Page 7 - FIRMLY MARCH ON THE PATH OF SOCIALISM WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS AND STRIVE TO COMPLETE THE BUILDING OF A MODERATELY PROSPEROUS SOCIETY IN ALL RESPECTS

harder to resolve them.
Our work in the past five years is an important part of our endeavor to
build a moderately prosperous society in all respects in the past ten years since
the Sixteenth National Congress of the Party.
During these ten years, we have seized and made the most of the
important period of strategic opportunities for China’s development,
successfully met major challenges and brought socialism with Chinese
characteristics to a new stage of development. Facing a volatile global
environment and fierce competition in overall national strength unseen before
in this new stage in the new century, we have deepened reform and opening up
and accelerated development. We took China’s accession to the World Trade
Organization as an opportunity to turn pressure into motivation and turn
challenges into opportunities, and we have forged ahead in building a
moderately prosperous society in all respects. While we were on the way, we
overcame the unexpected outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS). On the basis of reviewing China’s development practices, we gained
a good understanding of the essential features of its development in the current
stage, set forth in a timely way major strategic thinking including the
Scientific Outlook on Development, and have fully applied it, and thus greatly
expanded the space for economic and social development. After 2008, the
global financial crisis caused acute difficulties to China’s development. By
making resolute decisions and taking major countermeasures on the basis of
sizing up the overall development in a scientific way, we made China’s
economy the first in the world to make a turnaround, and we have gained
important experience in effectively defusing external economic risks and
maintaining steady and robust growth. We successfully hosted the Games of
the XXIX Olympiad and the XIII Paralympic Games in Beijing and the World
Expo in Shanghai. We won great victories in responding to the massive
Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province and other natural disasters and in
post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and settled major emergencies.
Bracing ourselves against complex domestic and international developments,
our Party and people have stood severe tests, consolidated and developed the
cause of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and raised
China’s international standing. All this shows the superiority and vitality of
socialism with Chinese characteristics and has enhanced the pride and
cohesiveness of the Chinese people and nation.
Over the past ten years, we have achieved new historic successes and laid

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