The 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concludes its fourth plenary session in Beijing on Thursday with the release of a communiqué. Photo: Xinhua

The 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded its fourth plenary session in Beijing on Thursday with the release of a communiqué, which comprehensively covered different issues and fields, while China experts said that China has the confidence to overcome severe challenges from inside and outside by improving the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made an important speech at the session presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. 

The plenary session heard and discussed a work report delivered by Xi, who was entrusted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, according to the communiqué.

The session reviewed and adopted the CPC Central Committee's decision on some major issues concerning how to uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance. Xi explained the draft document to the plenary session, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Complicated situation

"The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a scientific system developed by the Party and the people through their long-term practices and explorations," the communiqué read.

Xin Ming, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times Thursday that China's economic achievements need to be maintained by "the system" and "in our historic journey of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we will engage with more challenges, that the challenges will get tougher and tougher, so that's why we need a scientific system to guarantee our success."

The session fully affirmed the work of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee since the third plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, acknowledging its endeavors that led to major achievements in various causes of the Party and the country despite complicated situations marked by increasing risks and challenges at home and abroad, the document read.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations, said: "The Party's judgment of the current complicated situation is very accurate and objective. Protectionism, unilateralism and hegemony are threatening globalization and the world order that China and other members of the international community rely on, and the security challenges also exist not only in regions surrounding China but also along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative."

Li told the Global Times on Thursday that internally, China was conducting its own economic transition, deepening reforms and fighting an anti-poverty campaign which would bring many necessary and deep adjustments to the system.

"Many forces and their interests will be affected," Li noted.

Overcoming those challenges is the key for the Party and China to improve the system and modernize governance, Li said.

All the work and activities of China's national governance are carried out in accordance with the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, said the communiqué.

The communiqué notes that the country's system and capacity for governance are a crystallization of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its enforcement capability.

The communiqué said, as proven by practice, the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and China's system for governance are systems of strong vitality and huge strength.

National security 

Regarding the principle of "one country, two systems," the communiqué stated that governance over Hong Kong and Macao must be based on the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law… and the legal system and law-enforcement mechanism in the special administrative regions (SARs) for safeguarding national security should be established and improved.

Zhi Zhenfeng, a legal expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times: "Due to the months-long turmoil in Hong Kong this year which has already damaged the city's stability and economy, millions of people of the city have been impacted and even harmed. We can see some serious problems need to be fixed."

When Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, Zhi noted, "we thought apart from diplomacy and national defense, other issues should be under the SAR government, and to some extent we underestimated national security, and that's why the relevant law, Article 23 of the Basic Law, still didn't pass today, which makes foreign forces damage China's national security in Hong Kong easily."

Establishing and improving the legal system and law-enforcement mechanism to better safeguard national security was crucial for China to keep the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong and Macao SARs, Chinese mainland experts said.

They also suggested that passing Article 23, which faced obstacles in Hong Kong, was not the only choice.

China could also realize this by other measures including increasing law-enforcement and providing a legal basis through legislative explanation by the National People's Congress, the experts suggested.

Global governance 

On diplomacy, the document read,  "Adhering to the unity of independence and self-reliance and opening up to the rest of the world, taking an active part in global governance and continuing to make contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity." 

Li said that, in fact, China's system and capacity for governance domestically are mutually promoted with its participation and capability of global governance.

"China has never participated in global governance so broadly and deeply like today. The more we cooperate with other countries and international organizations, the more chances we have to push forward our internal reform," Li said.

Successful internal development and governance will instill more confidence in China not to just participate in but also to contribute to the reform of global governance, Chinese experts said.

The West has shown its weakness and faults in the previous globalization, they noted, so China's successful modernization experience could provide an alternative or even a new path for the rest of the world to keep pushing economic globalization that benefits more members of the international community.


Newspaper headline: CPC plenary session held