Farmers in Neihuang County, central China's Henan Province, arrange red peppers and corn into the flag of the Communist Party of China before the opening of the 18th National Congress of the Party [Liu Xiaokun]

The 18th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) will kick off in Beijing on November 8. The conference will elect a new Party leadership. International media are calling it an event of great global significance alongside the U.S. presidential election.

The leadership change of the Party will significantly influence the political, economic and social development of China. The upcoming Party leadership faces a number of challenges, questions and expectations in managing the world's most rapidly growing and populous country.

The country has ranked as the second biggest economy in the world since 2010. China is expected to realize its goal of becoming a moderately prosperous country by 2020. Therefore, the next 10 years are crucial to fulfilling the nation's development goals. In light of a global economy that is widely affected by the current financial crisis, it is of absolutely importance to maintain stable economic and social development. In the past several years, China has taken measures to maintain steady growth and adjust its economy to achieve quick recovery. Only by addressing the current bottleneck of development can China make its ambition of national revival come true and contribute more to the world economy.

Another major focus for China is combating corruption. Whether this problem can be adequately addressed is vital to the Party's credibility among the public. In a recent speech on August 21, He Guoqiang, Secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission and member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC, indicated that the 18th National Congress of the CPC will map out new ways of fighting corruption. He stressed that future anti-corruption work will focus on strengthening the penal system. Thus, how to effectively fight corruption is a major test the new leadership is faced with.

In addition, there are many other issues that people expect to be addressed, such as problems pertaining to rural life and agriculture, soaring prices, housing, education, medical care, employment, income disparity and environmental protection. All of these issues concern the people's well-being and call for an immediate solution.

Despite serious challenges ahead, the reality of past decades shows that China only improves itself with the convening of each national congress of the CPC. Hopes are high that the 18th congress will again prove this point.