In December 2025, I was invited to attend the launch event for the English edition of the fifth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China in Johannesburg, South Africa. Over 200 guests, including government officials, experts, scholars, and civil society representatives, gathered to exchange views and discuss topics such as sharing experiences in modernization development. Participants unanimously agreed that the publication of the fifth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China provides a “key to understanding” Chinese modernization for South Africans and people worldwide, offering invaluable insights for advancing modernization and enhancing governance capabilities across nations.

Through 91 key discourses across 18 thematic sections, the book vividly captures the pulse of China's journey toward national rejuvenation. It embodies both bold innovation in response to global transformations and unwavering commitment to its founding mission. On its path to modernization, China has not replicated Western models but forged a distinctive development path rooted in its national conditions, offering new possibilities for countries seeking modernization routes suited to their own circumstances.

The people-centered development philosophy is being translated into concrete measures across multiple domains—including education, healthcare, employment, and social security—in China's governance practices. Nearly 100 million rural residents have been lifted out of poverty, basic medical insurance now covers over 1.3 billion people, and the retention rate for nine-year compulsory education has reached 96.1%... These solid achievements and data have tangibly enhanced the Chinese people's sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security, while also contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to global poverty reduction and development efforts.

China has always attached great importance to long-term planning and policy continuity. The Five-Year Plan is a vivid embodiment of the institutional strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics, ensuring that national development can advance continuously along the established strategic blueprint. Since 1953, China has formulated and implemented 14 Five-Year Plans, steadily advancing toward its modernization goals. As it embarks on its 15th Five-Year Plan, China will continue to offer new opportunities to the world through its own modernization drive. South Africa and other African nations can draw on China's development experience by establishing medium- and long-term institutional arrangements and implementation mechanisms to ensure the continuity and sustainability of their national development agendas, thereby advancing the solid implementation of sustainable development goals.

Scientific and technological innovation is a key theme in the fifth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. The emphasis on new quality productive forces signifies that China's economic development is undergoing a profound transformation—shifting from factor-driven growth to innovation-driven high-quality development. Take the transportation sector as an example: The domestically developed C919 large passenger aircraft, the first to be designed according to internationally recognized airworthiness standards, has achieved commercial flight; The CR450 next-generation high-speed train set achieved a test speed of 453 kilometers per hour in single-unit operation, further cementing China's leading position in high-speed rail technology. By continuously pushing the boundaries of cutting-edge technology and developing new productive forces, China is contributing incremental value to global scientific progress. Through active technology transfer and capacity cooperation, China is sharing development opportunities with partner countries and jointly advancing the construction of an open, inclusive, and collaborative global industrial ecosystem.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Africa. Over the past seven decades, both sides have consistently advanced side by side on the path to modernization. Building on shared values, they have progressively transformed their modernization vision into tangible cooperative outcomes through a series of pragmatic measures. South Africa places high importance on its new-era comprehensive strategic partnership with China, with cooperation spanning trade and investment, infrastructure, digital technology, and people-to-people exchanges. Moving forward, South Africa looks forward to continuing to work with China to advance the Ten Major Partnership Initiatives for Modernization and actively implement the Four Global Initiatives, empowering the development and revitalization of Global South nations and contributing to the realization of the modernization dream for both Africa and China. (Liaoxin News Agency)

(The author is Director of the Centre for Public Policy and African Studies at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa)