China now in a position to offer roadmaps to the world

CHINA is basking in the interest that the whole world is taking in the 19th congress of its Communist Party and pondering the weighty speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping, who was given the signal honour of having his name incorporated in the party Constitution.

A party conclave generally focuses on domestic affairs, but this one was different. For the first time, China presented itself as a model for other developing countries; in the past, it invariably adopted a low profile.

But that era is over and, in the new era of party leader Xi Jinping, who also serves as president, China seems happy to talk about its achievements, which are certainly impressive, since it moved from extreme poverty 40 years ago to the second largest economy today. In the past, while others talked about a Chinese model of development, sometimes called the Beijing Consensus, China kept quiet. Now, Beijing is openly saying that others can learn from it.