“Make the cake bigger and share it fairly”

“No one should be left behind on the path to a moderately prosperous society”

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CGTN- It was getting close to the Spring Festival in 2018. The Daliang Mountains of Sichuan Province in southwest China were blanketed by snowfall. Trees high up on the mountains sparkled with icy frost in the freezing air. On February 11th, a convoy of automobiles made its way up the steep, winding roads, rolling deep into the heart of the mountains. The cars finally stopped at Sanhe Village and Xi Jinping stepped out.

The village perched at an altitude of 2,500 meters and was often called a “cliff village”. Many homes in the village were built against the mountain side with doors facing the edge of a cliff. For decades, people relied on “sky ladders” made of rattan and wooden sticks to climb in and out of the village. The sheer danger of it stopped many villagers from leaving their home for two to three years at a stretch.

Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, located deep in the mountains here, is home to people of the Yi ethnic group. For decades, the region had struggled with grinding poverty due to its rough terrain and harsh natural environment. Xi Jinping has been deeply concerned about the Yi ethnic minority in the region. He described how he felt for people who lived in the “cliff village”, “It weighs heavy on my heart to see the villagers and children climbing those rattan ladders year round without safety guarantees. We must prioritize poverty alleviation in the Yi ethnic community, where a lot of work must be done, down to the last detail. ”

Xi Jinping made his way up a steep path into Sanhe Village and stopped at one household. He bent down and entered through the low courtyard gate, where a couple in their thirties greeted him along with their four children. Xi Jinping chatted with them about their daily life, what meals they had for dinner, and whether their blankets were thick enough for the winter. He also took a look at the chicken coop and the pigsty in the yard.

“We’ll be out of poverty soon,” the father of the family said, his voice filled with hope. Xi Jinping learned from their conversation that this family had benefited from targeted poverty alleviation policies over the past years. They had purchased two cows and a sow, planted potatoes and Sichuan pepper, and supplemented their income by doing small jobs. As a result, their annual income had exceeded 20,000 yuan, or nearly 3,200 U.S. dollars at that time. Plus, Sanhe Village was set to begin a relocation program that year, allowing each household to move into a new 100-square-meter house at a modest cost of 10,000 yuan, about half of the family’s annual income.

Before Xi Jinping left, the family’s 10-year-old daughter sang for him a song she had learned in school.

Xi Jinping clapped for the joyful performance and said to the family, “I’m so happy to see your lives improve day by day. I wish all the best to all the children.”

One of Xi Jinping’s purposes for the visit was to find targeted solutions to severe poverty in the region. For this, he not only visited the homes of many villagers but also engaged in in-depth discussions with the local poverty alleviation workers. Together, they analyzed the problems and explored tailored ways to improve livelihoods of the local people.

“Poverty comes in many forms, and challenges can be diverse.” Xi Jinping said that the key to effective poverty alleviation is targeted efforts. In the winter cold, Xi Jinping sat with the villagers around a warm pit fire and discussed with them about how to make their lives better. He suggested that the villagers relocate soon to safer and more livable places so they would no longer be stuck in the mountains. He also proposed developing agriculture, animal husbandry, and rural tourism to increase their incomes based on local conditions. Furthermore, Xi Jinping said, villagers should receive more skill training and children be guaranteed full rights to education.

He said,“Not a single ethnic group, family or individual should be left behind in the pursuit of a better life.”

Two years later, 84 households from the cliff village moved into new houses in a county 60 kilometers away. Some villagers found work in rural tourism leveraging local resources. Others found employment in the city after training. The rattan ladders and zip lines are no longer needed, replaced by sturdy staircases and well-paved roads. The sounds of children herding cattle in the mountains were replaced by cheerful reading in classrooms. Liangshan, the once poverty-stricken region that had struggled in hardship for thousands of years, declared its historic farewell to absolute poverty.

Xi Jinping has consistently prioritized poverty alleviation in the governance of the country. Since 2012, he has chaired multiple meetings focused on poverty alleviation, and traveled extensively to visit regions where poverty was severe and wide-spread to conduct in-depth field research and seek effective solutions. “Improving the lives of tens of millions of poor individuals in rural areas is a matter close to my heart,” Xi Jinping said, “The central government must always stay connected with the people, and people’s well-being should always be at the forefront of our concerns.”

Through continuous efforts, China had lifted the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents out of absolute poverty by 2020.

“Promoting fresh development with new growth drivers”

In June 2022, the “Baiye No. 1” tea plantation in Guizhou Province in southwest China was soaking up the summer sun. An outdoor LED screen displayed real-time data on the local temperature, humidity, and soil conditions. With dozens of digital devices connected by 5G network, tea planters could easily check the growth of tea leaves using a mobile app, and to estimate how much tea to pick the next day, making tea garden management much more efficient and convenient.

Guizhou used to be known as a remote and impoverished province, but that impression has changed since digital economy took roots. Now, China’s first big data pilot zone has been established in Guizhou Province, giving a great boost to the local economy.

Strategic planning is paramount in economic development. Since 2012, China has elevated the development of the digital economy to a national-level strategy under Xi Jinping’s leadership. The focus has been on integrating the internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and the real economy, and also establishing internationally competitive digital industry clusters. It is against this backdrop that Guizhou seized the opportunity and started its digital transformation, paving a unique and tailored path to development.

In March 2014, during the national “Two Sessions”, China’s top annual political event, Xi Jinping shared his insights on Guizhou’s development. He suggested that Guizhou put in more efforts to developing the electronic information sector and attract investment for the big data industry, instead of relying on traditional resource-based growth.

Located in the heart of southwest China, Guizhou Province has the advantage of having a stable geological structure with minimal susceptibility to earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural disasters. Its cool climate and low electricity costs are all favorable conditions for new digital infrastructure. Also in 2014, Guizhou officially launched its big data development initiative and quickly emerged as the fastest-growing province in the big data sector.

On June 17, 2015, Xi Jinping visited a big data demonstration center in Guiyang, capital city of Guizhou Province. In the exhibition hall, he was presented with innovative plans and results from integrating big data with industries such as agriculture and services. He listened attentively to case studies demonstrating the application of big data in rescue operations, food safety and online healthcare. Xi Jinping was delighted to learn that some local health big data companies had enlisted thousands of top-tier doctors to provide online diagnostic and treatment services to local communities, including those in remote mountainous areas.

Since then, industrial digitization has been driving the upgrade of traditional sectors in the province, which has accelerated new economic growth and changed the production and lifestyles of the local people.

In southwest China’s Sichuan Province, a major economic powerhouse in western China, new drivers are also driving new growth. At a local turbine factory, smart robotic arms and automated guided vehicles operate with remarkable efficiency and coordination 24 hours a day, even with the lights off at night. Production efficiency went up by 650% while the length of product development cycles shortened by 30%.

Cao Tianlan, who oversees the digital transformation initiatives for the company, said that the country’s focus on developing a digital economy aligns perfectly with the needs of businesses. “The impetus for our company’s digital transformation comes from both national initiatives and our own development needs. At the national level, General Secretary Xi Jinping put in real efforts to accelerate the construction of a digital China. Developing digital economy has been listed in China’s national development plan to cultivate new competitive advantages. For instance, to strengthen the application of key innovations in digital technology, to accelerate digital industrialization, and to facilitate digital transformation of industries.”

In early February of 2021, Xi Jinping visited Guizhou again and provided further guidance for the implementation of Guizhou’s digital economy strategy. “We need to develop the digital economy,” Xi Jinping said, “accelerate digital industrialization, and use innovations in information technology to foster new industries and new business forms and models. New drivers for new growth.”

With Xi Jinping’s guidance and support, Guizhou, once a major poverty-stricken province, successfully eradicated absolute poverty. Today, the digital economy is seen everywhere in the province, from tea gardens in the mountainous areas to cutting-edge enterprises in equipment manufacturing, generating new momentum for innovative development. By 2023, the digital economy accounted for over 40% of Guizhou’s GDP, maintaining one of the fastest growth rates in the country.

“Expanding opening-up to boost development”

One day in January 2016, Xi Jinping arrived at the Guoyuan Port in Chongqing in southwest China. The Yangtze River sparkled in the sun and the railway tracks stretched beyond the horizon to support the trains of China Railway Express. The docks were abuzz with the orderly processing of containers.

Xi Jinping came to inspect the shipping operations and port activities along the Yangtze River. He listened attentively to a briefing on the operation of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway, Chongqing’s efforts to advance the “Belt and Road Initiative”, and the continuous opening-up and development in inland areas. A photo on the display board caught his attention. It captured a moment in 2014 when he witnessed the arrival of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway train in Duisburg, Germany. Xi Jinping shared his memory of the special occasion, saying that he had great confidence in the role that the train would play along the Silk Road Economic Belt.

The “Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe” Railway is a crucial part of the China-Europe Railway Express. On July 16th, 2015, the first special train departed from Chongqing, loaded with coffee beans from Yunnan Province. It headed west through the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang, then passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and Poland, to finally arrive at Duisburg. The journey took about 14 days, one-third of the time required for traditional maritime exports of Yunnan coffee.

Building on experiences gained from the China-Europe Railway Express, Chongqing set its sights southward, and opened up a new sea-rail multi-modal transportation route linking Chongqing, south China’s Guangxi, and Singapore, connecting the “One Belt” and the “One Road.

On September 26th, 2017, the trade corridor began its regular operations, serving as a southbound trade route that enhanced connectivity between the western part of China and the ASEAN region, further expanding China’s opening-up to the world. With this trade corridor, over 1,100 types of goods can reach more than 500 ports in over 120 countries and regions worldwide.

The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor has transformed Chongqing, an inland city, into an export gateway, accelerating the global reach of products “Made in Western China” while bringing commodities from around the world to the vast markets of western China. Statistics show that in 2023, the total import and export volume of China’s western region reached 3.7 trillion yuan, or over 510 billion U.S. dollars, marking a 37% increase from 2019.

In April 2024, Xi Jinping came to Chongqing for another inspection, during which he learned about the progress in building the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. On this trip, he emphasized again the importance of expanding opening-up to boost development in the western region and enhance its connection with domestic and global markets. “It is essential to steadily expand institutional opening-up, and build a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment. Efforts should also be made to serve and align with major regional strategic initiatives, to actively integrate into the building of a unified national market, and deepen pragmatic cooperation across the eastern, central and northeastern regions.”

Over the years, China’s western region has been transforming from a relatively closed-off and remote region to the forefront of increasing openness. In the five years between 2019 to 2024, a total of 35,000 China-Europe freight trains have traveled though the region, accounting for more than half of the national total. Additionally, six pilot free trade zones and 40 comprehensive bonded zones have also been established in the region.

A dynamic pattern of opening-up is forming in the western region, characterized by land and sea interconnection, as well as mutual support between China’s eastern and western regions. Today, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the China-Europe Railway Express, and the Yangtze River Waterway are all interconnected, fostering a higher level of openness and injecting new vitality into high-quality development in the region.

Ending

China’s economy has transitioned from a phase of high-speed growth to one focused on high-quality development. In Xi Jinping’s view, high-quality development features innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared growth that can meet people’s aspiration for a better life.

China, under Xi Jinping’s leadership, continues to stimulate new drivers of high-quality development to make the “cake” bigger, while also tries to find ways to share the “cake” fairly and reasonably to ensure that people feel a greater sense of gain from shared prosperity. The benefits of China’s development, as Xi Jinping has put it, are not only shared among its own people, but also with people from around the world.