4. EFFECTIVE DEMOCRACY
The essence of democracy is to answer to the people.
In some countries, checks on power become deadlocks, and money can be used to tamper in elections. The political process soon becomes dormant after voting. This type of democracy may be "pretty," but it hardly leads to good governance. Rather, it is likely to cause surprise and unwanted events.
Chinese democracy has a higher level of quality and efficiency, as can be seen in practice.
Serving the people and pursuing for the people's interests is an essential mission of the people's congress system -- the fundamental political system of the country. The country is giving more seats in the National People's Congress, the supreme organ of state power, to workers, farmers, professionals and women to represent more grassroots voices.
Consultation is a virtue of Chinese democracy. For instance, the 13th five-year plan, a critical component of building a moderately prosperous society, was produced after rounds of top-down and bottom-up consultation, covering all aspects of society. More than 32 percent of the 2,500 items of feedback collected nationwide were adopted, a feat that could only be accomplished by the Chinese democratic model of decision making.
The contemporary Chinese state inherited a long political tradition of selecting and appointing talent, establishing a merit-based "selection plus election" system with a special focus on public opinion. The items for assessment include, but are not limited to, economic development, job creation, social security and environmental protection. Competition is fierce and only the most capable cadres are promoted.
5. ABILITY TO REFORM
The problems facing China are unique but not without the universality that transcends borders.
Reform is the engine of China's economic miracle. Over the past decades, China has been one of the most successful countries in piloting reforms, while the new round of reforms in China, launched at the end of 2013 after a key meeting of the ruling CPC, will add more momentum to the Chinese Dream.
From ordinary families used to living paycheck to paycheck, to the founder of Alibaba Jack Ma, whose business venture has created tens of thousands of jobs, most Chinese people have benefited from reform. More than 280 million farmers have moved from rural areas to cities and joined the workforce in the digital age. China's large scale value-added tax reform affects nearly 16 million businesses and 10 million individual taxpayers.
Yan Xuetong, School of International relations at Tsinghua University, believes that the main reason the outside world considers China to have great economic development momentum lies in confidence in China's ability to adapt to new realities.
In the past five years, China has deepened supply-side structural reform in a new set of trying economic conditions, sometimes called the "new normal." People are starting to cash in on the benefits of various reforms in such areas as intellectual property, the two-child policy, household registration, medical reform and university admission.
China's reform and innovation has no limits and offers viable ideas for global governance. The country's concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development became keywords at the G20 summit held in the city of Hangzhou last year and have been incorporated into the international discourse for global governance.
6. INNOVATIVE MARKET ECONOMY
Still in the primary stage of socialism, China has adopted a basic economic system with public ownership playing a dominant role and diverse forms of ownership developing side by side.
This allows the vitality of the public sector, especially state-owned enterprises, to be strengthened while encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of the private sector. China gives the market a decisive role in allocating resources, and the government can play a better role in macro-policy efficiency.
Known as "walking with both legs," it reflects a fine Chinese tradition of holistic and dialectical thinking.
"The parochial understanding the western world has for the relationship between market and state does not apply to China, where the two sides enjoy a symbiotic relationship instead of being constantly at odds with each other," said Professor Shi Zhengfu with the Center of New Political Economy at Fudan University.
Under such arrangements, China's socialist market economy has had an excellent performance, creating economic miracles. The country saw 16,000 newly registered enterprises every day on average in the first half of this year. Consumption contributes 63.4 percent of economic growth. E-commerce, Alipay and shared bikes, which mainly involve private enterprises, stand with high-speed rail, that is manufactured and operated by state-owned enterprises, as new driving forces in China's economy.
This vitality has made the nation a "talent magnet." About 430,000 Chinese students studying overseas returned to work in China last year. Si Kang, a young entrepreneur from Zhejiang Province, founded a startup back home after obtaining his degree in France. Now, his company has notched up more than ten patents.
"This is the opportunity of our lifetime, we must not let it slip away too easily," he said.
