On 8 November 2022, an article titled “China on A New Journey of Modernization” by H.E. Long Zhou, the Chinese Ambassador to Malawi, was published on Nation and Daily Times, the leading newspapers in Malawi. Full text of the article is as follows:

From October 16 to 22, 2022, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was successfully held in Beijing. The Congress is a meeting of great importance. It takes place at a critical time as the entire Party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups embark on a new journey to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects and advance toward the Second Centenary Goal. It is a Congress of holding high the banner, pooling strength and forging ahead in unity.

The Congress elected a new central leadership with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. The election has carried forward and practiced democracy throughout its process, and its outcome reflects the consensus of the entire Party and the people of the whole country. This is a new central leadership that is politically firm, united and vigorous, one that can adapt to the needs for long-term development of the Party and the country. And the new leadership will surely lead the Party and the country to embark on a new journey, create new miracles, and secure new victories.

H.E. Xi Jinping, on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee, delivered to the Congress a report titled “Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects”. The report made a comprehensive review of the Party’s work in the past five years and the great achievements in the past decade, drew a grand blueprint of advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and charted the course and established the guide to action for the cause of the Party and the country on the new journey of the new era and for realizing the Second Centenary Goal. 

Since the Party's 18th National Congress, the past decade marks three major events of great immediate importance and profound historical significance for the cause of the Party and the people: We embraced the centenary of the Communist Party of China; we ushered in a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics; and we eradicated absolute poverty and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, thus completing the First Centenary Goal. These were historic feats—feats accomplished by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people striving in unity, feats that will be forever recorded in the Chinese nation's history, and feats that will profoundly influence the world.

In the past decade, China’s GDP has grown from 54 trillion RMB Yuan to 114 trillion Yuan accounting for 18.5 percent of the world economy, up 7.2 percentage points, ranking second in the world. Its average contribution to world economic growth has exceeded 30 percent, ranking first in the world. China has built the largest social security system in the world. 1.02 billion people have basic pension insurance, 1.36 billion people have basic medical insurance, and people's living standards have been improved significantly. The development of pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port are accelerated. As a collaborative endeavor, the Belt and Road Initiative has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. China has become a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions. Leading the world in total volume of trade in goods, China is both a major destination for global investment and a source of outbound investment. We have witnessed major successes on multiple fronts, including manned spaceflight, lunar and Martian exploration, deep sea and deep earth probes, supercomputers, satellite navigation, quantum information, nuclear power technology, new energy technology, airliner manufacturing, and bio-medicine, with which China has joined the ranks of the world’s innovators. We have acted on the idea that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. This has led to historic, transformative, and comprehensive changes in ecological and environmental protection. We have comprehensively developed whole-process people’s democracy, revealing the distinctive features and significant advantages of socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics. H.E. Xi Jinping has also proposed the Global Development Initiative to bring new hope for developing countries to achieve leapfrog development, and proposed the Global Security Initiative to point out the direction for bridging the peace deficit and solving the global security dilemma.

The historic achievements and great changes are owed to the entire Party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups who have striven in unity under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Based on the new breakthroughs made in theory and practice since the 18th National Congress, CPC has succeeded in advancing and expanding Chinese modernization. Chinese modernization contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context. It is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. China will basically realize socialist modernization by 2035, and build itself into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful from 2035 to the middle of this century. Chinese modernization is not only in line with China's reality, but also reflects the development law of human society, providing a new choice for human beings to realize modernization.

The CPC is dedicated to pursuing happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. It is also dedicated to human progress and world harmony. China has always been committed to its foreign policy goals of upholding world peace and promoting common development, and it is dedicated to promoting a human community with a shared future. China remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace and adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries. It is committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up. China plays an active part in the reform and development of the global governance system and works to make global governance fairer and more equitable. China has pursued major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics on all fronts, firmly upheld international fairness and justice, advocated efforts to practice true multilateralism, unequivocally opposed hegemonism and power politics, and unswervingly rejected unilateralism, protectionism and bullying practice. China has advocated a new type of international relations, endeavored to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries like Malawi guided by the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity, and good faith and with a commitment to the greater good and shared interests. China sincerely calls upon all countries to hold dear humanity’s common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, to meet all types of global challenges together, and to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity.

China's new development will bring more opportunities to the world and will make greater contributions to the development and progress of mankind. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Malawi. As good brothers and good partners, the two sides have walked together through thick and thin and stood together in face of changes unseen before in world history. China has always been steadfast in its assistance and support to Malawi in fields of infrastructure construction, education, agriculture, health, disaster prevention and reduction, etc. China will never be absent from the development of Malawi! China's endeavors in building a modern socialist country in all respects will bring new opportunities and expand new fields of cooperation between China and Malawi. In pursuance with the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, China will work with Malawi to enhance political mutual trust, strengthen collaboration, win-win cooperation, and exchanges and mutual learning for our shared benefits, and jointly create an even brighter future.