GUANGZHOU, Oct. 26 -- A senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official on Saturday stressed the understanding of China's development path when addressing the opening ceremony of the fourth Understanding China Conference in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said China follows a path of development featuring independence, self-reliance and hard work.

It is a path of reform and innovation aimed at realizing socialist modernization while taking China's basic national conditions into consideration, Huang said.

He stressed that placing people's livelihoods as a priority, adhering to the leadership of the CPC, and striving to seek common interests of humanity are also key elements of the path.

The fourth Understanding China Conference gathered nearly 600 attendees, including over 30 world-famous politicians, strategists, scholars and entrepreneurs.