President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the opening session of a workshop in Beijing. A workshop for provincial and ministerial officials was held from Wednesday to Thursday in preparation for the 19th National Congress of the CPC. [Photo/Xinhua]

During the July 26 workshop meeting for provincial-and ministerial-level officials held in preparation for the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that socialism with Chinese characteristics has been the theme of the theories and practices of the Communist Party of China since reform and opening-up was launched in 1978, and only by fully understanding this theme can the nation achieve rejuvenation and better serve the people.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics stems from the dialectical unity of scientific socialism and Chinese society's own development which suits the people's needs. As a great pioneering undertaking in the history of human civilization, socialism with Chinese characteristics is also a valuable model that the CPC and Chinese people have offered to the world as a development model, as well as their contribution to the world's social and value systems.

Ultimately, the success China has achieved over the past decades should be attributed to the nation's insistence on socialism with Chinese characteristics. Since the launch of reform and opening-up, China has achieved fast development and tremendous improvements in all aspects of society.

And since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the leadership, with Xi as the core, has scientifically grasped the trends of the times and come up with a series of important principles and policies to seize the nettle and tackle the challenges that had long needed to be addressed. Xi has also provided new guidance, new strategies, and new ideas to enrich socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Xi has classified the accomplishments made during the past five years into nine aspects: comprehensively enhancing the leadership of the Party; new thinking on development; deepening reforms; comprehensively advancing the rule of law; enforcing the Party's leadership of ideology instruction; ecologic progress; promoting the modernization of national defense; insisting on the "major-country diplomacy" with Chinese characteristics, which creates peaceful environment for a rising China; and strengthening the Party's self-governance. The ruling foundations have thus been consolidated, providing a strong political guarantee for the development of the nation and the Party.

The achievements accomplished in the last five years mean that after all the years of suffering and struggling in its modern history, China has realized the historic leap from self-sufficiency to prosperity. Socialism with Chinese characteristics broadens the approaches that developing countries can take in their pursuit of modernization, and contributes Chinese wisdom and pragmatic proposals for solving the problems faced by all humanity.

Now the country's development is at a new starting point, and as General Secretary Xi has pointed out, Chinese people should fortify their confidence in the socialist path, theories, system and culture with Chinese characteristics, to ensure the whole country's development continues marching toward a bright future.

Xi has emphasized the importance of the two centenary goals－namely building a moderately well-off society by 2020, just before the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and building a prosperous, modern socialist country by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of New China. Realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, means not only improving people's livelihoods, but also increasing China's soft power and strengthening its voice within the international community in line with the country's remarkable economic growth.

The author is a professor at the School of Marxism at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.