by Xinhua writer Gao Lu

HOUSTON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) has done a great job in eliminating poverty and improving people's livelihood, a local U.S. expert on China has said.

Meanwhile, the party is also evolving by fixing its own problems, added Jon R. Taylor, a political science professor at University of St. Thomas in Houston, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Recalling China's history of development, he pointed out that the CPC has led China through several stages, from getting China back on its feet to turning China into a preeminent country in the world.

Among other great achievements, China's high-speed rail has become "the envy of the world," and the development of the homegrown large passenger plane C919 has also garnered worldwide attention, he said.

The scholar added that he particularly admires the CPC's willingness and determination to alleviate and eliminate poverty. "That is amazing and laudable," he said.

By reducing poverty, the CPC has kept its promise of improving people's lives, and has also helped China modernize in all sorts of ways, he added.

Meanwhile, thanks to the CPC, China has become "the leading proponent of economic globalization and liberalization" since the United States has "dropped the ball," he said.

All those achievements clearly show the role of the CPC, he said. "If it was not the party, China would not be where it is today. People can disagree with that all they want, but imagine where China would be today without the CPC in its primary role as the leading party."

At the same time, the CPC, just like any political party in the world, has its own problems, such as corruption, but it is addressing them, said Taylor.

"Here's the thing to keep in mind about China: They don't hide it underneath a bush," he said.

Taylor said that in his public administration ethics class, he has shown his students the smartphone app with which the Chinese people can report corruption to the government.

"That is not the stereotype of a closed society and closed political party. That is a political party that obviously continues to modernize, continues to move forward, and continues to at least understand that the times change," he said.

Taylor emphasized that Western countries must understand that China has a different system from Western-style democracy.

"The Communist Party of China is a leading party for a reason," said the professor, "because it has tremendous success and continues to have success."