Photo taken on Friday shows a logo marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China during a gala staged at a cruise ship on the Seine River in Paris, France, on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

China's central government published a white paper policy document  outlining  China's meteoric economic development in the past 70 years, its growing contributions to world peace and growth, and the country's significant role in an evolving world where opportunities and challenges loom large.

Chinese and foreign scholars believe that the white paper, titled "China and the World in the New Era," could help the rest of the world build a comprehensive understanding of China's development and position, including how the nation has been growing under the leadership of Communist Party of China (CPC), how it shares its development results and experiences with the world.

The experts said China will continue to uphold multilateralism and join hands with other countries to tackle future challenges, such as improving multilateralism, poverty reduction, and global peace.

The white paper, released by the State Council Information Office on Friday, states that the country has undergone numerous great changes in the last 70 years under the leadership of CPC and managed to create an unprecedented development miracle in human history. 

The publication was released a few days ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"China has an impact on the world that is even more comprehensive, profound and long-lasting, and the world is paying even greater attention to China," it said.

China has managed to achieve something that developed nations took several hundred years to achieve, the white paper noted. The nation's GDP has grown from 67.9 billion yuan ($9.5 billion) in 1952 to 90 trillion yuan in 2018. 

China is now the world's second-largest economy, provides the material needs of its nearly 1.4 billion people, and achieves moderate all-round prosperity.

Over the past 70 years, China's success boils down to the leadership of the CPC, the white paper pointed out. Without centralized, unified and firm leadership, China would have tended towards division and disintegration and caused widespread chaos beyond its own borders, it noted. China's astonishing development in the past 70 years, the white paper emphasized, has gained wide international recognition. 

China safeguards world peace through real actions: White Paper

 Strong leadership

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former French prime minister, described China's changes in the past several decades as "incredible and impressive" in an interview with the Global Times on Friday.

"In the last 70 years, China has emerged as a successful nation in overcoming so many challenges, obstacles and difficulties to pull a country with more than 1.3 billion people from a relatively backward economy into a track of rapid development and modernization," Muhammad Zamir Assadi, a journalist from Independent News Pakistan, told the Global Times on Saturday. 

Assadi attributed the remarkable development to the "vision of CPC," whose leadership has maintained a balance between reform and stability in the process of getting prosperity for its citizens, which also led a successful campaign to eradicate poverty and corruption.

The white paper was issued at a time when the global society is closely watching and adjusting their views on how China's relations with the world have evolved along with its rise. 

The country's development is an opportunity for the world rather than a threat or challenge, the paper stressed. It reiterated that China will not follow the path of "power leading to hegemony," while vowing that the nation will "always be the builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and defender of global peace."

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, said that the white paper, which explains China's relationship with a changing world, will help China make more friends. 

"For nations which have friendly relations with China, the paper will reaffirm that China has made a significant contribution to the world. This will boost their confidence and make them more resolute in developing ever closer ties with China," Li noted.

Fabio Massimo Parenti, a professor at the International Institute Lorenzo de' Medici, Florence, said that a major takeaway from China's rise lies in its "peaceful development" and "defending a higher level of independence."

China will never "trade away" its core interests and not allow its security and sovereignty to be compromised, the white paper said. It also noted that the US is unable to halt China's development and maintain its strength by attempting to contain and suppress other countries.

An opportunity for the world

China has become the major stabilizer and driving force of world economic growth, the paper said. With the nation's firm commitment to reform and opening-up, China is sharing "Chinese dividends" with the world and creating more opportunities. 

"In the past, China was focused on trade ties with developed nations and manufacturing the goods for them. As the economy transitions to services and a consumer driven market, stronger ties are being forged with developing nations and neighboring countries as China's wealth and prosperity create economic opportunities in these markets," James Macdonald, Senior Director and Head of Savills China Research, told the Global Times on Friday.

What's more important is a unique development path with Chinese characteristics that aims at win-win cooperation, which is different from the paths that many Western economies have adopted.

Michele Geraci, the undersecretary in the Italian economic development ministry, said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) enables Chinese and Italian companies to form partnerships not only in Italy but also in third markets along the BRI routes. 

Assadi said China's formula for success in these 70 years has emerged as a doable practice for other developing countries, including Pakistan. "Developing countries may take reference of how China utilized its resources and potential of people, which have really changed people's lives," he said.

As the world confronts new challenges, such as rising protectionism and power politics that threaten global stability, observers believe that China, as a responsible economic power, could play a bigger role in uniting other nations to reshape the world order and defend the system of multilateralism. 

"The world needs an open China that participates in the global balance of this planet…[China and France] are obliged to work together," Raffarin said.