For an observer from the West interested in Chinese history and civilization, it is fascinating to see China's capacity for recovery, innovation and socioeconomic development based on the principle of safeguarding the interests of the Chinese people. China's development has been achieved through actions that have facilitated the continuity and sustainability of the following civilizational advances:

Eradication of extreme poverty by the end of 2020, and meeting the new needs of the people affected by the reduction in economic activity because of the COVID-19 pandemic, by making efforts to improve the living standards of the Chinese people through the granting of subsidies, cuts in taxes and fees, and the implementation of policies favourable to enterprises so they in turn can increase employees' salaries;

Containing the pandemic, taking measures to ensure the country's death rate is one of the lowest in the world and showing the solidarity with other developing countries during the pandemic, while expanding the scope of medical treatment in the post-pandemic period;

Economic and social development based on China's modernization in all fields (scientific, socioeconomic and environmental protection), thanks to major innovations in advanced technology sectors, from strategic emerging industries to artificial intelligence, biomedicine and outer space, including the study of the moon and Mars, and explorations of the deep sea.

China's success in building a space station, which is open to all countries, led to the signing of cooperation agreements with France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Pakistan, the United Nations' Office for Outer Space, and the European Space Agency. More important, China insists that there is a need for an international agreement on the peaceful use of space in order to guarantee equal benefits to all countries.

As for China's foreign policy, which is in line with the guidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the country, thanks to its modernization drive, has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting world peace and safeguarding national security, and working with all countries in the principle of equality to achieve the development goals, pursuing common economic and social development for mutual benefit, and following the UN Charter in letter and spirit to help build a better world.

China is a responsible participant in programs to facilitate global development and fight common challenges such as climate change and terrorism through its proposed Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative.

The country has also increased its participation in various UN missions (from the blue helmets or peacekeeping missions to the health, education, scientific and cultural sectors), while helping finalize comprehensive agreements and forums with other countries including BRICS(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (which accounts for more than 30 percent of the world GDP and almost one-third of the global population), the Belt and Road Initiative and "Forum Macau", which brought together nine Portuguese-speaking countries.

Given these facts, the European Union should consider ratifying the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, whose negotiations were concluded in December 2020, because it could turn out to be a favourable agreement for the EU's development and could help the bloc to overcome the current economic crisis which has worsened due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

China's new phase of modernization and its foreign policy of promoting peace and safeguarding security, rejecting the Cold War mentality, and opposing the conflicts between geopolitical blocs are an invaluable contribution to global governance, and a big step toward building a shared future for humankind.

The author is the president of the China Observatory, and chairman of the Union of Associations of Cooperation and Friendship Portugal-China.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.