19th Party Congress a vision for the future

Editor's Note: At the recent "International Think-Tank Symposium, the 19th CPC National Congress: Implications for China and the World", organized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and China Center for International Economic Exchanges, some foreign scholars presented their views on the impact of the 19th Party Congress. Excerpts follow:

Better understanding need of the times

China is entering a new era in which it is paying more attention to narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, and addressing the regional and rural-urban development imbalance and inadequacies, and according greater priority to the spiritual and cultural needs of the people. Thus, a new awareness and sensibility for sustainable development is emerging, and a new approach to the needs of civil society is growing rapidly.