After 70 years, what does revolution mean to modern China?

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Visitors take photos with their smart phones of an installation depicting a heart shape Chinese national flag in Shanghai, China, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. China will mark its 70th anniversary on Oct. 1, 2019. (AP)

This week marks 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China – and the communist revolution that made it happen. To commemorate National Day, there were parades, fireworks and other celebrations in Beijing and other cities around the world.

China has a lot to celebrate. Since opening to the west in the late 70s, over 850 million people have been lifted out of poverty. China is now a manufacturing and technological powerhouse that ranks as the second biggest economy in the world.

But what does the original revolution mean today as China takes its place in the modern world? Does it still carry the ideals its founders, like Mao Zedong, had for the nation?

With us to talk about China’s role in the world 70 years on, is CGTN America’s Wang Guan. As chief political correspondent, he’s covered virtually all major events shaping and defining China-U.S. relations for the past eight years, from both Beijing and Washington.