H. E. Mr. Cheng Jingye, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Commonwealth of Australia

29 June 2021, Canberra

The day after tomorrow, the Communist Party of China (CPC) will celebrate its centenary. This is a major event for both China and the Chinese people.

The 100-year history of the CPC has witnessed tremendous transformations of the Chinese nation from standing up, growing rich to becoming strong.

It has witnessed the blazing of socialism with Chinese characteristics, a right path for China to prosperity and strength.

It has witnessed an ancient and rejuvenated China standing tall in the east of the world!

Under the leadership of the CPC, China has achieved national independence.

After 1840, China suffered tremendously from aggression and bullying by foreign powers. The national crisis was unprecedentedly grave.

In order to save the country, many Chinese with lofty ideals carried out strenuous struggles and various explorations. But all their attempts ended up in failure.

In 1921, the CPC came into being, bringing hope and light to the nation. After 28 years of arduous endeavours, the CPC led the Chinese people to found a new China in 1949.

The Chinese people have since regained control of their own destiny, and the Chinese nation has opened a new chapter of development and progress.

Under the leadership of the CPC, China has created a miracle of economic and social development, with the achievement of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

In just a few decades, China has significantly increased its comprehensive national strength, and emerged as the world's second largest economy.

In 2020, China's GDP exceeded 100 trillion RMB, accounting for about 17% of the world economy. China's GDP per capita has exceeded 10 thousand US dollars for the past two consecutive years.

China's middle-income population has exceeded 400 million. China has established the world's largest social security system, and the average life expectancy has increased from 35 to 77.3 years.

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, 850 million people in China have been lifted out of poverty. Absolute poverty was eliminated last year. The Chinese people's sense of gain, happiness and security has significantly increased.

Under the leadership of the CPC, the relationship between China and the world has undergone unprecedented changes.

China is deeply integrated into global development, and has contributed more than 30% annually to world growth for more than 10 consecutive years.

The public goods provided by China are increasing unabated, with the Belt and Road Initiative being the world's largest platform for international cooperation.

China has provided material assistance to more than 150 countries and 13 international organizations to help combat COVID-19, and has supplied more than 300 million doses of vaccine throughout the world.

China is also taking up more responsibilities for world peace. It is the second largest contributor to the United Nations regular budget, and the largest contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Over the past century, the CPC has grown from a small and weak party of only 50 plus members, to a large and strong party of over 91 million members.

It is now the world's largest political party that has long been in power of a large country with over 1.4 billion population.

The 100-year history of the CPC has fostered seismic changes in China. All these accomplishments are by no means accidental.

It is a party guided by advanced theory. The CPC has creatively adapted Marxism to the Chinese context, and found the right path for the country's social revolution and modernization.

It is a people-centered party. The CPC upholds the philosophy that it works for the people and relies on the people. It has always taken the desire of the people for a better life as its mission. This is how CPC enjoys whole-hearted trust and support from the people across the country.

It is a party that embraces persistent self-reform. The CPC has a strong resilience. It has the courage and ability to face up its own mistakes. It is good at learning from experience and correcting mistakes in time. By constantly reforming and improving itself, the Party has maintained energetic and vigorous.

The century-long history has proved that the leadership of the CPC is the choice made by history and the people, and remains the fundamental guarantee for China's sustained prosperity and stability.

At present, China stands at a new historical starting point. It is marching towards the goal of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.

As the first step, which is to basically complete modernization by 2035, China's GDP per capita is expected to reach the level of a moderately developed country, with more substantive progress in achieving common prosperity for all.

By the middle of this century, when the People's Republic celebrates its 100th anniversary, China will be built into a great modern socialist country.

We will adhere to the leadership of the CPC, and unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

We will further implement the new development philosophy, and speedily foster a new development pattern to promote high-quality development.

We will focus on addressing unbalanced and insufficient development, step up rural revitalization and new-type urbanization, and continuously improve people's living standards. We will promote green transformation, and build a beautiful China.

We will stay committed to the path of peaceful development, practice true multilateralism, uphold the UN-centered international system and the international law based order.

We will pursue higher-level opening-up and promote common development. We are ready to join hands with other countries to build a community of shared future for mankind. China's sustained development and prosperity will provide more opportunities for the world.

The centenary only ushers in the prime of life. We have full confidence that under the strong leadership of the CPC, China will realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.