The Communist Party of China raises the curtain on its 18th National Congress on Thursday, and although routine procedure-wise, the largest-ever overseas media corps in Beijing highlights the degree to which China's national interests have become interwoven with those of the rest of the world.

Besides the suspense over the CPC's new leadership lineup, there is broadly shared attention at home and abroad on how the governing party of the world's second-largest economy will sustain and pace its economic growth.

A national congress is not meant to address economic concerns. But given the prevailing concerns about the global economic prospects and the slowdown of the Chinese mainland's economic locomotive, which has roared ahead robustly for more than 30 years, what Beijing prescribes for the national economy will have a global impact.

"Pull one hair and you move the whole body", vividly describes the economic correlation between China and the rest of the world, as any adjustment in economic policy here will ripple around the world.

Judging from the practical benefits the country has reaped from the tried and tested incremental approach to reform and opening-up over the past three decades, as well as the consensus that has been built on them, there is little room for any doubts about direction.

The just concluded plenary session of the 17th CPC National Congress offered convincing evidence of the Party's confidence in what has brought the country where it is. It assured us that this congress will be about continuity and sustaining the magic of socialism with Chinese characteristics, despite the change in leadership which will take over the relay baton from CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao and his colleagues.

What is worth more attention will be the way the Party prioritizes its domestic to-do list. How the CPC revises its constitution to guide the country in the years ahead, as well as the Party's official responses to the growing concerns about corruption and fairness, will be of utmost importance for achieving the national ideals of an all-round moderately well-off society and social harmony.

For the far-reaching significance of the CPC's 18th National Congress, we wish it complete success.

(China Daily 11/08/2012 page9)