Xi Jinping's dedication to serving the good of the Chinese people

BEIJING: Fifty-five years ago, 15-year-old Xi Jinping, as an “educated youth”, visited Liangjiahe Village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. He then spent seven years in the countryside, working and living alongside farmers.

These years helped strengthen his steadfast belief in doing practical things for the people, Xi recalled.

After being elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in November 2012, he pledged his continued dedication to serving the people. “The people's wish for a happy life is our mission.”

From secretary of the rural branch of the Party to general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, to Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, Xi Jinping always has the country in mind and regards himself as the servant of the people.

Man of the people

Xi arrived in Liangjiahe as a slightly disconcerted teenager and left at the age of 22, determined to serve the people.

He then traveled to Zhengding, a poor county in northern China's Hebei province. Li Yaping, then in charge of Zhengding County, recalled that Xi said China had a lot of things to do and needed some people to take responsibility.

From his early years, Xi seemed uninterested in office trappings. He would travel for days, sometimes into the mountains, to talk with the people at the base, learn about their difficulties and help them solve their problems.

In Zhengding, Xi rode across the county on an old bicycle and noticed that the state's annual grain purchase quota of 38 million kilograms had left the local population hungry.

He wrote to the CPC Central Committee, suggesting that local farmers' difficulties were caused by the high purchasing quota. After the investigation team learned of the situation, it reduced the quota from 38 million kilograms to 24 million kilograms.

Cheng Baohuai, then secretary of the Zhengding County CPC Committee, recalled that people appreciated Xi's work, saying they finally had enough food. Xi truly rooted himself in the people and took the people's difficulties to heart, Cheng said.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xi has made more than 100 local visits, including to urban and rural areas.

He expressed concerns about food markets being adequately supplied during the holidays, residents' access to medical care and migrant workers' wages. Meeting the pressing needs of the population is on the agenda of central authorities and has become the driving force for reforms.

“We now practice a people-centered development philosophy,” Xi said at a symposium on eradicating extreme poverty on June 23, 2017. “People-centered development should focus on what people need. people need it most. »

Under Xi's leadership, China has seen historic changes, with the elimination of absolute poverty and the achievement of moderate prosperity for the country's 1.4 billion people.

China's per capita disposable income in 2023, for example, increased by 6.1% year-on-year, and the income gap between urban and rural residents continued to narrow. The gains in poverty eradication have been consolidated and expanded, with per capita income in rural areas lifted out of poverty increasing by 8.4 percent last year.

“China's modernization aims to ensure that development is for the people and by the people and that its fruits are shared by the people,” Xi said at a seminar in February 2023.

Asked about his feelings after being elected president of China during a visit to Italy, Xi acknowledged the enormous responsibility and arduous task of governing such a large country, but expressed his dedication to China's development.

“For the sake of my people, I will put aside my own well-being,” Xi said.