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Our visit to the province of Hubei province of China was very rewarding. The world’s largest hydroelectric project, the Three Gorges Dam, has been built on the Yangtze River in the Hubei province. Its primary goals are to prevent the floods that regularly trouble riverside communities, to generate electricity on a massive scale, and to facilitate the passage of large ships along the river, apart from other benefits. The astonishing sight of massive cargo vessels and passenger ships crossing the dam is a major attraction, drawing tourists from all corners of the globe. Widely regarded as an engineering marvel, the dam features an extraordinary ship lock and escalator system, which lifts vessels in stages across five levels from the lower to the upper side of the dam by raising the water level. Another remarkable achievement to be noted here was the smooth resettlement of about 10 lakh people displaced from areas converted to reservoirs, without significant grievances. We were able to visit some of these resettled villages and speak with the locals. After this enlightening and educational experience, we traveled by high-speed train to Wuhan, Hubei’s capital.
HISTORIC WUHAN
In Wuhan’s Wuchang district, the Central Peasant Movement Training Institute stands as testimony to historical revolutionary movements. It can be considered to be at par with the Museum of the Communist Party of China, in Beijing, opened to mark the centenary of the formation of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The only difference is that in Beijing, modern science and technology is made use of extensively. The Wuhan Revolution Museum, which is housed in a school building from the Qing dynasty, commemorates a defining moment in China’s revolutionary history. During the period of cooperation between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang, the institute was co-established by the two, while Comrade Mao Zedong served as Secretary of the CPC’s Farmers’ Committee. Training and education programmes were jointly conducted to prepare new cadre and develop the farmers’ movement. The center maintained strict discipline, with seven types of punishments for violations: warning, reprimand, standing motionless with a rifle, canceling Sunday holidays, compulsory physical labour, mandatory guard duty, and expulsion from study programmes and party membership. This shows how serious and disciplined the education and training programmes were in those days of revolutionary upsurge.
It was during this period that Mao Zedong wrote his renowned thesis, ‘Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan’. Not far from there was the residence in which Mao lived, sometimes with his family, sometimes alone.
From April 27 to May 9, 1927, the historic Fifth Congress of the CPC was held nearby. Just weeks before the Congress, on April 12, the right-wing faction of the Kuomintang under the leadership of General Chiang Kai-shek and his National (Counter)-Revolutionary Army, had massacred around ten thousand comrades and Communist sympathisers in what became known as the Shanghai Massacre. This deepened the divide between the right wing and left wing within the Kuomintang. The Communist Party’s ensuing struggles against Kuomintang’s counter-revolutionary policies, marked by events such as the Long March, remain some of the most momentous chapters in the history of revolutionary movements the world over.
We also visited a State-owned, ultra-modern automobile exhibition center. Vehicles like the distinctive M-Hero 917 — a full-size luxury SUV — equipped with artificial intelligence, showcased China’s technological capability and excellence in this sector. It features independent steering on all four wheels and can accelerate rapidly within seconds. The fascinating experience of riding in a driverless car through a busy public street in Beijing also comes to mind now.
POVERTY ERADICATION
The final leg of our visit brought us to Zhejiang Province. Located near Shanghai and Jiangxi, Zhejiang is famed for entrepreneurs like Jack Ma and companies such as DeepSeek. Xi Jinping, current President of China and General Secretary of the CPC, served here as provincial secretary for five years from 2002 to 2007. While in office, he introduced the idea of Common Prosperity for discussion and eventual adoption within the Party.
We visited several centers that provide various public services to the people. One of the most notable among them was in Shangcheng district. Here, Party services, neighborhood services, government services, and public services are all provided efficiently and on time. In addition to availing services, people can also gather here to socialise and for leisure. The center offers everything from haircuts, tailoring, and umbrella mending to fixing household appliances — no service was unavailable there.
Our delegation also had the chance to directly understand the poverty eradication programmes, which are meticulously planned and implemented. Villages were developed into tourist destinations, improving the economic conditions of farmers and marginalised communities there. Similar diverse initiatives are implemented in various regions, tailored to local potential. The CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala too is trying to implement similar rural tourism development efforts.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
The Chinese economy is currently functioning as one of the principal engines of the world economy. A major factor behind this sustained prominence lies in the distinctive economic and political policies pursued by the country. In 2022, the year when the 20th Congress of the CPC was held, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at 114 trillion Yuan. By 2025, that figure had risen to 137.36 trillion Yuan. China holds the first position globally in grain production, and in manufacturing too China is in the forefront, underscoring its reputation as the ‘factory of the world’. China’s annual per capita income is 26,920 US dollars, while India’s is less than half of that, at around 11,000 US dollars.
Another factor that drives China’s advancement is its focus on education, especially in the fields of science and technology. Earlier, Germany was considered as a leader in innovation. But, according to a new global ranking of 139 economies published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Germany is no longer among the ten most innovative countries in the world. China has displaced it, and this shift is a well-established trend. In 2023, China had 5 million patents in force — more than any other country. China's patent activity grew by 18.5% compared to the previous year. China is now considered one of the world's most innovative countries by volume, largely driven by state-backed investment in R&D.
In China, the private sector operates under strong supervision of the public sector. Entrepreneurs are not only expected to generate employment and contribute taxes to the exchequer, but also to play an active role in advancing the nation’s overall development. The Chinese President and CPC’s General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasises that this approach corresponds to the specific conditions of socialism’s primary stage. Significantly, even independent Marxist thinker David Harvey, who was once a critic of certain policies of China, has expressed considerable appreciation for these new directions.
As a Marxist–Leninist party, the CPC places emphasis on three main priorities. First, it strives to reduce economic disparities between regions and among citizens. Second, it seeks to firmly curb corruption within the government, the Party, and society at large. Third, it devotes focused attention to ecological balance and environmental protection. It has been declared that the robust interventions to tackle inequality will continue with renewed vigour in the forthcoming Fifteenth Five-Year Plan as well.
TWO-STEP STRATEGIC PLAN
As part of the CPC’s journey into its bicentenary, it has outlined a two-step strategic plan. The first phase, from 2020 to 2035, aims at achieving socialist modernisation. The second phase extends from 2035 to 2049 – marking the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China — during which China seeks to become a great modern socialist nation. Ultimately, the vision is of a prosperous, powerful, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful China.
The CPC has adopted extraordinarily strict corrective measures to combat corruption. When we visited China, the head of the Party’s International Department was under investigation for corruption charges and was consequently required to step down. On our return, we got to know that the allegations were substantiated, leading to disciplinary action against him. Between two Party Congresses, as a result of interventions by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, 74,000 individual party members at different levels were convicted of corruption. Since 2015, similar action has also been taken against businesses run by relatives of 4,700 individual party officials.
IMPROVING WORK, CONDUCT & DISCIPLINE
To improve work, conduct and discipline in both the Party and government, the Polit Bureau (PB) and the Central Committee (CC) have issued eight key directives:
1. Conduct thorough research at the grassroots level to understand actual conditions.
2. Ensure that meetings are well-prepared and efficiently organised.
3. Write official documents and reports concisely and clearly.
4. Follow standardised procedures for foreign visits.
5. Strengthen security systems and improve engagement with the public.
6. Enhance the quality and presentation of news reports.
7. Enforce strict regulations on publishing articles.
8. Maintain integrity and simplicity in Party and government affairs, avoid corruption and extravagance.
The Chinese Communist Party has also taken a firm stance against ostentatious lifestyles and public alcohol consumption. In the past, banquets hosted for delegations often featured wine or spirit offerings as part of the speeches and ceremonies. This practice has now been completely abolished. The CPC’s policy strongly discourages drinking habit, creating a favorable image of the Party among large segments of the populace. When discussing this with Chinese comrades, they remarked that widespread vodka addiction had also played a significant role in the Soviet Union’s decay and disintegration.
In his online address at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s sincere and active participation in collective efforts to combat climate change. Compared to many other nations, the urban and rural environments in China appeared distinctly improved — lush green cities and residential areas were visible everywhere. Cleanliness and hygiene also stood out as a defining feature. Public order was exemplary, and not even a single stray dog could be seen anywhere.
The rigorous Party education programme implemented in China was also a very informative experience. The progress that China has achieved in various fields of technology, industry, agriculture, infrastructure development and improving the life of the people in order to progress as a strong and harmoniously developed socialist country, by the time of the centenary celebration of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 2049, could be experienced in person.
The visiting delegation consisted of comrades Mohd. Salim, Jitendra Chaudhury, R. Arun Kumar, K. Hemalata and C. S. Sujatha. We were provided with excellent hospitality throughout. In short, the eight-day visit of the delegation helped us to strengthen bilateral relationship between the two countries, two people and two parties.
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