The phrase "a beautiful life" was used several times in the report that General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Oct 18, which reflects the people-oriented development approach of the Party leadership with Xi at the core.

To have a beautiful life has long been a dream of the Chinese people. To help people lead a better life, by extending them equal opportunities and tapping their potential to the maximum, is the ultimate goal of China's development and a motivator for its further development. Chinese people will pursue a beautiful life, as Xi said in his report, for the comfort, happiness and security it brings.

Over the past five years, Chinese people's living conditions have greatly improved, with more than 60 million people lifted out of poverty and the education system in the less-developed and central and western regions improved. China's employment conditions are also better, and the incomes of urban and rural residents have grown faster than the GDP. The middle-income group has expanded, and the healthcare and social governance systems have vastly improved.

But by mentioning "a beautiful life" several times, Xi did not mean the authorities are satisfied with the improvement in people's living conditions. Instead, it means one of the Party's goals will be to ensure people succeed in their pursuit of such a life, for which it will introduce measures to extend the benefits of deepened reform and development to all. The fact that Xi used "a beautiful life" several times in the report shows that people can expect a sustainable beautiful life in the future.

That is also why Xi said there is a new contradiction between people's ever-growing needs for a beautiful life and China's unbalanced and inadequate development. Resolving this will be an imperative task in the new era.

The realization of "a beautiful life" should not be confined to a well-devised vision for the people. As Xi said, it is by no means an easy task to realize the goal, as it will require the unrelenting efforts of all Chinese people, even for a couple of generations.

It is, therefore, important for China to make further efforts to deepen reforms, extend the ongoing reforms in the administrative, economic and cultural fields to other areas, and thoroughly cure the ailments plaguing existing mechanisms and institutions, so as to release the vitality of the nongovernment sector and promote creativity. China should also continue to be receptive to constructive foreign concepts and have an inclusive approach toward the international community, with the aim of totally integrating with it.

Ignoring the resistance of vested interest groups to reforms, China should instead deepen the reforms to enhance public confidence in their effectiveness for the betterment of the country as a whole.

Moreover, the authorities should exercise restraint when it comes to using their powers and, instead, strengthen regulations to guarantee equal competition and fair transaction among market players, creating an open, competitive and orderly market in which every citizen's rights to equal participation, development and private property are protected. To ensure the people succeed in their pursuit of a beautiful life, government departments should, based on their actual conditions, work more efficiently and expedite institution building to facilitate the smooth functioning of the sharing economy.

Apart from their sense of material gain, Chinese people also have higher demands for the rule of law, economic equality, justice, security and a pollution-free environment, which are important for a "beautiful life".

Standing at a new historical starting point, the Chinese people are surely capable of overcoming the obstacles ahead.

This article was first published on ifeng.com.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/27/2017 page22)