“Everyone is a contributor”: How China promotes common prosperity through opening up and rural revitalization

Yiwu, located in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, is the world’s “small goods capital” and has trade relations with more than 230 countries and regions.

Yiwu International Trade Market promotes the development of 2.1 million small and medium-sized enterprises and provides employment to 32 million people. It is known as the world’s largest wholesale market for small items.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who recently toured Zhejiang Province, visited the Jinhua trade market on September 20 and praised Yiwu’s small products for entering a large market and becoming a major industry.

President Xi, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, said, “Everyone is a participant, a builder, and a contributor.” encouraged to contribute. , also called on Zhejiang Province to play a leading and exemplary role in promoting common prosperity.

Trade development towards high-level openness

According to data released by China’s General Administration of Customs, the total import and export value of goods trade in the first half of this year was 20.1 trillion yuan (approximately $2.75 trillion), an increase of 2.1% from the previous year. The scale exceeded 20 trillion yuan for the first time.

Private enterprises remain the mainstay of China’s foreign trade. In the first half of 2023, the number of trading companies engaged in import and export increased by 6.9% compared to the same period last year. Of this, the import and export value of private enterprises was 10.59 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.9% from the previous year.

During his visit, President Xi emphasized the need for efforts to encourage and support private enterprises to actively participate in the global industrial division of labor and resource allocation to strengthen their core competitiveness.

After many years of development, the Chinese-European freight train starting from Yiwu and ending in Madrid, Spain has entered the high-quality development track, becoming convenient, fast, safe, stable, environmentally friendly and environmentally friendly. It has become a friendly new mode of international transportation. Economic.

This 13,052 km long freight line, known as Yixinwang in Chinese (Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe), is an important bridge connecting the Eurasian continent. By the end of July this year, the total number of freight trains running on the route exceeded 6,000.

President Xi called on Zhejiang Province to continue writing a new chapter in deepening reform and expanding opening-up, plan reforms from a global perspective, and steadily expand institutional opening-up regarding rules, regulations, management, and standards. I asked.

In 2021, China released guidelines supporting Zhejiang Province to take the lead in establishing demonstration zones to promote common prosperity across the country.

From developing private enterprises to promoting local revitalization, Zhejiang vividly interprets the rich meaning of common prosperity.

Promoting common prosperity through pioneering demonstrations

In June 2003, Zhejiang Province launched a green rural revitalization program aimed at improving rural production, living environment, ecological environment, and the quality of life of farmers.

Over 20 years, the program has created thousands of beautiful villages, fundamentally changed the face of the province’s countryside, provided agricultural and rural modernization success stories, and provided rural success stories to promote China’s modernization. produced.

As a result of this program, Lizu village in Jinhua city has been transformed from a dirty and poor village to a place with improved environment and thriving tourism.

When Mr. Xi toured the village on September 20, he learned that the village’s annual per capita income reached 52,000 yuan (about $7,250).

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China has had a bumper crop of summer grains this year, with a total of 146.13 million tons of summer grains produced this year.

In addition, by the end of 2022, 40 new advantageous and distinctive industrial clusters will be established, 50 national modern agricultural and industrial parks and 200 towns with strong agricultural sectors.

President Xi emphasized that we will narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, focus on regional development and address income disparities, comprehensively promote rural revitalization, and develop rural villages with regional characteristics. He called for the vigorous development of industry.

“There is much to explore and do in advancing rural revitalization,” President Xi told the villagers, urging them to work towards building a better future of common prosperity.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the implementation of Zhejiang Province’s strategy to “maximize eight advantages and implement eight key policies.”

The strategy, advocated by Mr. Xi in 2003, calls for the province to take advantage of eight advantages, including institutional and mechanism advantages, location and industry advantages, and implement eight major policies for Zhejiang’s development. asked to do so.

Since then, Zhejiang province’s economic and social development has brought new historical achievements.

President Xi acknowledged these achievements, treated the real economy as the basis for building a modern industrial system, guided and supported traditional industries to accelerate the application of advanced and readily applicable technologies, and developed high-end, intelligent and environmentally friendly industries. called for promoting friendly development. of the manufacturing department.