Page 9 - Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects

Chinese characteristics has become more mature and well-defined, and

China’s system and capacity for governance have been further modernized.
—We have pursued a more proactive strategy of opening up. We have worked
to build a globally-oriented network of high-standard free trade areas and
accelerated the development of pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free
Trade Port. 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, it leads the world in total volume of trade in
goods, and it is a major destination for global investment and a leading
country in outbound investment. Through these efforts, we have advanced a
broader agenda of opening up across more areas and in greater depth.

—We have kept to the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese
characteristics. We have comprehensively developed whole-process people’s
democracy, made all-around progress in improving the institutions,
standards, and procedures of our socialist democracy, and advanced socialist
consultative democracy by way of extensive participation. We have reinforced
the foundations that undergird the people’s running of the country, injected
fresh vitality into democracy at the community level, and consolidated and
expanded the patriotic united front. We have made new accomplishments in

promoting ethnic unity and progress, fully implemented the Party’s basic
policy on religious affairs, and provided better protections for human rights.
We have intensified efforts to advance socialist rule of law in our country, and
a comprehensive framework for law-based governance has taken shape. We
have sped up work on developing the system of socialist rule of law with
Chinese characteristics. We have made major progress in reforming the
judicial system, thus providing more effective protection for social fairness

and justice. These efforts have opened new ground for advancing the rule of
law in China.
—We have established and upheld a foundational system for ensuring the
guiding role of Marxism in the ideological domain. The Party’s new theory for the
new era has been embraced by the people, the core socialist values are
resonating with the public, fine traditional Chinese culture is undergoing

creative transformation and development, cultural programs are flourishing,
and the online environment has seen continuous improvement. All this has
brought overarching and fundamental changes in China’s ideological
landscape.

We celebrated the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s
Liberation Army, the 40th anniversary of the launch of reform and opening
up, the 70th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance
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