufu, the birth place of Confucius, and Qingdao, a silhouette of modern China and its globalization.

China has been at the focus of the world's attention for its miraculous 35 years of economic growth and its current comprehensive reform deepening and opening up.

In a meeting with these foreign think tanks experts on Sept. 4, Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao invited them to learn more about China's development and changes through field visits, to exchange views with the Chinese side and share the history and achievements of China's reform and opening-up under the leadership of the CPC. Li said he hoped the experts would provide advice and suggestions for China’s reform and development.

While addressing the opening ceremony of the Dialogue, Minister Wang Jiarui also said the CPC is willing and ready to share its information with the outside world as an authentic source and learn from others, as the Party reviews and learns from its past to overcome challenges and helps its neighbors understand China.

The organization of the CPC

To understand China’s reform and changes, one needs to understand the CPC’s machinery. How does the CPC, as the single ruling Party, run the world’s most populous country? How does it make its policies and national plans? These questions are something of a mystery and arouse curiosity in the outside world, and as a result, there have often been doubts and misunderstandings.

The CPC has an established mechanism for democratic policy making, which features preliminary research and investigation, feedback from the top down and from the grass roots, and deliberations and revisions before finalizing policy documents according to the Party Constitution.

Chinese think tank experts shared insights about policy making process with participants at the Dialogue.

Mr. Li Junru, former Vice President of the Central Party School of the CPC Central Committee, took as an example the recent Decision on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in November 2013, which set the pace for China’s next 10 years of development.

This Decision was the result of a painstaking process of soliciting wide-ranging opinions from different groups across the country, drafting and redrafting, Li said.

Mr. Zhang Weiwei, Director of the Research Center of the Chinese Development Model at Fudan University, said China’s remarkable success has depended to a large extent on the Party’s democratic centralism. As long as a policy is in the interest of the majority of the public, China’s ruling Party will push it ahead despite opposition from special interest groups.

The CPC top leadership is focusing on the new reform to adhere to and improve the system of democratic centralism, and better the intra-Party democratic system.

Mr. Zheng Xingli, former Deputy Director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, said that experience has shown that the CPC doesn’t turn away from its problems and mistakes and it is always striving to improve itself and better serve the people.

Varied opinions on China’s reform and global bearing

2014 is the first year of China’s comprehensive reform deepening. During the three-day Dialogue, the scholars discussed the way the CPC is leading reform and its global influence during panel discussions.

While recognizing the positive side of China’s reform, the foreign participants talked about challenges and problems the country has encountered and will face on its way of reform, which include lack of innovation, social inequality, growing wealth gap and environmental deterioration.

They warned that China will encounter huge obstacles in its development if these problems are not properly handled. Some said the Chinese economy has already shown signs of stagnation due to insufficient investment on research and development.

These issues perplex not only China but also the rest of the world, said Flemming Christiansen, Professor at the Sociological Institute and Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He added that China is not able to solve some issues alone like climate change and poverty reduction, as it demands global coordination and efforts.

Foreign delegates said China’s current reform is much different from the past 35 years. The previous reform won the whole nation’s support as the reform and opening up policy was beneficial to everyone. Yet this new round of deepening reform might offend special interest groups. It is a challenge for China’s ruling Party to coordinate different interest groups and strike a balance between rapid development and social stability in the reform.

Many other countries have been focusing on China to see how its ruling Party performs and provides a reference, as the Party has demonstrated to the world its vitality and success in governing the world’s most populous country into a miracle within such a short period.

Over the past 35 years, the CPC has proved that its political system is valid and dynamic, and it will continue to be a guarantee for China’s future reform and development, said Martin Jacques, Senior Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge.

Delegates suggested that there should be wider participation of society in the reform, especially from the grass roots.

The people of all the countries that are undergoing reform, especially the newly emerging middle class, are pinning higher expectations on the ruling Party and government for improved social equality and equal access to services, they said.

Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Sydney in Australia, said China’s reform structure and process are complicated. Therefore "consultation is very important," Kerry said, as society, especially the middle class, is expecting more improved services.

Most participants agreed that China's reform, especially its new round of deepening reform, is an opportunity for the world.

China’s new round of reform will not only create a large number of jobs but also boost imports from other countries, said Zhang Yansheng, Secretary-General of Academic Committee of China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

According to World of Work Report 2014 released by International Labor Organization, in the future around 40 million more jobs will be created worldwide every year. Based on an estimate that the Chinese economy will continue to grow at 7 percent per year in the medium term, China will create 77 million jobs for the global labor market from 2014 to 2020. China’s “going global” strategy will also provide host countries with capital and industry transfers and the mixed ownership economy will create more space for foreign investment, Zhang added.

In the wake of China’s successful reform, the country is expected to play a more important role in global issues like constructing a new global financial order to benefit developing countries, as well as fighting against terrorism, climate change and corruption.

As for China’s complicated reform structure and process, China’s foreign policy is unclear to the outside world as well, delegates said. The country needs to consult with and to explain to the outside world its policies of peaceful development to avoid suspicions and misconceptions especially among its neighbors, the foreign experts said.

More exchanges and dialogue urged

Foreign participants said the Chinese ruling Party is becoming more and more open to the outside world, especially to outside criticism, as Chinese officials are beginning to take the initiative to communicate with the outside world, though sometimes they lack experience.

This dialogue showed the CPC’s confidence, sincerity and determination in its future reform and in dealing with the outside world.

A lack of transparency can increase misunderstanding. The CPC, to many people in the world, still remains mysterious. China should communicate more with the outside world, suggested the foreign guests at the Dialogue.

“There is no one in the world who can say he or she really knows China,” said Wang Shaoguang, a professor at the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who also attended the Dialogue. “The size of China’s territory, population and unbalanced development contribute to its complexity.”

Each country has its own characteristics and development modes, Wang said. “We should respect and learn from each other. As the late preeminent anthropologist Fei Xiaotong advocated: ‘The world would be a harmonious place if people appreciate their own beauty and that of others, and work together to create beauty in the world.’”

"The Party and the World Dialogue 2014" opening ceremony.

Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao meets with foreign scholars.

“Traditional Culture and China’s Reform” Salon is held in Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, in East China's Shandong Province.

“Traditional Culture and China’s Reform” Salon is held in Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius, in East China's Shandong Province.

The scholars visit different farmers’ households in groups to exchange views and have dinner.