A FIVE-MEMBER delegation of the CPI(M) led by Prakash Karat, general secretary, visited China for a week between June 16 and 22, 2013 at the invitation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The other members of the delegation were A K Padmanabhan, member of the Polit Bureau, Jogendra Sharma, member of the Central Secretariat and P Madhu and Rama Das, members of the Central Committee.

The delegation had discussions with the Central leaders of the CPC in Beijing and visited two provinces – Jiangsu and Henan.

At Beijing, the delegation had meetings and discussions with various leaders of the CPC. The most important meeting was with Liu Yunshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Polit Bureau and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. The other important meeting was with Li Yuanchao, member of the Polit Bureau and vice president of the People’s Republic of China.

In these meetings, the CPC leaders appraised the delegation about the decisions of the 18th National Congress of the CPC held in November last year which had elected a new leadership. Among the matters discussed were the plans for doubling the GDP and the per capita income in the period 2010 to 2020. This would enable China to become a moderately prosperous country by 2020. The goal has also been set for making China a developed socialist country by 2049 which marks the 100th year of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.

The CPC leaders praised the role of the CPI(M) in strengthening relations between India and China. Both sides reaffirmed the fraternal relations between the two parties and decided to further strengthen ties. The CPC leaders stressed the scope for expanding ties between India and China in the light of the President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Durban during the BRICS conference and the subsequent visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India in May this year.

The CPC leaders informed the delegation that a mass line campaign involving the entire party is set to be launched. This campaign which will be undertaken at all levels of the party will go to the people with the decisions taken to achieve the goals set out by the party Congress. The campaign will also hear the views and suggestions from the broad masses which will help the party and cadres to correct and rectify any wrong trends.

Prakash Karat asserted the need for closer cooperation, economic ties and people to people relations between India and China. He said that China and India are the two biggest countries and economies in Asia and they should establish a higher level of cooperation which will be beneficial for Asia and the world. Party to party relations would facilitate these ties.

The CPI(M) delegation visited the office of the Central Commission for the Discipline Inspection of the CPC. It exchanged views with Li Yufu, deputy secretary of the Commission, on the work related to anti-corruption activities and for clean governance.

The delegation held talks with Ai Ping, the vice minister of the International Department of the CPC, where matters of mutual interest and the strengthening of relations between the two parties were discussed.

Prakash Karat also visited the History Research Centre of the CPC Central Committee and discussed with its Deputy Director General Gao Yong Zhong on the decisions of the 18th National Congress of the CPC and the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The delegation visited two provinces – Jiangsu province in the eastern coast and Henan in central China. These visits afforded a glimpse of the different facets of the economic growth and overall development taking place in China today.

In Jiangsu province, the delegation visited Nanjing, the provincial capital, and Suzhou which is an industrial hub. The delegation saw the development of high-tech industries and steps taken for party building at the community level. The delegation visited a factory set-up by a multinational company and heard a report about how party building is taking place at the enterprise level. The 18th Congress had emphasized the importance of party building at the community level and the delegation heard report from the leaders of the Provincial Party School about the various facets of party building.

While Jiangsu is a highly industrialised province, Henan is the most populous province in China which has a strong agricultural base. It is the wheat granary of the country and has advanced in agricultural production and food processing. Here too, the delegation saw the efforts at party building at the village committee level and at the community level.

Meetings were held with the provincial party leaders in both the provinces where the delegation got to know about the steps being taken to implement the decisions taken at the 18th National Congress both at the party and government levels.

The CPI(M) delegation’s visit and discussions have strengthened the fraternal relations between the two parties.