CPC steers China toward prosperity

China is the second-largest economy of the world, however the country was not as advanced as it is now when the Communist Party of China (CPC) founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949. Since then, the CPC has been at the helm to steer the country toward its current prosperity.

The CPC set out on its historic journey, with only 50 members, from a boat in Zhejiang, an eastern coastal province of China, on July 23, 1921. Nearly three decades after its foundation, the CPC established the PRC.

The party has never forgotten its core goal of serving the people of China against all odds. Therefore, the CPC could build every inch of China according to its dream and up to the expectations of the Chinese people. If we look back at history, we can realize how fast and effectively the CPC has improved the fate of China and its people.

In the 1930s, China's GDP fell to 21.3 billion USD. The foreign investment totaled 3.5 billion USD, while capital investment dropped to only three billion USD. China witnessed a massive decline in agricultural prices at this time and the income of rural farmers fell to 57 percent in some areas.

In 1937, Japan invaded China and most of the prosperous east coast was occupied by the Japanese, who destroyed all that China had built up in the preceding decade. The country's textile industry was decimated and key exports were limited to glue, tea, silk, sugar cane, tobacco, cotton, corn, and peanuts.

Before the PRC was established in 1949, inflation was rampant, and the total currency in circulation was 120 billion times more than in 1936. The country had the 40th largest GDP in the world and struggled to provide its large population with enough food, clothes, and other basic needs.

The CPC also inherited 80 percent illiteracy rates among youth and adults aged from 12 to 40, and lacked educational facilities with minimal national curricular goals. However, the leaders and activists of the party had adequate courage, morale, and dreams to build China into a prosperous country.

The CPC has been leading China closer to its core dream for the last century. China has now been the world's second-largest economy since 2010 in nominal GDP, making prospects for becoming the largest in nominal GDP by 2028.

As of 2020, China has the largest number of billionaires and millionaires in the world. According to the 2019 Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse Group, China surpassed the U.S. in the wealth of the top ten percent of the world's population. China is also home to the largest companies in the Fortune Global 500, with 129 being headquartered in the country.

The moon exploration program of China is the epitome of its diversified and startling development. With one success after another in lunar exploration, China has successfully carried out three-phase lunar probe missions, with Chang'e 5 returning to earth with lunar samples on December 17, 2020. The country is upbeat about completing its next phase in the lunar exploration program by putting a man on the moon by 2030.

With a total of 11 missions, China is expected to complete the building of its space station, the first of its kind by a single country, this year, while a Chinese robot is conducting thorough research on Mars.

Since the adoption of its opening-up and reform policy in 1978, the country has lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty, which is over 70 percent of total global poverty reduction during this time. It, therefore, shook off the abject poverty yoke one decade before the deadline set by the UN for 2030.

During the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has emerged as an unparalleled friend of humanity. It was the first to pledge to make its vaccines a global public good and it has been honoring this commitment. The country has so far provided vaccine assistance to over 80 developing countries and exported doses worldwide.

Overcoming a raft of challenges, the CPC has now embarked on a journey to transform China into a modern socialist nation by 2049, the centenary of the foundation of the PRC.

Ershad Shikar is a journalist from Bangladesh based in Beijing.