July 1, 2025, marks the 104th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Looking back on more than a century of striving, it is under the Party's strong leadership that the Chinese people have continuously turned the 'impossible' into the 'possible.' The historic transformation of the Chinese nation - from standing up, to growing prosperous and becoming strong - has been fundamentally driven by the leadership of the CPC.The book series of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China contains multiple important speeches on upholding and strengthening the Party's leadership. In the article 'Maximize the Institutional Strength of CPC Leadership' included in Volume III of the book series, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, emphasized that governing a large country with more than 1.3 billion people, the Party must improve its leadership systems and mechanisms, give full play to the great strength of leadership by the Party, and shoulder the major responsibilities of carrying out our great struggle, developing our great project, advancing our great cause, and realizing our great dream. Only in this way can we ensure national reunification, uniform laws and policies and consistent market management, achieve economic development, clean political administration, cultural prosperity, social justice and healthy ecosystems, and smoothly advance the causes of Chinese socialism in the new era.In Volume IV, Xi further stressed in the article titled 'Speech at the Ceremony Marking the Centenary of the Communist Party of China' that the leadership of the Party is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and constitutes the greatest strength of this system. It is the foundation and lifeblood of the Party and the country, and the crux upon which the interests and wellbeing of all Chinese people depend.Looking ahead, only by upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership can we fully build a great modern socialist country in all respects as scheduled and achieve the grand goal of national rejuvenation.In the seventh installment of the special series 'Decoding the Book of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China,' the Global Times, along with People's Daily Overseas Edition, focuses on the theme: 'Upholding CPC's overall leadership is China's greatest political advantage.' We continue to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to explore the CPC's institutional strengths and real-world results in theoretical innovation, political development, organizational structure and its people-centered approach - and to collectively answer the question of our times: 'Why is the CPC successful?'In the seventh article of the 'Readers' Reflections' column, Global Times (GT) reporters Ma Jingjing and Qi Xijia talked to Jack Perry Junior (Perry), chairman of the 48 Group Club to listen to his family's story of connections with the CPC in the span over 70 years. For over 70 years, three generations of the Perry family have been engaged in in-depth interactions with China and the CPC, and witnessed the miracle of China's development.

My grandfather (Jack Perry Senior)'s first interaction with the Communist Party of China (CPC) was a meeting with representatives of the then premier Zhou Enlai. They hoped that my grandfather would help reopen the China-British and China-Europe business and trade channels.In July 1953, my grandfather led a group of industrial and business leaders on a groundbreaking journey to China. They received a warm welcome in Beijing, where they inked a trade agreement worth 30 million pounds ($40.37 million) with the Chinese government, which was the first trade deal between a Western business community and the People's Republic of China. The visit defies the blockade imposed by the West on the newly founded People's Republic of China and is well known as the 'Icebreaking Mission' between China and Britain. After that, my grandfather decided to focus his business on developing trade with China. He firmly believed that the new China led by the CPC would once again become a pillar of global trade.The Perry family has close connections with China under the leadership of the CPC and witnessed those most profound reforms - from the initial development in the 1950s after the founding of the new China, to the rapid surge of economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and then to the economic takeoff in the 21st century.In a congratulatory letter to an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 'Icebreaking Mission' in China-UK trade in July 2023, President Xi Jinping pointed out that 70 years ago, British entrepreneurs represented by Jack Perry, keenly seeing the bright future of New China and the huge potential of China-UK cooperation, broke the ice of ideology with courage, and took the lead in opening up the channel of China-UK trade exchanges. Over the past seven decades, generations of 'icebreakers' have witnessed and actively participated in China's development and reform, and achieved their own development and growth through mutually beneficial cooperation, Xi said.My father, Stephen Perry, met President Xi for three times. In 2018, President Xi presented the China Reform Friendship Medal to my father. Through long-term friendly exchanges with China, the Perry family has deeply felt the strategic foresight demonstrated by the CPC in exploring China's development path. We firmly believe that the wisdom of the CPC in governing the country will continue to inject strong momentum into China's stable development in the long run, create more opportunities for countries around the world, and contribute more Chinese solutions to achieving inclusive global development.New China, led by the CPC, has always been moving forward. The CPC and the Chinese government not only focus on addressing pressing immediate issues in the short term but also possess far-sighted vision - they take a 30-year, 40-year, or even longer-term perspective and formulate long-term goals and development plans based on scientific analysis. This forward-looking thinking enables China to maintain its course across different historical stages.Facts have proven that the CPC and the Chinese government have consistently kept their commitments, following through on their promises with unwavering resolve and exceptional execution. They have led the Chinese people to overcome myriad obstacles and achieve one magnificent goal after another. Such cohesion and execution capacity not only commands admiration but also demonstrates extraordinary strength, serving as a solid foundation for driving national development and progress.For example, China is generally able to effectively meet its domestic demand in areas such as agriculture, commodities, and oil refining - a challenge that would be difficult for any other country. This primarily stems from the CPC's consistent focus on achieving a happy life for the people as its core objective and its unswerving commitment to improving people's livelihoods, and promoting social equity, and harmony. The CPC cares about the feelings and needs of rural residents, ensuring that everyone can achieve success through their own efforts. This people-centered development philosophy has fostered social stability and the people's well-being in China, providing a solid foundation for economic development.President Xi has frequently talked about three key words: high-quality development, new quality productive forces, and high-level opening-up. These reflect China's forward-looking mindset and a development direction that China always maintains. Focusing on 'AI+', a delegation of the 48 Group visited multiple Chinese provinces and cities, including Beijing and East China's Shandong Province recently, in a bid to explore cooperation opportunities in various sectors such as green economy, sci-tech innovations and financial services. The reason we came here is to seize on the development opportunities in China's high-tech field. The CPC and the Chinese government have demonstrated remarkable strategic focus, which ensures the consistency of their policies. Unlike the frequent shifts in Western political leadership and the lack of policy continuity, China has, through a long-term and stable policy environment, created predictable development prospects for global investors. Such a stable environment allows foreign businesses to operate in China with confidence, engage in long-term strategic planning, and make investments. Under the firm leadership of the CPC, China's high-level opening-up not only supports the vigorous growth of foreign enterprises in China but also showcases its remarkable inclusiveness. What impresses me is also China's opening-up stance. Take the various international exhibitions held in China as an example. Even if there are geopolitical differences between China and certain countries, the doors of the exhibitions are always open to all countries and companies, and no participant is rejected. During a meeting with representatives of the international business community in Beijing in March 2025, President Xi noted the twin miracles of rapid economic growth and enduring social stability that China has created over the past seven decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially over the past four decades of reform and opening up. President Xi attributed the miracles to the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China as well as the unity and hard work of the Chinese people, and also to the support and help from the international community, including the contribution of foreign businesses operating in China.Countries around the world and global companies are eager to understand China and share China's market opportunities. In fact, my friends in the business field ask me all the time: 'Jack, what are they doing in China?' I said you should get out there before you miss it, because they're doing a lot.Now the biggest opportunity in the world is to invest in China. China has transformed from traditional manufacturing to advanced equipment manufacturing driven by advanced technology, with cutting-edge technologies such as AI having deeply integrated into this process, injecting strong momentum into the industrial upgrading. Chinese private enterprises are exploring new technologies, striving to improve their strength and technological levels, and continuously moving toward internationalization. They have made significant achievements in various areas, providing abundant cooperation opportunities in the high-tech sectors.We want to work with countries, we want to work with companies, and we want to work with people. And that's what I've always seen with China, under the leadership of the CPC - being inclusive and being one of the leaders in innovation. For more than 70 years, we have always walked shoulder to shoulder with China under the leadership of the CPC. In the future, as the third generation of the Perry family, I will have the honor to continue this mission.July 1 marks the 104th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. To the Chinese people and the CPC, I would like to say thank you! Thank you for trusting a family from London to be your closest overseas partner for over 70 years. It's my humblest and greatest honor that I get to continue this 'icebreaking' spirit in the third generation. My grandfather is 'lao Perry,' my father is 'xiao Perry,' and I'm 'xiaoxiao Perry.' That is truly emotional and I will continue to work hard to keep this friendship going.

This story first appeared in Global Times:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202507/1337428.shtml

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