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By Luan Xiang
BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The path of China's future development matters to mankind in its pursuit of prosperity, said German sociologist Heinz Dieterich in interview with Xinhua on Wednesday.
"China is the only real global power that has the potential to opt for a development model different from the Western 'imperial nationalism-expansionism'," said the renowned political analyst who is in Beijing for the First World Cultural Forum.
Dieterich pointed out that President Xi Jinping vision of a "Chinese Dream" indicated the emergence of a new paradigm, which he stressed was measurably different from the American Dream.
China boasts the world's biggest-ever urban boom, the largest-ever middle class, an economic growth process without equal, as well as spearheading efforts to reduce poverty, support gender equality, and fight climate change, Dieterich said when listing some of China's achievements.
Currently, the socialist-world alternative represented by China is in an evolutionary phase, with the Chinese Dream at its core laying the foundation for the development path of China and the world post-capitalism, he said.
The academic said he agreed with Xi's statement at the UN Assembly that the Chinese Dream will create more opportunities for all countries, while prompting world peace and development.
"The path decides the nation's destiny," he said, quoting Xi. He reiterated that the evolutionary path must correctly combine science, and the people with a profound understanding of China's history.
Rejecting the West's pessimism of the Chinese economy, he argued that China need not -- and ought not -- follow the Western pathway of imperial expansion.
Instead, Dieterich praised the Chinese civilization that dates back thousands of years as the ideal cultural-societal soil where solutions and answers, much like seeds, thrive.
