“Normality is precious. In certain circumstances, maintaining normality is more important than creating miracles.”

In just a few hours, we will bid farewell to 2022, a year hard to conclude in a single word. We would like to PRAISE those who have refrained themselves and made persistent endeavors, THANK those who have offered us support, and WISH THE BEST for those who have left and those who have come back.

Confronted with complex changes, we carried ourselves cautiously through the turbulences of this year. Despite the hardship, we still had some gains. From the three-year battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned that life and freedom are inseparable, and it is necessary to find the balance between protecting ourselves and caring for others.

A silver lining peeks as the pandemic approaches its eventual end. Still, our remembrance and reflection shall never fade away. In retrospect, we have found that dignity and conscience are not inherent, and laws and common knowledge will not take effect automatically. They must be continuously activated through enlightenment.

We also learned that normality is precious. In certain circumstances, maintaining normality is more important than creating miracles.

Health is of vital importance. As the subject of health, the right we have is, above all, a kind of dignity. We healthy people should cherish and uphold our dignity with the new knowledge and courage we have gained in the past year.

Now is the time for us to pack up again and restart our journey. Faced with the ubiquitous changes, we are heading to a completely different future.

We all faced the recession directly, and we understand that only by assuming our responsibility and relying on our wisdom can we turn the tables. Prosperity is the foundation of a powerful country and the basis of a united nation. It deserves greater effort than being kept as a piece of memory.

We should commit ourselves to reconstruction so as to restore normality and get development back on track. Reconstruction does not equal mechanical restoration. Instead, it means recreating things by injecting new ideas and visions.

What we should recreate is a stable environment in the changing era where sound expectations are enabled by the rule of law and the market regardless of risks, and every person’s input and output, as long as reasonable and legal, is responded by the times.

In attempts to resume normal life, we have already spent much time in the past three years, and we can no longer afford to waste any more. It may feel uncomfortable at first as we ease into the old fast-paced life. But after all, a sense of fulfillment will arise as we bring value to the world. It is a sense we have not had for a long time and can only be gained through hard work.

We should make up for the lost time. In the future, the greatest “time dividend” will come from national strategies. The established goal of comprehensively realizing Chinese modernization offers us an opportunity to integrate personal ambitions with national plans.

The next five years constitute a critical period for our country to realize modernization and for individuals to pass on their legacies.

How many more five years do we have, and how many more can we afford?

Soon after the New Year, we will hold a series of activities titled “P10” to celebrate the Pangoal Institution’s 10th anniversary.

In the first five years of the past decade, the Pangoal Institution “expanded its horizons” by gaining a firm foothold in fields such as macro-economy, digital industry, and international relations and forming its research characteristics. In the second five years, it “upheld fundamental principles and broke new grounds” by elevating its status in the existing positions and exploring new fields such as aging society, carbon peaking, and carbon neutrality. It established branches in Hunan, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Chongqing, and Xinjiang to better facilitate local development and respond to social concerns.

In the next five years, the Pangoal Institution will further leverage its advantages to promote post-pandemic economic recovery, technological innovation, and social development. Focusing on the internal and external layout required for realizing the strategic goal of Chinese modernization, the Pangoal Institution will put effort into key subjects, including central-local coordination, private-sector rejuvenation, supply chain stabilization, new energy, age-friendly reform, artificial intelligence, and incubation of technologies relating to carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. It will advise policymakers and promote national reform to help resolve social concerns.

The Pangoal Institution will continue to focus on safety development in the surrounding areas and the Asia-Pacific Region, and strive to make new achievements in international relations. As China resumes comprehensive exchanges with the world, we will, once again, extend the hand of friendship and facilitate understanding and cooperation, contributing to China’s involvement in global affairs.

The Pangoal Institution firmly believes in the philosophy of “pursuing harmony between nature and humankind and applying knowledge for public policy solutions.” A decade’s ups and downs have deepened our understanding of this belief.

“Pursuing harmony between nature and humankind” means that we must follow the trend instead of going against it. “Harmony among humankind” is more demanding than “bearing nature in mind,” requiring us to adopt a people-oriented approach in all our practices.

“Applying knowledge for public policy solutions” requires us to base everything on concrete conditions rather than subjective judgments. We should adopt a reality-based approach and bring real benefits to people living on this land.

All above are the insights of the Pangoal Institution, all of which we will strive to put into practice.

Happy New Year, friends! May a warm spring be with you to heal and a prosperous summer to endeavor. We wish that the New Year will see an expected turnaround, that normality will be resumed with stability and solidarity, and that a new period of growth and prosperity will begin.

Pangoal Institution

December 31, 2022