Promote people-first image to the world

With both Chinese and English subtitles, the three-minute-long video "The CPC is on the Way Together with You", which was shot in 2013 and first released at the beginning of last year, has become popular again since People's Daily posted it on its official WeChat account on Sunday.

With picturesque rivers and villages south of the Yangtze River, the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, working farmers, high-speed trains, skyscrapers, as well as fuming chimneys, rubbish disposal stations, traffic jams and dense crowds, the video reveals a full picture of China; from some symbolic cultural architects the country has inherited from ancient times, to its contemporary economic and scientific development fruits as well as social problems that have emerged during its modernization drive.

Despite the country's widely recognized economic and social progress over the past decades, the video does not choose to promote just China's achievements to the outside world. It also faces up to the problems that have arisen in the process of the country's development, such as the widening wealth gap, traffic and environmental problems. Such an objective portrayal of China and its current circumstances shows the ruling Party's down-to-earth spirit. Any exaggeration of one side of the coin while ignoring the other side would inevitably have created a distorted view of China.

More importantly, the short video is free from political jargon or tedious terms; it refrains from strategic or hollow political preaching that is not closely related to the daily lives of ordinary people. Instead, it centers on promoting what grassroots people from all walks of life aspire to have. "I want a good harvest next year. I want to start a diner. I want a bigger pension. I want a pretty wife. I want bluer skies and cleaner water. I want a world free of wars." All these concrete but different dreams constitute the essence of the Chinese Dream.

Such a people-first and jargon-free publicity approach is not only subject to the spotlight of international publicity, but also testifies that the ruling Party has driven home the perception that under its leadership the country is striving to realize everyone's dream. More publicity videos like this will help the world better understand the key role of the Party in China's progress.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily.