Editor's note: At the occasion of the centenary of the Communist Party of China, China Watch Institute, a think tank powered by China Daily, has invited dozens of prominent contributors and scholars from across the world to have a discussion on why the CPC works in China. Here 10 scholars share their views from various perspectives including governance, poverty reduction, economic development and international relations. Reports by Liu Yi and Bu Yingna, and Wang Jing contributed.

Great changer

Thoughtful and far-reaching reforms are propelling China out of poverty

The complete elimination of extreme poverty is a great achievement, which has not been accomplished on a similar scale by any country on a level of development similar to that of China. It is worth noting that when the current leader of China President Xi Jinping announced in 2012 that this goal would be achieved in such a short time frame, many skeptics did not believe it. Some still do not want to believe that in 2024 or 2025 China will advance to be part of the group of economies treated by the World Bank as high-income countries.

All this has been possible because China has adopted a development model in which rational people act rationally, pragmatically solving problems. It is good that the New Pragmatism－a useful economic theory that I propose in place of discredited neoliberal capitalism and leading astray populism－is widely used in Chinese socio-economic policy.

It is a specific polity, referred to in China as socialism with Chinese characteristics, which I call "Chinism"-the system of creative synergy between the visible hand of the State and the invisible hand of the market, accompanied by the intelligent policies of taking advantage of irreversible globalization－that is the cause of China's great economic success. The more globalization is inclusive, the more it will truly be win-win. And the more developing countries are able to learn from Chinism, the more it may help in their economic progress.

Grzegorz W. Kolodko, professor at Kozminski University in Warsaw and a distinguished professor of Belt and Road School at the Beijing Normal University

Primed for success

China's remarkable achievements in both pandemic control and poverty alleviation are thanks to the leadership and organizational capacity of the CPC

The structural similarities between anti-pandemic and antipoverty campaigns are striking: CPC leadership, CPC senior leader commitment and CPC mobilization.

First, the operational leadership of the CPC－not just giving directives and making pronouncements, but implementing programs and operating projects through the CPC organizational structure－central government and several levels of local government (provincial, municipal, county, township).

Second, the commitment of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee－who sets an example that leaders and officials must follow. Almost everywhere Xi goes, he stresses poverty alleviation and encourages Party officials to visit impoverished areas regularly and interact with poor people directly. Similarly, during the pandemic, when Xi visited hospitals and spoke with frontline workers, the whole country got the message.

Third, the mobilization capacity of the CPC－commanding the country's resources in personnel and materials. To contain the pandemic, China's mobilization was unprecedented in global health history: locking down Wuhan and neighboring cities, 60 million or more people; house-to-house temperature checks; the CPC's grid management system of social administration; postponing the return to work after the Lunar New Year break of hundreds of millions of travelers; recruiting major companies, State-owned enterprises and the private sector for support and logistics; assigning "sister" relationships between strong provinces and hard-hit cities in Hubei, a strategy long employed in poverty alleviation between eastern and western provinces and cities.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, an international investment banker and corporate strategist and chairman of the Kuhn Foundation. He received the China Reform Friendship Medal in 2018.

We can do it

China offers referential experiences and inspiration for the world to realize the goal of lifting all people out of extreme poverty

Under the leadership of the CPC, the country has successfully left behind the chaos and poverty from which it emerged to assume its place as a leading member of the international community. Eradicating extreme poverty is a shared ambition of global community.

Demonstrating that extreme poverty can be brought to an end is extraordinarily impactful, not just for China itself, but also for the international community.

How was it possible? There are several aspects to consider. First, there has been a sustained focus on development. Undoubtedly, the transformation of production was decisive in generating opportunities for the general improvement of people's standards of living.

Second, a strong political will committed to the interests of the public has ensured that development successes do not result in the reproduction of chronic and unsustainable inequalities.

Third, the country has explored and innovated its own development path and formed its own development model suited to its own actual conditions. The CPC has continually been at the forefront of China's modernization drive, and it has repeatedly shown its ability to identify genuine and ultimately successful development strategies.

Xulio Ríos, director of the Observatory of Chinese Politics in Spain

Ten decades of proven resilience

Other countries can learn from China's success in weathering challenges, whatever political system they may have

As the CPC celebrates its 100th anniversary, what can one say about China, from an economist's perspective?

Given my background in international finance, I have had a front row seat for many of the international crises and shocks, and somehow, despite them all being different, China has responded, seemingly appropriately to all of them. In 1997, despite currencies collapsing around it, China resisted the pressure and temptation for the renminbi to weaken, which at the time could have caused havoc. Similarly with occasional bouts of financial market pressures since, somehow China has managed to respond to them.

And of course, in the 2007-08 financial crisis, when China's dependency on exports was much bigger, it managed to respond quickly, and shifted its economic dependency away from low value exports, allowing wages to rise, and the renminbi to appreciate, which together with a massive domestic infrastructure stimulus, allowed the economy to shift to a more domestically driven position. And then in the past 15 months, despite the initial devastation that the COVID-19 pandemic caused in China, a nation of 1.4 billion people, the country has seemingly got to grips with it, and got back to some normality, unlike much of the rest of the world.

At the center of this is not only clear decisive leadership of the CPC, but also a team of civil servants and bureaucrats that are well-educated and trained. This is something many other nations have not managed. So in this regard, this is perhaps something other nations can learn.

Jim O'Neill, chair of the Chatham House based in London

A century of struggle and achievements

The 100th anniversary of the CPC is an opportunity to remember the path the Chinese people have traveled to get where they are today

China has become the main driving force of the global economy. Today it accounts for more than one-third of the growth of the global economy. Imports from various areas of the world have soared over the last seven decades, contributing greatly to countries both developed and developing through international trade. From 1978 to 2017, the share of low- and middle-income countries in global GDP rose from 21.3 percent to 35.3 percent due mainly to trade with China.

The rapid development of China has been very beneficial to the whole world.

China has been actively participating in the South-South cooperation, and Chinese loans often come without strings and oppressive conditions. The Chinese philosophy of win-win arrangements does not allow it to exploit others. The relations are cooperative and always based on mutual benefits.

The progress that China has made would not have been possible without the strong leadership of the CPC.It is the Party that has kept the people united and strong. It is the Party that has correctly interpreted and applied Marxist theory to China's circumstances and guided the nation through thick and thin to prosperity today.

Donald Ramotar, former president of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and former general secretary of the People's Progressive Party

Relations based on 'four-good' principles

Laos and China are sharing experiences and strengthening cooperation to eradicate poverty

This year marks a significant milestone for the CPC. Since its founding 100 years ago, the CPC has steered China on a path of rapid development, leading to socioeconomic successes that have enabled the country to earn global respect.

Leaders and academia around the world have appreciated China's achievements, which are attributed to the strong leadership of the CPC and the right choice of development path that offers inspiration to other nations in the pursuit of their own development.

The CPC has decisively embarked on a revolutionary journey to create the political landscape required to alleviate poverty, enhance national strength and achieve well-founded prosperity. China's success has provided practical lessons for other countries regardless of differences in political regime. In 1982, the country launched poverty alleviation initiatives and introduced measures to exploit the rural productive force, such as training and transfer of rural labor, and to help release vitality and increase farmers' incomes.

Now under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, a better life for the people is at the heart of efforts to realize the first centenary goal. This has helped lift almost 100 million people out of poverty. President Xi's strategy was clear when he emphasized "no single poor area or person should be left behind in achieving this goal".

The CPC has shown that poverty can be eradicated through collective leadership, determination, a sense of responsibility, targeted measures and extraordinary efforts. China's success provides a reference for other countries' poverty alleviation efforts.

Khemmani Pholsena, head of the President's Office of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and former minister of Industry and Commerce and chairwoman of Laos-China Cooperation Committee

Principled partnerships

With the CPC at the helm China has forged strong longstanding partnerships with African countries

Africa has embraced President Xi Jinping's vision of building a China-Africa community with a shared future, which connects the development of Africa with that of China and aligns the interests of the Chinese people with those of the African people.

Africa knows from experience that China is prepared to share its best practices and to help the continent realize its dream of "the Africa we want". In this context, Africa and China are bound to pursue cooperation in an enhanced and strategic manner, aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with the African Union's Agenda 2063.

It is critical that African countries have the ability to pursue their own chosen development paths and hence cooperate with China in a manner that increasingly enhances Africa's key priorities. Thus it is imperative that projects on the continent, based on Chinese financing and support, are clearly defined and linked to concrete benefits for Africans. African countries will have to approach China and their other international partners in a more coordinated, collective and strategic manner than hitherto.

Gert Grobler, a senior research fellow at the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University and a former senior diplomat in the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation

Good friends, good comrades

The CPC has come a long way to establish itself as the leading force advancing the cause of national rejuvenation

Over the past 100 years, the CPC has rallied and led the Chinese people in a tenacious struggle for development, accomplishing great achievements that have been widely recognized.

Harvard Kennedy School surveys show that more than 90 percent of the Chinese people trust the government led by the CPC. This high level of trust is neither accidental nor surprising. It is the CPC that has led the Chinese people to realize national liberation and independence and blazed the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, turning the once impoverished country into the world's second-largest economy, largest industrial manufacturer, largest trader of goods and biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves. And over the past eight years, China's final 98.99 million rural residents living under the current poverty line have all been lifted out of abject poverty.

The CPC upholds democratic centralism, the close combination of democracy and centralism, in which major decisions of the Party and the country are made after hearing a broad range of opinions and suggestions. Once the CPC Central Committee has made a decision, it is strictly implemented. Party members are closely aligned with the Central Committee in terms of direction, path, political stance and principles. China's governance mechanism makes the maintaining of political stability, policy continuity and administrative capacity after decision-making possible.

Utoni Nujoma, minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation of the Republic of Namibia, and a member of the Central Committee of SWAPO party of Namibia

A successful journey

100th anniversary of the CPC offers wealth of experience for developing countries to reflect on

Since 2013, the country has embraced a new era that stands out for the pursuit of systemic development based on a modern governance model for China. This model is composed of themes, objectives and actions. Its basic premises are "focus on the wellbeing" of the Chinese people and realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. In other words, it aims to eradicate poverty, reduce social inequalities and create better living conditions for all Chinese people.

Unfortunately, the world has suffered heavily from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has shown the world how well-structured plans and the unity of the whole of society can successfully control the novel coronavirus, protect people and revive the economy.

This success corroborates the importance of the CPC, as its leaders have united the country and determined the actions appropriate to overcome this public health threat.

The experience and knowledge of the Party's 100 years of existence serve as a precious source of Chinese wisdom, where developing countries can be inspired and adapt successful experiences to the characteristics of their countries.

China's experience in poverty eradication is essential because the concept of poverty eradication is not simply to increase per capita income but to create better living conditions through improved healthcare, sanitation, housing, education, and income-generating jobs, among other needs. All developing countries are in great need of improving these policies.

Ronnie Lins, president of the Center China Brazil: Research& Business

Everyone must matter

China has proved that where there is the will there is the way to eradicate poverty

President Xi Jinping stated that abject poverty had been eradicated in China. This is a milestone in contemporary history and one of the greatest achievements of the Communist Party of China since its founding 100 years ago. Since the beginning of reform and opening-up more than four decades ago, the Chinese government has lifted more than 770 million people out of abject poverty. This was the main reason China's extreme poverty rate fell to 1 percent in 2019, from 88.3 percent in 1981. Over the past eight years, China has lifted 98.99 million poor rural residents under the current poverty line out of poverty. These achievements have allowed China to contribute to 70 percent of the global poverty reduction goal.

China's triumph over extreme poverty is so remarkable that this victory cannot be ignored by the countries of the Global South. The Chinese experience provides some general pointers on how to reduce poverty and how it is an achievable goal when there is adequate leadership, strong political will, both a medium and long-term vision, and adequate public policy to identify vulnerable groups, analyze the factors behind poverty and design and implement the appropriate public policies to overcome them.

Daniel Lemus-Delgado, a professor at the School of Social Science and Government of Tecnologico de Monterrey and invited researcher at Fudan Development Institute