It is the second time for Ahcene Boukhelfa to visit the Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing, east China's Zhejiang Province, to take a look at the red boat, one of the most iconic sites to record the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

"It's like visiting an old friend," the Algerian Ambassador to China said. But his visit on June 9 had special meaning as it came ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC.

In July 1921, 13 Chinese communists nationwide gathered in a French concession building at 76 Xingye Road in Shanghai to hold what would be CPC's first National Congress before it was interrupted by police.

The congress was forced to move to a small red tourist boat, where the founding of the CPC was announced. It was the starting point of the Party's century-long journey and also the beginning of great changes for China and its people. Since then, the Party has managed to lead a vulnerable country toward the world's center stage.

Simon Pierre Adovelande, Benin's Ambassador to China, regards the red boat a seed that people put on ground 100 years ago and that has produced 90 million grains now.

The CPC had just 58 members when it was founded in 1921. Today, it has grown into the world's largest ruling party, with a membership of more than 90 million.

"It shows the boldness of the people who founded the CPC. It was a challenging time, and hosting the congress on a boat showed the determination of those people," Adovelande told ChinAfrica.

As the core of China's leadership, the Party committed to the task of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation.

China has developed from an impoverished country to the second-largest economy with a GDP exceeding 100 trillion yuan ($15.23 trillion) in 2020. The Chinese nation has stood up, grown rich and is becoming strong.

An arduous journey

The revolution in China was full of twists and turns, but all the time the CPC was learning and finding a way forward, forging unity, and inspiring the energy and the creativity of the Chinese people.

The CPC was founded by revolutionaries including Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu. It led armed struggles against local warlords, foreign powers and, ultimately, the Kuomintang (KMT) government.

Mao Zedong took up a leadership role within the Party during the Long March (1934-36), a strategic relocation of the CPC forces from southern China to its new headquarters in the country's northwest.

The CPC extended its base and influence during WWII by fighting off the Japanese invaders, and, by 1949, had comprehensively defeated the KMT forces to found the People's Republic of China (PRC).

After the founding of the PRC in 1949, the CPC became the ruling party leading the country in its political life and social activities. Over the following 30 years, the CPC rebuilt China and its economy, laying a foundation for the country's modernization.

In the end of 1970s, under Deng Xiaoping's guidance, the reform and opening-up policy was adopted by the CPC, laying the foundations for four decades of fast economic and social development. China has since adhered to the principle of "socialism with Chinese characteristics." With the hard work of the CPC, visible achievements in all sectors of social and economic development have been witnessed.

The following generation of leaders, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, persevered on Deng's path, strengthening the economy and laying the foundations for the continuous improvement of the Chinese people's well-being.

The successes resulting from China's rapid growth have brought new problems, which are currently being addressed by the new generation of leadership with Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, at the core.

To deal with the challenges caused by fast economic development, the Party has deepened reforms. One of the ground-breaking reforms is the redefinition of the relationship between the state and the market. Also, the Party put a priority on ending poverty. Party officials are asked to stay true to the mission and go to the grassroots to research the root reasons of poverty. In addition, the Party has waged a ruthless war on corruption, punishing more than a million corrupt officials at all levels.

Today, to realize the goal of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the Party says reforms will continue, as China is on its way to a well-off society.

A disciplined vanguard

In the past century, the CPC has grown steadily. Citizens of all walks of life are eligible to join the Party, regardless of their socio-economic status, ethnic background, or gender.

As of the end of 2019, the Party had more than 91.91 million members, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. The number of primary-level Party organizations stood at over 4.68 million. The primary-level Party organizations included 249,000 primary-level Party committees, the department said.

Of the over 90 million Party members, more than one-third were born in the 1980s and 1990s, and nearly half of the members have received college education. Young people's joining the Party can guarantee the CPC's capability for innovation.

Jia Zhijie, a former student Party branch chief with the South China University of Technology, told ChinAfrica that he became a CPC member because it was a way to realize individual value and serve the society, and nearly a half of his classmates have also applied for Party membership.

The CPC members embrace the spirit of altruism, and they are required by the Party to set a good example for others. The Party also requires its members to be self-disciplined. The Party consistently conducts self-examination, promptly solves internal problems and strictly punishes corrupt members.

Transformation of the country

The CPC has made brilliant achievements that were hard to attain in history, and will create new miracles in the time to come, George Vassiliou, former President of Cyprus, said when commenting on CPC's feats.

"One can only admire the CPC for its achievements," said Vassiliou, also the founder of the Cypriot United Democrats party, in an interview with Xinhua.

Over the 100 years since its founding, the CPC has steadfastly led the Chinese people toward the dream of national rejuvenation. It led the country's massive transformation and made tremendous achievements.

Under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese nation has realized national independence. During the 28 years between 1921 and 1949, the CPC led the Chinese people to topple the three mountains of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism that were oppressing the Chinese people, marking China's great transition from a millennial-old feudal autocracy to a people's democracy.

The second bright spot of CPC's achievements is fast economic growth of China. Growing from a predominantly agricultural economy to the "world's factory" and beyond over the past several decades, China has achieved an economic takeoff. China has ranked first in terms of contribution to global economic growth since 2006, becoming the leading engine of world economic growth, said the National Bureau of Statistics. Data show that from 2013 to 2018, China's average annual contribution to global economic growth climbed to 28.1 percent.

The CPC has led the nation to defeat poverty. Over the past 40 years, more than 750 million Chinese people have cast off poverty, contributing over 70 percent to global poverty reduction, one of the most outstanding achievements in human history.

Under the leadership of the CPC, China enjoys long-term social stability. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made it clear that the country will leave no one behind as it pursues moderate prosperity in all respects and for all the Chinese people. China's per-capita disposable income has reached 32,189 yuan (about $5,024) in 2020, with 400 million middle-income earners in its total population of over 1.4 billion.

The people's livelihood has been improved remarkably. From the shortage of food and basic necessities, China now has an abundance of food and other materials. The lives of Chinese citizens have also witnessed a big change, with growth in the country's entertainment industry and tourism industry giving citizens more choice.

Regarding scientific and technological development, China is leading the world. In 2020, it was the first country to land a probe on the far side of the moon. It has developed the leading 5G technology, and the patents it holds in artificial intelligence accounted for about 74.7 percent of the world's total in the past 10 years. The country also leads in the high-speed train sector.

Pursuing peaceful development, China supports multilateralism and shared prosperity for mankind. Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China is sharing the proceeds of its development with the rest of the world. Today, there are more than 150 countries, regions and international organizations involved with the BRI and most of them are beneficiaries of the program.

People first

There are many factors behind the success of the CPC. Alexandar Paunov, First Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, pointed out that it is due to "CPC found a model of development in this dynamic world."

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, thinks the organizational structure and the mobilization capacity of the Party have played a crucial role.

British sociologist Martin Albrow also talked about the organizational capacity. He believes China's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is a good example to demonstrate the feature of the CPC governance. "It shows the CPC is able to mobilize the country as a whole around single goals," Albrow said.

Most people agree that the key reason for CPC's success lies in the support of the people. Throughout the history, an unassailable fact shows that the Party always has the support of the people.

International polls have indicated over and again that Chinese people's approval ratings of the CPC and the government rank the highest worldwide. Last year, a report by Harvard University based on its survey in China spanning 13 years showed that the Chinese people's overall satisfaction toward the Central Government exceeded 93 percent.

General Secretary Xi said the Party has won the people's wholehearted support because it has always served the people heart and soul and striven for the well-being of all ethnic groups.

"The CPC represents the majority of the people and their interests," said Zhang Weiwei, head of the China Institute of Fudan University.

For 86-year-old Li Zhibang who lives in Hebei Province, people get enough to eat and live the life they choose thanks to the CPC's leadership.

"The achievements would have been impossible without the leadership of the CPC," Li told ChinAfrica.

CPC's governing philosophy of putting people first was also on full display in the country's battle against coronavirus last year. China emerged among the first countries to contain the virus.

All these actions show that the CPC is fulfilling its promise: "The aspirations of the people to live a better life must always be the focus of our efforts."

An open party

The CPC always stresses strengthening multi-party cooperation and political consultation, and regards the move of "great importance" to developing socialist democracy and maintaining social stability.

The CPC has established and developed close cooperative relationships with the eight democratic parties and joined forces with them to fight for peace and democracy in the country.

Externally, the CPC strives for enhancing friendship, promoting exchanges with foreign political parties, and working with political parties worldwide for the global good.

So far, the CPC has maintained regular contact with more than 600 political parties and political organizations from over 160 countries and regions around the world, according to Xinhua. 

(Print Edition Title: Unprecedented Glory) 

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