Zhong Sheng

Last October, a three-episode documentary, "China: Time of Xi", which introduces Chinese President Xi Jinping's ideas and visions on national governance, had its debut on the Discovery Channel. The historic changes took place in China in recent years displayed in the documentary have made its US and UK producers feel deeply that the spiritual force pushing China forward, and that the primary source of power behind these changes is Xi's ideas on national governance.

Actions can generate more power under the guidance of thoughts. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held last October approved an amendment to the Party Constitution which enshrines Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, elevating the Thought into the Party's guidance to action. On March 11, 2018, the Thought was written into the country's Constitution after the amendment was adopted at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress with an overwhelming majority. The inclusion of Xi's Thought into the country's fundamental law ensures a high-level unity between the will of the Party as well as the aspirations of the people. The two historic moments have made the world witness how the brilliant thought guides China to march toward more progress.

Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out that "Karl Marx's era had its language, and we have our own languages in our era." The thinking has reflected a Marxist's pursuit to move with the times. China is standing at a new historic juncture of development as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. Against such background, the Party's theory and the Constitution, the fundamental law for state governance, are both evolving with the times.

There is nothing so practical as a good theory, a Western proverb goes. After the 19th CPC National Congress, more observers in the world hope to decode China's success stories from the perspective of the guiding thoughts. It has become a global research topic why China is creating one development miracle after another after 40 years of rapid development, and what's the secret.

One finds that the key to understanding China's success is to know that the CPC and the people are marching toward the same goal. An opinion poll conducted by French market research firm Ipsos last year showed that 92 percent of Chinese respondents believe their country is developing along the right track. The figure has manifested the social cohesion in China. Having nearly 90 million Party members, how will China, a country of over 1.3 billion people, unite the whole country to accomplish its goals? As the representation of the will of both the Party and the people, the Constitution plays a great role. The inclusion of Xi's Thought into the Constitution will pool great endeavors to revitalize the Chinese nation and make this second largest economy in the world achieve more leapfrog development.

The world is in urgent need of the guidance of right thought. In a world of unprecedented changes, to open up or to isolate, to cooperate for win-win results or to choose zero-sum competition, to let populism prevail or to provide the public with more sense of fulfillment by improving governance, are choices the Western countries have to face in managing both domestic and foreign affairs, at the key crossroads. Forbes magazine said on March 11 that "Our reasoning is trapped in the 20th Century in a 21st Century world", commenting on the trade conflicts the US initiated against other countries. It is due to the lack of a united thought and the ability to let the will of the government and the people embrace each other, the Western leaders have difficulty in uniting the people and leading their countries to walk out of the plight of populism, protectionism and isolationism.

China is a country which creates thoughts and is adept at putting thoughts into practice. The great achievements made in the 40 years of development are a result of freeing the mind. Over the past 40 years, every step China took was under the guidance of the theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics. After the Constitution came into force in 1982, it has elevated the great achievements and precious experiences the Party and the people accumulated into the fundamental law. Establishing the Party's guiding thought as the national guideline is the important wisdom of the national governance under the leadership of the CPC. "The CPC is devoted to sharing its thoughts and opinions in national governance with its Party members and its people," said Martin Jacques, senior fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Cambridge University.

The inclusion of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the Constitution is of unprecedented significance based on China's current conditions and the global reality. The theoretical innovation of the CPC has injected positive energy to the country and the world at large.