Insights into Xi's thoughts on governance for the new era

I am very pleased to come to London to host together with all of you the launch ceremony for the multilingual versions of the second volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, during the London Books Fair, the most important spring pageant of the global publication industry. On behalf of the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China, I warmly welcome the friends who have come here to attend the launch event and express my heartfelt thanks to various circles who have made great efforts for the preparatory work of the event. I would like to extend my particular thanks to Prince Andrew, Duke of York, an old friend of the Chinese people, for your attendance at today's launch event given your tight schedule.

The second volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China has been jointly compiled by China's State Council Information Office and the China International Publishing Group, containing 99 speeches, talks, instructions or congratulatory messages made by President Xi Jinping from August 18, 2014, to Sept 29, 2017, as well as 29 photographs from this time. In September 2014, the first volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China was published, which received wide attention and praise from both Chinese and foreign readers. The first and second volumes of the book, which are a holistic entirety, constitute the main content and the basic structure of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

To my knowledge, quite a few foreign friends are studying Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, in an effort to understand Xi's thought and find clues on where the thought, which has already been written into China's Constitution and the Constitution of the Communist Party of China, will lead the world's most populous nation. Here I want to tell you that all the CPC has done, as President Xi has promised, is to seek happiness for the people, seek national rejuvenation, and seek greater harmony for the world. With such kind of knowledge and perception, we can acquire the key code to the ideological treasure house of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. The charm of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

First, it is a thought rooted in fertile humanistic soil. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has a profound humanistic and historical background. Xi Jinping: The Governance of China moves people most because it is full of profound humanistic feelings and historical and cultural gems. President Xi is good at absorbing ideological wisdom on State governance from China's traditional culture and philosophies such as "man is an integral part of nature", "harmony but not sameness", "governing a big country is like cooking a delicious fish". Being good at grasping the development direction of contemporary China from the Chinese nation's pursuit of "peace", "amity" and "harmony", President Xi has drawn references from other world civilizations, combined the Party's missions with the country's future and the nation's fate, and made integrated analyses of the country's past, present and future. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand where today's China under the leadership of President Xi came from and where it will go tomorrow after one has read Xi Jinping: The Governance of China.

Second, it is a thought built on the people-centric stance. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era upholds people's dominant status, respects people's innovative spirit, and consistently speaks for the people. The simplest emotional impression harbored in Xi Jinping: The Governance of China is the warm feelings for all people. We can see throughout the book phases and sentences that warm people's hearts such as "we should create for ordinary people a better life", "we should take the path of common prosperity and no single person should be left behind on our road to building a well-off society", and "people's pursuit of a better life is the goal of our struggle", which demonstrate the fundamental value orientation of the CPC's governance of China. Under such kind of ideological guidance, a large number of measures benefiting people have been taken since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in late 2012, lifting more than 60 million impoverished people out of poverty, and annually creating more than 13 million new urban jobs. The income of urban and rural residents has grown faster than that of the country's economic growth over the past years, and people's sense of gain, happiness and security has improved greatly. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why President Xi has become a people's leader sincerely supported by people if one understands Xi Jinping: The Governance of China after reading it.

Third, it is a thought that takes aim at the future of humankind. The current world is at a crossroads of its development, and many countries are now at a loss over such governance issues as "what is wrong with the world" and "where is the world going". President Xi, with a broad field of vision and strategic thinking as a great statesman, has put forward a series of new concepts concerning the future and fate of mankind in a clear-cut manner, and contributed Chinese solutions to addressing the issues facing mankind and to building a beautiful world. He has presented to the rest of the world Chinese proposals on building a new type of international relations and constructing a community of shared future for mankind, and expounded on China's perspectives on security, development, interests, globalization and global governance. People all over the world live under the same blue sky and own the same homeland and thus they should live like the members of the same family. We should have an open mind and understand each other. We should seek common ground while shelving our differences and work together to build a community of shared future for the mankind. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why President Xi as a leader of a big country harbors sagacious thinking and unique views on the future development of mankind if one understands Xi Jinping: The Governance of China after reading it.