Editor's Note: As this year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, CGTN has launched a Q&A session inviting experts to answer our readers' most pressing questions. These questions were compiled based on questionnaires we distributed to readers across our social media platforms.

China, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has forged its own distinct path to modernization, one rooted in its own unique national conditions and philosophy.

Yet some global observers cling to the misconception that modernization equals Westernization, and remain skeptical about the Chinese modernization led by the CPC.

To address this perspective gap, CGTN conducted a written interview with Fang Tao, a researcher at the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Fang: Chinese modernization has been pioneered under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and the Party's leadership directly determines the direction, future and ultimate success of Chinese modernization.

First and foremost, the Party's leadership defines the fundamental nature of Chinese modernization. As a Marxist political party, the CPC stays true to its original aspiration and founding mission: seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation.  This commitment dictates that Chinese modernization must adhere to socialism and follow the Chinese path. The Party provides the Chinese modernization efforts with scientific guidance, robust institutional guarantees and a powerful source of spiritual strength.

Second, the Party's leadership ensures that Chinese modernization remains anchored to its goals and progresses steadily. While holding onto its lofty ideals, the CPC continuously focuses on the strategic goal of building a modern socialist country. It advances this cause in successive, coordinated strides through the scientific formulation and consecutive implementation of five-year plans.

Third, the Party's leadership ignites a robust momentum for advancing Chinese modernization. By continuously pressing ahead with institutional reforms across all sectors, the Party unlock vitality throughout the society. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party has deepened comprehensive reforms, further emancipated the mind, eliminated institutional bottlenecks, and improved systemic frameworks and the rule of law. This has created a favorable development environment that motivates all stakeholders, thereby continuously liberating and developing productive forces while driving social progress.

And fourth, the Party's leadership pools collective strength for Chinese modernization. The CPC adheres to the "mass line" – an important guideline defining Party-people relations – and a people-centered philosophy of development. By focusing on securing and improving people's livelihoods and developing whole-process people's democracy, the Party inspires the people to dedicate themselves to modernization with a strong sense of ownership and initiative.

CGTN: A 13-year Harvard Kennedy School survey of 30,000 Chinese released in 2020, found that over 90% of the Chinese people are satisfied with the central government led by the CPC. What do you see as the primary drivers behind the CPC's high level of approval?

Fang: For one, the CPC takes wholeheartedly serving the people as its fundamental purpose and regards delivering benefits to the people as its greatest political achievement. Guided by the practical needs of the people, the Party consistently addresses their most pressing concerns to improve their well-being. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party has set meeting the people's aspirations for a better life as its goal, aiming to delivering benefits including better education, jobs, incomes, social security, medical and healthcare services, housing conditions and environment.

For the other, the CPC prioritizes self-governance, steadily advancing work to improve conduct, uphold integrity and fight corruption. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party has blazed a distinctive Chinese path of anti-corruption that addresses both symptoms and root causes, and advances the efforts to ensure officials don't dare to, are unable to and have no desire to commit acts of corruption. It cracks down hard on corruption, improves institutional frameworks and laws and regulations, and strengthen checks on and oversight over the exercise of power, among others.

Fang: The latest wave of technological revolution, spearheaded by artificial intelligence, is rapidly reshaping how people work and live. This creates both opportunities and challenges for upholding and advancing Marxism.

Even though society has undergone dramatic transformations, China adheres to a principle of upholding foundational truths while pursuing innovative progress. It firmly sticks to the basic tenets of Marxism and keeps up with evolving times. China applies Marxism's core standpoints, perspectives and approaches to examine how AI alters productive forces and production relations, economic bases and superstructures, as well as national governance and social development.

China does not treat Marxism as rigid, unchanging dogma. Instead, it leverages Marxism's scientific worldview and analytical tools to observe, interpret and shape the modern world. This enables the country to identify underlying patterns amid complex global shifts, and better tackle risks and difficulties brought by emerging technologies such as AI for the better of China and the wider world.