China has made all-round achievements in the past five years under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Indian scholar B.R. Deepak has said.[Special coverage]
Deepak, a professor at the Chinese and South East Asian Studies Center of Jawaharlal Nehru University, praised the CPC's success in spurring economic growth, providing better public services and goods to the Chinese people and maintaining social stability and development.
"Externally, China's standing on the global stage has been consolidated and further enhanced," he said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Citing the achievements China has made in increasing people's per capita income and reducing poverty, the scholar said that this is impressive, as the global economic recovery remains sluggish and countries across the globe are still reeling from the recession.
Among the drivers of China's economy, Deepak particularly referred to the "four new inventions," namely high-speed rail, mobile payment, bike sharing and on-line shopping, which he said have unleashed the forces of domestic consumption and in the meantime are revolutionizing the socio-economic landscape of China.
Meanwhile, Deepak noted that China has continued to do well in health care and education, with the life expectancy of the Chinese reaching 76 years and some 443,000 foreign students from more than 200 countries and regions across the globe studying in China at present.
The scholar said through the anti-corruption campaign that has been keenly watched from both inside and outside, China has been successful in ridding various government institutions of corruption.
Deepak described the Belt and Road Initiative as the biggest innovation as far as connectivity and global rebalancing are concerned.
Put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.
"The initiative has successfully connected various hinterland and coastal cities across China to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Russia and East Europe, hence offering various opportunities for win-win cooperation on the one hand and regional economic integration on the other," he said.
Also China has been instrumental in creating new institutions of global governance such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank, and sharing greater responsibilities on the global stage, he said.
The Indian scholar predicted that in the coming five years, maintaining the growth momentum and pushing for a consumption- and services-oriented transition through deepening reforms and further opening up will be China's top priorities.
He hoped that China will continue to focus on green development, which will see the world's second largest economy enhancing its capacities in new energies like hydro, nuclear, solar and wind power.
