China's path to modernization unique

A semi-marathon event kicks off in Hongze district, Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu province, Feb. 26, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Zhou Taisong)

Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population.

So far, only less than 30 countries have completed industrialization, whose total population is less than a billion. China's modernization, which includes 1.4 billion people, will more than double the population having entered industrialization.

The modernization of a country with such a huge population will completely rewrite the landscape of global modernization. It would be the most remarkable modernization in the history of human development.

China's super large market including 400 million middle-income earners remains an advantage of the country in achieving modernization and it will expand its middle-income population to more than 800 million in the next 15 years, so as to strive for constant development of its super large market.

The country's huge population provides sufficient human resources and a gigantic market, but also brings challenges. No matter how big the country's achievement is, when divided by 1.4 billion, it will become very small. On the other hand, any small problem will become big when multiplied by 1.4 billion.

Photo taken on Feb. 26, 2023 shows blireana blossoming in southwest China's Chongqing municipality. (People's Daily Online/Li Hongbo)

The difficulty and complexities are unprecedented, and the development path and promotion method must also have their own characteristics.

There is no set form of modernization or one-size-fits-all modernization standards in the world. To find a development path that suits a country's national conditions and complies to the evolution of human society is key to achieving modernization.

China's success in modernization fully proves that all countries are able to independently explore the path to modernization in light of their specific national conditions.

Today, Chinese experience, which begins from China's own circumstances, is attracting attention from more and more countries, setting an important example for developing countries in independently exploring the path to modernization in accordance with their own national conditions.

Photo taken on Feb. 26, 2023 shows oilseed rape fields in Tongdao Dong autonomous county, central China's Hunan province. (People's Daily Online/Li Shangyin)

Modernization, in essence, is the modernization of people. To achieve the modernization of a huge population, a country must follow a people-centered development philosophy.

It is the people who create history and the times. China must rely on its 1.4 billion people to achieve better economic and social development. The socialist modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) always puts people's interests in the first place. It is modernization for the people and by the people. It works to realize, safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people and to meet the ever-growing demand of the people for a better life.

In this country with 1.4 billion people, the efforts made by every individual Chinese, when combined together, will form an unstoppable force, and every solid step taken by them will advance the cause of the Party and the country.

Chinese modernization is the most difficult and the greatest as well. The promotion of modernization in the world's largest developing country is unquestionably a great undertaking in history. On the new journey, every leap in Chinese modernization will be influential for the world and make greater contributions to human progress. 

Photo taken on Feb. 26, 2023 shows yachts and sail boats at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, east China's Shandong province. (People's Daily Online/Tang Ke)