A grand reception celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the evening of September 30, 2024. President Xi Jinping attended the reception and delivered an important speech. He noted that for the past 75 years since the founding of the PRC, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has united people of all ethnic groups and led them to struggle relentlessly, creating the twin miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability. China has undergone tremendous changes, and its national rejuvenation is now on an irreversible historical course. On the journey ahead in the new era, the Chinese people will score more remarkable achievements and make greater contributions to the noble cause of peace and development for humanity.
In the critical period of comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese path to modernization, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee was held in Beijing in July 2024. It emphasized that "the Chinese path to modernization is one that follows a course of peaceful development," and its significance extends globally. From the perspective of the evolving political and economic landscape, the Chinese path to modernization is both a Chinese and an international pursuit. The type of modernization China pursues is not one that benefits China alone, but a consistent contribution of Chinese wisdom, solutions, and strength to the global process of modernization and to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
In a nutshell, the Chinese path to modernization has created "a real miracle in the history of human development" in practice, and, moreover, has shattered the long-held notion that "modernization means Westernization." It has opened up a new path towards a better future for the vast number of developing countries.
Valuable reference for developing countries' modernization
Broadly speaking, the traditional model of modernization in a country can be divided into two basic types: endogenous and exogenous.
The Endogenous model, mainly represented by Western countries, developed during the Age of Exploration and through the first two industrial revolutions. These nations expanded into global markets driven by their own capitalist development needs, accumulating wealth through colonial plunder and foreign wars, eventually transitioning into modernized societies. This has allowed them to maintain a dominant position in the global political and economic landscape.
The exogenous model applies to many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which were drawn into the global capitalist system as colonies of imperialist powers.