Remarks by Ambassador Jiang Zaidong at the Seminar on Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building

Your Excellency Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, Chairman Senate of Pakistan,

Your Excellency First Class Inspector Mr. Liu Daxiu, Professor Mr. Zheng Huan,

Your Excellency Ambassador Jauhar Saleem, President of the Institute of Regional Studies of Pakistan,

Distinguished Representatives of Politicak Parties, Dear Friends,

Good afternoon!

It’s a great pleasure to co‑host this seminar on Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building together with the Institute of Regional Studies of Pakistan. First of all, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to President Zardari for his great attention to this seminar, to Chairman Gillani for gracing this seminar with his presence, to the experts from the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) for travelling from Beijing to offer guidance, to party representatives and friends from all walks of life for your active participation, and last but not least, to colleagues from the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) for your meticulous arrangements.

We just had the privilege of listening to two top Chinese experts provide a comprehensive and in-depth elaboration of Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building. I am deeply inspired. It was truly an insightful theoretical briefing. We have just listened to the inspiring remarks by Chairman Jauhar. We are greatly encouraged. We also feel that this joint study and discussion on Xi Jinping Thought on Party building by both sides is highly timely and necessary. Next, we will listen to the important guidance from Chairman Gilani. We believe it will strongly promote our mutual exchange and learning. As many friends have said, Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building is profound and rich in connotation, calling for consistent efforts to study, understand and apply it. As we often emphasize, in studying and implementing the innovative theories of the Party, we must reflect on ourselves, our work and our responsibilities. Following this principle, I would like to share my preliminary insights gained from studying and applying Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, based on my work in advancing China-Pakistan friendly cooperation.

We must put people first and let China‑Pakistan cooperation better benefit the two peoples. The Communist Party of China always serves the public good and governs for the people. Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building explicitly stresses “remaining true to the original aspiration and founding mission”, namely to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. Back in 2012, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that our Party is dedicated to serving the people wholeheartedly; the people’s desire for a better life is the goal we strive to work for. Guided by this profound devotion to the people, in the well‑known poverty elimination campaign in China, General Secretary Xi Jinping set a shining example through personal commitment. He conducted more than 50 field research visits on poverty alleviation, covering all 14 contiguous poor regions across China. Based on thorough investigations, he put forward and applied the concept of targeted poverty alleviation, setting a brilliant example of integrating the power of truth with moral integrity. Under his leadership, China won the fight against poverty, built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and embarked on a new journey of advancing national rejuvenation and building a great modern socialist country through Chinese modernization. Under the strong leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Party Central Committee, over 3 million first Party secretaries and resident cadres, together with nearly 2 million township officials and millions of village‑level cadres, fought in unison to eliminate absolute poverty. This fully demonstrates the CPC’s capacity to mobilize resources to accomplish major undertakings, and embodies two core principles highlighted in Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building: that “the leadership of the CPC is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics” and that “upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee is the highest principle for Party leadership”.

It is precisely because the CPC always puts people first and regards delivering people’s well-being as its paramount achievement that it enjoys enduring popular support and stands as the most reliable and staunch backbone for the Chinese people. Beyond seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, the CPC also strives for progress for humanity and the common good for the world. As General Secretary Xi Jinping noted, we Chinese not only aspire for good living for ourselves, but also hope people in other parts of the world lead a decent life. This is fully reflected in the development of China‑Pakistan relations in the new era, as many of you here have witnessed. General Secretary Xi Jinping has consistently cared for Pakistan’s national development and people’s livelihood. Together with Pakistani leaders, we have defined the new positioning of the China‑Pakistan all‑weather strategic cooperative partnership and reached important consensus on building an even closer China‑Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed that China’s friendly policy toward Pakistan is always oriented toward the entire Pakistani people, the planning and layout of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should take into account all regions of Pakistan, so that the fruits of development can benefit all the people of Pakistan. To date, CPEC has brought in over 25.9 billion US dollars in direct investment, created more than 260 000 jobs, added over 8 000 MW of power generation capacity, built 510 kilometers of highways and 886 kilometers of core national power transmission networks. It has injected strong momentum into Pakistan’s socio‑economic development, served as a powerful exemplar for high‑quality Belt and Road cooperation, and become a vivid embodiment of the China‑Pakistan community with a shared future.

As you are aware, this year marks the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. General Secretary Xi Jinping has reached important new consensus with President Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz on advancing bilateral cooperation, which our two sides are working earnestly to implement. Less than two weeks ago, we visited the industrial park in Faisalabad. We were pleased to learn that 39 Chinese private enterprises operate there, most of them soundly run and profitable, thanks to the enabling business environment fostered by Pakistan. These enterprises also give back actively to local communities. Five ceramic enterprises alone pay nearly 20 million US dollars in annual taxes and provide more than 5 000 local jobs. There are many such inspiring examples of mutual commitment delivering tangible benefits for our peoples. We stand ready to work with Pakistan to fully apply the people‑centered philosophy of development, advance both major signature projects and “small and beautiful” public well-being projects, and march hand‑in‑hand toward greater people’s well-being and common prosperity.

While advancing practical cooperation for the benefit of our peoples, we must also pursue mutual learning to deepen exchanges on party governance and state administration. As changes over the past century accelerate and the world enters a new period of turbulence and transformation, mankind is once again at a crossroads about where to go. Political parties worldwide face the common challenge of “what kind of political party to build and how to build it”. In the turbulent world, the CPC stands firm on the right side of history and on the side of human civilization and progress. Through unremitting struggle, it has profoundly reshaped global development trends and landscape, led the people in advancing Chinese modernization and created a new form of human advancement. In this great endeavor, Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building embraces a global vision, linking the CPC’s self‑improvement to the future of humanity and contributing Chinese wisdom to global party governance. In particular, Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building upholds confidence and self-reliance, and stays true to fundamental principles while breaking new ground. It has opened up a new path for a party to solve its own problems by relying on its own strength. It has established “comprehensive and rigorous governance of the Party” as the strategic guideline for Party building in the new era. With the sense of mission to “take on thousands of adversaries and never fail the 1.4 billion people,” it has been steadfastly advancing the fight against corruption to ensure officials have no desire, no opportunity, and no audacity to be corrupt. With enduring perseverance and commitment, it continuously advances the Party’s self-reform, using this great self-reform to lead a great social revolution. This ensures that our Party always remains the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

It is fair to say that Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building demonstrates noble value orientations and unique intellectual strength. It provides useful references for political parties in various countries, especially those in developing nations, to strengthen their own building and independently explore pathways to modernization, thus making important contributions to the progress of human political civilization.

Increasingly, political parties and leaders around the world are paying attention to the question: “Why is the CPC able to succeed?” In this regard, President Xi Jinping has pointed out that political parties in different countries should enhance mutual trust, strengthen communication, and work closely together. They should explore the establishment of a new type of party-to-party relationship based on seeking common ground while reserving differences, mutual respect, and mutual learning, built upon the foundation of a new type of international relations. They should also build international party exchange and cooperation networks of diverse forms and multiple levels, gathering strong momentum for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

We are delighted to see that the exchange and mutual learning between the CPC and political parties in Pakistan continue to deepen. The two sides have signed a memorandum of understanding on inter-party exchange and cooperation, established a political party consultation mechanism for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and hosted the China-Pakistan Political Parties Forum. Each year, the Chinese side invites representatives of Pakistani political parties to visit China for tours and conferences. We also continuously support small and beautiful livelihood projects in Pakistan through platforms such as the “Silk Road Workshop.”

This year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. In May, a senior delegation of Pakistani political parties visited Hubei Province, making positive contributions to promoting local cooperation between the two countries. In the same month, the 2nd China-Pakistan Political Parties Forum and the Political Party Consultation Mechanism Meeting for the CPEC were held. Leaders from 12 major Pakistani political parties attended the event, and both sides reached broad consensus on deepening traditional friendship and promoting practical cooperation. Today, by hosting this seminar on Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, we are at the forefront of deepening exchanges on governance and party-building experience between the CPC and political parties worldwide.

Moving forward, we are ready to work with all political parties in Pakistan to continue implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of our two countries. We will actively expand “political party-plus” cooperation based on existing foundations, ensuring that the iron-clad friendship between China and Pakistan is carried forward through the baton of inter-party exchange and mutual learning.

We also wish to take today’s seminar as an opportunity to deepen and solidify the exchange of experiences in party building and governance with Pakistani political parties. This will inject new momentum into deepening the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, provide new opportunities for our brotherly Pakistani people through the new development of Chinese modernization, and accelerate the building of an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

In conclusion, may the friendly relations between the CPC and Pakistani political parties remain vibrant and dynamic! May both China and Pakistan enjoy peace and prosperity! May the China-Pakistan friendship endure forever!

Thank you !