Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : One defining feature of President Xi Jinping’s leadership has been his emphasis on discipline, merit and accountability. Soon after taking office in 2012, he launched an anti-corruption campaign targeting both senior “tigers” and junior “flies.” Millions of officials have since been investigated or disciplined, reinforcing the principle that public office is a public trust. This resolve reflects a central warning in Xi Jinping: The Governance of China: “We must uphold the principle that all are equal before discipline, that there are no privileges in observing discipline, and that no one is immune from its enforcement.”
For Xi, effective governance must ultimately improve people’s lives. Development is therefore measured not only by economic growth but also by better public services, education, healthcare, environmental protection and social stability. China’s ability to pursue these goals over decades reflects the policy continuity described throughout The Governance of China. As Xi declared on assuming the country’s leadership, “The people’s wish for a happy life is our mission.”
China’s infrastructure revolution demonstrates this long-term approach. By the end of 2024, its railway system extended 162,000 kilometres, including 48,000 kilometres of high-speed rail—the world’s largest network. China also had 5.49 million kilometres of roads, including 190,000 kilometres of expressways; 263 transport airports; 129,000 kilometres of navigable waterways; and 22,219 productive port berths. These networks have reduced travel times, lowered logistics costs, integrated inland and coastal markets and supported national modernization. They embody Xi’s instruction in The Governance of China to “promote coordinated development and foster synergy,” turning connectivity into shared economic opportunity.
My visit to Fujian Province in 2012 offered an early glimpse of this transformation. Roads linked industrial parks with ports, universities worked with research centres, and efficient public services coexisted with clean, carefully planned cities. What impressed me most was not any single project, but the integration of transport, industry, education, technology and the environment within a strategy measured in decades. It reflected Xi’s insistence that “strategic issues are fundamental to the success of a political party and a country,” and that long-term goals must be pursued with consistency.
China’s manufacturing sector has similarly advanced from low-cost assembly to sophisticated industrial production. By 2025, manufacturing generated about US$4.82 trillion in value added—roughly one-quarter of national GDP—while China produced nearly one-third of global manufacturing output. Its factories now make electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, high-speed trains, telecommunications equipment, robots, medical devices and aerospace components. In 2026, high-technology manufacturing was growing by more than 13 percent and equipment manufacturing by about 8.7 percent. This ascent up the value chain reflects Xi’s conviction in The Governance of China that “innovation is the primary driving force for development.”
Scientific research supplies the foundation for this industrial upgrading. By 2026, China’s R&D spending had reached about 2.8 percent of GDP and, when adjusted for purchasing power, was estimated at more than US$1.1 trillion. China led the Nature Index in high-quality research output, while the Chinese Academy of Sciences ranked among the world’s foremost research institutions. Facilities such as the FAST radio telescope, EAST fusion reactor and advanced quantum laboratories illustrate the scale of investment. As Xi states, “Science and technology are our primary productive force, talent is our primary resource, and innovation is our primary driver of growth.”
China’s digital economy makes this transformation visible in everyday life. Mobile payments allow vendors and rural businesses to participate in modern commerce, while e-commerce, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and automated logistics connect producers with consumers nationwide. In 2026, integrated-circuit production reportedly approached 280 billion units in the first half of the year, while Chinese companies competed in generative AI, robotics, autonomous mobility and smart manufacturing. During my 2024 visit, I saw digital technology woven seamlessly into transport, banking, retail, tourism and public services. This is the practical expression of Xi’s call to “accelerate the building of a digital economy, a digital society and a digital government.”
Environmental protection has become another pillar of China’s development strategy. After decades of industrialization caused serious pollution, ecological conservation moved to the centre of national policy. The Ecological and Environmental Code, adopted in March 2026, consolidated rules on pollution, biodiversity, conservation and climate action. The 15th Five-Year Plan targets a 17 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030, alongside continued progress toward peaking emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. This policy is rooted in Xi’s best-known ecological principle in The Governance of China: “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.”
China is now the world’s largest renewable-energy investor and leading manufacturer of solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and batteries. By May 2026, its installed generating capacity had reached 4.01 terawatts, with renewables accounting for about 61 percent. Solar capacity exceeded 1,240 gigawatts and wind approached 660 gigawatts, supported by ultra-high-voltage transmission, smart grids and expanding battery storage. Electric buses, metro networks and new-energy vehicles have also transformed urban transport. During my 2024 visit, I was impressed by the cleaner air, widespread electric vehicles and integration of green spaces into cities. These achievements answer Xi’s call to “accelerate the formation of green development models and green ways of life.”
China’s ecological commitment extends beyond energy. Afforestation, desertification control, river and wetland restoration, water conservation, soil rehabilitation and industrial pollution control have become integral to modernization. China nevertheless remains the world’s largest carbon emitter and still depends heavily on coal, making the transition incomplete. Yet its scale of renewable deployment and ecological restoration shows how planning, investment and technology can reconcile growth with sustainability. In Xi’s words, “Protecting the environment is protecting productivity, and improving the environment is boosting productivity.”
China’s experience also demonstrates the strategic value of investing in people. By 2026, it operated the world’s largest education system, with about 470,000 institutions, 286 million students and 18.7 million full-time teachers. More than 48.5 million students attended over 3,160 higher-education institutions, while vocational colleges supplied much of the skilled workforce required by industry. Universities have increasingly introduced programmes in AI, robotics, intelligent manufacturing and advanced materials. This emphasis follows Xi’s directive: “We must give high priority to the development of education, build China’s self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and rely on talent to pioneer and propel development.”
For developing countries—especially Pakistan—China offers practical lessons. Sustainable progress requires more than money or isolated projects: it demands visionary leadership, institutional continuity, quality education, vocational skills, technological innovation and disciplined execution. Pakistan’s youthful population can become an economic asset only if equipped with relevant skills and opportunities, while national priorities must survive changes of government and be judged by measurable outcomes. This is the essence of the people-centred modernization presented in The Governance of China: “Development is for the people, by the people, and its fruits are shared by the people.” China’s experience shows that when leadership, institutions and human capability move toward a common national purpose, transformation on an extraordinary scale becomes possible.
(To be continued in Part III: The Belt and Road Initiative, CPEC, China’s Global Vision, and the Future of the China–Pakistan Partnership.)

Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : Seventy-five years ago, on May 21, 1951, Pakistan became one of the earliest countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Few could have imagined then that this bilateral relationship would evolve into one of the world’s most enduring strategic partnerships—surviving changing geopolitical landscapes, economic transformations, regional conflicts, and shifting global alliances.
Today, as both nations celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the friendship stands not merely as a testament to diplomatic continuity but as a remarkable example of mutual trust, shared respect, unwavering support, and common aspirations for peace and development.
Yet, the celebration of this milestone coincides with another extraordinary story—the unprecedented rise of modern China. Within the span of a few decades, China has transformed itself from one of the world’s poorest nations into the second-largest economy, the world’s largest manufacturing nation, the world’s largest trading country in goods, the global leader in high-speed rail, renewable energy, electric vehicles, digital commerce, and advanced infrastructure.
According to the World Bank, China has averaged annual economic growth of around 9 percent for more than four decades and lifted nearly 800 million people out of extreme poverty, accounting for more than three-quarters of global poverty reduction during that period. Few achievements in modern economic history rival this transformation.
As someone who has spent decades serving Pakistan in public communication, diplomacy, and strategic affairs—including as Press Secretary to the President of Pakistan and Press Minister at Pakistan’s Embassy in France—I have had the privilege of witnessing many societies at different stages of development. During my diplomatic assignment in Malaysia, I observed firsthand how visionary leadership transformed that country into one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Later, while serving in Europe, I travelled extensively across France and many other European nations and also visited Canada and the United States. Each represented different models of prosperity, governance, and technological advancement.
Here’s a stronger and more historically connected version of the paragraph. It naturally links your personal observation to Xi Jinping’s leadership in Fujian and sets up the rest of the article. (One factual refinement: Xi Jinping served in Fujian from 1985 to 2002, including as Governor of Fujian Province (1999–2002), before becoming Party Secretary of Zhejiang and later China’s top leader.)
However, my visits to China left an altogether different impression. In 2012, I was part of an official delegation that visited Fujian Province. China was already advancing rapidly, yet Fujian stood out even among China’s most dynamic provinces. We witnessed world-class highways, meticulously planned cities, modern ports, thriving industrial parks, advanced research institutions, efficient governance, and an impressive level of economic vitality. What struck me even more was the discipline of the people, the cleanliness of public spaces, and the remarkable harmony between rapid urbanization and environmental stewardship. Having just completed four years in Malaysia, itself regarded as a development success story, I found Fujian’s pace and scale of transformation truly exceptional.
Only later did I fully appreciate that much of what I had witnessed bore the imprint of Xi Jinping’s leadership. President Xi spent nearly eighteen formative years in Fujian, serving in a succession of senior leadership positions before becoming Governor of Fujian Province from 1999 to 2002.
During this period, he championed export-oriented growth, modernization of ports, improvement of transport infrastructure, ecological conservation, private-sector development, administrative efficiency, and greater openness to international investment.
Equally important, he emphasized balanced development, insisting that economic progress should advance alongside environmental protection and improvements in people’s quality of life. Many of the policies, governance practices, and development concepts he pioneered in Fujian would later reappear on the national stage after he assumed China’s highest leadership.
Looking back, my visit to Fujian was more than an opportunity to observe one of China’s most prosperous provinces; it was, in many respects, an early glimpse of the governing philosophy that President Xi would subsequently apply across the country.
The disciplined administration, integrated infrastructure, technological advancement, environmental consciousness, and people-centred development model that I observed in Fujian later became defining features of China’s broader modernization under his leadership. Understanding Fujian, therefore, provides an important window into understanding Xi Jinping’s vision for China’s national rejuvenation.
When I returned to China in 2024, the transformation was even more striking. The China I encountered was more technologically sophisticated, more environmentally conscious, and more confident than before. High-speed rail seamlessly connected distant cities. Electric buses and new-energy vehicles had become commonplace. Mobile payments had virtually replaced cash. Artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital technologies were integrated into daily life. Modern airports, innovation parks, smart manufacturing zones, and clean urban landscapes reflected not only economic prosperity but also a society embracing the future with confidence.
Such a transformation did not occur by chance. It was the outcome of long-term strategic planning, institutional continuity, disciplined governance, sustained investment in human capital, technological innovation, and above all, visionary leadership.
Under General Secretary Xi Jinping, China’s modernization entered a new phase—one focused not simply on rapid growth but on high-quality development, technological self-reliance, ecological sustainability, common prosperity, disciplined governance, and a more active role in global affairs.
To understand this transformation, one must read President Xi’s remarkable works—Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Up and Out of Poverty, and Xi Jinping on the Belt and Road Initiative. Together, these books explain not merely policies but a comprehensive philosophy of governance.
In Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, President Xi repeatedly emphasizes that “the people are at the center” of national development. Economic growth is meaningful only when it improves people’s lives, strengthens social harmony, protects the environment, advances innovation, and ensures that prosperity is broadly shared.
The volumes discuss governance reform, Party discipline, ecological civilization, modernization, technological innovation, national rejuvenation, and China’s vision for international cooperation. Rather than presenting abstract theories, the books demonstrate how long-term planning, institutional discipline, and implementation can translate policy into measurable national progress.
The roots of this philosophy are deeply personal. Xi Jinping was born in Beijing on June 15, 1953. His father, Xi Zhongxun, was a respected revolutionary leader who later fell victim to political persecution during the Cultural Revolution. As a teenager, Xi Jinping experienced the hardship of political upheaval. At the age of fifteen, he was sent to Liangjiahe Village in Shaanxi Province, where he lived for seven years in a cave dwelling, performing manual agricultural labor alongside ordinary villagers.
Those years profoundly shaped his worldview. Rather than distancing him from the Chinese people, they immersed him in the realities of rural poverty. He experienced first-hand the absence of modern infrastructure, the difficulties of agricultural life, and the aspirations of ordinary citizens. These experiences, as reflected in his writings and speeches, convinced him that genuine governance must begin with understanding people’s everyday lives.
This philosophy is perhaps best illustrated in Up and Out of Poverty, a collection of Xi Jinping’s reflections during his leadership in Fujian Province. The book rejects the notion that poverty can be eliminated through temporary relief alone. Instead, it argues that sustainable development requires empowering people through education, infrastructure, healthcare, employment, industrial development, and local initiative. In essence, it advocates teaching people how to create lasting prosperity rather than simply providing short-term assistance.
China’s implementation of this philosophy has few historical parallels. Between 2012 and 2020, China completed what the United Nations described as the eradication of extreme rural poverty under its national standard. Nearly 100 million rural residents were lifted above that threshold through targeted poverty alleviation programs.
Millions of officials were deployed to villages to identify the precise causes of poverty for individual households. Assistance was tailored through vocational training, industrial development, relocation from inhospitable regions, improved education, healthcare, housing, and modern infrastructure. According to the World Bank, China’s broader poverty reduction since reform and opening-up remains the single largest contribution to global poverty reduction in recorded history.
This achievement illustrates one of the central themes running throughout The Governance of China: development succeeds when governments invest not merely in projects, but in people.
(To be continued in Part II.)

Paris (Imran Y. CHOUDHRY) :- Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France, Former MD, SRBC Mr. Qamar Bashir analysis : It is the story of Muslim football at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The first 48-team World Cup has provided an unprecedented platform for nations from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and the strong presence of Muslim-majority countries has become one of the tournament’s most heartening features. Their participation demonstrates how dramatically the football map has changed within only a few decades.
Fourteen Muslim-majority nations entered the tournament, representing diverse football traditions and levels of development. Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Tunisia came from Africa; Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan and Uzbekistan represented Asia and the Middle East; while Türkiye and Bosnia and Herzegovina carried the hopes of their supporters from the European football landscape.
Six Muslim-majority nations went further and reached the Round of 32: Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Côte d’Ivoire. Some were eliminated after courageous battles, but their collective presence in the knockout phase reflected the steady rise of football across societies that, only a few decades ago, enjoyed limited representation at the highest level.
After a tense 1–1 battle with Australia, the Egyptians held their nerve in the decisive penalty shootout and won 4–2. Their reward is a formidable Round-of-16 confrontation with Argentina. Whatever the eventual result, Egypt has already demonstrated the psychological strength, organisation and competitive character required to survive knockout football.
Then came Morocco. On July 4, the Atlas Lions defeated co-host Canada 3–0 and marched into the quarterfinals. Four years after becoming the first African and Arab nation to reach a World Cup semifinal, Morocco has again placed itself among football’s elite. Its repeated success can no longer be dismissed as a fortunate tournament run or a momentary sporting miracle.
Morocco’s rise is the product of planning, investment, scouting, academies, coaching and intelligent integration of players developed in highly competitive football environments. Great teams are not assembled a few months before qualifying matches. They are constructed patiently through systems that discover talent early, monitor its progress and protect its development until gifted children mature into international professionals.
This is perhaps the most important lesson for Pakistan. Talent without a system is frequently wasted, and Pakistan is one of the most painful examples of this reality. A country of more than 240 million people, blessed with enormous youth energy and a powerful overseas community, remains far removed from the greatest football competition on earth.
The contradiction is particularly striking because footballs manufactured in Sialkot have repeatedly been associated with the world’s biggest football tournaments. Pakistani hands can manufacture a ball worthy of the World Cup stage, yet Pakistan has failed to develop a national team capable of consistently approaching that stage. This contradiction should not merely disappoint us; it should embarrass us into action.
Football is played with passion in Lyari, Karachi, Quetta, Chaman, Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab and countless streets and school grounds across Pakistan. Pakistani children growing up in Europe, North America and the Middle East are also exposed to sophisticated football cultures. The human material exists, but there is no uninterrupted production line capable of discovering, adopting, training and projecting it towards elite competition.
Here lies the uncomfortable truth. Asking Pakistan to establish another national mechanism, create another committee, launch another academy programme and invite coaches from successful football countries may sound impressive, but it is unlikely to produce the required revolution. Pakistan’s sporting history is already littered with institutions, federations, plans, committees and announcements that began with ambition and disappeared into administrative lethargy.
The problem is deeper than coaching. A system vulnerable to political interference, nepotism, personal recommendations, institutional rivalries and painfully slow decision-making cannot be repaired merely by importing a Moroccan or Egyptian coach. Even the finest international expert will eventually become trapped inside a structure that does not identify children transparently, protect merit or maintain a development programme for 15 consecutive years. Pakistan therefore does not need another football institution operating exclusively within Pakistan.
It needs access to a larger, independent and professionally governed international football development mechanism. The 2026 World Cup should inspire the creation of a Muslim Football Development Alliance representing participating Muslim-majority countries and operating beyond the weaknesses of individual national sporting bureaucracies.
The Muslim world has already understood the importance of collective mechanisms in security, finance, trade and diplomacy. Pakistan’s strategic importance in security cooperation is often linked to its military capability and nuclear status. Football obviously belongs to an entirely different field, but the institutional principle of pooling complementary strengths remains relevant. Countries possessing different assets can achieve collectively what weaker members cannot accomplish alone.
A Muslim Football Development Alliance should therefore have its own constitution, independent secretariat, professional management, scouting directorate, technical board and transparent funding system. It should not be controlled by the football federation of Pakistan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia or any other single member. Its loyalty must be to football development, measurable performance and the children selected purely on talent.
Most importantly, the alliance must go to the talent rather than wait for talent to navigate broken national systems. Its international scouting teams should travel to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Central Asia, Africa and other Muslim-majority societies where millions of children play football but professional development pathways remain weak or nonexistent.
The scouts should visit schools, streets, village grounds, local clubs and community tournaments. In Pakistan, they should go to Lyari, Chaman, Quetta, Gilgit-Baltistan, Karachi, Punjab and every region where football is played with passion. A child should not require a political recommendation, family connection, federation official or influential telephone call to be seen. The football field must introduce the child.
Once exceptional talent is identified, the alliance should effectively adopt the player’s football development. This does not mean separating children recklessly from their families or cultures. It means assuming professional responsibility for their sporting journey by providing scholarships, nutrition, education support, medical care, sports science, qualified coaching and regular international exposure.
Every selected child should have a digital development record that follows him throughout the programme. At ten, technical control, balance and football intelligence should be measured. At twelve, physical development and positional potential should be assessed. At fourteen, advanced tactical training should intensify, and by sixteen the strongest prospects should regularly compete against international opposition.
At eighteen, the best players should already be connected with professional clubs, elite academies or competitive leagues. The alliance must maintain responsibility for the pathway rather than simply organise a trial, distribute certificates, take photographs and disappear. A gifted child discovered at nine may require ten years of uninterrupted attention before becoming capable of representing a national team.
The objective should never be to create one combined Muslim football team. Every player must ultimately represent his own country under international football regulations and national eligibility requirements. The alliance’s purpose would be to develop human talent for national teams that currently lack the institutional ability to identify and nurture their best children.
Football is also a gigantic economic industry encompassing broadcasting, sponsorship, stadiums, academies, merchandising, tourism, sports medicine, data analytics and professional leagues. The Muslim world possesses money, youth, passion and successful football models, but it lacks a common mechanism capable of systematically transferring those strengths to countries where talent is abundant but development structures are weak.
Pakistan’s World Cup dream is not impossible. Its talent has simply been left undiscovered, unprotected and undeveloped for too long. Morocco has shown what a system can achieve, while the wider Muslim world possesses the money, knowledge and infrastructure to build something greater together. Pakistan already makes the ball. Now, together, the Muslim world must help Pakistan make the players who can conquer it.