Robert Walker, Professor Emeritus and Emeritus Fellow of Green Templeton College at University of Oxford and a professor at Jingshi Academy, Beijing Normal University Photo: Courtesy of Robert Walker

Editor's Note:

"A correct understanding of governance performance requires us to proceed from reality, respect objective laws, and through sound decision-making and hard work, create achievements that withstand the test of practice and history, truly benefit the people, and earn public recognition," President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed at the opening of a study session for principal officials at the provincial and ministerial levels in January 2026.

At this crucial juncture marking the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), President Xi has issued a call to action, encouraging officials at all levels to further establish and practice a correct understanding of governance performance, and to strive to achieve new accomplishments worthy of the time.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi has made a series of remarks on the important issue of establishing and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance on various occasions. In the article "Continue the Great Historic Struggle" included in Volume III of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, President Xi stressed that CPC Central Committee members and principal officials at the provincial and ministerial levels "must develop a stronger sense of responsibility, adopt a correct view of their achievements, seek truth, and be down to earth. They should work tenaciously to be truly responsible to history and the people."

An article by President Xi on establishing and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance, which was published in the Qiushi Journal on April 1, stressed that the view on governance performance is a fundamental issue. The article calls for efforts to proceed from reality, act in accordance with the laws, and deliver results that can stand the test of practice and history, truly benefit the people, and earn public recognition through sound decision-making and solid work.

In the 23rd installment of the special series "Decoding the Book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," the Global Times, along with the People's Daily Overseas Edition, continues to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to explore the profound ideological essence, practical value, and global significance of establishing and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance.

In the 23rd article of the "Readers' Reflections" column, Global Times (GT) talked to Robert Walker (Walker), Professor Emeritus and Emeritus Fellow of Green Templeton College at University of Oxford and a professor at Jingshi Academy, Beijing Normal University, to get his insight on the inspiration and significance of the CPC establishing and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance.


GT: Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a series of remarks on the important issue of establishing and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance on various occasions. In the article "Continue the Great Historic Struggle" included in Volume III of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, President Xi stressed that CPC Central Committee members and principal officials "must develop a stronger sense of responsibility, adopt a correct view of their achievements, seek truth, and be down to earth. They should work tenaciously to be truly responsible to history and the people." How do you understand the core essence of "establishing and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance"?

Walker: I guess that a correct understanding of governance performance by the CPC would be that it is objective and evidence-based. It listens attentively to the views and aspirations of the people, as captured - domestically - through the system of whole process people's democracy. Legislation passed by the National People's Congress is not imposed on the people but comes from the people through extensive processes of consultation.

The understanding of the governance performance is based on the principle of seeking truth from facts and seeking to be the best possible at the time. It is not immutable. It will develop in response to changing circumstances informed by evidence. It will acknowledge errors made. This permits long-term strategic planning with short-term contingencies being accommodated within, rather than disrupting, long-term goals.

China's aspiration is that its domestic governance experience can be transformed into global public goods through a process of mutual exchange and learning. For example, the four global initiatives proposed by China all speak to partnership based on difference, diversity, national sovereignty, mutual respect and communality.

GT: At a study session for principal officials at the provincial and ministerial levels in January 2026, President Xi stressed, "A correct understanding of governance performance requires us to proceed from reality, respect objective laws, and through sound decision-making and hard work, create achievements that withstand the test of practice and history, truly benefit the people, and earn public recognition." This year marks the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), and the CPC emphasizes establishing and practicing the correct "understanding of governance performance." How do you think this will affect China's development?

Walker: As President Xi has emphasized, "The issues of concern to the people, be they big or small, should be handled with utmost care and attention. We must start with addressing issues of public concern, start with delivering the outcomes that satisfy public needs, and work without rest to lead our people in pursuing a better life."

This follows from objective and evidence-based governance with clear objectives that reflect people's concerns, continuous monitoring of performance and transparency such that policymakers and the people, especially policy users, are empowered to identify the potential for improvement.

2026 is the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30). China's system of five-year plans maps out the future and charts the path ahead. Misunderstood by many Westerners as diktats, the plans are guidelines that result from extensive consultation spanning two to three years. The 15th Five-Year Plan combines continuity with change.

Change stems from necessity and opportunity. The necessity is the increasingly unstable world in which military and economic power is being used extralegally to destroy perceived rivals. Hence, China must become more self-sufficient, both technologically and economically. The opportunity arises from the rewards of China's strategic investment in the technologies of the future: quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications. Likewise, plans to incentivize green consumption and low-carbon lifestyles exploit China's global lead in these technologies.

Continuity is evident in "the fundamental purpose" of "the focus on economic development", namely meeting "people's growing needs for a better life." With absolute poverty eliminated, the 15th Five-Year Plan seeks not only to prevent people returning to poverty but to advance socioeconomically with higher wages and more secure employment, further investment in human capital, enhanced social and health security benefits, and over 12 million new urban jobs to be created in 2026 alone.

The lifeblood of a five-year plan lies in earnest implementation. The plan will be implemented and shaped by millions of public officials held personally responsible for the success of policies to which they are assigned. Given that China typically accounts for 30 percent of global growth, its continued success will contribute to the world's prosperity.

GT: The understanding of governance performance is closely linked to the philosophy of development. A particular understanding of governance performance inevitably leads to a corresponding philosophy of development, and vice versa. Through "correct understanding of governance performance," what development concepts and characteristics of China can be observed? As "China's experience" increasingly translates into "global public goods," how do you perceive the global significance and impact of this concept?

Walker: China offers the world a perhaps unique approach to governance performance, which embodies governance philosophies such as seeking truth, and being down-to-earth, putting people in the first place, and long-term plan. It has strengthened the international community's confidence in China's role.

In 1986, the United Nation's issued a Declaration of the Right to Development.  One hundred and forty-six countries voted in favor; the US alone voted against while eight countries - six European plus Israel and Japan - abstained. Despite repeated attempts, this declaration has never been converted into law as an international convention because it has been opposed by already developed countries. Instead, global economic governance institutions have continued to concentrate the rewards of economic growth on the developed world.  Countries in the Global South have lacked adequate direct foreign capital investment and been denied access to international markets through discriminatory trading practices and sanctions.

In stark contrast, while visiting Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013, President Xi proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative aims to supply the necessary investment in infrastructure, education, construction and communications that can make real a right to development.

While originally envisaged as a modern silk road to enhance trade, connectivity and economic growth in east and central Asia, more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have now signed cooperation documents with China by the end of 2025. The BRI has now become a multi-level, multi-dimensional cooperation mechanism that connects countries at different development stages, becoming the largest structural investment in history and a real gamechanger in demonstrating how development can by fostered through partnership.

GT: The value of governance performance lies in material achievements. The "correct understanding of governance performance" emphasizes valuing hard work, seeking actual results, and delivering tangible achievements. 2026 marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. This year's Government Work Report and the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan reveal a clear problem-oriented approach and a pragmatic spirit. Balancing what is necessary with what is possible, the documents propose maintaining GDP growth within a reasonable range, with specific targets to be set on an annual basis. They establish five binding indicators for green and low-carbon development and emphasize the close integration of improving people's well-being with stimulating consumption, as well as combining investment in physical assets with investment in human capital. In this context, how you evaluate China's role in the global economy? 

Walker: I have already emphasized China's important contribution to the global political economy noting the achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative and the potential of the Global Development and Global Governance Initiatives. China's influence on political economy derives from its successful economy. Throughout the 2021-25 period, China contributed around 30 percent annually to global economic growth. This success stems from its ability to deliver on long-term plans and investment, consensus having been achieved through wide consultation before agreeing national plans.

The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) has already been described. In a world held hostage by reduced supplies to hydrocarbons, the focus on green development built around climate-related and clean energy technologies makes China an attractive economic partner.

While China is seeking greater self-sufficiency, it is also open to inward investment. The Belt and Road Initiative shows that partnerships can be successfully built even while embracing countries from different continents, with different cultures and different levels of development.

With the liberal rule-based world order now revealed to be a system that does little more than perpetuate the dominance of the developed world, there is a desperate need for a different approach. China offers a perspective on development and global governance that is based on equal sovereignty, multilateralism, international law and which offers the prospect of innovation-driven development, harmony between human and nature, and people-centered government with no country or people left behind. These, then, are the principles that, for example, underpin China's four major global initiatives and which justify confidence in China's role in the global economy.