China and world, together for shared dreams in new year

The beginning of a new year always carries dreams for hope and renewal. After a tormenting 2020, there perhaps is no aspiration more commonly harbored and more widely shared than ending the chaos and pain, returning to normal and embracing some progress in 2021.

The sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus caught the entire world off guard last year, and in numerous ways disrupted and transformed the lives of countless people worldwide. As clock is ticking, hundreds of thousands more are being infected, and thousands of souls are lost every single day around the world.

The once-in-a-century pandemic, however, is in no way the whole picture of the misfortunes grilling the human race. Destructions of wars and conflicts, the agony of poverty and hunger, and the ruthlessness of natural disasters are also eating away the possibility for people almost everywhere to realize their dreams.

Nevertheless, the human history, since ancient times, has been a heroic and continuous story of exploring fresh frontiers, overcoming adversities and realizing new dreams.

If the pandemic teaches human beings any lesson, it is that they share a common future regardless of race, religion or nationality. Their dreams, big or small, are also connected as peace, development and the desire for a better life remain a universal aspiration.

The Chinese people have been a people who cherish daring dreams for millenniums. Over the past nearly two centuries, the Chinese people have persevered in rejuvenating the nation despite external aggressions and domestic setbacks. Today, China is closer than ever to its ambitious goal of realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

While the past year posed some formidable challenges to China, the Chinese people have not only pulled through, but also made notable social and economic progress. It has effectively contained the outbreak, returned its economy back to positive growth, eradicated extreme poverty in rural areas, and reached out for the stars in its bid to roam the Moon and Mars.

The new year marks the start of China's 14th Five-Year Plan and the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China, as the country embarks on a new journey to build a modern socialist country in an all-round way. It will also be a new starting point of Beijing's fresh endeavor to build the country into a better place for its people, and become a stronger force for global peace and stability.

While chasing its dreams, China has blazed a unique development path in accordance with its own needs and conditions. That provides an important inspiration for dreamers all around the world: modernization does not necessarily mean Westernization, and it is possible for every country and people to find and follow its own path of development.

The past year also offered a crucial revelation: the day has definitely gone when one country fends for itself and pursues selfish interests without caring about the stakes of others. In this age of expanding global interconnection and interdependence, countries across the globe must work together as closely as possible when it comes to beating the raging pandemic, rescuing the bleeding world economy and mitigating the worsening climate change.

To battle the deadly coronavirus, the international community has been building partnerships and following esprit de corps by aiding each other with much-needed medical materials and pooling efforts in vaccine research and development.

To tackle global economic hardships and build a more open world economy, the Group of 20 has pledged a coordinated approach to stimulate growth and help other countries with their debt problems; 15 countries have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest free trade pact by far; China and the European Union have concluded their negotiations on the bilateral investment treaty as scheduled, paving the way to finally sealing the deal.

People across the world should make joint efforts to drive away the dark clouds of the COVID-19 pandemic at an early date and build the planet Earth into a better home for all humanity, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday when delivering a New Year speech to ring in 2021 in Beijing.

There is no great historical evil without a compensating historical progress, Friedrich Engels once said. While the past year might be riddled with sufferings and pain, an age of awakening for the human race has dawned. The new year will be no less challenging. Yet as long as the world community can stick together in the face of those tests, human possibilities will always be limitless.