Xie Fuzhan, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

The significant accomplishment China has achieved since reform and opening up is closely associated with the special development road China has taken. Xie Fuzhan, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), pointed out that 40 years of reform and opening up represents 40 years of significant improvement of people’s living level and the significant enhancement of people’s sense of happiness, security, and of national pride, and 40 years of constant exploration and formation of China’s development road and development model, with Chinese characteristics.

Xie noted that the secret to the success of China’s economic development lies in four points. The secret behind success can be summarized as: 1) adhering to the basic line of the Party in the primary stage of socialism, constantly improving the socialist market economic system, emancipating and developing productivity and allowing production relations to adapt to the production level. 2) adhering to the ideological line of emancipating mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping pace with the times, being realistic and pragmatic, and following the objective rules of economic and social development. 3) adhering to the concept of people-centered development. 4) sticking to the road of peaceful development, trying to create favorable and a peaceful development road, and building a community of shared destiny. Xie Fuzhan stressed that the development of the Chinese economy over the past 40 years followed and validated the general principles of development economics. Importantly, being based on China’s actual situation, China’s economic development promotes theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, and explores and forms the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Ross Garnaut

Australian National University (ANU) professor Ross Garnaut is of the opinion that the great achievement that China has made over the past 40 years has produced significant impacts across the world.  He thinks that China's achievement represents a great result that has been achieved following the rules of economics. We need to study the achievements that China's reform and opening up has made, so as to better understand the rules of economics.