Final push required to fully realize 2020 goal: China Daily editorial

Looking back at the difficulties the Chinese people have overcome in the past seven decades under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, especially during the four decades since 1978, the country and its people have reason to feel proud of what they have achieved thanks to the painstaking efforts of several generations.

Yet it is one thing to take pride in what has been achieved so far and another not to feel beside ourselves that our objective is yet to be attained. This explains why President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of having the right understanding of what still needs to be done and of the need to make targeted efforts to accomplish these tasks.

With about a year and half to go for China to meet its first centenary target of realizing a moderately prosperous society in an all-around way, decisive progress has been made toward achieving that goal. However, some last remaining deficiencies must be addressed in a targeted manner if it is to be fully realized on time, Xi said at the fourth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs on Monday.

Indeed, more resolute efforts have to be made to tackle the environmental problems that are still prominent and affecting the quality of people's lives, as well as helping the remaining poverty-stricken villagers escape poverty and solving the various problems that people face in getting affordable medical services and the compulsory education that their children are entitled to.

Should those in charge fail to have the right understanding about the nature of these deficiencies and thus fail to make the right policies to address the specific problems, there will still be something left to be desired when the 100th anniversary of the CPC is celebrated in 2021. Even if the right policies have been made, should the efforts to implement them get short shrift because of dereliction of duty on the part of officials in charge, the realizing of the centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects will be found wanting.

And even if the target is met on time, there should be no letup on the efforts by governments of various levels as even more endeavors will be needed to consolidate what has been achieved. In addition, further progress has to be made to raise the quality of Chinese people's lives to an even higher level and to catch up with the developed countries as far as the overall strength of the country is concerned.

A moderately prosperous society is just the immediate target and a steppingstone toward China's second centenary goal of building China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious in time for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2049.