BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- After more than three years of extraordinary journey in its fight against COVID-19, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has once again demonstrated its remarkable ability to steer the nation toward set goals while responding effectively to challenging circumstances.
On Thursday, a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee said that China has scored a major and decisive victory in its response to COVID-19, and has created a miracle in the history of human civilization, in which a highly populous nation has successfully pulled through a pandemic.
It has been proven through practice that the CPC Central Committee's major judgments on the epidemic situation, major decisions on prevention and control work, and major adjustments to prevention and control strategies are completely correct, the meeting said.
Since November 2022, the country has undergone a smooth transition in a relatively short period of time. More than 200 million patients were treated and nearly 800,000 patients in severe condition received effective treatment, and its COVID-19 mortality rate has been kept at the lowest level globally, according to the meeting.
China's decisive victory against the virus demonstrates the ruling CPC's governance capacity. It is also a victory over all the slandering and smearing of the country's epidemic policy by the West.
Always putting the people and their lives first, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has led the whole nation in fighting the virus in unity, and has made the right decisions and policies. The public showed their support for the epidemic prevention and control measures, such as the mask protocol and social distancing requirements.
The country has given full play to its unique institutional strength. Medical resources nationwide were mobilized in the shortest period of time to aid the COVID-19 fight in Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan in early 2020. The production capacity of anti-epidemic materials such as masks, protective suits and medicines was quickly raised to meet the urgent demand thanks to the country's complete industrial system.
As the COVID-19 virus weakened, the country's vaccination rate was over 90 percent, and effective treatment methods and experience were accumulated, China optimized its control and prevention strategies, gradually relaxing quarantine measures. On Jan. 8, China downgraded the management of COVID-19, dealing with it as a Class B infectious disease rather than Class A.
The economic performance has also demonstrated the CPC's strong coordination ability. Over the past three years, China has managed to realize an average growth rate of 4.5 percent, far higher than the global average of 1.8 percent, while its annual rates were much higher than those of major economies such as the United States and Germany.
Achievements in Chinese social development, including the elimination of absolute poverty -- also a miracle for humanity -- and the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, also showed the CPC's outstanding capacity in achieving the set goals despite the impact of COVID-19 and the complicated international environment.
China's economy has gotten off to a good start in 2023, as shown by encouraging indicators ranging from consumption to production. The International Monetary Fund in January projected that China's economy will grow by 5.2 percent in 2023, 0.8 percentage points higher than its October 2022 forecast.
Thursday's meeting called for scientific planning for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, and continued efforts to strengthen the production and supply of medicines and medical materials, and to earnestly deal with weak links in capacity, medicine and equipment at the primary level.
It is certain that the CPC, with ever-stronger governance capacity, will lead the nation to create more miracles on the journey to a great modern socialist country in all respects. ■
