Basics of the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (Qin Xuan, Xu Hongzhi)

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Basics of the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Author	Qin Xuan, Xu Hongzhi
Translated by	Yang Xu
Original language	Chinese
Publisher	Canut International Publishers
First published	2018-01-15
Type	Book
Source	https://archive.org/details/basics-of-the-theoretical-system-of-socialism-with-chinese-characteristics

Acknowledgements

The book we present is written by the most prominent researchers of Marxism in China, and reviewed by Qin Xuan and Xu Zhihong the two se- nior scholars of Renmin University. In 14 chapters they have demonstrated the most important component parts of the CPC's socialism building con- cept in the Chinese particlarity, which is a meta-system theory, with inter- related sub-theories. At the time when Deng Xiaoping proposed this new concept which emphasized Chinese particularity, he has added new mean- ings to it, when compared with Mao Zedong's understanding of applying Marxism to Chinese conditions: he strived to thoroughly revise the preva- lent concepts of socialism building and open a new chapter in the history of socialist movement in regards, how to define and build socialism in China. It was a tremendously hard task, when the trials in the eastern European countries were still in development and exploration, especially when the Soviet model of socialism building established by Stalin was deemed as the only universally applicable one, except the Yugoslavian model. The CPC when choosing this term has given a clear signal that each socialist or com- munist party should better determine its own path in building socialism, and external interference wouldn't be favorable.

The meta-theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics has been grad- ually improved with the development of social practice and times, and is still in development, but its essence and ultimate goal remain the same. It has made great breakthroughs in the cognition of socialism and socialism building and in the aspect of how socialism relates with capitalism and how it step by step dialectically sublates it.

This academically processed but easily readable book will give the read- er a comprehensive understanding of this theory and enable them to com- pare the previous cognition of socialism and socialism building with the current one.

Editor's Note

In 2007, the 17" National Congress of the Communist Party of China has made clear that our party will persist in following the important stra- i tegic thought of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of the i ‘Three Represents' and the Scientific Concept of Development which was formed by theoretical and practical innovation, generally referred to as the "Theoretical System of Chinese Socialism" and stressed: the report stated: "In contemporary China, to stay true to Marxism means to adhere [| to the system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics." Since = the 17" National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the | CPC Central Committee has done a scientific deployment of how to cul- tivate the builders and successors who will hold high the cause of social- ism with Chinese characteristics and on how to use theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, to educate the leaders of the youth across the country. The high-level Office for The Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project pays meticulous and consistent efforts to prepare all kinds of cognitive learning materials, which will reflect and expound on the brand new academic achievements attained in the study of Chinese Marxism. Among them, the textbook "Mao Zedong Thought and The Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics," has been a unique work which has been highly praised by readers from all walks of people, promising young people including college students. By courtesy of the ministry of education, colleges and universities across the country have made great contributions and achievements in transform- ing the rich contents of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics into teaching materials, a part of which can be utilized in schools. This book—The Basics of the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics—we present to readers was prepared by the most prominent scholars of the subject from the Marxism School of the Renmin University of China especially designed for college students. Throughout the writing and editing of this book, we have both enjoyed the advantage of certain comprehension basis, and a certain degree of difficulty, certain com- prehension basis as an advantage, firstly because we had already edited the "Introduction to Deng Xiaoping Theory", "Introduction to the Important Thought of Three Represents", since their publication in 2003, the titles were re-published for dozens of times, and the aggregate print of them has nearly reached 3 million, most of which have reached the readers. Secondly, the writers of this textbook are all in the front line of teaching and research, they have a certain degree of research accretion on the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and have abundant teaching experi- ence on the subject. Thirdly, the academic community has made abundant research on "Deng Xiaoping Theory", and on the "Important Thought of Three Represents" and also on "The Scientific Concept of Development" and other major strategic thoughts, which are component parts of the theo- retical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and have produced numerous precious research results. These above favorable conditions have laid a virtuous foundation in the writing and editing of this book.

We have faced a certain degree of difficulty, firstly because the theoreti- cal system of socialism with Chinese characteristics still encounters enrich- ment and perfection. The academic circles have different understandings of its theme, its historical starting point, main content and the logical structure of this theoretical system. There still exist differences in the understanding and interpretation of many major issues regarding it. Secondly, we have encountered a considerable difficulties, as in the following, how to break through the previous framework of Deng Xiaoping Theory and unify the three strategic thoughts of —Deng Xiaoping Theory, Important Thought of Three Represents, and The Scientific Concept of Development—and inte- grate them into one and same book, because all the three not only represent major theoretical achievements having their own unique characteristics, but also have succession and development relations among them, besides they follow the same strain and have included successive times character- istics. Thirdly, since the 17 National Congress of the CPC, our party's understanding on the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese charac- teristics was further deepened, and many new propositions have been put forward. As Comrade Hu Jintao in his speech at the commemoration of the 90" anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, has put forward and summarized a new conception of "the socialist system with Chinese characteristics", also the 6" Plenary Session of the 17" Central Committee of the CPC put forward the proposition of "the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics." Regarding these new propositions, the academic community also lacks in-depth research, our un- derstanding is not accurate, yet, which is also a major problem encountered in the preparation of teaching materials. The textbook is the crystallization of collective wisdom, including the designing of its outline, the final draft to be published has been the result of collective deliberation.Scholars from the School of Marxism ‘attached to Renmin University of China who have contributed to this book include Prof. Xu Zhihong (edited Chapter II and V), Prof. Qin Xuan (Chapter I and VID), Prof. Yang Fengcheng (Chapter XI and XIV), Prof. Huang Jifeng (Chapter II and [X), Prof. Wang Xiangming (Chapter VIII and X), Prof. Qi Pengfei (Chapter XII and XIII), Prof. Zhang Xin (Chapter IV, and VI).

The book was finally reviewed. by Professor Xu Zhihong and Professor Qin Xuan. We are grateful to Prof. He Yaomin, the President of the Renmin University Press, and Prof. Zhou Weihua, the editor-in-chief of the Renmin University Press, who have paid great attention to the to the compilation and publication, and to Guo Xiaoming, the head of the public administra- tion department, who has paid a lot of hard work for this book. Our starting point and innermost desire has been preparing a comprehensive and ac- curate book that will comprehensively and accurately reflect the theoreti- cal system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Objectively speaking, such a complex work can never be perfect, cannot avoid certain shortcom- ings and deficiencies. We sincerely welcome criticism, from all quarters, including all aspects, so that we can make it more perfect in future editions.

Formation and Development of the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Social and historical conditions behind the formation of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics

First, the historical basis: evaluating the positive and negative aspects of socialist construction experiences

The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is formed and developed on the basis of the Party's summarizing and absorb- ing the historical experience of our socialist development and drawing les- sons from other socialist countries. Since the beginning of the new period, our Party has attached great importance to the summary of historical expe- rience. In the 3 Plenary Session of the 11% CPC Central Committee, the Party seriously summed up the positive and negative experiences, drew lessons from the "Cultural Revolution", restored the ideological line of Marxism, and resolutely made the major historical choice of transferring the work center of the Party and the state to the economic construction and carrying out the reform and opening up. The 6" Plenary Session of the 11" CPC Central Committee adopted The Resolution on Some Historical Issues of the Party Since the Founding of the PRC through which the Party conscientiously cleared up major historical rights and wrongs and adhered to and inherited all the positive achievements made by our Party in the practice of the long-term socialist construction, marking the completion of the Party's bringing order out of chaos in the ideological line, political line and organizational line. In the process of reform and opening up and modernization construction, our Party earnestly draws lessons from other

countries, especially the Soviet union, eastern Europe and other socialist countries, which provides an important reference for the better develop- ment of the socialism with Chinese characteristics. As Deng Xiaoping said: if there was no profound summarization of historical experience and les- sons, "It would be impossible to formulate the ideological line, the basic line, politics, organizational lines and a series of policies we have estab- lished since the 3 Plenary Session of the 11% CPC Central Committee."'

It can be said that the development and expansion of the socialist path with -

Chinese characteristics and the formation and development of the theoreti- cal system of socialism with Chinese characteristics are inseparable from our Party's adeptness and efforts in summing up and absorbing the positive and negative experiences.

Second, the basis of establishment: Basic national conditions of China in the primary stage of socialism

Accurately grasping the basic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism in China is the fundamental starting point for our Party to promote the theoretical innovation and formulate the correct line, guideline and policy. In the 13 CPC National Congress, the Party expounded the is- sue of the primary stage of socialism in a systematic way and emphasized the need to fully understand the long-term, arduous and complex nature of the socialist construction and to constantly enhance the consciousness of starting from the reality that China is in the primary stage of socialism. This issue was reiterated in the 14", 15" and 16 CPC National Congress which stressed that we should not proceed from the subjective wishes, from the various foreign modes, but from the biggest reality that China is in the primary stage of socialism in doing things, making decisions and thinking about issues.

It was further emphasized in the 17" CPC National Congress that the basic national conditions of our country that it is still in the primary stage of socialism and the principal contradiction between the increasing mate- rial and cultural needs of the people and the backward social production remain unchanged. We shall recognize this basic national condition, grasp the phase characteristics of the century and new phase, and take it as the fundamental basis of advancing the reform and planning the development. It can be said that during the reform and opening up for more than 30 years, our Party's theory, line, guideline and policy are correct and play a huge role in promoting the social development and progress in practice because they are based on the realities of the primary stage of socialism and on the sober understanding and accurate grasp of the basic national conditions and stage characteristics of this primary stage.

Third, the realistic basis: the party leadership sets things right and starts the vivid practice of opening-up and modernization

Reform and opening up is the main theme of contemporary China, the only way to develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and also the important foundation for the development of the theoretical system of so- cialism with Chinese characteristics. Since the reform and opening up for more than 30 years, the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese char- acteristics has deepened and enriched with the deepening practice. From the rural reform to urban reform, from the economic system reform to various system reforms, from the establishment of the special economic zone and the opening of the coastal cities to the opening of the inland border cities, the cities along the river and the provincial capitals, from the proposal of the planned commodity economy to the establishment of the socialist market economy, from grasping the two links of material civilization and spiritual civilization to comprehensively promoting the modernization construction in accordance with the "Four-in-one" overall layout, and from strengthen- ing and improving the Party's leadership to comprehensively promoting the new great project of the Party's construction, our Party has continuously studied and resolved the new contradictions and problems in advancement and vested the new connotations of the age and practical requirements in the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It can be said that whenever the reform and opening up advances by one step, our Party's understanding of socialism with Chinese characteristics can be deepened and the enrichment and development of this theoretical system can be pro- moted. The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is vigorous because it is the scientific theory rooted in the great practice of the reform and opening up.

Fourth, the source of power was the rich and creative experience of the people

Insisting on summarizing experience and absorbing wisdom from the vivid practice of the people is an important way to develop the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Deng Xiaoping said that many things in the reform and opening up were put forward by the masses in practice and embodied the wisdom of the masses. Jiang Zemin said that a good solution does not fall from heaven nor is it inherent in our minds, in the final analysis correct theories come from the people's practice of creat- ing history. Hu Jintao pointed out: "Respecting the people's practice and drawing ideological nutrition from the people's great creation and elevating it to a theoretical form are the inexhaustible sources of our party's theoreti- cal innovation."

Much of the experience in reform and innovation during the past more Section II than 30 years of reform and opening up has come from the grassroots level and the masses of people. Our Party has always been adhering to the Marxist ideological line "from the masses, to the masses", enthusiastically support- ing, encouraging, protecting and guiding the great creation of the people, : and profoundly summing up the practical experience of the people, from : First, the preliminary exploration of the path of socialism with which the laws of the socialist modernization construction can be mastered : Chinese characteristics by the CPC

and the Marxist theoretical innovation can be constantly promoted. It can be said that the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is formed and developed due to our party's effort to closely rely on the people, widely mobilize the people's enthusiasm, initiative and creativity and gather strength and wisdom from the people.

Fifth, the background: the profound changes in the international situation and the new trends in world development China has experienced a long process of exploration, choice and struggle before embarking on the socialist path

Since the 1970s, great changes have taken place in the whole world, and the intensity and profundity of these changes is far beyond the expectation. The most significant change is that peace and development have become the theme of the times, the trend of world multi-polarization and economic globalization has developed in an accelerating way, and the competition in the comprehensive national strength is becoming increasingly fierce. In particular, the new science and technology revolution and the following wide applications of the great science and technology discoveries and inventions have promoted the unprecedented profound changes in production mode, way of life and economic society all over the world and also unprecedented major changes in the global economic pattern, interest pattern and security pattern. In the face of such profound and major changes our Party should constantly emancipate the mind and vigorously promote theoretical innovation and then the new development of the cause so as to better solve the new issues and meet the new challenges raised by the times and usher in new situations for the development of the party and the people. It can be said that the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, including Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of "Three Represents", the scientific outlook on development and other ma- jor strategic thoughts, is formed and developed on the basis of our Party's effort to follow the world development trend, draw on the experience and lessons from the ups and downs of other countries and critically absorb all the civilization achievements created by human society.

Stages in the development of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics

First, the preliminary exploration of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics by the CPC

It is pointed out in the 17 CPC National Congress that the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the scientific theoreti- cal system that includes Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of "Three Represents", the scientific outlook on development and other major strategic thoughts.

China has experienced a long process of exploration, choice and struggle before embarking on the socialist path. Since modern times, the Chinese nation has faced two historical tasks: one is to seek the national independence and people's liberation; the other is to realize the national prosperity and mighty and people's affluence. After the opium war, China was reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. In order to save the nation from peril, the Chinese people made a long-term exploration and strenuous struggle, including the Westernization Movement, the Hundred Days' Reform, Taiping Rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan, the Boxer Rebellion and the Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen, which all ended in failure. And the social nature of China as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society and the people's miserable fate remain unchanged, for which a fundamental reason is that no scientific theoretical guidance is provided. The advanced Chinese have tried various ideological weapons in order to seek the way of saving the country and their people. After making the fierce struggle and difficult choices, Marxism gradually took root in Chinese society because of its popularity among the progressive youth and even the Chinese people. It is the history that has chosen Marxism and it is Marxism that has profoundly changed the fate of China. Mao Zedong points out that the Chinese people have turned from the passive status into the active status and created a new outlook of Chinese revolution since the introduction of Marxism-Leninism. Thanks to the guidance of Marxism, the repeated com- parison and profound thinking, and especially the influence of the Russian "October Revolution", the advanced Chinese have made a clear choice of the scientific socialist path. The founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921 ushered in a new era of the Chinese revolution. At the begin- ning of the founding, our Party made it clear that the ultimate direction of the democratic revolution led by it is socialism. Under the leadership of the Party and Mao Zedong, our Party founded Mao Zedong Thought and Opened up a revolution path that was in line with the realities in China by combining the Marxism-Leninism and China's realities and overcoming the erroneous tendency to dogmatize Marxism and sanctify the resolutions of the Communist International and the experience of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that enjoyed great popularity at one time. After 28 years of arduous struggle, the Communist Party of China overthrew the three big mountains (imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism), won the New Democratic Revolution, and founded the New China, which indicated the realization of the national independence and people's liberation that several generations of Chinese dreamed about since the modern times and the completion of the first historical task of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

During the 28 years between the founding of the New China and the end of the "Cultural Revolution", the Party's first collective leadership, with Mao Zedong as the core, led the whole party and people of all ethnic groups throughout the country to rapidly heal the trauma of the war and restore the national economy, and then to propose the general line in the transition period, carry out the socialist transformation, and establish the basic sys- tem of socialism without losing any time, resulting in the realization of the most profound and greatest social transformation in China. However, how to build socialism is a brand new exploration for our Party. Mao Zedong said at that time that we should realize "the second combination" of the basic principle of Marxism-Leninism and the concrete realities of China, and find out the correct way of socialist construction in China. Some impor- tant ideas on the socialist construction in China, concerning the economy, politics, culture, national defense, diplomacy and other aspects, were put forward in Mao Zedong's Zen Major Relationships, Issues on Correctly Handling the Contradictions among the People and other works, and the documents of the 8 CPC National Congress, which marked the beginning of our Party to independently explore the socialist construction path suit- able for our country's national conditions. Under the leadership of the Party and Mao Zedong, China has gradually established an independent, rela- tively complete industrial system and national economic system, and accu- mulated important experience in socialist construction. As a new subject in the Marxism and socialism development history, the socialist construction in such a backward eastern country in China was doomed to experience errors and setbacks, given the lack of regular understanding on how to com- bine the socialist path with the national conditions and the influence of the complex international environment at that time. These errors and setback have left deep historical experience and lessons and China paid a huge price for them.

Our Party's victory in the revolution and exploration of the socialist construction path in China under Mao Zedong's leadership provided the fundamental political premise and institutional foundation for all the devel- opment and progress in contemporary China, and exerted a profound influ- ence on the opening up and emergence of the socialist path with Chinese characteristics. As indicated in the 17" CPC National Congress, we must always bear in mind that the great cause of reform and opening up is based on the valuable experience of the Party's first collective leadership with Mao Zedong as the core in leading the whole Party and people of all eth- nic groups throughout the country to build the New China, make the great achievements in the socialist revolution and construction and explore the laws of socialist construction.

Second, The initial formation of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics

When the "Cultural Revolution" came to an end in 1976, what stood in front of our Party was the China with many things waiting to be done and an urgent problem about whether China continued adhering to the wrong line in the "Cultural Revolution" period or opened up a new path reflecting the trend of the times and the China's conditions by getting rid of the "left- ist" ideological shackles. The 3 Plenary Session of the 11% CPC Central Committee held at the end of 1978 re-established the Party's ideological line, political line and organization line, which brought order out of chaos in the guiding ideology and initiated a new exploration of socialist con- struction. It is in this session when the Party's second central collective leadership with Deng Xiaoping as the core was formed, which marked the entry of our country into the new period of socialist modernization con- struction. In the new historical period, Deng Xiaoping was keenly aware that the Marxism we adhere to is the science and truth and that the social- ist system established in our country is a good system, but the question is: what is Marxism, how can we uphold Marxism what is socialism and how can we build socialism, of which our understanding was not completely clear enough in the past. Our experience is rich enough, but what matters most is to clarify this question. Hence, at the beginning of the new period, our party insisted on combining Marxism with China's realities, and car- ried out the in-depth theoretical exploration on how to build socialism in economically and culturally backward countries like China, marking the initiation of the new course of localized Marxism in China. In September 1982, Deng Xiaoping made it clear in the opening speech of the 12% CPC National Congress that "we should take our own path and build socialism with Chinese characteristics". The proposition of this important conclusion _ Points out the direction of our Party's theoretical and practical exploration _ In the new period.

From 1978 to 1992, our Party, under Deng Xiaoping's leadership, com- bined the basic principles of Marxism with the specific realities of China and the features of the times, put forward a series of creative ideas, and initially formed the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese charac- teristics. Deng Xiaoping, based on the new changes of the world situation,

clearly argued that "peace and development are two major problems of the .

contemporary world", and that it was one of the three tasks in the new pe-

riod to oppose hegemonism and safeguard world peace; he also emphasized -

that we must insist on the basic line that takes the economic construction as the center and upholds the Four Cardinal Principles and reform and opening up, and establish the modernized socialist country of prosperity, democ- racy and civilization by "three steps", given China's national condition that China is and will be in the primary stage of socialism in the long run when the essential task is to develop the productivity; he also underscored that science and technology are the primary productive force and their modern- ization is the key to realizing the modernization of China, considering their new development situation in the world; that we should develop the social- ist democracy and construct the socialist legal system because there would be no socialism nor the socialist modernization if no democracy exists, and that we should grasp both the material and spiritual civilization with equal importance attached to each because the good development of the two is the real socialism with Chinese characteristics, since the socialism is the requirement of the society with an all-around development; that the social- ism can also adopt the market economy since both the plan and the market are the means rather than the essential difference between socialism and capitalism, according to the development law of the world economy and China's realities; that we should construct a modern, strong and regular- ized revolutionary army and unswervingly take the path of fewer but bet- ter troops with Chinese characteristics, given the new requirements of the world military reform; that we should combine the Marxist theory of the state with the concrete realities of China, and propose solving the problems of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in accordance with the concept of "One Country, Two Systems"; that the key to China's problems is the Party and we should thus concentrate on Party's construction and make our Party a Marxist one with fighting capacity and a strong core that leads the whole nation in constructing the socialist modernization, according to the change of the Party's historical orientation.

In the 13 CPC National Congress held in 1987, the theory of the primary stage of socialism was expounded in a systematic way, the Party's basic line in this stage was proposed, the modernization goal of "being prosperous, democratic and civilized" was established, and the development strategy of realizing the modernization by three steps until the middle of the 21*

century was formulated. It was clearly indicated in this congress that the combination of Marxism with China's practice experienced two great leaps. The first one occurred in the period of the new democratic revolution when the Chinese communists finally found the revolutionary path with Chinese characteristics and led the revolution to victory due to the repeatedly ex- ploration and the summary of experience in the successes and failures. The second one occurred when the Chinese communists began to find a way to build socialism with Chinese characteristics after the 3°? Plenary Session of the 11% CPC Central Committee by summing up the positive and nega- tive experience during the past more than 30 years since the founding of China and studying the international experience and world situation, which opened up a new stage of socialist construction. In the report of the 13° CPC National Congress, the new theoretical ideas proposed by our Party in the process of paving the socialist path with Chinese characteristics are reduced into 12 articles which constitute the outline and mark the initial for- mation of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Deng Xiaoping made a southern speech in 1992 in which he summed up a series of major issues concerning the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and proposed that the basic line should be kept for a hundred years, the criteria for judging all aspects of work should be "Three Favorables", and that the essence of socialism is to liberate and develop the productive forces, eliminate exploitation and polarization between the rich and poor, and finally achieve the common prosperity. This speech boosted the ideological emancipation of the whole Party and Chinese people and ad- vanced the cause of reform and opening up. In 1992, the 14" CPC National Congress made a summary of the new idea of the theoretical innovations of our Party during the period when Deng Xiaoping reigned, which was called "Deng Xiaoping's theory of building socialism with Chinese characteris- tics". In 1997, the 15" CPC National Congress made a further summary and discussion on it and named it "Deng Xiaoping Theory", which was included into the Party Constitution as the guiding ideology.

Third, the further development of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics

Socialism encountered unprecedented sharp challenges in the world after the 13" CPC National Congress: the drastic changes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. These events that shocked the world are the most serious and profound cri- ses when socialism turned from the theory into practice. The same situation happened domestically in the course of reform and development: political turmoil occurred; the economy was overheated and had to be improved and rectified; in terms of the system reform, no significant breakthrough Was made in state-owned enterprises, and a dual system existed for a long Socialism encountered unprecedented sharp challenges in the world after the 13" CPC National Congress: the drastic changes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. These events that shocked the world are the most serious and profound cri- ses when socialism turned from the theory into practice. The same situation happened domestically in the course of reform and development: political turmoil occurred; the economy was overheated and had to be improved and rectified; in terms of the system reform, no significant breakthrough Was made in state-owned enterprises, and a dual system existed for a long

time with serious contradictions and loopholes due to the lagging reform in the state tax system, financial system and price system. The whole situa- tion was rather grim. In June 1989, the 4% Plenary Session of the 13" CPC Central Committee elected Jiang Zemin as the General Secretary of the Central Committee, and formed the third CPC collective leadership with

Jiang Zemin as the core. However, it became quite urgent for this new lead- .

ership to figure out how to continue promoting the socialist cause with

Chinese characteristics according to the new changes of the world, China.

and the Communist Party.

After the 4" Plenary Session of the 13% CPC Central Committee, the Communist Party of China with Jiang Zemin as the main representative con- tinued promoting the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics by putting forward a series of new ideas and new statements, and enriched and developed the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteris- tics. Confronted with the austere political situation at home and abroad and the arduous task of the reform and development in the late 1980s and early 1990s, this new leadership stressed clearly that the lines and basic policies formulated since the 3" Plenary Session of the 11 CPC Central Committee should be maintained steadfastly and implemented comprehensively. Jiang Zemin pointed out that building socialism with Chinese characteristics was "a major project", of which the basic ideas and principles have been es- tablished by Deng Xiaoping, and our task was to continue implementing this project in a good way. In this process, Jiang Zemin also proposed a series of innovative ideas, which are mainly manifested in the following 7 aspects. Firstly, he argued that the goal of economic system reform was to establish the socialist market economy system and that the combination of socialism with market economy was a great innovation, according to Deng Xiaoping's important view that "socialism can also adopt the mar- ket economy". Secondly, the basic economic system that public ownership plays the leading role and diverse forms of ownership develop side by side, the distribution system with distribution according to work being the main form and the multiple ways of distribution co-existing, and the basic po- litical system should be adhered to and improved, according to the basic principles of Marxism and the national conditions of China in the primary stage of socialism. Thirdly, he, combining the issue of development with the nature and power-exercising philosophy of our Party, made it clear that development was the first task of our Party in governing and rejuvenating the country, and that the advanced nature of our Party and the superior- ity of the socialist system should be put into practice to develop advanced productive forces, advanced culture, to realize the fundamental interests of the majority of the people, and to promote the all-round social progress and human development. Fourthly, the strategy of rejuvenating the country

through science and education, the strategy of sustainable development, and the opening-up strategy that combines "bringing in" with "going out" should be vigorously implemented, the new path of industrialization should be taken, and the rational layout and coordinated development of regional economy should be promoted. Fifthly, he stressed that according to the de- velopment and changes' of the situation at home and abroad at the turn of the century, our Party should strengthen its construction under the new his- torical conditions, insist on examining itself according to the requirement of the times, improve itself at the spirit of reform, earnestly work out the two major historical problems of how to improve the Party's leadership and governance capability and its ability to resist corruption and risk, compre- hensively promote the Party construction—-a new great project—so as to make it the Marxist political party that is utterly consolidated ideologically, politically, and organizationally, always ahead of the times, and can with- stand all kinds of risks and lead the whole nation in building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Sixthly, the national defense and army construction should be strengthened and the military reform with Chinese characteristics should be advanced in addition to the main tasks of developing the market economy and keeping the Party's advanced nature, according to the new situation of the army and national defense construction in the new period. At last, the world multi-polarization and democratization of international relations should be boosted according to the new world situation after the cold war.

This new collective leadership with Jiang Zemin as the core adhered to the reform and opening up, kept pace with the times, led the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups in the whole country through the po- litical storm, economic risks and other ordeals at home and abroad, and founded the important thought of "Three Represents" on the basis of a pro- found and accurate understanding of the situation changes of the world, China, and the Party. This important thought is a significant part of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the 16% CPC National Congress in 2002, the Party summed up the basic experience of our Party in leading people to build socialism with Chinese characteris- tics since reform and opening up, especially the 4 Plenary Session of the 13" Central Committee, expounded the fundamental requirements of the important thought of "Three Represents", explicitly proposed the Party's goal and guidelines and policies in various aspects in the first 20 years of the new century, and made a comprehensive deployment of the socialist economy, politics, culture, and Party building with Chinese characteristics, and other work. It is in this congress when the important thought of "Three Represents" was established along with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory as the guiding ideology that our Party must adhere to for a long time, another time when our Party's guiding ideology advanced with the times.

Fourth, opening of the new realm in the development of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics

Since the 16 CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with _ Hu Jintao as its General Secretary, guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and

the important thought of "Three Represents", followed the development and changes of the situation at home and abroad, carried forward the spirit of seeking truth and forging ahead, continued promoting the theoretical and practical innovation, and proposed a series of important theoretical ideas, strategic thoughts and work arrangement and formed the newest achieve- ments of the socialist theoretical system with Chinese characteristics in the course of developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.

In the new stage of the new century, our Party, starting from the history and the times, the basic national conditions of China at the primary stage, the stage characteristics and practice of China's development, the world development trend, the development experience of foreign countries, and the new development requirements, puts forward a series of ideas, such as being people-oriented, realizing the comprehensive, coordinated and sus- tainable development, building the harmonious socialist society, the new socialist countryside, the innovation-driven country, the socialist core val- ues system, and the socialist concept of honor and disgrace, and boosting the construction of a harmonious world, which together answered such ba- sic questions as what socialism is and how to build it. Facing the opportuni- ties and challenges in the 21* century, our Party has made it clear that the construction of its advanced nature is the essence of the Marxist party to survive, develop and expand. As a result, the Party's governing capacity and advanced nature construction should be taken as the main line of the Party's construction, the great new project that should be comprehensively promoted at the spirit of the reform and innovation, so as to make the Party always the arduous, honest, clean, energetic, united and harmonious ruling party of Marxism built for the public and exercising state power for the people, and seeking truth and being pragmatic. Centering on this goal, the CPC Central Committee has put forward a series of important new ideas on strengthening and improving the Party's construction in the new stage of the new century. Centering on the central issue of development, our Party has made a creative exploration of what development is, why and how to develop, for whom the development is, on whom the development depends, who is to share the development achievements and other major issues, and emphasized the correct understanding and proper treatment of the major relations related to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, so as to strive for scientific, harmonious and peaceful development. In the

17* CPC National Congress, the historical status and background, scientific connotation, spiritual essence and fundamental requirements of the scien- tific outlook on development were profoundly elaborated and taken as an important guideline for China's economic and social development and a major strategic thought that has to be adhered to and carried out for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Since the founding of the New China, especially the reform and opening up, our Party's theories and practices have been centering on the theme of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is during the process of the re- form and opening up when the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics was formed and developed. Deng Xiaoping Theory, "Three Represents" and the scientific outlook on development, formed in different periods, focused on exploring and answering the new contradictions and new problems encountered at different periods and different stages, and made their unique contributions to both theoretical innovation and theoreti- cal development. They are interconnected and progressive layer by layer, reflecting the inherent consistency of the scientific system, stage achieve- ments and developmental requirements of our Party's theoretical innova- tion achievements since the new period. They were summarized as "the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics" in the 17% CPC National Congress, which marks the further maturity of the theory and practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

In 2011, when commemorating the 90" anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu Jintao further pointed out: "We have embarked on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, formed a system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics and estab- lished a socialist system with Chinese characteristics. These achievements made over 90 years of endeavors, innovation, and enrichment, should be valued, upheld on a long-term basis and continuously built upon by our Party and people." In this speech Comrade Hu Jintao, for the first time used the term of theoretical socialist system with Chinese characteristics" into the overall! framework of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which has further deepened our Party ‘s understanding of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.'

In 1990, when commemorating the 90" anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Hu Jintao further pointed out: "We have embarked on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, formed a system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics and estab- lished a socialist system with Chinese characteristics. These achievements made over 90 years of endeavors, innovation, and enrichment, should be

3 See Hu Jintao, "Speech at the 90" Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party", Beijing, People's Publishing House, 2011.

valued, upheld on a long-term basis and continuously built upon by our Party and people." In this speech Comrade Hu Jintao, for the first time used the term of "theoretical socialist system with Chinese characteristics" into the overall framework of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which has further deepened our Party ‘s understanding of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

Theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and its main contents

First, the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics: a scientific theoretical system with a rich compound

It was clearly stated in the report of the 17" CPC National Congress that "the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics mainly in- cludes Deng Xiaoping Theory, "Three represent", and the scientific outlook on development", which is a brand new generalization of this theoretical system. Looking back to the development process of the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics, we can see clearly that our Party's generaliza- tion of this theoretical system is deepening in a gradual way.

In the 13% CPC National Congress in 1987, the new ideas formed in our Party's theoretical exploration on socialism with Chinese characteris- tics were divided into 12 aspects which have constituted the outline of the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics, preliminarily answered the basic questions of China's socialist construction, such as the stages, task, motivation, conditions, layout and international environment, and planned the scientific track of our way forward.

In 1992, the Party's 14" National Congress summarized the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics from 9 aspects. The 14 National Congress of the Communist Party of China made it clear that the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics is the product of the inte- gration of the fundamental tenets of Marxism-Leninism with the reality of present-day China and the special features of our times, a continuation and development of Mao Zedong Thought, a crystallization of the collective wisdom of the entire Party membership and the whole Chinese people, and an intellectual treasure belonging to them all.*

4 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 14" National Congress" (Vol. D, p. 13, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 1996.

In 1997, when explaining the historical status and guiding significance of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the 15° National Congress of the Communist Party of China explicitly pointed out for the first time: "Deng Xiaoping Theory constitutes a new, scientific system of the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. It has been gradually formed and developed under the historical conditions in which peace and development have become the main themes of the times, in the practice of China's reform, opening up and modernization drive, and on the basis of reviewing the historical experi- ence of successes and setbacks of socialism in China and learning from the historical experience of the rise and fall of other socialist countries. For the first time it has given preliminary but systematic answers to a series of basic questions concerning the path to socialism in China, the stages of develop- ment, the fundamental tasks, the motive force, the external conditions, the political guarantee, the strategic steps, Party leadership, the forces to be relied on, and the reunification of the motherland. It has guided our Party in formulating the basic line for the primary stage of socialism. It is a fairly complete scientific system which embraces philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism and covers, among other things, the economy, poli- tics, science and technology, education, culture, ethnic, military and foreign affairs, the united front and Party building. It is also a scientific system which needs to be further enriched and developed in all aspects.

In July 2003, after the formation of the important thought of the "Three Represents", at the theoretical seminar on the important thought of the "Three Represents", Comrade Hu Jintao made commented: The important Thought of the Three Represents, has solved the major issues concerning the ideological line, the path of development, development stages, devel- opment ways, the fundamental tasks, the motive forces of development, the comprehensive national power, the international strategy, the leading forces, and the fundamental goals of socialism with Chinese characteris- tics. The Thought of Three Represents fulfills the common wishes of the Chinese people and forms the foundation of nation building in the new cen- tury. This thought enriches and develops the basic tenets of Marxism with a series of new ideas, views and theses and profoundly embodies the integra- tion of history with reality in the development of the theory of Marxism, it has answered a series of questions on what socialism is, and how to build it, which are closely linked and integrated. The important thought of Three Represents creatively takes the theory of building the party in office as its main subject and answers what kind of party we should build, and how to build it.

3. CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 16 National Congress" (Vol. I), p.361, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 2005.

Since the 16" CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee taking Hu Jintao as the General Secretary, starting from the overall situation of the Party and the country in the stage of the new century, has profoundly sum- marized the lessons and experience in the foreign and domestic economic and social development, constantly advanced the theoretical innovations, and explicitly proposed a series of major strategic thoughts, such as the scientific outlook on development, the construction of the harmonious socialist society, the innovation-driven country and the new socialist countryside, the strength- ening of the construction of the Party's governance capacity and advanced nature, the building of the socialist concept of honor and disgrace, and the path of peaceful development. These important strategic thoughts are elabo- rated around the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics.

The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is always elucidated around the four closely related basic questions: what is Marxism and how to deal with it, what is socialism and how to build it, what kind of party is to be built and how to build it, and what kind of development is to be achieved and how to achieve it, with a rich compound. In terms of the first question, the system stresses that Marxism keeps pace with the times and its essence is to seek truth from facts, which provides a creative answer to how to adhere to and develop Marxism under the new historical conditions, enriches and develops Marxism with a series of new thoughts and ideas, and opens up a new realm for Marxism in China. In terms of the second question, the system creatively answers how to build, consolidate and develop socialism in a country with backward economic and cultural background after the establishment of the socialist system, and provides a series of new thoughts and ideas on how to develop socialism by not only upholding the basic principles of scientific socialism but also considering the conditions of the times and people's desire, which has raised our Party's understanding of socialism to a new level. As for the third question, the system answers in a creative way how to adhere to the Party's foundation, consolidate the ruling foundation and strengthen the power source when the Party's historical orientation experiences profound changes, and puts forward a series of new ideas that the nature of the Marxist ruling party should be adhered to, the Party's governance capacity be improved, and the Party's advanced nature be maintained and developed, which have enriched and developed the Marxist theory of Party construction. In terms of the fourth question, the system gives a creative answer to what development is, why it is necessary to develop, how to develop, for whom the development is, on whom the development depends, who is to share the development achievements, and proposes a series of new thoughts and ideas on develop- ment connotation, concepts, thoughts and problems, and on how to achieve scientific development, which elevates our Party's understanding of devel- opment issues to an unprecedentedly high level.

The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is sci- entific in that it is in line with Marxism-Leninism, the essential guiding ideology for our Party and country to be well-established and the action guide and powerful ideological weapon for us to learn about and transform the world, and advances with' the times. It is the outcome of the combina- tion of the basic principles of Marxism with China's concrete realities and the characteristics of the times. It adheres to the Marxist world outlook and methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, to the highest ideal and value pursuit of communism, to the leading core—the proletariat—and the power source of the history—the broad masses of the people, to the fundamental task—emancipating and developing productive forces, to the essential characteristics of socialist democratic politics— people are the masters of the country, to the guiding position of Marxism in the field of Marxist ideology, and to the fundamental driving force of the socialist development—reform and innovation. By adhering to and ap- plying the basic principles of Marxism on scientific socialism, this system analyzes the realities of the world and contemporary China, and thus makes a series of theoretical innovations and embodies the spirit of keeping pace with the times. It is a model of upholding and developing Marxism as well as a scientific theory consistent with Marxism-Leninism.

The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a theoretical system which is in line with Mao Zedong Thought and keeps pace with the times. The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese char- acteristics has its profound theoretical roots in Mao Zedong Thought and it is a continuation and development of Mao Zedong's arduous exploration and achievements regarding laws of building socialism. As Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "we have been restoring the correct things advocated by Comrade Mao Zedong, The basic points of Mao Zedong Thought are still those we have enumerated. In many respects, we are doing things Comrade Mao suggested but failed to do himself, setting right his erroneous opposi- tion to certain things and accomplishing some things that he did not. All this we shall continue to do for a fairly long time. Of course, we have developed Mao Zedong Thought and will go on developing it."

Both Mao Zedong Thought and the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics insist on emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping pace with the times, adopting the Party's mass line and walk- ing on its own way independently. This is their common ground on the basic aspects, such as the positions, views, methods, etc.. Today, these two should be still upheld and developed.

6 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd Edition, Volume 2, p. 300, Beijing, People‘s

Publishing House, 1994.

The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a con- stantly developing and open theoretical system. It is also true for Marxism. It is clearly stated in the report of the 17" CPC National Congress: The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is an open sys- tem that keeps developing. Keeping pace with the times is the theoreti- cal quality of Marxism and theoretical innovation is an essential feature of Marxism and an inexhaustible source of its vitality forever. Practices since the publication of the "Communist Manifesto" nearly 160 years ago have proved that only when Marxism is integrated with the conditions of a spe- cific country, advances in step with the times and is tied to the destiny of the people can it demonstrate its strong vitality, creativity and its appeal. The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, as the lat- est theoretical achievement in adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions, the Party's invaluable political and intellectual asset, is also an open theoretical system itself and also a scientific system that requires constant enrichment and development. As a new great revolution, reform and opening up cannot win an easy victory and cannot be accomplished in one go.

Over the past 30 years of reform and opening up, the socialism with Chinese characteristics has made remarkable achievements. China has scored achievements in development that have captured world attention. However, the basic reality that China is still in the primary stage of social- ism and will remain so for a long time to come has not changed, nor has Chinese society's principal contradiction-the one between the ever-grow- ing material and cultural needs of the people and the low level of social production. Our country is the largest developing country in the world. Its international status has not changed."

Meanwhile, quite a lot of difficulties and problems still exist in the course of continuing to promote the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics. All the achievements and progress made over the past 30 years of develop- ment can be essentially owed to the fact that our Party has paved the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and formed the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Looking into the future and in order to solve the complex problems in the development of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics and seize the new victory of building a well-off society in a comprehensive way, our Party is required to hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, unswervingly follow the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, and continue to deepen the study of the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics; to insist on the scientific Marxist principle and spirit, be good at grasping the objective changes and summarizing the fresh experience created by the people in practice, enrich

7 Hu Jintao: Speech at the Meeting Celebrating the 90" Anniversary of the Founding of the CPC, p. 20.

and develop the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteris- tics, continuously endow the contemporary Chinese Marxism with distinc- tive features in terms of the practice, nation and times, constantly open up new horizons for the Marxist theoretical development, and strive to a wider socialist path with Chinese characteristics.

Second, the main contents of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics

The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics runs through the important strategic thoughts: Deng Xiaoping Theory, "Three Represents" and the scientific outlook on development. It is unified and scientific in that it has formed a series of interconnected basic views on such major issues as the socialist development path, development stage, fundamental task, development motivation, external conditions, political guarantee, strategic steps, leadership and supporting group, and reunifica- tion of the motherland. It includes the following 14 aspects:

———The ideological line. It is the essence of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics as well as the soul of Deng Xiaoping Theory, "Three Represents", and the scientific outlook on development. It stresses emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping pace with the times, starting from the reality, examining and developing the truth in practice, vigorously carrying forward the spirit of seeking truth and being pragmatic, vigorously promoting the theoretical and practical innovation, and making efforts to realize the ideological liberation, theoretical develop- ment and practical creations.

The fundamental task. It is the central issue of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It stresses that development is the key to solving all problems in China. In essence, socialism is to liberate and develop the productive forces, eliminate exploitation and polarization, and finally achieve common prosperity. We should adhere to the unity of the center—economic construction—and the two basic points—the four basic principles and the reform and opening up, and to the principle of focusing on construction and development, grasp the development laws, innovate the development concept, transform the development mode, solve the de- velopment problems, improve the development quality and efficiency, and Strive to achieve the scientific, harmonious and peaceful development.

The development stage and development strategies. It is the strate- gic goal and grand blueprint proposed by our Party according to the basic national conditions of contemporary China. It is emphasized that we should be soberly aware that China is and will be for a long time in the primary tage of socialism and that the main contradiction of the society is the con- flict between the growing material and cultural needs of the masses and the

backward social production. We should accurately grasp the stage charac- teristics of China's development, make full use of the important strategic period, better implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening China through talents, and the strategy of sustainable development, adhere to the basic require- ments of comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development and the basic methods of making overall plans and taking all factors into consid- eration, comprehensively promote the economic, political, cultural, social and ecological construction according to the four-to-one overall layout, and realize enough food and clothing, the well-off society and modernization through three steps, and build a strong, prosperous, democratic and civi- lized modern socialist country.

The development motivation. It stems from the profound under- standing of the contradiction movement between the socialist productive forces and productive relations, and the economic base and the superstruc- ture, and reveals the vitality source of the development and progress of our Party and country. It emphasizes that the reform and opening up, a new great revolution, is the path to the powerful nation. We should always ad- here to the correct direction of reform and opening up, carry out the spirit of reform and innovation to all aspects of country governance, promote the reform of all areas, and advance the self-improvement and development of our socialist system. In addition, we should improve the scientific nature of the reform decision-making and the coordination of concrete measures, and correctly understand and properly handle the relationship among the reform, development and stability. At last, we should adhere to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world, make it happen in = as- pects, a higher level and wider areas, better combine the "bringing in" and "going out", and form the new advantage of participating in international economic cooperation and competition at the background of the economic globalization.

The fundamental purpose. It reflects the starting point and foothold of developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and our Party's fun- damental purpose—-serving the people wholeheartedly. It is emphasized that the Party should always be built for the public and exercise power for people, adhere to the principle of being people-oriented, uphold the peo- ple's principal role in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, carry forward the people's initiative spirit, realize, maintain and develop the fundamental interests of the majority of the people, safeguard people's var!- ous rights and interests, promote people's all-round development, so as to realize the development for the people, development relying on the people, and development achievements shared by the people.

~——The economic construction. It stresses that we should establish and improve the socialist market economy system, adhere to and improve the basic economic system that public ownership plays the leading role and diverse forms of ownership develop side by side, accelerate the transfor- mation of the economic development mode, and vigorously promote the strategic adjustment of the economic structure. By adhering to the status of science and technology as the first productive force, we should improve the independent innovation capability, promote the coordinated development between urban and rural areas, improve the macro-control system and the level of open economy, and promote the sound and fast development of the national economy. The civilized development path that we develop through production, enjoy in affluence, live in ecologically good environment.

The political construction. It emphasizes that people's democracy is the life of socialism and thus we must adhere to the political development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the organic unity of CPC's leadership, people's status as the masters of the country and ruling by law, adhere to and improve the people's congress system, the CPC-led multi- party cooperation and political consultation system, the system of national regional autonomy and the grass-roots democratic system, and constantly promote the self-improvement and development of the political socialist system. We should adhere to the correct political direction, deepen the po- litical system reform, ensure the people's status as the masters of the coun- try, set the goal of enhancing the vitality of the Party and the country and mobilizing people's enthusiasm, expand socialist democracy, build a so- cialist country ruled by law and develop the political socialist civilization.

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The cultural construction. It stresses that we need to adhere to the direction of advanced culture, vigorously develop the national, scientific and popular socialist culture that is oriented to modernization, the world, and the future, promote the socialist cultural development and prosper- ity, and give rise to a new upsurge of the socialist cultural construction. By adhering to the guiding position of Marxism in the field of ideology, equipping people with the scientific theory, guiding people with the right public opinion, shaping people with the lofty spirit, inspiring people with excellent works, and approaching the reality, the life, and the masses, we should focus on constructing the socialist core values system, consolidat- ing and expanding the mainstream ideological public opinion, promoting cultural innovation, deepening cultural system reform, developing cultural undertakings and industries, and improving the soft power of the national culture, so as to make the people's basic cultural rights and interests bet- ter guaranteed, the social and cultural life more colorful and people more high-spirited.

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The social (society) construction. It stresses that social harmony is the essential attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics. As a result, to guarantee and improve people's livelihood must be carried out as a major task that concerns the overall situation, so as to promote social fairness and justice and enable all people to live a decent and dignified life in which they can be taught when they want to learn, get paid when they work, get treated. when they are ill, be looked after properly when they turn old, and have a place for them to live in. We should also adhere to and improve the distribu- tion system with distribution according to work being the main form and multiple ways of distribution co-existing, and promote the participation of such productive forces as the labor, capital, technology and management into the distribution. Special efforts shall be made to solve the most direct and realistic issue of interests that concern people the most, to correctly handle the contradictions among the people, to maximize the social vitality for creations and the harmonious factors, and to minimize the factors of disharmony.

———The national defense and army building. It stresses that we should, standing at the height of the national security and development strategy, integrate the economic construction with national defense construction, ad- here to the Party's absolute leadership in the army and to the fundamental purpose of the people's army, implement the strategic military guideline in the new period, accelerate the military reform with Chinese character- istics, comprehensively strengthen and coordinate the advancement of the revolutionary construction, modernization and normalization of the army, and resolutely safeguard the integrity of the state sovereignty, security and territory, so as to make the prosperous country powerful in its army as well.

——-Basic forces it depends on. It stresses that the working class in- cluding intellectuals, and the broad masses of farmers are the fundamental strength that promotes the development of advanced productive forces and the all-round social progress in our country; and the social classes newly emerging in the social transformation are constructors of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics. We should fully implement the guideline of respecting the labor, the knowledge, the talent, and the creation, mobilize all positive factors in the broadest and fullest way, develop and expand the patriotic united front, unite all forces that can be united, and promote the harmony of party relations, ethnic relations, religious relations, relations among social strata, and relations among foreign and domestic compatriots at home and abroad.

Promoting the great cause of the national reunification. We must un- swervingly implement the highly autonomous principle of "One Country, Two Systems", "Hong Kong self-rule", and "Macao self-rule" and act strict- ly by the basic laws of the special administrative region, so as to maintain

the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao; adhere to the principle of "peaceful reunification, and One Country, Two Systems", the 8 proposals for developing the cross-straits relations and promoting the peaceful reunification process of the country, and the four points of view on the development of the cross-strait relations under the new situation, so as to initiate a new situation of the cross-strait relations and achieve the complete reunification of the-country.

The foreign diplomacy and international strategy. It stresses that we should hold high the banner of peace, development and cooperation, unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, the independent foreign policy of peace, and the opening-up strategy of mutual benefit and win-win result, and develop itself through the maintenance of world peace and maintain world peace through its own development. Besides, we should develop the friendly cooperation with all countries on the basis of the five principles of peaceful coexistence and promote the construction of a harmonious world characteristic with lasting peace and common prosper- ity; the national sovereignty, security and development interests shall be safeguarded.

The leadership core. It makes clear the leadership and fundamen- tal guarantee of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is emphasized that the key to China's problems lies in the Party and thus the Party con- struction, a new great project, should be connected with the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and be strengthened at the spirit of reform and innovation. It thus follows that we shall adhere to the prin- cipal line of the Party's governing capacity and advanced nature construc- tion, persist in policing itself and imposing strict discipline on its members, strengthen the Party's ideological, organizational, work-style, institutional, and anti-corruption construction, so that the Party will always be the strong leadership core of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics.

Generally speaking, the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is not only a scientific, integrated and logically rigorous sys- tem in that it involves various aspects such as reform, development and sta- bility, the domestic and foreign affairs and the national defense, and the ad- ministration of the Party, country and army, and covers the construction in such various areas as the economy, politics, culture, society, Party, national defense and army modernization, but also an open one that is constantly developing and will continue to enrich and develop with the development of the socialist practice with Chinese characteristics.

Historical status, role and guiding significance of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics

First, The correct theory guiding the Chinese people to victories in reform and opening and in promoting socialist modernization

The 17® National Congress of the Communist Party of China has writ- ten the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics into the party constitution and clearly pointed out that the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics "upholds, develops and represents the Party's adherence to and development of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought and embodies the wisdom and hard work of several gen- erations of Chinese Communists leading the people in carrying out tireless explorations and practices. It is the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions, the Party's invaluable political and intellectual asset, and the common ideological foundation for the concerted endeavor of the people of all ethnic groups."

This is our party's high evaluation of the historical status and guid- 24 ing significance of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and reflects the common aspirations of the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country.

In the final analysis, the historical position of a scientific theory is deter- mined by practice and determined by its historical pros and cons. Since the reform and opening-up for the past 30 plus years and more, under the guid- ance of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we have achieved rapid and steady long-term development that was unprec- edented in modern times and has won great successes that have attracted worldwide attention. From 1978 to 2007, China's GDP has increased from 364.5 billion yuan to 24.95 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 9.8%. This is more than three times the growth rate (annual) of the world economy. China's total economic aggregate has risen to fourth rank in the world fourth. We rely on our own strength in solving the food problem of our 1.3 billion people. China's total import-export volume has increased from 20.6 billion US dollars to 2.1737 trillion US dollars, ranking third in the world. Its foreign exchange reserves rank the first in the world, consequently China's foreign investments has increased substantially. And actually utilized foreign capital investments in China has reached nearly

8 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 17" National Congress" (Vol.D, p.9, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 2009.

100 billion US dollars. The per capita disposable income of urban residents in China increased from 343 yuan to 13,786 yuan, an increase of 6.5 times in real terms. The per capita net income of farmers has increased from 134 yuan to 4,140 yuan, an increase of 6.3 times in real terms. The number of poor people in rural areas has dropped from 250 million to about 14 mil- lion. Urban per capita housing construction area and rural per capita hous- ing area has doubled. We can see that people's household property, food, drinking and living standards have seen significant improvement.

The constant enhancement of the economic strength and comprehensive national strength, the remarkable achievements in political, cultural and so- cial construction and the well-off status of people's living standards on the whole, and the historic changes of the Chinese people, the socialist China and the Communist Party of China, prove that the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the correct theory that has guided the Chinese people in successfully promoting the socialist modernization in the reform and opening up. In contemporary China, none but this theo- retical system can instruct us to achieve the state prosperity and people's affluence and complete the historical task of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Second, the basic goal of building a moderately well-off society

Since the reform and opening up, especially after entering the new stage of the new century, we have made steady steps towards the goal of build- ing a well-off society in an all-round way which is supposed to be reached by 2020. In the course towards this goal, we face not only important de- velopment opportunities but also many contradictions and problems which are manifested in the following 8 aspects. First of all, the structural con- tradiction and extensive economic development mode formed in a long time remain without fundamental changes, with the relatively low-level productive forces and the less strong capability of independent innovation. Secondly, the institutional and mechanism obstacles in the development and the deep-level contradictions and problems in the further reform in dif- ficult areas still exist. Thirdly, the trend of the widening income distribution gap has not been fundamentally reversed with the number of urban and tural poverty-stricken people and low-income people still considerable and the overall consideration of interests in all areas more difficult. Fourthly, the task of narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas and different regions and promoting the socially and economically coordinated develop- ment remains arduous considering the unchanged weak agricultural foun- dation and lagging rural development. Fifthly, the political system reform needs deepening since the construction of democracy and legal system is not fully adapted to the requirements of expanding people's democracy and economic and social development. Sixthly, people have increasing spiritual

and cultural needs and their thoughts and activities are increasingly inde- pendent, variable, and diverse with more choices, which poses higher re- quirements for the development of advanced socialist culture. Seventhly, the social structure, social organizational form and social interests pattern have undergone profound changes, and the social construction and man- agement are facing many new problems. Eighthly, the increasingly intense international competition, the advantages of the developed countries in the economy and science and technology over developing countries, and the increasing predictable and unpredictable risks, form a higher requirement for making overall plans of the domestic development and opening up to the outside world. In the face of such complex contradictions and problems and difficulties and challenges ahead, and in order to continue to promote reform and opening up and modernization, we have to adopt the scientific theory as the guidance. Only by adhering to the theoretical system of so- cialism with Chinese characteristics can we have a clearer understanding of the basic national conditions, the stage characteristics of development, and the objective laws of the socialist construction in our country, put forward the correct solutions to these contradictions and problems, and smoothly advance the great cause of building a well-off society in an all-round way and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Third, common ideological basis for the struggles of the whole party and people from all nationalities

Common ideological foundation is the fundamental premise so that a party, a country and a nation can depend on and can maintain its existence and development. Without a common ideological foundation, the party will collapse and the country will be dissolved and its people will be divided. Mao Zedong emphasized: it is of great importance in achieving a common language in the Party, and that socialist countries should have "the will of unity". Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "in order to advance our cause "the most important thing is the unity of people. To achieve unity, people must have common ideals and firm convictions." Jiang Zemin pointed out: "Ifa country does not have its own spiritual supporting pillar, it means that it has no soul, and will lose its national cohesion and vitality."?

Hu Jintao pointed out: "lofty ideals and firm convictions are the great banners that unite people and inspire them to make new progress. They are the source of strength to overcome difficulties and win new victories."'°

9 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.2, pp.230-231, Beijing, People's Publishing House, 2006. 10 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 16 National Congress" (Vol. II) p.729, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 2008.

As a new social system, socialism is not only a social movement, but also a pursuit of the ideal and value, which definitely requires us to unify people's thoughts with the common thought and will. The Soviet Union gave us a lesson on what kind of theory can be used to unify the Party's and people's thoughts. In the Soviet Union, the Party's theory was rather unat- tractive to the Party members and the masses considering the long-standing ideological rigidity and prevalence of dogmatism within the Party. After coming, into power, Gorbachev put forward "the humane and democratic socialism", "new thinking", "openness", "democratization", "pluralistic guiding ideology", "political pluralism", and "multi-party system", which confused the thoughts of party members and the masses. Some western scholars explained that the reason for the collapse of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was "the disintegration of the Marxist theory", which deprived the socialist system of its legitimacy. It shows that we should not only adhere to Marxism but also develop Marxism and unify people's thoughts and guide the practice with the developing Marxism. The ruling party with more than 80 million party members, confronted with a popu- lation of more than 1.3 billion in China, profound changes in the inter- national and domestic environment, and people's diverse, variable, and pluralistic views and ideas, must adhere to the education of the Party and people with the developing Marxism and the theoretical system of social- ism with Chinese characteristics. This theoretical system, integrating the socialist development with the historical task of national rejuvenation, the realization of socialist modernization with the common prosperity of the people, and the national security, danger, honor and disgrace with people's happiness, is the strong spiritual force leading and inspiring the people of all ethnic groups in the country and the backbone conquering all risks and challenges. Only by unifying the thoughts of the whole party and the people with this system can the people of different social classes and different in- terest groups be able to get united to the largest extent and work together for the common goal.

Fourth, a new breakthrough in the development of Marxist theory

Marx and Engels discussed the possibility of constructing socialism and how to build it in countries with backward economy and culture but failed to put it into practice for the absence of conditions. Lenin made some ex- plorations according to Russia's realities, turned socialism from theory to reality, and achieved valuable results. Based on the experience of the Soviet Union and China's realities, Mao Zedong made deep reflections and practi- cal explorations, which resulted in many creative ideas. However, Marxist classical writers cannot provide ready-made answers for how to build, consolidate and develop socialism in China today. Deng Xiaoping said: We cannot expect Marx to provide ready answers to questions that arise a

hundred or several hundred years after his death, nor can we ask Lenin to give answers to questions that arise fifty or a hundred years after his death. A true Marxist-Leninist must understand, carry on and develop Marxism- Leninism in light of the current situation."

After the 3 Plenary Session of the 11" CPC Central Committee, our Party has been soberly aware that building socialism cannot proceed from the books nor from the inherent mode but from the concrete realities of China. It is stressed that we should not only adhere to the basic principles of Marxism and carry forward the revolutionary tradition but also compose a new epic of Marxism, create new experience, and guide the new prac- tice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics with the developing Marxism. Our party has combined the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete practical realities of contemporary China, paved the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, formed the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, systematically answered the major theoretical and practical problems of how to build, consolidate and develop socialism in China, added new content and made historic contributions to the Marxist theory.

Ideological Line of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The enrichment and development of the party's ideological line Theoretical qualities and essence of Marxism

First, the re-establishment (correction) of the party's ideological line

world outlook and methodology hold by people in the activities of under- standing and reforming the world. The fundamental question that it wants to answer and solve is the relationship between the subjective and objective and that between theory and practice. This question is in fact the concrete embodiment in actual work of the basic philosophical question, namely, the relationship between matter and consciousness and that between be- ing and thinking. Dialectical materialism and historical materialism are sci- entific world outlook and methodology; the fundamental cognitive line of dialectical materialism and historical materialism and the ideological line of the proletariat and its political party is to proceed from reality in all work, achieve correspondence between subjectivity and objectivity, and integrate theory with practice.

The ideological line of the CPC is to proceed from reality in all work, integrate theory with practice, seek truth from facts and verify and develop the truth through practice. An important content and a scientific summary of this ideological line is to emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts, and advance with the times. However, seen from the historical development, emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, and advancing with the times, were not proposed at the same time but experienced a process of continuous enrichment and development. It can be said that Mao Zedong

"Ideological line", philosophically called cognitive line, refers to the Rae

created this ideological line during the New Democratic Revolution, and summarized it as "seeking truth from facts". Deng Xiaoping re-established and developed it in the new period of socialist construction and summa- rized it as "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts". Jiang Zemin further developed it in the new century and summarized it as "eman- cipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, and advancing with the times".

During the period from the 1920s to 1930s, the "left-dogmatism" and the right-dogmatism in the CPC, especially the "left-dogmatism" repre- sented by Wang Ming, carried out the cognitive line of proceeding from books only. Divorced from the actual situation of the Chinese society and the Chinese revolution, they blindly copied the experience of the October Revolution (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and the resolutions of the Communist International. They depended on rote memorization of the books of Marxism-Leninism to solve the extremely complex problem in China, namely how should China carry out revolution in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, which almost drove the Chinese revolution to the last ditch. The CPC, represented by Mao Zedong, followed the cognitive line of proceeding from reality in all work and combined the basic prin- ciples of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete reality of the Chinese revo- lution. Their shifts depending on time, place and conditions had repeatedly saved Chinese revolution. In the actual activities of leading the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong deeply realized the harm of dogmatism and book- ishness inconsistent with the reality of China to the CPC. In order to over- come various wrong ideas widely found in the Party and ensure the smooth development of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong summed up the basic cognitive line of dialectical materialism and historical materialism—pro- ceeding from the realities—with four characters "seeking truth from facts" in the 1940s, and established it as the ideological line of the Chinese com- munists. Under the guidance of this ideological line, the Chinese com- munists overcame the obstacles on the way forward, found China's own revolutionary path, won the new-democratic revolution and established the People's Republic of China. After the founding of the new China, under the guidance of this ideological line, the Chinese communists quickly restored the national economy, successfully realized the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry, established a socialist sys- tem and developed the socialist economy, politics and culture.

In the 1980s, during the struggle against the wrong thinking of "Two Whatevers", Deng Xiaoping mentioned "emancipating the mind" and "seeking truth from facts" together, proposed a new summary of the fun- damental cognitive line of dialectical materialism and historical material- ism according with the needs of the development of times, re-established the ideological line of seeking truth from facts, and added "emancipating

the mind" to this ideological line, so as to break the long-standing social situation characteristic with the ideological rigidity, ideological conserva- tism and ideological confinement, eliminate the ideological restraints of personal superstition and personal worship on the whole Party and all the people, get rid of the harmful'effects of the "Cultural Revolution" and cre- ate a new historical development period. Guided by the ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, the whole Party and all the people started from the reality of the primary stage of socialism, made trials and errors, and have created a socialist path with Chinese characteris- tics and made great groundbreaking achievements on this path.

Second, the enrichment and development of the ideological line

Just after entering the 21" century, in the report of the 16 National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin pointed out: "Persisting in the party's ideological line, emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, and advancing with the times are the decisive elements for our party to adhere and maintain to its advanced nature and enhance its creativity."

&

This new argument is the new summary of the fundamental cognitive line of dialectical materialism and historical materialism made by the Chinese communists in the new stage of the new century, according to the new situa- tion, new tasks and new requirements. This new summary is consistent with the development needs of the times. It not only adheres to the ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, but also adds the new content of "advancing with the times" to this ideological line.

In January 2004, at the 3" Plenary Meeting of the Discipline Inspection Committee of CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Hu Jintao put forward the new requirements of "being realistic and pragmatic" to the whole Party. The essence of being realistic and pragmatic is to ask the whole Party to continuously seek for the truth of the basic national condi- tions in the primary stage of socialism in China and adhere to long-term and arduous struggle; seek the law of socialist construction and human social development, and do a good job at development which is the first priority of the Party in governing and rejuvenating the country; seek the historical status and function of the masses, and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people; seek the law of the governance by the communist party and strengthen and improve the Party construction. To adhere to being realistic and pragmatic, we should strive to: effectively strengthen ideological education, constantly improve the consciousness of the party members and cadres of being realistic and pragmatic; insist on serving the people wholeheartedly, and straighten out the relationship with the masses; correctly understand the national conditions, formulate the guidelines and policies and carry out the work according to the national conditions; understand, grasp, follow and apply the laws. In short, being realistic and pragmatic is to closely focus on the implementation of the work of the Party and the country, put theory into practice, translate idea into action and achieve results.

From "seeking truth from facts" established by Mao Zedong to Deng

Xiaoping's "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts", to Jiang —

Zemin's "emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and advancing with the times", and to the new demand of "being realistic and pragmatic" put forward by the former General Secretary Hu Jintao, we can clearly see the continuous enrichment and development of the ideological line of the CPC in revolution, construction and reform practice. With such a continu- ous enrichment and development, the various undertakings of the Party and China have been given a strong spiritual driving force, and the Party's theo- retical innovation given a fountain head.

Theoretical qualities and essence of Marxism

First, theoretical qualities and essence of Marxism-Leninism

Marxism is a scientific theory that has evolved with the development of social practice. Emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advanc- ing with the times are the theoretical qualities and essence of Marxism. Marxism was born in the 1840s.

Before the creation of Marxism, capitalist society was shrouded in a kind of innocent "myth". When the bourgeoisie created a productivity that was larger in amount and greater than all productivities created before during its rule which only lasted less than one hundred years and when the capital- ist system showed progress and superiority over the feudal system in all aspects of social life, the bourgeois thinkers, theorists and politicians were so absorbed in such a victory, believing that the capitalist society was the best and most desirable society in the mankind history and that the capital- ist system would be sacred and unshakeable.

Although some economists, philosophers and historians had found that capitalism was not perfect with many defects and full of many evils through studies and observations in various fields, they still strove to speak for the capitalism and demonstrate the sanctity of the capitalist system. In the 1940s, Marx and Engels, starting from the actual conditions of the age when

they lived and critically inheriting all outstanding ideological achievements created before and at that time, carried out an in-depth study on the opera- tion characteristics, basic contradiction and development trend of capitalist economy, politics, culture and' social life, and finally reached a scientific conclusion that capitalism was bound to death and socialism was bound to success. .They founded Marxism, declared the failure of the myth that capitalism was sacred and unshakeable with the power of truth, and created anew realm of understanding the law and direction of human society devel- opment, thus establishing a scientific ideological system for the liberation movement of the proletariat and all mankind.

Although Marxism, with its critical and scientific spirit, has been warmly welcomed by the proletariat and the masses in the world and has so many strong believers and followers, thus it has become the guiding ideology and theoretical weapon of the proletarian political party, Marx and Engels have never regarded their theories as absolute truths, nor have they treated the specific conclusions that they have arrived under particular historical con- ditions as definite and rigid formulas, besides they have also opposed others who treated their theories as such.

They always emphasized repeatedly: "Our theory is a theory of evolu- tion, not of dogma to be learned by heart and to be repeated mechanically."

For example, The Communist Manifesto, which is the creation as well as the first programmatic document of Marxism, played a great guiding role in the vigorous development of the workers movement. But the practice in 1872 developed on the basis of the practice at the time when The Communist Manifesto was issued, and as a result, Marx and Engels pointed out clearly in the preface to the second edition of The Communist Manifesto: "However much that state of things may have altered during the last twenty-five years, the general principles laid down in the Manifesto are, on the whole, as correct today as ever. Here and there, some detail might be improved. The practical application of the principles will depend, as the Manifesto itself states, everywhere and at all times, on the historical conditions for the time being existing...., no special stress is laid on the revolutionary measures proposed at the end of Section II. That passage would, in many respects, be very differently worded today.... "But since then, the Manifesto has become a historical document which we have no longer any right to alter."

Nowhere did Marx indicate this more clearly as when he wrote in his | 877 letter to the Editor of the Petersburg literary-political journal Otechstvennye Zapiski, which printed an article by Nicolai K. Mikhailovski, who treated the analysis found in his book Capital as iron-clad historical laws in non- European settings: He must by all means transform my historical sketch of the development of capitalism in Western Europe into a historical philo- sophical theory of universal development predetermined by fate for all na- tions, whatever their historic circumstances in which they find themselves

may be,.... But I beg his pardon. (That mistaken understanding, does me at -

the same time too much honor and too much insult)."*

For example, when Engels wrote about how to treat materialism, he pointed to the powerful and ever more rapidly onrushing progress of natu- ral science, technology and industry, which have profoundly changed the connotation and denotation of social practice, and he explicitly stressed: "with each epoch-making discovery even in the sphere of natural science it has to change its form."

The adherence to obtaining theory from practice, putting theory into practice for the test of practice and developing theory together with practice run through the life of Marx and Engels.

Born in the turn of the 19" century and the 20" century, Leninism is the Marxism appearing when capitalism developed into imperialism. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the capitalism entering the imperialist stage underwent quite a lot of changes and found many new characteristics in economy, politics, culture, society and other aspects, comparing to that in the era of free competition. Then, how to rediscover the conditions, paths, methods, means and strategies of proletarian revolution according to the changing situation and practice and turn scientific socialism from theo- ry into practice became a major subject that need be taken seriously and solved by Marxists. However, some people did not proceed from reality but from the books. They rigidified and dogmatized the concrete conclusions of Marx and Engels made in specific historical period and under specific his- torical conditions. They insisted that the socialist revolution could only be successful through simultaneously breaking out in the developed European and American capitalist countries. They argued that the revolution could never break out in the economically and culturally backward countries, let alone achieving the success of socialist revolution. However Lenin insisted that: Marxism is not a dogma but a guide to action.

4 Selected Works of Marx and Engels, 2nd Edition, Vol.3, p.342, Beijing, People's Publishing House, 1995; Marx's 1877 Letter to the Editor of the Petersburg Literary- political journal Otechstvennye Zapiski. 5 https://www.marxists.org/ archive/marx/works/1886/ludwig-feuerbach/ch02.htm.

For the present, it is essential to grasp the incontestable truth that a Marxist must take cognizance of real life, of the true facts of reality, and not cling to a theory of yesterday, which, like all theories, at best only outlines the main and the general, only comes near to embracing life in all its com- plexity. "Theory, my friend, is grey, but green is the eternal tree of life."

Starting from this, Lenin combined the basic principles of Marxism with the characteristics of the times and the specific realities of the Russian revolution. Based on the new historical conditions and social practice and through in-depth study of the basic contradictions and development trend of the political and economic relations within and between the imperialist countries, he discovered the imbalance between the economic development and political development of capitalism, and further concluded that: under the new development conditions, the socialist revolution could succeed first in one or several countries in the weak link of the imperialist domination.

"On the Slogan for a United States of Europe" in August 1915, Lenin wrote: Uneven economic and political development is an absolute law of capitalism. Hence, the victory of socialism is possible first in several or even in one capitalist country alone." In 1917, in his "The Military Programme of the Proletarian Revolution" he wrote: The development of capitalism proceeds extremely unevenly in different countries. It cannot be otherwise under commodity production. From this it follows irrefutably that social- ism cannot achieve victory simultaneously in all countries. It will achieve victory first in one or several countries, while the others will for some time remain bourgeois or pre-bourgeois."®

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The victory of the Russian October Revolution and the victory of the socialist revolution of the countries with relatively backward economy and culture in the later period proved that Marx and Engels' thought that the success of socialist revolution could only be achieved simultaneously in several developed capitalist countries did not conform to the new historical conditions and Lenin's revision of Marx and Engels' conclusions based on the new practice was completely correct. His revision is a significant theo- _ fetical innovation to Marxism, creating a new realm of understanding the socialist revolution.

Lenin pushed Marxism into a new stage, namely the stage of Leninism and turned scientific socialism from theory into practice. However, Beni did not become complacent because of his great theoretical contribution to the development of Marxism, nor did he absolutize the Russian path be- cause of obtaining the first success of socialist revolution. On the issue of

Se enceeceenaeetenonnns 6 _https://Awww.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/x01.htm. https://www.marxists.org/archive/ lenin/works/1915/aug/23.htm. https://www.marxists.org/ archive/lenin/works/1916/miliprog/i-htm.

theoretical development and revolutionary path, he, like Marx and Engels, respected practice, insisted on correctness and corrected mistakes. For ex- ample, with regard to the socialist path, Lenin pointed out that all nations would eventually go to socialism, which was the universal law of the his- tory of the world. However, socialism cannot be achieved simultaneously

in various countries in accordance with the same pattern. Because of the .

different conditions in the construction of socialism in various countries, such as nationality differences, national differences, local differences, the' characteristics of economic structure, lifestyle and other aspects, there are various forms for the countries to move to socialism. And the richer the diversity is, the more reliable and the faster the process moving towards socialism is.

Lenin pointed out, in his attitude towards Marxism: We do not regard Marx's theory as something completed and inviolable; on the contrary, we are convinced that it has only laid the foundation stone of the science which socialists must develop in all directions if they wish to keep pace with life. We think that an independent elaboration of Marx's theory is especially es- sential for Russian socialists; for this theory provides only general guiding principles, which, in particular, are applied in England differently than in France, in France differently than in Germany, and in Germany differently than in Russia.'

Moreover, after the proletariat gained power, how to transit to socialism and carry out socialist construction is a new and unprecedented undertak- ing. In order to seek the path for an economically backward country to tran- sit to socialism, Lenin tried "wartime communist policy", and envisioned a direct transition to communism spanning market and merchandise money relations, namely the transition to the unified production and distribution organized by the country. However, it was found that the approach had many problems and was not applicable. Lenin stopped it decisively, and admitted the failure bluntly.

Lenin decisively stopped this policy and frankly admitted that he "made a lot of mistakes in this regard." He also emphasized in particular: "The responsibility of the Communists is not to conceal the weaknesses of their own movement, but to openly criticize the weaknesses so that they can be overcome quickly and thoroughly."

"The attitude of a political party toward its own mistakes is critical in respect whether this party is solemn and whether it truly fulfills one of the most important and credible missions it has assumed for the class and the working masses."'

Second, the theoretical qualities and the essence of Mao Zedong Thought

Born in the 1940s, Mao Zedong Thought is the first theoretical achieve- ment of Marxism in China. From 1840 to 1920, the Chinese progressive people and political forces had explored for 80 years in order to revitalize the Chinese nation. However, they still failed to truly rescue China from sufferings. The October Revolution sent Marxism-Leninism to China, "Follow the path of the Russians—that was the conclusion". In 1921, the CPC, which was armed with Marxism-Leninism, was founded. And since then, the Chinese revolution has taken on a new look. However, the devel- opment of the Chinese revolution was not plain sailing, and the final victory of the revolution was not won easily.

In the history of our party, in a period of time, some so-called real Marxists in the CPC could not correctly understand the true meaning of "taking the path of Russia." Instead of proceeding from the actual situation in China they have proceeded from Marxist books on the series of questions regarding the nature, path, motive forces, strategy and tactics of the Chinese revolution. Instead of exploring the various questions encountered by the Chinese revolution independently, they have absolutized the experiences of the Soviet revolution and sanctified the resolutions of the Comintern, which, has for several times caused the thriving revolutionary movement into frustration. Comrade Mao Zedong resolutely opposed this subjectiv- ism and dogmatism in the Party that did not conform with realities, and who blindly copied others' experiences. He insisted that "the victory of the China's revolutionary struggle will depend relies on the Chinese comrades" understanding of Chinese conditions".

He emphasized: It is up to the Chinese comrades to create a new situation in the revolutionary struggle, it is necessary to learn to apply the basic theo- ry of Marxism-Leninism to the specific environment of China and integrate it with the actual situation in China. He said: to use a common expression, it is by "shooting the arrow at the target". As the arrow is to the target, so is Marxism-Leninism to the Chinese revolution.

With that in mind, Mao Zedong combined the basic principles of Marxism with the actual situation of Chinese revolution and followed the standpoint, viewpoint and method of dialectical materialism and historical _ Materialism. Based on the changes of historical conditions and practice, the in-depth study of Chinese social class, social bracket and Chinese eco- nomic, political and cultural structure, and the summary of the experience and lessons of success and failure, he correctly answered Chinese social na- ture, revolutionary nature, revolutionary path, revolutionary stage, leading class, supporting power and other major problems, founded Mao Zedong

Thought, and realized the first historical leap of combining Marxism with practice in China.

For example, on the nature of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong gave a thorough analysis of the colonial, semi-colonial and semi-feudal nature of Chinese society: Since Chinese society is colonial, semi-colonial and semi- feudal, since the principal enemies of the Chinese revolution are imperial- ism and feudalism, since the tasks of the revolution are to overthrow these two enemies by means of a national and democratic revolution in which the bourgeoisie sometimes takes part, and since the edge of the revolution is directed against imperialism and feudalism and not against capitalism and capitalist private property in general even if the big bourgeoisie betrays the revolution and becomes its enemy—since all this is true, the character of the Chinese revolution at the present stage is not proletarian-socialist but bourgeois-democratic."!!

However, in present-day China the bourgeois-democratic revolution is no longer of the old general type, which is now obsolete, but one of a new special type. We call this type the new-democratic revolution and it is developing in all other colonial and semi-colonial countries as well as in China. The new-democratic revolution is part of the world proletarian- socialist revolution."'?

With regard to the stage of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong pointed out that: since the Chinese society is colonial, semi-colonial and semi-feu- dal, the Chinese revolution should be divided into two steps. The first step is the new democratic revolution, and the second is the socialist revolution. The two revolutionary steps are like the first part and the second part of one article. The New-Democratic Revolution is the first part, and the Socialist Revolution is the second part. Only after completing the first part can the second part be started. The first part is the necessary preparation, and the second part is the inevitable outcome of the first part. And no dictator- ship of bourgeoisie appearing between the two parts should be allowed. We may turn to the path of the Chinese revolution. What kind of path should Chinese revolution take? Mao Zedong did not proceed from books, but from the specific realities of China. He pointed out that: in China, due to the weak force of proletariat, the large cities in China were completely in the hands of the reactionary ruling class. Therefore, the European revolution path of creating revolutionary surge through revolts in central cities did was not applicable at all. On the contrary, China had vast rural area where there was relatively weak domination of the reactionary forces. The rural area could provide a wide margin for revolutionary forces, and there were the most reliable allies of the proletariat, namely the peasants. Only by relying on the rural areas, arming the workers and peasants, creating the red re- gime, and encircling the city from the rural areas can the proletariat finally win the success. Therefore, the path of the Chinese revolution is different from the Russian path. It can only be the path of encircling the cities from rural areas and seizing power by armed people. Moreover, in terms of the transition to socialism, Mao Zedong proceeded from the reality of China. After winning the victory of the new democratic revolution, there was a period of new democratic society. Then, there was socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce from new democracy. In this way, the transition to socialism was achieved in a peace- ful way. All these are pioneering work, adding new and valuable content to the development of Marxism-Leninism.

Although Mao Zedong made serious mistakes in his later years and once deviated from the ideological line of seeking truth from facts established by him, he was still a great Marxist seen from his whole life. Without his creation of the special path of the Chinese revolution, successful explora- tion of the transition of the backward countries to socialist and pioneering work in other aspects, it would be impossible to have the victory of the Chinese revolution and the establishment of the socialist system of China. Even the mistakes made by Mao Zedong in his later years also provided a useful lesson for Deng Xiaoping to explore the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics seen from the dialectical point of view. Deng Xiaoping's theory exactly generated, formed and developed on the basis of inheriting forefathers, pioneering and innovating, and insisting on correct- ness and correcting mistakes.

Third, the theoretical qualities and the essence of Deng Xiaoping Theory

Formed in the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping Theory is an important theoretical achievement of Marxism in China as well as an important part of the theo- retical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the late 1970s, China's society was at a critical juncture in its development. The whole Party and the national people had three paths to choose. One was the old path. The second was the crooked path and the third was a new path. The old path was to continue to follow the "Cultural Revolution", namely the path of "Two Whatevers". The crooked path was to deny the socialist path on the excuse of denying the "Great Cultural Revolution" and any mistakes made before, namely the capitalist path. The new path was not only differ- ent from the old path, but also different from the crooked path. It was a path leading to the bright. Which way would China go? The answer was related to the future of socialism and the future of the Party and the country. With extraordinary courage, Deng Xiaoping led the whole Party to break through _the constraint of "Two Whatevers"a new way by rejecting the old path.

Then, he definitely criticized the ideological trend of denying socialism, refusing the crooked path. He insisted on combining the basic principles of Marxism with the contemporary Chinese practice and the characteristics of the times, and insisted on taking practice as the only standard to test the truth. He constantly summed up experiences, affirmed achievements, cor- rected mistakes, and led the whole Party and the national people to make bold breakthrough and trial. Finally, he carved out a new path, nance the socialist path with Chinese characteristics.

In the process of paving this new path, Deng Xiaoping's greatest charac-

teristic is that he was not dogmatic but insisted on emancipating the mind, even in questions such as what is Marxism and what is socialism.

Deng Xiaoping said: For many years there has been a question of how to understand Marxism and socialism.... Nobody was clear about exact- ly what changes had taken place over the century since Marx's death or about how to understand and develop Marxism in light of those changes. We cannot expect Marx to provide ready answers to questions that arise a hundred or several hundred years after his death, nor can we ask Lenin to give answers to questions that arise fifty or a hundred years after his death. A true Marxist-Leninist must understand, carry on and develop Marxism- Leninism in light of the current situation."

Lenin was a true and great Marxist because it was not books that enabled him to find the revolutionary path and to accomplish the October socialist revolution in backward Russia but realities, logic, philosophical thinking and communist ideals. It was not by reading the works of Marx and Lenin that the great Marxist-Leninist Mao Zedong learned how to accomplish the new-democratic revolution in backward China. Could Marx predict that the October Revolution would take place in backward Russia? Could Lenin foresee that the Chinese revolutionaries would win by encircling the cities from the countryside?""*

The reason why Lenin is a true and great Marxist is that he found the revolutionary path from reality, logic, philosophy and communism ideal in- stead of books, and obtained the success of October Socialist Revolution in a backward country. Mao Zedong, the great Marxist-Leninist of China, did not seek the way to win the victory of the New-Democratic Revolution in the backward China from the books of Marx and Lenin. Could Marx expect the success of the October Revolution in a backward Russia? Could Lenin predict that China will win victory by encircling the cities from the rural areas?" The same is true when the question is how to build up a country.

After winning the revolution, the countries should build socialism on their own terms. There is and will be no fixed pattern. It is precisely this spirit that makes Deng Xiaoping become the founder of Deng Xiaoping Theory.

From Marx to Deng Xiaoping, from the scientific socialist theory to practice, from one nation's practice to multiple nations' practice, from the Soviet model socialism,to the socialism with Chinese characteristics, the development history of Marxism fully proves that the history of Marxism is the history of emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and advanc- ing with the times since its birth. The reason why Marxism is the truth is that it insists on emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, and developing with the development of the times; Marxism is a theoretical weapon because it emancipates the mind, seeks truth from facts, keeps pace with the times and is able to solve the major practical problems. The classical Marxist writers never regard their own theories as a dogma, but as a guide to action and a scientific method of understanding and solving problems; they never regard their theories as changeless thing and irrevocable ultimate truth. On the contrary, they always enrich and de- velop their own theories with the development of practice and according to new practical experience, so as to make their theories accept the test of the society. And they will correct incorrect understanding and judgment according to the test of the society. Emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and advancing with the times profoundly reveals the practicality, scientificity and expansibility of Marxism, and provides a scientific per- spective for us to understand the development law and vitality of Marxism.

Advancing with the times

First, the ideological connotations and the relationship between emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and advancing with the times

Emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, the 3 principles contain rich ideological contents. The so-called emancipation of the mind is to bravely break the shackles of backward tra-

ditional concepts and be good at starting from reality and strive to forge ahead'!

It is manifested in three aspects. First of all, the premise of emancipat- ing the mind shall be the guidance of Marxism. Mind emancipation will be impossible if non-Marxism or even anti-Marxism rather than Marxism Is taken as the guidance. Secondly, mind emancipation shall aim at break the habitual force and subjective prejudice. If it does not aim to break the habitual force and subjective prejudice, but the correct ideas and practic- es meeting the needs of social development, it shall not be regarded as mind emancipation. Thirdly, the purpose of emancipating the mind shall be studying the new situation, solving new problems and forging ahead. If mind emancipation only remains in the empty slogan and the "revolution" in the mind instead of solving practical problems and forging ahead, it shall not be regarded as mind emancipation. The true mind emancipation shall be the integration of all these three aspects.

According to Mao Zedong's argument seeking truth from facts, includes the following of cessation: "Facts" are all the things that exist objectively, "¢ryth? means their internal relations, that is, the laws governing them, and "to seek," means to study. We should proceed from the actual conditions in- side and outside the country, the province, county or district, and derive from them, as our guide to action, laws that are inherent in them and not imaginary, that is, we should find the internal relations of the events occurring around us. And in order to do that we must rely not on subjective imagination, not on momentary enthusiasm, not on lifeless books, but on facts that exist ob- jectively; we must appropriate the study material in detail and, guided by the general principles of Marxism-Leninism, draw correct conclusions from it."°

To be simple, seeking truth from facts is to require people to adhere to proceeding from reality, understanding things according to their original appearance, seeing through the appearance to perceive the essence, striving to grasp the internal relations and development of things, guiding actions with the understanding of the development law of things, and consciously realizing the historical unity of subjective and objective, theory and prac- tice in the activities of understanding and reforming the world.

"Keeping pace with the times means that all the theory and work of the Party must conform to the times, follow the law of development and display great creativity."..."Its content includes the organic combination of these three aspects: the characteristics of times, regularity and creativity."""

Emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times is an organic whole. The three aspects are interrelated, mutually pro- moted and indivisible. Emancipating the mind is the premise and condition of seeking truth from facts. Seeking truth from facts is the essence and foun- dation of emancipating the mind. The two are unified in the social practice. In the final analysis, they are unified in the process of advancing with the times. The key of adhering to the Party's ideological line, emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and advancing with the times is to carry on truth-seeking and pragmatic spirit and adhere to advancing with the times. Whether this can be achieved consistently determines the future of the Party and the country.

Second, keeping up with the times as the key link

Why is "keeping up with the times" the key link?

To cerrectly understand and grasp this problem, we must first correctly understand and grasp the concept of "times". The so-called "times" is an important philosophical category.

Philosophically, its biggest characteristic is that it is one-dimensional, just like time. In other words, it moves in one direction, which is irrevers- ible. Time is continuous, but it is manifested through different stages of development. The larger time span can be called the era, and the smaller time span can be called the development stage or historical period. Whether it is the era, the stage of development or the historical period, the question of the times discussed now is to emphasize that the present is not the past. It is necessary to recognize the difference between the present and the past, the changes since the publication of The Communist Manifesto, and the new situation and new features presented at current development stage compared with the previous development stages. It is because of the characteristics of the times that Jiang Zemin had repeatedly stressed that adhering to advanc- ing with the times is to recognize the major changes in politics, economy, culture, technology and other aspects over the past more than 160 years since the publication of The Communist Manifesto, the major changes in the socialist construction of China, and the major changes in the work, living conditions and social environment of the vast party members and cadres and the masses. It is also necessary to take full account of the serious chal- lenges and new subjects put forward by these changes to the Party, correctly understand the historical process of socialist development, and have a cor- rect understanding of the historical process of the socialist development and capitalist development, the influence of the practice of Chinese socialist reform on the thoughts of people, and the influence of current international environment and international political struggle. Great changes have taken place in the times, and the history has entered a new stage of development. The situation has changed, and the problems are different. In this way, the theory, ideas, methods and measures to solve the problem cannot remain unchanged. If we indiscriminately copy the old theory, ideas, methods and measures to face the new situation, solve the new problems, and create new things, we will inevitably get into trouble on all sides and encounter failure. _ This is why the adherence to advancing with the times should firstly ensure _that "all theories and the work of the Party accord with the times".

Secondly, to correctly understand and grasp that the key is to advance with times, we should also correctly understand and grasp the relationship between the times and regularity and the significance of regularity. Whether in philosophy or science, "time" is not an empty frame existing indepen- dently. It is always closely related to things, and is the form of existence and development of things. When "time" changes, things will change too. And the internal relationship among things and the development rule and development trend formed by such relationship will also change inevitably. Based on this, we have every reason to say that situation changes when time changes. The past has its own situation, so does the present. Only by grasp- ing the present can we grasp the current situation, go with the flow, and ride on the momentum. If we stand still, we will go against the flow and will inevitably encounter failure. Throughout the development history of human society, the current age is different from the age more than 160 years ago, and the current situation is different from that more than 160 years ago. The times have changed, and the situation is different. As a result, the develop- ment law and development trend of social politics, economy, culture and other aspects of social life will also change inevitably.

To advance with times, we must study new situation and new problems, grasp the new laws and new trends of the development of things, and guide our actions with the understanding and grasp of new laws. Otherwise, noth- ing will be done. Why the formal Chairman Jiang Zemin repeatedly stressed that all party members should focus on the practical problems of China's reform and opening up and modernization construction, things we are do- ing, the application of Marxist theory, the theoretical thinking on practical problems, new practices and new developments? That is the reason; and that is also the reason why the adherence to advancing with the times is to "make all theories and work of the Party... should accord with the laws of development".

Finally, to understand and grasp that the key is to advance with times, the most important is to correctly understand and grasp the "advancing". The achievement of advancing with the times, after all, should be reflected in the ability to "keep pace". "Advancing" is to move forward. However, moving forward cannot be realized passively. It should be a kind of con- scious behavior. This requires forging ahead and bold innovation. We need

forward. Attitudes of cessation, pessimism, inaction and complacency are all wrong.

He added: Ideas of stagnation, pessimism, inertia and complacency are all wrong. They are wrong because they agree neither with the historical facts of social development over the past million years, nor with the histori- cal facts of nature so far known to us (i.e., nature as revealed in the history of celestial bodies, the earth, life, and other natural phenomena)."!®

By entering into the 21% century, Jiang Zemin explicitly pointed out: "Innovation is the soul driving a nation's progress and an inexhaustible source of a country's prosperity and development, also the source of the eternal vitality of a political party.""°

In the report of the 16 CPC National Congress, he highlighted the im- portance of innovation again through summarizing the development history of human society, the social development history of Chinese society, espe- cially that since the modern times, and the struggling course of the CPC since its establishment.

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Innovation is manifested in the theory, institution, science and technol- ogy, culture and other aspects of the society. In these innovations, theoreti- cal innovation is the premise and key to the development of the Party and the country. System innovation is the guarantee of the development of the Party and the national cause. Scientific and technological innovation and cultural innovation are the driving force and intellectual support for the development of the Party and the country.

The classical Marxist writers once made clear that the theory is the fore- runner of action and there will be no real revolutionary movement without the correct revolutionary theory; once the correct theory is mastered by the masses, it will be transformed into a great material force to transform the world. Therefore, to obtain the continuous development of the cause of the Party and the country, it is necessary to continuously develop theory at first. The theoretical innovation should be carried out, otherwise all new devel- opments will indulge in empty talk.

However, theoretical innovation does not drop from the skies, nor gen- erate by itself. It is driven by social practice and its needs. Marx made it

to open a path in the thorns, and even a path in the place where there is no |

_ Clear that the degree of implementing a theory in one country depends on

path. If there is no forging ahead, there will be no new path. Without inno- vation, there will be no new ideological realm. The discovery of the special

path of the New Democratic Revolution in China and the opening of the -

path of socialist construction with Chinese characteristics has proved the importance of innovation. In the 1960s, Mao Zedong once pointed out tha human beings have to constantly sum up, discover, invent, create, and move

the degree to which the theory meets the needs of the country. The con- tent of theoretical innovation comes from the scientific induction, sum- Mary and sublimation of new practical experience; theoretical innovation depends on absorbing all the outstanding ideological achievements made

https:/Avww.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch22.htm. Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.3, p.64.

by predecessors and contemporaries; whether the theoretical innovation is true or false should be tested and judged by practice; the innovative theo- ry can be the guide of new practice. Practice, need, inheritance and new practice guidance are indispensable elements and functions of theoretical innovation.

The vitality of Marxism lies in constant theoretical innovation; the vital- ity and vigor of the CPC also lies in constant theoretical innovation.

In his article "Insist on the Scientific Method in the Study of Marxism .

and Start from Practical Problems", Jiang Zemin pointed out: "Attaching importance to theoretical construction and theoretical guidance is one of the fundamental characteristics of our party. And emphasizing the building of the party ideologically is an important political experience of our party. At every moment of the development of our enterprise, our party has paid due attention to the supreme priority of theoretical construction. Our 80-year historical experience shows that paying attention to theoretical innovation is an important guarantee for the advancement of the party's cause. As long as we closely the principle linking theory with practice and continuously push forward the theoretical innovation, the cause of the Party is full of vig- or and vitality, and when the development of theory lags behind the prac- tice, the cause of the party will be harmed and even setbacks will occa

In his speech at the meeting celebrating the 80" anniversary of the found- ing of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin further pointed out: "Many changes have taken place in the present world and the time we are in, as compared with the past. We face many problems both at the interna- tional level and domestic level, therefore new problems and new situations must be answered and resolved theoretically and practically or we will not be able to move forward smoothly. We must keep pace with the times and continue to enrich and develop Marxism. If we allow the trend of old age and stagnation, we will be out of date, and our party will face with the risk of losing its advanced nature and leadership qualifications.""' When celebrating the 90" anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu Jintao pointed out: "For Marxism, practice is the source of its theory, the basis for its development, and the criterion for test- ing its truth. Any actions that stick to dogma, ignore practice, or overstep oF lag behind real life will not succeed." Based on China's national conditions, we find that the world is changing

when we open our eyes to the whole world and look forward to the future. — China's reform and opening up and modernization is moving forward, and the great practice of the masses are developing. All these urge the Party to take the theoretical courage of Marxism to summarize the new experience of practice, draw lessons from the beneficial results of contemporary hu- man civilization, expand new horizons in theory and make new summaries. Only in this way can the Party's ideological theory guide and inspire the whole Party and the people to continuously push forward with the cause of socialism with Chinese charatteristics.

Treating Marxism with a scientific attitude

First, adherence to Marxism

The premise for carrying on theoretical innovation is that we must adhere to the basic position, basic ideas and basic methods of Marxism, and adhere to the basic principles of Marxism. Why should we insist on this premise? It is because the truth of Marxism is irrefutable and is the guiding ideology and theoretical weapon of the Party. Deng Xiaoping had repeatedly stressed that we are engaged in reform and opening up and socialist modernization without forgetting our ancestor; we should not forget our ancestor. If we lose our ancestor, we lose our root.

In the spring of 1992, Deng Xiaoping also confidently pointed out in a conversation in the South Speeches: I am convinced that more and more people will come to believe in Marxism, because it is a science. Using his- torical materialism, it has uncovered the laws governing the development of human society. Feudal society replaced slave society, capitalism supplanted feudalism, and, after a long time, socialism will necessarily supersede capi- talism. This is an irreversible general trend of historical development, but the path has many twists and turns.""3

In July 2001, Jiang Zemin pointed out in his speech to the 80" Anniversary of the Founding of the CPC that: "Marxism is the fundamental guiding ide- ology of the Party and the country and a common theoretical basis for the unity of the people of all ethnic groups. The basic principles of Marxism should be adhered to at any time, otherwise we will wander from the course and even lose our cause due to the loss of right theoretical foundation and

ideological soul. "This is why we must always uphold the basic tenets of Marxism."

Second, the development and enrichment of Marxism

To carry out theoretical innovation, we must constantly enrich and de- velop Marxism on the basis of new practice. Why should we do that? It is because although the theory is gray, the tree of life is evergreen. Practice is always moving forward without limit. Thus, theory should also develop together with practice. And the innovation also has no limits. Jiang Zemin pointed out that Marxism is the science of development. It believes that the nature, society and people's thinking is always in constant movement,

change and development. It does not recognize any ultimate condition and

ultimate truth in the world. This requires that we should combine the basic principles of Marxism with the reality of socialist modernization and the reform and opening up as well as the new developments and changes of the times and world situation, and enrich and develop Marxism in the practice of Marxism. If we ignore the historical conditions and the changes of reality and adhere to certain individual conclusions and concrete action programs made by classical Marxist writers under specific historical conditions and specific situations, we will be unable to go forward smoothly and even make mistakes due to divorcing from the actual situation. This is why we should always oppose the dogmatic approach to Marxism.

In the report to the 16 National Congress of the CPC, Jiang Zemin fur- ther pointed out: "We will surpass our predecessors, and future generations will certainly surpass us. This is an inexorable law governing social ad- vancement. We must adapt ourselves to the progress of practice and test all things in practice. We must conscientiously free our minds from the shack- les of the outdated notions, practices and systems, from the erroneous and dogmatic interpretations of Marxism and from the fetters of subjectivism and subdued and subversive metaphysics.""°

On this point, we must be firm and never allow vagueness.

The historical process of China's reform and opening up is a process of always adhering to the basic tenets of Marxism and constantly emancipat- ing the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, make in- novations in a pioneering spirit and being pragmatic."°

Therefore, in the report to the 16" National Congress of the CPC, Jiang Zemin solemnly demanded from the entire party: "While upholding the ba- sic tenets of Marxism, we must add new chapters of theory to it. While car- rying forward the revolutionary tradition, we must acquire new experience. We should be good at seeking unity in thinking through the emancipation of our minds and guiding our new practice with the developing Marxism."

Guiding the new practice with the developing Marxism faced with the new century, new stage and new situation, requires us to guide our new practice with the scientific outlook on development. The scientific outlook on development is consistent with the Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of "Three Represents". It reflects the new requirements of the developments and changes of contemporary world and contemporary China for the work of the Party and the country. It is a powerful theoretical weapon to promote comprehensive and coordinated sustainable development of Chinese econ- omy and society, strengthen and improve the Party construction. It is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the whole Party and the people. It is a major strategic thought that should be adhered to for a long time in the socialist construction with Chinese characteristics.

Development Stages of Socialism and the Strategies to Develop Socialism in the Theory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The theory of the primary stage of socialism

First, the formation and development of the theory of the primary stage of socialism

Regardless of both the revolution and socialist construction, we must proceed from the basic national conditions of our country. As early as dur- ing the democratic revolution, Mao Zedong pointed out: "Understanding China's national conditions is the fundamental basis for grasping all the questions of Chinese revolution."!

The basic national conditions not only refer to the general national con- ditions of China, such as our country having a long history, a vast territory and a huge population. More importantly, it refers to the real nature of the Chinese society and the stage of historical development in which it is de- veloping. In his speech at the meeting celebrating the 70" anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin pointed out: "when recognizing China's national conditions, the most important thing is to recognize all the favorable and unfavorable realistic factors that have a significant impact on the Chinese revolution and construction, especially _the nature of Chinese society and the stage of development it is in, under- Stand their major social contradictions, their development and changes."

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, 2™ edition, vol.2, p.633. CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 7* National Congress", p.1634.

In designing the path of Chinese revolution, why did the Communist Party of China aim to launch a new-democratic revolution and not directly engage in the socialist revolution? This was determined by the nature the country, i.e. its semi-colonial and semi-feudal old society.

The New Democratic Revolution led by the Communist Party of China was able gain victory, because the first generation of the central collective leadership with Mao Zedong as the core accurately grasped that our country

was still a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, correctly analyzed the —

basic national conditions, so as to correctly solve the basic issues of new Democratic revolution, i.e. its goal, nature, motive forces and its future prospects and so on. In the current stage when we are building socialism in China, there is also the question of how to understand the basic national conditions of the country. China is in and will be in the early stage of so- cialism, for a long time in the future which is the scientific judgment of the Communist Party of China and Deng Xiaoping, which was evaluated on the basic national conditions of contemporary China.

This judgment provides a scientific theoretical basis for the Chinese Communist Party to put forward the correct basic line and basic program of the CPC for this stage. The theory of the primary stage of socialism has gone through a long process of practice and cognition.

The founders of Marxism have put forward the basic ideas regarding the future development stages of human society. In the Critique of the Gotha Program, Marx divided the future communism into the first stage and the higher stages of communism according its degree of maturity. Lenin re- ferred to these two stages as socialism and communism. Lenin further elab- orated on the development stages of socialism.

After the victory of the October Revolution, Lenin pointed out that in economically backward Russia, only "primary form of socialism" could be built, and cannot immediately build the "advanced socialism." This con- tains the concept that a socialist society should from a low level to higher one and from incomplete to a more complete development stage. The im- plementation of the "New Economic Policy" was based on this concept. But Lenin has mainly answered the question of how Russia would transit to socialism, and was not yet able to elucidate on the future development stages of the socialist system. After the death of Lenin, when Stalin led the Soviet people in the process of socialist construction, his evaluations and practice on the development stages of socialism, has gone beyond the real-

ity. Shortly after the establishment of the socialist system in 1936, Stalin proposed that the Soviet Union had already entered the stage of completing

socialist construction and gradually transiting to communism.

After the end of the World War II, after a period of economic reconstruc- tion, in 1952 he had announced that the Party's main task was to transit from socialism to communism. Stalin's successors also overestimated the development stages of socialismy in the Soviet Union. Eastern European so- cialist countries and the Soviet Union have shared similar views, basically that they had entered the stage of "developed socialist society."

China's cognition regarding the development stages of socialism has also experienced a tortuous development process. After the socialist transforma- tion was basically completed in 1956, Mao Zedong believed that China's socialist system had just been established and had not yet been fully com- pleted and needed a process of further consolidation. Due to the hasty and early entry into socialism, we didn't accumulate enough experience to en- able us to have a very clear understanding on the issues of social develop- ment. Throughout the "Great Leap Forward" and the People's Commune Movement in 1958, there had occurred a blind optimism of targeting "the realization of communism in our country, which is no longer a distant fu- ture", and thus made a serious and erroneous estimation on the develop- ment stages of socialism.

Although later Mao Zedong and others, when trying to correct the mis- takes of the "Great Leap Forward", held good discussions on the stage of the development of socialism in China, and pointed to the confusion re- garding the difference between socialism and communism, criticized the viewpoints of denying the law of value and equivalent Exchange in the economic life, but in general, the prevalent "left" tendency could not be corrected.

As Deng Xiaoping pointed out: As early as the second half of 1957 we began to make "Left" mistakes. To put it briefly, we pursued a closed-door policy in foreign affairs and took class struggle as the central task at home. No attempt was made to expand the productive forces, and the policies we formulated were too ambitious for the primary stage of socialism."?

After the 3" Plenary Session of the Party, after the comparison of our both positive and negative experiences, the Chinese Communist Party has gradually made a scientific conclusion that China is in and will be in the primary stage of socialism.

The resolution "On The Historical Issues of The Party since the found-

ing of the People's Republic of China adopted by the 6" Plenary Session of the 11* CPC Central Committee in 1981, pointed out that "of course, our socialist) system will have to undergo a long process of development be- fore it can be perfected," and made another clear statement as "our socialist

Selected Works of Deng Xiaopi iti g Xiaoping, Ist Edition, Vol. 3, p.269 and https://archive. tam/Selected WorksOfDeng Xiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt. : or

54

system is still in its early phase of development" our socialist system is still in its early phase of development".

The CC report to 12 CPC National Congress in 1982 once again pointed out: "China's socialist society is still at an early stage of development." And on the eve of the thirteenth Chinese Communist Party Congress in 1987, Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "The 13" National Party Congress will explain what stage China is in: the primary stage of socialism. Socialism itself is the first stage of communism, and here in China we are still in the primary stage of socialism—that is, the underdeveloped stage. In everything we do we must proceed from this reality, and all planning must be consis-

tent with it.

The 13 National Congress of the CPC systematically expounded the theory of the primary stage of socialism, clearly defined the meanings of the primary stage of socialism, clarified the main contradictions in the primary stage and the way to solve it, and put forward the mode of party work in the primary stage of socialism, elucidation of this basic line in this Congress marks the formation of the theory of the primary stage of socialism.

The 15" Party Congress once again expounded on the issues of primary stage of socialism, Party Congress further systematically summed up the 9 characteristics of the primary stage of socialism, and for the first time elaborated the basic sub-stages of the primary stage of socialism, thus our cognition on the issue has reached a new height.

When the 16° National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002, put forward the goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way, it has emphasizes that: "We must be aware that China is in the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for a long time to come. The well-off life we are leading is still at a low level; it is not all-inclusive and is very uneven", and added that "we need to work hard over a long period of time to consolidate and uplift our current well-off standard of living."

The 17° National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007 has analyzed a series of new characteristics of the development of our country since entering the new century. It has pointed out that this is the concrete manifestation of the basic national conditions in the new stage of the new

century.

The Congress emphasized the unremitting efforts of Chinese people

since the founding of new China, especially since the reform and open-

ing up, and added: China has scored achievements in development that — have captured world attention, and experienced far-reaching changes in the productive forces and the relations of production, as well as in the eco- nomic base and the superstructure. However, the basic reality that China is still in the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for a long time to come has not changed, nor has Chinese society's principal contradic- tion—the one between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and.the low level of social production. The current features of de- velopment in China are a concrete manifestation of that basic reality at this new stage in the new century. Stressing recognition of the basic reality is not meant to belittle ourselves, wallow in backwardness, or encourage unrealistic pursuit of quick results. Rather, such recognition will serve as the basis of our endeavor to advance reform and plan for development. We must always remain sober-minded, base our efforts on the most significant reality that China is in the primary stage of socialism, scientifically analyze the new opportunities and challenges arising from China's full involvement in economic globalization, fully understand the new situation and tasks in | China's advance toward an industrialized, information-based, urbanized | market-oriented and internationalized country, have a good grasp of thie new issues and problems we face in development, follow more conscien- tiously the path of scientific development, and strive to open up a broader vista for developing socialism with Chinese characteristics."

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It is just due to the basic understanding of the basic conditions of social- ism and the correct grasp of the basic conditions of socialism, we have succeeded in blazing a new trial of building socialism with Chinese charac- teristics, and have made remarkable achievements.

The basic line and basic program of the primary stage of socialism

Second, the scientific connotations and the main features of primary stage of socialism

The theory of primary stage of socialism includes two meanings: firstly. China is already a socialist society, must adhere to and stick to the path of socialism; secondly, China's socialist society is still in the primary stage, it has not fundamentally got rid of poverty and in an undeveloped state an must proceed from the actual conditions of this primary stage, and not at- tempt to go beyond it. The meaning of the former layer refers to the social nature of the primary stage, and the latter meaning points to the degree of development of our socialist society.

When analyzing the basic national conditions of our country, we must first be certain that the basic elements of socialism have already been achieved: the basic dominant position of socialist public ownership and the basic system of socialism have been established. The people's democratic dictatorship as the state system has been established and the guiding posi- lion of Marxism in the superstructure of the society has been established.

It is due to these basic achievements that have made the Chinese people stand up, so that China could attain the status of a socialist country among the community of world nations and have established the prerequisites for completing realizing socialist modernization in the mid of this century.

At the same time, we must also see that the level of productive forc- es in our country still lags far behind the developed capitalist countries. Thus, building the material and technical base necessary for building the advanced socialism must go through a long historical period.

To fully and correctly understand the concept of the primary stage of socialism, we must first fully grasp the meaning of these above two aspects.

and grasping the 8 Chinese characters of

Only by correctly recognizing "socialism" and "primary stage", we can unify and grasp the basic national

conditions, which means unifying the nature of the socialist society in our country with its degree of development.

If we cannot grasp the current social nature of our country, it will be im-

possible to make a correct analysis of the basic characteristics, major con- tradictions, fundamental tasks and development orientation of society, and it will be impossible to formulate the correct path, basic line, basic program and policies. Failure to correctly understand the current stage of develop- ment of society, it may appear that we may take a working path which goes beyond the stage or may passively fall behind the situation, which will lead us wrong measures and decision. The basic characteristics of the primary stage of socialism, if summed up in a single sentence is "underdeveloped stage of socialism". The 13 Party Congress in 1987 has summarized the basic characteristics of the primary stage of socialism in China from the aspects of population structure, industrial development level, regional development differences and level of scientific education and cultural development. The 15 Congress of the CPC has further systematically summed up the 9 characteristics of the primary stage of socialism: (1) This stage is to gradually transcend the underdeveloped state, and the historical stage within which the basic realization of socialist moderniza- tion will be achieved, which is its general overall characteristics.

(2) This historical stage is in which a significant proportion of popula- tion involves in agricultural production, mainly relying on manual labor,

and which will gradually be transformed into non-agricultural populati

and urban population becomes the majority, a stage w modern agriculture and service industry, an industrialized country.

hich will lead us toa

(3) This is a historical stage, wherein the natural economy and semi-nat- ural economy accounts for a large proportion, and will be gradually trans- formed into a highly developed market economy.

(4) This is a historical stage, wherein we have a large proportion of il- literate and semi-illiterate population, which lack education of science and culture is backward, which will be gradually transformed into a relativel advanced level of science and technology, education and culture ed

(5) This is a historical stage, wherein the poor population accounted a nee ah sr wherein people's living standards are relatively low. which will be gradually transformed into a state th ill achieve remarkable prosperity. Shey yee

(6) This is a historical stage, wherein the regional economic and cultural development levels are quite uneven, wherein through the development achieved in the primary stage, the gaps will be gradually narrowed.

(7) This is a historical stage, wherein we will through reform practice and exploration, establish and improve a more mature and dynamic social- ist market economic system, socialist democratic political system and other aspects of the socialist system.

(8) At this stage, the broad masses of people will be able to firmly estab- lish the common ideals of building socialism with Chinese characteristic strive for self-improvement, forge ahead, hard work, diligence and creati ity, and strive to build spiritual civilization and achieve to realize peers nated development of the two civilizations, energetically promote spirit i civilization while advancing material civilization. _

(9) This stage is a historical stage wherein we will gradually narrow the . Rolie the world s advanced level and achieve the great rejuvenation of a te eae on the basis of socialism. These 9 aspects fully embody € procedural characteristics of the historical i Dace orical development of the primary

In the process of the development of the primary stage of socialism, it is pcsay to go through a number of specific sub-stages of development. which demonstrates distinct qualities.

. 17 National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in 2007 ae a pee analysis and made a new generalization which in-

aspects of the sub-phasal status of the pri i

tered into the new century. Pipiesagee ne ina gat

a 2 the current situation, economic strength is significantly enhanced

N : e the overall level of productive forces is not high, independent jiigvac capability is not strong, the status of long-term structural contradictions

still exist and extensive economic growth mode has not fundamentally transcended.

(2) In the current situation, the initial establishment level of socialist market economic system is achieved, while institutional mechanisms that hinder the development still exist, the reform is faced with deep-seated con- tradictions and problems. ;

(3) In the current situation, in general people's living standards have achieved a well-off level, while the widening trend of gap regarding the income distribution gap widening trend has not fundamentally reversed, there is a considerable number of urban and rural poor and low-income population in China we need to undertake comprehensive efforts to regulate and optimize the interests of all quarters of the society.

(4) In the current situation, we have made significant achievements in coordinated development, while the agricultural base is still weak, the situ- ation of rural development has not changed. We are faced with the arduous tasks of narrowing development gap between the city and rural areas, be- tween regions and strike a coordinated economic and social development.

(5) In the current situation, the building of socialist democratic politics is developing continuously and our basic strategy of governing the country according to law is carried out. At the same time, the requirements of de- mocracy and legal system construction and expansion of people's democ- racy and economic and social development are not fully met, the reform of political system needs to be deepened.

(6) In the current situation, the socialist culture has achieved more pros- perous level, and the people's spiritual and cultural demands are becoming more and more vigorous. We see obvious enhancement of independence, selectivity, diversity and difference in people's ideological activities, which brings forward higher requirements for the development of advanced so- cialist culture by us.

(7) In the current situation, our society has become evidently more dy- namic, but profound changes have taken place in the structure of society, in the way society is organized and in the pattern of social interests, and many new issues have emerged in social development and management.

(8) In the current situation, China is opening wider to the outside world, but international competition is becoming increasingly acute, pressure in the form of the economic and scientific dominance of developed countries will continue for a long time to come, both predictable and unpredictable

risks are increasing, and the need to balance domestic development and

opening to the outside world is greater than ever. .

At present, the phasal status characteristics of China's development giv- en above are the concrete presentation of the basic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism in the sub-stage when China has entered into the new century.

' Only by firmly grasping the great historical stage of the primary stage of socialism and seriously analyzing the specific characteristics of the sub- stages in different periods, can we accurately judge the mainstream and direction of our country's social development and formulate the correct de- velopment strategies and policies.

Third, the long-term nature of the primary stage of socialism

That, China is in the primary stage of socialism, is not conclusion based | on general principles, but a scientific conclusion drawn from the concrete realities of China. i i

The 13 CPC National Congress pointed out: "the primary stage social- ism" does not refer that generally to the initial stage that any country should pass through when proceeding towards socialism "but refers specifically to the backwardness of our country with relatively backward productive forces, and with an the underdeveloped commodity economy, it is certain stage of development that our socialism is bound to go through."

China's socialism must go through a long-term primary stage.

Firstly, this truth is determined by the historical premises of our entry into socialism.

The main historical premise of China's entering socialism is the econom- ic and cultural backwardness attached to the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society of China.

The concrete historical conditions of the modern world and China have determined that China's bourgeoisie would not lead the democratic revolu- tion to victory, thus China would not be able to realize industrialization, economic modernization and marketization under capitalism. The only Way out for China was to reject capitalist path and strive for the goal of socialism, through new democracy under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. These have historically imposed China to establish a so- Cialist system whence the full development of capitalism was not there. However, this does not mean that China should pass through the stage of full development of capitalism, but at the same time this does not mean that _we are allowed to by-pass beyond the stage wherein the great development of productive forces and full development of the commodity economy is

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. eee Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since

me 13" National Congress" (Vol. I), p.12, Beijing, People's Publishing House, 1991.

achieved. Socialism is based on the highly advanced productive forces, and industrialization based on high degree of socialization of production, which is accompanied by the full development of the commodity economy, in order to fully demonstrate its superiority over capitalism. When China has entered the socialism building, it was far behind the developed capitalist countries in terms of the level of development of productive forces, in terms of the socialization of production, marketization and economic modern- ization. All these determines that, our country must use a whole historical

stage under socialism conditions to realize the socialization of production, .

marketization and modernization of the economy and industrialization—all of which were realized under capitalism conditions in many other coun- tries—in order to establish and develop socialism it needs to develop the basis regarding the level of productive forces.

Secondly, when evaluating the realities of our national situation, China has not exceeded the primary stage of socialism.

Although after 50 plus years of socialist construction, especially with the rapid development we have achieved after the 3 Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of the CPC, China has undergone profound changes, productivity has been a huge development, our cause has made great prog- ress, comprehensive national strength of China is greatly enhanced and the people's living standards in general have reached a well-off level.

However, in general, the level of productive forces in China is not high yet, our socialist system is not perfect, the socialist economic system is not yet mature, the socialist democracy and the legal system is not sound enough, the backward situation of education regarding science and tech- nology, and cultural level has not been fundamentally changed, the sphere of societal construction and social management are also faced with many new issues. The major social contradiction between people's ever growing material and cultural needs and the backward social production did not yet enter a new situation.

Thirdly, and finally, the characteristics of the times and the general inter- national environment we are surrounded with determines that the socialist modernization drive of China have to go through a relatively long primary stage. Advance and mature socialism requires that we should continue to develop and improve our material and technical foundation, as well as sci- entific and technological progress.

In today's world, the productive forces of the developed countries is highly advanced, and looking at the world-wide environment we see that scientific and technological revolution has developed rapidly. Surrounded with this context, in the process of modernization, in addition to the con-

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informationization to meet the challenges of the new scientific and tech- nological revolution surrounding our country, which means that China's comparative comprehensive national strength is under a great pressure of foreign competition. All these determine that China must go through a long primary stage to develop into a more advanced and mature socialism. In short, our country is still in and will be in the early stages of socialism for a long time to come.

To achieve modernization, to build our country into a prosperous, demo- cratic, civilized and harmonious socialist country, there is still a long way to go, till the middle of the 21* century in order to basically realize modern- ization, from 1956 into the socialist society. The primary stage of the work takes at least a hundred years. In,1992, Deng Xiaoping pointed out in his speech in the south tour: We have been building socialism for only a few decades and are still in the primary stage. It will take a very long historical period to consolidate and develop the socialist system, and it will require persistent struggle by many generations, a dozen or even several dozens. We can never rest on our oars.'

Capitalism has consummated centuries to modernize itself. Only by seiz- ing the opportunities and utilizing them successfully so as to speed up the development, it is possible to achieve this magnificent vision of achieving socialist modernization in 2049.

Recognizing the long-term nature of the primary stage of socialism will help us to keep a clear mind and avoid us from making "left" or right mis- takes, in our thinking and actions, and raise our consciousness of upholding the party's basic line and basic program, thus will promote the socialist modernization drive.

The basic line and basic program of the primary stage of socialism

First, the main social contradictions in the primary stage of socialism

One of the core issues of the theory of the primary stage of socialism is the correct judgment of the major social contradiction, which is the objec- tive basis for formulating the basic line of the Party in the primary stage of socialism.

6 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, First edition, Vol.3, pp.379-380 and https://archive. org/stream/Selected WorksOfDeng Xiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt

ventional historical task of industrialization, China is also faced with the

After the socialist transformation in our country was basically completed in 1956, the 8 National Congress of the Party in 1956 pointed out: The contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie in our country sae basically been resolved. The history of the class exploitation system whic had lasted for thousands of years has basically ended. "The principal con- tradiction within the country is no longer the contradiction between the pro- letariat and the bourgeoisie but the one resulted from the need of the people for rapid economic and cultural development which fell short of their re- quirements. The chief task confronting the entire nation is to concentrate. all efforts on developing the productive forces, change our country from an underdeveloped agricultural country to an advanced industrial country e soon as possible, and gradually meet the people's growing economic an cultural needs."

The 8" Congress of our Party's judgment on the major social contradic- tion of China was basically correct, and in line with China's national condi- tions, but due to variety of subjective and objective reasons, we failed to stick to this correct understanding and judgment.

The failure of expansion of the "anti-rightist" struggle in 1957 was, theo- retically speaking, a reflection of rejecting the correct analysis we a made regarding major social contradiction and meant that we regarde tt € contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie as ae main social contradiction of our society, which led to the rise of the "left" thoughts.

In 1962, the class contradiction was further emphasized as the main con- tradiction and extended to be the main contradiction throughout the whole period socialism, and the line of "taking class struggle as the key Hink was put forward, leading to the occurrence of the "Cultural Revolution" which caused serious setback in our socialist cause.

The 3" Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of the CPC dect- sively corrected the erroneous judgments regarding the main contadicuon and the erroneous line of "taking class struggle as the key link , and shifted the focus of the work of the party and the state to the socialist moderniza-

tion drive.

In 1979, in his important speech "Adhere to the Four Cardinal Principles," Deng Xiaoping clearly answered the main contradictions at this stage: As for the question of what is the principal contradiction in the current . riod—what is the main issue or central task confronting the Party and ie people in the current period—actually this question was answered by e decision of the 3" Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee to shift the

7 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the Founding of PRC" (Vol. IX), pp.341-342, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 1994.

focus of our work to socialist modernization. The level of our productive forces is very low and is far from meeting the needs of our people and coun-

try. This is the principal contradiction in the current period, and to resolve it is our central task.'

' "The resolution on The Historical Issues of The Party since The Founding of The People's Republic of China, decided at the 6" Plenary Session of the 11 Central Committee CPC, in 1981 further pointed out that after the socialist transformation was basically completed, the main contradiction to be solved by our country was that "between the ever growing material and cultural needs of the people and the backward social production."

The 13" Party Congress in 1987 more comprehensively expounded and affirmed the theory of the primary stage of socialism and pointed out that the main contradiction throughout the primary stage of socialism in our country was that "between the ever growing material and cultural needs of the people and the backward social production."

But as a result of international and domestic factors, class contradictions and class struggle in China will continue to exist within a certain range, and may also intensify, under certain conditions. We must have a clear under- standing of this issue, and take the correct attitude and methods to solve it. But the main contradiction of society is "between the ever growing mate- rial and cultural needs of the people and the backward social production." This main contradiction runs through the whole process of socialism in our country and demonstrates itself in the various aspects of social life, which determines that we must take economic construction as the center, all the work of the Party must obey and serve this central task.

Deng Xiaoping has always stressed the importance of this idea, by say- ing "even if there is a large-scale invasion by foreign enemies, we must not shake and change our judgment regarding the main contradictions and central task, nothing should interfere the determination of our party's con- centration over the cause of socialist modernization, must not repeat the mistake we have made regarding the 8" Party Congress judgment, shake the central task work center and turn back to error of "taking class struggle as the key link".

The 16" National Congress of the Communist Party of China stressed that in the stage of building a well-off society in an all-round way, it is nec- essary to adhere to the economic development work as the central task and solve the problems regarding the development. It emphasized: we should promote social progress, and continuously improve people's living stan- dards, and ensure that people share the fruits of development, by firmly focusing on the task of economic development. Only by firmly grasping the main contradictions and central task of the primary stage of socialism and concentrating on the development of productive forces can we fundamen- tally change the backwardness of our country and continuously meet the people's growing material and cultural needs.

Second, the formation and content of the basic line of the of the primary stage of socialism

The basic line, also known as the general line, is the description of the. general goals and tasks of the CPC for a certain historical stage and the pathways and roads set to achieve this goal. The basic line of the primary stage of socialism was established on summing up the past experience and lessons, and was gradually formed in the course of reform and opening up and the practice of socialist modernization.

In the eve of the 3 Plenary Session of the 11° CPC Central Committee in 1978, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that the realization of the four mod- ernizations should be understood as a great revolution. We should carry out comprehensive and major reforms in the economic front and at the same time reform the relations of production and adjust the superstructures so that they can serve the base.

The 3 Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee decided to shift the focus of Party and state work to economic construction and made the great

decisions of reform and opening up.

Evaluating the doubting thoughts in the society towards the viability of socialist system after certain failures, and in order to control the erroneous thought of negating the Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping put forward the Four Cardinal Principles: adhere to the socialist path, adhere to the peo- ple's democratic dictatorship, adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, adhere to our guiding ideology of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. In 1980, Deng Xiaoping pointed out in his speech at the 5" Plenary Session of the 11 CPC Central Committee that the political line of our Party at this stage is to engage in four modernizations.

In 1981, in the 6" Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee estab- lished the goal of building our country into a socialist country with modern

agriculture, modern industry, modern defense and modern science and tech- _ nology, with a high degree of democracy and a high degree of civilization.

By 1982 the 12" National Congress of the Party has proposed the Party task as "one center, two basic points" which was a further summarization

of the above concept. At this Congress, Deng Xiaoping for the first tim

put forward "follow a path of our own, and build socialism with Chinese

characteristics" as an important proposition. In 1986, as suggested by Deng

Xiaoping, the 6" Plenary Session of the 12 CPC Central Committ d fined the overall comprehensive layout of China's socialist re ani ‘s task, that is, "take economic construction as the central task apeits ee ingly carry out economic reform, unswervingly carry out political fe - strengthen the construction of spiritual civilization." reer

On the eve of the 13% CPC National C ; tote on Xiaoping made it further clear: gress held in 1987, Deng

It : our basic line to carry out socialist modernization. If we are to do so and to make China a prosperous and developed country, we must, first

follow the policies of reform and openi pening up, and to the Four Cardinal Principles."® ae aes

While systematically expounding the theory of the primary stage of eAlsins the Party's 13" CPC National Congress formally fanitered th party s basic line in the primary stage of socialism: "In the initial sta e se socialism, our party's basic line of building socialism with Chinese a acteristics is: "To lead and unite the people of all ethnic groups acros the country, taking economic construction as the central task uphold the : Cardinal Principles, persist in reform and opening up, see that people of ite whole country will rise to do hard pioneering work and bring ie a ; rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, thus we will strive to build our co a into a prosperous, democratic and civilized modern socialist country. m0 i

i the 4% Plenary Session of the 13" CPC Central Committee, the third generation of the central collective leadership, with Jiang Zemin if its

core leader, has gradually put forward th j : WG e *yqe socialist harmonious society. major strategic task of building a

ee oe sen

ae report of the 16" National Congress of the Communist Party of 4 ina combined the task of building a socialist harmonious society, with € important goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way.

pote ne 2 CPC National Congress in 2002, the Party Central om is with Hu Jintao as veto Secretary made further cognitive a eae eg the 6" Plenary Session of the 16 CPC Central mitce e an of "harmonious society" and "prosperity and advanced a ee efined as the goal of socialist modernization. All these ics a r celts practice and exploration, our party's cognition re- Sapa ao of the struggle has gradually deepened, it has attained a . prehensive understanding on how to achieve the overall cause of

Cialism with Chinese characteristics and how to combine various related

Selected Works of Deng Xiaopi iti g Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.248 and https: i tream/Selected WorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/Deng03 eats pores

0 CPCCC Party Liter at

ure Research Office: Selectio of Impo a L &

( ) n [ ip rtant Litera ure since

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tasks as organic unity to achieve our goals. The party's basic line, deeply summarizes the Party's goals, fundamental ways to follow and fundamental guarantees to achieve the goals, defines the leadership tasks and reliance on the fundamental principles of the socialist primary stage and the basic principle of achieving it. Firstly, the phrase "to build China into a prosperous, democratic, Civi- lized and harmonious socialist modern country", which is the party's goal in the primary stage of socialism, embodies the requirements of the com- prehensively advanced socialist society. ,

Prosperity is the goal and requirement regarding the economic field; de- mocracy is the goal and requirement of the political field; civilization is the goal and requirement in the field of ideology and culture; lastly "harmoni- ous" refers to the goal and requirement of the societal sphere.

The goals of prosperous, democratic, civilized and harmonious are in fact linked with the acts of the of economic construction, political construc- tion, cultural construction and construction of unity and cohesiveness in the society, i.e. social construction.

Secondly, "one center, two basic points", which is the party's basic line refers to the most important content we must bear in mind and practice, in order achieve the goal of socialist modernization goals.

Taking "economic construction as the focus" aims to answer the funda- mental task of socialism, embodies the essential requirement: the develop-

ment of productive forces. "Adhere to the Four Cardinal Principles" is one of the two basic points,

which is our political guarantee, when we are struggling for the liberation and the development of productive forces, it also embodies the require- ments of the basic socialist system. "Adhere to reform and opening up" is another basic point, aims to an- swer the question of how to deal with external conditions, when developing Chinese socialism, it also embodies the essential requirement of the libera- tion of productive forces. As explained above "one center" and "two basic points" concept is an indivisible whole.

China's economic construction is based on the Four Cardinal Principles as its political guarantee, reform and opening up as a powerful driving force;

reform and opening up, to further the liberation and development of pro ductive forces, the consolidation and development of the socialist syste! for the purpose of the Four Cardinal Principles, To ensure that reform ani opening up and economic construction in the right direction, but also fr the new practice continue to draw new experience to enrich and develo

If we give up the economic construction as our central task, all the de- velopment and progress of socialist society will lose its material basis: and if we give up both adhering to Four Cardinal Principles and the fefonin and opening up principle, economic construction will lose both its key soul and its high vitality. °

"One center, two basic points" embodies the strategic layout of China's construction of socialist modernization, and reveals the objective laws and development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Thirdly, "leading and uniting the people of all nationalities" refers to the leadership of Party and also motive social force we rely in order to achieve the goal of socialist modernization.

The Communist Party of China is the core of leadership of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The people of all ethnic groups in the whole country are the forces we depend when fighting for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Fourthly, "self-reliance and arduous pioneering" are the fine traditions of the Chinese Communist Party and the fundamental foothold and basic guideline for realizing our goals in the primary stage of socialism. As Deng Xiaoping had emphasized: "we must work hard and with a pioneering spir- it. This spirit is essential if we are to achieve the four modernizations. The fact that China is poor, has weak economic foundations and is backward in education, science and culture means that we have to go through a hard struggle."!!

The basic line of the party in the primary stage of socialism embodies the requirements of the nature of socialism, reflects the fundamental law of development of socialism in China, and determines the path of develop- ment of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Therefore, we must with no _ vacillation uphold the principles of the party's basic line. Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "We should adhere to the basic line for a hundred years, with ee That is the only way to win the trust and support of the

Adhering to the party's basic line, the key is to adhere to taking the eco- Hontic construction as the focus unwaveringly. Taking economic construc- tion as the focus has summed our bitter lesson of the past, when we took lass struggle as the key link" which has caused major setbacks in the

socialist construction task.

aie Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.257. elected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3 i i . Vol.3, pp.370-371 and https://archive. g/stream/SelectedWorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt. ree:

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We can only consolidate and improve our socialist system and maintain social harmony; if we can be able to withstand the pressure of hegemonism and power politics, and safeguard China's sovereignty and independence against foreign pressures and if we can be able to maintain people s living standards and to strengthen the socialist system. Sovereignty and indepen- dence; in order to fundamentally get rid of the backward situation, among

the world's modern forest.

In short, whether to adhere to the economic construction: as the focus, . decides the success or failure of China's socialist modernization, related to the future of socialism and the fate of our great cause.

Therefore, we must always take economic construction as the focus, all the other work spheres must obey and serve this central task, and all the other work spheres should not separate from this focus, and we should see that nothing should interfere and frustrate our central task.

Adhering to the party's basic line means we must unite the two: reform and opening up policy and adhering to the Four Cardinal Principles.

The Four Cardinal Principles reflect the ideals and the cause pursued by our country. It is the political foundation of our party and the political guarantee for China's survival and development. It also plays key role as the political guarantee of the reform and opening up policy and the mod- ernization goal. Reform and opening up is the path we follow so as to inject energy and vitality into China's development and progress. Thus the Four Cardinal Principles and reform and opening up, the two are mutually linked and interdependent.

If we ignore the Four Cardinal Principles and talk about reform and open- ing up, the latter will inevitably lose its correct political orientation, it will never proceed smoothly. Reversely if we ignore the reform and opening up and talk about the Four Cardinal Principles, the latter will not be able to in- novate and advance with the times, will become a rigid doctrine. Adhering to the two basic points, i.e. the Four Cardinal Principles, adhering to the reform and opening—must obey and serve the central task of economic construction. Unswervingly upholding the basic line of the party suited to the primary stage of socialism, i.e. the economic construction as the center and the Four Cardinal Principles, and reform and opening up as the two ba- sic points is the great practice, regarding the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which constitutes the most valuable experience of

the CPC since 1978.

Third, the basic program of the primary stage of socialism

The basic program of the Chinese Communist Party throughout the pri- mary stage of socialism is the concretization of the basic line of the Party. The corrective re-establishment of the party's ideological line in 1978 has provided the necessary ideological premise for the development of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The establishment of the basic theory of the "primary stage of socialism", the formulation of the basic line of "one center and two basic points" has laid the theoretical basis for CPC's practice. The new basic line of the Party was also gradually developed.

In 1991, Jiang Zemin made a speech on the 70° anniversary of the found- ing of the Communist Party of China, which summed up the experience of reform and opening up practiced for more than 10 years, he defined the contemporary historical mission of the Chinese Communist Party and the basic economic, political views required in implementing the basic line, expounded on the basic content of culture to be constructed in the new era, and other basic policies that should be followed in the construction of socialism. In this speech, Jiang Zemin has made profound analysis and discussion, and laid the foundation of the basic program of the Party in the primary stage of socialism.

Deng Xiaoping's important speeches he made in an inspection tour to the South in 1992 and the report of the 14" Party Congress, have provided di- rect theoretical contributions for the formation of the Party's basic program.

Several Plenum meeting resolutions' explanations by the Central Committee of the 14 National Congress between 1992-97 and in particu- lar, Jiang Zemin's contributions on the twelve major issues of China's so- cialist modernization construction goal have further clarified China's path of economic system reform, and the basic goals and basic policies of social development strategy, construction of spiritual civilization and the issue of party building in the era, all have laid the foundation for the further forma- tion of the basic program.

On the basis of above achievements, the 15" Party Congress formulated the basic program of the Party in the primary stage of socialism, and thus defined the requirements of the basic line in the primary stage of socialism. The 17° Party Congress has further enriched the content of the basic program: "the construction of a socialist economy with Chinese charac- teristics is to develop an advanced market economy under the conditions

_ Of socialism, to continuously liberate and develop productive forces, to

achieve sound, sustainable and rapid economic development, and to ensure

that people share the fruits of reform and development. That the political

construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics is based on the 3 pillars: party leadership, people assuming as masters of their own destiny

70

and the managing of state affairs, and the rule according to law of law, the development of socialist democratic politics, the realization of social sta- bility, clean and efficient government clean and efficient, and creation of a fully enlivened political situation wherein the people of all ethnic groups enjoy harmony. The construction of the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics should be guided by Marxism, with the aim of cultivating citizens with ide- als, good morals, and culturally advanced and having discipline conscious- ness. We should promote Chinese culture and build the common spiritual home for the Chinese nation, promote an advanced public socialist culture with the essentials of modern conduct, world-oriented, future-oriented. We should build a socialist core value system, and promote the great develop- ment and prosperity of the socialist culture.

Building a harmonious socialist society means to follow the principles of democracy and the rule of law, social fairness and justice, honesty and fra- ternity, vigor and vitality, stability and order. Building a harmonious social- ist also means seeking for harmony between man and nature and following the policy of all the people building and sharing a harmonious socialist society, we will spare no effort to solve the most specific problems of the utmost and immediate concern to the people and strive to create a situation in which all people do their best, find their proper places in society and live together in harmony, so as to provide a favorable social environment for development.

To achieve the tasks of the basic stage of socialism, the basic program must correctly understand and deal with the dialectical relationship between the party's maximum and minimum programs.

The socialist construction that we carrying out today is, in the final analy- sis, in order to create conditions for the realization of communism, i.e. our maximum program, and the two are dialectically unified throughout the his- torical process of communist movement. The program of building social- ism with Chinese characteristics is the minimum program of the Chinese Communist Party at this current stage. This minimum program and the maxi- mum program of realizing communism form an organic unity and indivisible.

The maximum program sets the direction for the formulation of the mini- mum program, and the minimum program creates the conditions for the achievement of the maximum program.

The unity of the two, embodies the unity of ideals and reality, the unity of direction and the path, the unity of purpose and process, the unity of con- tinuous development and development stage, also the unity of revolution- ary spirit and scientific attitude.

This requires that we should not only talk about the party's minimum program, and forget the party's maximum program, and should not only talk about the party's maximum program, while ignoring the party's mini- mum program.

‘ While firmly establishing the lofty ideal of communism, we should es- tablish a firm conviction of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. In his speech at the meeting celebrating the 80" anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin pointed out: "All comrades in the Party should set up a lofty communist ideal, fortify their conviction and spur themselves on by holding to high ideological and moral standards. More importantly, they should make unremitting efforts in a down-to-earth manner to realize the Party's basic program for the current stage and put their heart into each single piece of work now. To care about the immedi- ate interests only while forgetting the lofty ideal will result in the loss of direction of progress. But to talk big about the lofty ideal without doing any practical work will get one divorced from reality."

upon ening RAN

Throughout the primary stage of socialism, we must adhere to the uni- ty of minimum program and maximum program, unswervingly imple- ment the basic line and basic program of the party suited to the primary stage of socialism, and push forward the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Development strategies to deepen the primary stage of socialism

First, the "three-step" development strategy

The realization of socialist modernization is the long-cherished inspi- ration of the Chinese Communists and the Chinese people. Mao Zedong as the core figure of the first generation of the central collective leader- ship of the party has repeatedly put forward the grand idea of building our "four modernization tasks" till the end of the 20" century. However, due to the lack of consistent understanding of major issues such as the historical stage, major contradictions and fundamental tasks of our country's social- ism and how to build it, China's socialist modernization has undergone through a tortuous process. With the ending of the "Cultural Revolution", Deng Xiaoping has seriously considered how to proceed from China's na- tional conditions so as to achieve socialist modernization. In September 1978, when Deng Xiaoping met a group of guests from the Japanese press,

13. Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.3, p.293 and http://www.china-un.ch/eng/zgbd/ smwx/t85789.htm.

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According to Deng Xiaoping's suggestions, in the same year in October,

i ina's " ization" Is to be he gave a new explanation of China's "four modernization" goa , fe ‘ the Party's 13% Congress agreed on the "three-step" strategic conception.

achieved by the end of the 20" century.

He said: "At the end of this century, even if we will achieve our goals of four modernizations, and build a well-off society, our level will not reach that of Japan". During this period Deng Xiaoping's visits to the United States, Japan and other countries, had also deepened his understanding of modernization. .

In March 1979, Deng Xiaoping pointed out in his speech at the forum meeting regarding the theoretical work of the party: Now, in our national construction, we must likewise act in accordance with our own situation

and find a Chinese path to modernization.""*

In October the same year, Deng Xiaoping put forward a new point of view at the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. He said: By the political task, we are referring to the four modernizations. We used to have the ambitious goal of realizing the four modernizations by the end of the century. Later we changed the goal the ‘Chinese-style" modernizations, in- tending to lower the standard a little."'

In January 1980, Deng Xiaoping divided the coming 20 years into the two decades, initially proposed two steps concept to achieve well-off soci-

ety level.

The 12% Party Congress has formally proposed the two-step strategy concept based on his idea. The first step was to use the first 10 years to double the GNP (gross national product) by constant prices in order to solve the people's food and clothing problem. By the end of the twentieth century, the gross national product (GDP) would be quadrupled (with the constant prices of 1980) so that people's living standards will reach a well-off level.

The first step, from 1981 to 1990, will be the realization of doubling gross national product of the year 1980, so as to solve the people's food and clothing problems. The second step, from 1991 to the end of the 20" century, further doubling the gross national product so that people's living standards will reach a well-off level. The third step, in the 50 years to the middle-of the 21% century, per capita GDP would reach the level of moder- ately developed countries, wherein people living standards will be more af- fluent, and the socialist modernization will be basically realized then, move forward on this basis.

According to Deng Xiaoping's three-step approach, targeting the basic re- alization of modernization in 2049, China through its effort according to three five-year plan periods, the 2000 goals were achieved in 1995, ahead of time.

In March 1996, in order to link the second-step and the third-step well, the State Council promulgated the "Ninth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Outline for Long-term Target for the Year 2010."

In 1997, the strategic goals for the third step, further defined third stage: in the first decade of the 21* century, we will realization the doubling of the gross national product of the 2000, and achieve a well-off life which is more affluent for people, and achieve the formation of a relatively com- plete socialist market economic system. After 10 years of efforts, between 2010-2021 till 100" anniversary of the founding of the CPC, we will a more developed national economy and more perfect socialist systems in all as- pects. And in 29 years till the mid-21* century, by the 100" anniversary of anniversary of the founding of the PRC, modernization will be basically realized and we will "build a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, civilized socialist country. This definition has made the "three- step" strategy and its steps more specific and clear.

The "three-step" strategy was put forward by the central leading col- lective of the Party on the basis of summing up the historical experiences of the development of modernization at home and abroad. And has been a profound embodiment of the characteristics of China's national conditions and characteristics of times and the correct reflection regarding the objec- tive law of modernization.

The above development strategy which has started from the realities of the primary stage of socialism has reflected the unity of ideal and seeking truth from facts; considered the economic development and improving peo- ple's living standards as a unity, adhering to the economic development and the realization of the socialist character in gradual steps as another unity.

By the end of the 20" century to achieve quadrupling the GNP, and then move forward the strategic goal that was defined as follows, by Deng Xiaoping: "As The first step Quadrupling the GNP will be a significant achievement... It will provide a new starting point from which, in another 30 to 50 years, we shall approach the level of the developed countries. I am talking about production and living standards.""'®

In April 1987, when he met with the Spanish guests, Deng Xiaoping for the first time, proposed a new development strategy which included three steps to achieve modernization.

14 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p. 163, and https://archive.org/ stream/Selected WorksOfDengXiaoping Vol. 1/Deng02_djvu.txt.

15 Ibid. 16 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.79 and https://archive.org/

stream/Selected WorksOfDeng Xiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt.

73

• The rights of the people to participate and to develop as equals are

adequately protected. The rule of law for the country, the government, and society is basically in place. Institutions in all fields are further Tapas the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance is base cally achieved. :

Building a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, civilized socialist country, ie. the goals of socialist modernization and adhering to comprehensive and coordinated development of economy and society, and guiding the whole party and the people in building of socialism with Chinese characteristics, has defined the program of action. ; The 19" Party Congress in 2017 led by Xi Jinping further clarified the above strategy as follows: The period between 2017 and 2020 will be decisive in finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We must follow the requirements on building this society set out at our 16", 17%, and 18" National Congresses, act in response to the evolution of the principal con- tradiction in Chinese society, and promote coordinated economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological advancement. We must show firm resolve in implementing the strategy for invigorating China through science and education, the strategy on developing a quality workforce, the innovation- driven development strategy, the rural vitalization strategy, the coordinated regional development strategy, the sustainable development strategy, and the military-civilian integration strategy. We must focus on priorities, ad- dress inadequacies, and shore up points of weakness. In this regard, I want to stress that we must take tough steps to forestall and defuse major risks, carry out targeted poverty alleviation, and prevent and control pollution, so that the moderately prosperous society we build earns the people's approval

and stands the test of time. The period between the 19" and the 20% National Congress is the period in which the timeframes of the two centenary goals converge. In this pe-

riod, not only must we finish building a moderately prosperous society in

s and achieve the first centenary goal; we must also build on this enary goal

‘ Social etiquette and civility are significantly enhanced. China's cultur- al soft power has grown much stronger; Chinese culture has greater appeal.

• People are leading more comfortable lives, and the size of the mid-

dle-income group has grown considerably. Disparities in urban-rural de- velopment, in development between regions, and in living standards are significantly reduced; equitable access to basic public services is basically ensured; and solid progress has béen made toward prosperity for everyone.

. A modern social governance system has basically taken shape, and society is full of vitality, harmonious, and orderly.

¥ There is a fundamental improvement in the environment; the goal of building a Beautiful China is basically attained.

In the second stage from 2035 to the middle of the 21* century, we will building on having basically achieved modernization, work hard for a far- ther 15 years and develop China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and

74 beautiful. By the end of this stage, the following goals will have been met:

‘ ; ; ; : New heights are reached in every dimension of material, political, cul- tural and ethical, social, and ecological advancement.

tae Bs ats

Modernization of China's system and capacity for governance is achieved.

all respect achievement to embark on a new journey toward the second cent

of fully building a modern socialist country. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the international and domestic

environments and the conditions for China's development, we have drawn up a two-stage development plan for the period from 2020 to the middle of

Ras China has become a global leader in terms of composite national strength and international influence.

• Common prosperity for everyone is basically achieved.
• The Chinese people enjoy happier, safer, and healthier lives.

The Chinese nation will become a proud and active member of the com-

this century. munity of nations.

In the first stage from 2020 to 2035, we will build on the foundation cre- ated by the moderately prosperous society with a further 15 years of hard © work to see that socialist modernization is basically realized. The vision is that by the end of this stage, the following goals will have been met:

• China's economic and technological strength has increased significant:

ly. China has become a global leader in innovation.

Second, the goal of building a moderately prosperous society

Through the concerted efforts of the whole party and the people of all thnic groups across the country, by the end of the 20 century, China has chieved the first two goals of the "three-step" strategy of modernization and the people's living standard has reached a well-off level in general This marked a new milestone in the history of the Chinese nation. j

After the people's living standards have reached the well-off level, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 15" CPC, Central Committee in 2000, has pro- posed that China will enter a new stage of building a well-off society in an all-round way and accelerate the socialist modernization.

The 16 National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002, put forward the goal of building a well-off society in an all-round (com- prehensive) way in the first 20 years of the new century. The 17 National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007, put forward new and higher requirements on the basis of the goal of building a well-off society as compared to the 16" National Congress of the CPC.

How to understand the different terms in the Party documents, such as: low-level well-off, well-off society, and the term of the well-off society in an all-round way. Low-level well-off means that we have just entered the threshold of comprehensively well-off society, also means that we have solve the basic needs of survival, but we are also far away from comprehen- sively well-off (not comprehensive).

Still not comprehensive (all-round) well-off level mainly refers that the currently achieved well-off level includes a moderate level of material civi- lization, but it does not include comprehensive levels of spiritual civili- zation, political civilization, ecological environment, sustainable develop- ment due to lack of enough attention. The development being quite uneven, means we have just entered the threshold of comprehensively well-off so- ciety but the national income distribution among the population is unbal- anced, which also means there is a huge gap between urban and rural areas, between the eastern and western regions, and means that there is a widening gap, between different income groups and widening gap of economic de- velopment of people as well as living standards of people.

The goal and requirements of building a well-off society in an all-round

way are as the following:

- Enhancing the mode of coordinated development, and strive to achieve -

sound and rapid economic development. Changing the mode of development, making significant progress in opti mizing the economic structure, improve efficie and natural sources, protect the environment on the basis of quadruplin, the per capita GDP between 2000-2020. The socialist market econo system becomes more perfect. The ability of independent innovation | proves significantly, and the contribution rate of scientific and technol cal progress to economic growth rises sharply and China enters amon; ranks of innovative countries. Residents' consumption level enco steady increase, the formation of coordinated growth pattern of thre lars: consumption, investment, export driven growth pattern. Coordi

ney, reduce waste of human

and interactive development mechanism of urban and rural areas among

different dea Significant progress will be made in the construction of

_ new socialist countryside. The proportion of urba: i illi ew n popul eee : population will increase

- Expanding socialist democrac { y and better protect people's ri interests and improve social equity. iii nai

Citizens' political participation will be enhanced in an orderly manner. The basic strategy of governing the country in accordance with the iaw will be deepened, the rights of the people to participate and to develo as equals will be adequately protected. The rule of law for the count : the government, and society is basically in place. Institutions in all fields are further improved; the modernization of China's system and capaci eae Gaines achieved. Grassroots democracy ee perfect. The ability of the go i i i i i "eee 2 eet vernment to provide basic public services will

- Strengthening cultural construction, the civilizati

: vilization quality of th

population will be improved significantly. ee i

The socialist core value system will enj oy a strong popular support, and the good virtues of people and morality will ascend to a higher eck

A public cultural service system covering the whole society will be basi cally established, the establishment of cultural industry encounters a si nif icantly increase in its proportion in comparison to total national eee The international competitiveness regarding accessing to more rich sultagel products will be significantly enhanced to meet the needs of the people °

- Accelerating the development of social i

. undertakings, and _

sively improve people's lives. gs, and comprehen

Modern national education system will be more perfect, lifelong educa- on system will be basically formed, the education level of all people and innovative personnel training level will be improved significantly. Social mployment pattern becomes more adequate. The social security system os all the urban and rural residents will be basically established fe everyone enjoys basic living standards and social security.

easonable and equitable distribution of income will be basically formed size of the middle-income group has grown considerably and becomes oes the ultimate elimination of poverty is basically achieved ryone enjoys basic medical and health servi i a ee ania ices. Social management

he above goals will be achieved by 2021.

77

- The concept of ecological civilization across the whole society will be firmly established, the construction of ecological civilization encounters remarkable progress. The basic form of energy conservation and protection of the ecological environment of the industrial structure, growth, consump- tion patterns will be formed. Cire the proportion of renewable energy increases significantly. The discharge of pollutants in the main will be effectively controlled, the quality of the ecological environment will be significantly improved. Sustainable devel- opment capacity is increasing. By 2020, when we will achieved the goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way, our long history of civilization and the developing social- ist country will encounter the following: industrialization will be basically realized, the comprehensive national strength is significantly enhanced, the overall size of the domestic market will rank in the forefront of the world, the whole people will achieve a higher degree of affluence, the quality of life has been improved and the ecological environment has been improved. Thus China will become a country with more full democratic rights and higher moral quality and spiritual pursuits. It has become a more perfect

a more dynamic and stable society. China will become more

system and to other nations of the

open to the outside world, will have more affinity world, and China will make greater contributions to human civilization.

Building a well-off society in an all-round way is the necessary stage we must pass through realizing the strategic goal of socialist modernization in three-steps. It is an important strategy for the new stage of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The goal of this struggle is in line with China's ba- sic national conditions and the law of modernization, in line with the aspira- tions of the broad masses of the people, leads us in our efforts to continue to move forward in the new century, points to our direction.

Promoting a sound and rapid economic development

First, taking the path of new industrialization

Industrialization is the basis and premise of modernization, highly de- What kind

of path should be followed as the path to industrialization is a major issue

veloped industrial society is the main symbol of modernization.

facing our country. The 16" National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) 1 2002, pointed out that it should adhere to industrialization combined informatization, promote the informationization of industries, and bla: a new path of industrialization with high technological content, virtue

ular economy ascends to a larger scale, .

economic efficiency, low resource consumption, less environmental pollu- tion and improvement of qualified human resource advantages. This ss the major strategic decisions made by the Party Central Conimities to enable China achieve a well-off society in an all-round way and aecelerie the advancement of socialist modernization in the new stage of development

eens of feats the new path to industrialization, is the right choice evaluating the realities of both China and the world's sci alee yaaa S science and techno-

Since the 1990s, the world economic and technological development has undergone tremendous advances: firstly, the new scientific and technologi- cal revolution has developed by leaps and bounds, high-tech, es eciall the extensive application of information technology, has becouse : se driving force for economic and social development, and men's Seung activities and social has begun to enter the era of information and autom : tion. Secondly, economic globalization has encountered in-depth ieee: ment, the world's economic and trade development and capital sees a ee transfer movement has imposed to speed up the economies eu a open and interdependence among countries has in-

On ce other hand, in the above defined context of globalization, we cannot close our doors when engage in the industrialization efforts, and a a follow the traditional Western path of colonialist industrializa- ee we need to strictly engage in informationization. In the above xt, we cannot achieve the industrialization with i . . « Out to industrialization. peices

After the founding of new China, especially since the reform and open- ing up, China s economy has made great achievements, China saw rapid progress of industrialization.

But in the past few decades, China's economic development has relied too much to expand the scale of investment and focused on increasing in- vestments on material economy, this means an extensive economic eek this mode of development has caused excessive waste of resources Nie mental pollution, expansion of urban and rural gap, thus we have said hu : price for economic development. The contradictions regarding energy. ko Sources, environment has become more and more acute and sinsustiinable

a This pala us to change the mode of economic growth, take the path of few industrialization, mainly by saving from the consumption of material Tesources and mainly rely on scientific and technological progress improve € quality of workers, management innovation, shift from ddensive devel- ment to intensive one, so as to achieve that we achieve sustainable and

72

80

In order to take a new path of industrialization, we must firmly grasp the strategic adjustment task regarding the economic structure, as the main task, promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure.

The grand policy of adhering to develop an industrialized, information- based, urbanized, market-oriented and internationalized country, considers the formation of high-tech industries as the guiding sectors, the basic in- dustries and manufacturing sectors as the supporting part, and includes the comprehensive development of the service industry.

High-tech industry is based on the IT-industry as the representative sec- tor of the high-tech development in the emerging industries of the world, which is characterized by high level technological content, jt is an impor- tant driving force for rapid development, regarding the national economy and social life and greatly contributes to economic growth. It is becoming the lifeline of both the whole industry of the national economy, it is also the basic material condition for the further development of modern social productive forces. On the other side, the manufacturing industry is at the center of industrial structure, is the basis and prerequisite for accelerating the realization of national industrialization and modernization. Its development can promote and support the development of other industries of the national economy.

The prosperity and proportion of the service industry in the economic structure is the main feature of economic modernization. The proportion of service industry in the national economy is the main symbol to measure the degree of economic and social development and also the modernization

level of a country. To this end, the 17" National Congress of the Party, said: we will develop

a modern industrial system, integrate IT application with industrialization,

push our large industries to grow stronger, invigorate the equipment manu-

facturing industry, and eliminate outdated production capacities.

We will

Second, the construction of a new socialist countryside

The document titled as "The New Ideas in the Work of Agriculture Countryside and Farmers" embodies the major strategic decision made b China's central leadership to meet the requirements of the new stage ie economic and social development and realize the grand goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way which is the goal of full socialist mod- ernization, in the new era of reform and opening up.

The problems of agriculture, rural areas and peasants, shortly "the three rural issues has always been the fundamental problem of China during— revolution, construction and reform—the three periods.

Bee sinha of our party's leadership over revolution, construction and reform works are inseparable from its achievements in resolving the "three rural issues".

After the reform and opening up, especially since the 16 CPC National Congress in 2002, our Party has adopted a series of measures to solve the problem of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers", so that agriculture would be strengthened, rural areas to be developed, the benefits of farmers to be increased, and considered the three issues as the important premise of pro- moting economic and social development and maintain social stability.

However, it must be seen that the deep-seated contradictions that restricts the agriculture and rural development has not yet been eliminated, and the long-term mechanism for the sustainable and stable increase of farmers' , mes ea yet been formed. The lagging situation of rural economic and social development, in comparison to urban region > s has n _ fundamentally. : nr

Solving the problem of "three rural" is still a long-term task. The "three _ tural issues" a term in China to summarize rural issues is the key problem in _ the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way.

Building a moderately prosperous society is the most arduous task when

upgrade new- and high-technology industries and develop information, biotechnology, new materials, aerospace, marine and other industries. We will develop the modern service industry and raise the level of the service sector and its share in the economy. We will step up efforts to improve - basic industries and infrastructure and accelerate development of a modern

comprehensive transport system. We will ensure th ation

Pplied to rural areas. If the peasants are not well-off of the peasants, the well-being of the people of the whole country will not be achieved. There Il be no achievement of modernization of the whole China without the dernization of the countryside.

The virtuous development of the rural economy, building qualified and althy farmer homes, so that farmers live a well-off life is a must to ensure t all people share the fruits of economic and social development and ves to the goal of continuously expanding domestic demand and thus pene sustained, rapid and coordinated development of the national my.

energy industry and a quality and safety of products. We will encourage formation of intern

ally competitive conglomerates.

Since the 16% National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2002, our Party has stressed that it is necessary to solve the problem of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" as the top priority of the work of the whole party and further stressed a coordinated urban and rural development.

At the 4" Plenary Session of the 16 CPC Central Committee, Hu Jintao :

put forward the important idea of "two trends", that is, in the initial stage of industrialization, agriculture supports industry and provides accumulation for industrialization being a general trend. But as the second trend, after a degree of industrialization (middle and late stage) is achieved, industry should nurture and support agriculture, urban regions should support rural areas, "we should achieve coordinated development of the industry and agriculture, urban and rural regions. At present, China has generally entered the development stage wherein we should promote agriculture, with the support of urban regions. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 16" CPC Central Committee further proposed that building "a new socialist countryside" is a major historical task in the process of modernization of our country.

In 2006, the CPC Central Committee and State Council co-issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Construction of New Socialist Countryside", and made a comprehensive plan for coordinating the economic and social development of urban and rural areas and promoting the construction of

new socialist countryside.

The central government put forward the general requirements of con- structing a new socialist countryside, as follows: development of agricul-

tural productive forces, well-off life, rural civilization, clean and tidy vil _

lages, democratic village level management.

The comprehensive development of agricultural productive forces, is the central link in building a socialist new countryside... material basis and key link to achieve other objectives of the whole project. Making "increases in farmers' income" so that they lead a better life is the central task and the purpose of building a socialist new countryside but also the basic scale to

measure the success of our work.

Township civilization, policy is the reflection of the quality of farmers, which reflects the requirements of spiritual civilization in rural regions. We

should boost spiritual civilization and accelerating the development of ed cation and culture in rural areas to cultivate "new-type" farmers.

Clean and tidy villages policy aims to achieve the harmonious deve ment of man and the environment which will meet long-term requirem but also a symbol of building a modern civil society in rural areas W! means boosting harmony, caring for the lives of farmers, improving bi and strengthening social administration in the countryside.

Improving grass-roots democracy is the political guarantee of building _a socialist new countryside means showing respect for and maintenance of _ the peasant masses' political rights. We should boost grass-roots democracy _ in the countryside and imprové transparency in village affairs. We should fully exert the leading core function of the grass-root party organization to provide solid political and organizational guarantee for the construction of anew socialist countryside. °

The dbove policies form an organic whole, which summarizes the basic connotation and requirements of building a socialist new countryside, the policies have not only sketched out the prospects for the longed pleasant picture for a modern countryside, but also put forward the systematic ideas to solve the "three rural" problem:

Building a socialist new countryside, has been a systematic project, so as to actively promote the coordinated development of urban and rural areas to be carried out under the premise of orderly, planned and gradual methods

In order to strengthen the basic status of agriculture, take the path of ag- ricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics, the establishment of labor to promote agriculture, to urban long-term mechanism with the town- ship, has the formed a new pattern of integration and coordination of urban and rural economic and social development. |

We should adhere to promoting the development of modern agriculture take the prosperity of the rural economy as a primary task, strengthen the construction rural infrastructures, improve rural markets and agricultural service system.

We should increase supports to agricultural development, enforce the protection of arable farming land plots strictly, increase agricultural invest- ments, promote the progress of agricultural science and technology, com- prehensively enhance the agricultural production capacity.

We should take increasing of farmers' income as the core task, promote € development of township enterprises in rural areas, strengthen hie coun- level economies, explore and establish diverse channels for shifting the mployment of farmers in non-farming occupations, which is one funda- ental problem to solve for increasing farmers' incomes, employment. We i0uld vigorously increase targeted efforts for poverty alleviation by i: ural development. We should deepen the comprehensive reform in rural S and promote the reform and innovation of the rural financial system | should adhere to the policy of improve the basic management system A al areas, stabilize and improve the contract based land use relationship ecordance with the principle of voluntary compensation in accordance the law, improve the land transfer and management rights contract

84

market. We should explore for more effective forms

i.e. promote the develo operative associations and organi ization of agriculture and also pr prises. All of which can play an important ro in modern value chains, by providing technica

We should also promote the development of leading ent pt defines leading enterprises as important

f modern agriculture and key to in-

areas. Leading enterprises conce components of the industrial system o dustrialized operations in agriculture.

We should cultivate culturally developed, science and o that hundreds of millions of Chinese farmers can

ly, new type of farmers, s

pment of professional and specialized farmers' co- zations in order to support the industrial- omote the development of leading enter- le in helping farmers operate | training and information.

of collective economy,

erprises in rural

technology friend-

fully play their role in building a new socialist countryside.

Third, improve the ability of independent innovation, building an innovative nation

Tn tive force for the prosperity of a count of the Party Central Committee, has eva world and the historical stage of our country promote independent innovation, building C

This has been a major strategic decisio

the strategy of rejuvenating the country through s

the strategy of strengthening th novative country has become an o international competitiveness. In today encing an evolution from industrial soci

ety. Scientific and technological innovation has

force of national development, and will finall

competitiveness of a country. In the new roun nological competition, developed countries are using th

advantages to maximize their interests.

If developing countries can improve their ab have the opportunity and initiative to develop

further widen the development gap wi

If development is our highest priority,

nology in a strategic position, accelerate the pac drive China's productive forces furt

tion, build an innovative country,

forward to achieve a qualitative leap in order to grasp the o tion and enhance our initiative to pus

the fierce international competi development.

yd

ovation is the soul of a nation's progress, and an inexhaustible mo- ry. Hu Jintao as the general secretary luated the development trend of the , made a far-sighted judgment to hina into an innovative country.

n made by our Party to adopt

cience and education and

e country through talents. Building an in- bjective requirement to improve Chinese 's world, human society is experi- iety to knowledge economy soci-

become the core driving etermine the international

d of global science and tech- eir technological

ilities to innovate, they may better. Otherwise, they will ith the developed countries.

we should put science and tee

e of independent inno'

pportuniti

Building an innovation-oriented country is a major step in imple ; the scientific concept of development and building a well-off menting elround way. It is an urgent requirement to solve the outstandi sen dictions and problems facing China's current development ng contra-

Only by vigorously promoting scientific and technological progre d innovation, only enhancing our ability of independent innovation oe : mote China's economic growth mode from resoutce-denendent m ie innovation-driven mode, can we continue to maintain stable id oer tainable economic growth. is

The strategic decision to build an i i a an innovative country has not o significant step forward but also a realistic step. = Be

is based on the scientific analysis of China's basic national conditions 4 comprehensive judgment on the strategic requirements of China, but also aims to launch the full potential of China's superiority as being . SO- an ee aeeoe of socialism should be given full play. China which already has a good basis of economic and i ei | technological should utilize this basis by independent innovation strategy. oe

eae there is still a big gap between China's current overall level of i ie Eeicenes with the world's advanced level, although China's verall level of science and technolo é erall gy, possess many holes or weak points which hinder its economic and soci ie ocial development i the achievements made sinc i i tes e the founding of new Chi i i the reform and openin i i Seen enae g up, with the establishment of a sociali alist market eco- nomic system, and after we have achi i

eved sustained and rapid i

and social development: China' i a emcioe

s total number of scientific and i

technologi- a ee sere and the total number of R & D personnel in the oe nt of the world, has significantly increas

ed, we have formed lati

complete research discipline s i eee é ystem regarding natural sciences, th ih some important areas of research oe and development biliti i ae pment capabilities China g the ranks of world's advanced i oo countries. All these have 4 an important foundation and presents favorable conditions for buildi ina as an innovative country. =

B ortve ee tite we should focus to science and technological ‘Ue peeeaias s rategy, try to achieve a substantial increase in sci- an gical innovation, strive to have an increasingly str Mpetitive advantage against our competitors. ae

pPrsent, a world's leading innovative countries are the United y : ce fe ee and so on. The common characteristics of these coun- bes gies ution of innovative industries, scientific and technological o their output is more than 70% of the total. And their R & D

85

86

investment expenditures are generally more than 2% of their GDPs; their foreign dependency indicators regarding independent innovation capabil- ity, their dependency to external technology are usually less than 30%.

In building an innovative country, starting from the reality of our coun- .

try, the core task is to enhance the ability of independent innovation as a strategic basis for the development of science and technology. We should follow a path of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics, in order to promote the development of science and technology by leaps and bounds. In order to enhance China's ability of independent innovation as a na- tional strategy, China aims to stimulate the whole nation's innovative spirit, cultivate high-level innovative talents, form an institutional mecha-

nism conducive to independent innovation, vigorously promote theoreti-

cal innovation, system innovation, scientific and technological innovation,

and constantly consolidate and promote the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The 12% Five-Year Plan of China emphasized the following: "we should change the development mode and strive to create a scientific development pattern" "and as the focus of accelerating the transformation of the econom- ic development pattern, the building of resource saving and environment- friendly society is a key factor. Obviously, the green economic growth is of extraordinary importance in forming a resource saving and environment- friendly society, and is an inevitable choice in coping with increasingly se- tious resource and environmental constraints. In pursuit of a green growth, endeavors on enhancing the sense of environmental crisis, accelerating en- ergy saving and emission reduction, and constructing an energy-saving and environment-friendly production pattern are urgently needed." The ability of independent innovation is the core of a nation's interna- tional competitiveness and the fundamental way to realize the goal of build- ing an innovative country.

The practice of science and technology development in the world shows that, in order to enhance our initiative and grasp opportuniti

international competition, the only way to success can be having a strong

independent innovation capability.

Especially in the key areas of our national economic lifeline and in the key areas of our national economic security, and in core technology velopment areas, and in the areas of key technology we cannot buy fr outside, therefore China must rely on independent innovation.

es in the fierce _

In all our works regarding science and technology, i.e. according to the guideline for scientific and technological work in order to improve our abilities of home-grown, independent innovation, firstly, we should focus to master a number of core technologies, targetly plan to produce a num- ber of independent intellectual property rights which belong to us, create a number of internationally competitive enterprises, thus reach a substantial increase in national competitiveness.

In order to promote the path of independent innovation with Chinese char- acteristics, we must adhere to the above guideline (guideline for scientific and technological work) which focuses "home-grown innovation, leapfrog ad- vancement in key areas, supportive development and leading fot the future".

Independent home-grown innovation, means to enhance the national in- novation capacity, means to strengthen the indigenous innovation capacity. integrated innovation and means in our technological innovation efforts we should adopt the policy of digestion and assimilation in technological in- novation instead of copying and imitating.

Focusing on leapfrog advancement in key areas means we should insist on doing something wrong, choose such innovation areas where we have a certain degree of foundation and advantages, and strike a good balance when choosing key areas of innovation, i.e. strike a good balance between the needs of people's livelihood and key national security areas and link them appropriately. It means we should concentrate our efforts, to make breakthroughs in some major areas and achieve leapfrog development.

Focusing on supportive development means we should start from the re- alities of our urgent problems that needs to be solved in order to support the sustained and coordinated economic and social development. And in order to ae the sustained and coordinated economic and social development we should strive to make breakthroughs in the area: a s of key technol and common technologies. : ae

Leading the future, means to look forward with long term vision, strive 10 advance deployment of cutting-edge technologies and promote baste sci- entific and technological research, create new market demand, foster the development of the new industries, so as to lead the future economic and cial development.

This guideline of focusing on "home-grown innovation, leapfrog ad- ancement in key areas, supportive development and leading for the future" a summarization of the practical experiences of developing of science d technology in China for more than half a century. It is an important Olce for the future of our country and related to our cause of great reju- oo of the Chinese nation. We must stick to this guideline through the Ole process of the development of science and technology in China.

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At the beginning of 2006, the State Council formulated "the Outline of the National Medium- and Long-term Science and Technology Development Plan", and put forward the major strategic task of bringing China into the ranks of innovative countries of the world within 15 years.

The overall goal of building an innovation-oriented country includes the -

following goals:

By 2020, our capability of independent and indigenous innovation will be significantly enhanced, the ability of our science and technological ba- sis to promote economic and social development and to safeguard national security will be significantly enhanced, it will be able to provide a strong support for building an overall well-to-do society. By 2020, the compre- hensive strength of basic science and cutting-edge technology research will be significantly enhanced, and a batch of scientific and technological achievements that will have a significant impact in the world arena will be achieved, thus we will enter among the ranks of innovative countries, and all these will lay the foundation for becoming a world scientific and tech- nological power by the middle of the 21* century.

Accelerating the construction of national innovation system is an im- portant task for building an innovative country. The national innovation system in China an institutional system led by the government which gives full play to the market's role in the allocation of scientific and technologi- cal resources, this institutional system includes various innovation entities which are closely linked and effectively interact with each other. To further deepen the reform of science and technology system, we should give full play to the role of enterprises in technological innovation, give full play to the backbone of national scientific research institutions and give full play to leading the role of these scientific research institutions, give full play to the role of universities and fully use their research basis.

To this end, we must strive to build a technology innovation system

with enterprises as the main pillar of the system, build a market orientated

_ world-class scientists and leading scientists in the sphere of science and

technology, we should focus on cultivating front-line creative talents, so that innovative spirit and wisdom of the whole society will blossom vigor- ously, thus China will have. numerous innovative talents, who are capable in all aspects.

Fourth, co-ordinated and balanced regional development

China covers a vast geographical land wherein its regions are faced with unbalanced development. Since the reform and opening up, the eastern central and western regions have made great progress. However due to the gaps regarding, the level of economic development in the easieih central and western regions has been widening due to the differences in their re- spective foundations, i.e. their historical basis of social and economic de- velopment, natural geographical environment, their histories and cultures and the speed of economic development levels are quite different. These gaps demonstrate a widening trend. On China to co-ordinate regional de- velopment, and narrowing the development gap between regions has be- come a critical problem that cannot be ignored. It is not only related to the overall situation of our modernization task, but also the stability of society and the long-term stability of the country. Our party has always attached importance to regional coordinated development. Mao Zedong in the fa- mous "On the Ten Major Relations," urged to care for the development a: between Eastern and Western regions among major issues. is

During the reform and opening up era, in 1980s Deng Xiaoping put for- ward the idea of "two-step sequential strategy to achieve an overall bal- anced development" : the first step would be to let the eastern coastal areas a first me help in speeding up the opening up, in the next step after eastern regions becomes rich, they will vigorously support th of the western regions. fas i

_ The third generation of the central collective leadership, with Jiang

Zemin as its core, at the turn of the century (2000), put forward the strategy

inplementing the western development as a priority, following Deng

ee S concept of "two-step sequential strategy to achieve an over-

alanced development", he declared: At the current stage, we should

system , we should combine production, teaching and research, scientific research and research by higher education institutions. We should also com- bine military and civilian research for innovation. Achieving the establish-

ment of a comprehensive system of scientific and technological innovation will provide a major guarantee in building China as an innovative country. Creating a contingent of innovative S & T talents is the key in buildt an innovative country.

We must adhere to the strategic thinking that human resources are primary forces and regard training innovative talents as an important tegic measure in building an innovative nation. We must strive to ¢

udy and formulate overall plan for west development. We should have ng term strategic thinking for west development. Through hard work of veral generations, until mid of 21" century when China basically realize odernization, a new West will be built. This new West is of economic OSperity, progressed society, national unity, beautiful mountains and riv- S, and happy lives.

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In the new century, evaluating the current situation of China's region- al development and with the vision of comprehensively promoting the requirements of modernization, Hu Jintao as the general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, put forward the coordinated regional de- velopment strategy as follows: We should give high priority to large-scale. development of the western regions, fully revitalize old industrial bases in northeast China, work vigorously to promote the rise of the central regions, and support the eastern region in taking the lead in development. Encourage reasonable division of labor, we should promote distinctive, complemen- tary advantages of regional industrial structure, and promote common de-

velopment of all regions. The 17% Party Congress in 2007 further discussed the idea and advo- cated the coordinated regional development: We should promote balanced development among regions and improve the pattern of land development. To narrow the gap in development among regions, we must work to en- sure their equal access to basic public services and guide a rational flow of factors of production between regions. Following the general strategy for regional development, we will continue to carry out large-scale devel- opment of the western region, rejuvenate northeast China and other old sndustrial bases in an all-round way, boost the development of the central region and support the eastern region in taking the lead in development. We will strengthen land planning, improve policies for regional develop-

ment and adjust the geographical distribution of economic operations in

accordance with the requirement to form development priority zones. In we will work _

form a number of close-knit economic

rims and belts that will provide a strong impetus to the development of — ve full consideration to

supporting development of the central and western regions and encourage

compliance with the laws governing the market economy, beyond administrative divisions to

other areas. In locating major projects, we must g1

the eastern region to help them develop. We will give more support to th development of old revolutionary base areas, ethnic autonomous areas, bor der areas and poverty-stricken areas. We will help transform the economle of areas where natural resources Area in Tianjin play a major role in reform, opening up and independ innovation. Taking a path of urbanization with Chinese characteristics, will promote balanced development of large, medium-sized and smal ies and towns on the principle of balancing urban and rural develop ensuring rational distribution, saving land, providing a full range of tions and getting larger cities to help smaller ones. Focusing on incre the overall carrying capacity of cities, we will form city clusters wit cities as the core so that they can boost development in other areas come new poles of economic growth.

are exhausted. We will have the special economic zones, the Pudong New Area in Shanghai and the Binhai New

ifth, building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 16 CPC Central Committee, in 2005 "put forward the goal of building a resource-saving and iivimormene cic fe ly society relying on the scientific development concept and relying on e concept of building a socialist harmonious society. The concept we build : a socialist harmonious society, has been a new leap in our party's sade standing of the law of socialist modernization. It is a major measure to ay ordinate the harmonious development of man and nature and promot ee realization of sustainable development. - eas

Resource-saving society, refers to the efficient use of energy resources

in production process, to save the way to consumpti a J mption as the characteristics of the community. * , fundamental

Resource-saving society does not only reflect the transformation of eco- nomic growth mode, but also a new model of social development, it requir that, in all spheres of production, circulation, consumption and a all i oe of economic and social development, we should save energy ae and improve the efficient use of energy resources as the core, with energy sav- ing, water saving, materials saving, land, and suggests ee utili- zation of resources as the focus, with the smallest possible consumption of resources, access to the greatest possible economic and social benefits, so to promote the sustainable development of socio-economic structure —

Environment-friendly society, advocates the harmonious development of man and nature, through the harmonious development of man and natur Specifically, it is a kind of harmony between man and nature as the sal takes an evaluation of carrying capacity of ecological environment - the basis of respecting the laws of nature as the core, it takes supporting reen technology as the driving force, and takes protection of eam priority. Environment-friendly society concept. .

For an environment-friendly society we should develop an orderly and tional division of functional areas, promote an cio pens cul re and ecological civilization understanding , we should promote fhe dinated development of economy, society, and the environment -

uilding a resource-saving and environment-friendly society is one major re- ment of realizing our goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way.

uilding a well-off society in an all-round way not only includes the s of €conomic construction, political construction, cultural construc- ae construction, but also the construction of ecological civilization, € whole society will embark on the path of civilized development

ch includes develo i pment of production development i le and a virtuous ecology. pee eg ie rs ie

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We must see that it is remarkably difficult to meet the requirements of the resource-saving and environment-friendly society which will be the mark

of the well-off society in an all-round way.

In the future, as the total economy continues to expand and the popula- : tion continues to increase, the demand for energy resources will grow great- ly, the amount of pollutants will continue to increase, pressures on ecologi- cal environment will further increase, environmental problems will become prominent. People's demands for environmental quality is constantly in- creasing, with the continuous improvement of material quality of their life.

In the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way, we must pay more attention to the conservation of resources and effectively protect the environment. At the same time, we should take effective measures to achieve the effective control of the main pollutant discharge and improve the quality of the ecological environment while we try achieving — targets such as gross domestic product. We should build a new concept o GDP which includes, ecological standards.

Building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society is one ma- jor requirement of implementing the strategy of sustainable development. China is a country with a large population and which faces shortage of natural resources. Since the reform and opening up, China's economic and social development has made remarkable achievements.

However, since our economic growth was mainly based on high con- sumption, high pollution, i.e, the traditional development model, which pe caused relatively high environmental pollution and ecological damage, dl e contradiction between the environment and development has peaione creasingly prominent. The relative shortage of resources, fragile ecologica environment, limitedness in the carrying capacity of environment, all ee 3 have gradually become a major issue negatively affecting the sels lop- ment. At present, China is in a stage wherein industrialization and urbaniza- tion has accelerated thus faces a lot of resources and environmental pres- sures. It is impossible to have a sustainable economic growth by utilizing excess resources and sacrificing the environment.

The history of human development has shown that the development

and survival of human civilization is closely related to the resources and environment. Resource conditions, especially the deterioration of the ecological env ronment will not only undermine people's living conditions, but may eve lead to the demise of human civilization. If we do not attach impor saving resources and protecting the environment, we may make mistak

that will be difficult to correct in the future.

__ We should adhere to the government policy of energy and resource conser- vation and ecological environmental protection which relates to the vital in- terests of the people and the survival and development of the Chinese nation.

The 17" Party Congress further emphasized the need to build a resource- saving and environment-friendly society put these tasks to a prominent po- sition in our industrialization and modernization strategy, and include every unit and every family in the implementation of these tasks.

The report said: we must adopt an enlightened approach to develop- ment that results in expanded production, a better life and sound ecological and environmental conditions, and build a resource-conserving and envi- ronment-friendly society that coordinates growth rate with the economic structure, quality and efficiency,'and harmonizes economic growth with the population, resources and the environment, so that our people will live and work under sound ecological and environmental conditions and our economy and society will develop in a sustainable way,

We should improve the laws and policies that are conducive to save en- ergy resources and protect the ecological environment, and speed up the formation of a mechanism for sustainable development. Implementation of energy-saving emission reduction responsibility system.

We should develop and promote advanced technologies for conserva- tion, substitution, recycling and pollution control, develop clean and renew- able energy utilization, promote the protection of land and water resources, build a scientific and rational energy resources utilization system and im- prove energy efficiency.

We should develop an environment protection industry, increase invest- ments for energy conservation and environmental protection, focusing on strengthening water, air, soil pollution prevention and control, thus improve urban and rural living environment.

We should strengthen water conservancy, forestry, grassland protection, strengthen desertification control, promote ecological restoration.

We should strengthen capacity building to fight against climate change, and make active contribution to the protection of global climate.

_ Inshort, we must profoundly understand the importance of strengthening ‘nergy conservation and ecological and environmental protection, with a spirit of being responsible to the state, to the nation and to the next genera- ns, and earnestly put the building of a resource-saving and environment- friendly society in a prominent position in the strategy of industrialization and modernization so that we can better promote all-round, coordinated, stainable economic and social development.

Fundamental Task of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The fundamental task of socialism is to liberate and develop productive forces

First, the conception of the fundamental task of socialism and its basis

1. The fundamental task of socialism

Marxist classic writers have always attached great importance to the role of productive forces in social development. They have held that productive forces are the decisive force for the development of human society and held _that the superiority of a social system depends on whether productive forces meet the requirements of the continuous development of productive forces, _which one key measure to recognize the superiority of a social system. In he Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels made it clear that once the roletariat seizes power, all measures should be taken to "increase the total

of productive forces as rapidly as possible.""!

This scientific prediction of future socialism includes the idea that the ‘undamental task of socialism is to develop the productive forces. After the tory of Russia's October Revolution, Lenin repeatedly stressed that to ate an economic system superior to capitalism and to enhancing the la- f productivity is the "fundamental task" of the Soviet Union. The Soviet ime "either ends up in peril or surpasses the economies of the advanced ions,"

Selected Works of Marx and Engels, 2" edition, vol. 1, p.293. Selected Works of Lenin, Vol. 23, p. 271.

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2. Why is it established as the fundamental task of socialism to liberate

i initi i he fundamental task of social- Obviously, an initial understanding that the i ead ont eure

ism is to develop the productive forces is already included but implicitly into the thoughts of Marxist classical writers.

Since the founding of the New China, Mao Zedong eee sn : eral times that the fundamental task of the socialist society ies to fhe the productive forces and the economy. He stated that a gece es storming class struggle of the masses had gone away with the ae i of the socialist system and our task was to launch the cultura ee on and technology revolution and fight against the nature. In a i in the 8 CPC National Congress when the main contradiction ) : gates - ist society was analyzed and it was pointed out that the main task : a : e people was to bring together all the strength to develop the ae a uc- tive forces, realize the national industrialization and gradua fans ie ple's growing material and cultural needs. This sateen re) ea oping the productive forces, however, was replaced by He c = : : ae as a guiding principle", due to the exacerbation of the left-c evia as ; in the Party's guiding ideology, which devastated the socialist construction.

Since the reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping, on the basis Su oe 5 practical experience and the Marxist thoughts, further deve cis is Marxist thoughts on productivity development and clearly aes a the current China was still in the primary stage a socialism an - ‘ € —— "primary task", "first task" and "fundamental task" was to — i hi velop the productive forces. He emphasized that the most vi ae of the socialist stage was to develop the productive forces, or the g _— importance was attached to the development of productive Hee an ing to Marxism. We say that socialism is the primary stage ol eure a According to Marxism, communist society is based on apes abu. a : Only when there is material abundance can the principle io a ae a society—that is, from each according to his ability, to each accor co his needs"—be applied. Socialism is the first stage of perpen a requires that social productive forces develop at a high level an wna material wealth of society be greatly enriched. Therefore, the mos

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mental task in the socialist stage is to develop the productive forces.

• . |

Therefore, it is the fundamental idea of Marxism that the fund task of socialism is to liberate and develop the productive forces.

os . a

this occasion when Deng Xiaoping explicitly proposed this fundamen task of socialism for the first time in the socialist development history.

The reasons can be summarized as follows.

First of all, this fundamental task is the fundamental manifestation of the superiority of socialism. The largest and most fundamental superiority of socialism is that socialism can better liberate and develop the productive forces than capitalism. In the capitalist society, the contradiction between the private ownership of means of production and the socialized produc- tion makes the capitalism the fetter of the productivity development; while in the socialist society, the private ownership of means of production is eliminated, which can provide a better and more favorable environment for the productivity liberation and development. As Deng Xiaoping pointed out, "The superiority of the socialist system is demonstrated, in the final analysis, by faster and greater development of those forces than under the capitalist system. As they develop, the people's material and cultural life will constantly improve."

Since our socialist system is built on the basis of the backward economy and culture in the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, it is a long histori- cal development process to improve the relatively more backward produc- tive forces, economic and cultural development and people's material and cultural standards compared with the developed capitalist countries. The establishment of the socialist system in our country provides the possibility to greatly shorten this process which still needs the efforts of several gen- erations of our people. Only by vigorously developing the social productive forces can the "potential" superiority of the socialist system become an ac- tual one and the solid material foundation for the victory over the capitalist system be created.

Secondly, it is determined by the historical mission of socialism, that is, to create the material basis for communism. Communism is the inevitable trend of the socialist development as well as the advanced stage of social- sm. The transition from the socialist society to the communist society re- luires a variety of conditions which can generally be summed up in the two Spects: material and humans. The material condition refers to the highly leveloped social productive forces, the abundant social material wealth, on this basis the gradual elimination of various social differences and work according to ability and distribution according to demand; the luman condition refers to human's own free and comprehensive develop- nt with the labor not only a means of livelihood but also the first need ife. Among these conditions, the highly developed productive forces he most basic one and is thus the material basis for the realization of

Oia a eee . aye 3 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1* edition, Volume 3, p. 63.

other conditions. Without the highly developed productive forces nor the abundant material wealth, the realization of the communist ideal will be an empty talk. Therefore, in order to realize the transition to communism, we need to create a series of necessary material and spiritual conditions, and

the most fundamental is to create the highly developed social productive ©

forces. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "A Communist society is one in which there is no exploitation of man by man, there is great material abundance and the principle of from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs is applied. It is impossible to apply that principle without overwhelm- ing material wealth. In order to realize communism, we have to accomplish the tasks set in the socialist stage. They are legion, but the fundamental one is to develop the productive forces so as to demonstrate the superiority of socialism over capitalism and provide the material basis for communism."

Thirdly, it is the essential condition for the socialist consolidation and development. Human history has proved that a new social system is supe- rior to the old one, because, in the final analysis, the former can create a higher labor productivity than the latter; the former can overcome the latter and be well-established, because, in the final analysis, the former is more conducive to the productivity development and can better meet the material

and cultural needs of the masses of people.

It should be noticed as well that there still exists a considerable gap be- tween the socialist country and capitalist country in the productivity devel- opment, since the socialist system is established in countries with relatively backward economy and culture. This situation not only makes the socialist countries in a disadvantageous position in the competition with the capi- talist countries, but also provides the excuse and material conditions for the capitalist to attempt to subvert and destroy the socialist system. The evolution of the socialist countries in eastern Europe and the disintegration

of the first socialist state of the Soviet Union demonstrate that socialist es will find it impossible to realize the consolidation, development and final victory if they fail to develop their productive forces or catch up with and surpass capitalism in terms of the economy, technology and labor it clear that "the social- ist political system and economic system cannot be fully consolidated, nor guaranteed under the dictatorship of the proletariat

countri

productivity. In this regard, Deng Xiaoping made

the national security when the modernization is not launched, the science and technology am

social productive forces remain backward, and the national strength an the people's material and cultural life remain at a low level. To build Chin into a modern socialist power we should more effectively consolidate 0!

5 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1* Edition, Vol.3. p.137.

socialist system and cope with the aggression and subversion of foreign _ powers and ensure that we are gradually creating the material conditions and advance toward the great ideal of communism."

Tf China wants to withstand the pressure of hegemonism and power politics and to uphold the socialist system, it is crucial for us to achieve rapid economic growth and to carry out our development."

In Fe world where socialism and capitalism coexist and compete fierce y, the development of productive forces in socialist countries deter- mines the fate of socialism and the future of mankind.

Second, the liberation and development of productive forces is the inherent requirement of the essence of socialism

1. The scientific c i : . onnotation and characteristi Jak es of th socialism e essence of

After the 3" Plenary Session of the 11" CPC Central Committee, Den Xiaoping summed up the historical lessons that we had been talkin oa socialism in an abstract way disregarding the productive forces se man years and treating something uncharacteristic of the socialist nature ee _ fettering the development of the productive forces as "socialist principles" and defending it tenaciously but something conducive to the develo ee of productive forces under the socialist conditions as "something ca alist" and opposing it. After the in-depth thinking, he provided a new caeaie tion of the socialist nature, which deepened the understanding of aa He made a new scientific judgment about the essence of socialism: "The ce of socialism is liberation and development of the productive foros

isa ai ala and polarization, and the ultimate achievement

Deng Xiaoping's new theoretical generalization of the socialist nature a us, starting from the fundamental question of "what socialism is a ras to build it", to deeply understand the fundamental task of social- m0 lat iS, liberating and developing the productive forces, and to realiz that it is the intrinsic demand of the socialist nature. , :

a ie early 1980s, Deng Xiaoping first proposed the concept of the es- ce 0 Socialism when he expounded on the issue how to demonstrate the Periority of the socialist system. He pointed out: "Socialism" is a good a but if we fail to have a correct understanding of it and adopt correct Icies for establishing it, we will not be able to demonstrate its essence."9

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.86 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3 ? 356 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, 373. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p3 13.

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_key part of the socialist nature, which happened in the history of scientific socialism for the first time and was a major development of Marxism. It is well-known that Marxist classical writers have always stressed the decisive role of productivity in social development, and treated social production as the basis for the existence and development of human society and the fundamental force pronioting social development, and the adaptation to the productivity development as:an essential measure of the advanced social system. Based on this essential standard, Marxist classical writers made a scientific analysis of the capitalist system and pointed out that the capitalist system in essence has become a hinder to the development of productive forces, and therefore is doomed to be replaced by the socialist system. The root cause for this replacement is that the socialist system can adapt to and promote the development of productive forces. Deng Xiaoping, based on the basic views of Marxism and the profound summary of the historical experience of socialist construction, clearly put forward -the scientific con- cept of the socialist nature for the first time, and treated the liberation and development of productive forces as the essential prescription of socialism, which is undoubtedly a significant development of scientific socialism.

According to him, the development of productive forces comes ne for socialism, because only in this way can the superiority of socialism ecome prominent. The key to judge whether the socialist economic policy is right lies in whether the productivity is developed and people s income increas- es. He described the production development and income aes . the overriding criterion, which was in fact the core content of the socialis ee ture. He also made a profound analysis of the thought that is ee le with the socialist nature, such as the poverty, slow development, ega itari- anism, polarization, and lack of democracy, which are not characteristics

of socialism. | To develop productivity and increasing people's livelihood and ultimate- ly achieving common prosperity of all. This is the fundamental requirement of socialism. In September 1986, when he replied to a US reporter S report on the relationship between the China's slogan of "To get Tich 1s glorious and socialism or communism, Deng Xiaoping commented: "Wealth ina socialist society belongs to the people. To get rich in a socialist cea means prosperity for the entire people. The principles of sopialist are: first, development of production and second is common prosperity.

This passage can be seen the prototype of Deng Xiaoping's ideas on the essence of socialism. In December 1990, Deng Xiaoping once Sen commented on the issue of common prosperity and pointed out: ng the very beginning of the reform we have been emphasizing the nee f or seeking common prosperity; that will surely be the central es a me Socialism does not mean allowing a few people to grow ric a) ile : overwhelming majority live in poverty. No, that's not socialism. The a est superiority of socialism is that it enables alle people to prosper, a common prosperity is the essence of socialism.

On the basis of a comprehensive summary of the historical experiengs in socialist practice and the fresh experience in reform and opening up, a Xiaoping clearly put forward the famous statement on the socialist nature in the speech made in his 1992 visit to the South. Deng Xiaoping's new generalization regarding the essence of socialism

nature is rich in its connotations.

Treating the liberation and development of the productive forces as the essential prescription of socialism fully affirms the great role of socialist system in promoting the productivity development, on the one hand; on the other hand, it shows that socialism can liberate and develop the productive forces only when it makes constant reforms. According to the historical experience in China's socialist construction, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that the establishment of socialist system could not guarantee the natural promotion and development of productive forces, since facts show that it takes time to perfect the socialist system and to give a full play to its su- periority. In particular, when the socialist system was established in our country, it was greatly influenced by the Soviet Union, which made it de- fective and disadvantageous. As a result, the development of productive forces in our country was seriously fettered and the superiority of social- ism was damped. To change this situation, we must deepen the political and economic system reform. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "Revolution Means the emancipation of the productive forces, and so does reform. The erthrow of the reactionary rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat- pitalism helped release the productive forces of the Chinese people. This $ revolution, so revolution means the emancipation of the productive ces. After the basic socialist system has been established, it is neces- to fundamentally change the economic structure that has hampered the velopment of the productive forces and to establish a vigorous socialist nomic structure that will promote their development. This is reform, so orm also means the emancipation of the productive forces. In the past,

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First of all, it profoundly reveals that the socialist nature is is ee - liberating productive forces and developing productive eee 7 the socialism exists and develops and superior over the capita hae . Xiaoping stressed the liberation and development of productive rorces @&

10 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.172 and https://archive. of,

iaopi 03. djvu.txt. tream/ Selected WorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/Deng Es ae iD select Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.364 and https://archive.or

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the productive forces. The liberation and development of the productive __ forces must be based on the premise and condition that we should adhere to the socialist path for common prosperity, so that we can truly liberate and _ develop the productive forces."

we only stressed expansion of the productive forces under aaa out mentioning the need to liberate them through reform. T eee see was incomplete. Both the liberation and the expansion of t sate i Ni forces are essential."'? According to him, the reform must be a : condition of productive forces, which requires us to establish the eS i - system and economic system that can fully liberate and develop productive forces under the premise of adhering to the socialist basic system so as to fully reflect the essential requirements of socialism.

Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "Economic development must lead to the _ path of common prosperity and always see that polarization is avoided.'

Departing from the fundamental goal, productive forces can neither be truly liberated nor be rapidly developed; our ideal for being a great power Secondly, the fundamental goal of eliminating exploitation ie aoa frill vanish tuto nauoht and wodemivaien all ea ization and achieving the common prosperity was revealed . t e oe of liberating and developing the productive forces. While exp ae at socialism is, Deng Xiaoping repeatedly stressed that the greatest a i age of socialism was the common prosperity, something that embodies t 4 sO- cialist nature. In this new generalization about the socialist nature, cs Xiaoping includes the elimination of exploitation and each anc : ‘ realization of common prosperity as the fundamental goal of the pd nature, which links it with the liberation and development of pro mee forces and thus further reveals the socialist nature in the light of ase ) productive forces and relations of production. If the liberation and ik op- ment of productive forces reflect the nature and superiority oy ee . promoting the development of productive forces, then the elimina = 8 exploitation and polarization and the achievement of ages ss be ty reflect the essential requirements of socialism in relations of pro ss ion, because eliminating exploitation and polarization, and Re ac mek common prosperity exists only in the socialist relations of pro wee: the same time, this also reflects the socialist nature in both ie poe " velopment goal and the value goal and also shows the essentia di — between the socialist society and the society ruled by the exploiting class,

in regard to the goal of developing productive forces. Deng Xiaoping's generalization of the essence of socialism has very dis- tinct characteristics.

Secondly, this new generalization has corrected the erroneous tendency in the past that the nature and Superiority of socialism is only embodied in the relation of production with the development of productive forces neglected. Deng Xiaoping profoundly revealed that the essential require- ment, fundamental task and historical mission of socialism were to liberate and develop the productive forces, which was more important especially in the primary stage of socialism. He also pointed out that after the establish- ment of the socialist basic system, the productive forces should be further liberated through reforms, in order to give full play to the superiority of socialism and promote the rapid development of productive forces. It also emphasizes that the liberation and development of productive forces must adhere to the fundamental goal of which the realization can only be based on the former. Considering the low-level productive forces and the primary stage of socialism in China, we have to be soberly aware that we have to go through a long period of constantly liberating and developing the produc- tive forces before achieving the socialist social development goal. It is thus repeated by Deng Xiaoping that we must insist on the economic construc- tion as the center and whether it is conducive to the development of produc- tive forces, to the enhancement of the comprehensive national strength of the socialist country, and to the improvement of the people's living standard as the standard for the correctness of the work or policy. From this, we can clearly see that Deng Xiaoping stressed the liberation and development of the productive forces because it can help achieve the fundamental goal of eliminating exploitation and polarization and finally achieving common rosperity, create the material basis for communism, and realize the full and ree development of humans, which is the fundamental value goal he and Chinese communists have always insisted on.

First of all, Deng Xiaoping's new generalization of the socialist a reveals the inherent consistency and dialectical relationship eee o essential requirements, the fundamental task and the social eee ee goals of socialism. To eliminate exploitation and polarization, an a ie ally achieve common prosperity is the fundamental goal of the oe de velopment, while the liberation and development of productive ss s premise and foundation of this goal. Without the development o x i tive forces, the fundamental goal cannot be achieved; the pai oO a ing this fundamental goal is in fact the process of liberating and dev : _ ; | Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.149 and https://archive.org/

12 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.370. am/ Selected WorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/Deng03__djvu.txt,

103

104

2. Liberating and developing productive forces is the fundamental task of socialism with Chinese characteristics

First of all, the historical premise of socialism in China and the charac- teristics of the times determine that we must vigorously liberate and de- velop the productive forces, and realize the socialist modernization as soon as possible. The socialism was established in China under the historical premise that the old China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country with very backward economy and culture and had not experienced the stage of full development of capitalist economy. It thus followed that the socialist countries like China would inevitably fall behind the developed capital- ist countries in productive forces and science and technology for a long historical period. Besides, in the process of building socialism, China also faces the challenges of the times which include, on the one hand, those from the traditional industrial revolution which had been completed in de- veloped capitalist countries from the middle 1700s to the middle 1900s, and on the other hand, the others from the new scientific and technological revolution. This requires us to vigorously develop and improve the science and technology and focus on developing productive forces and carrying out modernization in double efforts, so as to narrow the gap with the developed capitalist countries and enhance our comprehensive national strength as soon as possible. Only in this way can we fully demonstrate the superiority of our socialist system and improve our position in the world.

Secondly, the resolution of various social contradictions and problems : the primary stage of socialism depends on the continuous development " liberation of productive forces. In addition to the main contradiction—the conflict between the growing material and cultural needs of the people and the backward social production, quite a number of other social contradic- tions and problems also exist in the primary stage of socialism in our ou try, including such contradictions as that among the state, the collective an the individual workers, between the central and local, different local places, and various departments, and between workers and peasants, urban and fu-

ral. and mental labor and manual labor; and such problems as the huge a unequal difference in people's possession of means of production and dl eir income, and in particular the uneven regional economic development, since

there is still a considerable number of poverty-stricken areas and popu oO 5

tion. These contradictions and problems can be essentially attributed t : low-level productive forces in China and thus be solved only through t continuous development and liberation of productive forces.

1. The scientific c i : . onnotation and characteristi Jak es of th socialism e essence of

After the 3" Plenary Session of the 11" CPC Central Committee, Den Xiaoping summed up the historical lessons that we had been talkin oa socialism in an abstract way disregarding the productive forces se man years and treating something uncharacteristic of the socialist nature ee _ fettering the development of the productive forces as "socialist principles" and defending it tenaciously but something conducive to the develo ee of productive forces under the socialist conditions as "something ca alist" and opposing it. After the in-depth thinking, he provided a new caeaie tion of the socialist nature, which deepened the understanding of aa He made a new scientific judgment about the essence of socialism: "The ce of socialism is liberation and development of the productive foros

isa ai ala and polarization, and the ultimate achievement

Deng Xiaoping's new theoretical generalization of the socialist nature a us, starting from the fundamental question of "what socialism is a ras to build it", to deeply understand the fundamental task of social- m0 lat iS, liberating and developing the productive forces, and to realiz that it is the intrinsic demand of the socialist nature. , :

a ie early 1980s, Deng Xiaoping first proposed the concept of the es- ce 0 Socialism when he expounded on the issue how to demonstrate the Periority of the socialist system. He pointed out: "Socialism" is a good a but if we fail to have a correct understanding of it and adopt correct Icies for establishing it, we will not be able to demonstrate its essence."9

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.86 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3 ? 356 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, 373. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p3 13.

99

_key part of the socialist nature, which happened in the history of scientific socialism for the first time and was a major development of Marxism. It is well-known that Marxist classical writers have always stressed the decisive role of productivity in social development, and treated social production as the basis for the existence and development of human society and the fundamental force pronioting social development, and the adaptation to the productivity development as:an essential measure of the advanced social system. Based on this essential standard, Marxist classical writers made a scientific analysis of the capitalist system and pointed out that the capitalist system in essence has become a hinder to the development of productive forces, and therefore is doomed to be replaced by the socialist system. The root cause for this replacement is that the socialist system can adapt to and promote the development of productive forces. Deng Xiaoping, based on the basic views of Marxism and the profound summary of the historical experience of socialist construction, clearly put forward -the scientific con- cept of the socialist nature for the first time, and treated the liberation and development of productive forces as the essential prescription of socialism, which is undoubtedly a significant development of scientific socialism.

According to him, the development of productive forces comes ne for socialism, because only in this way can the superiority of socialism ecome prominent. The key to judge whether the socialist economic policy is right lies in whether the productivity is developed and people s income increas- es. He described the production development and income aes . the overriding criterion, which was in fact the core content of the socialis ee ture. He also made a profound analysis of the thought that is ee le with the socialist nature, such as the poverty, slow development, ega itari- anism, polarization, and lack of democracy, which are not characteristics

of socialism. | To develop productivity and increasing people's livelihood and ultimate- ly achieving common prosperity of all. This is the fundamental requirement of socialism. In September 1986, when he replied to a US reporter S report on the relationship between the China's slogan of "To get Tich 1s glorious and socialism or communism, Deng Xiaoping commented: "Wealth ina socialist society belongs to the people. To get rich in a socialist cea means prosperity for the entire people. The principles of sopialist are: first, development of production and second is common prosperity.

This passage can be seen the prototype of Deng Xiaoping's ideas on the essence of socialism. In December 1990, Deng Xiaoping once Sen commented on the issue of common prosperity and pointed out: ng the very beginning of the reform we have been emphasizing the nee f or seeking common prosperity; that will surely be the central es a me Socialism does not mean allowing a few people to grow ric a) ile : overwhelming majority live in poverty. No, that's not socialism. The a est superiority of socialism is that it enables alle people to prosper, a common prosperity is the essence of socialism.

On the basis of a comprehensive summary of the historical experiengs in socialist practice and the fresh experience in reform and opening up, a Xiaoping clearly put forward the famous statement on the socialist nature in the speech made in his 1992 visit to the South. Deng Xiaoping's new generalization regarding the essence of socialism

nature is rich in its connotations.

Treating the liberation and development of the productive forces as the essential prescription of socialism fully affirms the great role of socialist system in promoting the productivity development, on the one hand; on the other hand, it shows that socialism can liberate and develop the productive forces only when it makes constant reforms. According to the historical experience in China's socialist construction, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that the establishment of socialist system could not guarantee the natural promotion and development of productive forces, since facts show that it takes time to perfect the socialist system and to give a full play to its su- periority. In particular, when the socialist system was established in our country, it was greatly influenced by the Soviet Union, which made it de- fective and disadvantageous. As a result, the development of productive forces in our country was seriously fettered and the superiority of social- ism was damped. To change this situation, we must deepen the political and economic system reform. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "Revolution Means the emancipation of the productive forces, and so does reform. The erthrow of the reactionary rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat- pitalism helped release the productive forces of the Chinese people. This $ revolution, so revolution means the emancipation of the productive ces. After the basic socialist system has been established, it is neces- to fundamentally change the economic structure that has hampered the velopment of the productive forces and to establish a vigorous socialist nomic structure that will promote their development. This is reform, so orm also means the emancipation of the productive forces. In the past,

100

First of all, it profoundly reveals that the socialist nature is is ee - liberating productive forces and developing productive eee 7 the socialism exists and develops and superior over the capita hae . Xiaoping stressed the liberation and development of productive rorces @&

10 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.172 and https://archive. of,

iaopi 03. djvu.txt. tream/ Selected WorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/Deng Es ae iD select Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.364 and https://archive.or

stream/Selected WorksOfDengXiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt.

101

102

the productive forces. The liberation and development of the productive __ forces must be based on the premise and condition that we should adhere to the socialist path for common prosperity, so that we can truly liberate and _ develop the productive forces."

we only stressed expansion of the productive forces under aaa out mentioning the need to liberate them through reform. T eee see was incomplete. Both the liberation and the expansion of t sate i Ni forces are essential."'? According to him, the reform must be a : condition of productive forces, which requires us to establish the eS i - system and economic system that can fully liberate and develop productive forces under the premise of adhering to the socialist basic system so as to fully reflect the essential requirements of socialism.

Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "Economic development must lead to the _ path of common prosperity and always see that polarization is avoided.'

Departing from the fundamental goal, productive forces can neither be truly liberated nor be rapidly developed; our ideal for being a great power Secondly, the fundamental goal of eliminating exploitation ie aoa frill vanish tuto nauoht and wodemivaien all ea ization and achieving the common prosperity was revealed . t e oe of liberating and developing the productive forces. While exp ae at socialism is, Deng Xiaoping repeatedly stressed that the greatest a i age of socialism was the common prosperity, something that embodies t 4 sO- cialist nature. In this new generalization about the socialist nature, cs Xiaoping includes the elimination of exploitation and each anc : ‘ realization of common prosperity as the fundamental goal of the pd nature, which links it with the liberation and development of pro mee forces and thus further reveals the socialist nature in the light of ase ) productive forces and relations of production. If the liberation and ik op- ment of productive forces reflect the nature and superiority oy ee . promoting the development of productive forces, then the elimina = 8 exploitation and polarization and the achievement of ages ss be ty reflect the essential requirements of socialism in relations of pro ss ion, because eliminating exploitation and polarization, and Re ac mek common prosperity exists only in the socialist relations of pro wee: the same time, this also reflects the socialist nature in both ie poe " velopment goal and the value goal and also shows the essentia di — between the socialist society and the society ruled by the exploiting class,

in regard to the goal of developing productive forces. Deng Xiaoping's generalization of the essence of socialism has very dis- tinct characteristics.

Secondly, this new generalization has corrected the erroneous tendency in the past that the nature and Superiority of socialism is only embodied in the relation of production with the development of productive forces neglected. Deng Xiaoping profoundly revealed that the essential require- ment, fundamental task and historical mission of socialism were to liberate and develop the productive forces, which was more important especially in the primary stage of socialism. He also pointed out that after the establish- ment of the socialist basic system, the productive forces should be further liberated through reforms, in order to give full play to the superiority of socialism and promote the rapid development of productive forces. It also emphasizes that the liberation and development of productive forces must adhere to the fundamental goal of which the realization can only be based on the former. Considering the low-level productive forces and the primary stage of socialism in China, we have to be soberly aware that we have to go through a long period of constantly liberating and developing the produc- tive forces before achieving the socialist social development goal. It is thus repeated by Deng Xiaoping that we must insist on the economic construc- tion as the center and whether it is conducive to the development of produc- tive forces, to the enhancement of the comprehensive national strength of the socialist country, and to the improvement of the people's living standard as the standard for the correctness of the work or policy. From this, we can clearly see that Deng Xiaoping stressed the liberation and development of the productive forces because it can help achieve the fundamental goal of eliminating exploitation and polarization and finally achieving common rosperity, create the material basis for communism, and realize the full and ree development of humans, which is the fundamental value goal he and Chinese communists have always insisted on.

First of all, Deng Xiaoping's new generalization of the socialist a reveals the inherent consistency and dialectical relationship eee o essential requirements, the fundamental task and the social eee ee goals of socialism. To eliminate exploitation and polarization, an a ie ally achieve common prosperity is the fundamental goal of the oe de velopment, while the liberation and development of productive ss s premise and foundation of this goal. Without the development o x i tive forces, the fundamental goal cannot be achieved; the pai oO a ing this fundamental goal is in fact the process of liberating and dev : _ ; | Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.149 and https://archive.org/

12 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.370. am/ Selected WorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/Deng03__djvu.txt,

103

104

2. Liberating and developing productive forces is the fundamental task of socialism with Chinese characteristics

First of all, the historical premise of socialism in China and the charac- teristics of the times determine that we must vigorously liberate and de- velop the productive forces, and realize the socialist modernization as soon as possible. The socialism was established in China under the historical premise that the old China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country with very backward economy and culture and had not experienced the stage of full development of capitalist economy. It thus followed that the socialist countries like China would inevitably fall behind the developed capital- ist countries in productive forces and science and technology for a long historical period. Besides, in the process of building socialism, China also faces the challenges of the times which include, on the one hand, those from the traditional industrial revolution which had been completed in de- veloped capitalist countries from the middle 1700s to the middle 1900s, and on the other hand, the others from the new scientific and technological revolution. This requires us to vigorously develop and improve the science and technology and focus on developing productive forces and carrying out modernization in double efforts, so as to narrow the gap with the developed capitalist countries and enhance our comprehensive national strength as soon as possible. Only in this way can we fully demonstrate the superiority of our socialist system and improve our position in the world.

Secondly, the resolution of various social contradictions and problems : the primary stage of socialism depends on the continuous development " liberation of productive forces. In addition to the main contradiction—the conflict between the growing material and cultural needs of the people and the backward social production, quite a number of other social contradic- tions and problems also exist in the primary stage of socialism in our ou try, including such contradictions as that among the state, the collective an the individual workers, between the central and local, different local places, and various departments, and between workers and peasants, urban and fu-

ral. and mental labor and manual labor; and such problems as the huge a unequal difference in people's possession of means of production and dl eir income, and in particular the uneven regional economic development, since

there is still a considerable number of poverty-stricken areas and popu oO 5

tion. These contradictions and problems can be essentially attributed t : low-level productive forces in China and thus be solved only through t continuous development and liberation of productive forces.

Thirdly, the construction of a high degree of the socialist democratic pol:

itics and spiritual civilization, the fundamental requirement for the - tion of socialist modernization, also depends on the development a eration of productive forces. However, it is in need of a solid materia! 0

_and certain economic conditions. At present, the democratic politics and _ spiritual civilization in our country have not reached the height required by socialism, with some imperfect or weak points, which can be fundamen- tally attributed to the low-level productive forces and backward economy and culture in this stage in China. It can thus be said that the construction of democratic.politics and'spiritual civilization in our country still has a long way to go, and in order to create conditions for it, we should definitely take developing productive forces as the most fundamental task.

Finally, the international and domestic situation China faces also requires us to vigorously develop and liberate the productive forces. Judging from the international situation, the opposition against hegemonism for world peace is inseparable from the development of productive forces. International competition in any era is based on strength. Whoever falls behind is to be beaten. Whether China can withstand the pressure of power politics, adhere to the socialist system, and play a greater role in international affairs, main- ly depends on whether China can achieve the best development, realize our development strategy and strengthen our material base. Judging from the domestic situation, the adherence to the "One Country, Two Systems" and the peaceful reunification of China are inseparable from the development and liberation of productive forces. Deng Xiaoping once said that Taiwan's return to the motherland and the reunification of the motherland, require us, in the final analysis, to do our own things well. We should be superior 105 to Taiwan not only in the political and economic system but also in the economic development, since only when the economy is developed can we make difference in the realization of the national reunification.

Science and technology are the primary productive forces in promoting and advancing the development of productive forces

First, science and technology are primary productive forces

1. The scientific proposition of "science and technology is the primary roductive force"

In today's world, science and technology play a decisive role in the de- elopment of productive forces, so in order to liberate and develop pro- uctive forces in China, we must gain a profound understanding of Deng laoping's thought that "science and technology is the primary productive rces", and vigorously promote the development of science and technol-

106

Later, he stressed that the economy with a faster growth must rely on _science and technology and education. We should promote science, since _it brings us hope. This famous statement enriches and develops the theory _ of Marxism on science and technology and productive forces, reveals the primary role of science and technology in contemporary productivity de- velopment and social arid economic development, and is of epoch-making theoretical and practical significance.

By examining the development history of human society, especially the great role of modern science and technology in the transformation from the handicraft industry to the modern industry and in the development of capi- talism, Marx made an analysis of the science and technology as a whole, He argued that science and technology is part of the productive forces and. that it is a powerful force in the productivity and social development. The Communist Party of China has always attached importance to the position and role of science and technology in the national Seaaea and: Soci 2. The connotations of "science and technology is the primary productive development, and enriched and developed the theory that science and tech- | forces" | nology is the productive forces in the relevant practice. In 1953 when the New China began its first five-year plan, Mao Zedong proposed that we should learn advanced science and technology and then apply it to the con- struction of our country. In 1956, Zhou Enlai, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee, put forward the slogan of "marching to science".

First of all, the role of science and technology in the national economic growth has been gradually lifted to the first place. In the early 1900s when the world just entered the modefn science and technology development stage, the economic growth mainly depended on the input of manpower, material and capital, about 20% of which came from science and technol- ogy. After the WWII, the knowledge and information played an increasing role in economic development, while mineral resources and cheap labor force played a decreasing role in it. According to the world bank, scien- tific and technological progress contributed 49% on average to the national economic growth in developed countries between 1950 and 1970, and the proportion rose to 60-80% in 1980s, due to the thriving development of the emerging new technology industries. In other words, about 2/3 of the national economic growth in today's developed countries is achieved by science and technology.

In early 1958, Mao Zedong proposed the technological revolution, and required that the Party's work should focus on the technological revolu- tion which was suspended later due to the development of "leftist thought. After the 3" Plenary Session of the 11" CPC Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping explicitly proposed that "science and technology is the primary productive forces", considering the huge driving effect of the rapid devel- opment of world science and technology on the productive forces. This statement was later revised by Jiang Zemin to "science and technology is the primary productive forces and the centralized embodiment and main symbol of the advanced productive forces", and then complemented by Hu Jintao's important statement that science and technology "is the revolution- ary force promoting the progress of human civilization", which has become an important part of the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics.

Secondly, science and technology has been penetrated into various ele- ments of modern productive forces system. In ancient times, the production development, the increase of labor productivity and the economic growth depended on the manual labor. In modern times, this situation underwent some changes. In modern productive forces system, the science is applied into the production or technological process, penetrated into other various elements of the productive forces, and can be transformed into the actual direct productive forces. Human beings have entered an era of relying more n knowledge, intelligence and science and technology, in which science ind technology can greatly improve the knowledge content and added value f products. The workers' scientific and cultural quality today has become n important symbol of measuring the level of productivity development. \ccording to statistics, in the primary stage of mechanization, the propor- on of manual labor and intellectual labor consumption in production was pout 9:1; in the medium stage of mechanization, the ratio changed to 3:2; he highly automated and intelligent phase, the ratio reversed to 1:9. It be seen how important science and technology is in productive forces elopment in today's society.

Deng Xiaoping attached great importance to the status and role of devel- oping science and technology in socialist construction. He pointed out that modern science and technology was undergoing a great revolution, which was manifested not only in individual scientific theory, production technol- ogy, and the progress and reform in the general sense, but also in almost every field of science and technology, the emergence of new leaps and a se ries of emerging science and technology that had and would be coming up

Evaluating the new trend of scientific and technological revolution and : the rapid development of productive forces across the world, Deng x further pointed out in September 1988: "Marx said that science and tee nology are part of the productive forces. Facts show that he was nent In opinion, science and technology are a primary productive force.

14 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1st edition, Vol.3, p.274 and https://archive.org/ stream/Selected WorksOfDengXiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.tst.

107

_ education, put science and technology and education in an important place _ of economic and social development, strengthen the national scientific and technological strength and its capability of being transformed to the actual productive forces, improve the scientific and cultural quality of the whole nation, carry out the economic construction by relying on the scientific and

k mo Thirdly, modern science and technology makes se ae ae : ai nd scienti lopment of social produc , Scie odern and scientific. In the deve a and technology combines the elements of ee jes ani ees be i i transformation of the potentia : management is the key to the the ! : rae Hee into the actual one. The extensive combination of science and

technology with economy makes management an aye mere eater i i ement is science, knowledge, roductive forces. Production manag ne eames Science, technology, and management are called the three " portant factors of modern economic development.

Finally, the role of high-tech in knowledge sears = Oa ay ne i knowledge and depends air Knowledge economy is based on pea i inati ledge and information. ket, dissemination and use of know os it reilechual resources and intangible assets as the first element, high-tech in

technological progress ‘and the improvement of workers' quality, and ac-

_celerate the realization of the national prosperity and strength. The basic

meaning of the strategy of reinvigorating the country through human re- source management is that: talents should be regarded as the key factor in promoting the great cause of building socialism with Chinese character- istics, and as a result, we are supposed to build a large-scale, reasonably- structured and high-quality team of talents that is made up of hundreds of millions of high-quality workers, tens of millions of special talents and a large number of top-notch creative talents, so as to create a new situation

dustry as the pillar, and high-tech products and new stars ener i io i d objects. Therefore, the develop- h information as the main consume a industrialization of high-tech is the fundamental way to promot ing the rapid development of productive forces.

3. The enrichment and development of the thought that "science and technology is the primary productive force" in the new period

Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao inherited and developed ee 108 thought that "science and technology is the primary eager) In the light of the science and technology progress and new situ

social development, they complemented that science conan ardns ‘ - i i but also the centralized emboaime ly the primary productive forces hea ste of advanced productive forces, and that aa | room i ion 1 isive factors for the deve rogress and innovation is the decisiv Seana forces. They emphasized that in asa : ans avant i f the world science and tecnnolog from the rapid development o een i ledge economy, what mattere rapid emergence of know antag i i the nature of science, mainly here to innovation. Innovation, ch streaail se inly through education. ents who can grow and develop main twasel i level of national education are science and technology and the ie doa i rehensive national strength an important symbol of the compreh is BE a coma ial civilizati e flywheels for ea ocial civilization, and two indispensa - eats Therefore, the CPC Central Committee has successive) Pa i jence an j ting the country through science ward the strategy of rejuvena ae tion and the strategy of reinvigorating the country through human resours

management. | wit The basic meaning of the strategy of rejuvenating atic 2 ia science and education is to fully implement the idea a ia : technology is the primary productive forces", adhere to

that great talents appear successively and everybody is let to display his talents fully and to transform our country from one with a great population into one with a large number of talents.

Second, the development of advanced productive forces is the fundamental mission and fundamental undertaking of our party as a ruling party

1. The development of human society is the historical process in which

advanced productive forces continuously replace the backward productive

109 forces

The development of human society is the historical process in which advanced productive forces continuously replace the backward productive forces. The struggle of the Communist Party of China is the historical pro- cess in which the advanced productive forces is continuously liberated and developed. Our Party has always followed the objective law of social and historical development and taken the liberation and development of China's advanced productive forces as its fundamental mission, making great con- tributions to the development of China's advanced productive forces. The Party's historical experience has repeatedly proved that our cause prospers hen the development direction of advanced productive forces is repre- nted, but it suffers from turns and twists when we go against it.

The history of human development is first of all the development process productive forces. If the human society is to develop, we must constantly lace the backward productive forces with the advanced, which is the W of productive forces and of social development. Advanced productive Ces reflects the achievement and height of the latest science and technol- gy and plays a decisive role in promoting social development. Dating back the history, we can find that the changes and reforms of social system med from the emergence of advanced productive forces, that is, the old

110

wecemernint

social system and social relations become the shackles of advanced produc- —

tive forces, so a new relation of production is needed to correspond to the development requirements of advanced productive forces.

"In acquiring new productive forces men change their mode of produc- tion: and in changing their mode of production, in changing the way of

* * : 3915 fn

earning their living, they change all their social relations."!

The "new productive forces" Marx mentioned hereby is precisely the advanced productive forces. The continuous acquisition and Aevelopiict of advanced productive forces, will lead to the change of the "mode of pro- duction". The change of "the way of earning their living" eventually leads to the change of "social relations" and the establishment of a new social system. "The hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam- mill society with the industrial capitalist."'®

Advanced social system and relation of production represent the onward direction and development level of advanced productive forces.

2. Always representing the development requirements of China's ad-

vanced productive forces . Always representing the development requirements of and vigorously promoting the development of China's advanced productive forces is the fundamental embodiment and requirements of the CPC's standing at the forefront of the times and keeping the advanced nature as well as the funda- mental mission and responsibilities of the CPC as the ruling party.

The statement that always representing the development requirements of and promoting the development of China's advanced productive forces is the fundamental requirements and path of the CPC's keeping the advanced nature as the ruling party is decided by the law of the human society devel- opment, that of the socialist construction, and the ruling law of the on nist party. The CPC's advanced nature is essentially reflected in its a ility to represent the development requirements of China's advanced productive

forces and promote its development.

Since its establishment, the CPC has been representing the develop : uirements of advanced productive forces in China. It is the vanguard 0

req the Chinese working class who is the representative of modern advance

productive force be conducive to the continuous development of productive forces, cially the advanced productive forces, in order to truly reflect aan the vanguard of the working class and represent the fundamental inte of the working class and the Chinese people. 15 Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Chinese Ist edition, Vol.4, p.144, Beijing.

People's Publishing House, 1958. 16 Ibid.

esp

s. Therefore, all policies and guidelines of the Party must

The new democratic revolution led by the CPC aimed to abolish the priv- ilege of imperialism in China, eliminate the exploitation and oppression by the landlord class and the bureaucratic bourgeoisie, change the feudal comprador relations of production and the decadent superstructure rising over such an economic base,' establish a new political system at the core of the people's democratic dictatorship, and fundamentally liberate the fet- tered productive forces. After the founding of the New China, the CPC, as the ruling party, need lead the masses of the people to seek the road and way of developing advanced productive forces. To this end, our Party carried out the socialist transformation on agriculture, handicrafts and capitalist in- dustry and commerce, established the socialist relations of production, and further perfected the socialist superstructure on such economic base so as to continue to liberate and develop the advanced productive forces in China. After the 3 Plenary Session of the 11 CPC Central Committee, China carried out reform and opening up to further liberate and develop advanced productive forces. In a word, the revolution, construction and reform led by the CPC all aim to promote the liberation and development of advanced productive forces in China.

3. Promoting the development of advanced productive forces in China

The development of advanced productive forces is closely related to the continuous improvement of the relations of production and the superstruc- ture. To promote the development of advanced productive forces in China, we should make sure that its development requirements are reflected in all aspects of relations of production and the superstructure. Therefore, we must unswervingly adhere to the reform, improve the socialist relations of production and superstructure, and pave a broader way for the liberation and development of productive forces.

Man is the most active factor in productive forces. To develop advanced productive forces, we must give full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all people, constantly improve the ideological and moral quali- ties and scientific and cultural qualities of workers, peasants, intellectuals, ther laboring masses, and all other people, and constantly improve their bor skills and creativity. It reflects the efforts and fundamental shift of the ling party in the development of advanced productive forces, different m the behaviors and practices of the exploiting class who contempt and the people. Besides, we should actively build a social environment that ects talents and encourages entrepreneurship, form a good mechanism talents to stand out and display their talents fully, create a new situa- in which talents come forth in large numbers and their enthusiasm and tivity can be given a full play, and provide a strong guarantee for the tm and opening up and modernization construction.

11]

112

The development of advanced productive forces also bk us to vigorously promote the scientific and technological progress an eee tion and strive to achieve the leapfrog development of productive she Advanced productive forces is something armed with Zw eea a Natl a technology. The rapid development of science and seamen a e world today has brought great impetus to the productive forces and the ania development of human society, and its importance for the ee a social development has never been so prominent. The future a : : an technological development will still give rise to new major sas a party must grasp this objective trend sensitively, always pay attention to the ee bination of the superiority of our socialist system with the mastery, appli- cation and development of advanced science and technology, vigorously promote the scientific and technological progress and sabia hee ously transform and improve the national economy with advance ee and technology, in an effort to achieve the leapfrog development . aa S productive forces. This is also the important responsibility a t : ar as the representative of the development requirements of China's advance

productive forces.

Development is the overriding issue in order to promote the comprehensive development of society

First, development is the overriding issue, and the first priority in governing and rejuvenating the country

Development is the overriding issue

On the basis of profoundly summarizing historical experiences and les- sons and accurately grasping the theme of the present era, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "Development is the overriding issue, absolute principle", "development is the key to solve all the problems of China'"®,

Development is the overriding issue. To take the development of produc- tive forces as the fundamental task of socialism is the fundamental view of the scientific socialism and the inevitable requirement of consolidating and developing the socialist system. Whether socialism can consolidate and de- velop itself and reflect its superiority in the contest with capitalism funda- mentally relies on whether its productive forces can develop in a faster and better way than that of capitalism does. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "To give full play to the superiority of socialism means, in the final analysis, it is necessary to make arduous efforts to develop social productive forces and gradually improve and enhance people's material and spiritual life.""°

Only when the productive forces are developed can people's living stan- dards be improved and the social stability be achieved, which will create material conditions for the construction of the socialist democratic politics, spiritual civilization and harmonious society and fundamentally consoli- date the socialist system. Only the socialist development can make those who do not believe in socialism gradually have faith in it and those who do so firmly believe it.

That development is the overriding issue is a profound summary of the historical experience and lessons of the socialist construction. In the 20 years before the reform and opening up, the socialist modernization did not go well, an important reason for which is that the development of produc- tive forces was not realistically taken as the fundamental task of socialist construction in a long time. Deng Xiaoping pointed out that if shortcomings

113

With the human society undergoing profound changes and develo : the theme of the times, the global competition in the economic ithe a : comprehensive national strength is unprecedentedly intense. ae i Cc ee try nor nation can stand aloof in front of this global competition. : a : repeatedly shown that seizing the opportunity to accelerate ae ne a the backward countries and nations may realize the new leap fe) : ment and walk in the forefront of the times; without seizing eal oe ie opportunities, the originally strong countries and nations ee ea : laggards of the times. Whether we can seize new opportunities : a problems and achieve new development is a major test of our bath a erning capability as well as of our national eonesion and ee I root of China's invincible position and the CPC S historical pau = for the country, the nation and the people to cling to the aie a opportunity period and make an effective use of it, and to strive to ae initiative in this large-scare competition to develop and expand our

existed after the founding of the New China, then we might have neglected developing productive forces to some extent. According to him, neither the long-term economic stagnation nor the long-term low-level living standard of the people can not be called socialism. Socialism is not an empty talk and it cannot be built on the low-level productive forces and poverty for a long ime. To develop the socialism, we must take economic construction as the nter and vigorously develop the social productive forces. We have to rely Our own development in face of all problems, which is the most impor- { conclusion after our Party's scientific analysis of the lessons learned m the socialist construction at home and abroad.

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1st edition, Volume 3, p.377 and https://archive. stream/SelectedWorksOfDengXiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt. _Ibid., p.265. _ Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p. 251 and https://archive.org/ m/Selected WorksOfDengXiaoping Vol. 1/Deng02_djvu.txt.

114

That development is the overriding issue is the reflection he require- ment of the theme of the times. Peace and development are the two main

themes of the world today, and the global strategic issues. As a socialist

country, developing the worl

the world peace is. C aeanly of the world and the Asia-Pacific region. By the time China

is developed, the forces of peace that restrict the war paneaat oe hanced. Besides the world peace, the resolution of the ly ae ee is in need of China's development. China is the largest a ae courtly in the world with 1/5 of the world's population. Its ae aoe | not only China itself but es oe world ele i ae a ae : momentum o ina's econo ‘ eee ak of 1.3 billion but also bring enormous ran ee on countries. As the economic globalization deepens, China A ss a becoming a new driving force of the world economic aye us : respect, China's development is of global strategic significance.

To better adhere to the strategic thought that development Is over- ould establish and implement the people-oriented, com- d sustainable scientific outlook on development, the experience in the reform and opening up,

d peace forces. The more developed China is, the more

riding issue, we sh prehensive, coordinated an which is the generalization of the urgent requirement of advancing t well-off society, and the requirement of a characteristics. In order to realize the grand b society in an all-round be ss ea gereet ialism with Chinese characteristics, ts development and promote the comprehensive, ¢

and sustainable social development.

2. Development is the first priority of the party in governing and rejuve-

nating the country

In the process of leading the

characteristics, the Party faces : and urgent tasks, but the primary and most important task is to develop

iori i ing and fe is the first priority of the party in governing ; ee i e Party's historical mission and

China was gradually reduced to 4

juvenating the country is pee by th ibilities. After the Opium War, : na and semi-feudal society in which the society ae ie the government was overwhelmed with the enduring Hee ee long-standing debility, and the people were plunged into an a ss ca Under the CPC's leadership and after the arduous and heroic s ae Chinese people, China finally realized the national liberation a

China maintains peace and stability and is an important factor in —

hina's development is beneficial to the peace

he comprehensive construction of a dvancing socialism with Chinese lueprint of building a well-off _ ontinuing development of, t adhere to the concept of oordinated

whole nation to build socialism with Chinese many problems and all kinds of important

on the socialist path. However, due to the enduring impoverishment and long-standing debility, China began to build socialism on the basis of the backward economy and culture. Until now, the most prominent problem facing us today is still the backward economy and culture and the main contradiction of the-Chinese society is and will be the conflict between the people's growing material and cultural needs and the backward social pro- duction for a long period to come. This decides that the CPC, as the ruling party and the vanguard of the Chinese working class, Chinese people and Chinese nation, must always take development as the first priority at any time in the great course of leading the people of all ethnic groups in China _ in developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and striving to achieve the national rejuvenation.

Whether the CPC can solve the problem of development in the process of leading people in modernizing China, a great developing country with backward economy and culture, directly decides whether the people are for or against and the cause rises or falls. The party, as the ruling party that represents the fundamental interests of the people of China, must always cling to this first priority in governing and rejuvenating the country—de- velopment, and adhere to its advanced nature and give a full play to the superiority of the socialist system by developing the advanced productive forces and advanced culture and realizing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, so as to promote the all-round social progress and development of human beings. Clinging to the first priority, we can thoroughly understand the aspirations and fundamental interests of the people, grasp the nature of the socialist modernization, so as to con- ‘stantly consolidate the ruling status of the Party and constantly meet the requirements of enforcing the country and enriching the people.

Whether the CPC can solve the problem of development in such a great developing country like China is directly related to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the future and fate of socialism. The CPC's ruling sta- tus was chosen by the people, fundamentally because it can lead China to the national prosperity and people's wealth and the rejuvenation of China. Only by grasping this first priority can the Party realize its historical mis- on in the new stage of the new century. Development plays an inevitable le both in achieving the grand goal of building a well-off society in a mprehensive way, further improving people's material and cultural life, hancing China's comprehensive national strength and realizing the great juvenation of the Chinese nation, and in realizing the complete reunifica- n of the motherland and promoting the lofty cause of world peace and evelopment. Only by taking the development as the theme can we thor- ghly understand the aspirations of the people, continuously consolidate id develop the mass base of the Party's ruling status, push forward the

bbs,

Seremaceeine

116

een

to be guaranteed and improved; there must be quite a number of unstable factors underlying in the society where the wealth is extremely deficient, let alone the real social harmony. The mansion of the socialist harmonious society is by no means built on poverty. At any time, we should insist on - economic construction as the center in a steadfast way and concentrate on how to develop the economy.

socialist cause with Chinese characteristics, and create more advanced pro- ductive forces than capitalism through the efforts of several, more than ten or even dozens of generations, so that the people can enjoy more practical benefits and socialism can better display its own superiority.

Second, taking development as the key in solving all kinds of problems

1. Taking development as the key in solving all kinds of problems is an

‘ali eee To solve the problems in advancement with the methods of development important experience gained in the process of our socialist modernization

is a profound summary of the experience in the socialist construction in our _ country. At the beginning of the New China, socialism was constructed at an economically poor and culturally blank background. For decades, the people's living standard has been marching towards a higher level of the well-off society, for which the cantinuous advancement of the socialist modernization can account. At present, with the continuous progress of the society, the people have put forward higher demands on the economic and social development, and a series of new challenges have appeared in the economic and social development process, which require us to take them seriously and make efforts to solve them. In a word, to solve these problems in advancement, in the final analysis, depends on the continuous develop- ment of the socialist society.

practice

Development is the overriding issue and the key in solving all kinds of problems in China. To solve problems occurring in advancement with de- velopment methods is an important experience gained in the process of our socialist modernization practice.

Since the reform and opening up for more than 30 years, the Party's lines, guidelines and policies have gained the support of the masses of the people, we have gone through the international and domestic waves, and our inter- national status and influence has been constantly improving, to which the key is that we firmly grasp the theme of development. Practice has proved that development plays an indispensible role in enhancing the comprehen- sive national strength, constantly improving people's living standards and achieving the "three-step" strategic goal of national development; in con- solidating and improving the socialist system and strengthening the cohe- sion and vitality of socialism with Chinese characteristics; in maintaining social stability, promoting social harmony, and achieving the long-term peace and order of the state; in enhancing the international competitiveness to have the initiative in hands in the international contest; and in accom- plishing the reunification of the motherland and the great cause of the reju- venation of the Chinese nation. Only by focusing on the construction and development can we calmly deal with the difficulties and aaa ~ firmly have the initiative in hands. The prosperity of the country an a wealth of the people is in the final analysis the issue of economic strength, so is the international competition. Without a strong economy, how "| we participate in the international competition, without the Pari : productive forces, how can socialism overcome capitalism. Only when the economy has greatly developed, the economic strength Bnd eee national strength have greatly increased, and the people's livelihood Be : gradually improved can the country gain the long-term peace and order. our back be straightened, our words in the international community carry weight, and socialism be better tomorrow. The continuous manage: of social productive forces is not only the base of the improving Ne standard of the people but also the material base of building a socla : harmonious society. Without development, the people's life will be difficul

Solving the problems in advancement with the methods of development requires us to cling to the economic construction as the center, adhere to the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and "Three Represents", and im- plement the scientific outlook on development. According to the scientific outlook on development, we should adhere to the development as the first priority, the people-oriented development as the core, the comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development as the basic requirements, and making overall plans and taking all factors into consideration as the fun- damental approach. In accordance with the requirements in making overall plans about the urban and rural development, the regional development, economic and social development, the harmonious development of man _ and nature, and domestic development and opening up to the outside world, _we should make efforts to learn about the development laws, innovate the _ development concept, transform the development mode, solve development _ difficulties, and promote the cause of socialist modernization. In addition, we should better implement the strategy of revitalizing the country through cience and education, the strategy of reinvigorating the country through uman resource management, and the strategy of sustainable development, iccelerate the strategic economic restructuring, build an innovation-driven country by speeding the improvement of the capability of independent in- ovation, accelerate the building of a resource-saving and environment- iendly society, continuously enhance the economic strength, scientific and echnological strength, and comprehensive national strength, and enhance

17

and risk-resistance, so as to lay a solid

the international competitiveness f socialism with Chinese characteristics.

foundation for the development o

2. Concentrating on the construction and development

Concentrating on the construction and development is to be absorbed in: the socialist modernization and the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In his speech at the 30" anniversary of the 34 Plenary Session of the 11" CPC Central Committee, Hu Jintao pointed out.that as long as we unswervingly promote reform and opening up and follow. the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, we will absolutely be able to

achieve the set magnificent blueprint and goals.

Since the reform and opening up for more than 30 years, China's eco- nomic and social development has displayed an unprecedentedly good situ- ation. We not only withstood the test of the drastic changes of the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, successfully responded to a series of serious challenges from natural disasters, but also promoted the rapid development of the socialist cause in China, the enhancement of the comprehensive na- tional strength, the constant improvement of people's material and cultural life, and the flourishing of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics. All of these achievements can be mainly attributed to our adherence to the economic construction as the center of the work. peace and development are still the themes of the t and cooperation has become an ir- is in the midst of great chang-

118

masmcnnaen

In the 21* century, times, and seeking peace, developmen resistible trend of the times. The world today es and adjustments, such as the irreversi deepening development of advancement of the science an be seen that the world is still very re still exist, local conflicts and hot issues arise, ance exacerbates, the gap between ditional security threats and non-traditional security and world peace and development face m Confronted with this situation, riod at the beginning solve China's problems in the economic an ously enhance the comprehensive nat

and improve people's material and cul "Three-step" development strategy in the middle 2000s. Whether we ©

seize this opportunity to accelerate development decides whether a coun or a nation can win the initiative and advantage. To this end, we mus swervingly promote the reform and opening up, take the socialist path Chinese characteristics, cling to the economic construction as the ce!

d social development, contin

tural life, in an effort to achieve

ble world multi-polarization, the the economic globalization, and the accelerating d technology revolution. However, it should stless. Hegemonism and power politics the global economic imbal-

the north and the south is widening, tra-__ threats are intertwined, _

any difficulties and challenges. we must seize this strategic opportunity pe of the new century to accelerate our own development.

ional strength of the socialist China

a seis to concentrate on the construction and development. Only i anes ve pa cr strengthen the ability of the state to fea 7 realize the grand blueprint of buildi jall-to dae uilding a well-off society i ton dee ie only in this way can the great rejuvenation of the nee qau uilt on a solid foundation and the great cause of sociali i Chinese characteristics be increasingly prosperous aii

F * » . set . the construction and development requires us to deal with cone ti ip between the economic construction and the development — ee i a good way in the process of developing socialism with ae ne nine We should firmly grasp the fundamental task of so iberating and developing the i i ani productive forces, since the d - Gee cb socialist undertakings must be based on the Peete i ialist productive forces. Without the development of producti 4 _ : socialist cause will definitely fail. In any case, we must wo a . . ; y q ape esa construction and promote the better and nee of the social productive forces, in i | , in order t tion for the further development of socialism ere

ed to achieve scientific development, harmonious evelopment, peaceful development, and promote the comprehensive development of society

1. To achieve scientific devel i a eee evelopment, harmonious development and 119

The r th : se OU ok 7" CPC National Congress stresses that efforts should t iuable. and ee people-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated, sus- a eee : eee to realize the organic unity of differ- D iety, and to fe te : e harmonious development of all members of the a Gs nfoaanee ae : out ne peaceful development of the country through that we must adh e world's peace and vice versa, and clearly points out and peaceful Pent y wich development, harmonious development emnization of our country. , which is the basic way to realize socialist mod-

Adheri jenti ee ae Ra development requires the economic and social ollow the objective laws of soci 4 cial and human develop- ‘ 4 the eae development between man and nature mei ae See as of ss ae so that a people-oriented all-round sustainable development can b i - = e achieved, which in es-

• aati dead sound and rapid economic and social devcianhien

ee : ne development means to uphold the concepts

s of fairness and justice, democr 5 Lim ; acy and rule of law, h an ili a f a = oe vitality, stability and order, harmony between ath d , So that we can coordinate economic development with social

economic and social development. However, the basic national condition that our country is still in the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for a long time to come has not changed, neither does the major social contradiction between people's ever-growing material and cultural needs and the backward social production. It is known that the initial stage of our socialism will last a long period of time and have different characteristics in different periods of development. The current characteristics show that China has entered a crucial period of development and reform, with promi- nent social contradictions. With profound changes in the economic system, social structure, pattern of interests, and ideology and concepts, it faces tremendous pressures on population, resources and environment on the one hand, and great potentials for development on the other hand. Therefore, in order to seize the unprecedented opportunities, cope with the hitherto unknown challenges, and solve the contradictions and problems that will emerge, we should stick to the path of scientific, harmonious and peaceful development.

te social development while achieving economic de- l-round way, realize the organic unity of all undertakings, unite all the members of the society, esis aes harmony and stability, and let all the people share the fruits o a ee development. Upholding peaceful development means pasar een : to peace, development and cooperation, strive to the realize the lop

h the maintenance of the world's peace and vice

ment of our country throug ea versa, and work with other nations together to promote the building of a

harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

Scientific, harmonious and peaceful development embody the wee cal materialism's thinking on the dominant position of the masses - eovle and reflect the fundamental interests and common wishes of the Eaciiinea majority of them. These development principles = ™ i i depending on the people, and the deas of developing for the people, ding an a development shared by the people. Scientific development ~~ be people-oriented and aim at achieving ieee ee Eee : : i to set the all-round develop- inable development, which requires us ; ) see the people as the fundamental goal and to continuously meet their

growing material and cultural needs so that the fruits of development can

be shared by all.

The goal of harmonious development is to achieve the organic unity of

= all undertakings, and the unity and harmony of all members of the commu-

nity, which requires us to comprehensively promote baa spurge , . . . e i tion of socialism according to cal, cultural and social construc ‘al te iali i i haracteristics, and to solve the p layout of socialism with Chinese c ee i i st practical and that people concerning the interests that are mo een irectly related to, so as to bring a concerned about and most direc Oo ee 's abili h find the proper place and realize of the people's ability, make eac ee i i of peaceful development, as p monious coexistence of all. The essence : of China's national development strategy and the gers aes a rei irs, 1 intai 1d peace through seli-develo foreign affairs, is to maintain wor gh mee i ice of developing socialism wit vice versa. In the great practice o man isti i have always cherished the valu peace acteristics, the Chinese people ch . highly. Therefore, while concentrating on building the country, hy favorable surroundings and international environment as an impo ternal condition for safeguarding the country's development.

Scientific, harmonious and peaceful development are enone based on our national conditions of being at the initial stage : - ae they are in line with the features of our current eae gree : ae at promoting the sound and rapid economic and social deve . a the founding of New China, especially since the Ase rem we have made remarkable achievements that attract worldw1

development, promo | velopment, make progress in an al

Sticking to scientific, harmonious and peaceful development reflects the Party's profound insight and accurate understanding of the theme of the times and the development tendency of contemporary China and the world. It is a wise choice which complies with the trend of the times. After World War II, mankind has made unprecedented achievements in econom- ic growth. However, due to the excessive emphasis on economic growth, 121 various problems emerge in the world development. As a result, people have been constantly reflecting on and deepening their understanding of the development ideas. In the meantime, under the background of econom- ic globalization, the interdependence of all countries has been deepened. Therefore, only by creating a peaceful environment can all the countries develop themselves, and only by strengthening exchanges and expanding cooperation can they achieve common development. After summing up ex- periences of the world's development, drawing lessons from the theoretical results of human development, and accurately grasping the trend of world development, the Party puts forward the scientific, harmonious and peace- ful development, which conforms to the trend of the times, concurs with the theme of the times, and demonstrates the foresight and the great breadth of sion of the CPC.

Scientific development, harmonious development, and peaceful devel- ment are intrinsically unified: scientific development is the foundation, ithout which economic development cannot be realized, and harmonious d peaceful development will lose its backing; harmonious development the goal. Scientific and peaceful development aim to create better condi- ms to improve the people's livelihood and promote social fairness and Stice, so that all the people can share the fruits of reform and development.

122

Meanwhile, harmonious development also provides conditions for scien- tific and peaceful development, peaceful development is the guarantee. Without a peaceful international environment, mutual benefit and win-win result, scientific and harmonious development will also be affected. The "three developments" and beneficial to each other, form an organic whole in the great practice of comprehensively implementing the scientific outlook on development and building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and becomes the funda- mental guarantee for realizing the grand goal of socialist modernization. Therefore, people of all ethnic groups across the country must closely rally around the CPC, accept the leadership of the Party, work together, and forge ahead in unity, in order to achieve scientific development, harmonious de- velopment and peaceful development.

2. To comprehensively promote economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization construction: Five constructions

The report of the 17" CPC National Congress, which systematically

elaborates some important issues such as promoting economic, political, ecological civilization construction in an all-round way,

cultural, social and developing socialism with

is the political declaration and guideline for Chinese characteristics and building an overall well-to-do society in the new era. In the construction of the socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics, the coordinated promotion of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization construction is the essential requirement of the development of socialist society and the main task of comprehen-

sively promoting modernization.

First of all, adhering to the coordinated promotion of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization construction is determined by the basic contradiction of socialism, i.e. the contradiction between the relations of production and the productive forces, or in other words, between the superstructure and the economic base, which is mainly manifested in the incompatibility of them. In particular, at a stage where economic develop- ment is backward, the rapid changes in productivity can easily lead to its incompatibility with the relations of production, which is mainly manifest- ed in political, cultural, the economic construction. Actually, above five constructions will open the way for tive forces and create conditions for the all-roun

in China.

Secondly, upholding the coordinated promotion of economic, politics cultural, social and ecological civilization construction is determined the major contradiction our country is facing at the present stage. Maj

the development of produe- d development of sociali

, having different focuses but are closely linked with ©

social and ecological civilization's lagging behind coordinating the relations among the |

contradiction, as the concentrated expression of social development at a certain stage, plays a dominant and decisive role in the development of the society at that time. In the primary stage of socialism, the main con- tradiction of our country is that between people's even erowine material and cultural needs andthe backward social production. Whether this con tradiction can be correttly understood and whether the focus of work a fundamental tasks are set aceordingly determines the future and destiny of socialism. However, the material and cultural needs of the broad ce of the people are manifested in many aspects, including not only material but also spiritual and development needs. Therefore, to meet these needs, we must coordinate and promote the economic, political, cultural social & d ecological civilization construction. "

Thirdly, adhering to the coordinated promotion of economic, political cultural, social and ecological civilization construction is also a een drawn from past experiences and lessons, which reflects the deepening of the Party's understanding of the laws of the construction of socialism it Chinese characteristics. In terms of the ways to achieve modernization, al- though we can learn a great deal from countries first embark on the path to modernization, China, as a populous nation that develops quite late, faces not only a special historical background but also enormous oreacures on population, resources and environment. What's more, there are significant differences between China and other countries in the objectives ae re quirements and ways of development. As a result, if we simply ae tie: nation's experience, with the focus on economic development only. lackin guarantee and support from political, cultural and social development i

will not onl i . : ide. y pay a heavy price, but may also ruin the achievements already

In order to adhere to the coordinated development of economic, political cultural, social and ecological civilization construction, we must = wided by the scientific outlook on development, which is the fndieental uid ing ideology of and the essential way and method for building an cul

well-to-do society. In fact, the basic requirement of the scientific outlook

on development is to achieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable evelopment, which is an important manifestation of realizing the cause of ocialism with Chinese characteristics from an overall perspective, reflect- ing our Party's profound understanding of the laws of the socialist mod- p iton, and revealing the ways to implement the scientific outlook on eve opment in all aspects. By thoroughly implementing the outlook, we 4 coordinate all links in and all aspects of the construction of modennira: n and comprehensively promote socialist economic, political, cultural ocial and ecological civilization construction. —s

123

Insisting on the comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable eee ment, which is gradually formed and deepened in our eicle ey ae of the laws of socialist modernization in accordance with the eee 0 Marxism, is a necessity in our economic and social nua iee ‘ c a. sic Marxists believe that the ideal society in the future is one es ie ly developed social productive forces and spiritual life, Way people she harmony with each other and with nature. Since compre Sung seein nated and sustainable development emphasize the syoaiewe! ae ZI nation not only among all aspects of economic and social deve see , but also between man and man, man and society, and man and nature, 1 con- forms to the basic view of Marxism on the development of human society.

In addition, there are rich connotations in comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development: "comprehensive" means that pilaeliat: should be comprehensive and integrate, including fie ane e velopment, but also development in other aspects; tia as si that development should be coordinated and balanced, with a ae _ links adapted to and beneficial to each other; sustainable Hoe a ° development should be lasting and continuous, ensuring not only cures development, but also long-term one. To uphold pare aan ers coor - - ed and sustainable development, we should correctly handle the major rela- tions in the construction of modernization such as that between con and social development, between urban and rural development, ee : development of the eastern, central and western regions, aera e ie opment of man and nature, between domestic development a cara i and among reform, development and stability; coordinate and handle " the major issues in economic and social development such as ee - and investment, supply and demand, the speed, structure, quality an bi ficiency of development, the full play of the oun of eeu » technology and advantages in human resources, the market mec ;

: vical

and macroeconomic regulation and control; and see economic, political,

cultural, social and ecological civilization construction and the alle development of human beings as an interconnected, mutually beneficia

and indivisible process.

i hasizes the comprehensive, CO- The 17" CPC National Congress emp hensive:

e they reflect

ordinated and sustainable development, and regards them as quirements of the scientific outlook on development, becaus Oe ee the objective requirements of China's economic and social nes u at this stage. On the one hand, after the long-term developmen : ee accumulated a solid material and technological foundation and = : greater achievements in promoting comprehensive, coordinated eae : tainable development. On the other hand, problems such as the ae = velopment of urban and rural areas, the uncoordinated economic an:

evelopment, and the incompatibility among economic development, popu- ation, resources and environment, have become more prominent. However, he basic requirements of the comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development provide new ideas to solve the problems, and point out the right direction for China's economic and social development. Therefore, only by actively advancing comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, can we better release various constraints on the development of our country, promote the development and ensure the realization of the strategic goal of the development.

To achieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, we must, based on the overall layout of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics, adhere to the economic construction as the center, constant- ly promote economic development and all-round social progress, and cor- rectly understand that economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization, in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, is a mutually reinforcing organic unity. Without economic construction, which provides the material basis for political, cultural and social con- struction, the construction in other fields will lack material foundations. Therefore, we should guarantee the central role of the economic construc- tion, understand the strategic significance of accelerating economic devel- opment, and unswervingly promote the sound and rapid development of the national economy. Without political construction, which provides political security for economic, cultural and social construction, it will be impossible to fully arouse the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the masses, create an environment that is protected by a sound legal system, and guarantee the smooth construction in other fields.

We should stick to the socialist political development path with Chinese characteristics, uphold the organic unity of the leadership of the Party, people as the masters of the country and the rule of law, adhere to and perfect the fundamental systems of socialism with Chinese characteris- cs, deepen the reform of the political system, and constantly promote its self-improvement and development. Without cultural construction, which provides ideological guarantee, spiritual motivation, cultural environment and intellectual support for economic, political and social construction, there will be no common ideals and beliefs and moral norms, and the high- Spirited and pioneering mainstream spirit will not be formed, providing no essential spiritual support for the construction in other fields. Therefore, € must consolidate the ideological guidance of Marxism, adhere to the evelopment of an advanced socialist culture that is modern, international, dvanced, national, scientific and popular, uphold the principle of "three loseness", strive to establish a socialist core value system, consolidate the ainstream opinions, promote reform and innovation of forms, methods

125

and mechanisms, push forward the great prosperity and development of socialist culture, create a new upsurge of socialist cultural construction, and

enhance the national soft power.

Without social construction, which provides favorable social conditions . for economic, political and cultural construction, a favorable social envi-' ronment for promoting the construction in other fields will not be formed. Therefore, we must speed up the social construction that focuses on im- proving people's livelihood, promote social fairness and justice, improve social management, stimulate social creation and build a more harmonious society. The ecological civilization construction, which is the foundation of the civilized system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, embodies the strategic concept of the all-round development of socialism, has inher- ent unity with socialism with Chinese characteristics, and makes its overall layout more systematic and better. Therefore, we must firmly establish the concept of ecological civilization, green economy and seeking develop- ment under strict constraints, make resource conservation the basic national policy, develop a recycling economy, and adhere to the path of civilized de- velopment featuring growing production, affluent life and sound ecological environment, so as to realize the unity of speed, structure and quality, and the coordination of economic growth, population, resources and environ- ment, and to build a resource-saving and environment-friendly well-to-do 126 society. In short, according to the requirements of the overall layout, we should take the socialist economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization construction as a unified task, a unified undertaking and a uni- fied goal, develop socialist market economy, democracy, advanced culture, and harmonious society vigorously, and promote the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics comprehensively.

Main Ways of Developing of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Reform is an important driving force of socialism in China

First, the socialist society is a constantly changing society

The development of human society is a constant process from low-level ——~ forms to the advanced forms. The basic force that drives this process is always the contradiction between productive forces and production rela tions, economic base and the superstructures. Pushed by these soinanic. tions, human society is always in a movement of change. Constant chan and development, advance links replacing the backward ones, is the al law of human social development. es

Socialist society is one of the existing social forms of human beings. It _is the result of the movement of the basic social contradiction. The ce i force to decide and promote the development of socialist society is still ii contradiction between productive forces and relations of production Hy Come foundation and superstructure. Therefore, like any other SaGic: ies, the socialist society is also a society that needs constant reform and fol- Ws the social development law that the advanced replaces the backward 4 . He oe PA ee for the leaders and builders of the socialist cause to os es a ail to realize it, regard socialism as a society that is con- an. - and consciously replace the backward with the advanced, o oe ay lose its vitality and vigor, its superiority may fail to be given y and it may even perish.

i |

]

Deng Xiaoping is the chief designer of China's reform and opening up he face of the austere problems includ-

and socialist modernization. In t ing the slow development of social productive forces after the end of the "Cyltural Revolution", the basic necessities of life, the backwardness of sci- ence and technology and education, the prevailing bureaucratism and patri- archal style, and the various doubts of the people on socialism, he, made the earliest initiative of reform. After his return to leadership post for the third time, Deng Xiaoping made it clear that the realization of the four modern- izations is "a great revolution in which China's economic and technological backwardness will be overcome and the dictatorship of the proletariat fur- ther consolidated. Since its goal is to transform the present backward state of our productive forces, it inevitably entails many changes in the relations of production, the superstructure and the forms of management in industrial and agricultural enterprises, as well as changes in the state administration over these enterprises so as to meet the needs of modern large-scale produc- _ Therefore, it is essential to carry out major reforms in the various of the economy with respect to their structure and organization ong-term interests of the whole nation

we cannot overcome the present

eee and es of the socialist superstructure that is incompat economic base. This is what we call th ialist re i call the socialist reform. If a ee s an out such a'reform, we will suffocate the inherent Vitality of so and seriously hamper the superiority of socialism.'

Second, reform is the self-improvement and development of socialism

a : a society of self-improvement and development. The re and impetus of socialist self-improv t and devel are rooted in the inherent sti i ea he Mie pulation of socialism, The national

digi : system of

pole s being masters of the country, the relations of production oo M4 a oe the value of realizing common prosperity and the social objective of obtaining all-round develo ve ( pment of the people have fi tally eliminated the possibility of i eae enennsiS class exploitation and cl i and have ensured the equality of i ieee ai among all nationalities, all class ) : es a po Moreover, they also determined that the ruling communist ae st iis for and does not seek for any special interests wre the - cates ee of the majority of the people. Thus, the communist n transcend the historical limitations of i Party all private clas d thei political parties, and treat the self-im ered a -Improvement and development of social-

O ticing . ee of eee ahead with determination, the wide oo 129

€ future and the broad mind of accepti i cea _ epeeeirainat aetet : cepting good advices; those i eneficial to the people will b which are outdated and agai igen: Pera whic gainst the people will be abandoned; i are imperfect, immature will be i cs maa erfect, perfected and improved wi The ability to draw on adv i ae antages and avoid disadvant e old and inhale the new is i i Sn an er a manifestation of the superiori i periority of the social- t system, and also the inherent root for the socialist to maintain Se ibaan

itality.

ocial; A, 2 : — aie sae most progressive society in the history of China S ent conforms to the objective law istori

, of historical devel

presents the onward direction i eae of social develo i . n of pment and accords with th awe sear a aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the - AS a result, it has the strong sup i port of the people. With 4 he ple. With the ardu-

. 4 ploration and unremitting efforts of the Party and the people of all

should consciously adjust and reform the part of the socialist relation: | a eroups in China for more than half a century, China has made uu should consciou ements widely appreciated in th i i iti 1 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, pp.135-136 and https://archi tual civilization construction d aN a5 me fecal fee org/stream/Selected WorksO fDengXiaopingVol. 1/Deng02_djvu.txt t great social changes and a iy Seen isa oe . . eat . i¥ ra! | re : | : 2 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.150 and https://archive.¢ Socialist system. aera ami saa

stream/SelectedWorksOfDeng Xiaoping Vol. 1/Deng02_djvu.txt. ‘ 3 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.266 and https://archive.©!

stream/ Selected WorksOfDeng Xiaoping Vol.3/Den g03_djvu.txt.

tion.. branches as well as to their technology. The | hinge on these reforms, without which backwardness of our production technology and management."

He also said: "Now the economic management work in China is over 128 staffing with overlapping levels, complex procedures, and extremely low efficiency, which are usually hided by the political empty talks. It shall not be attributed to any comrade's fault but our failure to propose the reform in the past. "However, if we do not carry out the reform now, our cause of modernization and the cause of socialism will be ruined." those 20 years—particularly the lessons

t us that we could not proceed unless d social

The experience gained during of the "cultural revolution"—taugh we carried out reform and formulated new political, economic an

policies.'

Since the 4" Plenary Session of the 13" Central Committee of the Party,

Jiang Zemin further pointed out:

"Based on our national conditions, we have summed up our practic experiences and based on the realistic level of social productive force China and the objective requirements for further development of them

elected i i Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol. 1, p. 68, Beijing, People's Publishing House, 2006.

However, compared with the development history of the capitalist soci- ety which is hundreds of years, the history of China's socialist construction which is only more than half a century is not long after all. Regardless of the fast development of China reflected in that there is significant increase in social productivity and comprehensive national strength and the people's : life has reached the well-off level in general, there is still a long way to go in industrialization and modernization. In terms of economic system, man- agement system, democratic legislative system and ideological and ‘moral aspects, there is a considerable distance from the construction target that we should achieve. In the aspects including productivity development, science and technology progress and improvement of living standard, there 1s stilla big gap from those of the western developed countries. China's socialism is still not fully developed, and is still in the primary stage of socialist devel- opment. It still needs constant self-improvement and development.

Reform is the fundamental way of the socialist self-improvement and development. In the stage of socialist development, there will be no way out in the face of the emerging new situations and new problems if we do not carry out reform and institutional innovation. Therefore, "in all his- torical stages of a socialist society, it is necessary to continue to promote the self-improvement and development of the socialist system in a timely manner through reforms in accordance with the requirements of economic and social development so that the socialist system will be full of vigor and vitality. All comrades in the entire Party absolutely must unify thoughts, raise understanding and firmly implement the policy of socialist reform and

development."

Third, the reform and opening is China's second revolution

Reform is not a tinkering and kind of minor improvement. The essence of the reform is to fundamentally change the various concrete systems that hinder the development of productive forces and social progress so as to meet the needs of socialist modernization. Deng Xiaoping made it clear that "reform is the second revolution in China."° First of all, reform is the second revolution in China, as opposed to the

new democratic revolution. The new democratic revolution led by the Party turned a semi-colonial and semi-feudal old China into a new socialist

China. After winning the revolution, the socialist transformation of agricul- ture, handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce was successfully re-

alized, and the socialist economic foundation was established. It is the firs great revolution of China in the real sense since modern times. The aim 0 the reform lead by the Party is to fundamentally change the specific systeti

5 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol. 3, p.274. 6 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.113.

management methods and ideas that are not adapted to the development of productive forces and social progress, and turn a relatively backward socialist China into a prosperous, democratic and civilized socialist modern China. "The reform, like China's past revolutions, is also aimed at remov- ing the obstacles to the development of social productive forces and lifting China out of poverty and backwardness."

Secondly, reform is the second revolution in China, starting from liberat- ing the productive forces and removing the obstacles to the development of productive forces. The so-called liberation of productive forces refers to the development of productive forces by relieving the shackles of productive forces. In the past, we had always believed that the revolution was the lib- _ eration of productivity. We also believed that there were only the problems of developing productive forces and there were no problems of liberating productive forces under the socialist conditions. All these are one-sided understanding. Revolution is to liberate the productive forces and reform _ is also to liberate the productive forces. In this sense, reform can also be called revolution.

Thirdly, reform is the second revolution in China, which is in the sense of the profundity and universality of reform. Seen from the scope of reform, China's reform is a comprehensive reform, including the economic basis and the superstructure, the economic system and the system of politics, cul- _ ture and other aspects, the system level and the ideological level. From the depth of reform, it is the fundamental transformation of the old system and old ideas, the innovation of the system and the adjustment of the interests that lead to the profound changes of the society. In this sense, the reform leads to a new revolution.

More than 30 years of reform practice has proved that socialism with Chinese characteristics has always been advancing in the reform. The re- _ form has not only liberated the productive forces, developed the productive forces, enhanced the overall national strength, improved the living standard of the people, promoted the diversification of economic elements, interests, distribution patterns, jobs and ideas, but also laid a solid foundation for the settlement of some major problems in current economic and social develop- ment of China, the sustainable economic and social development of China, and the long-term stability of China.

Fourth, the goals, tasks, principles (policies) and methods of reform

On the basis of summing up the historical experiences and lessons, Deng Xiaoping made a very clear exposition on the object, purpose, principle and method of the reform.

—. Z Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Volume 3, p. 135 and https://archive. Otg/stream/SelectedWorksOfDeng Xiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt.

131

132

foundation, thus making the socialism with Chinese characteristics full of

j he pointed out that there are still many disad. On the subject of reform, he p Die ad dee

vantages in the existing concrete system of the Party and the state and in the various systems of China. Seen from the various systems of the state, there are disadvantages including the lack of clear-cut job responsibility among governments and enterprises, segmentation of trap and block, excessive. control of the government on the enterprises, neglect of commodity pro- duction, value law and market function, equalitarianism, and communing pot; from the perspective of the leadership system and the cadre system of the Party and the state, the main drawbacks include bureaucracy, excessive centralization of power, patriarchal style, life tenure of leading cadres and various privileges. In addition, there are remaining patriarchal concepts and hierarchical concepts in social relations; some inequality of identity in lead- er-member relations and relations with the masses; the weak consciousness of civil rights and obligations; the autocratic style in the field of culture; the recognition of the great importance of science and education to socialism, the rigidity of thought, the serious influence of small producers.

On the principle of reform, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that the reform _was characteristic with the socialist nature. First of all, the reform should se carried out under the CPC's leadership, and the Party Central Committee hould mairitain its authority. Secondly, all reform measures should be car- d out under the premise of adhering to socialism. The reform should ad- ere to two important principles: one is taking public ownership as the main body; the other is common prosperity. On the basis of summarizing the pos- itive and negative experiences of the international and domestic socialist development, Jiang Zemin further emphasized two basic conclusions: first, the reform should adhere to socialism. Second, the reform should explore the socialist development path which is in accordance with the actual state.

On the method of reform, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that: first, the re- form should be orderly carried out in steps. Being orderly is to be both bold and prudent. Moreover, experiences should be summed up timely and steady progress should be made. If there is no order, efforts will be made on various interferences encountered. And the reform will not be achieved as a result. Secondly, the reform should be carried out in all aspects in mutual coordination. "We will not carry out the reform of the economic structure without the reform of the political system."!' The reform in other aspects should also be coordinated. Third, the theory should go before prac- tice. There should be a blueprint before the reform is implemented. Deng Xiaoping's exposition on the object, purpose, principle and method of the reform provides scientific guiding ideology for the smooth implementation of the reform practice in China.

These drawbacks "hinder or even seriously impede the development of the superiority of socialism, and if we fail to carry out serious reforms, we will hardly be able to meet the urgent needs of our modernization drive and we will have to deviate severely from the masses."*

However, Deng Xiaoping emphasized particularly: "The socialist system is one thing, and the specific way of building socialism another."

The system reform is not to change the fundamental socialist system but _ to separate it from the various systems that manifest it.

Regarding the purpose of the reform, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: In the reform of the political structure, our general objectives are the following: (1) to consolidate the socialist system, (2) to develop the socialist produc: tive forces and (3) to expand socialist democracy in order to bring the initia- tive of the people into full play. The chief purpose of mobilizing the peo- ple's initiative is to develop the productive forces and raise living standards. This in turn will help increase the strength of our socialist country and or solidate the socialist system. In short, "all our reforms have the same ee to clear away the obstacles to the development of the productive forces.

Fifth, reform should seek new breakthroughs

The essence of reform is making institutional innovations. After 30 years of reform and practice, we already have a good foundation for promoting the socialist system innovation. Meanwhile, China's institutional innova- on has entered a crucial stage, which means continuing to promote the form will be more difficult, and its tasks will be more complex. We must e bold and courageous to make great progress in institutional innovations.

First of all, we should continue to promote the reform of market orien- ion, constantly improve the socialist market economic system, funda- ntally eliminate the institutional obstacles to the development of pro- tive forces, and promote the self-improvement and development of the cialist economic system. According to the development requirements of vanced productive forces, we should deepen the understanding of the

Jiang Zemin further pointed out that the fundamental purpose of the r form is to establish a more mature and stereotyped system adapted to th basic national conditions in the primary stage of socialism, make the duction relations adapt to the development of the productive forces: promote the superstructure to adapt to the development of the econo

8 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.327. 9 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.327.

ss Ibid., : }

10 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.134. id., p. 177

193

process and every link of the administration of the country. We should start rom the reality, obtain advancement on the whole, and make gradual and order progress and key breakthrough.

the public ownership as the main body and the common development of economy with different types of iia' a accelerate the adjustment of the ownership structure; we shou saul the | reform of state-owned enterprises, regulate the corporate aes struc- ture, and form the operation and management mechanism with re a : matching incentive and restraint; we should accelerate the sat 0 pace reform, and promote the marketization of rural economy by ur pea in accordance with the requirements of WTO's rules, we should e eotively change government functions, regulate the market order and protect intel-

lectual property rights. we should actively and steadily promote the reform of the po- litical system, develop socialist democracy, build socialist see vil zation and promote the self-improvement and development of the pies . political system. The reform of political system is an en Oo : € self-improvement and development of the socialist system. The ¢ ae op- ment of socialist democracy and the construction of socialist politica civi- lization are an important goal of socialist modernization and an important content of the self-improvement and development of the socialist pole system, We should strengthen the system construction of meee emo- cratic politics, realize the institutionalization, standardization a ea ing of socialist democratic politics, consolidate and develop the politica situation of democratic unity, liveliness, stability and harmony. To Pe the reform of political system, we should start from our national pe itions and follow our own political development path rather than completely copy

the western political system model. quirements of the development of social- he cultural system reform according to

the characteristics and laws of socialist spiritual civilization const We should combine deepening reform with the adjustment of structure : the promotion of development, adjust the relationship between aneee - and cultural enterprises, strengthen the construction of cultura i system and the macro management, deepen the internal reform : cu : e enterprises and institutions, and gradually establish the cultura ee ment system and operation mechanism used for mobilizing the enthu a of cultural workers and promoting cultural innovation to create more CoH? petitive works and cultivate more talents. according to the request of the CPR National Congress, rm, all the ideological concepts hind ly broken; all the practices and pro Id be resolutely changed; and all hould be resolutely dismisst d opening up in the wh

basic economic system with

Sixth, correctly dealing the dialectical relationships between reform, development and stability

Reform, development and stability are an organic whole. Their mutual relationship runs through the whole process of socialist modernization, and thus should be attached with close attention and handled seriously.

Development is the goal, which is the concept should be established first- ly when dealing with the relationship among the three parts. "Development _ js the overriding issue". The key for China to solve all its problems is to rely on its own development. Only continuous development can overcome the difficulties encountered on the way forward; ensure the final realization _ of the peaceful reunification of China; gradually eliminate exploitation and _ polarization, and finally achieve common prosperity; give full play to the _ superiority of the socialist system and create strong material conditions for _ the final victory over capitalism and the transition to communism.

Secondly,

__ Reform is the driving force. To develop, we should carry out reform. _ Only through reform can we overcome the previous influence hindering the development of social productive forces and the improvement of people's 135 _ living standard, solve the new problems in the process of the development —— _ of productive forces and open up a broad space for the development of pro- _ ductive forces. Reform is an indispensable driving force for development. In turn, only development can ensure that the reform is sustainable and _ deepening and will not be unfinished. Therefore, on the one hand, develop- _ ment cannot be achieved without reform because reform is the driving force _ of development; on the other hand, reform cannot be carried out without development because development is the purpose of reform. The two parts are interrelated and inseparable.

Thirdly, we should meet the re ist market economy and promote t

_ Stability is the prerequisite. Reform and development require a stable so- cial environment. Deng Xiaoping repeatedly pointed out that the key to the development of China is social stability. One is political stability and the other is policy stability. Political stability is a prerequisite and guarantee for 1¢ healthy implementation of reform and development. Without a stable litical situation, the country will be always in turmoil. And it will be un- le to create favorable conditions for the development of productive forces from time and space and provide a stable environment for the improvement the living standards of the people, As a result, any good wish will come nothing and any good plans and programs will be unable to be imple- nted. However, the stable political situation only is not enough, and current policy stability should also be achieved. If the policy changes

Finally, the process of deepening the refo ing development should be resolute sions restraining development shou institutional defects affecting development s We should carry through the spirit of reform an

136

frequently, the result will be the same as that caused by political instability, In view of that China had suffered a lot from the changes of policies in the past, Deng Xiaoping stressed that: in general, we have "four adherences", including the adherence to the Four F undamental Principles, the adherence to the four modernizations, the adherence to two opening up and the adher- ence to the guideline of implementing reform. And he pointed out: "When we say the policy will not change, we mean the policy as a whole—that no aspect of it will change. If any aspect changes, the others will be affected."!"

Therefore, in the context of reform and development, we should not only make changes, but also achieve stability. We should organically combine changes and stability and strive to combine depth, breadth and pace of re- form with the stability, coordination and the degree of social acceptance of the reform and development programs to an extreme, thus promoting development through reform in a stable social environment.

The stable social environment is inseparable from the reform and devel- opment. Stability does not mean a stagnant pool of water or standstill. The true stability should be a situation with both centralism and democracy, both discipline and freedom, both unity of will and personal ease of mind and liveliness, just like what Mao Zedong said. In order to create this situ- ation, we should carry out reform to coordinate and straighten out various social relations and achieve the best combination of various relations, vari- ous elements, and various components. At the same time, the stable social environment is realized on the basis of the increasing development of so- cial productive forces and the constant improvement of the living standard of the people. It is impossible to obtain real stability on the basis of the slow development of social productive forces and the low living standard of the people. Therefore, to create and maintain a stable social situation, it is necessary to reform and develop. Only through carrying out reform,

vigorously developing the social productive forces, enhancing the compre- hensive national strength of the country and improving the living standard of the people can the cohesion of the whole society be formed and can the stability of the society be fundamentally guaranteed. Jiang Zemin pointed out that reform, development, stability are like three closely linked strate- gic moves on the checkerboard of China's modernization construction. The if the three moves are well done and mutually promot:

game will win only ed; if any of them is not well down, the other two moves will be in troubl

and the whole situation will face setback. We should unify the momentui of reform, the speed of development and the degree of social tolerance 1 take the constant improvement of people's life as an important integral point treating the relationship among reform, development and stability

12 Deng Xiaoping Selected Works, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.218 and https://archive.org/ stream/Selected WorksOfDeng Xiaoping Vol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt.

promote reform and development in social stability and promote social sta- bility through reform and development. —

It is of great significance to correctly understand and deal with the dia- lectical relationship between reform, development and stability. Whether _the dialectical relationship among reform, development and stability can be successfully understood and handled is the key to the success of socialist reform; the correct understanding and handling of the dialectical relation- ship among reform, development and stability can make us better adhere to the direction of progress in practice, reduce mistakes and avoid detours: helps people to cultivate dialectical thinking and set up overall viewpoint: and helps people to establish strategic vision, enhance the ability to snalyae things and grasp rules in the work.

Opening to the outside world is an external condition for the development of socialist society

First, the world today is an open world

To open to the outside world is a basic national policy of our country. Its formulation and implementation are the result of our party's keen observa- tion and examination of the development trend in the current world. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "The present world is an open world."? |

No country can obtain development if it isolates itself and turns inward. This scientific judgment profoundly reveals the objective basis of China's opening to the outside world.

"The current world is an open world". With the promotion of the so- cialized production, world market, capital and science and technology, the telations among countries, regions and nations are increasingly closer and Stronger, showing the trend of globalization and integration. The trend is Mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Firstly, globalization of the environment, resources and population. In articular, ecological protection and environmental governance have biG: en through national boundaries and become a common concern of the orld. Now, a country will be isolated and punished if it considers and Ives ecological problems only from its own perspective without a global sion and a vision of future and without the intention of cooperation and llaboration.

Selected Works of Deng Xiaopi iti ping. Ist edition, Vol.3, p.64 and https://archive.org/ am/Selected WorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/Deng03_djvu.txt. : :

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country completely isolated with a small population, but is a picture of globalization that the countries, the regions and the nations are mutually communicated and mutually connected. In this picture, it is impossible for any country or any nation to isolate itself. Only by implementing policy of opening to the outside world can the country survive and develop itself. Although many countries and nations should also take economic protection policies conducive to state and national interests in their own development process, protection is not equal to self-seclusion. If the protection is turned into self-seclusion, there will be no future except lagging behind and being vulnerable to attacks.

Secondly, the globalization and integration of economic ee cathy as the 1840s, Marx and Engels pointed out in The Communis a eat that the production and consumption of all countries "Agr aa se le because the bourgeoisie developed the world market. The Ss is ethnic self-sufficiency and self-seclusion in the past were replace ry : inter, dependence of all ethnic groups. At present, this trend is se co) su (1) Production and division of labor become more and more e ioe tong : The socialized production develops into internationalized production; the division of labor goes beyond national boundaries and becomes interna- tional division of labor. (2) Capital and markets are becoming more and more internationalized. The domestic unified market develops a interna- tional unified market; the global capital flows have made the se be- tween economies and markets of various countries unprecedentedly close. (3) With increasing size, capital, technology and pings the tansnatioyg corporations and transnational groups play a leading role in the develop- ment of the world economy.

Thirdly, the internationalization of science and ae) develop and application. The rapid development of science and tec os ogy ei only changes the way of human production and life, but also ¢ ae 7 search and application of science and technology. First, the trans ms of of new inventions and new technologies to the field ener an é becomes faster and faster. And once the transformation is coe, : . ee nology will be immediately promoted and used in the wor : = e international technology. Second, the cooperation and colla se ° : ence and technology research becomes stronger, more socialize oe internationalized. Previously, a major technology invention cou fe _ completed by one or several scientists in the laboratory. But now, : a changed. Major scientific and technological research projects, oe exploration, ocean development, nuclear energy utilization = ~ engineering, are difficult to undertake with huge investment ey red - They cannot be completed by one, a few of or dozens of scientists, s by the manpower, material and financial resources of he co require for worldwide cooperation and coordination. Only ry bate — man resources, material and financial resources of various oe world can something be gained and can certain progress be made.

Second, China's development is inseparable from the world

The present world is an open world, and "China cannot develop without the world."'* This conclusion is not only the result of the keen observation _of the world development trend, but also the result of the profound sum- mary of the historical lessons of China's long stagnation and backwardness.

Before the establishment of capitalist production mode in western coun- tries, China had been at the forefront of world civilization. However, after the western world entered into capitalism, China was gradually behind the times. Especially, after The Opium War, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, suffering from the humiliation of being butchered. There are many reasons for China's transition from strong to weak. However, based on careful analysis, we can find that there is an important reason, namely the shift from opening to the outside world to self-seclusion. According to historical records, in the 15" century, China ad been keeping a foothold in the world with the opening to the outside world. However, after the 15% century, especially the establishment of the Qing dynasty, the ruling class gradually closed the door to the outside world d stopped communication and contact with the outside world for main- ining the stability of the regime and for other reasons,.

However, under the condition that the capitalist mode of production has en established and the world market has been formed, self-seclusion be- omes impossible. The force of socialized mass production, market and ital intrinsically demands outward expansion, and no boundaries and hnic boundaries can limit it. If one country chooses self-seclusion rath- than conforming to this power to actively open to the outside world, it not only miss the good opportunity for great development, but also behind and be vulnerable to attacks. In this regard, "we suffered from ation, and so did our forefathers. You might say it was an open policy sort when Zheng He was sent on voyages to the western oceans by peror Cheng Zu of the Ming Dynasty. But the Ming Dynasty began to

Facts have shown that global interaction is becoming more an : obvious. For example, the impact of the Asian financial crisis ey be i economy, the impact of the devaluation of Japan on ee an. ue ic economy, the impact of the Russian financial crisis on t F A omy, the global financial crisis and economic crisis one 2 is sub-prime crisis are all sufficient evidences proving that t eg = tion becomes more and more obvious. Now, what we face is no

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1st edition, Vol.3, p.78.

139

140

o the outside world; there is no other way. We cannot continue to keep our

doors closed as we did for more than twenty years. The closure of the past two decades must change."!°

decline with the death of Emperor Cheng Zu. The following Kang-Qian Flourishing Age of the Qing Dynasty cannot be regarded as open.

In the Qing Dynasty, during the reigns of Kang Xi and Qian Long, there was no open policy to speak of. China remained isolated for more than 300 ears from the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the Opium War, or for nearly 500 years counting from the reign of Kang Xi. As a consequence, the coun- try declined into poverty and ignorance."

In short, "one of the important reasons why China lagged behind after the industrial revolution in western countries was that, it was closed to the

outside world.'"®

Our forefathers suffered from isolation, and so did us. After ce aaa of new China, "we also want to expand the economic and eee Woes = changes between China and foreign countries, including the ah css! of economic and trade relations with some capitalist countries = ev e introduction of foreign capital, joint ventures and so on. But, wees ia no conditions at that time because an embargo was being imposed on China.

"Adhering to the reform and opening-up is a move which determines the fate of China." The former General Secretary Hu Jintao pointed out in the report of the 17" CPC National Congress: "the most striking feature of the new era is reform and opening up". Without reform and opening up, there would be no socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the 21 cen- tury, China should expand its opening to the outside world to absorb and learn from all the advanced things, in order to obtain development, make progress and become prosperous and strong. Self-seclusion causes lagging behind and those who lag behind will be vulnerable to attacks.

Third, opening to the outside world is an indispensable condition for the realization of socialist modernization

We build socialism on the basis of a relatively backward economy and culture. For more than 60 years, although the socialist economic construc- tion has made great achievements, it is still in the primary stage of social- ism. Compared with the world's advanced level, there is still a consider- able distance. In this way, the modernization construction will inevitably encounter many difficulties. Among them, there are several most prominent difficulties. One is that various systems, especially the economic system, cannot meet the requirements of modern construction. The second is the lack of funds, technology, management personnel and management experi- ence necessary for modern construction. For the former difficulty, we can solve it through system reform. For the second difficulty, it can also be solved through system reform and tapping internal potential. However, it will be difficult to solve them completely depending on our own strength. If we depend on our strength only, our distance from the advanced level f the world will not be reduced, but will be extended because the world conomy and science and technology develop by leaps and bounds. If we epend on ourselves only to slowly understand and solve the problems in construction of modernization, we will never catch up with the pace the world economy and technology. However, if we boldly use the ap- ach adopted by the developed countries in the process of modernization, imely opening up to the outside world, we can both solve some of the ma- difficulties we face in the modernization construction and avoid taking repeated path taken by other countries in many aspects. We will start at gher starting point, narrowing the gap with the world's advanced level

©on as possible and striving to catch up and surpass the advanced world "| in some areas. Because:

Ibid., p.265. Ibid., p.368.

And later, the Gang of Four branded any attempt at economic relations with other countries as "worshipping things foreign and fawning on tlie or as "national betrayal", and so sealed China off from the outside world.

"In particular, during the ten-year period when the world coo was developing rapidly, we closed our doors and engaged in the so-ca le "Cyltural Revolution", the result of which has been a long-term stagnation

and backwardness of the national economy.

"The experience of the past thirty or so years has a. se : | closed-door policy would hinder construction and na se a There could be two kinds of exclusion: one would be directe nae a countries; the other would be directed against China itself, with o gion

or department closing its doors to the others. Both kinds of exclusion would -

be harmful."!®

The development of China is inseparable from the world.

With sharp observation of the world development ae and the istori Deng Xiaoping put forwar po summary of the historical lessons, ee i i i d 1979, and regarded It a f opening to the outside world in time aroun : ae ital national policy. Since then, he has repeatedly om the necessity and significance of opening to the outside world an : s out: "To expand the productive forces we must carry out reform

15 Ibid., p.90. 7 16 oe Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.64.

iaoping, Ed. 2, vol.2, p.127. 17 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, +V 18 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, lst edition, Vol.3, p.64-65.

141

Firstly, the implementation of the opening to the outside a ae the necessary conditions for us to solve the serious eee ae : the modern construction. The modernization construction — ae bs project. It is not only to achieve the goal of modernization, ut : ‘ is the task of industrialization. There are a lot of things to do wi he i : ficulty. Among them, the most prominent difficulty is the eae a - 0 construction funds. The solution to this problem will undoubte y eat es our own long-term accumulation. But we can also find solutions a i a er- national capital market. This is not only necessary, but also so : — there have been a lot of hot money in the international capita fe e sinc the 1980s. The hot money looks for profitable investment p aces aroun the world. In developed countries, there are only a few of such sere places. However, in developing countries, they are everywhere. ; n ‘ e corresponding profits are also considerable. In particular, cee a i oe ing country with a large population and a vast territory, is an - active ee profitable market. As long as we implement the opening up . eeu mom attract a large number of foreign capitals. These funds, whet . in the on of loans or in the form of sole proprietorship, joint ventures ap eae ventures, can solve the meet the huge fund demand of China's construction,

Secondly, the implementation of the opening to the outside hein vides us with the conditions for the introduction of advanced peat" nology and advanced equipment. China is a country with relative : ac : ward science and technology, and there is a certain gap between a : scientific and technological level and the advanced level in me nb : . should basically realize modernization in the middle of the on cen ee proaching or reaching the level of the developed countries in the wor : - key is to develop our own science and technology. To sues ene technology, it is necessary to introduce advanced science and tec gy

and production equipment in the world while relying on a om to carry out scientific research and technological innovation. lo a pi goal of catching up or surpassing the advanced level of the ee a vigorously introducing the world advanced science and techno ate fective way proved by the postwar development achievements : mo and Japan. China, as a developing country, should be so. In the past, ab

though we intended to introduce foreign advanced technology eae ment, but there were no such conditions at that time eons was being imposed on us. But now, things are different. =F ae good conditions in this respect. As long as we steadfastly follow Fo / modernization and insist on opening to the outside world, se c in the world are willing to engage in scientific and technologica = : and cooperation with us and are willing to transfer technology an ment to us, which is very conducive to our modernization.

a lot of

Thirdly, the implementation of the opening to the outside world provides conditions for us to learn from and absorb advanced foreign management experience and management methods. Practice has proved that the avail- _ ability of funds, technology and equipment does not mean that the expected productivity and economic benefits can be obtained. In addition to funds, technology and equipment, there also should be corresponding manage- _ ment experiences and management methods. In fact, the gap between China and the developed countries is reflected not only in the funds, technology _and equipment, but also in the lack of management experience and man- agement methods that meet the requirements of modern mass production, Therefore, in the opening to the outside world, we should not only pay attention to the introduction of foreign capital, technology and equipment, but also make great efforts on introducing foreign advanced management experience and management methods. There should be no ideological con- cern on this issue. The advanced management experience and management methods, which meet the requirements of modern production, have no class nature, just like the science and technology. They can be used by both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. We should not reject them only because they were firstly used by the bourgeoisie.

Fourthly, opening to the outside world is an important condition for us to learn the world information and grasp the pulse of the world, We are now facing fierce international market competition in the information age. In addition to the competition of funds, technology and equipment, there is also information competition which is more important. In the situation of economic globalization, whoever has rich, accurate and timely information will be able to accurately judge the objective trend of world political and economic development and thus will be active in the development and re- main invincible fierce market competition. On the contrary, those without rich, accurate and timely information will be eliminated.

Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "A closed-door policy would be greatly to our disadvantage; we would not even have quick access to information. People say that information is important, right? It certainly is. If an admin- trator has no access to information, it's as if he was purblind and hard of aring and had a stuffed nose.""!

Our experience shows that China cannot rebuild itself behind closed ors and that it cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the world pecially when world's technological revolution is booming."?

The implementation of the opening to the outside world allows us to

derstand and master the world information in a timely manner and thus ich up with the world.

2

Deng Xiaoping Selected Works, Ist edition, Vol.3, pp.306-307. bid., p. 290.

143

outside world starting from the establishment of special economic zone, the opening of the coastal cities, the establishment of Hainan Special Economic Zone to the opening of Shanghai Pudong new area has formed a compre- hensive, multi-level and wide-ranging pattern of opening to the world

mentation of the opening to the outside world is also n for us to carry out socialist market economy system dernization construction is connected with

i ic develop- iali tem. The experience of economic cialist market economy sys ee in the past few decades has proved that there are many eesti a lanned economy system. These disadvantages are not con ne . eae development and modernization. vase pee Ba = i i i i iona 0 inevi tory. It is conducive to the ra the inevitable choice of his asian t economy also has its own . f resources. But, the marke themiore how to give full play to the advantages of the pie atk ro i hortage of market economy 1s a p tha system and avoid the s Lae ieee i i of the construction e studied and solved in the process ae economy system. We used to implement the planned economy a i ie ast for a long term. After the establishment of the socialist ee et . * . . . ee system, there must be a variety of ‘ocani . its oe a i lems, it is necessary to draw lesson eration. To solve these prob > Scobie godt i rket economy construction, a experiences of western ma ne i i ic system to manag iences of using the market econom ae and avoid the repeated emergence of the sect . ae ue market economic system. In the face of problems, - = . ee a ies to solve the problem, thus deve from the western countries : 144 omy and modernization more quickly and smoothly. To achieve ns, should carry out the opening to the outside world. At the same ae - the wave of world economic globalization, better carry out ne i in the increasingly fierce marke exchange with other countries, Wi me ; tion in ite world, develop ourselves and expand ourselves, it is necessary (0 _

ith i i les. integrate with the world in accordance with international customs and ru

i i orld. That is to say, it is necessary to carry out the opening to the outside wFifthly, the impler the necessary conditior construction. The socialist mo

_ First, the opening to, the outside is the comprehensive opening to the outside world.

Deng Xiaoping once pointed out that: there are still some people who have not made clear the opening to the outside world. They think that our opening is only to the western developed countries. In fact, our opening is to three aspects. The first is the western developed countries from which we absorb foreign capital and introduce technology. The second is the Soviet Union and the eastern European countries. Even though state-to-state rela- tions are not normal, exchanges can go on, for instance, in commercial transactions, technology and even in joint ventures and technical innova- tions, like innovations in the 156 projects. They have a part to play in all these respects. The third region is the developing countries of the Third World, each of which has its special characteristics and strengths and offers enormous potentialities. Hence, opening to the outside world involves three regions (One is the developed countries in the West, second Soviet Union and the East European countries, third developing countries), not just one region." 145

Second, the opening to the outside world is multi-level and in steps.

China's opening to the outside world is carried out gradually in stages. The initial stage of China's opening to the outside world is marked by the establishment of special economic zones. In April 1979, Deng Xiaoping put forward at the Central Working Conference that: a piece of land could set aside as the special zone. However, he then said that kind of special zone was "the special economic zone", and was not a special political zone. In May 1980, the Party Central Committee and the State Council, on the initiative of Deng Xiaoping, formally named the special zone as "special economic zone", and then decided to set up four special economic nes including Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen. On the basis of the initial success of the four special economic zones including Shenzhen, luhai, Xiamen and Shantou, the central government has taken a series important steps to make the opening up develop from point to line and m line to surface after carefully summarizing experiences and highly irming achievements. In 1984, the Central Committee of the Party and State Council decided, on the proposal of Deng Xiaoping, to open 14 astal ports and make them fully play the role of central city in economic struction, so as to promote the economic construction of the mainland

As Deng Xiaoping said: "In short, if we want sean to eine —_ i evem 2 i itali hould not hesitate to draw on the acn ot ority over capitalism, we s OS ae cioca ae ther countries, including all cultures and to learn from 0 recente. i i thods of operation and techniques ¢ list countries, all advanced me ind . eee that reflect the laws governing modern socialized productio

Fourth, improve and develop an all-round, multi-tiered and wide-raning opening-up pattern

as repeatedly pointed out that invi gorating the ~ de is not a short-term policy, but a 10) hange within at least 50 to 70 year e to be open and bee China's opening t

Deng Xiaoping h economy and opening to the outs! i ill not ¢ term policy. The policy wi short, opening-up is necessary. We must continu more open. Under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping,

See Deng Xiaoping anthology, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.98-99.

23 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.373.

146

etentanennnt

the economic construction of the whole country. ae ae ae Central Government set up the economic ue area in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the gale Fujian and the Circum-Bohai Sea Region. Then, the Jinan City : - ng Province, the Shaoguan City, the Heyuan City and the Meiz eae Guangdong Province were included into the economic open aie = ont the policy of open coastal city is pate apie ree ee th nee i vince was set as special economic z Peet ee zone in China. In April 1990, the SC eeraeuEenS: the Party and the State Council decided to develop the Pu = see He In this way, the pattern of China's coastal opening to me wee e its " " preliminarily formed. In 1992, with Deng Xiaoping's Sout er T Bes 14 CPC National Congress as an important symbol, China S ee : e outside world entered a comprehensive implementation eee a : - ginning of 1992, the opening to the outside world expanded sa § to the mainland, and has launched a series of new initiatives ss ee a E along river, opening-up along border, and inland open. By t : ae " December 1995, a multi-level, multi-form and Leap Sapaalag se i opening to the outside world was basically formed, as ; hes and counties, 222 open ports and an area of more than 500,0 ee He meters. In 2007, China's total import and export trade eee ae : trillion, a 104-fold increase from the $ 20.64 billion in 1978, showing

great results of opening to the outside world. Third, China's opening to the outside world is wide-ranging.

China's opening to the outside world is not pai tate multi-level, but also wide-ranging. The so-called Makin ps : sie g refers to that the opening covers fields including science " use ee culture, education, sports, health in addition to economic he ; Seal tries of the world have their own advantages and mabe ie ae 7 Particularly, the western pany ie Salonga acme a ha ience and achieved many historical resu Saar mae of development. Thus, there are many things for r oe lessons from and introduce in terms of socialist modernization an ane market economy system construction. Among the wide-ranging op

i i a the outside world, the opening to the economic, technological and cultural

fields is the focus.

Now, China has basically established its comprehensive, mult wide-ranging and characteristic pattern of opening to as sk me with remarkable results. The open economy of the coasta es a i velops rapidly, and the open cities along the Yangtze oe eke ie to drive the economic development of the Yangtze River eee nomic development of the open cities and towns along the border

accelerated obviously, and the inland open cities have promoted and driven the economic development of the hinterland. Through opening to the out- side, China has absorbed and made use of a large number of foreign capital construction funds and introduced advanced technology and management experience. In this way, China has vigorously promoted the adjustment and _ upgrading of industrial ‘structure, provided new jobs, increased the national _ financial income, and obtained rapid development of foreign economic and _ trade. In the process of opening to the outside world, the import and export _ trade expands unceasingly, and the flow and exchange of production fac- _ tors increase gradually. And the service trade has further developed on the _ basis of strengthening international relations in the field of production and circulation. A variety of international economic and technical cooperation modes have been widely adopted, with rich successful experiences of inter- national exchange and cooperation. Practice has proved that opening to the outside world has promoted the development of social productive forces, strengthened the comprehensive national strength and international com- petitiveness, and promoted the process of establishing the socialist market economy system in China.

Fifth, the new situation of the opening-up

After a long period of negotiation, China formally joined the World Trade Organization in December 2001. The accession to WTO is the need of China's economic development and reform and Opening up. And it is also conducive to the development of the world economy at the same time. The accession to WTO will help expand China's opening to the outside world, win a better international environment for China, promote the strategic ad- justment of economic system reform and economic structure, and enhance the vitality and international competitiveness of China's economy. Thus, it is in general accord with the fundamental interests and long-term interests of China. We must adapt to the new situation of economic globalization and accession to WTO, implement the method of combining "going out" and "brining in", participate in international economic and technological coop- ration and competition in a larger scope, wider areas and at a higher level, make full use of the international market and the mainland market, optimize ¢ allocation of resources, widen the space for development, and promote development and reform with opening to the outside world.

We should further expand the trade of goods and services. We should plement market diversification strategy, give play to our comparative ad- antage, consolidate the traditional market, expand the emerging market, d strive to expand exports. We should adhere to win through high quality d improve the competitiveness of export goods and services. We should timize the import structure, and solemnly introduce advanced technology d key equipment. We should deepen the reform of economic and trade

147

rom

hilosophy, the development of anything has two kinds of factors: internal actor and external factor. Internal factor is the internal basis of the exis- nce, change and development of things, and external cause is the external condition of the existence, change and development of things. The nature and development direction of things is mainly determined by the internal ontradiction of things, namely internal factor. Although the external con- adiction of things, namely ‘external factor, plays a role in the nature and velopment direction of things, this role takes effect only with internal ctor. Therefore, the internal factor is basis, and the external factor is the ndition. The external factor acts through the internal factor. This is the dialectics of the existence, change and development of things, and is the

rect way to deal with the internal and external relations in the develop- ment of things.

system, promote the diversification of foreign trade bodies, and improv = relevant tax system and trade financing mechanism.

We should further attract foreign direct investment and essere qual. ity and level of utilization of foreign capital. We implemen nee ee a "bringing in" and "going out" to improve the level of SPEHInS ee ONS) ae "t ing in" is to gradually promote the opening of tie serve world. a and long-term foreign investment in a variety of ways, tor, be t . e use of foreign capital with the domestic economic structure oe me and the reorganization and transformation of state-owned en- F 4 ses, and encourage transnational corporations to invest in agriculture, auras and high-tech industries. We vigorously pannereane talents of all kinds, improve the investment environment, ae of awe treatment for foreign investment, and improve the tr nant investnent policies. "Going out" is to encourage and support the ex te the expdit of various enterprises with comparative advantages, prone P tone d services, form a group of competitive transnationa corpora ae brands, and actively participate in regional economic exchang- es and cooperation. i The "bringing in" and the "going ee are oa ae eal zo the aul tually reinforcing aspects of our gui Sam vidl) pointed out: "bringin le ree eer vjoild and must be turned at the same time.""°

Sixth, correctly understand and deal with the relationship between open ing to the outside world and independence and self-reliance

Independence and self-reliance are the sae cata oa e inciple of independence refers in has always adhered to. The princip _ handles all domestic affairs independently and ee oS sai be i ; inci f self-reliance refers to nal interference; the principle o a ee i i d strengthen itself. However, its own strength to build, develop an oe i i d self-reliance is not blind e dence is not a self-seclusion an ne ee i i d self-reliance is not to advo emphasis on independence an fo to i i i t to raise the opening the sion and isolated construction, bu ee i fore, in the process of socialis anew and higher level. Therefore, Nheee i is always a problem, namely and reform and opening up, there is a net rectly deal with the relationship between opening to the outside independent and self-reliance. . . How to correctly deal with the relationship between opene side world and independent and self-reliance is how to eee . ni relationship between internal and external factors. In the v

_ In the process of socialist modernization and reform and opening up, independence and self-reliance are internal factors and are the internal basis etermining the nature and direction of socialist modernization. Opening o the outside world, absorbing and drawing lessons from all outstanding chievements and advanced experience from abroad is the external cause, and is an important external condition for the socialist modernization con- struction. The integration of independence, self-reliance and Opening to the

utside world is the correct way to deal with the relationship between them.

149 China is an eastern country with backward economy and culture. The ——~

socialist modernization carried out in such a big country should seek for- ign aid and introduce foreign capital, science and technology, advanced anagement experiences and management methods, which is valuable ex- ience obtained from the long-term historical development and is also ommon practice of many modernized countries. We must realize that the elopment and progress of China cannot be separated from the civilized ievements of various countries in the world. We should actively learn apply civilization results created by any social system as long as they Progressive and excellent. However, we also should have a clear un- standing that such learning and application must always be based on ependence and self-reliance. The experience and lessons of more than hundred years of the modern history of China proves that the ability to ‘ith national affairs independently is a major problem for the survival country and the nation. If the country's affairs are interfered by others he country needs to take its cue from other countries, the country and tion will be unable to survive and develop. To develop, we must firstly n our own strength. It is unrealistic notion and extremely dangerous on the assistance of others and expect others to help us. Particularly, § country like China develops on the basis of the assistance of other €s, it will be unable to develop itself. Moreover, it will even lose the

25 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol. 3, p. 457.

and resistance, and provide a solid and reliable action basis for the bold liseovery and trial of people, the acceleration of the reform and the striving or the further development of the national economy every few years.

right of independence, which will further threaten its survival and its nas tion. Therefore, Deng Xiaoping said: "China's affairs should be a accord ing to China's specific conditions and by the Chinese seu eg Ves, Independence and self-reliance have always been and will always be their

basic stand."""° Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "However, it isn't easy to get oe and : advanced technology from the developed countries. There are i some people around who are wedded to the ideas of the old-line colonialists; they are reluctant to see the poor countries develop, and attempt to throttle them. Therefore, while pursuing the policy of opening to the outside world, we must stick to the principle of relying mainly on our own efforts, a principle consistently advocated by Chairman Mao Zedong since the is our People's Republic. We must seek outside help on the basis of self-reliance, depending mainly on our own hard work.'""?'

We need to be open to the outside world. We cherish our friendship and on with other countries and peoples. However, we need the spirit of independence more deeply and value our hard-won independence more | deeply. No foreign country should expect China to be its vassal we anything that is damaging to China's own interests. In short, while a a to the opening to the outside world, economic cooperation, the ee : 150 eign capital and drawing lessons from foreign experiences, we oe always keep a clear mind. We must not forget to put the sovereignty and oi of the country in the first place. We must not abandon the Usa of the rights and interests of the country and the people. We must not allow any- thing decadent and harmful to the people to spread freely.

"Three Favorables" is the outcome of Deng Xiaoping's insistence on mancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts in the practice of build- ing socialism with Chinese characteristics, and is the result of the analysis and summary of various new problems, new situations and new experi- ces appearing in the course of socialist modernization construction and eform and opening up in a timely manner. It has experienced a three-step eveloping and deepening process starting from the establishment of prac- tical standards to the establishment of productivity standards and to the ‘establishment of the "Three Favorables" criterion. This process has always reflected the ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts of the Party, and embodies Marxism's epistemology principle of integrate subject with object, recognition and practice.

In 1978, the 3% Plenary Session of the 17° Central Committee of the Party established the ideological line of the Party, resolutely suspended the wrong route "taking class struggle as the central task", realized the shift of the Party's work focus to economic construction; and established the funda- mental task of realizing the four modernizations. To develop the productive forces and realize the four modernizations, the Central Committee formu- 15] lated a series of policy measures, including reform and opening up. In the —— tural level, the household contract responsibility system which was initiat- d by farmers was affirmed, and popularized in the whole country. And the people's communes which had been implemented for several decades were abolished. In the city level, the previous form of ownership which was quite simple was changed, and the structure with public ownership as the main body and with the existence of individuals, private and " foreign-invested" enterprises and other economic elements was implemented to encourage the development of individual economy, private economy and "foreign- invested" enterprises together with state-owned and collective economy der fair competition; in the country level, open cities, economic develop- ent zones and special economic zones were set up from the coast to the rder areas to serve as a window for absorbing foreign capital, technology, anagement experience and management talents. All these measures have hieved very obvious results in practice and are proved to be conducive to € cause of socialism and in line with the four basic principles. However, ce the impact of traditional concepts and traditional thinking are hard be eliminated immediately and reform is a new cause, it is inevitable to € certain problems and make mistakes. Moreover, since reform affects —- ae 3. ' Sted interests, some people did not understand some new things or new a eeiaa ee a ae p-405-406 and proaches in the reform, and always used the old thinking, old experience

Adhere to the idea of "Three Favorables"

First, the first proposal of the idea of "Three Favorables"

"Three Favorables", namely "whether it is conducive to the deve of the productive forces of the socialist society, whether it is con uci y : enhancing the comprehensive national strength of the socialist cone whether it is conducive to raising the standard of living of the peop i the standard for judging the gains and losses of our reform and Agr forts. It clarifies the vague and wrong understanding of people en . tice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, dispel the ‘ tion, concern and worry of people when they encounter different opin

152

and old approaches to evaluate new situations and understand new prob- lems. They feel concern about these new things and new approaches. Some people even used the past ultra-left approaches, traditional thinking and "dogmatic thinking" to blame the new things. Especially, whenever they met difficulties and setbacks in the reform, they would think that reform is not in line with Marxism and is wrong and unsuccessful practice. This puts forward a problem, namely what are the standards for judging the gains and losses of the reform. It is a major problem related to the smooth develop- ment of the reform. On this issue, the whole Party must reach a consensus and put forward a unified and objective standard, otherwise the people will be confused and in a dilemma due to lack of such standard. The lack of a unified and objective standard makes it difficult to take a bold step of re- form and is bound to hinder the development of the productive forces and the realization of the four modernizations.

Faced with this situation, Deng Xiaoping called for bold and courageous attitudes and conduct to be assumed by the revolutionaries and os and he urged all the party and the people throughout the country to "liberate their minds and progress more steadily and even faster than belo' in carry- ing out the policies of reform and opening to the outside world.

From this, he constantly stressed the importance of developing produc- tivity and achieving the four modernizations, and repeatedly called for us- ing the development of productivity and the realization of the four modern- izations as the standard to weigh the gains and losses of our work.

In September 1978, Deng Xiaoping pointed out in his speech "Hold High The Banner of Mao Zedong Thought and Adhere To the Principle of Seeking Truth from Facts" " After all, from the historical materialist point of view correct political leadership should result in the growth of the pro- ductive forces and the improvement of the material and cultural life of the

9929

people.

In October 1979, in his "Greetings address to the Fourth Congress of Chinese Literary and Art Workers", he further pointed out: "strive for the four modernizations. The basic standard for judging all our work is whether

it helps or hinders our effort to modernize."*°

In May 1980, when meeting with Duval, President of Guinea, he pointed -

out: "According to our experience, in order to build socialism we must - of all develop the productive forces, which is our main task. This is the only way to demonstrate the superiority of socialism. Whether the ae economic policies we are pursuing are correct or not depends, in the 1!

28 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1st edition, Vol. 3, p.265. 29 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.128. 30 Ibid., p.209.

analysis, on whether the productive forces develop and people's incomes increase. This is the most important criterion. We cannot build socialism

_with just empty talk. The people will not believe it.

In short, our work in all fields should help to build socialism with

_ Chinese characteristics, and it should be judged by the criterion of whether _it contributes to the welfare and happiness of the people and to national _ prosperity."

The statement in the report of the 17 CPC National Congress means

‘that the whole party has reached a consensus on the understanding of what

should be used as the standard for judging the gains and losses of the re- form, and set productivity as the fundamental standard.

However, the development of things is not always smooth, so is reform as an unprecedented new cause. In China, the cause of reform encountered a severe test. Because some comrades, especially senior leaders, had an excessively one-sided understanding of the standard of productivity and ne- glected other aspects, especially the ideological education work for young students, a political turmoil occurred at the turn of the spring and summer of 1989. At the international level, the reforms of the Soviet Union and eastern European countries diverged from the socialist direction, leading to the collapse of the communist party and the failure of the socialist cause. The political turmoil in China, the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union caused an uproar among Chinese people. Some people threw doubt upon and even denied the Party's line, principles and policies since the 3% Plenary Session of the 11% Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. They put forward the ques- tion of whether the path was capitalist or socialist. Moreover, they rejected

_ Many approaches approved to be correct by many practices in the course of

reform and opening up and regarded them as the bourgeois liberalization. They thought that it was necessary to make clear whether the path was capi-

he right direction of the reform and carry out reform better and smoother.

But some people's starting point is more than that. On the one hand, they

t forward the question of whether the path was capitalist or socialist with le aim of criticizing and opposing the reform. They pinned political labels the people, and regarded reform cause as capitalist cause and bourgeois ralization frequently; on the other hand, their discussion on whether the ath was is capitalist or socialist is completely separated from the develop-

Ment of productivity and is empty talk. They ignored the actual situation of

Ibid., p.314, Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.23.

153

154

China's social development, judged the real life with the abstract, rigid and

. : . . fe

distor ted socialism principles wh ch was typical metaphysics and the a f) 1 flection of the "left" thoughts in the past. if we cannot overcome and break

through such "left" thoughts confining people's thought, it will be difficult

ontinue reform and opening up cause a be face the danger of being destroyed. For some time, these "left

thoughts were really threatening, making the society — In a aie ous case, Deng Xiaoping published the famous Southern = S, Fees : e sharp criticism of the thoughts opposing reform. He aoe a oe y: Regarding reform and the open policy as means of intro oe capitalism, and seeing the danger of peaceful evolution towards capita ism as coming chiefly from the economic sphere are "Left" tendencies. | And he pointed out: "The reason why some people hesitate _ out the reform and opening up policy and dare not break new abla is, i * sence, that they're afraid it would mean introducing too se : ne $0 capitalism and, indeed, taking the capitalist path. The s ) i ‘ we x whether the path is capitalist or socialist. The chief stan is or see g that judgment should be whether it promotes the growth o pa uc " forces in a socialist society, increases the overall strength of the sociali

state and raises living standards." . : He also made a thought-provoking remark on the question of whether

inistrati ion i italist" or "socialist": "As for build- the special administrative region Is "capitalist" or "socialist

ing special economic zones, some people disagreed with the idea right from

the start, wondering whether it wou

nite answer: special economic zone

that it is necessary to emancipate the mind, seek truth from

and steady. ) conducting reform and opening to the outside

something should be d : ath. That is the important lesson to € : fave the pioneering spirit, if we're afraid to take risks, if we paras vie and drive, we cannot break a new path, a good path, or ae ie : Hl new. Who dares claim that he is 100 per cent sure of success and tha

WI taking no risks? No one can ever be 100 per cent sure at the outset that 2934 he is doing is correct. I've never been that sure...

iaopi iti 1. 3, p.375. Xiaoping Selected Works , Ist edition, vol. 3, ore . e a Saad https://archive.org/stream/ SelectedWorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3 :

Deng03_djvu.txt.

and the socialist modernization cause .

1d not mean introducing capitalism. The

i i iven these people a defi- I ts in the construction of Shenzhen have given hese pe oe s are socialist, not capitalist." Of course, as a new cause and a major test, the reform will inevitably encounter re tisks and there will inevitably be different views pee say eae ich i in this situation? Deng Alaop which is normal. What should we do Cae iaopi i a bolder than before in Xiaoping pointed out: "We should be al and have the courage to experi- ment. We must not act like women with bound feet. Once we are sure ‘ one, we should dare to experiment and break a ne a learned from Shenzhen. If we don't

__ Deng Xiaoping also pointed out: "it is quite nature that we have differ- ent views on reform and opening up at the beginning... It was our policy to permit people to do that, which was much better than coercing them. In carrying out the line, principles and policies adopted since the 3% Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee, we did not resort to compulsion or mass movements. People were allowed to follow the line on a voluntary basis, doing as much or as little as they wished. In this way, others gradually followed suit. It was my idea to discourage contention, so as to have more time for action. Once disputes begin, they complicate matters and waste a lot of time. As a result, nothing is accomplished. Don't argue; try bold ex- periments and blaze new trails."

Deng Xiaoping's speeches, like a giant cyclone, have blown away the _ worries and doubts of the people, strengthened their determination and con- fidence to carry out the reform, and provided a comprehensive scientific standard for the correct evaluation of the reform and the evaluation of the gains and losses of the reform.

According to Deng Xiaoping's thoughts, when discussing the funda- mental task of socialism, the 14% CPC National Congress took "Three Favorables" standard put forward by Deng Xiaoping as the fundamental standard to judge the gains and losses of the work, and organically com- bined it with the essence of socialism, socialist basic task and the impetus 155 of socialist development to form the basic guideline for the construction of ——— socialism with Chinese characteristics. The 15 CPC National Congress further stressed the importance of "Three Favorables". Moreover, it pro- moted the standard to an important content of the ideological line of eman- cipating the mind and seeking truth, thus making it a weapon used by the Party and the people in the process of comprehensively pushing forward the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics to the 21* Century.

Second, the most fundamental criteria to measure the success and failure of all our work

The "Three Favorables" criteria is the product of emancipating the mind nd seeking truth from facts, and also a sharp weapon to further emancipate he mind, seek truth from facts and advance our work comprehensively. he correct understanding and grasp of the "Three Favorables" is of great portance for us to enhance confidence in reform and make bold attempts.

9 correctly understand and grasp the "Three Favorables", it is necessary ) make clear:

Ibid., p.374 and https://archive.org/stream/Selected WorksOfDengXiaopingVol.3/ 203 djvu-txt.

156

First, the "Three Favorables" is objective standard rather than subjective standard. It is in the process of reform and opening up and in the process of socialist modernization construction. It generates and develops on the basis of summing up the experiences and lessons from the pros and cons and op- posing the "left" erroneous tendency and right erroneous tendency. It is.the product of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts.

Fifth, among the "Three Favorables" standard, whether it is conduciv to improve the standard of living of the people is the highest standard The purpose of the communist party is to work for the welfare of the i 1 : And the purpose of socialism and communism is to liberate all eo achieve the common prosperity and the free and comprehensive develo ment of human beings. Therefore, in the process of developing the odie. tive forces and enhancing' the comprehensive national strength, fered

never forget that our ultimate goal is to improve the living standard of the people and achieve common prosperity.

Second, there is inherent and indivisible relationship between "Three Favorables" standard and socialism. The "Three Favorables" is the funda- mental standard inevitably adopted under the essential requirement of the socialist for measuring the gains and losses of all work, and is the basic manifestation of the superiority of the socialist system. Therefore, when using this standard, we should think of the direction of socialism, the prin- ciple of socialism and how to give full play to the superiority of the socialist system at any moment. The "Three Favorables" will lose its original value and significance as long as it is separated from socialism and the play of the superiority of the socialist system.

Third, among the "Three Favorables", whether it is conducive to the development of the productive forces of the socialist society, namely the standard of productivity, is the core standard. This standard not only reflects the principle of historical materialism that productivity is the most basic decisive force in the development of human history, but also reflects the principle of Marxism that it is necessary to attach the greatest importance to the development of productive forces and socialism is the development of the productive forces. It is the basis of the other two standards. Without the development of productivity, it is impossible to obtain the enhancement of comprehensive national strength, let alone the improvement of the living _ standard of the people. We should never discuss other standards without the - involvement of the standard of developing productivity.

Fourth, although the productivity standard is the most fundamental stan- dard and the basis of "Three Favorables", it is not the only standard. The development of productive forces, the enhancement of comprehensive na- tional strength and the improvement of the living standards of the people are closely linked. The enhancement of comprehensive national streng and the improvement of people's living standard cannot be separated fro the development of productive forces. And the development of producti forces also should be reflected in the enhancement of comprehensive tional strength and the improvement of the living standards of the pe Therefore, it is impossible to enhance the comprehensive national strep and improve the living standards of the people without developing ductive forces, and it is impossible to develop productive forces will enhancing the overall national strength and improving the living stat of the people.

Ultimate Purpose of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

People-oriented principle is the starting point and foothold of developing socialism with Chinese characteristics

First, scientific connotation of people-oriented principle and its concrete manifestations

1. The scientific connotation of people-oriented principle 159

Being "people-oriented", the fundamental concept of the Party and the ~~ state, is first put forward in The Decisions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Improving the Socialist Market Economic System adopted by the 3" Plenary Session of the 16 Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, stressing the importance of adhering to the people-orientation, establishing a comprehensive, coordinated and sustain- able development concept and promoting the all-round development of the economic society and people. The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Construction of a Socialist Harmonious Society, adopted by the 6" plenary session of the 16 Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, has comprehensively expounded the scien- tific connotation of "people-oriented", and pointed out that: "We must al- ays regard the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the starting point and foundation of all the party and state work, realize, safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelm- majority of the people and continuously meet the people's growing ma- tial and cultural needs, we should achieve development for the people and by the people, and ensure that all the people share the fruits of development as to promote all-round development of people."!

CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the " National Congress", Vol. HH, p. 651, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 2008.

162

js for the benefit of the people, and the Party always regards the achieving, maintaining and developing the fundamental interests of the majority of the people as the starting point and foothold of all the work of the Party and the state. Except for the interests of the working class and the masses of the people, the Communist Party'of China has no special interests of its own. As early as. they edited the The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels pointed out: "All previous movements were movements of minorities, or in the interests of minorities. The proletarian movement is the indepen- lent movement of the immense majority, in the interests of the immense majority." Therefore, the Communist Party is not the interest group on behalf of the _ minority or the narrow-minded. All its policies and practical activities must take the fundamental interests of the working class and the masses of the people as their starting point and foothold. The Communist Party of China has summarized this characteristic as "serving the people wholeheartedly" and regarded it as the fundamental purpose of our Party. As Mao Zedong pointed out: "These (army) battalions of ours are wholly dedicated to the liberation of the people and work entirely in the people's interests."

2. Sticking to the principle of serving the people wholeheartedly

People-oriented is not only the fundamental value of socialism with Chinese characteristics, but also the fundamental ruling concept of our Party. Therefore, we should adhere to the people-oriented thought, the firs : thing of which is to stick to serving the people wholeheartedly.

Serving the people wholeheartedly is the fundamental purpose of the Communist Party of China. This purpose is determined by the nature of our Party as the vanguard of the Chinese working class and the Chinese people and as the vanguard of the Chinese nation. Under the capitalist conditions, the working class is at the bottom of the society, and their own liberation cannot be solved through the individual struggle of the workers. The indi- vidual struggle of the working class can, at best, make a few individuals into the position of the ruling class, but the status of the working class as a whole cannot be changed. Only through the complete overthrow of the cap- italist system and the liberation of the whole society can the working class finally obtain true liberation. As Marx and Engels pointed out, the prole- tariat could finally liberate itself only by liberating all mankind. Therefore, the working class is the most selfless class in the history of mankind, whose | interest overlaps the development direction of human society and the fun- damental interests of the masses. In order to realize its own interests, the working class must represent the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people at the same time. This law determines that the Communist Party, as the vanguard of the working class, whether as a revolutionary Party or as the Party in power to lead the socialist construction, must serve the interests of the working class at the same time and must serve the broad masses OF the people. This is in sharp contrast to the bourgeois political parties. . the history, some bourgeois political parties, in the revolutionary period 0 overthrowing the feudal autocratic system, shared the same interests of he people to a certain degree and needed the support of the masses, thus, they could to a certain extent represent the interests of the people had played a certain role in promoting the development of history. But fundamentally, as the exploiting class, the bourgeoisie' interests are based on the eae tion and oppression of the proletariat and other working people, which } fundamentally opposed to the interests of the people. Once the bouge gets its ruling status, it will gradually come to the opposite of the people This class limitation of the bourgeois political parties determine that uf political parties can only serve the minority.

If the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly is lost, the Party will go bad. Serving the people wholeheartedly is not an empty slogan, but a practical action of the Party. It is not only reflected in the Party and state guiding principles and policies, but also in the innumerable outstanding Party members. Only by believing and relying on the masses of the people, serving the people wholeheartedly, and representing the in- terests of the people through its correct theory, route, guidelines and poli- cies, can the Communist Party of China, guided by Marxism, win the great enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the people in order to push forward _the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Recalling the 90-year history of the Communist Party of China from the date of birth, we can easily see that the Communist Party of China in the moky revolutionary era took up the positions of the fallen and rise to fight ne after another to save the country so that it might survive; while in the ustling construction and reform era, the Communist Party of China exerted | its strength and wisdom for the country's prosperity and the well-being the people. The Chinese Communist Party has led the Chinese people ) achieve great achievements one after another. For more than 90 years, ecause of the changes in historical conditions, the work and the priority The Communist Party of China, adopting Marxism as the guide t f the Party in different peworcal periods were not the same, but whether tion, makes its basic purpose wholeheartedly serving the people. It aP arty that leads the people's revolution, or as a Party that leads the sien of the Chinese working class, the vanguard of the Chinese peo lalist construction for the people, the political standpoint of the Chinese and the Chinese nation, and a faithful representative of the interests OL elected Works of Marx and Engels, 2nd Edition, Vol.1, p.283. Going clase and people of China. All the struggle and work of the P: elected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Vol.3, p.1004.

163

164

e interests of the vast majority of people, and takes realizing communism its lofty ideals, therefore, all the theory and struggle of Marxist political arties are committed to realizing the fundamental interests of the major- ity of the people, which is also the most distinctive political position of Marxism. Marx and Engels havé clearly pointed out at the very beginning of the establishment of scientific socialism: The Communists, they have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole.‘

Communist Party, which is on behalf of the fundamental sasha o the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people has never wavere ; ee te purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly has never a ne ese history can be summed up by an important conclusion that e ae Communist Party has won the support of the people because it ies represents the development requirements of China's advanced ee forces, the advance direction of China's advanced culture, na un ae tal interests of the Chinese people at large in various historica sie sof revolution, construction and reform, and unremittingly struggle for the re- alization of the fundamental interests of the state and the people through the formulation of correct policies and policies. The Communist Party of China has always been practicing for the purpose of serving the oun For the past 90 years, our Party has won the trust and love of the peop : an has gained the support from the people by its purpose and practice of serving the people.

3. The Party is built for the public and it exercises state power for the people

The basic embodiment of the "People-oriented" refers to that the Party is built for the public and it exercises state power for the ere Being built for the public and exercising state power for the people is the hee tial characteristic of the Communist Party of China, the consistent t me t that our Party has always adhered to in the long-term revolution an be struction and the practical embodiment of the fundamental purpose ov : Communist Party of China's serving the people wholeheartedly. sss Be for the public is the whole theory, program, route, policy and ee ; : . Party, which should reflect the common interests of the state 2 e : tion, and reflect the common wishes and demands of the whole es: Exercising state power for the people is to say that after the sae ae tained the political power, it will adhere to serving the people whole : edly, and use the state power to make the best interests for the peop oe that the overwhelming majority of the people can fully enjoy the Pe : of social development and the achievements of modern apne _ built for the public shows that our Party is from the people, roote os people, serving the people and representing the interests of the sid oe except for the interests of the people, the Party has no special in — 0 its own. Exercising state power for the people determines that the ; i our Party's service can only be the largest masses of the people, and can

be a part of the people or a minority.

The fact that the Party is built for the public and it exercises state be for the people is decided by people's historical principal status, the ime ke i dtaaete ant sae gree adam yee ia: na lang Zemin: On the Three Represents, p.152, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing ing the true qualities of the Marxist political parties. The peng oe "aan - Party distinguishes itself from all other political parties in that it repress |, p.162.

In this regard, the party's position has always been unwavering and con- sistent. Mao Zedong pointed out: "The Communist Party is a political party which works in the interests of the nation and people and which has abso- utely no private ends to pursue.'

—

In the new historical period, Deng Xiaoping further pointed out: "The _ meaning or task of the Chinese communists, if to speak in broad terms, is only two sentences: serving the people wholeheartedly and taking the inter- _ ests of the people as the highest standard for every party member."

It is also required that the whole Party should take whether the people are supportive, approving, happy, and willing or not as the starting point and _ the purpose of formulating all policies. Jiang Zemin has repeatedly empha- _ sized: We must always take what reflects the will and interests of the people _as both our starting point and end point in all work we do; we must always take reliance on the wisdom and strength of the people as the basic line of 165, _ work in promoting our cause.'

| 4 4 4 é

_ "Our party always upholds that the interests of the people are above everything. Apart from the interests of the overwhelming majority of the _ people, the party has no special interests of its own. All party work must _ be based on the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, as its highest standard."

Party General Secretary Hu Jintao also pointed out: "Who do we rep- esent, who do we rely on, and who we are is the key, whether or not we ways stand firmly on the position of the overwhelming majority of the eople is the watershed between the concept of historical materialism and he idealist view of history, as well as the yardstick for judging Marxist itical parties. As a Marxist ruling party, we should always uphold the nciple that the Party was founded for the public good and that it exercises € power for the people. We must always make realizing, safeguarding Selected Works of Marx and Engels, 2nd Edition, Vol.1, p.285.

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Vol.3, p.809.

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd Edition, Vol.1, p.257, Beijing, People's lishing House, 1994.

socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Party and the state propose such major tasks as adhering to People-Oriented, realizing scientific develop- ment, building a socialist harmonious society, building new socialist coun- tryside, and building a new and innovative country, in order to conform with the wishes of the people and realize the interests of the people. Except for the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, the Communist Party of China has no special interests of its own, and the whole task and responsibility of the Party is to lead the broad masses to re- alize their own interests. All the work of the Party, after all, is done in order achieve, maintain and develop the fundamental interests of the majority of the people. Adhering to the principle of "people-oriented", we should up- _ hold that the Party is built for the public and it exercises state power for the _ people, always make it a reality that the government must function by the _ mandate of the people, empathize with the feelings of the people, and work _ for the well-being of the people, always regard the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people as the highest standard of all work, as the _ basic starting point and the foothold for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

nd developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of a

i i ll the work of the Party and coun: he starting point and goal ofa ; the ae a full ae to the enthusiasm of all the people: in developing ante productive forces and advanced socialist culture.

i hina has always regarded the i the Communist Party of Cc the cae ewe most important. Whether in the pen years or in the construction and reform era, the Communist Party of China has

Iways with the noble character of selfless led the people to strive for the a

rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the lofty ideals of communism. At

i ion i ted to the great cause of building saat ee Oe etl task of socialist ae our country is to further emancipate the productive forces, ee forces, and gradually realize socialist modernization, age a reform the aspects and segments in the production rela- = : ry Snore that are not adapted to the development of produc- pereeae eae the Communist Party of China has established the aecopnen as the first task of the Party in governing errae he country. Whether it is conducive to the development ) '

es of the socialist society, whether it is conducive to the en . ~"

file comprehensive national strength of the socialist country, and whether

it is conducive to raising the standard of the living standards of the people

i : _ The Party has led 166 pave become the inspection standard of the Party's work. The Party

i i istics, that is, the national people to build socialism with Chinese characteristics, t :

he lofty ideal and the interests of the most people,

ive for the unity of t t Peo . pines to the consistency of the work of the Party and the realization

the interests of the people, and to maintain the ssrration 3 safe i i ting the all-round dev t le's rights and interests and promo | 7 eee < as to achieve that the development 1s for the peony a seen ‘relies on the people, and development results are s

the people. _ | The Communist Party of China upholds the Marxist view of a _a adheres to the purpose of serving the people leimnertiees y takes the realization and maintenance of the fundamental in

i 's theo- vast majority of the people as the fundamental basis of the Party s

i f Ch ry, route guideline, policy and all work. The Communist Party of Cn

itti for is always deeply rooted in the people, and oneal! me fundamental interests of the Chinese people the Chine | | i i ialist revo democratic revolution, the socia : ne aes and Opening up were all done in order to ae 2 a ple's will and realize the interests of the people. In the practic

people's cause as

4, The development is for the people and dependent on the people, and the development results are shared by the people

_ That the development is for the people and dependent on the people, and 167 he development results are shared by the people is the most fundamen- —— al requirements and principles of "People-oriented". In the report of the 7° National Congress of the Communist Party of China, When Hu Jintao spoke of "People-oriented", he stressed that we should always take achiev- , maintaining and developing the fundamental interests of the people at arge as the starting point and goal of all the work of the Party and the state. "Development for the people, development depending on the people and the development results shared by the people" is a perfect interpretation of starting point and the foothold of the "People-oriented" development of cialism with Chinese characteristics, which reflects directly and vividly realistic requirements of the Party and the state to lead the national ople to build socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Adhering to "People-oriented" is to put solving the people's vital inter- in the first place. Therefore, in the process of administering the country, Party should fully reflect and represent the wishes of the people, adhere the principle that the development is for the people and dependent on the le, and the development results are shared by the people, and constant- the people get real benefits in the socialist development, and make the € people move steadily towards common prosperity.

9 Pp iterature S: i : "Selection of Important Lite res Literature Research Office: orgs t ee re r ss" ( Ld 3 . ' ‘tr | Literat u lishi he 16 ational Congre VO p 369, Centra Literature Publishing House. 20

168

Adhering to the principle that the area ae is lean : i intaini ing the fundamenta hieving, maintaining and developing ee at nee as the fundamental starting point and purpose of all the

guidelines and policies of the Party and the state, to measure all decisions

with whether the people are supportive or not, approving or not, pleased or.

not and agree or not, to achieve the purpose of speed ye by pit ieving the interests of the people and 1m needs of the people, achieving t peeetee te ivi le. This requires the Party an ly living standards of the peop cca i the people in all aspects t and safeguard the interests of eget development and in all its work. Economic construction should ae on creating more rich social material wealth, nee ae i i i ivi dards of the people. Political con- le's life and improving the living standar pl sets should focus on safeguarding the rights and legitimate rights " interests of the people, and constantly developing socialist SacgoRe ani improving the socialist legal system. Cultural construction should as " isfyi iri Itural needs of the people, improving the qual- satisfying the spiritual and cu Iso sap saree i iri i le, enriching people's spiritua ity of spiritual life of the people, eal i iri h of people. Social construct id f enhancing the spiritual strengt : ee inati i hancing the creative vitality ordinating the interests of all parties, en t ive VI ee oil ae and constantly building a harmonious society, in which all the people could do their best and each is in a proper place.

Adhering to that the development relies on the people is to — ‘ subjective status and initiative of the people, closely eer ie me ieve i firmly rely on the masses, an i always believe in the masses, 1B eden i initiati | creativity of the people, to ma the enthusiasm, initiative and crea 20 dom and strength of the whole society, to mobilize and organize the hun dreds of millions of people into the great cause of soci : characteristics. Socialism is an unprecedented great cause, a

ee as '

ously rather difficult to carry out the construction of socialism in a country

illi ively backward productivity. The with more than 1.3 billion people and relatively ba Pro

cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics can only

the wholehearted support of the people. The various policy and work plans

of the Party and the state can be effectively implemented only with the sin

cere support of the people. We shou creativity contained in the people, i of our country will obtain the most wi trength. mout the most profound source of s : _ the enthusiasm of all sectors, unite people of se ee of os ee i i h to the motherland, encour nl contribute prosperity and strengt : i iti terests, comm i iri tect their legitimate rights and in ; preneurial spirit, pro | _ ee i i m and strength o outstanding ones, bring the will, wisdo a into the ae cause, and make it an inexhaustible force for the cont development of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics.

dely and reliable mass foundation a We should also arouse and mobil

alism with Chinese d it is obvi-

Id give full play to the great wisdom and in this way, the reform and construction

In the revolutionary era, the Communist Party of China firmly relied on the people, and achieved the victory of the revolution, and the mass line was the magic weapon of the Party's victory. In the period of socialist con- struction and Reform and Opening-up, the Party still needs to adhere to the -mass line of coming from thé masses and going to the masses, to firmly es- tablish the.views that the people are the creators of history, we should learn from the people with an open mind, serve the interests of the vast majority of the people, and we should also keep in mind that the power of the cadres is the given by the people, and the responsibility for the Party is consistent with responsibility for the people. We should effectively change the way of thinking and work style, constantly go down deeply to the grassroots, go deep among the masses, go deep into the realities of life, conscientiously do the investigation and research, timely discover and summarize the fresh experience created by the people, and resolutely prevent and overcome for- malism and bureaucratism. We should conscientiously improve the Party's leadership and methods of leadership, adhere to and improve the system of linking the masses and other various systems, broaden the channels to reflect the social conditions and public opinion, and guarantee the rights of the people to be masters of their own affairs.

Adhering to the principle that the development results are shared by the people is to have the achievement of all aspects of the reform and develop- ment reflected in the continuous improvement of people's quality of life and health, reflected in the continuous improvement of the ideological and moral quality and scientific and cultural quality of the people, reflected in the full protection of the economic, political, cultural, social and other as- _ pects of the rights and interests of the people, so that the fruits of economic and social development benefits all the people. Adhering to the principle _that the development results are shared by the people is the concrete em- bodiment and ultimate purpose of developing for the people and relying on the people. If the fruits of development are not or are rarely enjoyed by the vast majority of the people, developing for the people will come to naught, and development relying on the people will be without foundation. ‘hroughout the process of Reform and Opening up and modernization, eople must benefit from the noticeable and visible material benefits, which row with the development of the economy, and we should make efforts to lake workers, farmers, intellectuals and other people enjoy the fruits of conomic and social development. We should strive to achieve common rosperity, not the other way round, which is the essence of socialism,

Since the 3 Plenary Session of the 11% Central Committee of the Party, hina has achieved fruitful results in the Reform and Opening up, the people's lihood in general has reached a well-off level, the income of urban and iral residents has steadily increased, the mass living quality of the people has

been continuously improved, the spiritual and cultural life has Bae more and more colorful, various rights and interests have been ere A aw, and the enthusiasm of the masses of people to join the Reform an ee . = and modernization drive has greatly improved. At the same time, it : s0- berly noticed that with the in-depth development of socialist marke poi, and the profound changes of social structure, different Sane . part ments, different groups and individuals differ in the enjoyment : : 2 So economic and social development, the degree of improvement ) ia and cultural life is also different. Employment, income distribution, social security, medical treatment, children's schooling, ecological ee ates safe production, social security and other issues have become a issues for the broad masses of the people. If the people S livelihood prob cs are solved effectively, they will not be conducive to the maximum sl snes " mobilization of the enthusiasm of the masses of the people, oa ect : economic and social development, and finally affect the overall stability Si unity. This requires the Party and the state to start with the pas concer direct and realistic interests of the people, effectively expand emp eee an improve social security, do everything possible to increase emp ae op- portunities and speed up the improvement of the social security - em ee mensurate with the level of economic development, and sien y expen : coverage. Vigorously develop the education, conscientiously : the vi ensuring compulsory education, increase the investment in rura ae _ education, resolutely rectify the phenomenon of arbitrary mtr he be of education, and effectively reduce the burden of education . e oe — Earnestly improve the public health ea see ets : ise aa i edical system, promote the develo ee ee gradually solve the problem of difficult and ie medical treatment of the masses. Vigorously strengthen the const ie " social security prevention and control system, combat various ee ties according to the law, resolutely safeguard social omane ee _ guarantee the safety of people's lives and property. Earnest ly do ae of safety production, strictly implement the safety production eu he system, strengthen the supervision over food, medicine, catering ve ao traffic safety, and reverse the frequent occurrence of accidents as i ne sible. Further improve the animal epidemic prevention and a a ue and effectively guarantee the life and health safety of the peop at handle the contradictions among the people and resolutely peace i imate rights and interests of the masses. Implement reasonable ee people without discount, and when the objective conditions are ni me make clear and thorough persuasion and education to guide the "A rectly understand the relationship between individual pen an ne interests, local interests and the interests of the whole, as well as interests and the long-term interests.

Second, adhering to the principal status of the people

1. People are the main body of building socialism with Chinese characteristics

Adhering to People-oriented, is to uphold and respect the main status of the people. In contemporary China, the people are the main body of build- ing. socialism with Chinese -characteristics, and socialism with Chinese characteristics is the cause of the people. Only by adhering to People- Oriented, fully giving play to the role of the people in building socialism

with Chinese characteristics, can the cause of socialism with Chinese char- acteristics flourish.

The practical activity of the people is the real motive force of the histori- cal development, and it is the material wealth and spiritual wealth created by the people that provide the motive power for the constant change and progress of the society. From the beginning, Marxism believed that all hu- man history should start from the individual with life, the production of consumption goods is the "first historical activity" of human being, and the "basic condition" of all history. Only from the production practice can we solve the fog of social development, and the main body of production practice-people, is the main body of social development. The development direction of social history represents the intention and wishes of the over- whelming majority of the people, and only the social historical activities that represent the interests of the masses can be successful. Marxism has always emphasized and fully affirmed the dominant position of the people. Marx has pointed out clearly in his book The Holy Family: "history is noth- ing but the activity of man pursuing his aims... Together with the thorough-

ness of the historical action, the size of the mass whose action it is, will therefore increase."!°

__ Lenin also repeatedly stressed: "It is the majority of the people who de-

de the historical outcome,""' "the great majority, whose energy and initia- ve plays crucial role in creating socialism."'

he theory and practice of scientific socialism have fully proved that the tory of the revolution and construction can only be achieved by adhering people's principal status in them.

Complete Works of Marx and Engels, First Chinese edition, Volume 2, p.104, Beijing, le's Publishing House, 1957.

Complete Works of Lenin, 2nd Chinese Edition, Vol.43, p.92, Beijing, People's shing House, 1987.

Complete Works of Lenin, 2nd Chinese Edition, Vol.33, p.53, Beijing, People's shing House, 1985.

171

e starting point and destination to consider all problems, and fully em-

body the principal status of the people in the new stage of the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The Communist Party of China has always believed in the decisive role f ite eople, and the leaders of the past dynasties also have unique a S naton on the subject of the people. The first lala ts 0 oe seat leadership of the Party with Mao Zedong as the a ae _ = , iti i iters' attention to the people, but also made ited the traditional Marxist writers' a ; aanaels interpretation of the role of the people in the eee revolu- a and construction based on the reality of the Chinese seen ion au ivi d the image of the people tion. Mao Zedong once vividly compare : : cor in the Seventh Party Congress's closing speech, The Foolish Old we saying that people was the "root" of the Chinese ee stress- ing that without the decisive role of the people, ae ee ees i i d the struggle again the war of resistance against Japan, an e i -democratic revolution either, ionaries and could not have won the new tae true. Because all the revolutionary struggles led by the Chinese Communist Party is in line with the wishes of the people and ie to the | trend of the historical development of China, we can organize an a the people, fully exert their principal status, and make the socialist new China finally stand in the east of the world.

After the 3° Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of - . i iod of new Reform and Opening up an China has entered a new perio | an pee i i jalist modernization. Under eriod of the construction of socia er Ee 172 nal conditions, our Party has oe Lanna bes ave on inci e. Our Pa of the principal status of the peop .O yP Sea i i j Iding socialism, but also | ot only the practice subject of bui , SOK aes : ene) ne ae Acanenn results, its principal gee is all eee _ ildi iali ing the perio i f building socialism and during Doe ed d guide the people to exer ion" i t the masses and gui p Revolution", we did not respect the | eo cise the main role in promoting social nani asa tee hs wile he _ i i from the socialist track. Il of the people and deviated > SOC! ate ee tangible benefits and tangible interests, and the meee : socialist ownership was not reflected at all. After the inp ee - the socialist market economy, the people ieee eet peices " i ili tribute to the so tential and ability, and can better con — ae the correct economic operation raaaela ei ie ete va lo i i improvement and w : will feel and experience the enormous ae t of socialist market economy. . brought by the developmen 1 ny cot pol jaopi he people, subject of socialism, ij Xiaoping advocated that t cde itality i iali ket economy, and we shou : vitality into the socialist mar ane t labor, respect the masses, Closely edge, respect talent, respec pes A ie ea " Wi tions and demands of the peop! "Three Favorables" with the aspira ; oe rtive or not", "whether people ag) take "whether people are suppo 2 : "whether people are happy or not", and "whether people say yes

The third generation of the central leadership of the Party, with Jiang Zemin as the core, deepened and expanded the theory of Marxism on the rincipal status of the people, standing at the new historical height and en- dowing the people with more distinctive characteristics of the times and more profound ideological connotation. We should organically combine the historical materialism view of the people's principal status with the Party's onstruction theory, scientifically recognize the internal relations between the principal status of the people and the fundamental purpose of the Party, onstantly strengthen and improve the Party's construction, improve the arty's ability of ant-corrosion and risk- resisting, ensure the effectiveness, irection and correctness of the Party leadership, and lay a solid leader- hip foundation for the people to gain more and better interests after de- oting themselves to the cause of the socialist construction with Chinese characteristics. As Jiang Zemin said: "Our party must always represent the _ fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people, eans that in its theory, line, program, principles, policies and all its work, must persevere in taking the fundamental interests of the people as its farting point and objective, give full expression to the people's enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, and enable the people to constantly obtain tangible 173

conomic, political and cultural benefits on the basis of social development nd progress."!3

This has developed Deng Xiaoping's theory of the socialist goal of achieving common prosperity finally". With the improvement of the over- lI quality of the people and the relatively comprehensive development, the eople can play their main role and accelerate the realization of socialist odernization in China. Attaching importance to the combination of the tincipal status of the people and the promotion of the quality of the people id the all-round development of the people illustrates our Party's precise p and profound understanding of the people's principal status, and en-

s the people with a more comprehensive connotation under the new orical conditions.

€ report of the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party ina clearly pointed out that only by resolutely safeguarding the princi- tatus of the people, can we thoroughly carry out the scientific outlook evelopment and achieve a new victory in building a well-off society n all-round way. The people are the main body of the development of alist market economy, the main body of advancing the advanced social- ulture, the main body of accelerating the social construction, the main

elected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.3, p.279,

- pias > ie ia to build socialism with Chinese characteris

y should also pay comprehensive attention to f i

tering, sup- porting the social development of our count idi nes ry, guiding and encouraging th people to play their creativity, which is the idi i aris i 5 general guiding principle of th Party in the work of giving full initi ee r play to the people's initiative. Thereft especting the status of the people and givi oe he _ res giving full play to the people's ini _tiative have made a high demand for i ae the leadership and organizati pacity of the Party itself. Therefore, we mu oe ae - Ther : st comprehensively pr the new great project. of building the Party with the spirit of ee

lepeteey his Hie Party with the latest achievements of Marxism

gthen the Party's construction at the

1 grass-roots level, d in the Party s democratic construction, strengthen the Party's ruling abilit : "eee soa the Party's style of work and improve the Party ai res' sense of self-discipline and corruption-resistin im this ; g. Only in th we guarantee the full play of the people's initiative. : kai

body of improving the socialist democratic politics, and also the strong backing and main support of our complete motherland unification and the new great project of building the Party. We must adhere to the people-ori- ented, firmly carry out the basic purpose of serving the people wholeheart- edly, and contribute all the struggle and work to the people finally. th Chinese characteristics is the cause of all dented huge historical project. The d the great victory of the socialist

In a word, socialism wi Chinese people, and it is an unprece Communist Party of China has achieve cause with Chinese characteristics precisely because of its giving full play

to the main role of the people. Adhering to the principal status of the people is the fundamental guarantee of the continuous development of socialism

with Chinese characteristics.

2. Give full play to the people's initiative iented and respect the main status of the people,

the most fundamental is to give full play to the people's initiative, which is the primary condition for building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The report of the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China stressed that we should respect the status of the people and give full play to the people's initiative. On the one hand, all the Party's struggle

and work are for the benefit of the people, and at any time and in any cir-

174 oumstance, the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the and we should adhere to the prin-

people should be put at the top priority, ciple of developing for the people and by the people, and the development results are shared by the people; On the other hand, the tasks proposed by our Party depend on the hard work of the masses. This requires that we closely contact the masses, fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the people, maximize the wisdom and strength of the whole society, mobilize and organize the millions of people into the great cause of

socialism with Chinese characteristics.

To adhere to the people-or In short, to give full play to the people's initiative is the inevitable re-

ee ss ee oe of building socialism with Chinese character

not only the objective basis and stren

cs gth source of our economi political, cultural and social construction, b ia , but also the experi development for many i ieee years. From the perspective of s i i ence, there are two basic reasons fi Somali Opens » the or the success of our Reform and i up: one is that the masses of the a people fully play the role of the princi status, and the other is that the Pa oe

tty has fully played a leadi

correct leadership of the Party and th i ae e practice of the people togeth termine the economic and social de a eae ) velopment and the pro f politi culture in our country for the Sh Ee _cultur past 30 years. The series of guideli policies formulated by our Party si ee I y since the 3 Plenary Session of th eli a ei of the Communist Party of China have been proved , but this series of correct guidelines and polici _of thin air, but are formed b ene eer ota pete

y our Party's insistence on combini i

nets of Marxism with the i ae enet practice of hundreds of millions of ice of | eople, and 4 oo on respecting the initiative of the masses and atic ‘ ‘eietcd S aes experience of the people. Deng Xiaoping ne entioned this point. He said: "It was the i He said: peasants who invented the aes hah responsibility system with remuneration linked to out- 4 saa of the | ideas in rural reform came from people at the grass . We processed them and rai ideli Bo congo raised them to the level of guidelines for the

175

Social development is dependent on the people. It is the wisdom and creation of millions of people fighting in their posts that has made variet- ies of civilization in human history. History is not the creation of some of some heroic characters, but the product of the life practice of the peop The Communist Party of China deeply understands the essence of historica materialism, and always believes that the fundamental task of socialism to develop, that the development is for the people, that development nee people's initiative spirit, and that give full play to people's initiative 11 | great practice of Reform and Opening up and socialist modernizatio the construction of the great cause of socialism with Chinese charac tics, the leadership of the Party and the play of the people's initiativ closely related and inseparable. While constantly mobilizing the jnitiat

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.382

176

epmemmmoncrn

"If the Central Committee made any contribution in this respect, it

by laying down the correct policy of invigorating the domestic 9915

was only economy.

Summing up the experience of Reform and Opening up, pani not | only see the role of the Party, but also the role of the people. The ae of the 17" National Congress of the Communist Party of China A ) took the respect for the people's initiative spirit and strengthening and improving —

the leadership of the Party as the successful experience of the Reform and Opening up, which was a deep revelation of the successful experience of

the Reform and Opening up in our country.

In the new period, fully mobilizing the masses of the people to give full play to their pioneering spirit should be reflected in various fields.

First of all, we should combine respecting the people's initiative with the leadership of the Party, which should be reflected in the conseucy of socialist democratic politics. We should realize me new pt — emancipation, continue to focus on improving the Party's ie of wor ‘ promote the reform of the political system. To strengthen and improve the

lationship between 's style of work and to ensure the flesh and blood re Saeeaes necessary requirement to respect and bring 34 Plenary Session of the

11% Central Committee of the Party, the Party's style of work a ee gen- erally good through our strengthening our own construction. the same time, we should clearly see that there are still some negative phenomena the relations between the Party and the masses in the Party. For some Party organizations and Party cadres, an ae " : severe problems in the form of formalism and bureaucracy, falsification,

the Party and the people is the into play the initiative of the people. Since the

and problems affecting

exaggeration, autocratic, slack attitude and so on. If these propens and develop, the leading cadres of our Party members will not be a hear the voices of the masses and respect the practice and creation of th

masses, which will certainly undermine the relationship between the Party

the masses and the relationship between the masses and the ek " ening the enthusiasm of the people to join the reform and usin ‘ ‘ to mention respecting the people's initiative. In the new ee | point, if our Party is to seize the new victory of Reform and nee and socialist modernization, we must insist on building the eee Or public, govern for the people, widely spread truth and irre : from the masses with an open mind, understand the wishes : ee in depth, widely collect the wisdom of the masses, make ae work for the demands of the reality and the masses, not from t . from our own head; We should unswervingly develop socialist " politics, effectively guarantee the right of the people to be the mast

15 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.238.

their own affairs, maximize the enthusiasm of the masses to innovate, make full release of the creativity of the whole society, and make the innova- jon achievements constantly emerge, so as to make socialism with Chinese characteristics more colorful, attractive and appealing.

_ Secondly, we should combine respecting people's initiative with the Party's leadership in the construction of socialist market economy, and coritinue to establish and improve the exploration and implementation of ocialist market economic system. The socialist market economy system, as a major innovation of the Party on Marxism, its establishment and de- velopment itself embodies the unity of the people's initiative spirit and the eadership of the Party, and its further improvement depends on our com- ining respecting the people's initiative with strengthening and improving the Party's leadership. The "Decision of the CPC Central Committee and _the Central Government on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment _of a Socialist Market Economy" passed by the 3" Plenary Session of the 14" Central Committee of the Party in 1993, explicitly stated: "we must _tespect the pioneering spirit of the masses and attach importance to the vital interests of the masses. We must sum up the new experiences created by the _masses, respect the will of the masses, guide the enthusiasm of the masses vell, so that they can play their role."!®

While respecting the principal status of the people and giving full play o their pioneering spirit, we must attach great importance to the advanced ature of the Communist Party members, give full play to the exemplary ole of the Communist Party members, strengthen the correct guidance over € masses, and achieve the unity of advanced nature and mass character f the party.

Only by ensuring that the Party can correctly combine maintaining the cor- ectness of its leadership and the people's initiative through the Party build- ig, can socialist market economy system be continuously full of vitality in € combined force of the people's initiative and the Party's vanguard role.

hirdly, we should combine respecting the people's initiative with the ership of the Party in the construction of socialist advanced culture, ere to the "Double Hundred" policy, form a good environment to en- tage innovation and encourage exploration, and create good conditions tespecting and giving full play to the people's initiative. The "Double dred" policy, the basic guideline of our Party's guiding scientific and tural development, embodies the Party's ideological line of emancipat- the mind and seeking truth from facts. Its essence is to effectively pro- People's freedom of academic exploration and artistic creation, and

CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the ional Congress" (Vol. I ), p.522.

177

Soomceaneomn me)

3. To achieve, maintain and develop the fundamental interests of the ma-

"4: ich is consistent wit embody the law of socialist cultural development, whic Fey of the peosle

respecting and developing the people's initiative spirit. Since the 3" Plenary Session of the 11 Central Committee of the Party, our Party has correcte the "left" mistakes, restored and developed the "Double Tease a and greatly promoted the development of the socialist culture : ines characteristics. With the development of our society, the trend of social consciousness diversification constantly presents itself, and the develop ment of modern communication science and technology, especially the emergence of the internet, makes the diversity of social ee quickly and conveniently expressed and disseminated. Under t e guidance of Marxism, we must conform to the historical trend of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, more consciously and actively carrying out the "Double Hundred" policy and promoting the ideological emancipation, cultural development and academic prosperity.

Finally, we should combine respecting the people's initiative with the leadership of the Party in the construction of a socialist harmonise ety, thoroughly implement the scientific concept of development and pro- mote the development of a harmonious society as soon as possible. Since the Reform and Opening up, China's society has developed fen development trends in economic composition, organization form, ie Oy: ment mode, interest subject and distribution pattern, which is not only in 178 tine with the objective law of economic and social pa aonaer a oo -. brings challenges to social harmony. Especially in the key stage _ : ie 8 reform and development, because of the deepening of reform an t ee justment of interest pattern, our social contradictions will further highlig itself, therefore, how to promote social harmony has become an — problem to be solved. The promotion of social harmony is not to ne : diversification of interests, but to balance the various ata Ea LL the people can do their best and play their proper roles. We oe - er combining respecting people's initiative with the leadership of the - that all the creative desire for social progress can be respected, the — energy can be supported, the creative ability can be exerted, the — achievements could be affirmed, and all aspects of the initiative in ‘ bilized to the maximum extent, so that all the people can do their A play their proper roles, which has important significance for the realizatic of social integration and the promotion of social harmony.

The Communist Party of China comes from the people and roots in the people, and all the struggle and work of the Party is for the benefit of the people. Achieving, maintaining and developing the fundamental interests of the majority of the people is the starting point and ultimate goal of all the work of the Party and the state, the fundamental purpose of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the fundamental requirement of People-oriented.

_ The interests of the most people are decisive factors for the development of the Party and the national cause. Serving the people wholeheartedly, es- ablishing the Party for the public and ruling for the people is the funda- mental difference between our Party and all the exploiting class parties. The Communist Party of China leads the people's revolution, construction nd reform in order to liberate and develop the productive forces. The Party latform adopted by the First National Congress of the Party affirms that ur Party strives for the complete liberation of all mankind. The Seventh National Congress of the Party explicitly included "serving the Chinese eople wholeheartedly" into the Party constitution and made it to the height f "the Party's sole purpose". Since then, the Party constitution adopted by he various congresses of the Party has adhered to this purpose, and stipu- 179 ated that the Communist Party of China is a faithful representative of the ——— nterests of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. Such words as "rep- esenting the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the hinese people" and "representing the fundamental interests of the over- helming majority of the Chinese people" are not only written in the Party onstitution of the Chinese Communist Party, but also in the practice of the arty for decades. All the struggle of the Communist Party of China is in the nal analysis for the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of € people. Therefore, all the work of the Party must be based on the funda- tal interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. At any time, € must adhere to the unity of respect for the law of social development id respect for the historical principal status of the people, adhere to the of striving for the lofty ideal and the seeking the interests of the ma- ity of the people, and adhere to the unity of all the work of the Party and realization of the interests of the people. In the process of the construc- Of the great socialist cause with Chinese characteristics, the interests € majority of the people are always related to the overall situation of Communist Party of China, to the overall development of the national mic and political culture, and always related to the unity of the people ll ethnic groups and the overall social stability of the whole country. by truly taking the interests of the most people fully into account, can

In conclusion, to promote the construction of a well-off society in ‘" prehensive way and realize the sound development of economy, 5 politics and culture, we must fully give play to the neni : people under the premise of strengthening the Party's leaders 7 : : struction, and guarantee a steady flow of vitality and vigor for t conduct of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics.

psolidate the ruling position. The Party should attach great importance t d safeguard the most realistic, most important and immediate ae . f the people, So as to enable workers, peasants, intellectuals and other ue i to enjoy the fruits of economic and social development. The Party Fol resolutely safeguard the ownership of the working class an serio , o sider and take into account the interests of other strata ahd ae id

we win the hearts of the people, withstand trials, overcome difficulties, and achieve the ultimate victory of socialist construction.

In contemporary China, with the deepening of Reform and Openin up and the development of socialist market economy, there inevitably ap peared a diversity of the material interests and different requirements 0 interests. How to deal with the interests of all aspects of the people an solve the various interest conflicts of the society is the fundamental task for the Communist Party of China to face in the long run. In the practice of dealing with social interests and contradictions, our Party has summed up and adhered to the following basic principles:

First, the fundamental standpoint is the fundamental interests of the over- whelming majority of the Chinese people. This is the inevitable require- ment of the Party to serve the basic purpose of serving the people under th condition of being in power. In order to truly represent the fundamental in- terests of the overwhelming majority of the people, our Party must focus on dealing with three relationships. The first is to correctly handle the relation ship between the diversification of interests and the fundamental interest. In the formulation and implementation of the Party's policy, the basic focus is to represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, correctly reflect and balance the interests of different classes 189 and different aspects of the interests of the masses, so that the entire people —— are in the direction of common prosperity. The second is to correctly handle the relationship between local and global interests, consciously give greater importance to the overall situation, and the local obeys to the whole. The third is to correctly handle the relationship between the current interests and long-term interests. Reforms have benefited the vast majority of people, but have also temporarily affected certain groups' interests, which is difficult to avoid. Therefore, in the process of reform, we should pay attention to the sufferings of the masses of the people, help them overcome the temporary difficulties, combine caring for the masses with the correct understanding of the reform, correctly unify and combine the current interests with the long-term interests, and promote the reform unswervingly.

Second, properly handle and balance the interests of different classes different aspects of the interests of the masses. At present, China is in critical period of reform and the key period of the development of mode ization, the social economic components, the diversification of econ interests, the diversification of people's way of life and the diversific of employment positions and forms of employment make the various ests and contradictions complicated. As the ruling Party, the policy ¢ Communist Party of China should fully reflect and manifest the int of various aspects, and win the support of the masses of the society | maximum extent, so as to better strengthen the ruling social foundat

Third, to effectively solve the practical problems of the interests of th ople.-Caring for the masses and representing the interests of the ee is by no means an empty slogan and must be implemented very concret iy to solve the practical problems of mass production and life. The Pa ; : mands that cadres at all levels must treat and deal with the iesios ae ward or reported by the people with enthusiasm, and must not be indifferent the masses or even treat the masses harshly. We should go to the aa difficult places, go to the place where the masses have the most opini fe and go to places where the work is needed to be done to work hadwit the cadres and the masses there to solve problems, resolve contradi A and get the ball rolling. Besides, we should care for the masses, es : ally the sufferings of the difficult masses, seek benefit for the cn oe yo = a especially for the difficult people, because fares st di icult at present and need help most. F i hould be paid to those who have fanaa Aenean their work and life, putting their affairs on the agenda and focusin os 81 ention on the solutions to ensure that their basic livelihood is ae ~~ In particular, the practical problems encountered by such td as laid-off workers, the rural poor and the urban poor must be effectively addressed.

Promoting the comprehensive development of people

First, promoting the comprehensive development of humans is the essence of Marxism in the construction of a new socialist society

j ccheving the overall and comprehensive development of men is the ndamental and highest social ideal and value goal of Marxism

ae aning of Marxism on socialism and communist society has E ofmentineit fe aicdid Tales ar eye e

ion of all- i

essential feature that distinguishes ee aa a nance early wor, communism is a movement, whose Die ss saci is the return" to the human essence, positively , private property, and striving for complete and comprehensive pment of men in the new social system. In Capital, Marx once again

182

demonstrated the importance of rebuilding the individual ownership on the basis of abolishing the bourgeois private ownership, and apt that the social system after capitalism would bring great space and ena oa tions to human development. Marx and Engels' vision and out ook for the future communist society also showed their great concern on the issue of hu- man development, and believed that communist society was a a of th free people, in which "the free development of everyone is the condition for the free development of all human beings". There, the class has comple disappeared, there are no three differences, labor is not to maintain the live- lihood, but the first need of life, and people in the free and conscious labor process also developed themselves. Compared with capitalism, communism makes people no longer dependent on the matter, but emancipated from the shackles of the private ownership of the productive materials. People are able to obtain freedom under the social system of the productive materials, to work

for the development and freedom, to carry out production and to live. All the _

characteristics of the communist society show the ultimate concern for hu- man beings, whether the highly developed productive forces, the abnormal

advanced economic, political, social system, or the prosperity and diversity of cultural life, are for the ultimate value goal of "human". In this sense, the _ realization of all-round development of man Is the most fundamental and

highest social ideal and value goal of Marxism.

2. Promoting the all-round development of people is the fundamental

value goal of socialism with Chinese characteristics

For decades, whether in the revolutionary years have kept taking up the work of the former generation in pursuit of the ul timate realization of great material wealth, huge improvement of the spi

tual realm and the lofty communist ideal of the free

historical process and only on the basis of full and highly development 0

the socialist society can it be achieved. Socialist society is the primary form

of communism, and China is still and for a long time will still be in the pri

mary stage of socialism. Therefore, we should base ourselves on the reality

that our country is and will be in the early stage of socialism, and a tingly struggle to realize the basic program of the Party at the preset 4 The all-round development of human beings ts not only a historical p : with different levels of realization in different stages of deve also a value goal that should be pursued in the socialist society " 5 realized in the communist society. Therefore, in the process of deve socialism with Chinese characteristics, we should always promens round development of people as the fundamental value goal 0 socialism with Chinese characteristics.

or in the construction and reform era, generations of the members of Communist Party of China

and comprehensive development of everyone. But the realization of communism is a very long

As early as 1978, Deng Xiaoping made it clear that our schools in China ‘are places for the training of competent personnel for socialist construc- jon. Are there qualitative standards for such training? Yes, there are. They were stated by Comrade Mao Zedong: We should enable everyone who eceives an education to develop morally, intellectually and physically and

become a worker possessed of both socialist consciousness and a general education,"!" :

Since then, new generations of people with lofty ideals, moral integ- ity, good education and a strong sense of discipline have become the basic _ standard for the Party and the state to cultivate comprehensively-developed socialist new generations. When we entered the 21* century, Jiang Zemin _ solemnly proclaimed in his speech to celebrate the 80" anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, "We firmly believe in the basic principle of Marxism concerning the inevitability of human society towards -communism."Communism can only be achieved on the basis of fully de- _ veloped and highly developed socialist society. Communism will be a soci- ety in which material wealth is greatly enriched and abundant, the spiritual _realm of the people is greatly enhanced, and everyone will enjoy all-round _free and full development.""*

"All undertakings to build socialism with Chinese characteristics, and n fact, everything that we do should aim not just at meeting people's im- mediate material and cultural needs, but also at improving the qualities of the people or achieving their all-round development. This is the essential equirement of Marxism regarding the building of a new socialist society. We will constantly advance the all-round development of human beings

ased on a higher level of the material and spiritual civilization of the so- lalist society."?

‘Shortly thereafter, in the report of the 16 National Congress of the -ommunist Party of China, the comprehensive development of human be- ings was identified as one of the important goals of building a well-off so- ty in an all-round way. In October 2007, on the 17° National Congress of Party, Hu Jintao again stressed the need to promote the all-round devel- ment of people in his expounding of the scientific development concept. in is the decisive force in the productive forces. in the great process of Iding socialism with Chinese characteristics, we constantly improve the lity and ability of all aspects of the people, and promote the all-round lopment of people, which is the meaning of emancipating the produc- > forces and developing productive forces. Eliminating exploitation and ization is to achieve the ultimate common prosperity, while liberating

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol. 2, p.103. Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.3, p.293. ‘lbid., p.294 and http://www.china.org.cn/e-speech/a.htm.

183

us social shackles is to create the necessary social ous hensive development of human beings. — a hasis and putting the promotion the comprehensive developmen oO ae ane h Communist Party of China's programmatic document or ieee highlight the Party leaders' fundamental value of building so- ma

cialism with Chinese characteristics. . Second, to achieve the comprehensive development of people isa long-term gradual process

deepening of the understanding of socialism, we also clearly see that one of the root causes of the failure of the Soviet socialist system is "only produc- tive forces but no men's development", which means they only attached importance to the development of the productive forces and the economy, but neglect the interests of thé people and the realization of their richness, and they ignored and even denied that man is the ultimate purpose of the socialist society. They put the emphasis on man as the" bourgeois human nature", which made it difficult for the people to feel the superiority of so- cialism and made it difficult to get the true support of the people. Because of this, our Party especially emphasizes and advocates that on the basis of _ the development of socialist material civilization and spiritual civilization, _ we should constantly promote the all-round development of people. The in- dicators used to measure the effectiveness of socialist construction include not only economic, political, cultural and social factors, but also the human development factors, but also the human development factors, thus and so- cialism should fully display its fundamental superiority over capitalism, _ that is, a socialist society is a real people-oriented society, Attaching great importance to the all-round development of people is the essential require- ment of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Both relying on the people as the main body of socialist construction, and highlighting the importance of improving the comprehensive quality of the people are the basic experi-

ence and root that allow the construction of socialism with Chinese charac- 185 _ teristics to continuously achieve success. js

people from vario tions for the compre

Second, to achieve the comprehensive development of people isa long-term gradual process

1. The ultimate purpose and mission of socialism is to create social conditions for the realization of men's all-round comprehensive development

Today, the development of socialism is far beyond the oe a founders of Marxism. However, no matter how the concrete ao 2 ocialism changes, the fundamental purpose and mission of eae change, with the fundamental purpose of socialism being the Saline the comprehensive development of men penne tal purpose and mission of socialist system to create aL. -round development of man. Because of our past serious ake ja ae of the fundamental purpose and mission of oe the superiority of socialism cannot be truly se ei rootat and Opening up, because of the neglect of the sae p sane 184 forces, China deviated from the fundamental task of so - is and

socialism in our country a poor socialism, which was una) 0 ee

iority of socialism. The Soviet Union attached great impo : soa ait : f productivity and developed into a superpower next to the ae rena the superiority of its socialist ee reales i i mpts people to ask the follow! - a ne Saas mission of socialism? " os seas cacialieid really rely on to show the world that it is more ad-

vanced and superior than capitalism?

On the basis of summarizing the historical and practical experience of socialist construction, we realize that the fundamental purpose and mis- sion of the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics is to cre- ate social conditions for the all-round development of human beings. This requires us to resolutely carry out the Scientific Outlook on Development, work hard to build socialist market economy, socialist democratic politics, socialist advanced culture and harmonious socialist society, at the same time to vigorously promote material civilization, political civilization, spir- tual civilization, ecological civilization and improve people's livelihood, should insist on that everything is relied on the people and everything

for the people, achieving the mutual promotion of social development

and human development, and creating the conditions for the realization of man freedom and comprehensive development. If we ignore or deny that fundamental purpose and mission of socialism is to create conditions the all-round development of human beings, we will deviate from the €ntial requirements of Marxism on the construction of a new socialist iety and cannot truly and fully display the superiority of socialism.

With the deepening of our Party's understanding of es ead - ee sm, the understanding OF acentfe. We recognize not only that i ism i i nd sc : pees er ee : bea the productive forces, apes ea i itati iminate polarization, and u eI mi ae paren omen ane ie Gvelonnad of product Ae ate Fae of the common prosperity are ee b = ditions for the all-round development of people, because int e ee of lib ting and developing productive forces and gradually going to tie Bes prosperity, people will gradually get more er moe prehensive development. This is the essential ne as ne se cialist society and the most fundamental superiority or soc :

186

2. Creating the social conditions for the all-round development of human beings is a historical process

The realization of the all-round development of man isa long-term and gradual process, which will be bound by the conditions of social economy, politics and culture, and cannot go beyond the specific stage of economic and social development. The level of economic, political and cultural de- velopment is a historical process that improves gradually, so the creation of the social conditions for all-round development is a historical process that progresses step by step, and the degree of human's all-round development is also a historical process that improves gradually. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people are committed to the great cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. In this great historical process, we need to create conditions of all aspects and strive to

promote the all-round development of people.

First of all, we should provide a solid material foundation for the com- prehensive development of human through the construction of socialist material civilization. Material production is the basic condition to realize the comprehensive development of man. Only through the development of social productive forces can the talents and potentials of human beings be brought into full play to create a comprehensive and rich relationship be- tween man and the object world, to realize the universal possession of the natural and social relations by the members of the society, and to make man- kind move from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom. Achieving common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism, and ue the growing material and cultural needs of the people is the fundamenta goal of social and economic development. we should enable the whole na- tion to live a well-off life and move forward to a higher level constantly by means of economic construction. With the deepening and development of the Reform and Opening up and the modernization construction, we are 2 provide the society with increasingly rich material products and more an more perfect material facilities, to constantly improve people's con of eating, wearing, living, traveling, using and medical and health, * 116 constantly improve the quality of people's life. We should establish an be prove the social security system to ensure that the people live and wor - peace and contentment, and get social assistance when they are in trouble

Secondly, the construction of socialist political civilization provides strong political guarantee for the comprehensive development of huma: The construction of democratic legal system is not only an important cone tion and guarantee for developing economy, building socialist ae, lization and realizing socialist modernization, but also an important con of socialist modernization construction. The fact that people are the mas of their own is the essential feature of socialism. Under the leadership

the Communist Party of China, we should continue to promote the reform of the political system, further expand the socialist democracy, improve the socialist legal system, and build socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics, constantly enhancing the vitality and vigor of the Party and the state. We should adhere to the general plan of ruling the country by law, maintain and safeguard the democratic rights of the people in accordance with the law, and constantly improve the ability and level of people's par- ticipation in political affairs. We should adhere to the regular, lasting and vivid publicity and education of observing the rules and the law, constantly improve the consciousness of all citizens to abide by the rules and the law, oppose the acts of extreme democratization and anarchy, and dare to com- bat the phenomenon of the violation of the Party discipline and the state laws in order to maintain the normal social order and good social environ- ment, and ensure the smooth progress of the Reform and Opening up and the modernization construction. What's more, we ought to give full play to the subjective initiative and great creative spirit of the people to ensure that the people manage their own affairs in accordance with the law and realize their own wishes and interests. We must ensure that the people fully ex- ercise their democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision, so that the people can really be the masters with power and status, and can be in a good mood and in high spirits. In this way, people's senses of mastership and pride are boosted and they could better devote themselves to the great cause of Reform and Opening up and modernization in our country.

Thirdly, the construction of socialist spiritual civilization provides in- tellectual guarantee and spiritual motivation for the comprehensive de- velopment of human. The superiority of socialism not only lies in that it can greatly liberate and develop the social productive forces, create a high material civilization, but also in that it can create a high spiritual civili- zation and ensure the all-round progress of society. Under the guidance of Marxism, we should vigorously strengthen the construction of socialist _ Spiritual civilization, actively absorb the outstanding achievements of hu- _man civilization and the essence of our traditional culture, and with rich Spiritual civilization construction results, we are to constantly meet peo- ple's growing demand for spiritual and cultural life, and to realize the com- prehensive development of people's ideological and spiritual life. Through he construction of socialist core value system and the construction of civic norality, the ideological and moral quality of the people is constantly im- toved, providing a strong spiritual impetus for the socialist construction nd the all-round development of our country. Through the implementation f the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, ie scientific and cultural qualities of the people are constantly enhanced,

187

188

providing a strong intellectual support for the socialist construction and the all-round development of the people in our country.

Finally, to promote the all-round development of human beings, we must

also strive to achieve harmony between people and the natural world, and strive to build ecological civilization. Man comes from nature, and is the :

product of the evolution of the material world. Man not only confirms him- self in the transformation of nature, but also develops himself in the trans- formation of nature. Human development is inseparable from the nature, only in harmony with the nature can human society continue to catia otherwise, the failure to respect the natural must result in natura retalia- tion. Therefore, we should firmly adhere to the guidance of the Scientific Outlook on Development, adhere to the path of production development, subsistence and ecological civilization, build a resource-efficient and en- vironment-friendly society, achieve the unification of the speed, structural quality and benefits and the coordination of economic goatee? st the population resource environment, enable the people to work ani ‘ in a good ecological environment, and achieve sustainable economic an

social development.

Economic System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Establishment and perfection of the socialist market economic system

First, establishing the socialist market economic system

At a certain stage of social and economic development, resources would ~~ always become scarce compared to people's needs which requires the sci- entific and rational allocation of limited and relatively scarce resources, and the production of the most suitable products and services so as to gain maximum benefits with the least resource consumption. Under the condi- tions of socialized large-scale production, there are mainly two modes of resource allocation: planned allocation and market allocation. The market economy, where resources are allocated through the market, first appears in the era of free-competition capitalism, based on the private ownership the means of production, and the resources are allocated entirely by the nvisible hand", that is, the spontaneous regulation of the market, resulting the anarchy of the entire social production as well as the promotion of nomic development. Marx and Engels criticize this mode of allocation d points out that social labor and means of production are not reasonably anged and effectively utilized, and serious economic crisis may occur. r this reason, Marx and Engels have elucidated on the inevitability of the arket economy being replaced by a planned one.

fter the October Revolution, military communism was practiced and

Commodity-currency relations were canceled in Russia, which seri- 

YY weakened the economy of the country. Then Lenin realized that it a policy mistake and resolutely suspended the practice. Instead, he

SAARI Ronan

economic system as the institutional attributes closely linked with the social system. Therefore, instead of breaking through the general framework of the planned economy, we merely strengthened the market regulation theo- etically and practically, but failed to achieve desired results.

implemented a new economic policy and resumed the vsti A cont modities. After his death, the Soviet Union gradually esta is e ; ighly centralized planned economic system, which played an ee ro ae the historical conditions. For example, it enabled the Soviet ae © rap- idly realize socialist industrialization and secured the snc ea tig economic crisis in the 1930s. The socialist countries later conclu . that planned economy, which was superior to the market economy, as ormed to Marxism to the largest extent, and followed the example of the Soviet

Union one after another.

‘After the 3 Plenary, Session of the 11% Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Deng Xiaoping led the Chinese Communist Party to sum up historic experiences. He pointed out that China must devel- p while-adhering to the basic socialist system and must make fundamental hanges to the original economic system. He said: "To develop the produc- After completing the socialist transformation, our country also gradually ive forces, the reform of the economic system is the only way forward,"! established a highly centralized planned economic system, pei: on the Soviet experience in many ways. But more importantly, we foun te pa | to solve the severe political and economic problems confronting : e found- ing of New China to adopt such an economic system. Firstly, a the low level of productive forces, the weak national economic eas and few modern industries in our country, the implementation of this system facilitated the direct participation of the state in economy and the oo of the public economy, which further consolidated the regime. re y, in the context of the domestic economic dislocation and the big gap between us and the developed countries in the west, it was an effective al i bilize the economy and maximize the industrial accumulation. Thir ie is 190 system was suitable for coordinating the various social asa ‘- curred in the macro-economy, because it could integrate resource : oca' ee and social coordination, which would maintaina high level a emp _ and satisfy the most basic living needs of the people, as we as a eo the accumulation and concentration of funds for the industrialization.

As a result, after 1978, China entered a new period of reform and open- ng up, with the market regulation' mechanism playing a greater role, the price control over most commodities being gradually relaxed, the range under direct management of the plan gradually narrowed and the scope of market regulation continuously expanded. The practice of reform and opening up proved that when the market played a more important role, the economic vitality would be stronger and the development more rapid. The progress and achievements of the economic reform provided a practical basis for the formation and development of the socialist market economic theory. By summing up practical experience in the continuous exploration since the reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping creatively put forward 19] the theory of the socialist market economy and achieved major innovations ——— in the socialist economic theory, which point out the direction for China's economic reform, and laid the foundation for our transformation from a highly centralized planned economy to the socialist market economy, and the establishment of a socialist market economic system. The highly centralized planned economy we adopted played 4 a tant positive role at the time: by centralizing manpower, materia ante nancial resources, the construction of key national pr jects Ne ae ao and the material foundation of socialism was established rapidly. a - with the completion of the initial tasks of socialism, the conn sion of the economy, and the increasingly complicated poate i the drawbacks of this economic system gradually became a ho der to promote the development of the socialist economy, a <a ist countries, including China, had carried out economic reforms _ middle of the 20" century and explored the relationship panty ? and the market. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, based on the a - backward production of commodities in our country, Mao Ze a a pointed out that it was necessary to develop commodity i dat make use of the rule and the law of value, which laid the foun a‘ the formation of our theory of socialist market economy. ayes. time, we failed to break through the traditional concept, and conside

The setting up of the socialist market economic system and Deng

iaoping's theory on the development of the socialist market economy ent through four stages.

The first stage: from 1978 to 1983, the thought of planned economy sup- lemented by the market regulation was put forward. After the 3" Plenary ion of the 11" CPC Central Committee, more and more scholars in the retical circles agreed that there was an objective monetary commodity tionship in the socialist economy, and the law of value played a role only in circulation but also in the production. In 1979, Deng Xiaoping tly pointed out: "It is wrong to maintain that a market economy exists in capitalist society and that there is only "capitalist" market economy. y can't we develop a market economy under socialism? Developing a ket economy does not mean practising capitalism. While maintaining inned economy as the mainstay of our economic system, we are also

ected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1st edition, Vol. 3, p. 138.

Before the convening of the 13" CPC National Congress in 1987, Deng jaoping conducted a more in-depth discussion on the relationship between planning and market. He pointed out: "Planning and market are both means of developing the productive forces. So long as they serve that purpose, we should make use of them. If they serve socialism they are socialist; if they serve capitalism they aré capitalist.'

introducing a market economy. But it is a socialist market economy... We cannot say that market economy exists only under capitalism... We can surely develop it under socialism."

This realization broke the traditional rigid concept that only planned economy can be practiced in socialism, and actual ly linked the market econ omy with socialism. The Resolution on Some Historical Issues of the Party Since the Founding of the PRC passed in 1981 by the 6 Plenary Session of the 11° CPC Central Committee formally proposed the system of planned economy supplemented by market regulation", which was also affirmed by the 12" CPC National Congress. Although this proposal still insisted that the overall framework of the planned economy remain unchanged and the market regulation is only supplementary, it provided a realistic basis for the market to play a regulatory role and opened the way for the development of the socialist market economy.

The second stage: from 1984 to 1987, a planned commodity economic _ theory was proposed. In the Decisions on the Economic System Reform the CPC Central Committee passed in the 3"! Plenary Session of the 12 CPC Central Committee in 1984, the Party made it clear that the social- ist economy was a planned commodity economy based on public we ship. From practical experience, we gradually realized that the commod- ity economy was an insurmountable stage of the socialist economy, : planned economy and the commodity economy were compatible, and the planning and market could be combined. Under the guidance of the theory of planned commodity economy, from the end of 1984, we have shift the focus of economic restructuring from rural areas to cities wil obvious market orientation, such as reducing the proportion of mandatory plans, expanding the scope of market regulation, increasing the a of enterprises, and implementing double-track price system. Best . practice of reform, Deng Xiaoping further elaborated his view on the ret tionship between planning and market. In the meeting with a ice 0 US entrepreneurs in 1985, he pointed out: "There 1s no fundamen : tradiction between socialism and a market economy. The problem 1s how develop the productive forces more effectively. We used to have a o economy, but our experience over the years has proved that eh a planned economy hampers the development of the productive orce' certain extent. If we combine a planned economy with a market eco! we shall be in a better position to liberate the productive forces an up economic growth."° :

Therefore, the 13 CPC National Congress defined the new system of socialist planned commodity economy as one of internal unity between planning and market, emphasizing that both of them were new economic operating mechanisms that covered the whole society, with the market con- trolled by the state and business guided by the market in general, which was Close to the idea of a market economy under state's macro-economic regulation.

The third stage: from 1987 to 1992, the theory of socialist commodity economy was put forward. The 13 CPC National Congress held in 1987 further developed the theory of a planned commodity economy. It clearly pointed out that the difference between the socialist and capitalist com- modity economy lay not in the number of markets and planning. Instead, the socialist commodity economy should be an internal unified system of planning and market, which should cover the whole society, with the or- ganic integration of them. The socialist market system included not only the commodity market, but also factor markets such as capital and labor market. Therefore, in order to carry out the economic system reform, it was necessary to establish the economic operation mode of "market con- trolled by the state, and the business guided by the market". During this period, Deng Xiaoping further elaborated on the relationship between clalism and the market economy. In December 1990, Deng Xiaoping proposed: "We must understand theoretically that the difference between apitalism and socialism is not a market economy as opposed to a planned onomy. Socialism has regulation by market forces, and capitalism has ntrol through planning."® In early 1991, Deng Xiaoping further pointed "Don't think that any planned economy is socialist and any market jomy is capitalist. That's not the way things are. In fact, planning and lation by the market are both means of controlling economic activity, the market can also serve socialism."

hese assertions of Deng Xiaoping clearly defined the attributes of the ket economy, thus lifting the bondage between socialism and the mar- conomy and laying the theoretical foundation for the ultimate goal of blishing a socialist market economic system in China.

Second, the basic characteristics of the socialist market economic system

Although both planning and market are means of economic regulation, which do not belong to either "socialism" or "capitalism" in essence, they can play different regulatory roles in different social systems. Capitalist market economy refers to the market economy under the capitalist system, while socialist market economy refers to one under the socialist system. The latter, first of all, has the general characteristics of market economy, such as enterprises with clear ownership rights and strict budget constraints operating independently and assuming sole responsibility for their own profits and losses; free and fair market competition; prices determined by arket supply and demand being, flexible; the market being open; the and vernment mainly using economic instruments to regulate the economy; otherwise it cannot be called a market economy. In terms of the operational rules, there is no substantive difference between the socialist and the capi- talist market economy. As Deng Xiaoping said, the socialist market econo- my is similar to a capitalist one in method.'

This argument fundamentally negated the traditional cone of setting socialism and the market economy in opposition. The 14% CPC National Congress made it clear that the goal of China's economic restructuring is to establish a socialist market economy. Therefore, it was necessary to guaran tee the market's fundamental regulatory role in the allocation of resources — under macroeconomic control, so that economic activities would follow the law of value and adapt to changes in the supply-demand relationship, In 1994, the 3 Plenary Session of the 14" CPC Central Committee made the : Decisions on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of a Socialist — Market Economic System by the CPC Central Committee, which compre- hensively and systematically expounded the basic framework and oe plan for establishing a socialist market economy. In 1997, the 15 : National Congress further confirmed that "to build a socialist economy with Chinese characteristics means to develop a market economy under th conditions of socialism and continuously liberate and develop aS i tive forces." In 2002, the 16 CPC National Congress reiterated: "to . ere to the reform direction of the socialist market economy and to me € market to play a fundamental role in the allocation of resources under iL macro-control of the state." In order to further improve the socialist mar economic system, the 3" Plenary Session of the 1G* CPC Central oi ; held in 2003 discussed some major issues concerning the improve the socialist market economic system and made the Decisions on : evel Issues Concerning the Perfection of the Socialist Market pees: by In 2007, to reach the goal of economic development in the new his period, the 17" CPC National Congress proposed the major progres: made in perfecting the socialist market economic system.

Therefore, we can absolutely learn the experience of market operation

and management from developed countries in the world in order to develop our market economy.

In the theoretical innovation of the socialist market economy, Deng Xiaoping separates market economy from the capitalist system, and regards it as a means and mode of resource allocation on the one hand; on the other and, he emphasizes that we must integrate the market economy with the ba- ic socialist system, by pointing out that: "It is right to implement the policy f opening up, to combine the planned economy with the market economy, and to carry out a series of structural reforms.

Does this run counter to the principles of socialism? No, because in the irse of reform we shall make sure of two things: one is that the public sec- of the economy is always predominant; the other is that in developing the nomy we seek common prosperity, always trying to avoid polarization."

other words, apart from the general features of the market economy, list market economy also has its own features.

stly, in terms of the ownership structure, we adopt the basic eco- ¢ system that takes public ownership as primary with other ownership S developing in tandem. All forms of ownership in conformity with Three Favorables" can and should be used to serve socialism; enter- 8 of different ownership can also voluntarily practice various forms of

©, Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd Edition, Volume 2, p. 236. lected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist Edition, Vol.3, p.149.

ama

7 Ibid., p.373.

195

oductive forces, overall national strength and people's living standards, abling us to survive the international economic and financial turmoil, se- re domestic natural disasters and major epidemics. However, at the same time, some problems also emerge such as unreasonable economic struc- re, unbalanced distribution relations, slow growth of peasants' incomes, yrominent employment conflicts, increasing pressure on resources and the snvironment, and generally weak economic competitiveness, which are nainly caused by the fact that our country is in the primary stage of social- sm, with an imperfect economic system and many institutional obstacles in development of productive forces. In order to adapt to the international vironment of economic globalization and the accelerating development f science and technology, and the new situation of building a moderately srosperous society in all respects, and to build a sound socialist market sconomic system, the 16" CPC National Congress made a series of major cisions on deepening reform, further opening up and the continuous im- rovement of the socialist market economic system.

rket is open to all kinds of enterprises, and the state.

joint operation; the ma yr enti economy plays a leading role in market competition.

Secondly, in terms of the distribution system, we must adhere : the sys tem of distribution according to work being the main form with t € coexis tence of multiple ways of distribution. We should combine eae a cording to work with that according to productive factors, an pas Variou regulatory means to encourage the excellent, to improve the e icieney4 rationalize the income gap, to prevent polarization and to gradually realiz

common prosperity. Thirdly, in terms of the macro-control, it can combine the current inter- ests with the long-term ones of the people, and the partial interests With the overall ones, and give better play to the strengths of both planning and ther words, the socialist market economy is able to combine the advantages of the basic socialist economic system with that of the market economy, giving full play to the fundamental role of the market economy in the allocation of resources. Meanwhile, through macro-control, it can overcome the blindness, spontaneity and other weaknesses and negative as- pects of the market economy, so that the superiority of the socialist system can be brought into full play, which is also the particulanty of the "7 market economy. As Jiang Zemin said, the term "socialist . the soci ist 196 market economy is the "finishing touch," and "the so-called crucial point —— is to clarify the nature of our market economy... Our market economy carried out under the socialist system...Our creativity and characteristics

are also reflected here.""° : The socialist market economic theory that the Party has gradually formed and developed during the new period of reform and opening . ‘ very important and innovative. It enriches and develops the basic " so Marxism and opens the way for opening up new horizons of developme for Marxist economic theory. Third, the improvement efforts to perfect the socialist market economic system : Since the 14% CPC National Congress, which set the goal of the i market economic system reform, significant progress has been ma . bs reform in theory and in practice. The socialist market economic Re : been initially established, the basic economic system that takes pul | ership as primary with diverse other ownership forms developing I : has been established, and the pattern of opening up from all dimens! various levels and in broad fields has basically taken shape. The fe deepening of the reform has greatly promoted the improvemen

10 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: * Jiang Zemin on Soran ; Characteristics (Special Editorial)", p.69, Beijing, Central Party Literature >

market. Ino

_In order to implement the strategic plan of building a sound socialist market economy and a more dynamic and open economy as proposed by he 16 CPC National Congress, and to deepen the economic system re- orm and promote the all-round economic and social development, the 3"! enary Session of the 16" CPC Central Committee made the Decisions on several Issues Concerning the Perfection of the Socialist Market Economic stem by the CPC Central Committee, pointing out the direction for the further perfection of the socialist market economic system.

197

The goal of perfecting the socialist market economic system is: to meet e requirements of the balanced urban and rural development, balanced momic and social development, the harmonious development of man and lature, and the overall planning for domestic development and opening up; id to give more play to the market's role in resource allocation, enhance 1¢ Vitality and competitiveness of enterprises, improve the macro-control, ‘fect the government's social management and public service functions, provide a strong institutional guarantee for building an overall well- do society. The main tasks include: to improve the basic economic sys- that takes public ownership as primary with diverse other ownership s developing in tandem; to establish a system conducive to the gradual ge of the dual economic structure in urban and rural areas; to form a anism for the coordinated development of regional economy; to estab- unified, open modern market system with orderly competition; to im- € the macro-control, administrative management and economic legal im; to perfect the employment, income distribution and social security

and to establish a mechanism to promote sustainable economic and

development.

xpounded the basic line and basic program of the primary stage of social- sm and clearly put forward the following: "The public ownership as the subject and the diversified ownership economy develop jointly is the basic conomic system in the primary stage of our socialism. The establishment f this system is determined by the nature of socialism and the national onditions. at the primary stage: First, as China is a socialist country, it must dhere to the public ownership as the foundation of the socialist economic ystem. Second, as China is in the primary stage of socialism, we need to evelop a diversified ownership economy under the conditions of public wnership as the main body; third, all forms of ownership that conform to the ‘Three Favorables' can and should be used to serve socialism."!!

Guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Thre Represents, we must follow the Party's basic line, basic program and basic experience, fully implement the spirit of the 16" CPC National Congres , emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts, and advance with the times. We should also adhere to the socialist market economic reform, focus on system construction and innovation, adhere to the respect for the pioneering spirit of the masses, and arouse the enthusiasm of both the central and local authorities. In addition, we must continue to handle the relations of reform, development and stability correctly, promote the reform with a focus and step by step, adhere to overall planning, coordinate various interests in the reform, stick to the people-oriented principle, establish a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development concept, and promote the all-

_ In the report of 16 CPC Natignal Congress, Jiang Zemin made it clear round development of the economy, society and the people.

that, in order to solve the contradictions and problems in deepening the onomic system reform, we should adhere to and perfect the basic eco- nomic system of taking public ownership as primary with diverse other ownership forms developing in tandem, in accordance with the require- ments of liberating and developing the productive forces. The 17° CPC National Congress also emphasized that it was necessary to uphold and improve the basic economic system, unswervingly consolidate and develop the public economy, encourage, support and guide the development of non- public economy, and adhere to the equal protection of property rights, so as to form a new pattern of fair competition among and the promotion of arious ownership economy.

The 17 CPC National Congress further emphasized: to achieve the goal of economic development in the future, we must make major progress in accelerating the transformation of the mode of economic development and improving the socialist market economic system. We should vigorously promote the strategic restructuring of the economy, pay more attention to improving independent innovation, raising the level of energy conservation and environmental protection, and improving the overall economic quality and international competitiveness, deepen our understanding of the laws governing the socialist market economy, give better play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation, and form a macro-control system condu:

cive to scientific development. Socialist public ownership, in which all or part of the workers possess e means of production under the conditions of socialism, adapts to social- zed mass production, and thus fundamentally eliminates the basic contra- ictions of capitalism and makes way for the further development of social roductive forces. In fact, the primary role of socialist public ownership is etermined by the nature of public ownership and its role in the national conomy, or to be specific, the reason lies in: firstly, the socialist public conomy is compatible with socialized mass production and in line with direction of social development; secondly, the public economy is the damental feature of the socialist system and the economic foundation of lalist society. Only by relying on the power of the public economy that ys a primary role, will the socialist countries have sufficient economic ans to guide the development of the individual, private and foreign in- tment economy toward the direction conducive to socialism; thirdly, the ic economy, being the mainstay of the construction of socialist mod- ization, the main source of state revenue and the major material basis the state's macro-control, controls the lifeline of the national economy.

Adjustment and perfection of the ownership structure

First, The basic economic system that takes public ownership as primary with diverse other ownership forms developing in tandem

The basic economic system at the initial stage of socialism is, in essen a matter of ownership. The 3% Plenary Session of the 11% CPC Central Committee proposed to reform the production relations and superstructt incompatible with the development of the productive forces, accordi the real situation of our socialist construction, and point out that the public economy was a necessary complement to the socialist econo addition, the 3% Plenary Session of the 14% CPC Central Committee! further point out that we must adhere to the principle of taking the ownership economy as primary with various economic sectors dev in tandem. In 1997, the 15" National Congress of the CPC comprehe:

_CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since Sth National Congress" (Vol.1), p.20.

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200

The ownership form of the means of production cannot be evaluated by referring to the level of social public ownership, but by judging whether it meets the requirements of the development of productive forces, whether it promotes the development of productive forces, and whether it is beneficial to all-round social progress. All forms of ownership, not only the public ownership, regardless of ‘the level of public ownership, are irreplaceable within the range of productivity they can accommodate, and all those con- sistent with the "Three Favorables" can and should be used to serve social- ism. By adopting the basic economic system that takes public ownership as primary with diverse other ownership forms developing in tandem, we can meet the requirements of the development of the productive forces, give full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the working people; make full use of manpower, material and financial resources and make rational use of means of production; increase employment and raise people's living standards; improve technology and management level; im- prove social division of labor and develop specialized production; enliven the economy and promote the development of a market economy; and ac- celerate the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people. In conclusion, in the course of the practice, we must, through systematic in- vestigations and studies, take necessary measures to gradually rationalize the proportions and ranges of various economic components in the entire national economy.

modern material and technology, and controls the (eae ang circulation; fourthly, the means of production of socialist pub ; Seti ip longer means of exploitation. Instead, they are used to ieee ? pro- aes i continuously and to meet the growing material and cu tura needs ee eople. Besides, it is not only the economic basis for implementing ae eee of distribution according to work, but ea eae, material guarantee for the realization of the master position sae : i le economically and politically, and the common prosperity ofa L ee of society. In short, upholding the primary role of public owner: ship, and consolidating and amas ees ae hae rinciple of Marxism, een for ce ownership restructuring, and the basic

symbol of our socialist market economy.

However, only when public ownership meets - pee ed ne ee i its status be reflected and its role be lopment of productive forces, can 1 . teat into pone play. Therefore, we cannot ae the swe i i ip wi ferring to the productive forces, of public ownership without re i os blindly seek to expand the scope and nates ad of ee : i level and requirements of the development OF ~ ownership regardless of the I ae i It is known to all that socialism in of Sans i i i backward productive © i i -feudal society, with very a semi-colonial and semi-feu : | | forces (modern industry accounting for only about Bnce ca : i handicrafts accounting for 7U7). _ and backward agriculture and pple i j ially after the reform and opening up, founding of New China, especia the and opens era of building a moderately prosperou though we have entered a new y poe iety 1 i de remarkable achievements ni society in all respects, having ma nts i level of productive forces a construction, on the whole, our ir i igh, with very low per capita gross of production was not high, Fo oy ae f education and science and tec > ¢ and generally low level o nolo i i i duction was far from moder , Wil he industrial and agricultural pro ‘ aed management and means of economy, and imbalances tilevel development still existed among regions and industries. Ree besides ensuring the primary position of public ownership, we

velop non-public economy in the long run. The 15" CPC National Con

i i ic system incorporated the non-public economy into the basic economic Sy'

Bee : : 7 the primary stage of socialism, making it clear that it was an page: n of China's socialist market economy, due to its ica Zh i i i loyment and prom V eople's diverse needs, increasing emp oe ss of the national economy, which deepened the understanding

primary stage of socialism.

possesses

_ Since the 3 Plenary Session of the 11% CPC Central Committee, China has been actively pursuing the development of a diversified economy while maintaining the dominant position of public ownership, with declines in the proportion of the public economy and a rapid development of non-socialist economy. However, on the whole, the primary role of the public economy has not been changed, in tandem with considerable room allocated for the velopment of the non-public sectors of the economy.

Second, unswervingly consolidate and develop the public economy

ublic ownership, the foundation of the socialist economic system, ch is guided by the state, is the basic force to promote economic and so- development and an important guarantee for the realization of the fun- ental interests and the common prosperity of the people. Maintaining dominant position of public ownership, and making sure that the state- ed economy controls the lifeline of the national economy and plays a ing role in economic development, is crucial to giving full play to the tiority of the socialist system, strengthening economic strength, na- al defense strength and national cohesion, and enhancing China's inter- onal status. Therefore, both the 16" and the 17" CPC National Congress size that we must unswervingly consolidate and develop the public

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present stage, the means of production in our country are owned by the state

on behalf of all the people, in the form of state ownership, so the system is called state-owned economy.

The report of the 15" CPC National Congress clearly pointed out ae ‘ to fully understand the meaning of public economy, whic he aay only the state-owned and collective economy, but also the sae and ‘slledive components of the mixed-ownership paces aim the misunderstanding that the public economy oe pte i state-owned and collective economy and that paige ees than the public ownership, played a primary role, bla ies deenenine for the development of a mixed ownership economy. ee) persia the reform of the economic system, the development re) opens: the diversification of sources of investment an gan eee various forms of mixed ownership economy would continue nie sae ene state-owned and collective components, the mixed Ge whose capital and income belonged to the state and eels. definitely belonged to the UN eae economy: those controlled by the state and the collective sate pu a iene obviously. This mode of Nase ae pa ; - pated te e dominan ae een a the establishment of a ner es See nea i i ership economy would becom ; ee ee at ae components in the entire public econ- omy increasing.

addition, the 15 CPC National Congress also made a sake 7

ion of the dominant position of public ownership, which mainly lie i re public assets dominated the total assets of the society; thee . economy controlled the lifeline of the national economy and play

ich was true for the whole country, c development, which eebtice a

In the public economy, the state-owned economy controls the lifeline of _ the national economy and plays a leading role in economic development, _which is manifested in its ability to control the development direction of the ational economy and economic system, the overall trend of the economic peration and important scarce resources. In the past, due to a lack of un- erstanding of the initial stage of socialism, the scope and proportion of he state-owned economy is so large that it exceeds the level of productive orces and economic socialization. As a result, since the reform and open- ing up, due to the gradual marketization of the economy and some histori- cal and social reasons, a considerable amount of the state-owned economy have lost competitiveness in the market economy. Some state-owned enter- prises have high debt-to-asset ratios, and even become insolvent, gaining low returns and suffering serious losses. If the situation remains unchanged, the state-owned economy will not be able to play its leading role no matter how high the proportion is. Therefore, the dominance and competitiveness of the state-owned economy should be enhanced, the quality of the public economy should be improved so that people can understand the status and tole of the public economy and emphasize its quality rather than quantity and unify the two, instead of simply focusing on its share in the national economy, which provides the theoretical basis and points out the direction for restructuring of the state-owned economy strategically.

In order to give full play to the leading role of the state-owned economy d enhance its control over the economy, we should strategically readjust the layout of the state-owned economy and adhere to the principle of "be- ing flexible and having dos and don'ts". "having dos and don'ts" means at, on the one hand, the state-owned economy should control a few key eas that determine the lifeline of the national economy and national se- ty, and dominate national defense, natural monopoly industries, and public-benefit industries providing public goods and services; in some portant competitive areas, the state-owned economy should control or

ing role in economi a bu situations in some places or industries could vary. Bes

i i i Topo were dominant in the total social assets not simply in ana eu be e : tion, but mainly in "quality", that is, in industrial properties, er 7 bon pontien technological content, economies of scale, the prolite : assets, the competitiveness of the market and etc.

i in In order to consolidate and develop the public SOO eae we must give full play to the leading role of - ee ak oe H 1 ip by ople, w | | oe boning the wig people, becau | amount of state-owned capital; on the other hand, state-owned capi- ee oe Higher wae forces, with a higher degre hould gradually be withdrawn from the general competitive industries it is compatible with the highe1 ucti : e tity of el i ip and the basic realization of the equa public ownership an a ee i duction and the direc the ownership of means of pro See on i the means of productio s of production. In other words, ans : Ge ee are no longer means of ce anr ks a see i i kes it possible to at 1l-being of all people, which ma : pain je copncat of the national economy in the whole society.

2

wing the participation of more social investment entities, so that vari- Conomic components can help solve problems in social and economic lopment facing current China. Meanwhile, we should strategically st the layout of the state-owned economy, making sure that it occu- the dominant position in key industries and key areas that determine ifeline of the national economy. In order to enhance the control and

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ompetitiveness y pl he the reform of state-owned enterprises towards the goal of establishing |

a modern enterprise system, change the management mechanism of enter-

prises, and enhance the vitality of enterprises. Meanwhile, we should also.

strengthen the supervision and administration of state-owned assets, pre-. vent the loss of state-owned assets and ensure the preservation and appre-

ciation of them. However, we should never develop state-owned economy

ating or excluding other economic components. Instead, we can rely

by neg nf ks reform, its participation in market competition, transformation of opera-

tional mechanisms, enhancement of its vitality, and the development of its own potential and advantages.

In order to consolidate and develop the public economy unswerving we must also vigorously support and promote the saa es : as col- lective economy, that is, the socialist collective economy, W . refers . the public ownership of the means of production by ae working Pel : As a cooperative economic sector organized by the wor mage ae - on the principle of free will and mutual benefit, it operates in = nden y and assumes sole responsibility for its own profits and eee : a — : ist society, it belongs to socialist economy, because it rea sa : ca be of the laborers in terms of the ownership of means of production

scope of the collective economy, and the direct combination of laborers and — means of production. Besides, it is free from exploitation, with the equal

i i ing a flexible economic form com cooperative relations among laborers. Being

atible to a large scope of productive forces, collective economy 1s real- toed in different forms determined by the development level of productive

forces and other economic conditions, but instead of having a fixed pattern,

. ; : : cee: it may differ in different economic regions, production categories ie ' nomic conditions, and vary according to different degrees of socialization,

modes of distribution, and contents and ways of cooperation.

j - alist DUBE i i important part of the socialist public The collective economy, being an imp en Besides

economy, plays an extremely crucial role in our natio being the main economic oe in io sanneS Ee ion in the industrial, transportation A : ae ‘teen embody the principle of common prosperity, a - absorb the idle funds in the society widely, and plays an neg tant role in the development of production, improving peop a ee , creating a thriving market, stabilizing prices, pee, emp ae . panding commodity exports, increasing public accumu sae oe tax revenue, encouraging and helping the development co) at . collective economy in urban and rural areas, giving play ca pee role of the public economy, consolidating the alliance of hs e ants, and strengthening the people's democratic dictatorship.

also occupies a lar

of the state-owned economy, we must also actively pro-

ercial areas of cities

_ At present and in the years to come, in the deepening of rural reform, we will continue to focus on stabilizing the "Household Responsibility Contract System", and perfecting the two-tier operation system with the combination of centralization and decentralization, promoting the integra- tion of trade-industry-agriculture, developing social service system in vari- ous forms actively, gradually improving the strength of collective economy and promoting rural economic development. Since in a few economically developed areas, with the growth of the collective economy, especially the development of township and village enterprises, most of the labor force in the rural areas has turned to non-agricultural industries, and the objec- tive conditions for land scale operation have been in place, based on the voluntary and mutually beneficial principle, we should encourage and pro- mote various forms of cooperation and alliance, adopt different forms and _ carry out moderate-scale management according to the local conditions, so as to meet the needs of scientific farming and socialization of production, _to modernize agricultural production, and to gradually achieve the second leap.

Third, the diversification of public ownership

There are connections and differences between the concept of ownership and the realization of ownership. The former refers to the relations among people in the possession of means of production in the course of production, which includes a wide range of economic relations in people's ownership, ossession, dominance and use of means of production, while the latter is _the concrete form in which these economic relations are realized, mainly referring to the organization form and mode of operation of assets or capi- _In the socialist market economy, the realization of public ownership can and should be diversified. All the management modes and organizational orms that reflect the law of production should be made fully use of, and fforts should be made to find a realization form of public ownership that an greatly promote the development of productive forces. Public economy an take the form of wholly-owned enterprises, share-holding enterprises, ooperatives, joint-stock cooperative companies and etc., and the modes Operation such as public-owned public-operated, public-owned private- tated, leasing and contract operation. With the deepening of reforms tate-owned and collective economy, the development of a diversified nership economy and the diversification of investors, the realization of lic ownership will certainly be more diversified. In fact, the search and ¢lopment of diversified realization forms according to the nature and of the public-owned enterprises is beneficial to raising and expanding ital funds, strengthening the restriction of property rights, arousing the siasm of the workers, improving the operation efficiency of enter- ¢s and capital, and promoting the development of productivity.

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public ownership, and speed up the restructuring of state-owned economy. In order to adapt to the continuous development of the marketization of econo- my, we should further enhance the vitality of the public economy, vigorously develop the mixed-ownership economy invested by state-owned, collective and non-public capital, realize the diversification of the investors and make

Although the shareholding system, a realization form - sa ess ship, is derived from and has emerged and developed in : : . rie ety, it is a form of capital organization of the modern sae ee i : conducive to the separation of ownership and poner es - ie improvement of the operational efficiency of Et ae a mee can be used both in capitalist and socialist societies. In € seat 7 learn all the advanced organizational forms and maces Raia a enterprises that reflect the law of socialized production rom nee over the world, including the eur eats ee ing system is neither exclusive to sm", a pened af a shareholding enterprise is determined by oe cae . it is owned by the state and the collective, it 1s obviously pu se ned is conducive to expanding the range of the public aoe! ere . — the dominant position of public ownership. If it is imp = sae i‘ owned enterprises, the enterprises can independently use sie e me capital of all the investors, which will benefit the pent a . om and enterprises, as well as the eka: " SNiibiied a 7 a ot . ce e that enterprises operate in e W eaneunnend so that self-discipline and self-motivation meus " be enhanced, and the saa pa ees peer oe) aC i - it can also raise funds throug 2 rcks, - ee the problem of insufficient accumulation aes a pave the way for establishment of large trans-regiona , tr . multi-ownership and trans-national enterprise types.

to implement absolute control or relative control over enterprises needed to be controlled by state-owned capital according to different situations. We _should also improve the mechanism for the flexible and proper flow of the tate-owned capital, further invest it in key industries and key areas that affect the lifeline of national security and the national economy, enhance the domi- ant position of the state-owned economy, and make sure that state-owned _ enterprises in other industries and fields are able to survive in the fair com- petition in the market, through reorganization of assets and structural adjust- ment. In addition, we are supposed to develop large enterprise groups with international competitiveness, continue to invigorate the state-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, deepen the reform on collective enterprises by focusing on clear property rights, and develop various forms of collective economy. The report of the 17" CPC National Congress further proposed that we should deepen the shareholding system reform of state-owned enterprises, perfect the modern enterprise system, optimize the layout and structure of state-owned economy, enhance the vitality, control and influence of the state- owned economy, deepen the reform on monopoly industries should, intro- duce competition mechanisms, strengthen government supervision and social supervision, accelerate the construction of a state-owned capital management budget system, perfect all kinds of state-owned assets management system,

promote collective enterprise reform and develop various forms of collective economy and cooperative economy.

Joint stock cooperative system, a form of public pat ay i na isti joi k and cooperative system, belon the characteristics of joint stoc so i ich i d by and based on the union 0 id tive economy which is feature on ie ‘ : laborers. In this system, besides g g a the union of the capital of the fai i Iso receive corresponding rewar according to work, laborers a ive va i kes it different from the share ind to the shares they hold, which ma rom t ~ the cooperative system. What's more, employees in gemanges coon Ps i borers but also investors, since they é enterprises are not only la ey i i ts of the laborers and enterp risks and benefits, and the interes Pe 1 ; initiatives of the laborers. ihe a one, which can fully arouse the ini abc must support and encourage the development of the joint stock corr system, strengthen the guidance and constantly draw on the experienc

Fourth, the non-public economy as an important component part of the socialist market economy

The non-public economy in the primary stage of socialism mainly in- udes individual economy, private economy, foreign investment economy, d Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan investment economy.

gradually improve it.

The 3" Plenary Session of the 16" CPC Central ee eer that in order to promote the development of the public ie woe practice various effective realization forms of public nee ae the dominant position of public ownership; give play to the gs

. . . . ion fo state-owned economy, actively promote various effective realizati

ment. In general, it adapts to scattered productive force but can also be €d with socialized mass production. In our country, since the develop- t level of social productive forces is generally not high, for quite a long od of time,the individual economy sector will still exist to make up for insufficient development of modern large-scale production.

207

The private economy is based on the private ownership of the means of production and the wage-labor, with obtaining profits being the purpose of production and operation. In the socialist market economy, the Private economy has a dual nature: on the one hand, it has the general characteris. tics of capitalist private ownership, that is, private ownership and domina.

tion of means of production, and the reliance on wage labor for production and operation; on the other hand, it is produced and developed under the

condition of the dominant position of the socialist public ownership; with a close link between its production and operation activities and the public economy, so it must be carried out within the scope prescribed by the laws of the socialist countries. Meanwhile, its employees, whose basic economic and political rights are protected by relevant state laws, are the masters of the socialist countries. Since the reform and opening up, in our country, private economy has grown from nothing to become an important force in the socialist market economy.

Foreign investment economy and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in- vestment economy refers to the foreign investment and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan investment in the sole proprietors, joint ventures and coop- erative enterprises established by foreign investors and those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in accordance with Chinese laws and regula- tions, most of which are invested by enterprises in capitalist countries and regions. There is no doubt that the capital invested by foreign and overseas capitalists is capitalist in nature. However, the enterprises, operated under the management and regulation of the socialist countries, are closely linked with the socialist economy. They must abide by the laws of our country and accept the guidance, management and supervision of our government. Therefore, the foreign investment economy and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan investment economy in our country do not belong to general capi- talism, but "the capitalism that we can control, the scope of whose activities we can define." What's more, the joint-venture and cooperative enterprises, some of which are even controlled by the state and the collective, may also contain the elements of socialist public economy, so they obviously belong to public ownership.

Before the reform and opening up, under the guidance of the thought of -

"keeping large in size and collective in nature", we always held a restrain and exclusive attitude toward the non-public economy. However, after t reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping, after summing up historical expe ence and analyzing the development stage of socialism in China scient! cally, made it clear that non-public economy should be developed under 1 conditions of guaranteeing the dominant position of public ownership that all kinds of ownership should be developed jointly. In practice, we restored and continuously developed non-public economy after a proc

of understanding it status and role. For example, the 12" CPC National Congress proposed that the individual economy was a necessary comple- ment to the public economy. The 13 CPC National Congress regarded the private economy, foreign investment economy and individual economy to- gether as a necessary and beneficial supplement to the public economy. _ The 14" CPC National Congress put forward the long-term development _ of various ownership systems and further emphasized that this was not an _ expedient measure, but a long-term policy. The 15 CPC National Con gress _ not only established a basic economic system that took the public owner- _ ship economy as primary with diverse other ownership forms developing _ in tandem but also made it clear that "non-public economy is an important part of China's socialist market economy." The changes in the Party's un- derstanding of the status and role of the non-public economy reflect the continuous deepening of its understanding of China's national conditions and the theory of ownership of Marxism, and show that, with an attitude of seeking truth from facts, it has scientifically summed up the practice since the reform and opening up.

In the primary stage of socialism, adhering to the principle of taking public economy as the primary and developing non-public economy, which is fundamentally determined by the low-level, multi-level and unbalanced development of productive forces in the initial stage, meets the demands of developing the socialist market economy and easing various contradictions in the modernization of our country. Firstly, the development of non-public economy plays an important role in building the microscopic subjects of the socialist market economy, since the precondition for the development of market economy is the diversification of the market subjects and the de- centralization of decision-making, while the single form of public economy is inconsistent with the development of a market economy, because non- public economy can compete with the public economy, which will promote the latter's development. Secondly, the development of non-public econo- my, especially the introduction of foreign investment economy, can provide not only reference for exploring the realization form of public economy, but also space and opportunities for the development of various realization forms. Thirdly, as a developing country, China will face many difficulties and contradictions in its process of modernization, among which the short- age of funds and the employment pressure will be sticky problems. On the one hand, China needs a huge capital investment in its modernization, which cannot be provided solely by state's financial capacity; on the other hand, a large number of private capital subjects afford the needed ideal high lue-adding investment; on the one hand, our country is the most populous untry in the world with a large unemployed population and the rapid owth of it; on the other hand, the arrangement and absorption capacity

209

f the government and the public economy is limited, with an enormous oecton ce)

employment pressure and the long-standing and prominent oe i ly of labor resources. Therefore, according to the r ae at Siecle non-public economy will be conducive to arousing aes the people, making full use of social funds, introducing for-

i i f funds for construction. In addition, it eign funds, and making up for lack of fun aera nate:

Reform and perfection of the distribution system of the primary stage of socialism

First, adhering to the distribution according to work as the primary, and a variety of distribution modes in tandem

In the primary stage of socialism, in terms of personal income distri- bution, we must adhere to distribution according to work as the primary, and a variety of distribution modes in tandem, which is determined by the nature of socialism and our national conditions of being at the initial stage. Marxists hold that the mode of production determines that of distribution, and the distribution of consumption data is the result of that of production conditions. In the primary stage of socialism, the implementation of the basic economic system that takes public ownership as primary with diverse other ownership forms developing in tandem determines that we must ad- here to distribution according to work as the primary, and a variety of distri- _ bution modes in tandem. In the socialist distribution system, we can neither negate the coexistence and development of multiple modes of distribution due to our emphasis on the dominant position of distribution according to work, nor can we topple the dominant position of distribution according to _ work due to the coexistence of a variety of distribution modes. 211

is also an effective way to increase employment t and ease employment pressure.

The 16 CPC National Congress once again lean oman a i the private and the indi : of non-public economy such as ies eae caeaeat parts of the socialist market EL ager pee " i initiati rom all walks o i i sing the initiatives of people important role in fully arou pac edme Mere i i lopment of the productiv : life and speeding up the deve we must ewer encourage, support and ape se eae aie E i he 3 Plenary Session of the the non-public economy. T cheerae i ures to be taken to vigorously p Committee further proposed meas : ae i i lopment of the non-public economy: and actively guide the deve of Lap aaenennser ts i i d policies that restrict the develop and revise laws, regulations an cies tha ee i d eliminate institutional obstacles; CO non-public economy an | ! ae -public capital to be in over market access and allow non P hibited ic utiliti dustries and fields not pro eture, public utilities and other in r i 210 one and fe aulitiont: to make sure that non-public eres are " ises in terms of investment and fina » taxa- treatment as other enterprises in sree i i de; to support the developm tion, land use and foreign trade; t henna: ium-si es and encourage qualitie small and medium-sized enterpris ne Da

i -public enterprises to operate a

to expand; to require non-pu ee ae ae i d protect the legitim g taxes according to regulations, an git ‘i nee of workers; to improve the service and supervision of non a ae rises. The report of the 17" CPC National Congress oe a | Seale promotion of fair access to the market, nanan : en - . iti ing institutional barriers to promote the nent conditions and breaking insti Meee indivi i dsmall and medium-size of individual and private economy and sm ee Besides, based on the modern property rights system, we sarees a mixed-ownership economy and further set a clear direction tor

ment of public economy.

In the socialist society, distributing personal income according to work, as a basic principle of Marxism, means that: all those who have the abil- ity to work should serve the society, receive the corresponding rewards _ according to their work, and get corresponding personal consumer goods

according to the amount and quality of the labor, with more pay for more _work and vice versa.

_ The principle of distributing individual consumer goods according to work is determined by the objective economic conditions. First of all, the blic ownership of means of production in socialism is a prerequisite for implementation of the distribution according to work, because it en- €s the equality of the laborers in terms of the means of production, which minates the possibility of possessing the labor results of others unpaid ough the possession of means of production, and provides the precondi- n for the principle of distribution according to work. Secondly, in the ialist society, the old mode of division of labor has not yet disappeared, there are major differences in the division of labor. As a means of mak- a living, labor, is the direct reason for the principle of distribution ac- hg to work, because besides recognizing the differences in labor, we d also distribute personal consumer goods according to work, so as ully arouse the enthusiasm of workers and promote the development of

_ depends on whether and to what extent the factors are recognized by the _ society. For the owners of the factors, the only way to guarantee the realiza- tion of their claim is to improve the quality of the factors and to adjust their supply according to the market needs. Therefore, the realization process _ of distribution according to thé factors of production can be streamlined is motivated by releasing the ownership benefits from these production fac- tors, by recognizing the contribution of the production factors, and by aim- ing the optimal allocation of—human and technology other—resources.

linking labor contributions with labor re- d. Finally, the development level of the socialist aaaaee ine i een | condition for the distribution according to work. As the de a shee ; 1 of productive forces is not high, social products are not ee Fa esas goods cannot fully meet people's various needs epumeent Chi it is impossible to implement distribution according .to eat h eae it is obvious that it is necessary for socialist societies ake Cceuton according to work, which is an objective economic:

law that is independent of people's will.

Second, the distribution according to factors of production is one important distribution principle of the socialist market economy

socialist production by closely

However, recognizing the rationality of distribution according to the fac- tors of production does not mean that the factors—alone—are the sources of value. Actually, the creation of value and the distribution of value are two different issues, because the only source of value is the laborer's work. It must be acknowledged that the economic basis for the distribution accord- ing to factors of production does not lie in its participation in the creation of value, but in the way value created by labor is distributed, otherwise, the Marxist theory of labor value and surplus value would be negated. In fact, capital, land and other factors of production do not create value, and distribution according to the factors of production is a matter of distribu- tion of the value created by labor, which fundamentally speaking, should meet the needs of production and development, and should be conducive to promoting the development of social productive forces. By recognizing the legitimacy of the distribution according to the factors of production, we can 213 improve the efficiency of using the factors, because only by acknowledging its legitimacy and allowing the owners of the factors to invest directly or indirectly and gain a certain amount of income from the value created by labor, can the production factors—human and technology other—be used effectively and rationally, which will alleviate the shortage of these produc- tion factors of production and improve its efficiency.

Second, the distrib cco. important distribution princip pean There is no fundamental incompatibility between cararieaet pe to work, the distribution principle of socialism, and ot im nodes i I stead, they can work together towards the objec aa - 1 ment of productive forces and realizing common prosperity. th, ee CEC iNtional Congress, explicitly pointed out to: adhere to ‘ seek of distribution according to work as the primary, and eae L istributi des in tandem, and combine the distribution a naar acebation according to factors of production...allow and en- Hee to Ae into consideration factors of eae ee ae i ‘ctribution." It classified a variety OF (1 ze arene renee factors of production", and put forward . ee nae of distribution according to work and the distribution accord- age of production", which was a major development of the ye eae re that the 15° CPC National Congress papi : co cre Neioial Congress further emphasized: "the principle pare fe 16 ccording to the contribution of labor, capital, technology an on a ee d the perfection of the distribution system of distribution accordyas: omen TCT and a variety of distribution modes in tandem. fe) >

ion in i istribution The essence of considering factors of production in income d

ically, sine

is to realize the ownership of the factors of aucun oars of produce" ‘ ; i us fac ion process is the interaction of varlo oo ce ens use value creation are done on the premise ©

th value creation and er a ae and consumption of factors of production. al wal Sie factors of production, any input of the factors oe ee ee ay i fore, considering factors of produ : to claim the benefit. Therefore, , distribution follows the development law of market economy

ion i ket © Distribution according to factors of production in the aaa . which involves factor owners and can improve et a Sas ee istributi be realized through mar chat is a distribution mode that can ae ate realization of the claim for the benefit in regard to the production!

In the socialist market economy, combining distribution according to ork and distribution according to factors of production will be conducive io implementing the principle of the priority of efficiency with due consid- tation to fairness, and beneficial to encouraging a part of the people and a art of the regions to get rich first and eventually achieve common prosper- In the further development of the socialist market economy, with the ustment and perfection of the ownership structure and the development the mixed ownership economy and the factors market, distribution ac- ding to factors of production will become more and more important. refore, under the precondition that distribution according to work plays main role, it is necessary to combine distribution according to work and tribution according to factors of production in order to the develop the lalist market economy, which is a major breakthrough in the Marxist alist distribution theory.

cono

a certain period, we must recognize and allow differences in the level of wealth, which is determined by the economy. Firstly, it is the inevitable result of distribution according to work. Though distribution according to work does not involve any class difference, it recognizes differences in personal talent and work ability. Due to differences in physical strength, intelligence and diligence, workers receive different labor rewards. Even if they receive the same rewards, differences in the level of wealth will still occur due to different degrees of family burdens. Secondly, it is the inevitable result of the implementation of various forms of ownership and multiple modes of distribution, which will also result in greater differences in income among different members of the society. Thirdly, it is also the _ inevitable result of developing the socialist commodity economy, in which "the existence of the law of value and competition will inevitably lead to the survival of the fittest, which is independent of people's will. Fourthly, it is in full compliance with the law of development. In the development _ process of all things, imbalance is always definite, while balance is relative. Therefore, on the path to realizing common prosperity, uneven develop- ment is inevitable, and it is impossible to realize the same level of prosper- _ ity simultaneously for all. Allowing some areas, some enterprises and indi- _ viduals to get rich first through legitimate business and honest work will set _ an example that will affect their neighbors, and people in other regions and _ other units will follow suit. In this way, the entire national economy will 215 _ continue to develop in a wavy manner and people of all nationalities in the ~~ _ country can get rich fast.

Third, allow a part of the people and a part of the regions get rich first and ultimately achieve common prosperity

In the past, the biggest problem of SS nee a eS Nes ae eae for those who do cutterent peat rack Ik 1978, Deng Xiaoping put forward the new policy of - amounts Oo : ecalitarianien ie. the practice of "eating from the same aia ‘ wing and encouraging some people and some areas 0 Bet big ae a h ik influence and promote the development of the entire rich first w a He emphasized: "In economic policy, I think we should national econo mon and enterprises and some workers and peasants to earn ue aie more benefits sooner than others, in accordance with their mo

ine se ay hard work and greater contributions to society. "J have consistently maintained that some

Later, he pointed out again: id be allowed to prosper before others, al-

cople and some regions shou lows ee with the goal of common prosperity.""°

is the objective and the most important

© realize common prosperity eps task of Bea ees of the nature of socialism, because the ee on socialism is to develop social productive forces, anuuee ee

: .

i i d cultural life, and realize the commo eople's growing material an life, " cae : i However, common prosperity 1s not equal to averag g = eae pee idance of egalitarianism, d synchronic affluence. In the past, under the gui anc a e sa rosperity was often understood as realizing an gies : ees me rate, and people preferred to be all poor rather than aitter f

i ther affluence. This kind of thinking of "not worry!e about yreeates a ne-sided focusing to the uneven distribution of income a . ee _ aay lead to the common backwardness and poverty and the

tion of the socialist system. | should not only make sure that enterprises that d those who work honestly get rich first.

i ‘< widened rationally, but also prevent disparity be Te ene and stick to the objective of sane - Allowing and encouraging some people and some sia ks : fi rst through honest labor and legal business, and asking those sie : sat should help others get rich is in line with the objective econo

tions in the primary stage of socialism. . alism, the policy of allowing @ part to get rich first and differences in the s implemented, becat

However, it must be noted that the difference in the level of wealth aused by allowing and encouraging a part of the people and a part of the egions to get rich first is fundamentally different from that between the ich and the poor caused by polarization and the brutal exploitation in the lass society. Firstly, polarization is the product of private ownership and he commodity economy based on private ownership. In the class society, some people get wealthy and become exploiters, while others lose their ans of production and have to be exploited, which will result in poverty d bankruptcy. While in the socialist society, encouraging some people d some areas to get rich first is a major policy aimed at eliminating egali- lanism on the premise of guaranteeing the primary role of public own- hip, and realizing common prosperity is a matter of time, unrelated to S differentiation. Secondly, the purpose of implementing this policy is achieve common prosperity. Getting rich through hard work and abid- _ by law is allowed and encouraged, while people who illegally infringe interests of others and make huge profits by illegal means will be pun- severely. Thirdly, the state will adopt effective measures to regulate sive personal income obtained through legitimate activities in order

Our distribution policy legitimately run their businesses an

In the primary stage of soci eople and a part of the regions first of 6 on the path to common prosperity 1

, Vol.2, p.152.

Oo iaoping, 2nd Edition 12 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 4n Vol.3, p.166.

13. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist Edition,

After the founding of New China, our government attached great im- portance to the social security work and was devoted to the establishment and development of a social security system that included social relief, so- cial insurance, social welfare and social care. After more than 50 years of unremitting efforts, we have made tremendous achievements in the work, ncluding safeguarding people's basic livelihood, stabilizing social order and.ensuring the smooth progress of economic construction.

to prevent great disparities in personal income. Fourthly, ees mn sures will be taken to carry out anti-poverty work, so that people who ae tricken areas to shake off poverty and

ich first can help the poverty-s Sauk to get rid of poverty as soon as possible, and embark on the path

of common prosperity. While encouraging some people and some regions to sta beak i should be paid attention to preventing polarization. ee : eo pointed out that socialism can prevent polarization. he sa i The oi of socialism is to make all our people prosperous, not to crea' ad a - If our policies led to polarization, it would mean ee ues ee : new bourgeoisie emerged, it would mean that we hai st a s Be it path."'* "So long as the public sector plays a predominan 5

economy, polarization can be avoided."

Fourth, the establishment of multi-level social security system

At present, we are confronted with five major challenges in the social ecurity work: firstly, the coverage of urban social security is still not wide enough, with a large number of workers from collective, private and for- eign investment enterprises, free-lancers, individual businesses and migrant workers uncovered; secondly, there are difficulties in raising social security funds; evasion and delay in the payment of premiums is rampant; the ad- justment of local fiscal expenditure structure is inadequate, with great de- pendence on the central government; and some channels for supplementing social security funds have not yet been opened up; thirdly, with the aging of population, requirements on pension and medical insurance become higher, but capital accumulation and safeguarding services are far from satisfac- ory; fourthly, with the acceleration of structural adjustment and the acces- ion to the WTO, some industries in our country are impacted, resulting in increasing unemployment, which exerts unprecedented pressure on unem- loyment insurance; fifthly, since we have just begun to explore the social 217 ecurity in rural areas and small towns, the development of the system in most of the areas is still in its infancy.

Fourth, the establis

i urity refers to the system of distributi nan Reine the state and society through legislation, wt tees the basic living rights of all members of society, aan ss noe have special difficulties in life. Aiming at aati ce is on of labor force, it is also the precondition of the — prog pee _ reproduction. Social security is a huge system, main eae 216 relief, social insurance, social welfare, social care an

of the development of the commodity economy at a cer- . lays a very important role in economic develop- ment and social progress. Firstly, it can maintain ia rosea! ian ievi from worries over their heattn, : of workers by relieving them cit a isabili loyment, and providing necessary ness, death, disability and unemp ing necessey ‘ons i ir chi °s education and vocational training, a tions for their and their children's e me i i their labor skills and scientific tu they can continuously improve nee i he social and economic reiatio level. Secondly, it can regulate t Soman i i bers, and distributing them to ne funds from the society and its members, an 7 have difficulties in maintaining basic livelihood, which will narrow the &

‘ it

between the rich and the poor and regulate economic relations. Th

ic livelihood ©

ee ‘ ili uaranteeing the basic liveli c

it can maintain social stability Dy 8 lations, which will elim

i justi omic re members of society and adjusting econ: lations, w ee the possible destabilizing factors that may arise 1n this srt 5 it is necessary to reform and perfect the social security syste

i i chant to promote economic restructuring, transform the operating me oe state-owned enterprises and establish a socialist market econom

on and redistribution of

As the product

tain stage, social security p To build an overall well-to-do society and develop a socialist market

conomy, we should establish and perfect the social security system that s in with the level of economic development, which is also a fundamental lan for maintaining social stability and long-term peace and stability of the country. Based on the actual conditions in different places, we should ry to realize the "independence of enterprises and institutions, diversified \ding sources, standardization of the guarantee system and socialization management services", by adhering to the principle of broad coverage, propriate standards, and the combination of basic insurance and supple-

ntary programs, so as to establish and perfect the social security system Chinese characteristics.

he 3" Plenary Session of the 16 CPC Central Committee put forward € specific measures to speed up the construction of a social security m that fits in with the level of economic development: to improve asic pension insurance system for enterprise employees through inte- fg social pooling and individual accounts, and gradually funding the vidual account; to include urban workers into the basic pension insur-

to establish and improve the provincial pension insurance funds; after

ae ees eee me "WU. 14. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.110-111 15 Ibid., p.149.

218

oe Spee radual implement provincial improving ie se ere amon re lement national coordination coordination, oe of the pension; to perfect the unemployment Insurance sites wees ie € the basic livelihood guarantee for laid-off workers ine ci pee nee with unemployment insurance, to continuously, Davai basic medical insurance system for urban workers, carry out improve the reform on health care and drug production and circula the jopedumeae the coverage of basic medical insurance, and improve ae Rai S gseane and multilevel medical security system; to One i cial ue 7 lement worker's injury and maternity insurance; to actively ane v cnn of social security system of agate nae p lic institutions; to perfect the minimum living allowan y m a ‘dents and determine the standards and methods of the insur- for urban resi ariety of ways including the transfer of part of state-owned ance; to aa to law to enrich the social security fund; to strengthen the ae one ociel insurance funds, and expand the coverage of the collec- collection ) late the supervision of the funds in order to ensure the safety of yeas rage qualified enterprises to set up supplementary Inu them; to ee ies develop commercial pension and medical insurance; programs ae a rimary pension security in rural areas on family basis with to combine the oes and state relief; and to explore the establishment of ee eaeemuith living allowance in rural areas where conditions per- ee Paes 17 CPC National Congress further pointed out that it was Neces- a d the establishment of a social security system covering — co ty | residents, and to ensure people's basic livelihood, base cla om naa Social assistance and social welfare, with a focus . on social ins ee medical care and minimum living allowance system, basic pension, ted by charity and commercial insurance, to accelerate the "a ee the eal security system, and to further fulfill the basic ate of establishing the social security system.

Building Socialist Democratic Politics with Chinese Characteristics

Exploration of the correct path for socialist political construction in China

First, there is no democracy without socialism and no socialism without democracy

The term "democracy" first appeared in the book The Histories of Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian. It's combination of the words "

peo- ple" and "power," meaning the power of the people, also known as "

rule of the majority" or "the will of the majority." In societies in which classes and State exist, democrac

y manifests itself primarily as a form of State, a state formation. As Lenin said: "Democracy in Greek literally means the power ‘the people."

In the long process of history, there had been the city-state, slave-owners' mocracy of the Greece and Rome, other forms of political civil rms, city parliaments of the autonomous cities in the feudal age, ve evolved to parliamentarian monarchies and finally evo atic republics as the democracy of the western bourgeois

italist societies. However, evaluating the issue from the nce of democracy,

ization which Ived to demo- democracy in aspect of class | these democracies in history were the democracies ' could only be enjoyed by the minority exploiting classes, namely the g class, and the masses of working people are in the position of essed and exploited. When analyzing the

thens, Engels pointed out profoundly th

being "democracy" in the Republic at there were about 455,000

elected Works of Lenin, 3rd Edition, Vol. 4, p. 32.

First, democracy is the essential requirement of socialism. There would be no socialism without democracy. It is stressed again in the report of CPC's 17* National Congress that "the more developed the socialist is, the more developed the democracy is". The socialist system, as a new type of social form which replaces thé system of exploitation with the non-exploi- tation system for the first time in human history, implements the public ownership of the production means and distribution according to work. This kind of social economic foundation inevitably determines the implementa- tion of the social system of people being the masters of the country in terms of superstructure. On the eve of the October Revolution, Lenin pointed out profoundly: "socialism is impossible without democracy because: (1) the proletariat cannot perform the socialist revolution unless it prepares for it by the struggle for democracy; (2) victorious socialism cannot consolidate _ its victory and bring humanity to the withering away of the state without implementing full democracy."

inhabitants of Athens at that time, of whom only 90,000, the slave-own-. ers and free men have enjoyed democratic rights. But the total number of 365,000 slaves were only production tools and property of others, Le, talk- ing machines. "The slaves also belong to the population: as against the 365,000 slaves, the 90,000 Athenian citizens constitute only a privileged

class.'" 7

Since the bourgeois revolution in modern times, the capitalist democ- racy has replaced the feudal autocracy, which is a great progress of human democracy. But the modern capitalist democracy, in essence, 1s only the | bourgeois democracy and the state system of the bourgeois dictatorship, and it actually maintains the ruling and political interests of the bourgeoisie. The basic contradiction of capitalist society is the contradiction between the socialization of production and the private possession of production means. In the democratic system, the contradiction is reflected as the con- tradiction between the social nature of democracy itself and the monopoly of democratic rights by the minority. With the development of capitalism, the inherent hypocrisy and one-sidedness of the capitalism democracy be- comes more and more obvious. Facts have proved that human society has — never experienced the people's democracy ruled by the majority of people in the real sense under the exploitation system based on private ownership.

After the 3" Plenary Session of the 11 Central Committee of the CPC, the CPC has also become more aware of the correctness of this assertion. Deng Xiaoping once again emphasized in 1979: "There is no socialism without democracy and no socialist modernization.">

In 1980, he further pointed out: "We should continue to develop socialist democracy and improve the socialist legal system. This is a basic, consis- 22] tent policy that has been carried out by the Central Committee ever since ——

its 3° Plenary Session, and there must be no wavering in its enforcement in future.'

220 With the proletariat, which represents the advanced productive force, —— appearing on the historical stage, the replacement of capitalist ino by a new democratic system, namely socialist democracy, has become : inevitable development of history. Socialist democracy is the first no democracy under non-exploitation system since the human society "" the class society. It enables the workers, peasants and intellectua s who — make up the majority of the people to enjoy the most extensive cn Its essence exactly is people being the masters of the country. This is a - the most fundamental political objective of the proletarian revolt Marx and Engels pointed out in the Manifesto of the Communist 7 ov "We have seen above, that the first step in the revolution by the we a class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle

of democracy."

Jiang Zemin brilliantly summed up this indivisible relationship between Socialism and democracy as follows: "Socialism is the cause of the people, the cause of the people masses' conscious participation and the realization of their own interests. People are the masters of our society and the masters

f the socialist cause. People's democracy is the essential requirement of cialism.""

Hu Jintao proposed more vividly in the report of the CPC's 17" National Ongress: "People's democracy is the life of socialism".

Second, democracy is the objective need for the construction of the cause ocialist modernization, and there would be no socialist modernization hout democracy. Reviewing the development course of international so- lalism, there is a general and extremely important historical experience.

Therefore, democracy is always an important goal assiduously po by socialism, and an important and essential means to oe an velop socialism. For the socialism, "neople's democracy 1s Hie a = ism", as pointed out by Hu Jintao in the report of the CPC's 1

‘nly i ing two aspects: Congress. It mainly includes the following P Complete Works of Lenin, Vol. 28, p. 168, Beijing, People's Publishing House, 1990. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd edition, Vol.2, p.168. Ibid., p. 359,

CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the National Congress" (Vol. 1), p. 622f.

ition, Vol. 4, p.171. 2 Selected Works of Marx and Engels, 2nd Edition, 1, 3 Selected Works of Marx and Engels, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/

works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch02.htm.

easant associations, workers, peasants and soldiers' representative so- iet, councils, people's representative conference, and other practices and ganizations. These claims and practices were in sharp contrast to the Kuomintang's dictatorial regime at that time, which reflected the people's wishes and won the support of the people. In July 1945, Mao Zedong, in conversation with the famous patriotic democratic people Huang Yanpei and. others, particularly pointed out that Chinese Communist Party had und a new path in the course of leading the people's revolution.

Namely, if the socialist country is not fully democratic or if the democrae: is destroyed the order of the socialist country will be in chaos. The state er will be in face of turbulence and crisis, and the economic constructi ! a In the new historical period, on the basis of sum-

will suffer major setbacks. 7 ming up the historical experience and lessons, Chinese Communist Party

fully affirms the status and role of democracy, and regards a creep of socialist democracy as an extremely important strategic eo ne i : building socialism with Chinese characteristics. In ane si "a the communist party is to lead and support people to ee ae of administering the country, ensure that the people exercise gem elec-

tions, democratic decision-making, democratic management nic ic supervision, and enjoy extensive rights and freedoms in pales " the law; respect and guarantee human rights. The sae ion oe a modernization is not only economic construction, but ag ae is Po it- ical construction and spiritual civilization construction. ma y as - ment of democracy can totally mobilize and play the ent pie : : 4 ye and creativity of the masses of the people, and ae the vere of socialist modernization; only full development of seek ae the lines, guidelines and policies formulated by Chinese se oe truly accord with the will, ii sorte BY ne ae BS a. the basic national conaiti is of CGS 222 eee grand goal of building a "strong, democratic, civilized

peace ae 2 and harmonious socialist modernization country".

"This new path is democracy. It is only by letting the people supervise the government that the government cannot afford to relax. Only when ev- eryone is responsible for it will there be no political death."*

In September 1949, on the eve' of the founding of the new China, the Chinese Communist Party and the democratic parties, the people's groups and democratic personages without party, under the call of the Chinese Communist Party for democratic government building, jointly held the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to discuss the plan for the establishment of a people's Republic and estab- ish new China's national system and organizational form of the regime in accordance with the principle of democracy. The Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which was adopted at the meeting, stipulates clearly that: "The People's Republic of China 273 is a state of new democracy, namely a state of people's democracy, and —— implementing the people's democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the working class, based on the alliance of workers and peasants, and in unity with the democratic classes and the peoples of the country"; "the state power of the People's Republic of China belongs to the people. The organs of the people exercising state power shall be the people's congresses at all vels and the people's governments at all levels". On October 1, 1949, € People's Republic of China was founded. This marked a fundamental ange in the political status of the Chinese people, and led to the realiza- nn of the great leap of changing from the feudal autocracy with a history more than 2,000 years and the failure of copying the western democratic litical model in modern times to the construction of a new type of peo- democracy with Chinese characteristics.

Second, the historical development of socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics

Chinese Communist Party is the vanguard of the Chinese ees: «  i le and the Chinese nation. s! d the vanguard of the Chinese peop t oii in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party has oe oT sponsible for the realization and development of the people S pais _ Therefore, in the long-term revolutionary struggle, the Chinese ey : Party has thoroughly affirmed the status of people for sane ee - ili Je's revolution, and gon 3 ward, mobilized the people for the peop e's sp i lizing the fundamental! in f wholeheartedly representing and reali : fhe Chinese people and a path truly pursing and implementing democra

. . *. Pp During the new democratic revolution, the Chinese Communist !

i i i on had creatively combined the universal truth of Marxism with the ¢

reality of the Chinese revolution, put forward democratic oo s "workers and peasants democracy", "people's democracy 2 ae racy", constantly enriched and developed the democratic peer Marxism, and successively created the realization forms . iene itics which are suitable for Chinese actual conditions and ca'

ge > cone ple being the masters of the country, such as striking workers' ¢

1953, the first universal suffrage with unprecedented scale was held itrywide. The people, through the election of their own representatives, cised their right to be the masters of their own affairs, and convened People's congresses at a higher level. In September 1954, the holding of itst meeting of the First National People's Congress and the launch of irst Constitution of the People's Republic of China marked the formal

eng Xianzhi, Jin Chong (editors in chief): "Mao Zedong Biography: 1949-1976", p. jing, Central Party Literature Press.

emocratic politics with Chinese characteristics, and raises the theory of

‘ eople's congress in the whole country, ; a eis ie establishment of the system of the peop 8 emocratic political construction in China to a new realm.

On this basis, China has gradually established the system of the people' ngress, the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation ia cua munist Party, and the system of regional ethnic auton

led by Chinese Com nal HS omy. ihe the basic institutional framework of the socialist democratic

iti ‘th Chinese characteristics. The Chinese people have truly be- ieee sae of their own affairs and the masters of the country, society and their own destiny. ck | The socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics is the un- precedented creation in the development history of democratic ponies It has no ready-made experiences for references, nor smooth eh come From the late 1950s, because of the disturbance and influence re) } e "left thought, the construction of democracy in China had ee ups and downs. In particular, the 10-year "Cultural Bevolunon cause : a to China's democratic politics. The so-called Great mea imple- mented during that period seriously undermined the socialist = ee weakened the leadership of the Party and brought disasters to t : E at the country and the people. In December 1978, the Party held the ae Session of the 11% Central Committee to bring order out of chaos an " rect the mistake of the "Cultural Revolution", which weaned ie : a cal period of implementing reform and opening policy. ms a the 204 ship of Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese communists and the age ee began a new exploration of building socialist democracy ie Chi " characteristics. Under the support and promotion of Deng pe. i reform of the Party and the state leadership system was carrie : : i ; i, : life tenure of the leading posts was gradually abolished. The oe itu a i the People's Republic of China revised in 1982 summarizes the pr " of democratic political construction since the founding of new : a makes clear stipulations on the basic principles and basic shia ) "_ ist democratic politics in the form of constitution, which great yo : the course of the construction of socialist democratic politics in :

After the 4 Plenary Session of the 13" Central Committee, the eo generation of central leading collective of the Party, with J iang mine ee core, further explored and promoted the socialist democratic po : : : struction under the new historical conditions including reform ee = ' up and the development of socialist market economy. The one Chinese democratic politics entered a new stage as a result. On' Pe i summing up the history and practical experience of China's sae, a cratic politics, the 16" National Congress of the Party a . velop socialist democratic politics, the most fundamenta - a _ Party's leadership, people being masters of the country se hee organically". This conclusion reveals the basic law of building

Since the 16 National Congress of the Party, the Party Central Committee, _with Hu Jintao as the General Secretary, continuously promoted the self-im- _provement and development of the socialist political system through deep- ning reform and institutional innovation, further improved the democratic ystem, enriched the forms of democracy, widened the channels for democ- racy, and expanded and safeguarded the exercise of democratic rights by e people. In recent years, the Party and the government have established and improved the democratic supervision mechanism for the power opera- tion from the aspects including the inner-party supervision, the supervision of the National People's Congress, the administration supervision, the judi- cial supervision and the public opinion supervision. The system of people's congresses at all levels in China is further improved. The speed of legisla- tion is accelerated. The legislation quality is improved and the legislation process is open. The role of the representatives of the people's congress is further played; the system of multi-party cooperation and political consul- tation led by Chinese Communist Party has been strengthened, which has promoted the development of deliberative democracy in China; the con- struction of ethnic regional autonomous system is further promoted, and the law of ethnic regional autonomous has been further implemented; great progress has been made in the construction of grass-roots democracy. At 225 the same time, the Party's inner-party democracy has expanded further: the central Committee of the Party sets an example. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee reports to the Central Committee. The major decisions of the central government are consulted in a broader context, and the ex- perimental reform of the Party's internal democracy, such as the permanent system of the party representative congress has been carried out. In 2011, hina solemnly declared to the world that: the socialist legal system with hinese characteristics has been formed. This marks a new stage of China's verall implementation of the basic strategy of governing the country by w; at the same time, it is also a solemn declaration: China unswervingly nplements the basic strategy of ruling the country according to law, and ds a socialist country ruled by law.

Third, the distinctive characteristics of socialist democratic political construction in China

he over 90 years history of the Chinese Communist Party has fully ed that the realization and development of people's democracy is the Wwerving goal of the Chinese communists. The history since the found- of new China, especially since the reform and opening up, has shown the Chinese people have successfully taken a development path of so- ist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics under the leadership

China's democracy is the democracy with democratic centralism as the undamental organization principle and the mode of activity. The democrat- c centralism is the fundamental organization principle and the leadership rinciple of the Chinese state power. The implementation of democratic entralism requires the full development of democracy, collective delibera- ion, and. the full expression and reflection of the will and demands of the people. On this basis, the correct views are collected and collective deci- ions are made to implement and meet the wills and requirements of the eople. The implementation of democratic centralism also requires "respect or the majority and protection of the minority" and opposes to the "great

emocracy" of anarchism and the supremacy of the will of the individuals ver the collective.

of Chinese Communist Party. This path has distinctive Chinese characteris, tics and institutional advantages.

China's democracy is the people's democracy led by Chinese Comms Party. Without Chinese Communist Party, there would be ate ina and there would be no people's democracy, which is an objective a prow by history. The Chinese people become the masters of their ow is airs under the leadership of Chinese Communist Party through pea : hat and bitter struggling. China's democratic political system is = i the Chinese people under the leadership of Chinese ee aa x development and improvement of the democratic politica system sss ina is carried out under the leadership of Chinese Communist Party. ; € lead- ership of Chinese Communist Party has fundamentally guaranteed people being masters of the country.

Democracy in China is the democracy that the most people i the mas- _ ters of the country. People being the masters of the country "4 t e essence of socialist democracy in China. In China, the public ownership rae | is the economic foundation of the socialist system. In the primary i ‘ socialism, the country adheres to the basic economic system ier pu : ownership as the pillar and all forms of ownership developing toge " insists on the distribution system with distribution according bast ; 226 main body and coexistence of various modes of distabunon: Chis ee —— cided, from the economic foundation, that China's cake via is " u . the manipulation of capital and is not the democracy of ae mino ee is the democracy of the majority es = sae e sm : ee njoying democratic rights includes a ost : oe by law. The people's representatives and ae a People's Political Consultative Conference) members in hina ae tensive mass basis. They include not only the representatives ier a farmers and cadres, but also the representatives of the democra a and the new social classes. Representatives and members lari ia political affairs and discuss the national affairs under the unifie : of the Party, so as to absorb the public opinion in the widest sense.

The current democratic system in China can provide effective political system guarantee for the reform and opening up and modernization con- struction of China. Under the premise of adhering to the socialist funda- mental political system, we reform and improve the specific system of socialism. We creatively combine the control means of market economy with the basic system of socialism, and realize the transformation from the ngle planned economy system to the establishment of the socialist market economy system; based on the reality of the primary stage of socialism in hina, we have established the basic economic system of keeping public ownership as the mainstay of the economy and allowing diverse forms of 227 ownership to develop side by side; we actively participate in international mpetition, join in a series of important international organizations such as ¢ World Trade Organization (WTO), and actively respond to various risks d challenges from the international community; we are vigilant against kinds of decadent cultural erosion and at the same time absorb all the sitive achievements of civilization including capitalism with broad mind d self-confidence to maintain the vitality of socialism.

Of course, China's democracy also requires constant development and provement. Serving as a national system, democracy should go through a ig, arduous and gradual process of historical development before attain- etfection. This is because democracy, as a kind of social superstruc- €, is bound to be restricted by certain social and economic foundation. China, which is a socialist country based on backward economy and €, there is still a considerable gap between the theoretical superiority Socialist democracy and the concrete practice of socialist democracy in ty due to the remnants of the old society and various historical condi- Therefore, on the one hand, the socialist democracy is the highest i of human democracy development so far. On the other hand, socialist eracy should go through a long term of continuous construction and vement before truly achieving the theoretical height in practice.

China's democracy is a democracy with the people's donot . : torship as a reliable guarantee. The people's democratic rant : a one hand, requires the implementation of the broadest sae s the people, respect for and guarantee of human tae ms " power is in the hands of the people and serves the people; on ae it requires to use sanctions of dictatorship against various a such as the destruction of the socialist system, Some we rity and public security, infringement of the personal and a : of citizens, corruption, bribery and dereliction of duty, SO as co fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people.

Jasses participating in state power include not only working class, peas- try class and urban petty bourgeoisie, but also the national bourgeoisie certain historical period. After entering socialism in 1956, national bour- eoisie inherited from the old China was dis-propertied by fair compensa- on, thus eliminated: And the'vast majorityof them had been transformed to self-supported workers and participated in the state power as a member f the people. The object of dictatorship only targeted a very small number f hostile elements. Secondly, from the perspective of the relationship be- jeen the parties, multi-party cooperation led by the communist party is ad- pted. Under the leadership of Chinese Communist Party, the implementa- on of multi-party cooperation is a characteristic and advantage of China's litical system. Third, from the concept of expression, the people's demo- cratic dictatorship is in line with the national conditions of China and has its outstanding advantages. The formulation of the people's democratic dic- tatorship more comprehensively and clearly expresses the two interrelated aspects, namely the people's democracy and the people's dictatorship.

Socialist democratic political system with Chinese characteristics

First, the system of people's democratic dictatorship

On the eve of the founding of New China, in his article "On the People' Democratic Dictatorship", Mao Zedong pointed out clearly: "The combina- tion of these two aspects, democracy for the people and dictatorship over the reactionaries, is the people's democratic dictatorship."

This is the basic state system of China. The so-called state system in essence is the class essence of the state, namely which class or alliance of classes, lead and control the state power. The Constitution of the People's _ Republic of China clearly stipulates that China is a socialist country under the people's democratic dictatorship. It is led by the working class and is based on the alliance of workers and peasants. This is the fundamental na-

ture of the state in China.

The people's democratic dictatorship is first and foremost a broad de- mocracy for the majority of the people. Under current historical conditions of China, the scope of people's democracy has expanded unprecedentedly, In addition to the original classes of people in China, which included work- ers, peasants, cadres and intellectuals, there emerged the new social chs such as the entrepreneurs and technicians of private science and technology enterprises, the management technicians employed by foreign enterprises, the entrepreneurs of private enterprises, the employees in intermediary or- ganizations, the free and self-employed professionals, and so on. They are all the builders of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics, namely a part of the people as a political category. Therefore, the people's mee : dictatorship of China has a broad class basis and gives the people road democratic rights. The people not only have the right to administer state affairs, but also have the right to manage the economy and science, and educational undertakings and the right to manage the social organ tion and social life of the grassroots. On the other hand, the people s demo cratic dictatorship has made clear that it is necessary to exercise ‘ ship over the handful of bad elements and hostile forces opposing social and social revolution, who are hostile to and attempt to undermine socl construction, so as to protect the socialist democratic system.

Second, the people's congresses system

The state system determines the form of government, and the system of government reflects the state system and adapts to the state system. The so- called system of government is the organizational form of the state power. Chinese Communist Party led the Chinese people to victory through the long-term struggles of the new-democratic revolution, and finally estab- lished the system of government that was adapted to the people's democratic dictatorship, namely the people's congress system. This system is the basic political system of the Chinese people being the masters of the country.

The system of the people's congress is the most distinctive feature of the socialist democratic politics in China, and is embodied in the following aspects:

First, all power of the state belongs to the people, which is the political sis, fundamental principle and core content of the system of the people's mgress of China. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China ipulates: "all power of the People's Republic of China belongs to the peo- e" and "the organs for the people to exercise state power are the National 2ople's Congress and the local people's congresses at all levels". Under e system of the people's congress, all people, in accordance with the prin- ple of democratic centralism, regularly elect the people's representatives ough democratic elections to constitute the people's congresses at all Vels as the organs of state power; the people's representatives shall elect rt organs of state power through the people's congress to realize the ministration of the affairs of the people; the people's representatives, ugh the people's congress, represent the will of the people to deter- € all major national and local affairs. The National People's Congress [pages 230–1 missing OCR]

Third, multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the CPC

The people's democratic dictatorship has distinctive Chinese char istics: firstly, evaluating from the class structure and the goals of th tatorship, in the new democratic period and the transition to socialisn

ane 5, = 9 Selected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Vol. 4, p. 1475, Beijing, People's Publishing House, 1991.

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252

ulti-party system of capitalist countries. First, in the political party system f China, the Chinese Communist Party is the ruling party. The democratic parties accept the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. They are the close friends of the Chinese Communist Party, working together with the Chinese Communist Party of the socialist cause. They are the participatory parties rather than the parties out of power, let alone the opposition parties. Second, adhering to the leadership of Chinese Communist Party and ad- hering.to the four cardinal principles are the political basis for multi-party cooperation. Third,. all democratic parties participate in the state power, the administration of state affairs, the national policy and leadership candidates consultation, and the formulation of national guidelines, policies, laws and regulations. Fourth, Chinese Communist Party and the democratic parties all take the constitution as the basic criterion of activity, All democratic par- s are protected by the constitution and enjoy political freedom, organiza- tional independence and legal equality within the scope of the constitution.

Governing the country according to law and building a socialist country under the rule of law

First, the basic strategy that CPC represents and leads the people to control and run the state power

The implementation of the rule of law and the construction of a socialist tate governed according to law is the basic strategy of the Party to lead the people to govern the country, the objective need to develop the social- market economy, and which is an important symbol of the progress of

ial civilization, and an important guarantee for the long-term stability of country.

The so-called governance of state according to law refers to the fun- ental principle of governing the country. In September 1997, for the t time in Jiang Zemin's report to the 15 CPC National Congress, Jiang min solemnly outlined the principle of governing the state according to as the basic governance strategy of the party and the state. He pointed «This is a scientific definition of the rule of law, and also clearly shows it the rule of law proposed by the 15" National Congress of the Party is the flaw with Chinese characteristics and is the rule of law integrating the

and procedural rules and ensure that the state organs exercise their powers and perform their duties in accordance with the statutory powers and pro- cedures. We should prevent the abuse of power by government or govern- ment workers at all levels, and punish law breaking while in charge of their enforcement and corruption through misuse of law.

_ Fourth, the rule of law and the leadership of the Party are mutually rein- forcing relations. We should not replace government with the Party, nor re- place government with the law. The rule of law serves as the basic strategy for the Party to lead people to govern the country, showing that the Party is the advocate of the rule of law. The Party guides people to make laws and carry out activities within the scope of the constitution and the law. The rule of law and the leadership of the Party are basically the same. However, in practice, we should realize the harmonious unification of the two parts. We should also constantly explore the basic mode and basic method of the Party's leadership in governing the country according to law, and formulate the legal principle of the relationship among the ruling party, the National People's Congress and the government.

adherence to the Party's leadership, the development of aderone and the strict accordance with the law. Subsequently, in the povcnines amen ment adopted at the second session of the 9 National People : Picts: the content of "the rule of law and building a socialist country ruled by aw was formally written."'" 4 : Second, the basic connotations and important significance of governing the country according to law The rule of law is to carry out administration by law. The ne of law is to carry out governance by law. The rule of law shan ates the rule of man. Its core is to handle affairs according to law an ee the country according to law. In the history of the Party and ene oe _ proposing the policy of "the rule of law and building a es ne ry ruled by law" and taking the rule of law as the basic strategy or : o to guide the people to administer the country is a significant gi re : the theory and practice of socialist democracy construction with profoun | connotation. | - First, the rule of law is the dialectical unity of developing a . mocracy and strengthening socialist legal system. again i i and the rule of law are closely linked and interdependent. a y under a ; cratic political system can the rule of law find the oe unio 238 development. And the historical experiences ee ly ie a" ~~ people's democratic rights cannot be turned into ee ~ if such systems and laws are not stable, continuous and author , the people's democratic rights will not be guaranteed.

Fifth, the core of the rule of law is to uphold the authority of the consti- tution and the laws, and govern the country based on the constitution and he laws. The national people, state organs staff and social organizations, enterprises and institutions must strictly follow the socialist legal system 239 with the constitution as the core. Everyone should be equal before the law. —— No one and no organization should have the privilege of overcoming the onstitution and the laws. And administrative regulations and rules cannot e inconsistent with the constitution and the laws.

Second, the subject of governing the country according to law are _ masses under the leadership of the party. Who will rule a on cording to law has a fundamental sce: - prea a : . oe "_ i i inted out: "Our socialist demo € rerauena eae by the people of all ethnic groups across the Couns essence is that the people should be the masters of the country. This is exactly is the basic feature of socialist democracy. If i we are taken as the object of the rule of law and the minority pan : officials to replace the law by personal views and govern the people | power, the socialist rule of law cannot be true. . Third, the objects of the rule of law include state affairs, ek cultural undertakings and social affairs. Therefore, we must a a tance to the rule of law. The report of the CPC s \7 Dare points out that power must be exercised in public in order oe i the power is exercised properly. We should improve the organ.

The rule of law and building a socialist country ruled by law has great ractical significance and historical significance: first, the rule of law is the basic guarantee of building socialist democracy, and is an important symbol of the progress of social civilization, Secondly, the rule of law is the ective need of developing socialist market economy. The essence of the lalist market economy determines that it must be rule-of-law economy. ly by the rule of law and building a socialist country ruled by law can we € full play to the advantages of the socialist market economy. Moreover, tule of law is an important guarantee for the maintenance of social sta- ty and the long-term stability of the country. Finally, the rule of law is an Portant symbol of the progress of social civilization. The construction of ist spiritual civilization and the development of socialist culture must guaranteed by the legal system. The rule of law is the basic strategy for Party to lead the people to govern the country, the need of developing Socialist market economy, and an important guarantee of the country's 3-term stability and stability. The strategic goal of the rule of law is to id a socialist country ruled by law.

ic

12 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.2, p.28-29. 13 Ibid., p.257.

242

than 100 years will still exist for a long time. Therefore, China's socialist emocratic political construction has both considerable urgency and long- term difficulty.

ecological—civilization are interrelated, permeate, coordinate and interac with each other

First, it is of great theoretical significance to put forward "building Me cialist political civilization". As an organic social system, the socialist s ciety contains four basic levels including economic a construction, cultural construction and social construction. Based on this, the "four-in-one" overall arrangement of the construction of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics is formed. The goal of economic con- : struction is to create a highly advanced material civilization; the goal of political construction is to create a highly advanced political civilization; the goal of cultural construction is to create a highly advanced civilization; the goal of social construction is to build a socialist harmonious society. Political civilization is an important part of human civilization. Material civilization forms the basis of human civilization, and political civilization and spiritual civilization constitute the superstructure of human civiliza- tion. In the different historical stages of the development of human civiliza- tion, political civilization and spiritual civilization are based on the material civilization in a certain historical stage. Among It, the political civilization reflects the development status and progress of the political legal system in that historical stage, and provides the basic guarantee of political opera- tion and political system for material civilization, spiritual ee " ecological civilization. The 16 National Congress of the sae put _ "socialist political civilization" as a separate concept to emphasize It. ke an innovative formulation in the history of the Party, further — € theory of human civilization development. It also enriches ee aa ops the Marxist theory, and is a remark of the further development of the Party.

Second, it is of great practical significance to put forward "building - cialist political civilization". The construction of two gear a : separable from the construction of political civilization. In oe ie 3" Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of the Party, the " . done a lot in the construction of socialist political civilization, such o reform of the Party and state leadership system, the reform of the ju ' : system and the reform of the government institutions. All of rare concrete embodiment of political civilization. But we must fu oa that there are still many problems in the construction of socialis poy cal civilization in reality. For example, we are not democratic " many aspects of state affairs. And bureaucratism, corruption, = : of the rule of law are still common and even serious in certain pant the historical perspective, since China is in and will be in the es . of socialism for a long term, the effects of the remnants of ae va capitalism from the feudal society with a history of more than : . and from the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society with a history

Third, it is of profound historic significance to put forward "building ocialist political civilization". Through the joint efforts of the whole Party nd the people of the whole country, China has successfully achieved the irst and the second strategic objectives of modernization. The people in reneral have achieved a well-off life, and are moving towards a more com- rehensive, high-level and balanced well-off society. Moreover, the demo- ratic consciousness, democratic demands and aspirations of the people are also significantly improved. Putting the socialist political civilization in the sition as important as that of the socialist material civilization, spiritual civilization and ecological civilization is the objective demand of the social progress in China. It will undoubtedly make a historical breakthrough in the socialist democratic political construction and promote more comprehen- sive development of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics.

Second, fundamental requirements of building socialist political civilization

Seen from its basic connotation, civilization is a concept opposite to sav- _agery and ignorance. Thus, generally speaking, civilization refers to a state _of human progress and refers to all positive results created by human beings in material production and spiritual and cultural activities. Socialist politi- eal civilization is a high-level form of the development of human political civilization. It is the sum of the positive results created and accumulated _by the socialist countries in their democratic political construction and all political activities. It is not only the accumulation of the achievements of civilization, but also the creation of civilization. Therefore, the socialist olitical civilization has both the connotation at the system level and the onnotation at the practice level. Namely, the forms of the civilized social olitical system of socialism, including the state system and the political ystem of socialism and other civilized political systems of socialism (the icial system), are an important content of building the socialist politi- civilization; and the political practice of socialism, namely the political ivities of the socialist countries such as the decision-making process, the icial process and the supervision process of the communist party and State, should be realized and developed in accordance with the require- nts and methods of civilization, which is the inevitable requirement of ialist political civilization.

0 develop socialist democratic politics and build socialist political civili- on, the most fundamental requirement is to organically unify the Party's dership, people being masters of the country and the rule of law. This is

243

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the basic policy that we must follow to promote the construction of poli

cal civilization, and is also the essential feature distinguishing the socialis

political civilization in China from the capitalist political civilization. First, _

the leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee of people being

masters of the country and the rule of law. It is under the leadership of the |

communist party that people being masters of the country cans rule of law is carried out. Chinese Communist Party, as a ruling a o e Social ist country with more than 1.3 billion people, is in an abso ea ni position in the political life of the country, which makes is arty leader- ship decisive for the realization of people being masters of the country and the rule of law. The most fundamental mission of the Party is to epee the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the Chinese ee : es- tablish the party for the public and run the power for the suk ie and support the people to be the masters of the country through t ormu "a of correct guidelines, guidelines, policies and theoretical plat orms, whic is the greatest advantage of the socialist democratic political consnca in China. Second, people being masters of the country is the essential re-

quirement of socialist democracy. The people of all ethnic groups in the _

country are the main body of building the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Whether the people can really be the masters of the cou and whether the enthusiasm and creativity of the people can be given full play ability of the Party, tion degree of socialist democracy; public opinion,

and the country. In current historical conditions, the people will be fixed

and people being masters cigs be rule of law. In modern society, the power of the ruling pai

must pass through certain Jegal transformation procedures before i into the social public power of ruling the country. The constitution an¢ um

laws are the embodiment of the will of the people, and the oe the Party's claims. To ensure that the Party represents the oe LE terests of the people, the Party's leadership and ruling way S se ae to the principles of the rule of law. In this way, the Party S a a tce activities will strictly be within the scope of the constitution an é

i ing the leadership and ruling i fundamental standard for inspecting t ers! Saas and the fundamental standard for verifying the realiza- only if the Party can truly achieve the seek the benefit of the people and win the hearts and minds of the people, can it be supported and advocated by the people and ne be invincible. Third, the rule of law is the basic ruling strategy of the Party a the will of the Party and mainly through the laws. The Party's leadership of the country will be realized in the legal system

Third, actively and steadily promote the political system reform

nder the premise of adhering to the fundamental system of ocialism

_ Political system refers to the concrete manifestation and the realization form of the political system. The political system in China refers to the specific leadership system, organizational system and work system which conforms with the fundamental system of the state.

__ After the founding, China established the fundamental system, namely _people's democratic dictatorship, and established the specific political sys- tem adapted to the state system at the same time. However, since the found- _ing of new China, China had not been completely freed from the backward economic culture. In addition to, there were also complicate factors such _as the influence of the Soviet model. As a result, the Party and the country had made mistakes in the specific leadership system, organizational forms and working methods, such as excessive concentration of power, lack of supervision and other defects, and even made serious mistakes such as the "Cultural Revolution". In order to build China into a strong and prosperous, democratic and harmonious socialist modern power, it is necessary to carry out the reform of the political system. In 1980, Deng Xiaoping put forward in The Reform of the Party and State Leadership System, the programmatic document of the political system reform in China, that we should reform the parts of our specific system which are not adapted to the socialist require- ments and which are not completely conform to the socialist requirements, so as to fundamentally eradicate the disasters like the Cultural Revolution", promote the development of social productive forces and the construction of socialist democracy, and ensure the long-term stability of the country.

245

How to promote the reform of the political system? In general, we must follow the report of the 17 National Congress of the Communist Party f China: "We must adhere to the correct political orientation, regard the eople as the masters of their own affairs, and aim to increase the Vitality f the party and the state and mobilize the enthusiasm of the people. We uld extend socialist democracy, build a socialist country under the rule flaw and develop a socialist political civilization."

Specifically, the following principles should be adhered to:

irst, to adhere to the correct political direction, the first is to ensure effective governance of the country by the people under the leader- ip of the Party. The adherence to the leadership of the Party is the key to eve the stability and development of China and the key to realize so- st modernization. In the 21* century which is full of opportunities and

CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since 7" National Congress" (Vol.ID), p.22.

War in Europe. Take Iraq, which was forced to accept the Bush government's ‘democratic gift" in the form of war, as an example. Several years after the war, the people in Baghdad described their tragic situation as "hell on earth". While, under the current political system in China, we have maintained social tability and economic development for long term. The Chinese people live and work in. peace and contentment, and the country is increasingly prosper- us-and prosperous. Of course, it does not mean that China's political system eform cannot and do not need to absorb and draw lessons from the positive esults of western political civilization. The western political civilization con- tains the common civilized achievements of human society. Therefore, we an draw lessons from some of its thoughts, forms and methods. However, the learning and absorbing should be analyzed and criticized. The history and eality of China are very different from the western countries. We are com- letely different from capitalist countries in terms of ideology, value concept and economic foundation. The political and economic system in the western world cannot be copied by China. It is not only because of various concepts and theories from the western system which are significantly different from chinese reality, but also because of the irreconcilable conflicts under several asic premises of both parties. The system suitable for the western developed apitalist countries is not necessarily suitable for the developing socialist ountries in the east. Based on the reality of China, if the three powers, if the eparation of three powers and the multi-party rotation of the ruling party is 247 implemented in China, there will be chaos of the national social and political "~~ ife and there will be no peace in the country and the society.

_ Inthe current and future period, the main task of China's political system eform includes: first, to improve the democratic rights protection system, implement democratic election, democratic decision-making, democratic nagement, democratic supervision, improve the system of democracy, en- h democratic forms, realize the institutionalization, standardization and se- ncing of socialist democracy politics, and consolidate the political status people being the masters of the country. Second, to improve the legal sys- , uphold the unity and dignity of the socialist legal system, and establish authority of socialist legal system. Third, to improve the judicial system developed. The current democratic system in China can maintain the prism, adhere to the judicature for the people, carry out fair justice, development of the country and benefit the ote the reform of the judicial system and work mechanism, build a just, seven he socialist democracy with Chinese characterise ent and authoritative socialist judicial system, and play the role of judi- soem aie h "ability and the national policy has obvious CO € in maintaining fairness and justice. Fourth, to build a service-oriented pia ete ee dition of the sustainable development of th mment, deepen the reform of administrative management system, op- ity, which Is me net ae 1990s, many countries have blindly in € institutional settings, pay more attention to the performance of social ee see " system and the results have stimulated mo igement and public service functions, and strengthen the social man- ee Breet een ee number of deaths in the Bosnk ent and public service functions in accordance with the requirements and:contice nee to estimation. And the Bo anging functions, integration of power and responsibility, strengthening

than 100,000 according aan oe a vith the largest number of deaths after the Secon ce, improving management and increasing efficiency. Fifth, to deepen

i China, there is no political party hav eee ee ek s those collected by Chinese Communi

Chinese elites as much a ' ot ~ ee eae no party deeply aware of the history and conditions of China ties Chinese Communist Party. And there is no party having accumulated

‘ : 5 ae many strategies and experience In gove Ca Party. It is under the leadership of Chinese Communist Pa

that the people really become the masters of the es es : oe | the effective governance of the people under the lea is He ene ny the Party leaders should be good at turning the Party's 1 2 eh ministering the state by relying on the law, and wrecae $0 that all the work of the country can run under the rule o : form involves political thought, political nt, legal construction and many other as- pects. It is a complex and long-term system emeor ha — contents. Each measure involves the interests of thousands . Pee " and should be in steps, guided and orderly. The policy of reform ‘ ou iv but the method should be fine and steady. We should el ke co and conscientiously do the work of maintaining socia : abi eee a Be maintain the social and political situation ‘a ee pean . the reform of the political system In an OF SE noc stable environment. Looking at the general law 0 um a 246 velopment, we usually have experienced such evo sneer " = ent of economy and education; the second is the cons ee and the rule of law society; and the third : ra eee 7 sion of the political and democratic rights of citizens. 1 the society often will have to pay a heavy price. e reform of the political system, we must unswel ingly follow our own path of Leete eee a ness of the political system, po itical structure ape are three key points: first, whether the political situation oe

unity of the people and the lives of the P

] ‘a ee Site te Sods forces can be continue

Second, the political system re system, administrative manageme

Third, to promote th

the construction of the Party conduct and of an honest and clean eee and fight against corruption, adhere to the strategic guideline ) wen ating corruption and upholding integrity including party ante aie [ . kesh ty itself, strengthening Party self-discipline, carrying out treat aa re) . symptoms and root causes and comprehensive treatment, simu ae promoting punishment and prevention and paying attention to aie aa nh addition, it is also necessary to promote the punishment integrating e a ion, system and supervision and establish the system of corruption preven a

Building socialist political civilization and deepening political reform

First, the great significance of building socialist political civilization

[pages 240–1 missing OCR] ecological—civilization are interrelated, permeate, coordinate and interac with each other

First, it is of great theoretical significance to put forward "building Me cialist political civilization". As an organic social system, the socialist s ciety contains four basic levels including economic a construction, cultural construction and social construction. Based on this, the "four-in-one" overall arrangement of the construction of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics is formed. The goal of economic con- : struction is to create a highly advanced material civilization; the goal of political construction is to create a highly advanced political civilization; the goal of cultural construction is to create a highly advanced civilization; the goal of social construction is to build a socialist harmonious society. Political civilization is an important part of human civilization. Material civilization forms the basis of human civilization, and political civilization and spiritual civilization constitute the superstructure of human civilization. In the different historical stages of the development of human civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization are based on the material civilization in a certain historical stage. Among It, the political civilization reflects the development status and progress of the political legal system in that historical stage, and provides the basic guarantee of political operation and political system for material civilization, spiritual ee "

ecological civilization. The 16 National Congress of the sae put _ "socialist political civilization" as a separate concept to emphasize It. ke an innovative formulation in the history of the Party, further — € theory of human civilization development. It also enriches ee aa ops the Marxist theory, and is a remark of the further development of the Party.

than 100 years will still exist for a long time. Therefore, China's socialist emocratic political construction has both considerable urgency and longterm difficulty.

Second, it is of great practical significance to put forward "building cialist political civilization". The construction of two gear a : separable from the construction of political civilization. In oe ie 3" Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of the Party, the " . done a lot in the construction of socialist political civilization, such o reform of the Party and state leadership system, the reform of the ju ' : system and the reform of the government institutions. All of rare concrete embodiment of political civilization. But we must fu oa that there are still many problems in the construction of socialis poy cal civilization in reality. For example, we are not democratic " many aspects of state affairs. And bureaucratism, corruption, = : of the rule of law are still common and even serious in certain pant the historical perspective, since China is in and will be in the es . of socialism for a long term, the effects of the remnants of ae va capitalism from the feudal society with a history of more than : . and from the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society with a history

Third, it is of profound historic significance to put forward "building ocialist political civilization". Through the joint efforts of the whole Party nd the people of the whole country, China has successfully achieved the irst and the second strategic objectives of modernization. The people in reneral have achieved a well-off life, and are moving towards a more comrehensive, high-level and balanced well-off society. Moreover, the demoratic consciousness, democratic demands and aspirations of the people are also significantly improved. Putting the socialist political civilization in the sition as important as that of the socialist material civilization, spiritual civilization and ecological civilization is the objective demand of the social progress in China. It will undoubtedly make a historical breakthrough in the socialist democratic political construction and promote more comprehensive development of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics

Second, fundamental requirements of building socialist political civilization

Seen from its basic connotation, civilization is a concept opposite to sav_agery and ignorance. Thus, generally speaking, civilization refers to a state _of human progress and refers to all positive results created by human beings in material production and spiritual and cultural activities. Socialist politieal civilization is a high-level form of the development of human political civilization. It is the sum of the positive results created and accumulated _by the socialist countries in their democratic political construction and all political activities. It is not only the accumulation of the achievements of civilization, but also the creation of civilization. Therefore, the socialist olitical civilization has both the connotation at the system level and the onnotation at the practice level. Namely, the forms of the civilized social olitical system of socialism, including the state system and the political ystem of socialism and other civilized political systems of socialism (the icial system), are an important content of building the socialist politicivilization; and the political practice of socialism, namely the political ivities of the socialist countries such as the decision-making process, the icial process and the supervision process of the communist party and State, should be realized and developed in accordance with the requirents and methods of civilization, which is the inevitable requirement of ialist political civilization.

0 develop socialist democratic politics and build socialist political civilion, the most fundamental requirement is to organically unify the Party's dership, people being masters of the country and the rule of law. This is

Building a Socialist Culture with Chinese Characteristics

Strategic status of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics

First, the connotation and characteristics of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics

Culture is a realm with very rich content and can be comprehended in ae

broad and narrow senses. Broadly speaking, culture refers to the sum of material wealth and spiritual wealth created by human in the process of transforming nature and society; narrowly speaking, culture includes the ideological concepts, in line with economy and politics, in the fields of humans' social life including social thought trends, morals and manners, literature and art, education and science and other spiritual/intellectual cre- ations. In the present era, culture is increasingly becoming an important ource of national cohesion and creativity, a vital element of comprehen- ive national strength of countries which contest among themselves. It has ecome the ardent aspiration of Chinese people to enrich their spiritual and ultural lives. Culture as a powerful source comprehensively fuses nation's itality, creativity and cohesion.

248

The Chinese Communist Party has always attached great importance to ultural construction. As early as during the period of the new-democratic Volution, Mao Zedong put forward: "We want not only to change a po- tically oppressed and economically exploited China into a politically free d economically prosperous China, but also to change a China which has n ignorant and backward under the rule of the old culture into a China t will be enlightened and progressive under the rule of a new culture.""!

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Vol.2, p.663.

f building a well-off society in an all-round way. Jiang Zemin pointed out at the Chinese Communist Party should always represent the direction of hina's advanced culture, insist on arming people with scientific theory, guiding people with correct. public opinion, remolding people with lofty jdeals, and inspiring people with excellent works; The socialist culture with ‘Chinese characteristics is a significant symbol of comprehensive national strength and to construct a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is to cultivate citizens with lofty ideals, moral integrity, better education and good sense of discipline, guided by Marxism, and to foster a national, scientific and public socialist culture marching towards modernization, em- bracing the world and future; We should highlight the themes of the times and encourage diversification in a unified manner, closely band together the rule of law and the rule of virtue; etc. These important ideas point out the direction of cultural construction.

He put forward a series of views on cultural ee ines wore during the democratic revolution and after the ae o see nee < na phasizing the construction of a national, scientific an es ae cratic culture led by proletarian cultural thought. Literatu cluding its fej serve the public, absorb the essence of national nee es ane : dal dross, promote a hundred flowers blossom and a Pei pees OL thought contend, make the past serve a icieg gy a NEE

China etc., these have become important guidelines for the construction of

our culture. . Since the 3% Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of CPC, Deng Xiaoping has made a constructive exposition of the thought on the

ts +s ~ilizati hile vigorously promoting

of socialist spiritual civilization w construction d democracy and legal system in the pro-

construction of economic an em ie f leading the development and construction of the socialist path with ee are that the socialist spiritual civiliza-

‘nese characteristics. He pointed out inal the liz re key feature of the socialist society. "While a fora cocina ilizati ich i ia d. we should build one which is civilization which is materially advanced, w a one altuee i i by raising the scientific and cultura Iturally and ideologically advanced scient ieee the whole nation and promoting a rich and diversified cultural life

inspired by high ideals.""

250 To "grasp both links at the same time and attach sufficient importance to

——— poth" material civilization and spiritual civilization, the perfection of both

i jali i i haracteristics. To im ivilizatt is a veritable socialism with Chinese c Bare d scientific and cultural quality

i i lity an rove the ideological and moral qua at i Lou a the whole nation, cultivate a new socialist generation with ideals, moral

<a é

ity, culture and discipline. Under the guidance of ee ors ae . ae i the "Reso i f the 12 Central Committee of CPC passe Res ~" cede Committee on the Guiding Principles for ee so i i 1 of Culture and Ideology" in , an Society with an Advanced Leve Ore sa i 4* Central Committee 0 passed 96 the 6 Plenary Session of the 1 o "The Resolution of CPC Central Committee on Several impor e about Strengthening the Construction of Socialist Spiritual Civilization .

Along with the progress of the practice of some Chinese characteristics, the Party has been constantly oe pee standing of spiritual civilization construction and cultura ee nea 15 National Congress of the Party put forward the see ere culture with Chinese characteristics", which was broug i es a mental principles of the primary stage of socialism toget is ONE socialist economy & politics with Chinese characteristics. 1ne

. 3

Congress of the Party regards cultural construction as an important 4

Since the 16 National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Party Central Committee with Hu Jintao as General Secretary put cultural construction in a more prominent position, emphasizing the need to firmly grasp the direction of the advanced socialist culture, to build a socialist core value system and develop a harmonious culture. Hu Jintao pointed out that the socialist core value system is the essence embodied in the socialist ideology, and we must build a socialist core value system, enhance the attraction and cohesion of socialist ideology. Harmonious cul- 251 ture is the important spiritual support of all people's unity and progress, we need to build a harmonious culture, cultivate a civilized prevailing custom. Chinese culture is the inexhaustible driving force of the Chinese nation to keep its unity and make progress from generation to generation, we need to carry forward Chinese culture and construct the common spiritual home for the Chinese nation. The liberation and development of cultural produc- tive forces is the definite path to prosper the culture, we need to promote Itural innovation and enhance the vitality of cultural development. The ® National Congress of the Party put forward the strategic task of enhanc- g the soft power of the national culture and made a comprehensive plan r the rise of the new upsurge of the socialist cultural construction and the eat development and prosperity of the socialist culture. The 6" Plenary ession of the 17" Central Committee of CPC passed the "Decision of the tral Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Important es in Deepening the Reform of the Cultural System and Promoting the at Development and Prosperity of the Socialist Culture". The guiding logy, important principles and objectives and tasks of advancing the tal reform and development are specifically stated, calling for effort he construction of a socialist powerful cultural country.

socialism with ning its under

Ae te Mae Se ‘ ti 2 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping. "4 edition, Vol.2, p.208.

the excellent ideology and culture achievements created by mankind, and ways maintain the vigor and vitality of socialist culture by organically in- tegrating persistence with development, dominance with inclusiveness, car- rying forward tradition with standing on the basis of contemporary society.

In the long-term cultural construction practice, the ee eee China combined Marxism with the reality of our country s cultura co : struction, formed a series of important theoretical achievements on cultur i construction, and creatively enriched and developed the Marxist cultural theory. The socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, in a of its main content, is consistent with the socialist spiritual civilization that has always been advocated since reform and opening up. In contemporeia China, developing an advanced socialist culture and building a armonious : culture means building a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. To realize the grand goal of socialist modernization and the great rej won of the Chinese nation, we must firmly grasp the direction of the a vanced culture of socialism and strive to build a socialist culture with Chinese

characteristics.

The socialism culture with Chinese characteristics has the following distinctive features: first, Scientificity. The socialism culture with Chines characteristics is guided by the scientific world outlook and methodology, which embodies the advancing direction of the advanced culture and re- flects the requirements of human development and progress. It te _ inspire the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the masses an ies e : the spiritual power into the material strength for the Sauer ae e : the masses, and is the advanced culture that can materially lead the — opment and progress of contemporary China. Second, cm : Socialism with Chinese characteristics focuses on the deve _ and changes and requirements of the present era, grasp the pulse : e . reflect the trend of the times, and is always up-to-date. It not only orig : from more than five thousand years of civilization of the Chinese na " but also is rooted in the practice of socialism with Chinese aie ic: It reflects the basic characteristics of economy and politics int aie stage of socialism in China, and has played a huge role in share _ : nomic and political development. Third, Nationality. The socia ie with Chinese characteristics inherits and carries forward all aaa : _ ideology, morality and cultural achievements in the history re) os e and forms a new culture organically combining socialism a » form of the Chinese nation. It conforms to the national psycho me the national characteristics, embodies the national character, binds

Second, the great significance of building socialist culture with Chinese characteristics

Cultural construction possesses a very important strategic position in the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and the de-

lopment of advanced socialist culture is of great significance to reform, opening up and modernization.

First, vigorously strengthen the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is of great significance to promote the all-round development of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and is an inevitable requirement for the current comprehensive construction of a well-off society. The socialist society is a full scale development and all- round progress society. Neither material poverty nor spiritual emptiness is socialism. A certain culture is a reflection of politics and economy, at the same time, it has a tremendous impact on certain politics and economy. Therefore, both material and spiritual civilization should be grasped and both hands hardened. "Material progress will suffer delays and setbacks un- 293 less we promote cultural and ethical progress as well. We can never succeed in revolution and construction if we rely on material conditions alone."

_ To achieve the grand goal of socialist modernization, what's necessary is to have not only a prosperous economy, a sound democratic politics, but also a prosperous culture. Only the organic combination and coordinated evelopment of these three aspects, can successfully promote the cause of

cialism with Chinese characteristics, and achieve the goal of socialist odernization.

After the founding of new China, especially since the reform and open- 2 up the unremitting efforts have brought rapid development to China's onomic society, the people's material and cultural life has been greatly proved, but the cultural construction is still inadequate, not suited to the

ee ll nationalities together, expresse ements of the overall construction of a well-off society, as well as to

Je and obtains the people's growing spiritual and cultural needs. Accelerate the cultural common aspiration of the broad masses of the ee pa truction, and constantly meet the people's growing multi-level spiritual acceptance of the people of all ethnic groups. Fourth, \'p cultural needs, is what is required of the full implementation of the na-

; sick 4 i ated . ae

cialism culture with Chinese naga te ae here of adv: | development strategy, and the achievement of the goal of building a basic system of socialism in China, and it has the c -off society in an all-round way.

with the times and the grace of openness and tolerance. It Oe themes of the times, advocates diversification, and is good at abs

elected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.144.

levelopment interests and cultural security, we must uphold our own cul- ral ideals, and form cultural advantages adapting to China's economic and social development and international status, enhance the national cul- ral soft power, promote Chinese culture, and strive to build a socialist ountry with a powerful culture.

Second, vigorously strengthen the construction of soeeaa Wi Chinese characteristics to provide spiritual power, aah ee and ideological guarantee for the reform and opening up an eens The construction of socialist culture with Chinese venicnae os the development of advanced socialist culture can improve — : ic and cultural quality of laborers, create talents to meet the . te) moderna tion, provide labor force with high scientific and cultura se : ige and mastery of labor skills and offer a strong scientific support an inl : ectual support to smoothly achieve modernization strategic mots _ en- able people, on the basis of common interests, to form jenny i S and moral standards, to improve people's ideological and moral qua ities, to stimulate and inspire people to fight for modernization; to ie poorly to identify and accept the socialist basic economic system and y itica system to put into a comprehensive, dialectical and soheuliieeae Perspect 0 the developing socialism, to establish a correct world out _ ook on life and values, to firm belief in socialism, to enhance nationa . -esteem. self-confidence and pride, so as to provide a strong ideologica guarantee for reform and opening up and modernization construction.

Third, the fundamental tasks of building socialist culture with Chinese characteristics

The basic task of building socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is 9 meet the needs of reform and opening up and the socialist modernization construction, cultivate socialist citizens with ideals, morality, culture and iscipline, and improve the ideological and moral quality and scientific and yltural quality of the whole nation. Improving the ideological and moral uality and scientific and cultural quality of the whole nation is not only the starting point of the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, but also its foothold. Nowadays, when science and technology are develop- ing rapidly and cultural contests collision among the nations have become tensive, if people's ideological and moral qualities and scientific and cul- ral quality are not fundamentally improved, the realization of the goal of

Third, it is of great significance to greatly strengthen the construction ocialist modernization can only be empty talk. >

of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, to improve the soft power of the national culture and to enhance the international compet Socialist culture with Chinese characteristics is an important ge : ~ comprehensive national strength. With the further ona : i world multi-polarization, the economic globalization and t soe: oo ing progress of science and technology, the degree of pce io i and economy and politics has been deepened, the combination :

To cultivate socialist citizens with ideals, morality, culture and discipline s also the need to promote the all-round development of human beings. 255 the construction of a socialist modern country and the advancement of the ocialist society in its entirety, in the final analysis, are for the all-round de- elopment of human beings, which is the ultimate goal of the socialist soci- ety and the communist society. To achieve the comprehensive development t f man is a long-term process, to cultivate citizens with four qualifications with science and technology has been ae eee SS joints out the direction of the goal to promote the all-round development the economy has been increasingly ein has become an important f human beings. At the present stage, it is necessary to guide people, edu- culture is getting eeenee and One n The country that occupie ‘ate people and train people in accordance with the requirements of "four Pe Ore Coe cee that has a strong cultural soft lifications", and gradually make all citizens establish noble ideals and commanding heights of cultura ene te - athe international competition. iefs, lofty moral feelings, conscious discipline and high cultural quality, power, will be able to win ana ah ; rominent, not only the € € full play to the spirit of creation, greatly improve the spiritual realm, The role of awe peas Rega ee deeen dent on culty tinuously move the overall level of all-round development of human i d social developme : in i : ae products and services directly become an me ee oat atuenet level of international trade and international competition, but also cu ia have become the main battlefield of the international seer and international ideological contests. More and more ane de ing the improvement of the cultural soft power as an impo dee ment strategy. China is a developing socialist country, as 3 in an invincible position in the new international urs d resist the Western ideological and cultural infiltration, safeguard f

early as the initial period of the founding of the new China, Mao ng raised the idea that "the majority of youth should keep fit, study and work hard" and required that they should take the life path of ming "red and professional." He treated moral, intellectual and physi- ll-round development as an important standard for training socialism ssors. After the 3"? Plenary Session of the 11% Central Committee of in the face of the arduous task of reform and opening up and socialist

e fundamental task, so as to meet the people's spiritual and cultural needs the starting point and the foothold, to reform and innovate as the driv- ng force, develop national, scientific, and public socialist culture marching wards modernization, embracing the world and future, cultivate high cul- tural awareness and cultural confidence, improve the civilization quality of ne whole nation, enhance the national cultural soft power, promote Chinese ulture, and strive to build a socialist powerful cultural country.

ping put forward the goal of nurtur. d disciplined new socialist people, of socialism with Chinese charac- d that we should strive to improv

modernization construction, Deng Xiao ing idealistic, moral, well-educated an In the practice of promoting the cause teristics, Jiang Zemin further put forwar the ideological and moral q

the whole nation, and provide a strong spiritual and intellectual support foy

i cial progress and cultivate citizen: economic a aes eee eee and good sense of disci : wn ie ti Beer generation who can meet the requirements of socialist a a - At the new stage of the new century, Hu Jintao stressed the epee ‘ on improving the quality of people, promote the compre- need. » al ment of human beings, strengthen ideological and moral pack ae scientific education and culture, cultivate socialist an ideals, morality, culture and discipline, which is the require- ae aiding a well-off society in an all-round way and accelerating the me

socialist modernization.

iscipline i i ity, and is the i discipline is an organic unity, a : Is, morality, culture and cip org - Eh hensive requirements of socialist modernization construction on the , ae morality and discipline are the ideological —

i i i ny i ic

and cultural quality of citizens. Ideological and moral quality and scientific _

te each other and 256 and cultural quality can complement each other, promote

fications", ideal is the core |

i i In the "four qualifications", 1 lop in a harmonious way. — aaa pillar, morality is the norms of behavior and the emb ae ee a a pee essential condition to form i i ati in morality, culture is the Toun d the a ‘as Is and are moral sentiments and discipline. These four me o pore tivating socialist citizens. To build so

f cul .

stitute the overall standan' © tics and to develop socialist advanced cu

i inese characteris : eit te ing talents in accordance with the overall stan

must keep cultivat ; . an of "four qualifications" to improve the overall quality of the peop

and provide intellectual support and talent support for reform and open! up and modernization construction. - is Fourth, the basic principles (policies) of socialist cultu construction with Chinese characteristics

e with Chinese characteristics requires pr We should hold high the great

We must adhere to the "two serve", that is, serve the people and serve the irection of socialism. Vigorously develop the advanced culture, support ealthy and beneficial culture, and strive to transform backward culture, esolutely resist the decadent culture. Strongly advocate all ideas and spirit at are conducive to the development of patriotism, collectivism and so- cialism, and vigorously promote all ideas and spirit that are conducive to reform, opening up and modernization construction, and vigorously pro- mote all ideas and spirit that are conducive to national unity, social progress and people's happiness, and strongly advocate all ideas and spirit that are conducive to striving for a better life through honest work. Insist on occu- pying ideological positions by use of advanced culture, and constantly im- prove the quality of cultural product and the level of cultural appreciation of the masses, never allow products which may poison the people, pollute he society and are anti-socialism to spread unchecked. We must strive to ansform the backward culture, resolutely prevent the decadent culture to 257 rode the people, gradually reduce and eliminate the breeding ground for hem, and strive to form a positive, civilized and healthy way of life in the hole society.

compr' me quality of people. While ideals,

We should strive to carry out the "Double Hundred" policy, i.e., letting hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend, and ive to create a lively, pragmatic and good atmosphere within the scope tipulated by the Constitution, fully carry forward the academic democ- y and artistic democracy, advocate different views and schools to freely cuss on academic issues, promote different artistic styles and schools to tend and learn from each other in the creation of art, promote the healthy | reasoning criticism and counter-criticism. Highlight the themes of the es, promote diversity, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm and creativity the broad masses of literary and art workers, and promote the prosperity academic research and artistic creation. Adhere to the "Three Close", Close to reality, close to life and close to the masses, respond to and € practical problems, reflect the nature of life, meet the cultural needs he masses. We should continue to promote the innovation of cultural contents, forms, institutional mechanisms and means of communica- and enhance the attractiveness and appeal of the socialist culture with se characteristics.

To build socialist cultur

‘delines to develop and prosper. We | gh the Oa sane with Chinese characteristics, take Marxism-Len

eet st Chitie

Zedong Thought and the theoretical system of ee ae isti i hly implement the scien teristics as the guide, thoroug -mé ned adhere to the direction of socialist advanced aaa . tific development as the theme, take building socialism core V

258

cialist core value system clearly answers the question of what kind of jritual banner we will use in the new historical conditions to unite and ad the whole people to advance, and the major question of what kind of pirit the Chinese nation will hold to stand firm among the nations of the orld. Building a socialist cote value system is of great practical signifi- ance and far historical significance to consolidate the guiding position of arxism, to consolidate the common ideal of socialism with Chinese char- cteristics, to consolidate the common ideological foundation of the unity d struggle of the Party and people of all ethnic groups throughout the ountry, and to comprehensively promote the great cause of socialism with hinese characteristics.

We must base on the contemporary era and inherit our national outstan ing cultural traditions, we should base on our country and fully absorb t world's outstanding ideological and cultural achievements. Only by deep! rooted in the national soil and inheriting excellent traditional culture, ¢ we maintain the Chinese characteristics; only by learning from foreign ou standing cultural achievements, can we better face the world and .ma; tain the vitality of advanced cultural development. We should stand on the practice of reform, opening up and modernization construction, focus on the forefront of world cultural development, carry forward the excellent tradition of domestic national culture and learn from the strengths of all nas tions of the world. Strengthen external cultural exchanges and enhance the _ international influence of Chinese culture. The four components of the socialist core value system have their own functions and foci, they are interrelated and inseparable, constituting an organic unity. Marxist guiding ideology as the soul of the socialist core yalue system, solves the problem of what banner is to be held, which is the theoretical basis of socialist core value system, and occupies the dominant position. It is necessary to adhere to Marxism as the guiding ideology to foster the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, to carry rward and cultivate national spirit and the spirit of the times and establish the socialist concept of honor and disgrace. The common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics as the theme of the socialist core value system solves the problem of what path to take and what goal to achieve. Adhere to the Marxist guiding ideology, carry forward and cultivate national spirit d the spirit of the times, establish the socialist concept of honor and dis- grace, are all to guide and inspire the whole people to achieve the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics. National spirit and the spirit of the times as the essence of the socialist core value system, solves the oblem of what kind of mental state and spiritual appearance to have. It the spiritual condition for adhering to the Marxist guiding ideology, es- blishing the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics and arrying forward the socialist concept of honor and disgrace. The socialist cept of honor and disgrace, which mainly consists of "Eight Honors id Eight Disgraces", is the basis of the socialist core value system, and es the problem of people's behavioral norms. It covers the contents of ther three aspects of the socialist core value system in the form of basic of conduct, so that the socialist core value system can be put into prac- and people have behavioral norms to refer to. The socialist core value m answers the fundamental question in the ideological field of our try, embodies the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority ur people, and is a scientific system with complete structure and logical culosity. It is the common foundation of the unity and struggle of the le of all ethnic groups within the whole party and across the country,

Grasp prosperity in one hand, and management in the other hand. Adhere to the emphasis on construction, keep on advancing, promote the great de- velopment and great prosperity of socialist cultural, rise a new upsurge of socialist cultural construction. We must adhere to scientific management, - management according to law, and promote the legalization, standardiza- tion and institutionalization of cultural management. Actively promote the cultural system reform, liberate and develop cultural saoeaalee forces improve the national cultural soft power, and constantly enhance the inter | national competitiveness of China's culture. Always insist on putting the social benefits in the first place, and strive to achieve the coincidence 0}

economic and social benefits.

Building the socialist core value system

First, the main content of the socialist core value system

The construction of the socialist core value system proposed by . 6 Plenary Session of the 16" Central Committee of CPC is a major theore : innovation and major strategic task of ideological and cultural oe of the Party. The socialist core values are the theme of alee L tion, the essence of the socialist advanced culture, and determines the di tion of the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The 17 National Congress of the Party pointed out: "The or value system is a reflection of the essence of the socialist ideo a is the intrinsic stipulation of the socialist system in the value leve a inner spirit of the socialist system. It includes the Marxist guiding i the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the i as the core of the national spirit and the reform and innovation eo of the spirit of the times, the socialist concept of honor and disgrace

259

We should insist on Marxism and adhere to its the constant development fit. Only by ongoing constant development of Marxism in order to arm e whole party and educate the people, can we make Marxism truly play its le of powerful ideological weapon to understand and transform the world, an it truly become our guidé to action. We should adhere to Marxism dur- g its development, and develop Marxism during the insistence of it, and nsciously obey the "two irisistence, no ambiguity": adhere to the Marxist and, point of view, methods, adhere to the basic principles of Marxism, hich should be firm and unshakable and not vague; we should carry out e ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, rsist in the revolutionary spirit of bravely pursuing and exploring the uth, which should also be firm and unambiguous.

and is the driving force for realizing scientific development and social h

i ft power. mony. It is also the core content of the national cultural soft p

Second, adhere to Marxism as the guiding ideology

Marxism is the soul of the socialist core value system, it is the funda- mental guiding ideology of our Party and our state. In building the Socialis core value system, the first is to adhere to the guiding position of Marxism

Marxism is established as the fundamental guiding ideology of our Party : and our country, which is the choice of history and the people. Tn modem China, in the face of an unprecedented national crisis and social crisis, the Chinese people carried out an indomitable struggle and countless people _ with lofty ideals had been exploring the truth of saving the ae ha peo- ple. All kinds of doctrines and propositions came into being and then shat- tered; all kinds of organizations and political parties were on stage, and also quit. Only after the Chinese people had found the scientific theory of Marxism, had it fundamentally solved the problem of the future = des- tiny of China. Since the establishment of the Communist Party 2 pets it has insisted on combining the basic principles of Marxism wi : ina reality and continuously made the theoretical achievements of localization of Marxism in China and guided the Chinese revolution, sage and reform to march from victory to victory. The glorious history of the C bi 260 revolution, construction and reform has fully demonstrated the powe | ~~ strength of Marxism and fully proved the correctness of the Chinese peo- ple's choice of Marxism.

While in the late 1980s and early 1990s, drastic changes epee Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union disintegrated and the slur — movement suffered serious setbacks, some people in the West claime "Marxism has died". However, this has not shaken the Chinese be . belief in Marxism. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "Tam convinced t ee : and more people will come to believe in Marxism, because it 1s a scle

In the face of international changes and serious political mn, China, China has always adhered to the guiding position of ve the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It has not only a in stabilizing the political situation, but also pas achieved . vo rapid development, greatly improved the people s living standar a overall national strength. Socialism and Marxism have arene vitality in the land of China. The facts eloquently proves Me * people have chosen Marxism and developed Marxism by re oa . ing up. Marxism is the foundation of our Party and our saunes : the basic principle for rule of the Party and the country, the guiding of Marxism cannot be shaken at any time.

_ The system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics, adhere to and developed the Marxist-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, which embodied the wisdom and painstaking effort from hard work of practice by generations of people led by Chinese Communists, and is the latest achieve- ment of Marxism in China and the most valuable political and spiritual wealth, the common ideological foundation of the unity and struggle of the people of all nationalities, and the scientific socialism rooted in contempo- ary China. In contemporary China, adhering to the theoretical system of

socialism with Chinese characteristics, is to truly adhere to Marxism. 6] We must always insist on using the system of theories of socialism with ——

Chinese characteristics to arm the whole party, to educate the people, and to constantly improve the level of Marxist theory of the whole party, so that the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics can enjoy more popular support and play a better guiding role.

_ It is necessary to constantly add to Chinese Marxism, virgule the dis- iinctive characteristics of practice, national characteristics and character- stics of the times, and constantly promote the popularization of Marxism contemporary China if we are to use the system of theories of social- 1 with Chinese characteristics to arm the mind and guide the practice. pularization is the inherent requirement of Marxism. We should adhere the reality, be close to life, concern the masses, use welcomed forms and ely words to explain the issues of common concern in a simple but pro- ind manner, enhance people's political, ideological, value, and emotional ity on the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, at the theory can better be accessible to the masses, and the masses | better grasp the theory. Practice is constantly evolving, and people's erstanding is always deepening. In China's reform and opening up and tocess of socialist modernization, there will be new practical topics h need to be studied and answered, the new practical experience needs summed up and refined, the new hot and difficult topics need to be

4 Anthology of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.382.

f the Chinese nation are the dreams and pursuits of the Chinese people om generation to generation. The history since the Opium War has fully roved that the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the path f socialism with Chinese characteristics is the choice of history and the eople. By adhering to this path, we can achieve the great rejuvenation f the Chinese nation. Since the founding of new China, especially since e reform and opening up, China's economic and social development has ade great achievements, which is an irrefutable proof of this point. More jan 30 years have past since the reform and opening up, the Communist arty of China and the Chinese people have been unswervingly following e path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and courageously march- g forward, with indomitable spirit and magnificent innovative practice, we have written the new magnificent poems of the Chinese nation's self- improvement and tenacious forging ahead, and the socialist economic con- struction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction of our country have made remarkable achievements. China's development not only made the Chinese people steadily embarked on the path of pros- perity and well-being, but also made a significant contribution to the de- velopment of the world economy and the progress of human civilization. he glorious achievements of socialist modernization in our country have fully demonstrated the unparalleled superiority of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the vitality of the Chinese institutional pattern, breaking e myth long agitated by the capitalist countries that without copying the Western model, it would be impossible to make the country powerful and the people well-off. The facts eloquently proved that only socialism can ve China and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop hina and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In contem- rary China, adhering to the path of socialism with Chinese characteris- s, is to truly adhere to socialism.

explained and interpreted. We should take promoting the ee of contemporary Chinese Marxism as a long-term task, anc oe ntly ¢ pand the content and form, means and channels of theoretical eae strive to enhance the relevance and persuasiveness of theoretica e ucation to make the theory play a greater role in guiding practice and Promoting work with better results. .

It is necessary to extensively carry out the propaganda and populariz. tion activities of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese charac- teristics in order to arm our mind and guide the practice with the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Guide the broad cadres and the masses to thoroughly study and understand the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, master the Marxist standpoint, viewpoint and method, and consciously use this theoretical ieee to guide the transformation of the subjective world and the objective ua ; Be he foundly aware that in contemporary China, only the banner o socialism with Chinese characteristics rather than other banners can ene the unity and cohesion of different social stratum, the wisdom an a of different interest groups. Only the path of socialism with Chinese ¢ ar- acteristics and rather than other path can guide the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Only the theoretical system of sccuatiem with Chinese characteristics rather than anything else can lead China s maa and progress. Always hold high the great banner of socialism itis 7 characteristics unswervingly, stick to the path of socialism wit : — characteristics unswervingly, and adhere to the theoretical system of socia ism with Chinese characteristics unwaveringly.

Third, establishing the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics

The common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the " of the socialist core value system. Common ideal as the ea pursuit and goal of all members of society is the banner of a iy " e Z to govern the country, and the guide for a nation to eae om ie by establishing a firm and common ideal can we gather all the i ar strength from all stratum of the society and mobilize all the po ne the whole county and nation to form a unified pace and a strong igi

capacity. | Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, taking ee socialism with Chinese characteristics and realizing the great eee : of the Chinese nation is the common ideal of the people of all ethnic at present. This common ideal is the inevitable choice of history oun Getting rid of poverty and backwardness, building a prosperous Pe ic , civilized and harmonious country, and achieving the great re}

The common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics embodies ¢ fundamental interests and common aspirations of our country's work- $, peasants, intellectuals and other socialist workers, builders of socialist use, and patriots who support socialism and the reunification of the moth- d. This common ideal depicts the blueprint for a better life, shows the ious future of the motherland, demonstrates the prospect of the revival € Chinese nation brings to all the Chinese people great motivation and uragement. This common ideal has convincing necessity, universality inclusiveness, has a strong appeal, affinity and cohesion, is an impor- link to ensure that all people are united in one political ideology and together to create a better future. Regardless of people from which I class, which interest group, they all should and are able to agree with common ideal which is inseparable from their own interests, and strive

Fourth, carrying forward the long cherished national spirit and the spirit of the times

. ote hi ideal and ultimate goal is The Communist Party of China's highest 1dea e spirit of the times

achieve communism. The common ideal of socialism a ae hee acteristics is the realistic embodiment of communism, the ses 2 ea : the primary stage of socialism in our country and oe aie : ue : ee realizing the supreme ideal of communism. Without t . - _ ideal, there will be no common ideals to be established an red t vi jevement of common 1 : : bse el In the journey of realizing the ae sea. of the Chinese nation, we must always adhere to the unity 0 a i eals anid realistic struggle. We should not only establish the lofty i 22 o cone nism and strengthen our conviction, demand and spur ota ves wi a : : thought and morality, but also start from the reality of the primary s geo e unremitting efforts in a down-to-earth manner to realize _

National spirit and the spirit of the times, is the strong spiritual support 1 the self-improvement, development and rejuvenation of the Chinese na- tion, is the endless spiritual power for us to continue to open up new jour- ey and start new future, is the essence of the socialist core value system.

The national spirit is formed of the nation's long years of living together d common social practice. it is the ideological character, value orienta- on and moral norms recognized and accepted by the majority of members f the nation, is a comprehensive reflection of national psychological char- acteristics, cultural traditions, thoughts and emotions, is the most essential and concentrated expression of natidnal culture. During the long history of more than five thousand years, the Chinese nation formed a great national spirit of unity, peace-loving, diligence and courage and self-reliance, with patriotism as the core. This national spirit is the spiritual pillar of millions of Chinese people who have made great efforts and been undaunted by re- peated setbacks through the ages, and is the strong spiritual motivation for Chinese Nation's vigorousness and development.

socialism, mak the Party's basic program for the current stage. i | Building and developing socialism with Chinese aera ee cause of hundreds of millions of people. Only after the as meee : t e people have actively engaged in the great cause of socia ism 7 characteristics, can the common aspiration of the whole ae e i It must be profoundly understood by the broad cadres an ae oT CPC always represent the requirements of the aie en ee advanced productive forces, the orientation of China Sai ser Ga and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority 0 ft a" people. Only the Communist Party of China can lead the peop a nic groups in the country to continue to seize the new ae . with Chinese characteristics; it must be deeply realized tha i ee Chinese characteristics not only adheres ys a epi aan soe a socialism, but also bases on distinctive Chinese os ‘a's reality and characteristics of the times, is the banner of ¢ : cum development and progress, is the ae The peov" whole country can stand the banner of unity and struggle, - se o path of socialism with Chinese characteristics to come t - o the country and the happiness of the people. It must be mate a that the decision to begin reform and opening up is vita : — contemporary China, that reform and opening up are the ne ee : oping socialism with Chinese characteristics and sees : i a nation, only with reform and opening can we ee 7 oe cialism, and develop Marxism. We should ang sre pe people to consciously incorporate their personal idea s fe ee struggle of the realization of socialist modernization, an ne own ideal of life in the realization of national prosperity a people's well-being and social harmony.

Patriotism is the core of the spirit of the Chinese nation, unity, peace-lov- g, diligence and courage and self-reliance are the concrete manifestation f the spirit of the Chinese nation. Patriotism is the deepest, purest, noblest 265 d most sacred emotion of the Chinese people to their motherland. The hinese nation is a great nation with a patriotic tradition. Patriotism runs ough the whole process of the formation and development of the Chinese tional spirit, penetrates into all areas of the Chinese national spirit, and embodied in all aspects of the Chinese national spirit. Patriotism is a his- rical category, in different periods and stages of social development, it has different content. In contemporary China, patriotism is manifested mainly y dedication to the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, ie great cause of peaceful reunification of the motherland. Patriotism and alism are identical in essence. The establishment of the socialist system the development of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics created a prosperous and powerful China, to love China is to love the alist China. Safeguarding reunification of the motherland is the core test of the Chinese nation, which means patriotism is bound to manifest if in safeguarding the reunification of the motherland. Any attempt to ite a national secession and to undermine national sovereignty and terri- al integrity will be strongly opposed by all Chinese at home and abroad.

spirit of the Chinese nation is like a long river, which continues ich and sublimate itself in the course of history, and always nour- the Chinese nation. The Communist Party of China is the successor,

National spirit and the spirit of the times complement each other and ing out the best in each other. If national spirit is apart from the spirit of the times, it cannot timely absorb fresh power from the practice, and thus will lose its value of the times, and to carry forward and cultivate the na- tional spirit would be impossible; if the spirit of the times is apart from the national spirit, the carrier of the nation would fade away, and the national characteristics would be lost, and to carry forward and cultivate the spirit of the times would be also be impossible. National spirit and the spirit of the times blend and unite with each other and are deeply cast in the nation's vitality, creativity and cohesion, together they constitute the spirit of self- reliance of the Chinese nation, and become the spiritual power to promote he great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

promoter and nurturer of the Chinese national spirit. 2 the practice of leading the people of all nationalities to carry out revo cae oo tion and reform, the Party has formed its own fine anus a - Waled Jinggangshan Spirit, the Spirit of the Long March, Yan an oa : i Pi of Anti-fascist, Xibaipo spirit, Lei Feng spirit, the Spirit oO ae : = is and One Satellite", Daqing Spirit, Flood Fighting Spirit, t Le i dl Fight against SARS, the Spirit of Manned Space F light, aa a € ief Spirit, Beijing Olympic Spirit, and so on. These spirits me e ey car forward the fine tradition of the Chinese nation, intensive y . sy ; e high-spirited and vigorous, indomitable and hard-working - oo of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist arty : ina, which unprecedentedly carried forward the Chinese nationa a : a "I stage of development. No matter in the past, at present or c i: e future, t : national spirit will always be a powerful force, calling the sane ae e | to make unremitting efforts to unite wholeheartedly, and work together to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The great cause needs and produces a lofty spirit, the lofty spiritual sup- port and promote the great cause. Since the reform and Opening up, the _ Communist Party of China has led the people of the whole country to blaze ew trails, strive for progress, and has overcome various risks and tests, ainted a magnificent historical scroll of reform and opening up, endowed new and vigorous vitality for the nation's rejuvenation, what we relied on s the great national spirit that we been carrying forward and what we cast s the spirit of the times. Today, in order to build a well-off society in an l-round way, accelerate the socialist modernization and realize the great ejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we must further vigorously carry for- 267 ard this national spirit and the spirit of the times so that all the people will aintain a high-spirited state and fully boost the creative spirit and creative itality of the whole nation.

In the new historical period, using one theoretical character is — ie, keeping in step with the times—and by depending on : : = a ing character and morals of the Chinese nation—we have ae ved throughs in the practice of reform and opening up and ee : oo" tion, and we have also created the (concept of) spirit of t e ee ee 266 on reform and innovation, as well as the spirit of advancing Ai a : : spirit of pioneering, spirit of being realistic and pragmatic. a the times reflect the development direction of ater niece _ progress and leads the trend of the progress of the ao t is dts o concept, value orientation and behavioral pattern of the eae whole society, which reflects the new spirit of pea e ne ciety. In the organic unity of the spirit of the times, reform an : a occupies the key status. The spirit of reform and innovation is : - as the idea of breaking through stereotypes, bold exploration See! a to create, manifested as the sense of responsibility and nega e behind, strive for the first and pursue progress, aus ae ak eo state of perseverance, self-improvement and forging ahea ne a ( reform and innovation inherits the tradition of getting rid ° ae taking in the fresh of the Chinese nation, embodies the ae a temporary China's development and progress, runs ee . ae of reform and opening up and all aspects of the spirit of the me : past 30 years, reform and innovation has become the saa times and become the trend of social development. Practice has pe reform and innovation is the source of vitality of our eal! es BY ; development and progress, and is an inexhaustible motive fore velopment of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Fifth, establishing a socialist concept of honor and disgrace

The socialist concept of honor and disgrace with "Eight Honors and ight Disgraces" as the main content, intensively summarizes the most ba- values and codes of conduct in contemporary China and is the basis of socialist core value system.

The concept of honor and disgrace is the fundamental view and attitude ards honor and stigma. It is the sum of the concept of honor and disgrace ch is gradually formed in people's activities of self-evaluation and social uation based on certain ideological and moral standards. It is the rational llation of individual and fragmented concept of honor and disgrace. The ept of honor and disgrace has a distinct class nature, different societ- and different stages have different standards for commendatory or de- tory and different concept of honor and disgrace. The socialist concept onor and disgrace refers to the moral code used to guide and standardize deology and behavior of party members and the people in the struggle for jing socialism with Chinese characteristics. When Hu Jintao visited the

268

Standing Committee members of the 4" Plenary Session of the 10" CPPE in response to the changes in international situation, and also in view of the actual situation of China's economic and social development and change, : cording to the basic experience of our socialist revolution and construction, and according to the value orientation of the socialist society, he put forward a comprehensive discussion of the socialist concept of honors and disgraces with the "Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces" as the main content for the firs time in the history of the Communist Party of China. This is: Love, do no harm the motherland; Serve, don't disserve the people; Uphold science; don't _ be ignorant and unenlightened; work hard; don't be lazy and hate work; be © united and help each other; don't gain benefits at the expense of others. Be honest and trustworthy, not profit-mongering at the expense of your values. Be disciplined and law-abiding instead of chaotic and lawless. Know plain living and hard struggle; do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.

The socialist concept of honor and disgrace with the "Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces" as the main content, is the summarization of the socialist ideological and moral system in line with the socialist market economy, in harmony with the socialist legal norms, in succession of the traditional vie tues of the Chinese nation, and in combination with the outstanding achieve: ments of the world's moral civilization. It is clearly pointed out what is true and the beauty, what is false and evil, what should be insisted, what to op pose, what to promote, and what to resist in our society, providing basic norms to judge the behavior gains and losses and clear the value orienta: tion under the Conditions of the Socialist Marketing Economy for all ethnic groups, all walks of life and different interest groups of people, - is " " ing point and the foothold of socialist core value system. Love, ae a the motherland; Serve, don't disserve the people, Uphold science; . ignorant and unenlightened; Work hard; don't be lazy and hate work; ese "Four Honors and Four Disgraces" embody the spirit of the Chinese i with patriotism as the core, embody the life view of serving the — and are the basic requirements of the "five love" of the socialist a" based on the principle of collectivism, as well as the legal duties of ev citizen. Be united and help each other; Don't gain benefits at the expen of others; Be honest and trustworthy, not profit-mongering at the of your values; Be disciplined and law-abiding instead of chaotic ae less; Know plain living and hard struggle, do not wallow in luxuries pleasures; These "Four Honors and Four Disgraces reflect the most code for family life, professional life, social and public life that the c should follow. The socialist concept of honor and disgrace with the' Honors and Eight Disgraces" as the main content, runs through r } collectivism and socialist ideology, and embodies the correct world 0 outlook on life, values and morals, reflects the of fundamental wa the of spirit of the Chinese nation and the times of the spirit, 1t mar

rty's theoretical summarization on how to foster the socialist ideology and morality has reached a new height, since it embodies the contemporaneity, and more deeply grasps its laws, and also innovative.

Raising the ideological and moral standards as well as scientific and cultural education

First, strengthening ideological and moral construction

The main contents of the construction of socialist culture with Chinese sharacteristics include ideological and moral construction and education, cience and culture construction. Ideological and moral construction is to olve the problems of the spiritual pillar and the spiritual power of the en- ire Chinese nation. Strengthening the ideological and moral construction f socialism is an important content and central link of the socialist cultural onstruction with Chinese characteristics. Ideological and moral construc- ion mainly includes ideal construction and moral construction.

Construction of ideals is the core and primary task of ideal and moral onstruction. Deng Xiaoping attaches great importance to the ideal edu- ation. In "Four Haves", what he emphasizes above all is the ideal. He jointed out: "Today in China we are urging people to have lofty ideals and oral integrity, to become better educated and to cultivate a strong sense of iscipline. Of these, the most important is to have lofty ideals."5

To have ideal is to have belief, ideal and belief are combined together. If here is no firm belief in the correctness, justice and inevitability of fulfill- nent of one's ideals, his or her ideal is not a true ideal. Likewise, belief or aith is empty if they are not concentrated on an ideal goal.

Ideal and belief is a powerful spiritual force. It is a powerful spiritual er that drives and inspires people to move forward, and is a strong ritual pillar that supports people to overcome difficulties and withstand severe test. Deng Xiaoping pointed out that ideal and faith is the strong esive force to unite the Party and the people of the country. Whether e revolution or construction, "unity is of prime importance and that to ieve unity people must have common ideals and firm convictions. Over past several decades we have united the people on the basis of firm con- ions that enabled them to struggle for their own interests. Without such victions, there would have been no cohesion among the people, and we ld have accomplished nothing."

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, vol.3, p.190. lbid., p.190.

269

take collectivism as the principle, and take loving one's motherland, lov- ing people, loving science, and loving socialism as the basic requirement, jigorously advocate social morality, professional ethics, family virtue and personal character. In accordance with the requirements to adapt the social- ist market economy, we should further cultivate the socialist ideology and morality, and gradually establish a moral system which can increasingly erfect itself, reflect the requirements of different levels and different pro- essions, and have strong leading-force and normative force to promote the healthy development of socialist market economy; in accordance with the requirements of coordination with the socialist legal norms, we should further combine the rule of law with the rule of virtue, so that the law and moral complement each other, promote each other; in accordance with the equirement to inherit traditional Chinese virtues, we should further carry forward good traditions of the Chinese nation, so that the socialist ideology

_and morality not only has national characteristics, but also has distinctive haracteristics of the times.

Ideal is what people are long for and hope for the sua is i ik ment of people's political stance, world outlook, values ‘a ou i" a lif on objective of the struggle. The construction of socialism ina characteristics, turning our country into a prosperous, democra - clviliz and harmonious socialist modernization country, and sauce the a r juvenation of the Chinese nation is the common ideal of the as eet a nationalities at the present stage. This common ideal, starting om t eb: sic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism, nail the interests and aspirations of our workers, peasants, intellectuals an Bee laborers, patriots, and is the powerful ideological weapon : ensure that all people are politically, morally and mentally consistent and can overcome all the difficulties and strive for victory.

To establish the common ideal of building socialism with Chinese char- _ acteristics, we must establish a correct world outlook, ears life and values. To establish a correct view of the world, the core is to : ae : the | viewpoint of perseverance in the reality, and pursuing the truth on t : - : of fact. The outlook on life is the fundamental view on the aed : i : | and choice of the road and direction of people s life. It is the va on He _ of the meaning of life, and the answer to the vital elope of life _ be the meaning of life. To establish the correct outlook on life, ca esta : _ an outlook on life in line with the law of social development and to 270 the historical progress, establish the point of view that the meaning of life t ~~ to sacrifice for the society and others. Values are the positions, on a attitudes that people hold on the question of universal eek e ny _ core value system is a rich ideological system, including t pee tent and level of many aspects. We must closely focus on the cons o of the socialist core value system, in accordance with the sean ie the development of advanced culture and Solarcananay me : culture, and persevere in the use of the theoretical system 0 ee i Chinese characteristics to arm the whole party and educate t : ae guide the whole society to firmly establish the common idea - socialism with Chinese characteristics, Advocate the satis? a" patriotism as the core and the spirit of the times with reform and in a as the core, advocate patriotism, collectivism, soclalst ideology, : _ socialist concept of honor and disgrace with the Eight Hone Disgraces" as the main content, and constantly consolidate

Serving the people is the purpose of the Communist Party of China, it's the revolutionary spirit and morality formed by the Chinese Communists in e long-term revolution and construction practice. The idea of serving the people is linked to the socialist system and has been universally accepted by the broad masses of the people and has become the core content and oncentrated expression of the socialist morality. Under the conditions of 27. e socialist market economy, it is necessary to promote the spirit of serv- g the people in the whole people, to advocate respecting people, caring or people, loving public welfare, aiding the poor, and doing good things or the people and the society, to oppose money worship, hedonism and

goism, so as to be conducive to the healthy development of the socialist arket economy.

The principle of collectivism is the objective requirement of the basic stem of socialism. The basic system of socialism fully protects the indi- ual interests of the members of society, and at the same time, decides the members of society have a common interest and will inevitably uire the members of society to adhere to the principle of collectivism. In lalist society, national interests, collective interests and personal inter- are fundamentally consistent. Therefore, on the one hand, the state and collective should attach importance to and legally protect the legitimate ideological foundation of the unity and struggle of the whole Party and rests of the individual; On the other hand, when personal interests and weenie throughout the country. onal interests, collective interests are in conflict, the individual should ee in content of ideological and mora: . Itito account the overall situation, give priority to the national and col- Moral raat - Pa ea that regulates the relation: ive interests, subject the personal interests to national interests and col- i ity is a : bok: a ae the relationship between individuals and ee Ive interests. construction of socialist morality should focus on serving

to the liberation and development of socialist social productive forces, all the ideologies and moralities which are conducive to national unity, ethnic solidarity and social progress; all the ideologies and moralities which are ‘conducive to the pursuit of truth and beauty, the resistance of false and evil, and the promotion of righteousness; all the ideologies and moralities which are conducive to the implementation of civil rights and obligations, the quest for a better life with honest labor. We have to unite and guide hundreds of millions of people to positively, progressively and constantly improve the ideological and moral level of the whole nation.

We should strive to cultivate civilization and ee paar te patriotism, dedication, integrity, friendliness and © e . a : ms eee the construction of social morality, professional ethics and tam- ae to promote interpersonal harmony. Vigorously advocate such pe ali t moral principles as social courtesy, helpfulness, care for public ee environmental protection, and law-abiding; strongly cea! pro- Band ethics of seen honesty ieee aS a ug in handling affairs, serving the masses, an ta a 4 ily virtues of respecting the old and loving the young, the pe ioe ae and women, harmony between the husband and wife,

managing the house thriftily and accord among neighbors, carry forward

the socialist humanitarian spirit, so as to form interpersonal relationships of

lidarity, equality and friendship, and onward together in the whole soci- a We should pay attention to humanistic care and psychological cous ee strengthen mental health education, and eee ane S pay ee i le to firmly establish the a armony. We should guide peop! stab eee oe protecting the environment, anand ARS: and . hould extensively carry between man and nature. We s ee es i i ide people to understand iviti us society, guide peop out activities of creating harmonio Le ee ou aa i i hinking, treat things with a na tude, things with harmonious t , tree i ae i ictions i ous way, create a Soc al with contradictions in a harmoni \e : penne and self-confidence, ideal and peace, and being positive, culti

vate good social trends of recognizing honor and disgrace, practicing integ- | rity, and promoting harmony.

To succeed in the construction of socialist agree ee ton i d legal system. Moral and ‘ega the education of democracy an ae onda f community, and are both co long to the superstructure 0 Is Oe j i terrelated, complement ¢ > and ust human relations, they are in = important means to maintain the social order. In our legal system, every

i g

thus effectively guarantee the ee - a bean ee i nsolidation an and promote the formation, co ae ora ili Therefore, to strengthen mor moral prevailing custom. = ae ion i lementary and indispensable. 01 engthen legal education is comp and le Sansa of onl education and legal education 1s of great signific improve the moral quality of our citizens.

kent , d To succeed in the construction of socialist ee a a i i bine the requirement of aavancec starting from the reality, com! hee the requirement of universality to guide eae to ae bie 2 i i hich basis to constantly pur ideology and ethics, on w t aan j ica) _ At the primary stage of sociaiis™, ideological and moral goal of - ae and support all the ideologies and moralities which are

Second, development through science and education

Education and science are the important contents of the construction of socialist culture with Chinese chatacteristics and play an important role in improving the quality of the nation, uplifting the degree of social civiliza- tion, and promoting economic development and social progress.

As the primary productive force, science and technology are decisive for the present. and future development of a country and a nation. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "The key to the four modernizations is the modern- ization of science and technology. Without modern science and technology, it is impossible to build modern agriculture, modern industry or modern national defence, Without the rapid development of science and technology, there can be no rapid development of the economy."

In the 21* century, the rapid progress in science and technology is in- creasingly becoming the decisive factor in economic and social develop- ment. The growth of national wealth and the improvement of human life are more and more dependent on the accumulation and innovation of knowl- edge. The competition in science and technology has become the focus of international competition in comprehensive national strength. We must focus on improving the ability of independent innovation, building an in- ovative country, which is the core of national development strategy, and i¢ key to improve the overall national strength. We must adhere to the th of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics and carry out enhancement of the ability of independent innovation to all aspects of dernization. Earnestly implement the national medium and Jong term ntific and technological development plan, increase investment in in- endent innovation, make every effort to break through the constraints <ey technologies on economic and social development. Speed up the struction of national innovation system, support basic research, cutting- € research, and technological research for public welfare. Speed up the lishment of the technological innovation system, in which enterprises / the leading role, the market points the way, and enterprises, universities

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2™ edition, Vol.2, p.86.

_ Education is the cornerstone of national rejuvenation. We should make education a strategic priority and a major policy in long-term insisted by the Party and the state to promote the comprehensive, coordinated and sustain- able development of our educational undertaking and cultivate hundreds of millions of high-quality laborers, millions of professionals and a large number of top-notch innévative talents, turn China into a human resources powerful nation, provide a strong talent and human resources guarantee for he comprehensive building of a well-off society in an all-round way and he achievement of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We should fully implement the Party's education policy, adhere to the people-centered ucation, moral education first principle, carry on quality education, im- yrove the modernization level of education, train builders of and successors o the socialist cause who develop morally, intellectually, physically and esthetically, run education to the satisfaction of the people. Optimize the ducational structure, promote the balanced development of compulsory | ducation, accelerate the popularization of high school education, vigor- usly develop vocational education, improve the quality of higher educa- ion. Pay attention to pre-primary education and care for special education. Jpdate the educational concept, deepen the reforms in teaching content and method, examination enrollment system, quality evaluation system and © on to reduce the burden of primary and secondary school students and

oling of

and research institutes work together. Guide and sultans pore i romote transiorma innovation into enterprises, pr . Pe aaa into practical productive forces. We will Ben Be of the science and technology management ae Sa manne and improve the leg: ? jence and technology resources, ; ef scan incentive mechanism and market environment ee Brea Si ciogel innovation and industrialization of scientific and technolo ec

| achievements. We will implement the strategy for intellectual property ca :

echnology. Insisted on puttin people iv ry usiasm h isted i first, give full play to the ent . Insist ing | A h f the ee eve of scientific and technological personnel, cast the new oO

brilliance of China's science and technology cause. Strengthen populariza-

tion of sciences and improve the scientific quality of the whole society.

ce is an important tool for people to under.

_It is an important force to promote ee . aie a seen In the process of recogmizine / sea ns ae world, philosophy and social sciences are as impor- and trans eee sciences; cultivating high levels of philosophical soe eae . a important as cultivating high levels of natural scientists; im- scientists . ai ale of the philosophy and society of the whole " . proving the ee as improving the quality of natural science of the " ole equally aaa ing and giving full play to the role of philosophic' i rt ae scat is equally important as a yeaa ae dan Be i se on the nats » as to the role of pose piel ee practical problems as ou . a Se ae theoretical innovation and knowledge imovan " ey ee ine overall, strategic, and forward-looking questions whicn @ an >

vital for the de y elo pm. ent of the I ar ty and the C O untry > stud and ans E y :

study and answer the widespread deep ies ea aS: of the cadres and the masses, give full play to the an a f the world, heritage of civilization, innovation o ; A _— 2 eople, and service to society, and strive to form agit ue — oe disciplines and teaching eae pes nee sees 2 ism i i it inese 7 ievements of Marxism in China wi nese — eee Chinese manner. Promote innovation 1n ae emic vi i h methods, promote the ng demic viewpoints and researc ees inceky and the social sciences, encourage the ea SA u d social science to play the role of thinking bank for the ap had the people, to promote China's outstanding achieveme d a >

philosophy and social science to go to the world.

Philosophy and social scien

ion fees, support education in poverty-stricken areas and ethnic areas, im- rove student funding system to guarantee the equal access of the families vith economic difficulties and of migrant workers to compulsory educa- ion. Strengthen the construction of teaching staff, focusing on improving he quality of rural teachers. We will encourage and regulate educational rograms run by nongovernmental sectors. Develop distance education and tinuing education. Construct a learning society featured in universal ming and lifelong learning.

Third, advance the reform of cultural system, vigorously develop cultural causes and cultural industry

fhe development of socialist advanced culture and the construction of a monious culture calls for vigorous development of cultural undertakings ultural industries and promotion of the prosperity of socialist culture.

ce the reform and opening up, China's cultural construction has flour- and the cultural life of the masses has become increasingly colorful. should also be noted that with the development of the socialist mar- Onomy and the expansion of the opening to the outside world, the mic basis, the institutional environment and the social conditions for vival and development of culture have undergone profound changes.

improve the overall quality of students. Adhere to the nonprofit nature of 275 education, increase financial investment in education, standardize educa-

China's cultural construction is far from being able to meet the req) ments of the development of the times, far from being able to mee people's growing multi-level spiritual and cultural needs. Therefore, i necessary to deepen the cultural system reform, further carry on the li tion and development of cultural productive forces.

olicy of accelerating the development of the cultural industries, promoti he cultural industries to become a pillar industry in the ie oon a. so promote regional cultural industries, prosper cultural markets, enh a nternational competitive power:in the cultural industry. aia

The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will definitely be acco ied by the thriving of Chinese culture. We should give full play to the aa le of the people in cultural construction, mobilize the pene fue road masses of cultural workers, be more conscious and more = ti : n promoting the great development and prosperity of culture et Ae ultural creation and production to promote the great practice of acai

yith Chinese characteristics and se e that people sh : evelopment. people share the fruits of cultural

In order to deepen the reform of the cultural system, we must insist taking development as the theme, taking reform as the driving force, | ing institutional innovation as the focus, taking creating more and be spiritual and cultural products to meet the needs of the people as the goal, promote the comprehensive cultural prosperity and the rapid developmen of cultural industries. We must firmly establish the new concept of cultural development, further enhance the consciousness and firmness of deepenin the reform, resolutely break through all the ideas that hinder the develop- ment of culture, and resolutely change all the practices and regulations th bind the cultural development, and resolutely remove all the institutiona

defects that affect the cultural development.

ry

In order to deepen the reform of the cultural system, we must insist on putting the social interests in the first place, as well as the unity of cial and economic benefits. Grasp the non-profit cultural undertakin one hand, and grasp the operative culture industry in the other hand. non-profit cultural undertakings and the operative culture industry are carriers of cultural construction and development in China. The non-pr cultural undertakings and the operative culture industry are both diffe from each other and promotive to each other, they are unified in the cause of prospering the advanced socialist culture. The basic task of non-profit cultural undertakings is to provide the basic public cultural vices for the masses of the people, to build a relatively complete public tural service system covering the whole society, and to continuously | the basic cultural needs of the people; the fundamental task of the opera culture industry is to prosper the cultural market, meet the people's mé sided, multi-level, and diverse spiritual and cultural needs. In order to velop the non-profit cultural undertakings, we must let governmen the leading role, encourage social participation, and effectively imp government's ability and level of service to the masses. In order to! the operative culture industry, we must give full play to the basic allocation of resources by market, we must adhere to market-or develop and grow in the market competition. Therefore, on the we must insist on the development of non-profit cultural undert the main way to protect the basic cultural rights of the people. investment, strengthen the construction of community and rural cilities. On the other hand, we should vigorously develop the op' ture industry, implement the major culture industry, implemet

are

Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and What Kind of a Society to Build?

Scientific meaning and significance of constructing socialist harmonious society

First, the construction of a harmonious socialist society

First, the construction of a harmonious socialist society 279

To achieve social harmony and build a better society has always been a social ideal that mankind is diligently striving after. There are quite a num- ber of ideas on social harmony in the history of Chinese ancient thoughts. Confucius said "harmony and peacefulness are prized"; Mozi put forward an ideal social plan of "Universal Loving" and "loving all uniformly"; Mencius portrayed the social status of "expend the respect of the aged in e's family to that of other families; expend the love of the young ones in 1e's family to that of other families"; etc. Utopian socialists of the early 9h century even more clearly set the goal of building a "harmonious and ee" society. In 1803, French utopian socialist Fourier published the article iversal Harmony", pointing out that the existing capitalist system is weasonable and will inevitably be replaced by the "harmonious institu- '. In 1824, British utopian socialist Owen conducted an utopian social- xperiment called "New Harmony", a Communist Commune in Indiana, United States. In 1842, the German utopian communist Weitling stated the socialist society is "harmonious and free" in his book Guarantees armony and Freedom and pointed out that the "harmony" of the new ety will be "harmony of all".

280

owever, the \ ee utopian socialists, mostly stays at the level of a social ethic or moral

pe ie onan oa ce seen ay aad failed bea be ue me a ree = i i a : et ee ee ‘te aaa ai ease eon an cree" andthe experiment of New Hermony" of Brits

utopian socialist Owen ended with failure.

However, it is undeniable that these treatises ue Fagen eae aenniaee 2 ti i Ith with glorious light of civ1 thoughts are still the precious wea : the ia history. In the first "complete and iy Renae eee Se i i the world, the "Communist Manites 0," letarian parties throughout ecient ae he utopian socialists' ideal o and Engels fully affirmed t aceoaperae istincti d country ... and proclama the distinction between town an saad Ra Ni Ms ing it as "most valuable materials for the enlig rent harmony"! taking it as "mos apts arapaneen i e is a "positive proposition." The pro the working class" and is a "post ay gad i itali the all-round development o of Marxism on capitalism means eg Meee i i society, with its classes iety "in place of the old bourgeois coma which clearly shows that the pursuit of social harmony should be the proper meaning of socialism.

The establishment of the socialist system aa the aa i f classes and social disharmony, roots that led to the antagonism of cla pein ae: i ial harmony. Since the founding o , up a wide path for socia ident i iali the past half century or more, hard exploration of socialism over seats i d the people in carrying ou the great practice of the Party an le i eg cea nrat i he socialist modernization made ou ound sg aaa i f social formation in i iali tirely new category of soc realize that socialism, as an en ee society, not only should but also is able to achieve the fundamenta

social harmony. | a At the beginning of the founding of new China, the Chinese estes ee with Mao Zedong as the main representative paid great attention to

i i i ing the dination of various social relations while exploring the laws sealers - construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He stresse

ili use positive factors at home and abroad should be mobilized to serve the ca

sively published the of socialism. From 1956 to 1957, Mao Zedong succes 7 mp

i i the Ten Major Relati u famous influential works such as On . comet Handling of Contradictions among the People. He made appropr

1 Selected Works of Marx and Engels, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/ works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch03.htm. 2 ~~ Ibid.

historical concept of harmony, including the ideology of |

and comprehensive arrangements in all aspects including economy, politics and culture, put forward the "double hundred" principle, namely, "letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend", he also proposed the need to learn to use democratic methods to solve the contradictions among the people, which pointed out the basic direction for the all-round development of socialism in our country.

After the 3" Plenary Session of the 11% Central Committee of CPC, the Chinese Communists with Deng Xiaoping as the main representative put forward the basic line of the Party, namely "one center and two basic points" on the basis of scientifically summing up the positive and negative experiences of socialist movement both at home and abroad; put forward major theoretical viewpoints of the coordinated development of socialist construction such as "doing two jobs at once and attaching equal importance to each" (grasping material civilization with one hand and spiritual civiliza- tion with the other hand). Further laid a solid foundation for the all-round and coordinated development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

After the 4" Plenary Session of the 13% National Congress of the Party, the Chinese Communists with Jiang Zemin as the main representative in- herited and developed Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping's thinking and placed greater emphasis on the coordinated development of economy and society based on the new reality of China's socialist modernization and reform and opening up. He clearly put forward that development should be taken as the most important task for the Party in governing and rejuvenating the country. At the same time, the socialist material civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization must be coordinated in the develop- ment. He proposed that we should correctly handle the relations between teform, development, and stability, take development as the goal, reform as the driving force and stability as the basis, promote the healthy develop- ment of all social undertakings and make the society more harmonious. He proposed that development should focus on efforts to promote the all-round development of the people, stressed that the all-round development of the people and the social development are the prerequisite and basis for each other, He proposed that we should have new ideas for development and take the way of new industrialization, change the dual economic structure between urban and rural areas, speed up urbanization and promote the coor- dinated economic development of the eastern, central and western regions,

These proposals further enriched and developed our Party's theory on the building of socialist society,

After the 16 CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the General Secretary further deepened the understanding on Social harmony on the basis of in-depth understanding of the law governing the development of socialism, profoundly summarizing the development

281

282

As for the scientific meaning of a harmonious socialist society, Hu Jintao ade an incisive summary in an important speech delivered at a seminar on nhancing the ability of major leading cadres at the provincial and ministe- rial levels in building the socialist harmonious society in February 2005: the harmonious socialist society we want to build should be a society with democracy and rule of law, fairness and justice, honesty and fraternity, vi- tality, stability and order, and harmony between man and nature.

experience of our country and accurately analyzing the stage characterist of China's economic and social development. He took making society m harmonious as an important goal of building a moderately prosperous s ety in an all-round way and made it clear that social construction Constitutes a "Four in One" strategic position along with economic construction, politi cal construction and cultural construction in the general layout of the-cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. For the first time, the 4" Plenary Session of the 16% CPC Central Committee in 2004 clearly put forward th important concept of "constructing a socialist harmonious society", which was taken as a fundamental task of strengthening the building of the Party's governing capability. It emphasized that a society putting talents to full use with harmony is the social foundation for the Party to strengthen its ruling — power, as well as the inevitable requirement for the Party's ruling to real- ize its historical task. In October 2006, the 6" Plenary Session of the 16" Central Committee of the Party examined and approved the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues concerning Building a Harmonious Socialist Society, which comprehensively and profound y clarified the nature and positioning of a harmonious socialist society, clear- ly pointed out the guiding ideology, goal and task, working principle and major deployment of the construction of a socialist harmonious society. In October 2007, the report of the 17" National Congress of the Communist Party of China further proposed that on the basis of economic developmen we should pay more attention to social construction, strive to guarant and improve people's lives, promote social system reform, expand publ services, enhance social management and uplift social fairness and justic so that all people can enjoy their rights to education, employment, medi- cal care, pension, and housing, and promote the building of a harmonious society.

Second, the scientific meaning of building a socialist society

In Modern Chinese Dictionary (5" edition), "harmony" as "be in harmonious proportion". Thus it can be seen that the is the coordination of the relations among different thing general, a harmonious society is the harmonious, unified and coordin development of man and nature, man and society, and between ne man. It is the harmonious unity and coordinated development betwe productive forces and the relations of production, the economic ee and the superstructure. The harmonious society is a description o conditions for the development of human society and an ideal of a who pursue civilization and progress.

Democracy and the rule of law means that socialist democracy is fully eveloped, the basic strategy of governing the country according to law effectively implemented, and positive factors in all aspects are widely obilized.

Fairness and justice means that the interests of all sectors of society are properly coordinated, the contradictions among the people and other social conflicts are properly handled, and social fairness and justice are effectively maintained and realized.

Honesty and fraternity, that is, the whole society helps each other, be honest and trustworthy, the whole people are equal and friendly and get along well with each other.

Vitality means being able to respect all the creative aspirations that are conducive to social progress, supporting creative activities, giving play to creative talent, and creating results being affirmed.

Stability and order, that is, a sound social organization mechanism, per- fect social management, good social order, the people live and work in peace, social stability and unity.

Harmony between man and nature is the development of production, af- fluent life and sound ecological environment.

_The above six aspects of a socialist harmonious society are interrelated id interactive. These six aspects include not only the harmony of social lations but also the harmony between man and nature, embodying the ty of democracy and the rule of law, the unity of fairness and efficiency, unity of vitality and order, the unity of science and humanity, the unity man and nature. These six aspects are extremely rich in content. They only depict a beautiful blueprint for a harmonious socialist society for but also give to us specific requirements for the sound construction of armonious socialist society. Together, they reveal the essential connota- of a socialist harmonious society and is the general requirement for in building the harmonious socialist society. Its core is to deal with the tionship between people, between people and society and between man ature.

"harmony"

283

To accurately grasp the scientific meaning of a harmonious socialist so-

ciety, we still have to pay special attention to grasp from the following four aspects:

conditions of socialism, the fu

ee ee ae eee ciety are identical, but there are canes hee and differences when it comes to specific interests, ae ith the deepening of reform and opening up and the develo : oie oe ocialist market economy, the relations between social inter ment of the s ing more complicated. Therefore, pursuing and realizing the eile nan : eople is an important task and the necessary condition airs ae oan socialist society. In a certain sense, the Process = a is harmonious socialist society is the process to realize the ham of building a eople. In order to realize the true harmony between people, ee fairness and justice, rely on democracy and rule of w

law, and promote honesty and fraternity.

e people and society. In our country, socialism has ese bade do Hohadatioh for the harmony between inves iety, but plenty of contradictions still inevitably arise be it - antes d society. The development and progress of socialist socie are i Hs tely be embodied and implemented in the development and should u ek re member of the society. Only by continuously giving aie ation to each member of society and respecting the individ- are ee value and dignity in the process of social oe «  the society itself continuously are prapaeel ean co Sed artes ee eh social atmosphere, and constantly a eine harmony between individuals and the society.

_ First, the socialist harmonious society is not the social coordination and harmony advertised by. any other social form in history, but a harmoni- ous society with socialist nature. Under the new historical conditions, our Party not only fully absorbs the ideological nourishment of social harmony from human civilization, but also upholds the Marxist socialist value and adapts itself to profound social changes, combine "socialism" with "har- onious society" and clearly put forward the idea of "building a socialist harmonious society." It is different from the "Great Harmonic Universe" that some thinkers in history have been long admired and also differs from the "Utopia" portrayed by utopian socialists, but rather a product of com- bining Marxist thinking on social harmony with the reality of contemporary China. As pointed out by the 6" Plenary Session of the 16 CPC Central Committee, the socialist harmonious society we want to build is a harmoni- ous society built and shared by all Chinese people along the path of social- sm with Chinese characteristics and under the leadership of the CPC. This conclusion clearly reveals the core of leadership, the path of development, the subject of practice and the fundamental purpose of building a socialist harmonious society. Second, the building of a socialist harmonious society is an organic, in-_ ————~

egral and inseparable part of the socialist economic, political and cultural nstruction. Under the new requirements of our country's economic and cial development in the new phase of the new century, our Party has eviewed the current situation and, under the guidance of the scientific ncept of development, clearly defined "building a socialist harmonious iety" as our goal of development, which marked the overall layout of iIding a socialist cause with Chinese characteristics has been transformed m the "Three in One" of economic construction, political construction cultural construction into the "Four in One" of economic construction, ical construction, cultural construction and social construction. We Continuously enhance the material basis for the construction of a har- Ous society through the development of socialist economic construc- nd continuously strengthen the political guarantee for the construction armonious society through the development of socialist political con- / ion and constantly consolidate the spiritual support for the construc- of a harmonious society through the development of socialist cultural truction. At the same time, we should create favorable social condi-

for the socialist economic, political and cultural development through elopment of social construction.

oaneromnccmnnt

Harmony between man and nature. The harmony ear no se ture is the most basic part of social harmony. The age ober tal pollution, ecological fragility and ie oe ae Re ea the entire human society, including the socialist s ¥ Mi ie in the development process. If the endless recou: oO ee taken, it will lead to a serious shortage of resources, deteri¢ A eee women and the catastrophic a aa he oo crisis for mankind, Therefore eure ofthe socialist harmonious 80 i i € = cee Raith Be aaidind ecological plea es heen i PC refers the report of the 17" National Congress of the Nee eee law that mankind must follow the harmonious ie . see ee and society. In the process of transforming t : is : ce an not only consider satisfying human needs, but s na sloped relationship between man and nature, build an or : Ooiee i od ecological environment. ae nea ten ci ilation after agricultural ct

and industrial civilization.

ople, and fully mobilizing all positive factors are the necessary require- ents for us to consolidate the social foundation of the Party's governance and realize the historic mission of the Party's governance.

Third, building a socialist harmonious society and na a well-off society in an all-round way both belong to a large category 0 rake S0- cialism with Chinese characteristics. The two complement eac other and promote each other. The construction of a socialist harmonious society a long-term historical task throughout the entire course of undertaking th cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important content building an overall well-off society. It is also a vital condition for buildin, an overall well-off society. The proposal of building a tiene prosper- ous society in an all-round way as proposed by ie 16" Nationa Congres of the Party, which contains the requirement of " a more atk soci- ety". Building a socialist harmonious society further expan s and enriches this requirement. In the phase of building the well-off society 7 an all- round way, building a socialist harmonious society is a major an tealistic task. At the same time, building a socialist harmonious society is also a long-term process. After achieving the grand goal of ote an overall well-off society, we must continue to strive for a higher level of harmonious society. According to the advanced point of view of dialectical materialism,

harmony is always relative in the development and evolvement of things,

and the absolute and static harmony does not exist. The same is true for social development. To build a socialist harmonious society Is the ae of continuously eliminating the factors of disharmony and no le 286 factors of harmony so as to continuously raise the level of social harmony

This process is dynamic and never-ending.

Fourth, improving the ability to build a socialist harmonious society is an important part of strengthening the Party's ability to govern and the male task of the Party's governance. Domestically, building a socialist harmon

ous society and making every effort to achieve an all-round and coor

nated development of the "Four in One" and trying to eliminate all kinds

disharmony in our society is an inevitable requirement for us oa properly use the period of strategic opportunity in the first two 7 the 21% century and realize the grand goal of building an over ; society. Internationally, building a socialist harmonious society ; L with the domestic issues, striving to achieve social pie ang a maintaining the situation of national reunification, ne on cial stability is the inevitable requirements for us to grasp : ae : changeful international situation and effectively cope wit yee " i. arising from the international challenges and risks. Looking 2 sion shouldered by our Party, building a socialist oeaaray . ways adhering to the people-centered principle and taking the Pe : interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as we Fr starting point and the foothold of our Party and our country's "e : _ alizing, safeguarding and developing the interests of the broa

Third, the significance of building a socialist harmonious society

The construction of a socialist harmonious society is the fundamental principle of scientific socialism that the Communist Party of China adheres , the Party absorbs the positive thoughts created regarding social harmony human civilization, closely integrates the national conditions with the ality of China, and takes Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, so- alism with Chinese characteristics and the Important Thought of "Three epresents" as its guide and comprehensively implement the scientific con- cept of development. The major Strategic tasks proposed from the over- all layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the overall situation of building a well-off society in an all-round way reflect the inherent requirements of building a prosperous, democratic, civilized and harmonious modern country, embody the common aspirations of the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country. Fundamentally speaking, taking "building a socialist harmonious society" as a clear goal of development is an innovative summary of the objective stem for the development of socialism; it is deepening our understanding of what kind of socialism we should build and how to build socialism. Itis 297 so a major innovation in the theory of socialist construction, which is of --— eat theoretical and practical significance.

First, building a socialist harmonious society is a deepening of our un- rstanding of the laws governing the development of human society, the w of socialist construction and the law of the governing of the commu- st party. The development of human society has always been a historical ocess which forms a continuous development trend constantly chang- g, advancing, rising and perfecting in the contradictory movements from w level to high level, from part to whole, from simplicity to complexity. ing forward the building of a socialist harmonious society is a practi- rocess of unifying social forces, constantly eliminating the factors of scord in social conflicts, increasing the factors of harmony, and achieving al progress in full compliance with the requirements of the law govern- he development of mankind, which is the enrichment and development ¢ Marxist theory on the construction of a socialist society by our Party. he same time, our Party places great emphasis on the institutional foun- on of a harmonious society, that is, this harmonious society is founded he basis of adhering to the path of building socialism with Chinese acteristics and reveals that "social harmony is the essential attribute of alism with Chinese characteristics", which sums up the general layout cialist modernization of our country as the "Four in One" of economic

aE ; construction and social co, construction, aman peel ae and development of the struction, panne and further enriching and innovating socialism with pane ee which deepens the understanding of the law of s nite : aiciun It ‘ proposed to build a socialist Baesiouols soc CSE oon orominence to the ruling philosophy of "Party for the pub and to give more p t for the people" and "exercising power for the peop lic and panda them and working for their interests", it is emphasized ae Ae ailidihe a socialist harmonious society, arousing the enthu that only by ici in a broad manner, properly coordinating the relations ae sae ae various social stratum, effectively safeguarding and of interests ae fairness and justice, enabling all the people to be equally sa sd nnenioue living in harmony = a Se aa —

. for the eople be mo es

a ae aan oe the ruling law and governin: ' re

e ruling party. . _ - pre SEY harmonious society is - novia building an overall well-off society and realizing soci a =. . Over the past 30 years since the reform and opening up, : ae kin s including social construction have made great a Th 2 ee been seeing unprecedented prosperity Mu peas " 288 scheveneils: we have successfully completed note gee a ae ieee fee i middle-income cow 1 en US. oe ucrereai market economic system has been : eee 4 which has greatly promoted the rapid develop ie : ae which is the second largest in the world. Shenz ou sete Oi hai-Tibet Railway, the West-East electricity — aI a Power Transmission, South-to-North tee o Siac jor projects have been reported with success. The ra a and " a vil lage" projects benefits the vast rural areas. In Be ees orts and highways was increasingly improved. ~ a mae sense for hundreds of millions of peasants in o Led bid farewell to the history of "paying impena . i oe of years so that ordinary people get real bene i a - a t for economic and social development in our ce ees creative vitality is being liberated. The socialist . ni ca ae 9 r socialist society is an overall harmonious a ae Seu t also be soberly aware that despite the tremen " epee Chit a has made, but our basic national conditions that th Fe ll i will feikatn in the initial stage of socialism a . a ne ed. The gap between the ever-growing materia L eae is ae and the low level of social production has

nor has China's international position as the largest developing country in the world changed. In particular, it should be noted that with the deepen- ing of reform and opening up, under the background of profound changes in the economic structure, profound changes in social structure, profound adjustments in the pattern of interests, and profound changes in ideologi- cal concepts, there aie still many deep-seated contradictions in the rapid development of our country. There actually have emerged many discordant factors and phenomena. They are mainly manifested as the continuing ex- pansion of the urban-rural gap, the regional gap, and the income gap, the increase of employment and social security pressures, the lag in education, health, culture and other social undertakings, the aggravated contradictions netween population growth, economic development and ecological envi- onment and natural resources, the backward mode of economic growth, hat there is no fundamental change in the extensive economic growth, and the overall low quality of the economy and the lack of competitiveness, etc. We still face many difficulties and problems on the road forward and are t a stage of "contradiction protruding period" which is particularly apt to igger various economic and social conflicts. These new developments and hanges have set new demands on our Party: we must actively maintain so- ial stability, promote social harmony, adjust social relations, maximize the reativity and enthusiasm of the whole society, resolve all kinds of contra- ictions and problems, and strive to realize the goal of coordinated devel- 289 pment of economy and society as well as the coordinated development of an and nature of our country which are the necessary requirements of the cial development in China today. "Building a socialist harmonious soci- ly means that our Party should keep a clear head, be prepared for danger times of peace, have a profound understanding of the stage characteris- ¢s of our country's development, scientifically analyze the contradictions d problems that have an impact on social harmony and their causes, im- € pressure on ourselves and proactively make major strategic goals. Its ¢ spirit is to realistically and actively face the contradiction and resolve contradiction, maximize the factors of harmony, minimize the factors of

armony and promote social harmony on the basis of overall harmony € actual socialist system.

hird, building a socialist harmonious society embodies the unification ¢ development process and goals of socialism with Chinese character- In each specific stage of social development, social harmony always ecific and historical tasks and standards. The historical process of Socialism is a process of continuously promoting the harmonious de- PMent and continuously raising the standard of harmony. Through the ng of New China and the overthrow of the old system of exploita- e have initially established a socialist productive relationship that is tible and coordinated with the development of our productive forces,

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eed

which is an embodiment of harmony. In the new era of reform an openin up, we have explored a socialist path of building socialism Chines characteristics, put forward the goal of building a prosperous, emocrals and civilized socialist modern country, promoted the pibacaiomted opment of material civilization, political civilization and spiritua civiliza tion, which is the further development of social harmony. On the basis 0 the tremendous achievements made in the past, our Party, ina new phas of the new century, further proposed that socialism is a society in which economic, political, cultural and social development are developing in an all-round way. It is also a society in which material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization and ecological civilization are organically unified, Building a harmonious society 1s a more in-depth, more specific and higher-standard plan for the goal of harmony. It is also a conti tion of our historical process of pursuing a harmonious society. The 7 CPC National Congress proposed that scientific development and social harmony are the basic requirements for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Building a well-off society in an all-round way is the goal for the Party and the state by 2020 and the scraRnNEE of the people of all nationalities in the country. By the middle of t . he | tury, we must basically realize modernization and build our meee . a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious socialist mor -~ country. This is our Party's immediate goal of struggle and a ante i . of the entire society. Therefore, the pursuit of social harmony se only concrete process of struggle, but also an objective of the per €. t . Pe only an ideal of governing the country, but also a strategy 0 sven : : country and a mechanism of governing the country, as well as the result 0!

governing the country.

social development must be insisted on and in accordance with the general requirements of democracy, the rule of law, fairness and justice, honesty and fraternity, vitality, stability and order, harmony between man and na- ture, the Party should focus on solving the most practical problems of the utmost and immediate concern to the people, make every effort to develop social undertakings, promote social fairness and justice, build a harmonious culture, improve social management, enhance social vitality, take the path of common prosperity, and promote the coordinated development between social construction and economic, political and cultural construction.

While putting forward the major task of building a socialist harmonious society, the CPC Central Committee has also clearly proposed the basic principles that must be followed in advancing the construction of a harmo- ious society and pointed out the direction for actively and steadily promot- ing the building of a harmonious society in practice.

_ First, adhering to the people-oriented principle is the fundamental start- ing point and the ultimate goal of building a socialist harmonious society. To build a socialist harmonious society, we must implement people-orient- ed principle, take the realization of the fundamental interests of the over- whelming majority of the people as the highest standard of all the work of our Party and state. We should uphold the principle that development is for the people, by the people and with the people, and that people should share fruits and that we should promote the comprehensive development of men.

Second, upholding the scientific development is the guideline for build- ing a socialist harmonious society. In order to build a socialist harmoni- s society, we must firmly establish and comprehensively implement the scientific concept of development, earnestly focus on development, which is the top priority for the Party in governing and rejuvenating the coun- try, make overall plans for the harmonious development of urban and rural as, regions, economy and society and between man and nature, make erall plans for domestic development and opening to the outside world,

as to achieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development economy and society.

The guiding ideology, basic principles and tasks and requirements of building a socialist harmonious society

First, the guiding ideology and basic principles of building a socialist harmonious society

The 6t* Plenary Session of the 16" CPC Central Committee has ee put forward the guiding ideology of building a socialist rane ety: The guidance of Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thoug be Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Rep be persisted, the Party's basic line, program and caaioiets a using the scientific development concept to lead the overall econ

urth, adhering to democracy and the rule of law is the work guarantee uilding a socialist harmonious society. To build a socialist harmonious ty, we must strengthen socialist democratic politics, develop socialist

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drural areas and regions would have been gradually reversed, and a ratio- and orderly pattern of income distribution has basically taken shape, and he people would could live a more wealthy life; (3) The social employment uld be more adequate and the social security system covering urban and al residents basically established; (4) The basic public service system uld be more complete and the level of government administration and ice greater improved; (5) The ideological and ethical standards of the ole nation, the scientific and cultural qualities and health qualifications uld have been significantly improved, and good ethics and harmonious terpersonal relationships would have been further formed; (6) the vital- of the whole society would have been significantly enhanced and the ovative countries basically completed; (7) there would be a more com- slete social management system and a good social order; (8) there would ye a marked improvement in the efficiency of resource utilization and in ecological environment; (9) the goal of building a well-off society in a her standard that will benefit billions of people in all aspects would be ieved, and all the people would do their best and get along well with h other in harmony. These nine goals and major tasks respectively re- ct all aspects of the general requirements of democracy, the rule of law, mess and justice, honesty and fraternity, vitality, stability and order, and harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and supplement and enrich content of building an overall well-off society.

democracy, implement the basic strategy of governing the country aceo ing to law, and promote social fairness and justice through democracy a the rule of law. Fifth, upholding the correct handling of the relations between refo development and stability is the working condition for building a soc ist harmonious society. In order to build a socialist harmonious soci we must unify the intensity of reform, the speed of development, and degree of social affordability, maintain social stability and unity, promo harmony through reform, consolidate harmony through development, en- sure harmony through stability, so that people can live and work in peace and contentment, achieve social stability and order and the long-term pe and stability of the state.

Sixth, upholding the common building of the entire society under leadership of the Party is the core of the leadership and the strength to buil socialist harmonious society. In order to build a socialist harmonious socie we must strengthen and improve the Party's leadership and give play tot leadership of the Party. At the same time, we must safeguard the domin n position of the masses and unite all forces that can be united to mobilize all positive factors and foster a dynamic environment in which everyone o tributes to social harmony and benefits from a harmonious society.

The above-mentioned six basic principles constitute an organic whe containing rich contents and profoundly embody the fundamental requil ment of building a socialist harmonious society. From different persp tives, they answered the question of for whom to build, who to build a how to build a socialist harmonious society, pointing out what thou we should follow to build a harmonious socialist society, coordinating | overall situation on the basis of what principle, advancing development the basis of what requirements, what method is used to ensure a a relatively systematic guiding ideology and basic principle for but socialist harmonious society has been formed.

Second, the main objectives and tasks of building a harmonious socialist society

According to the grand goal of building a well-off society oo the Party's 16" CPC National Congress and in accordance " ge requirements for building a socialist harmonious society, t ; Session of the 16" CPC Central Committee has set the goal an y for building a socialist harmonious society by 2020: (1) ba oo mocracy and legal system would have been further mea strategy of governing the country according to law arate } implemented, and people's rights and interests would have — respected and guaranteed; (2) the trend of widening the gap betw

In order to accomplish the above goals and tasks, the Party Central mmittee made a comprehensive plan for the building of a socialist har- nious society and put forward a series of major initiatives, which include t only specific policies for solving problems, but also basic ideas and way efforts to further solve the problems.

First, insist on coordinated development and strengthen the building of ial undertakings. In order to build a socialist harmonious society, we always adhere to the basic idea of using development to solve the lems in progress. According to the actual situation of our country, h is still and will remain in the initial stage of socialism for a long the CPC Central Committee has proposed specific measures such as omote the building of a new socialist countryside, promote the coordi- | development of urban and rural areas, implement the overall regional lopment strategy, promote the coordinated development of the region, ent a proactive employment policy and development harmonious elations, adhere to the priority of education, promote education fair- rengthen medical and health services, improve people's health level, ate the development of cultural undertakings and cultural industries, eople's cultural needs, strengthen the environmental governance and ¢ the harmony between man and nature.

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Fourth, improve social management and maintain social stability and or- der. Strengthening social management and maintaining social stability are the necessary requirements for building a harmonious socialist society. We should focus our efforts on a series of important work such as building a service-oriented government, strengthening social management and public service functions, promoting community building, improving basic service and management networks; improving social organizations and enhancing social.services; coordinating the interests of all parties and properly han- dling social conflicts; improving institutional mechanisms of emergency management to effectively deal with various risks; strengthening the com- prehensive management of public security and enhancing people's sense of security; strengthening national security and national defense construction, safeguarding the stability and security of the state to provide a good social and political environment for the building of a harmonious socialist society.

Second, strengthen the institutional construction oe sais oa ness and justice. Social fairness and justice are the basic : ee

al harmony, and institution is the fundamental guarantee or social fair-

ne ad justice: We must make every effort to build a system ae play an important role in safeguarding social fairness and see ae . people's rights and interests in the political, SeeaeEne pe - sos fields, and guide citizens to exercise their rights and ulfi a e 7 in accordance with the law. Only by improving the ins ae sea : nisms that promote social fairness and justice can we ea insti iona guarantees for building a socialist harmonious society. These si mea sures are: perfecting the system of guaranteeing the ae . ns em solidating the political status of the people as the es grea Be ne perfecting the legal system and consolidating the oun Haan: : of law for social harmony; perfecting the judicial system a acl " and strengthening the judicial guarantee of social pie ee sak ‘o : public financial system and gradually realizing equaliza see : ic P services; improving the income distribution system, standar : aan . of income distribution; improving the social security system to p he

basic livelihood of the masses.

Third, build a harmonious culture and consolidate the ideo ' ethical foundation for social harmony. In order to truly achieve socia . mony, we must uphold the correct orientation and create a positive - healthy atmosphere of public thinking and isa We cae a i i te the concept of harmony, uild a harmonious culture, advoca' . ny, ee

harmonious spirit. This is both a cultural earns eae

a st

i i important task of building a harmon harmonious society and an impo oe i i ious culture, the most fundamenta g is to ety itself. To build a harmoniou oe i iali tem in our society wi establish the socialist core value sys Rae: iding 1 d building socialism with Chinese cha guiding ideology and bu ocialis Ct Lae i it with patriotism as common ideal, the national spiri spirit of the times with reform and innovation : ie core, a : i of socialism as the basic content, concept of honor and disgrace ¢ Fe ee i liefs and moral norms of the form the common ideals and be | Y and lay a solid ideological and ethical foundation for the unity he " of the people of all nationalities throughout the country. On t Me should conduct a wide range of activities for creating iebiea building of a socialist harmonious society Maras Aare . a a i ious family and othe ous community, as well as a harmonio a civilization building activities and a harmonious, and create an

of "one for all, all for one".

Fifth, stimulate social vitality and enhance social solidarity. Socialist harmonious society is not only a dynamic society, but also a united and harmonious society. We must stimulate social vitality to the utmost and promote the harmony of relations between political parties, ethnic relations, religious relations, class relations, relations between compatriots at home and abroad, consolidate the great unity of the people of all ethnic groups across the country and consolidate the great unity of the Chinese people at home and abroad. We must stick to the path of peaceful development and create a favorable international environment. Only by fully mobilizing all the patriotic forces at home and abroad, inside and outside the country, and by enhancing social solidarity and vitality, can we provide a broad range of

forces for the construction of a harmonious socialist society and lay a solid cial foundation.

Sixth, correctly handle social conflicts. Social contradiction movements € the basic force to promote social development. We must abide by the Ws governing social development, face up to the contradictions proac- vely, properly handle contradictions among the people and other social mtradictions, continue to cultivate material bases for reducing and re- ing conflicts, enhance the spiritual strength, improve policy measure trengthen institutional security to maximize social vitality, maximize harmonious factors and minimize the discordant factors. We should ngthen and innovate social management, perfect the social management ern in which the Party committee leads, the government takes charge, society coordinates and the public participate, and establish a socialist ial management system with Chinese characteristics to comprehensive- Mprove the level of scientific management of social administration and ure people's livelihood and social harmony and stability.

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The 17" CPC National Congress has made a new comprehensive plan fo building a harmonious socialist society and building a well-off society all respects. It further proposes that it is necessary to enhance coordinati in development, make effort to achieve sound and rapid economic dev opment, and create a solid material foundation for building a harmonioy socialist society; it is necessary to unswervingly develop socialist dem racy and ensure that the people be the masters of the country, acceler the reform of the administrative system to build a service-oriented govern. ment; It is necessary to improve the mechanism of restraint and oversi and ensure that power entrusted by the people is always exercised in their interests; It is necessary to enhance cultural construction, build a harmo. nious culture and cultivate civilized prevailing custom, It is necessary . carry forward Chinese culture and build a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation; It is necessary to speed up the development of social under- takings and comprehensively improve people's lives. The report of the 17% National Congress of the Party also stressed in particular the need to speed _ up the social construction that focuses on improving people's liveliho put forward the development strategy of prioritizing education, building — a country rich in human resources and implementing employment expan-_ sion, promote employment through entrepreneurship and deepen reform o the income distribution system and increase the income of urban and rur residents, accelerate the establishment of a social security system covering both urban and rural residents and guarantee their basic living conditions, establish a basic medical and health system, improve the whole people' health level, improve social management, and maintain social stability and unity and other key initiatives to promote the building of a harmonious $ ciety. In the Outline of the Twelfth-Five Year Plan, which was implemente in 2011, it also sets forth an important proposition for strengthening and innovating social management. Take improving the scientific level of soci management, innovating social management concepts and methods, an improving the scientific and effective policy formulation as the main g of strengthening social management. We must take improving social ma agement as an important task to improve people's lives and promote cial harmony. First, promote reform and innovation in social manag system. Second, properly handle contradictions among the people pay attention to the construction and management of social organi Fourth, strengthen safety management and supervision. Fifth, impr social order prevention and control system.

ciety In the new phase of the new century. It must be well linked with th al of building a well-off society in all respects and our strategic goal . ndamentally realizing modernization, based on the current ae : ns mm perspective, do what one can do, do our best, march forwaid in ae ity areas and in phases. A harmonious and beautiful society cane ti d ork in a down-to-earth manner and joint efforts of all people. ‘

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.

"The ancient and modern prosperities are all based on reality, g dertakings all have small beginnings". The construction of a hart socialist society is not only a long-term historic task throughout th course of undertaking the cause of socialism with Chinese charac but also an important and realistic subject in building an overall

The Basic Forces in Developing of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Building socialism with Chinese characteristics is the common cause of the people of all ethnic groups in China

First, workers, peasants and intellectuals are the basic forces of thee cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics

To build socialism with Chinese characteristics is the common cause of 1e people of all nationalities and people of all walks of life in the country d requires the concerted efforts and hard work of all people of all nation- lities and people of all walks of life across the country. In contemporary hina, all the classes, strata and social forces who advocate, support and articipate in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics are we depend in promoting the cause of socialism with Chinese charac- stics. The working class and the vast majority of peasants, including ellectuals, have always been the fundamental forces in promoting the elopment of our country's advanced productive forces and advanced

lture and all-round social progress.

. The working class is the leading class and main force in building so- m with Chinese characteristics

© working class is the leading class in our country and the fundamental for promoting the development of our country's advanced productive s and all-round social progress. It is the most solid and reliable class dation for the Communist Party of China and the main force for build- Ocialism with Chinese characteristics. To build socialism with Chinese cteristics, we must wholeheartedly rely on the working class.

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economy. They are not only leaders in the cause of reform and opening up and the modernization drive, but also the practitioners, the backbone of promoting the cause of reform, opening up and modernization.

The status and role of the working class in the cause of oe socia : ism with Chinese characteristics are determined by its ee 7 ee eristics and social and historical status and by the nature of the ee - Republ of China and the nature of the Communist Party of China. : irst of all, the working class in China is a product of the development : ue esp cially the development of socialized mass production in ei in Ree years. Since it is linked with the modern mode of peas i a always been able to keep pace with the times, stand at the fore ee of the tin and continuously promote the development of advanced ae ape orces and advanced productive relations. It is the representative ) t e A vanced productive forces and advanced productive relations in China. coon China is a socialist country and the working class is the Nery : . 0 . : country, which is expressly stipulated in the Constitution : t le op e ; Republic of China. In China, the leadership of the working c <a is i i" through the Communist Party of China. The Communist ats < is the vanguard of the Chinese working class. The ae ies re _ e Party stems from the advanced nature of the working class. : e ne | class, which is linked to socialized mass production, 1s there mi e - far-sighted, the most broad-minded in its breadth and the most. i in organization and is capable of leading the modern economic, rr a and social progress. The Chinese revolution ng with ee u ee 300 leadership of the Chinese working class. China's cere cons : ——— also made great achievements under the leadership of t : wor - " Therefore, the Party must rely firmly on the working c paren S _ practice of leading revolutions, construction and reform ve a the entire process, which is the fundamental guarantee - t hes se our cause. Thirdly, the working class is the basic driving st . _ : opening up and modernization. The working class, Ser ‘ — vanced or more advanced modern enterprises In our nationa vie ee created the largest part of social wealth and is the major i oa <a . that plays a decisive role in ey satis sane pees eee ialist modernization drive. The leadin mn ¢ ass papennr nares construction and the characteristics of coor and unification of working methods play a crucial role in sa egual stability, unity and social stability of the country, which i o - force for the stability of the country and society. To carry sate ca tion construction, implement reform and opening up, and wer a with Chinese characteristics are in the fundamental interest of a class, therefore, the working class is also the most basic ae a reform, opening up and modernization construction. sae t aie opening up, the workers' masses are mindful of the un me Ae ¢ country, boldness in innovation, thriftiness and hard work, an ae : great contributions to the socialist modernization and the soc

With the continuous.advancement of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the ranks of the working class in our country have under- gone significant changes and many new features have emerged. The ma- jor ones are summarized as follows: First, the working class have rapidly expanded. Since the reform and opening up, with the development of the secondary and tertiary industries in our country, with the acceleration of in- dustrialization and urbanization, the proportion of Chinese agriculture prac- titioners has dropped significantly and the working class has been rapidly growing. Second, job mobility accelerated. The "iron rice bow!" under the _ planned economic system has been broken. The two-way choice between _ enterprises and institutions and the employees is a foregone conclusion. _ The dependency of staff and workers on the work units is greatly weakened and their autonomy is greatly enhanced. Third, significant changes have taken place in the internal structure. The proportion of intellectuals in the working class has greatly increased, and their quality of science, technol- ogy and culture and ideological and moral qualifications have remarkably improved. The peasants who have entered the cities for jobs have become an important part of China's industrial workers and are becoming an im- portant driving force for industrialization, urbanization and modernization. 301 The forms of ownership of economic organizations on which the workers depend are increasingly diversified, and the number of workers employed in various non-public economic organizations accounts for about half of he total workforce. All in all, the working-class in our country has grown in strength, its quality has been continuously improved and its advanced nature has been constantly enhanced. It has become a unified whole of all aborers consisting of all kinds of enterprises, various organs, institutions, and new economic organizations and new social organizations, including a arge number of migrant workers.

The new changes that have taken place in the ranks of the working class China have not changed the position of the working class as the masters the country. The working class is still the major builder of socialist mod- ization, the major creator of social wealth, the representative of advanced oductive forces and the leading class in the state of the people's demo- tic dictatorship. The most fundamental manifestation of the advanced ture of the working class is that it represents the advanced productive ces and is the precursor to the promotion of social development in China.

The Party Central Committee has always attached great importance to - working class. Deng Xiaoping once made it clear that one of the most portant characteristics of the working class in China is that it is linked to

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the socialization of mass productio and the strongest sense of discipline, ic progress and social progress. | ‘Three Represents', Jiang Zemin re and the entire proce Party must wholeheartedly rely on any time and in any case. Since the

tral Committee with : = ri the working class should remain unshakable as the leading class in the

country. Its role as the main force for r

ization cannot b : ae wholeheartedly rely upon the working class cannot be changed.

nd supports the operation and stable development of the entire national conomy. Without the solid foundation and modernization of agriculture, will be impossible to have the independence and modernization of the ntire country. Without the stability and overall progress in the countryside, will be impossible for the stability and overall progress of the entire so- iety. Without the "well-off? of the peasants, there will be no "well-off" of e people across the country. °

n. Therefore, it has the highest awaren and can play a leading role in econom In elaborating the important thinking of th peatedly stressed that all the activitis ss of the reform and socialist modernization led by the working class, which cannot shake ; 16% CPC National Congress, the Part

Hu Jintao as the General Secretary has reiterate Hisail Westonienl penialé of ysl bn Sea UA end EE CIE

e CPC has consistently adhered to combining the basic tenets of Marxism jith the concrete reality of China and has always attached great importance 9, taken seriously and try really hard to solve the problems of agriculture, he rural areas and peasants and successfully opened up a victory path for ew-democratic revolution and the path to the development of socialism. ao Zedong once pointed out: "The people's democratic dictatorship is ased on the alliance of the working class, the peasantry and the urban etty bourgeoisie, and mainly on the coalition of workers and peasants, ecause these two classes comprise 80 to 90 per cent of China's population. These two classes are the main force in overthrowing imperialism and the uomintang reactionaries. The transition from New Democracy to social- m also depends mainly upon their alliance."

eform, opening up and socialist mod- ¢ weakened, and the fundamental guidelines which the _

To depend on the working class wholeheartedly and is ais the lead- | ing role of the working class into full play in the socia ist node drive, we must safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of a —— ers, including migrant workers, and consolidate the master dace . fF the working class. In the process of deepening the Sip ear a " a modern enterprise system and promoting urbanization, t e an " gov: ernment must earnestly safeguard the workers democratic rights through political, economic, legal, public opin ions and administrative meas " implement the workers' rights of information, seein ope supervision, so as to maintain the rights and interests of the pate ie ers. We must care for and arrange the lives of job-waiting an une e i workers, broaden employment opportunities, promote reemp me : ects and improve the social security system. We must continue to

ever-increasing spiritual and cultural needs of our workers and staff, an

ae ‘ : ‘ omen i i ees to participate in social affairs manag fl actively organize employ p p Ah enther ta

i kers and staff shou At the same time, the masses of wor uld : their glorious mission, enhance their sense of responsibility, carry oe the fine tradition of knowing the general situation and taking ee . : into consideration, and correctly understand and handle the ae the interest relations and the pattern of interests in the eae ) a and development, particularly cherish the unity and maintain ne ae of enterprises and society, and contribute to the promotion of scientili velopment and social harmony. a >. Peasants are the basic force to rely on when building socialis Chinese characteristics

The problems concerning agriculture, rural areas and spree to the overall development of the cause of socialism with Cht me teristics. Agriculture is the foundation of our national cease . is not only directly related to the basic Subsistence eae a and dressing of over 1.3 billion of China's population, but a |

China's national conditions have determined that the vast majority of 3093 easants are not only the main force of the new-democratic revolution in —-— ur country, but also the largest population and most basic force of reliance 1 our country's socialist modernization and reform and opening up.

The reform of contemporary China started from the countryside. In 978, the 3% Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of the Party ade a historic decision to shift the work center of the Party and the state economic construction and implement the historic policy of reform and ning up. Against this backdrop, the majority of peasants, proceeding m the strong desire to change their own poverty and backwardness, have courage to explore and innovate boldly and gradually establish a dou- tier agricultural production and operation system that combines unified separate operations, which is mainly based on the household contract sonsibility system, and drive the entire reform and construction. The il reform greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of sants, greatly liberated and developed the social productive forces in il areas and greatly improved the material and cultural life of the broad ses of peasants. More importantly, the great practice of rural reform and elopment has creatively explored the establishment and improvement basic economic system and the socialist market economic system

lected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Vol.4, pp.1478-1497.

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rmidable and arduous task of constructing socialism needs the service fas many intellectuals as possible."? Deng Xiaoping pointed out: As part f the working class, the vast majority of our intellectuals are "trying to erve the cause of socialism consciously." J iang Zemin further pointed out: Without knowledge and intellectuals, it is impossible to build socialism.

in the initial stage of our socialism, and has made tremendous contrib tions to the historic leap forward in realizing the people's livelihood f inadequate basic living necessities to overall well-off society, laid as foundation for overcoming all kinds of difficulties and risks and maintai ing the overall social stability, and accumulated valuable experience in sy cessfully opening up the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics an forming the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristic addition, the township and village enterprises that have been continuously developing and expanding during the rural reform have not only prospered _ the rural economy, but have also led to the transformation of a considerab] e number of rural laborers to the working class. In short, reform, opening up - and modernization not only serve the peasants' fundamental interests but also enable them to receive benefits at the earliest stage. The vast number of peasants wholeheartedly support the line, principles and policies of build ing socialism with Chinese characteristics and become an important relying force of the cause of reform and opening up as well as the modernization —

drive.

Relying on the broad masses of peasants and mobilizing the enthusiasm and creativity of peasants has a bearing on the overall development of the country. Deng Xiaoping once pointed out that if the peasants are not moti- vated, the country cannot develop. Therefore, during the process of buil ing a well-off society in all respects and realizing the great rejuvenation 0} the Chinese nation, we must constantly raise our awareness of the extrem importance of agriculture, rural areas and peasants, and earnestly safeguar the legitimate rights and democratic rights of peasants. We must always make realizing, safeguarding and developing the fundamental interests : the overwhelming majority of the peasants the starting point and foothold of all the rural work. Adhere to the people-oriented principle, respect th wishes of peasants, and strive to solve the most concerned, most in and most realistic interests of the peasants, improve the overall quality : peasants and promote the all-round development of peasants, give full ' to the main role and pioneering spirit of peasants, firmly rely on hundred of millions of peasants to build a new socialist countryside.

In today's world, science and technology are advancing by leaps and ounds. The competition among countries is mainly manifested in the com- etition of comprehensive national strength, whose core is the competition 1 science and technology. Without the rapid development of science and chnology, there will be no rapid development of the national economy, hich is an indisputable fact. As the primary productive force, science and chnology have become increasingly prominent as the concentrated re- ection and main symbol of advanced productive forces. This important osition of science and technology determines the special important role of tellectuals in economic development and social progress. Intellectuals, as portant creators, successors and disseminators of human scientific and Itural knowledge, are the new force in promoting scientific and techno- gical progress and economic development in our country. They are the oneers of advanced productive forces and the backbone and core force the construction of socialist spiritual civilization. Without intellectuals, ogress in science and technology and knowledge innovation, the develop- ent of culture and education, the improvement of ideological and moral ndards, and the cultivation of citizens with four qualifications will be thing but empty talk. At the same time, the intellectuals are also play- ing an important role in strengthening theoretical studies on democratic nstruction, formulating laws and regulations in all aspects, publicizing d popularizing democratic knowledge and legal knowledge, raising the democratic awareness of the entire nation and the concept of legal system, vancing the building of socialist democracy and the rule of law, and en- ting the scientificity in decision-making on construction and reform.

Relying on intellectuals to promote science and technology, economic velopment and social progress has become a key factor in the develop- nt of China's reform and Opening up as well as in the cause of socialist \dernization. In order to rely on intellectuals and give play to the role intellectuals, we must strive to create a favorable environment that is re conducive for intellectuals to exert their wisdom and intelligence and ther develop a good prevailing custom of "respecting knowledge and re- cting talents" in the whole society. We must formulate relevant policies

3. Intellectuals are the important reliance of building socialism W Chinese characteristics

As a part of the working class in China that mainly has scientific and tural knowledge, intellectuals are mainly engaged in mental work. pioneer of advanced productive forces and the basic force of educ. and cultural work, the intellectuals play an irreplaceable role in the of reform and opening up as well as in the modernization drive. Th major social and historical responsibilities and are an important s to rely on in building socialism. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Our

Mao Zedong Collected Works, VoL.7, p.225, Beijing, People's Publishing House, 1999, lected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2 edition, Vol.2, p.186. CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the ational Congress" (Vol.II), p.622f.

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e mainstay and various ownership economy developing side by side. We should implement a distribution system under which distribution according to work is dominant and a variety of modes of distribution coexist and the basic state policy of opening up to the outside world, which will inevitably jead to the emergence of new social strata, the emergence of a large num- ber of self-employed entrepreneurs, workers of private-owned and foreign enterprises, or freelancers. Institutional innovation in the economic field is a prerequisite for the emergence of new social classes. Second, the develop- ment of productive forces and changes in economic structure have made the division of labor in the society increasingly sophisticated, providing work- ing conditions for the emergence of new classes. Finally, changes in the industrial structure contributed to changes in the employment structure and social class structure. Since the reform and opening up, with the continuous acceleration of the process of China's modernization, the proportion of the primary industry in the gross national product has declined, while the pro- portion of the secondary and tertiary industries has risen. A large number of diverted personnel from the primary industry have been transferred to the second and tertiary industries, some of whom become private entrepreneurs or self-employed.

and measures and actively improve the working, studying and living condi tions of intellectuals, give rewards to those intellectuals with outstandin, contributions, and form a standardized system of rewards; we must full trust the intellectuals in politics and at the same time actively guide an strictly require them to carry forward the spirit of "love the motherlan seek truth and innovation, work hard and sacrifice, and unite and cooperat with each other" to better assume the historic mission of the working clas 7 play a greater role in the great cause of building socialism oo Chinese characteristics, and truly become the "Nation's elites" and the "backbones

of socialist modernization".

Second, the new social strata as the builders of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics

Since the reform and opening up, there have been new changes in the composition of social classes in China. There have emerged entrepreneurs and technicians in private science and technology enterprises, management and technical personnel employed by foreign-funded enterprises, practi- tioners in intermediary organizations, freelance professionals, private en- trepreneurs, self-employed and other new social strata. Moreover, many people frequently move between different ownership systems, industri and regions, and their occupations and identities change frequently. These new social strata emerged in the process of China's reform and opening up and existed and developed in the overall situation of socialist public ownership and the superstructure of socialism leading the country s politi cal and economic life. Most of them are laborers, differentiated from the ranks of workers, peasants, intellectuals and cadres. Under the guidanes of the Party's principles and policies, they are the builders of socialisy with Chinese characteristics through honest labor and work, through lawfu operation, and contribute to the development of socialist productive force and other undertakings. Some of them are private entrepreneurs, they pe sess means of production and employ workers, and they play an active in boosting and promoting national economy and social development. The are also builders of the cause of socialism with Chinese characterist The Communist Party of China must unite with all social strata who are contributing to the prosperity of the motherland and encourage their en preneurial spirit, protect their legitimate rights and interests and on outstanding persons among them so that the whole people do their best their proper places in society and live in harmony.

Generally speaking, the broad masses of personnel in the new social stra- ta uphold the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist system, uphold the Party's line, principles and policies, abide by state laws and love the motherland. They have the courage to blaze new trails and dare to take risks and have come out of a path of entrepreneurship and hard work to get rich. The cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics needs the tstanding persons in all aspects of society, who are loyal to the mother- land and socialism. Taking the broad masses of personnel in the new social strata as builders of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a scientific conclusion drawn from reality, seeking truth from facts, respect- g practice and respecting the masses.

Third, the respect for labor, knowledge, talented human sources and creativity

Respect for labor, respect for knowledge, respect for talent, and respect creation is a major principle of the Party and the state. The purpose is reate an appropriate ideology and entrepreneurial mechanism that is patible with the basic economic system at the primary stage of social- create a social atmosphere that encourages people to run their business id support people to accomplish their undertakings, so as to unleash all Vitality contained in work, knowledge, technology, management and tal and give full play to all sources of social wealth for the benefit of eople.

The formation of new social strata in China conforms to the rec ments of the national conditions and the development of social prodt forces in the initial stage of socialism. First of all, we should g establish and improve the socialist market economy 1n the primary of socialism, establish a basic economic system with public owne:

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ablishing a new socialist labor concept, correctly viewing various forms labor and acknowledging the legitimate rights and interests of work- , can we mobilize all positive factors to the fullest extent possible and omote the development of the cause of socialism with Chinese charac- istics. Everything that benefits the people and society, both manual and ellectual, whether simple or complicated, are all the labors that contrib- to the socialist modernization in our country, and are honorable and serve recognition and respect. All legal labor income and legal non-labor ome should be protected. "It is improper to judge whether people are litically progressive or backward simply by whether they own property how much property they own. But rather, we should judge them mainly their political awareness, state of mind and performance, by how they ve acquired and used their property, and by how they have contributed to cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics through their tk."*

Only by mobilizing all the positive factors of both the materialized dead or and living labor and by giving full play to the positive functions of labor, knowledge, technology and management, can various types of labor d the enthusiasm of all kinds of workers of the whole society and the ole nation be widely and creatively mobilized.

Labor, knowledge, talent, creation, these four elements are a wy whole with inner connection. Labor is at the core and basic position, is the most basic and important social practice of mankind, is the fundam tal premise of the survival and development of human society. Labor created the world and mankind itself. Knowledge is an important reso for wealth creation, but it can form actual wealth only through workers means of labor. Talent is the carrier of knowledge resources, the essen; of talent lies in creativity. Only through labor to create enormous mat and spiritual wealth for the society, can the values of talents be reflect Creation itself is a kind of labor, and the process of creation is the process in which workers maximize their talents. Since the reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin had respectively put forward the views of "respecting knowledge and talents", "respecting labor, respecting tal- ents", "respecting creativity and respecting innovation". The 16" National Congress of the Party systematized these together and clearly put forward that "We must respect labor, respect knowledge, respect talent, and respect creativity. This must be seriously implemented in society as a major p i ciple of the Party and the state." Taking the "Four Respects" as a major guideline, reflects the Party's emphasis on the Marxist labor and labor the ry of value, who attaches great importance to the historical status and social role of knowledge and intellectuals. Talents and talent resources are high valued under the condition of socialism, and the creative spirit and creati work conducive to the prosperity of the motherland and the happiness of

people are also highly valued.

The principle of conscientiously implementing the "Pour Respects" the entire society is a new demand put forward by the times for the w of the Party and the state. In today's era, with the rapid development science and technology with information technology as its core, the knoy edge-based economy based on hi-tech and its industries has rapidly ri The driving force behind the development of world economy has shifted relying mainly on human capital, creation has become an important fo: of labor, Talents have become the most precious and important resol and the status and role of mental labor in the form of labor are beco ing more and more prominent. The "Four Respects" is a positive res made by the Party on the basis of profoundly understanding and g the essential characteristics of contemporary economic developmen influence, fully reflecting the spirit of the times and having great p

significance. The principle of "four respects" must be conscientiously imple throughout the whole society with the aim of mobilizing all posi iv in a most extensive and sufficient manner to gain inexhaustible s strength for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics

The enthusiasm and creativity of the entire society and the entire nation ve always been the most decisive factor in the development of the cause the Party and our country. To this end, we must first give full play to and pect the pioneering spirit of the people, bring about the full release of ative energy for the entire society, continuously bring forth innovations d vigorously launch entrepreneurial activities. Second, we must continu- sly deepen the reform and strive to create an equally competitive so- | environment. Through deepening the reform, an effective mechanism equal competition in the whole society was established. By regulatory d institutional constraints, power interference in the normal competitive of the society was excluded and a social environment conducive to mplementation of the "Four Respects" was formed. Finally, we must inue to improve the relevant laws and regulations and strictly enforce aw, protect the rights and interests of workers according to the law. ust politically affirm all the work that is beneficial to the people and ty and give protection to the legitimate rights and interests of workers.

€ principle of conscientiously implementing the "Four Respects" is a tete manifestation that the CPC represents the development require- of China's advanced productive forces. Labor, knowledge, talent and ion are the four basic elements that promote the development of the

PCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the tional Congress" (VoLID, p.622f.

309

t also be of great strategic significance for promoting the modernization

productive forces. By seizing these basic elements, we have seized the

the entire country.

to the development of advanced productive forces.

Fourth, consolidate and develop the unity and cooperation among all ethnic groups

China is a multi-ethnic country. Apart from the Han people, there 55 ethnic minorities who sum up to a population of nearly 100 millic The areas of national autonomous areas add up to 64% of the total area the country. During the long process of historical development, due to th interdependent economic and cultural ties among all ethnic groups, espe. cially the relations of solidarity and common ground formed in the course - of resisting foreign invasions and protracted revolutionary struggles in the modern history, all ethnic groups begin to breathe the same air and share the same fate, forming a Chinese nation with strong cohesion. The establish. ment of the socialist system has laid a fundamental political and economic — foundation for the unity, progress and prosperity of all our ethnic groups and established a new type of ethnic relations of equality, unity and mutual _ assistance among all ethnic groups. National unity and ethnic solidarity are the necessary prerequisites for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. To build socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must rely on the unity of the people of all ethnic groups and give full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of all ethnic groups.

To consolidate and develop the unity and cooperation among all ethnic groups and realize the common prosperity of all ethnic groups is a majo issue concerning the future and destiny of our country and the fundamen interests of our country, nation and people. To consolidate and develop th unity and cooperation among all ethnic groups is an important condition for consolidating and developing the people's democratic dictatorship an a stable and unified political situation. To consolidate and develop the u and cooperation among all ethnic groups is related to the unification of th country and the consolidation of the frontier. Most of the ethnic minoritie in our country are concentrated in the frontier areas of southwest, northw and northeast China. To consolidate and develop the unity and cooperat among all ethnic groups is of great significance for safeguarding natio unity, safeguarding the security of the country's frontier and develo friendly relations with its neighbors. To consolidate and develop the and cooperation among all ethnic groups has a bearing on the succe failure of the socialist modernization drive and the development of the ous ethnic areas themselves. The ethnic minority areas are rich in re but sparsely populated with poor economy and culture. The Han pop' has a large population and is relatively highly involved in the dev economy, science and culture. Combining the advantages of the not only promote the development and prosperity of ethnic minority

To consolidate and develop the unity and cooperation among all ethnic oups and to continuously promote economic and social progress in ethnic jnority areas is an important goal of China's socialist modernization and inevitable requirement for enhancing the cohesion of the Chinese nation d realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. For this reason:

First of all, we must integrate the Marxist concept of nation with the con- ete reality of the Chinese nation and recognize the issue of nationalities the light of the historical materialism. Under the system of exploitation, e essence of the ethnic issue is the issue of class and class struggle. In cialist society, the essence of the ethnic issue has become the issue of gorously developing the productive forces in all ethnic areas and trying to meet the ever-increasing material and cultural needs of people of all nation- alities. Under the premise of upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China and persistently building socialism with Chinese charac- ristics, the basic principle of our country in resolving the ethnic issue is: uphold national equality, ethnic solidarity and common prosperity of all ethnic groups.

Second, upholding and improving the system of regional ethnic auton- omy is the correct way to strengthen ethnic unity and solve ethnic issues. The system of regional ethnic autonomy organically integrates ethnic and gional factors, political and economic factors, the centralization and unity the country, and the autonomy of ethnic minority areas. Practice has proved that it is perfectly suited to China's national conditions.

Finally, speeding up the economic and social development in ethnic mi- rity areas and promoting the common prosperity of all ethnic groups are e fundamental tasks of strengthening ethnic unity and resolving ethnic ues. the Party's basic line in the primary stage of socialism emphasizes t all work should center on economic construction and that ethnic work ust also focus on the center of economic construction. The core issue of ing a good job in ethnic work and enhancing national unity is to actively eate the conditions for accelerating the economic and cultural develop- ent and all-round social progress in ethnic and ethnic minority areas. Only eveloping the ethnic areas can they be stable and only by development they be united and stable.

Consolidate and develop the patriotic united front

First, the united front is an important magic weapon for building socialism with Chinese characteristics

The historical experience of China's revolution and construction pro that, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, uniting all fore es that can be united, mobilizing all positive factors and forming the broa est possible united front are important guarantees for the Chinese people ir triumphing over difficulties and winning revolution and construction vieto- ries, and are a great political advantage of the Communist Party of China During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the Commun Party of China, exactly on the basis of the alliance of the working el with the peasant class, the alliance of the urban. petty bourgeoisie and th national bourgeoisie, formed a broad anti-imperialist and anti-feudal rev lutionary united front, and completed the historic mission of the national dependence and the liberation of the people . The united front has becom : magic weapon for the victory of the Chinese revolution. After the foun of New China, the people's democratic united front which includes work: ers, peasants, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie has continued to exert great importance in restoring the national economy, Co solidating the people's democratic dictatorship and carrying out social transformation and building socialism.

Since the 3™ Plenary Session of the 11% CPC Central Committee, o country has entered a new period of reform, opening up and modernizati and the united front has entered a new stage of development. In the . historical period, the united front can be said to be more important ever before. Uniting all forces that can be united, forming the widest : sible united front, and maximizing the formation of the broadest alli ‘ of all the socialist laborers, those patriots who support socialism and th , patriots who support the reunification of the motherland are the ee ment of the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, t quirement of maintaining the overall situation of reform, developmen stability, the requirement of meeting the fierce international a the requirement of fulfilling the great cause of reunifying a moth opposing hegemonism and safeguarding world peace, and the req of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. T he esse . united front led by the Communist Party of China is to achieve the b unity among all ethnic groups, political parties, all walks of life a in all fields under one common goal. The united front as an import weapon of the Party must never be discarded. As a political superiority of the Party, it must not be weakened. As a long-term policy of the Party, it must not be wavered.

The united front has always been an important part of the proletarian arty's general line and general policy and serves the general line and gen- ral tasks of the Party. The work of the united front is to win hearts and gather strength. Building a well-off society in an all-round way and real- izing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation depend to a large extent yn whether the Communist Party of China can mobilize tens of millions of people so that they are'of one heart and one mind and can work hard to make oncerted efforts. We should always carry forward the great spirit of soli- arity of the Chinese nation and conscientiously do well in the work of the nited front, including ethnic work, religious work and overseas Chinese affairs. We should mobilize all positive factors to the fullest extent possible and unite all the forces that can be united so that the united front can play an increasingly important role in pushing China to build a well-off society in an all-round way, realizing the complete reunification of the motherland and developing friendly relations and cooperation with foreign countries.

Second, the content and basic tasks of the patriotic united front in the new era

In different historical periods, the united front has different nature and ontent with the changes of social class relations and the central tasks of he Party and the state. The patriotic united front in the new era of reform, pening up and socialist modernization is led by the working class and is ased on the alliance of workers and peasants. It includes the most exten- ive coalition of all socialist laborers, the builders of the socialist cause, he patriots who support socialism, and the patriots who support unifica- on of the motherland. The united front in the new era includes two areas f alliances: one is the alliance of all laborers, builders and patriots united n the mainland on the political basis of patriotism and socialism, which is main body and foundation of the united front; The other is an alliance side mainland China of Taiwan compatriots, compatriots in Hong Kong, cao and overseas Chinese on the basis of patriotism and advocating the fication of the motherland, which is an important part of the united front. two alliances are united with each other, promote each other and form hole, which reflects the unprecedented universality of the united front

‘he basic tasks of the patriotic united front in the new period are as fol- s: hold high the banner of patriotism and socialism, unite all forces that be united, mobilize all positive factors to the broadest and most suf- ent extent, work in concert with one heart and one mind and make joint to unswervingly implement the Party's basic line and basic program

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in the primary stage of social nomic, political, cultural and s

perity and stability

of motherland, serve the world peace safeg

promotion.

Patriotism is the emotion of loy ple form in the long history, whic

sovereignty and reunification of

nation's spirit and an imp development and expansion 0

endured all the bitterness ana b% ficulties is that we have the spirit realizing the great rejuvenation of that mobilizes and encourages has a strong appeal and cohes tional spirit with patriotism as th force for us to constant Under the banner of patriotism, or Macao compatriots or overseas VAN conducive to our country's modernization, rejuvenating China, as long as they are con

cial progress and ing hegemonism

ism to serve the promotion of socialist e

people's happiness, as long as they are favorable to op

and the maintenance of world peace, they are all imports

members of the united front.

In contemporary China,

In the course of building socialism with Chinese characteristics always hold high the great banner of patriotism and socialism wit characteristics, give full play to the unique a : in promoting social harmony, and support the Chinese Peon, Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in carrying out political ¢O!

democratic supervision and political parti

| foundation for all developmen and government's admin bodied the fundamental interests of the | Most of the members of the united rers, builders and patriots who su

dvantages of the u

cipation on the two ma)

ocial construction, serve the long-term pro of Hong Kong and Macao and the peaceful reunification uard and common development

alty and love to the motherland that pe h is manifested in values and codes 0 's interests and dignity, safeguard the - cecaenemer nari ee and promote the develop- ment and progress of the motherland. The Chinese nation is : ae nation ith a long tradition of patriotism. Patriotism 1s the core of the hinese ie ortant ideological foundation for the continuous f the Chinese nation. For thousands of years, the reason why the Chinese nation has been able to survive the hardships, d be steadfast and persevering in face of dif- of patriotism. In the historical process of the Chinese nation, patriotism is a banner the people to work and fight in unity, which ion. As pointed out by Hu Jintao, the n e core is an inexhaustible spiritual motive ly open up new marches and open up a new futur no matter Taiwan compatriots, Hong Kong Chinese compatriots, as long as they 2 reunifying the motherland and ducive to national unity and s

patriotism and socialism are in essence hi | consistent. The establishment of the socialist basic system has laid a damental prerequisite and institutiona progress in contemporary China. the Party tive idea has intensively em masses of people and the nation. in the new era are the socialist labo i an socialism. The mainstay of the united front is socialism.

f unity and democracy. We must adhere to the principle of "long-term oexistence, mutual supervision, treating each other with all sincerity and haring weal and woe", fully mobilize and give play to the enthusiasm nd creativity of persons with democratic party and non-party affiliation, ontinue to strengthen consultation and cooperation with democratic par- es and support democratic party and non-party figures in holding leading ositions in state organs and further normalize, institutionalize and pro- eduralize political consultation, democratic supervision and participation in politics, and strengthen solidarity and harmony among political parties, roups, ethnic groups, different social strata and people from all walks of fe. We must work hard to build the united front into a united front featur- ng people-oriented principle and strong cohesion, a united front with an unprecedented universality and inclusiveness, continuously consolidate the ost extensive alliance of all socialist laborers and builders of socialism, atriots who support socialist, and patriots who support the reunification of e motherland to create our happy life and a bright future.

_ The Party's leadership issue is the core issue of the united front. History d reality have shown that only by adhering to the leadership of the ‘ommunist Party can an unbreakable united front be formed and can the

united front have a correct direction, vigorous vitality and a bright future before it can play its due role. In the new period, upholding the unshake-

ble leadership of the Communist Party over the united front is determined ot only by the nature of the socialist system in our country, but also by the ommon aspirations and common interests of various personalities inside united front.

ird, the correct understanding and handling of nationality and igious issues

|. Fully implement the Party's and the nation's ethnic policies and prop- y handle ethnic issues

strengthen national unity and promote common development and on prosperity of all ethnic groups is an action program of the nation- $s work of the party and state in contemporary China. The ethnic issues always been very complicated. The handling of ethnic issues is di- related to the unification of the country and social stability. After the ing of New China and the establishment of the socialist system, the ry of ethnic oppression and ethnic exploitation ended in China, but this not mean that ethnic problems have disappeared in China. Especially our country is in and will be in the primary stage of socialism for g time, the economic and cultural gaps between the various ethnic 9s formed and left over in history can not be eliminated within a short of time. The hostile forces both at home and abroad are still making

315

The common prosperity of all ethnic groups is the fundamental starting int and destination for resolving the ethnic issues. To do a good job in hnic affairs, the most important thing is to actively create the conditions for speeding up economic, scientific and cultural undertakings in ethnic minority areas. To implement ‘ethnic regional autonomy, the most impor- nt thing is to improve the economy, otherwise it is of no significance. In nic areas, stability and unity can only be achieved after development. We must take economic construction as the center and do everything possible to speed up the economic and social development in ethnic areas and gradu- ly narrow the development gap between ethnic areas and developed areas as to promote the common prosperity of all ethnic groups.

use of the ethnic issues for activities of subversion and destruction. To rectly handle ethnic issues is still a long-term, complicated and arduo : major task. The ethnic issues under the socialist system are fundamen al different in nature from the ethnic issues under the system of exploitation Therefore, there are inevitably different ways to solve the ethnic issues The essence of ethnic issues in the era of socialism is no longer a preble of class contradictions and class struggles. It is a contradiction between th peoples of all ethnic groups on the basis of the unanimity of fundamen interests and should be solved by the correct solution to the contradictions

among the people.

The basic principles for handling ethnic issues during the socialist period are: safeguarding the unification of the motherland, opposing national divi- sion, insisting on equality among ethnic groups, national unity and common prosperity of all ethnic groups.

Ethnic equality means that regardless of their population size, level of e00- nomic and social development, language and culture, customs and religio beliefs, each nation is a part of the Chinese nation and has the same status, they enjoy the same rights and fulfill the same obligations in all aspects of national and social life, we oppose all forms of ethnic oppression, ethnic dis- crimination and ethnic division. Ethnic equality is the political premise an 316 foundation for ethnic unity and common prosperity of all ethnic groups.

Ethnic unity refers to the harmony, friendship, mutual assistance and liance among all ethnic groups in social life and communication. Ethn unity is the fundamental guarantee for safeguarding national unifica! on and achieving common development of all ethnic groups. Without i uni of all ethnic groups, there will be no unification, stability and prosper of the socialist motherland. The common unity and struggle and common prosperity and development among all ethnic groups are the major themes of ethnic work in the new phase of the new century. Only by helping f ethnic minorities develop their economy and culture and gradually 7 nating the gap between the ethnic groups in their economic and cu development, can we ensure and strengthen ethnic unity.

To adhere to ethnic equality, ethnic unity and common prosperity of all ethnic groups, we must fully implement the Party's ethnic policy and firmly grasp the theme of common unity and progress and common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups. We must firmly establish the principle that "Han people cannot live without ethnic minorities and ethnic minori- ties cannot be separated from Han nationality and ethnic minorities are in- separable from each other", consolidate and develop the socialist ethnic relations based on equality, solidarity, mutual assistance and harmony. We resolutely oppose big nationalism, local nationalism and ethnic separatism and resolutely expose and crack down all separatist activities by hostile orces inside and outside the country, continuously consolidate and develop the great unity of the Chinese nation, so that the people of all nationalities san live in peace and harmony, work together for a common cause, and develop the society hand in hand.

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2. Fully implement the religious policies of the Party and the state and orrectly handle religious issues

Religion is a historical phenomenon in the development of human soci- that has emerged at certain stage. Religious beliefs, religious sentiments religious rituals and religious organizations related with such beliefs sentiments are all products of the society and history. China is a social- country, but religion affects a considerable part of the masses and will ‘sist as a social phenomenon on a long-term basis. The key to correctly derstanding the religious issue in our country is to fully understand the g lasting character of religion, the mass character of religious issues and articular complexity of the religious issues based on the basic national tons. We must respect the objective law of the emergence, existence | development of religions, We must neither use the power of our ad- tration to destroy religion, nor use the power of our administration to op religion. The efforts to do a good job in religious work are the need eguard the overall situation of reform, development and stability. We d fully implement the Party's policy of freedom of religious belief,

As the fundamental policy of resolving the ethnic issue, ethnic ae and ethnic unity are stipulated explicitly in the Chinese constitution relevant laws. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China lates: "All ethnic groups in the People's Republic of China are equi state guarantees the legitimate rights and interests of ethnic minor upholds and develops the relations of equality, solidarity and mu tance among all ethnic groups. Discrimination and oppression ag ethnic group are forbidden, and acts that undermine ethnic unity @ ethnic split are prohibited."

administer religious affairs in accordance with the law, and actively gy ina, Support the socialist system and abide by the country's laws, rules religions to adapt to the socialist society and uphold the principle of g d guidelines and policies. We should require them to obey and serve the administration and running religious affairs independently. aighest interests of the country and the nation as a whole in their religious etivities; Support them in making religious interpretations that meet the equirements of social progress; Support them in opposing against all il- egal activities which make use of religion to endanger the socialist moth- rland and the people's interests, make contributions to ethnic unity, social levelopment and the unification of the motherland, and make full use of he active role of religion in promoting social harmony. At the same time, n our country, religions must uphold the principle of self-administration and running religious affairs independently, resolutely resist the penetration y use Of religions by the overseas forces, resolutely combat the religious xtremist force and resolutely oppose and ban the heresy.

Respecting and protecting the freedom of religious belief is the b, policy for the Party and the state to deal with religious issues. The so-ca) freedom of religious belief means that each citizen has both the freedo believe in religion and the freedom not to believe in religion. There is freedom to believe in one religion and the freedom to believe in other Tel gion. In the same religion, there is freedom to believe in one denominatie and also freedom to believe in other denomination; There is freedom for those who not believe in religion in the past now to believe in religion, and also freedom for those who believe religion in the past now not to believe jn religion. To fully implement the Party's freedom of religious belief policy and to respect and protect citizens' right to freedom of religious belief is an important manifestation of safeguarding people's interests and respecting

and protecting human rights by the Party and the state, and is also the need of mibing re masses to the maximum extent possible.

The people's army is an important force in construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics

First, the people's army is a great wall of steel in defense of the motherland and an important force in building socialism with Chinese characteristics

The Chinese People's Liberation Army is a people's army created and d by the CPC and an armed institution carrying out revolutionary political sks which mainly serves the working class. Under the leadership of the arty, the People's Army has gone through a glorious course that has made | immortal contribution to the victory of the new-democratic revolution d the founding of New China and to safeguarding the socialist revolu- To actively guide religions to adapt to socialist society is the fundamental on and building socialism. In the long-term struggle, the people's army requirement of the religious work of the Party and the state in the primar 1S formed a series of distinctive systems, traditions and styles, including stage of socialism. Looking at the history of religions in our country holding the Party's absolute leadership over the army, wholeheartedly in the world, we can find a common law that any religion should exist . tving the people, treating ideological and political work as the lifeline of develop in compliance with the society in which it is located. Our coul ° people's army, obeying and serving the revolution and the overall situ- is a socialist country, and our religions must be compatible with SO ion of construction. society. This is both an objective requirement of the socialist society religion and an objective requirement of the own existence of all rel in our country. We should build socialism with Chinese character conformity with the fundamental interests of the broad masses of including those who believe in religion, which is the political basis ing religious work well. To actively guide the religions to adapt 0 ist society does not mean requiring religious people and religious ers to give up their religious beliefs. Instead, we should demand t love their motherland, support the leadership of the Communist

he sole purpose of the people's army is to serve the people wholeheart- . Since the people's army came from the people and serve the people, has always been hailed as "the people's soldiers". In the era of the revo- tionary war, Mao Zedong pointed out more than once that the people's ny jointed together and battled for the interests of the broad masses of eople and for the interests of the entire nation. "The sole purpose of army is to stand firmly with the Chinese people and to serve them

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320

wholeheartedly."® In the new period of reform and opening up and as s0- cialist modernization drive, Deng Xiaoping cate! sepa ios intain i haracter, that is, 2 ld "steadfastly maintain its own Cc » that 1 eee to the Party, the people and our socialist country... Our

army should always be loyal to our Party, to the people, to our country and :

to socialism." The people's army is an impregnable great wall to defend the motherland

ortant force for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

and an imp security and reunifi-

It is an important guarantee for safeguarding national cation and building an overall well-off society.

First, the people's army is the impregnable great wall that defends the so- cialist motherland, In today's world, peace and development are hen of the times. However, the international environment 1s ees oe - i litics still exist, and the threat o angeable. Hegemonism and power po 2 not been basically eliminated. In order to safeguard national fo ereignty, security and territorial integrity and promote world cae an i velopment we must strengthen and consolidate our national defense. : the loyal defender of the motherland, the people's army gee the — mission of defending the motherland and safeguarding the unification an security of the motherland.

Second, the people's army is a strong pillar of the people's cm dictatorship. In the process of building socialism with Chinese sae 7 tics. the fundamental interests of the people are pad oe owe . hosti danger and undermine the in acts and hostile elements that en ie i i long time to a certain extent. untry and the people will exist for a ce nie unification of the country and social stability and safeguard the

eople's democratic rights, we must take the people's army as our _ nok The position of the people's army as the mainstay of the state appara-

tus and the loyal defender of people's interests must not be shaken.

Third, the people's army is an important force for the socialist no tion On the one hand, effectively building an army and strengien national defense are both important elements for comprehensively en ing the comprehensive national strength of the country and are an ee part of the socialist modernization. On the other hand, the ae i obeys and serves the overall national economic saseneene ae .

nee -

icipate in the building of the country ana has supports and participa oe ee ibuti cialist modernization. ortant contribution to the realization of so ialis : Ae of reform and opening up and modernization, the people S ee been highly praised by the Party and the people for their action and spirit of courage, endeavor and selfless dedication in the major state-owned con- struction projects, in major scientific research fields, at the moment when disaster relief is reached, they have been an important force and guarantee for the socialist modernization and building an overall well-off society.

Second, the establishment of the solid national defense capacity is the strategic task of national modernization construction

National defense and army building occupy an important place in the general layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The modernization of the armed forces and national defense is an important part of China's socialist modernization. Consolidated national defense is the basic guarantee for national security and economic development. In the new era of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, in a complex international environment, the people's army must keep up with the tide of military development in the world, win high-tech wars that may happen in the future, and effectively safeguard the country's sovereignty, security and unity. In a society under the condition of market economy and opening to the outside world, the people's army must maintain its own nature, charac- ter and style and always become the revolutionary army under the Party's absolute leadership. Being capable of winning battles and never degenerat- ing is the two historic issues that the people's army must solve well in the new situation. The army building and national defense building in the new period must closely focus on these two major issues.

|. Strengthening the building of the people's army in accordance with the requirements of revolutionization, modernization and standardization

After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong proposed that the peo- ple's army should be built into a powerful standardized and modernized defense force. In the new historical period, Deng Xiaoping explicitly pro- posed the general goal of building a revolutionary, modern and regularized people's army. Jiang Zemin pointed out that we must unswervingly follow the path of building a streamlined military with Chinese characteristics in € with the general requirements of being qualified politically and compe- nt militarily and having a fine style of work, strict discipline and adequate gistical support. We must run the armed forces with strict discipline and accordance with the law, and step up preparations for military struggle. Volutionization, modernization and standardization are an interconnect-

whole and none is dispensable. They must be strengthened in all aspects d coordinated and promoted.

First of all, the revolutionization should be given top priority and is the undation. It determines the nature and direction of the modernization of - armed forces and at the same time provides a powerful spiritual force he modernization of the people's army. It is an inexhaustible source of

321

‘emonueweama

322

principle of active defense has been the general guideline of the strategy of the Chinese revolutionary war and the important content of Mao Zedong's military thinking. After the founding of New China, it became an impor- tant guideline for the national defense construction. After entering a new era of reform, opening up and modernization, Deng Xiaoping continued to emphasize that our strategic guideline is active defense. We are a socialist country that will never seek hegemony or invade others. We strengthen our army and national defense modernization completely for the sake of our defense.

f the people's army. To strengthen the rey

lutionization building of the army, we must always ene Lah ns tal principle that the Party must absolutely lead the aoe . i adhere to the fundamental principle of serving the people in all aspec : and constantly strengthen the army-people unity. At the same a bis 2 ou constantly strengthen the unity within the army and consolidate evel-

: : , : dou

op the internal relationship featuring unity, fraternity, harmony and purity

of the people's army. We must always place ideological and political work _

in the first place of all the army's construction and always maintain a firm

and correct political orientation.

long-lasting fighting strength o

The strategic principle of active defense is fundamentally determined by the nature of China's socialism. The basic goal of China's national defense policy is to consolidate national defense, resist invasion by foreign enemies and safeguard national unity and security. As a socialist country, no matter in the past or in the future, China will neither seek world or regional hege- mony nor join any military group, nor will it conduct any kind of arms race, or start a war to invade other countries or control other countries. We strive to avoid and stop the war and strive to solve the international disputes and issues left over by history in a peaceful manner. China's strategic policy of active defense is not an expedient measure but a fundamental national policy. It means that even when China's national defense strength will be greatly enhanced in the future, our policy will still be active defense.

Second, modernization is the center of army building. All a pe work must be centered on modernization. The ee, re) an arn forces includes the basic contents of weapons and equipmen pa _ tal- ent, logistics support, organizational establishment say and mo re tion of military theories. The modernization of the ae ae ne " period means that we must insist on vitalizing the tee rough nc technology and according to the strategic goal of buil rs an om ized army and winning an informationized war, spec - eo development of mechanization and informatization, ea y ncaa a tary training under informational conditions, step up - tiva : ote - number of highly qualified new military personnel, effectively g mode of generating combat effectiveness.

Finally, standardization is a necessary requirement of modemizatioy i strengthen the normalization of the armed forces ance we ne i i men i and, unified system, unified establis t, plement unified command, unt Ota oa iscipli i to enhance sense of org} ; | disciplinary and uniform training Tae ae i ‘scjpline, and take a legal and institutio | : ning, accuracy and discipline, and [as one inci tering the army in accor , Adhere to the principle of administertt 1 0 i ili tinuously improve the muutary law, strictly control the military, con one ee i i the scientific management of the a and regulations, improve f the ame a i i d raise the standardization enhance the quality construction an he st ee systematically constantly ensure the consolidation and enhancement combat effectiveness of the armed forces.

° . € zy Revolutionization, modernization and standardization are inert promote mutually and affect each other, and are dialectically unified 11

building of people's army with Chinese ce n today's world, science and technology, especially information tech- 2. Carrying out the military strategy of active defense : ogy, have become increasingly prominent in the war. Local wars under asic basis for guiding the constructio! h-tech especially under information technology conditions have been on the agenda and become the basic form of modern warfare. Under h circumstances, the future war that poses a grave threat to our security | probably be a local war under conditions of informationalization. The

323 The strategic principle of implementing active defense is the needs to ——~

safeguard national security and the socialist modernization. In the complex and ever-changing international environment in which hegemonism, power politics, local wars and terrorism exist, we must provide a strong and se- cure guarantee for the reform and opening up as well as for the economic construction by constantly strengthening our military and national defense. This determines that our defense is not "passive defense" being in a pas- _Sive position under attack, but "active defense," that is, we must uphold the elf-defense position of "We will not attack unless we are attacked; if we re attacked, we will certainly counterattack" and the strategic principle of ttack only after being attacked. Under the guidance of the active defense trategy, we must strengthen national defense and army building to prevent r contain the outbreak of the war and strive for as much peaceful time and ugh favorable international environment as possible for the moderniza- n of our country.

The military strategy is the b use of the armed forces. In order to survive and develop,

: ee "ora

nation should gain a foothold in a highly competitive eae ronment and cannot live without a correct military strategy.

construction and adhere to the principle of coordinating national defense

. 1 le has shifted from the par. basic point for preparing for the military strugeie e building and economic development.

i under general conditions to the partial warfare under the con ee err technology: This asa sc mua set forth the goals and tasks for preparing the military struggle or Pp e's ace in the new era and solved the direction of the building Bs orm of the people's army, which is a major development of the active defense strategy

First, we must focus on economic construction and concentrate our ef- forts on boosting the economy. This is the precondition and basis for re- solving all the problems in contemporary China, including the building of national defense. Economic construction is the overall situation of the work of the entire Party and the entire country. National defense must and should comply with this overall situation and work closely with this overall situa- tion. Maintaining sustained economic development and greatly enhancing the country's economic strength are necessary for advancing the social- ist modernization in our country and also a key point for us to enhance international competitiveness, withstand the pressures of hegemonism and power politics, and safeguard national independence and sovereignty. National defense must rely on economic construction. Only by success- ful economic construction can the national defense building have a solid material and technological foundation. National defense and army building should closely cooperate with the overall situation of economic construc- tion, and unswervingly adhere to the principle of coordinated development of national defense and economic construction and strive to achieve the unification of a wealthy nation and a strong army.

3. Adhering to the principle of coordinated development of national de- fense construction and economic construction

Correctly understanding and handling the relationship Leia coor ie construction and national defense construction is an sane - ' se — thinking that the Communist Party of China has always a cae ‘ . beginning of the founding of New China, Mao pay e oe e idea of "grasp with both hands": grasp building ee a Be, me " hand and economic construction with the other hand. a ; anes : On the Ten Major Relations, Mao Zedong systematically sha nea elaborated on the issue of correctly handling the peace ip . " " tional defense construction and economic construction. He cease a "we must strengthen national defense", ss eee o o ee "should first strengthen economic constructlo a i e construction through economic development. A er the 3° 324 aes ae of the 11 Central Committee of the ees re — — proposed a srategie change pions development ofthe sian tional defense according to the needs OF © stare ei in the new era. He pointed out that the military shoul al ee tion as its core and follow the path of streamlining oe eT way and continuously enhance our defense strengt - sa ne ale 7 and serve the overall national economic construc cee a port and participate in the national economic cons : ee i ‘+ is necessary to comprehensively imp emen princely en eee economic construction into consideration

Second, we must insist on the coordinated development of national de- 375 fense construction and economic construction, and adapt the strategy of ——— national defense and army development to the strategy of national devel- opment. National defense construction and economic construction are two major strategic tasks of state building and development and must be coor- dinated. On the one hand, with the development of economy, investment in national defense construction should maintain modest growth; on the other hand, the investment in national defense construction must not be too large to overburden the economic development, otherwise it will delay the development of economic construction. In our country, there will be a

defense and ng-standing conflict between the demand and relative insufficient fund

and coordinating their developmen' = en paren develop- the national defense and the modernization of the armed forces. Under the modernization of the armed forces on t i sable a strong national uch circumstances, we must follow the requirements of the scientific con- ment. To carry out economic oe : untry's modernization drive. spt of development and unswervingly take the path of investing less and defense are the a anced Sea pe are unified, but | lore effectively in the national defense and the armed forces to realize Fundamentally speaking, tne

f the national co leir modernization, and further unify the quality and efficiency so that

in the light o ; ue . : . should be correctly grasped and pee i : 2 ae emphasized th ational defense and army building will continue to develop on the basis of tions in the initial stage of our socialism. creased state financial resources.

should conscientiously implement the scientific concept of deve all fields and the entire process of national eee ace i i dinated and sustainable as to achieve comprehensive, coor 7 national defense and army building. We should make a compre - for the relationship between national defense construction

hird, we should actively explore the development mechanism of unify- military and civilian industries, embedding military programs in civil- industries and integrating military and civilian development. The de- pment of the modern science and technology revolution, the industrial

fhird, the historical mission of the People's Army in the new

ion and the new military revolution have brought the integration 9 rae : : a fevolutio entury and the military reform with Chinese characteristics

national defense economy, social economy, military technology and ciyj ian technology closer and closer. The army building and combat are unpre edentedly relying on economy, science and technology and society. On th one hand, the modern high-tech war has shown characteristics in its deman for resources such as large in quantity, high in technology and complex ; structure. Relying on the national defense economy alone can hardly meet the development needs and we must rely on the entire national economy, On the other hand, modern science and technology especially the rapid de- velopment of information technology, has become increasingly blurred the boundary between civil technology and military technology, where many — civil high-techs usually serve economic construction at ordinary times, but can be turned into military products with a slight modification in the war, To this end, we must actively explore new ways and means according to the requirements of the times and integrate military with civilian purposes and — incorporate military into civilian purposes, to integrate national defense and economic and social development on a wider scale, at a higher level and by a deeper degree, so as to provide rich resources and staying power of the sustained development for the modernization of national defense and the

armed forces.

Fourth, enhance the concept of national defense. In peacetime, people's concept of national defense is easy to be indifferent, which may deprive the sustained social momentum of reserve forces. This requires strengthening national defense education and strengthening people's concept of national defense to enable people to establish the thinking of being prepared and having constant alertness and vigilance, so that the reserve forces can gain the care and support from the whole society. Therefore, we must enhance the concept of national defense of the entire people, improve the system of national defense mobilization, stick to the principle of combining a highly capable army with a strong national defense reserve and improve the qual- ity of the reserve army and militia building.

The historical mission of the people's army in the new century and the new stage

In the new phase of the new century, Hu Jintao made a scientific proposi- on of "Three Provides and One Role" to define the historical mission ofthe eople's army. "Three Provides" means. "Three Provides" means that the eople's army must provide an important force guarantee for the Party's onsolidation of its ruling position, provide a strong guarantee for safe- guarding the important period of strategic opportunities for national devel- opment and provide a strong strategic support for safeguarding the national interest. The "One Role" means that the people's army plays an important role in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development.

In order to accomplish the historic mission of the people's army in the new phase of the new century, we must insist on using the Mao Zedong Military Thought, Deng Xiaoping's thinking on army building in the new era and Jiang Zemin's thinking on national defense and army building as our guidance, using the scientific concept of development to guide army building, and take improving combat effectiveness as the fundamental starting point and foothold of implementing the concept of scientific devel- opment, and constantly create new situations of the military construction in the practice of promoting the military reform with Chinese characteristics.

As a guideline for advancing the country's economic, political, cultural and social construction, the scientific concept of development not only re- veals and reflects the general laws of economic and social development but also reveals and reflects the basic laws governing national defense and army building. In the military field, the establishment of the scientific con- cept of development is an inevitable requirement for the sound and rapid development of national defense and army building at a new starting point. In the new phase of the new century, the comprehensiveness, complexity and variability of the national security issue have been further increased. The diversity of military tasks linked to the military's functional mission as further developed. The integration of national defense and economic nstruction has further deepened. What kind of scientific goal should he national defense and the armed forces have and the question of how to achieve scientific development are historically placed before us. The sci- tific concept of development has put forward a series of new concepts, W assertions and new ideas for correctly answering and resolving this sic issue in the military field. For example, we must establish a people- ntered philosophy as an important concept of army building and admin- ering the military, conscientiously safeguard the fundamental interests of

National defense construction and the building of the armed forces are the common cause of the Party and the people of all nationalities in the country. We must uphold the principle of the unification of a wealthy nation and a strong army and uphold the strategic thinking of the people s wal. must rely on the people in running the national defense and continuous increase our national defense strength.

Day.

the people and the masses, fully respect the subjective position and:cr spirit of the army men and strive to improve the ability to respond to cr safeguard peace, contain the war and win the war under the conditio informationization. We must scientifically make overall plan for the ; construction in accordance with the principle of revolutionization, mode: ization and standardization, promote the comprehensive coordinated velopment of military work, political work, logistics and equipment wo We should intensify the implementation of the strategy of building a stron army based on science and technology and rely on the progress of scie and technology to change the mode of generating combat effectiveness We must strengthen scientific management and optimize the allocation of resources so as to constantly improve the overall efficiency of national de. fense and army building; we should crack down on various problems in institution and policy system with the spirit of reform and innovation and provide more vigorous institutional and systematic guarantees for the sound and rapid development of army building. We should, from the perspective of realizing the unification of the wealthy country and the strong army, bet ter promote the compatible development of national defense economy and social economy, military technology and civil technology, military pers Y nel and local talents. Taking scientific concept of development as an impo tant guideline for strengthening national defense and army building ful reflects the advancement of the Party's military guidance theory.

2. Actively promote the revolutionization of the military with Chinese characteristics

e world today attach great importance to the study of military theory. ew theories and new ideas on the future military and the future war are ntinuously being introduced. China's military theory studies have their n characteristics and achievements, but the research on high-tech wars, pecially information-based wars, is still far from thorough and system- c. To varying degrees, there are misconception which only emphasize on ardware" such as weaponry and equipment and neglect "software" such military theory.

Second, adhere to the basis of mechanization, and oriented by informa- n. To promote the mechanization by information technology, to promote the information technology in the process of mechanization, to achieve the composite development of. mechanization and informationization, take the leapfrog development path. Center on the objective of building an information-based army and winning the information-based wars, fur- ther implement the strategy of building a strong military through science and technology and rely on scientific and technological progress and in- novation to speed up the transformation of the mode of generating combat efiectiveness.

_ Third, create a large number of outstanding new military personnel. The y to promoting military transformation and meeting challenges with formation as the center is to train and bring up a large number of new 379 military personnel with excellent ideological and political qualities and ——~ excellent military qualifications, such as compound command personnel, think-tank staff officer, and expert-type scientific and technological person- nel, etc. Without a large number of highly qualified personnel, there will be 10 military theory innovation, no creation and use of new combat tactics, no grasp of new weapons and equipment, and therefore no victory in future rs. Therefore, personnel training must be taken as the fundamental plan the modernization of the armed forces and results should be drawn as soon as possible.

In today's world, the development of new and high technologies wi information technology as the core has effectively promoted the devel ment of new military changes in the world. The widespread applicatio information technology in the military field has brought a large number | intelligent weaponry and equipment and has also multiplied the ¢ effectiveness of traditional weaponry and made all kinds of weaponry @ combat units become an organic whole, calling for corresponding ch in organizational structure of the army. Informationization is becoming essence and core of the new military revolution. All developed come regard informationization as their main goal in the modernization of the armed forces in the new century. China must also regard informationiza as the direction for the modernization of its armed forces and base itse national conditions and military conditions, and actively promote th tary changes with Chinese characteristics.

Fourth, we should reform the institutional establishment of the armed fces to gradually form a scientific organizational model, institutional ar- igement and mode of operation that combines both the Chinese charac- tics and the law governing the building of the modern armed forces, dging from the trend of the military development in the world today, the of unreasonable military establishment in our country is quite promi- The readjustment and reform of the establishment system should con- to be carried out actively and steadily. In general, we must work toward irection of moderate scale, reasonable structure and swift and flexible mand to be conducive to the needs of future military operations.

First, actively innovate and develop military theories in accorda' the requirements of iinformationization. Advanced military thee ways been an important condition for the healthy development building and an important factor for the victory of war. All cou!

Fifth, unswervingly follow the path of elite troops ven Chinese charac e troops policy display the demand for quality , and al » Therefore, it is imperative to achieve the trans- army from the quantity and se sian to aqu i model and from a human-intensive model to a science Ce ae model. We must focus on ae general goal of buildir a revolutionary, modern and standardized people s army, embody the prin: ciple of "elite troops, sharp weapons, composition and efficiency", further reduce the number of soldiers, optimize the structure, strengthen manage- | ment and improve the combat effectiveness of the troops by improving the / quality so that the People's Liberation Army will carry out its lofty mission of defending the motherland and safeguarding the unification and security

of the motherland more effectively.

teristics. The elit the demand for "quantity formation of the people's

Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and the Concept of "One Country Two Systems" and the Reunification of China

The introduction of the concept of "One Country Two Systems" and peaceful reunification of China and its basic contents

First, national unity and the historical issues of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan

Since the founding of New China, especially in the first half of the 1950s, ce the liberation of Tibet and the liberation of the Zhoushan Islands and Hainan Island by the PLA Thereafter, the only issues left over by history in the reunification of the country were the Hong Kong and Macao and wan issues. In history, British and Portuguese colonialists had illegally occupied Hong Kong and Macao and the Kuomintang regime had illegally grabbed the Taiwan region. At the beginning of the new period of reform nd opening up, "realizing the reunification of the motherland", was pro- osed, as the "three major issues" and the "three major tasks" of the CPC the Chinese government, when facing the said historical legacy—the ng Kong, Macao and Taiwan issues. At the beginning of a new period reform and opening up, "realizing the reunification of the motherland", ich is one of the "three major events" and the "three major tasks" pro- ed by the CPC and the Chinese government, is facing the same histori- legacy—the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan issue.

The nature of Hong Kong and Macao issues is one and the same, both of ich had seriously undermined China's unification, since the descending iod of the Chinese nation in modern times (since 1840s), the western italist powers had occupied territories of China by military force and

mainland and Taiwan have not yet reunified, it is not a division of China's territory and sovereignty but a political antagonism left over and extended _ by the civil war in the mid-to-late 1940s in China. This has not changed the fact that the Mainland and Taiwan belong to one China. The reunification of the two sides of the Strait'is not a matter of sovereignty and territorial reintegration, but an end to political antagonism. The core of settling the Taiwan issue is the realization of national reunification with the purpose of safeguarding and ensuring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, pursuing the happiness of all the Chinese people, including the compatriots in Taiwan, and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The peaceful realization of national reunification best complies with the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, including compatriots in Taiwan, and is also in line with the trend of the times which seeks peace, development and promote cooperation.

power and unequal treaties which severely damaged raat unification, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and severely area t = ae of the Chinese nation. They were the marks of uae ry : estern colo- nialism that the Chinese nation has suffered in the times of enduring impovy- |

erishment and long-standing debility.

Therefore, after the founding of New China, the attitude and principled _ position of the CPC and the Chinese government on the issues of Hong Kong and Macao has been clear and firm: Hong Kong and See part of the sacred and indivisible territory of China, and Hong aoe: 2 facao residents are sacred inseparable flesh and blood compatriots of the Chinese nation. We do not recognize the changes that the British and Por colonialists have attributed to the sovereignty and the owners " of Hong Kong-Macao in modern times through force and power. ie 0 not rec- ognize Hong Kong and Macao's British and datacouge co oy all unequal treaties involving Hong Kong and Macao ene a a Chinese government and the Chinese people, we reserve the hig ii ultimate right to restore sovereignty of Hong Kong and Macao at the rig time and under the right conditions. The nature of the Taiwan issue is different from that of Hong se Macao. The Taiwan issue is a legacy of history of the Chinese chy wat. : 332 solve the Taiwan issue and realize national reunification is ere s interna ——— affair and interference by any foreign force is rejected seriously.

ina si ‘ent times. From 1894 to 1895, Taiwan has belonged to China since ancien Japan launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 that invaded China and seized Taiwan through the Treaty of Shimonoseki. After the " of the world anti-fascist war in 1945, the Chinese government ee Taiwan by on the basis of international law—the Cairo Declaration " Potsdam Proclamation. After World War I, Tarwan was returned to : | not only legally but also eventually. The reason for panne ah : . i i i it is the result of the civil wal Taiwan issue is that on the one hand, it is t tb anaes Communist Party and the Kuomintang, on the other hand, it is due to the intervention of foreign forces.

The Taiwan issue has seriously damaged China's unification, a ty and territorial integrity, severely undermined the ama ‘ . and core interests of the Chinese nation. Therefore, after the pes : : New China in 1949, the attitude and the principled sea ) oa and the Chinese government over the Taiwan issue are very a a Taiwan is a part of the sacred and indivisible territory of ; we : residents in Taiwan are the sacred inseparable flesh and bloo + y of the Chinese nation. There is only one China in the nee . Whe eignty and territorial integrity cannot be divided. Since 1949, a

The peaceful settlement of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan issues: the "ideological legacy" and "policy heritage" inherited from the first genera- tion of the CPC's central collective leadership".

In the nearly 30 years before the reform and opening up, the guiding principles and the basic policies of the Chinese Communists in dealing with the issue of Hong Kong and Macao are to "maintain the status quo for the time being" in order to "make long-term plans and make full use of it". 333

During the implementation of the special policy of "maintaining the sta- tus quo for the time being" to "make long-term plans and making full use of it", the first generation of the central collective leadership with Mao Zedong as the core proposed many innovative and constructive new ideas _and practical concrete measures, and put them into practice one by one. The major ones are as follows: First of all, proceeding from the history and reality of Hong Kong and Macao, "facing" the objective existence of the "de facto right of administration" over Hong Kong and Macao by Britain and Portugal and not interfering in the internal affairs of Hong Kong and Macao and the conflicts with them are strictly controlled in diplomatic field. econd, proceeding from the history and reality of Hong Kong and Macao, ully understanding the "benefits and advantages" political and economic alue of "temporal maintenance" of the status quo" of "capitalism in Hong ong and Macao", which should "not be socialized, nor should they be ocialist" for a certain period. Third, to make contact with them, we should omply with their "rules of the game." The depth and height of this ideo- ogical understanding are most representative in the speech made by Zhou nlai on the issue of Hong Kong in 1957 in a forum with the business com- tunity in Shanghai. This speech by Zhou Enlai covers all aspects of how to lew the sensitive issue of "capitalism in Hong Kong and Macao", which poses that we should respect the economic laws and characteristics of

ong and Macao themselves, "Hong Kong should act int : Hee sortie capitalist system", eet pene 3 a ‘a ‘ the socialist character of the mainland" nor s a pea be ' we should cooperate with the bourgeoisie in ae es eis should "maintain and expand the postion of Hong = oo economic ties with other countries"', "Hong Kong s ; ea ically useful to us", and a series of quite strategic an new id es | courage. This speech represents the highest achievem: enya eee Communists under the historical conditions of t ma

time on the ideological understanding of this issue.

riod, the guiding principle ast 30 years before the new pe : ding th Her Daas and policy of the Chinese Communists in handling srt issue are: "We must liberate Taiwan", nevertheless, we must m efforts to "strive for a peaceful solution to the problem".

In the early days of the People's Republic of oe ar — rinciple and policy of the Chinese Communists in sett ingt be

"liberation by force", and at the same time efforts to "peaceful 11

tion" an cal ruled out. Starting from the mid 1950s, the first generati ar the central collective leadership with Mao Zedong as ps — _ formally put forth "peaceful liberation" of Taiwan, that is, by i " f "political negotiation" to peacefully settle the eens iss oo i i rinciple and policy of peaceful reunification of the mo — ate car we mainly considered two "very favorable bok First, the gradual easing of the aig an ema ion | i " > was : ee Sai construction". Se | ee on both sides of the Taiwan Strait stick to the uate BS and oppose the US Poy od out athe 15 enlarged menting of oin n ae ae that there are two possible ee Chinese people to liberate Taiwan: the way of war and we ue The Chinese people are willing to work under cae ne ao to strive to liberate Taiwan ae o na ie ae Oe icy" mmunists : re een ie In 1956, the "new policy" of peace a i mm? of Taiwan by the CPC and the Chinese government ee - establi hed at the three major conferences held that year—the . a pace of CPC, the 3% Session of the 1* NPC and the 2nd Sessic

34 CPPCC National Committee.

rom 1956 to 1960, according to changes in the situation across the wan Strait, the first-generation party collective leadership with Mao long as its core conducted a preliminary review and explanation of specific contents of the "new policy" for the "peaceful liberation" of wan. The basic points were' F irst, "All patriots belong to one big fami- "whether they embrace patriotism earlier or later", Second, "we should mote the third KMT-CPC cooperation." Third, "political negotiations". rth, "Three Principles of the People can be as before" and "everything be as before". For this specific policy, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai had

tailed instructions" when they met with Cao Juren, a Hong Kong cor- ondent in 1956.!

1960, Zhou Enlai "systematized" the "new policy of? "peaceful lib- ation" of Taiwan by the first generation of the central collective leader- ip with Mao Zedong as the core and vividly made the point as "One Head ope and Four Meshes", namely Taiwan will be re-unified with China. The ecific policy is: After Taiwan is returned to the motherland, all military d political powers and personnel arrangements should be consultative ith Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Ching and Chiang Ching-kuo. Chiang Kai- ek and Chiang Ching-kuo also note that Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang ing-kuo also re-use all their military affairs and construction funds. A cial reform in Taiwan could be slow and should start once with the con- ions are ripe and with the consent of Chiang Kai-shek. The two sides ould not send spies and do not undermine solidarity of the other side.

Since the Taiwan authorities with Chiang Kai-shek and his son as their re refused to carry out "political negotiations" to "peacefully solve" the iwan issue because of their "anti-communist" stance, and the United tes, which directly intervened in the Taiwan issue, clung to the the "Cold r mentality and refused to renounce their "Split China" policy which intains a situation of "no reunification, no independence, no war and peace" for the two sides of the Taiwan strait. Meanwhile, because of internal and external policies of the Communist Party of China and the inese government gradually emerged the "Left" deviation mistakes after id-1950s, the "new policy" of "peaceful liberation" of Taiwan gradu- /tormed and perfected by the first generation of the central collective tship with Mao Zedong as the core after the mid-1950s has remained the level of "policy call" with no conditions to put into practice,

See Jin Chongji (editor in chief): Zhou Enlai Biography (3), p.1441, Beijing, Central ature Publishing House, 1998.

See the CPC Central Committee Document Research Series: "Chronicle of Zhou Enlai 1976)" (2), p.321, Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 1997,

335

336

s of January 29, 1979 to February 5, 1979, Deng Xiaoping paid a visit e United States and pointed out in Washington to the US Senate and jouse and Senator's speech on the Taiwan issue: "We will no longer talk out ‘liberating Taiwan'. As long as Taiwan returns to the motherland, we || respect the realities and the existing system there."

Second, the scientific conception and basic contents of "peaceful reunification, one country, two systems" in the new era

Since new period, the second generation of the central collective ship with Deng Xiaoping as the core leader has inherited the unfulfi | of great reunification and peaceful reunion of the Chinese nation fron Zedong and Zhou Enlai and other new China's founders and will CO} to take the arduous task of national reunification through solving the is. of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as his own goal and as the "top prio for the central work of the Party and the country. In the meantime, in cordance with the theme of the times of peace and development, in lig! the new changes in the situation at home and abroad, and in light of the F tory and current situation in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, he has ; strategic adjustments for the guiding principles and specific guidelines policies for solving the issues of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, creativ proposed the scientific concept of "peaceful reunification and one coun' two systems" and specifically guided the great practice for the return Hong Kong and Macao and the development of cross-strait relations.

With the ending of the "Cultural Revolution", Deng Xiaoping, ascent to power for the third time, although he was faced with the devastated 5 ation of the country, put the issue of Taiwan and national reunification a the "top priority". At that time the ongoing negotiations to improve Paci wide "great cross-strait relations" —the normalization of the relation tween China and the United States—has provided a historic opportun it for a breakthrough in the "small cross-strait relations", 1.€. Taiwan Strait. Therefore, during the process of the establishment of diplomatic relation between China and the United States in the second half of 1978, Det Xiaoping began to concentrate on how to "adopt an appropriate policy : solve the Taiwan issue and realize the reunification of the country ace : Bi; ihe. issetine that Dew ceenine tonnen mamneripeed aide ing to the actual situation in Taiwan". iow October 1978 se Januay ; marized the "new thinking" and "‘new policy" for settling the Taiwan issue ine span of four mica, Tee ane 2 pase: " as "one country and two systems" or "one country, two systems". In June on the solution to the Taiwan issue and explained his "new thinking .. 83, Deng Xiaoping met with Yang Liyu, a professor at Northwestern specting Taiwan's realities." On November 28, 1978, Peng xiaop _ iversity in New Jersey, and when talking about the Taiwan issue, he fur- with American friend Steele and pointed out when talking about the T: : Wi F icistived diatonic onisoror tl oGiew tually? antinl eey issue: "We have said many times that Taiwan mall naa i Cimbs ane licy" of the CPC and the Chinese government for settling the Taiwan is- ize the reunification of the motherland. Under this premise, we wil F ik foraudd the Famdie "Daag Six Concepione. By nowsthe "new Taiwan's reality to solve the Taiwan issue." nking" and "new policy" which is called the "Taiwan Plan" overseas, mely the "one country, two systems" of the Communist Party of China d the Chinese government in settling the Taiwan issue have basically en shape.

The basic spirit of Deng Xiaoping's series of conversations is concen- tedly reflected in the Message to Taiwan Compatriots published by the nding Committee of the National People's Congress on January 1, 1979, mely: "We must consider the realities, accomplish the great cause of re- ifying the motherland and when solving the issue of reunification, we ould respect the status quo in Taiwan and the opinions of people from walks of life in Taiwan, adopt fair and reasonable policies and mea- res to prevent the loss of Taiwanese people." It marks that the Chinese Communists' policy toward the Taiwan issue has begun to walk out from the traditional patterns of "force or peaceful liberation" and "one country, one system", and shifted to the "new thinking", "new policy" of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" with "unchanged system" as he core.

_ In September 1981, Ye Jianying, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, formally exposed the concrete content the "new thinking" and the "new policy" of the CPC and the Chinese government in settling the Taiwan issue by way of a statement to Xinhua News Agency reporters, namely the famous "nine points". In January 1982, when Deng Xiaoping met with Li Yi-zi, chairman of the Chinese American Association, Deng Xiaoping said: "The ‘nine-article statement' made in the name of Vice-Chairman Ye, actually means ‘one country, two systems'. Two systems are permissible."°

mae

3 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: Editorial Office of the CPC Cont Committee: "Chronicle of Deng Xiaoping ( 1975-1997)" (1), p. 189, Beijing, Cent Literature Publishing House, 2004. 4 Ibid., p.442.

337

solve the Hong Kong issue-the "Twelve Special Policies", and the later Sino-British negotiations were based on these "Twelve Special Policies".

Regrettably, the new conception, good faith and goodwill of the "ne thinking" and "new policy" of the Communist Party of China and Chinese government in settling the Taiwan issue were not recognized by th Taiwan Kuomintang authorities across the Taiwan Strait. Chiang Ching-la rejected the constructive proposal made by the Communist Party of Ching jointly promote the negotiations between the two Parties on an equal footing, carrying out the third cooperation and realizing the peaceful unification o the motherland, he claimed "no contact, no negotiation and no compromise" and even proposed the slogan of unifying China with the "Three People's _ Principles" to oppose "one country, two systems " The political calls made by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government from the Message to Taiwan Compatriots to the "Ye's Nine Principles" and the "Deng's Six Conceptions" were both rej ected by the Kuomintang authorities in Taiwan as a "united front conspiracy". The stalemate in cross-strait rela- tions was still frozen. Under such circumstances, the CPC and the Chinese government cannot but consider the re-selection of the "breakthrough" in the "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" project of con- temporary China, and cannot but bring the of the "time-table" for solving the Hong Kong and Macao issue" in advance, whose condition and opportunity are "relatively mature". we cannot but try to implement the "Taiwan Plan" _ under " one country, two systems" in the "Hong Kong-Macao Way" and take 338 the "Hong Kong-Macao Model" under "one country, two systems" as the —— "first Example" to finally solve the Taiwan issue.

‘During the formation and development of the "Taiwan Plan" under "one country, two systems" and the "Hong Kong Plan" under "one country, two systems", the "new thinking" and "new policy" of the CPC and the Chinese government on solving the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan issue—"the peace- ful reunification and one country, two systems" were also uplifted to the level of the basic principles, policies and basic national policies of the Party and the country and were standardized, institutionalized and legalized. In December 1982, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China adopted by the Fifth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress stipulated in Article 31 that the state may set up a special administrative region when necessary. The sys- _ tem implemented in the special administrative region shall be prescribed by aw by the National People's Congress in accordance with the specific condi- ions. In mid-May 1984, Zhao Ziyang, premier of the State Council, made the _ Report on the Work of the Government at the 2™ Session of the 6" National _ People's Congress, which comprehensively explained the decisions and poli- cies of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government in settling the issue of Hong Kong, that is, the "Hong Kong Plan" of "one country, two systems". By the end of May, the 2™ Session of the 6" National People's Congress passed the Report on the Work of the Government by Premier Zhao Ziyang. In October 1984, the Outlook Weekly published an article entitled "One Country and Two Systems" by Deng Xiaoping, further systematizing and theorizing the scientific concept and basic national policy of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems".

339

For the first time, Deng Xiaoping formally declared his position on the future of Hong Kong when he met with Governor MacLehose, who Vis- ited Beijing in March 1979. Deng Xiaoping explicitly said that, we have always believed that the sovereignty of Hong Kong belongs to the People $ Republic of China, but Hong Kong has its special status. Hong Kong is a part of China and the issue itself is not negotiable. But what is certain 1s that even when this problem is solved in 1997, we will still respect the special status of Hong Kong. What worries people now is that their investments in Hong Kong may not be sustained. At this point, the Chinese government can tell you explicitly and tell the British government that even ifa rs political settlement is made then, it will not hurt the interests of the inves: tors who continue to invest. Please rest assured investors, this is a long-term policy. That is: Hong Kong can engage in its capitalism for quite some tim in the 20" and early 21* century. We shall pursue our socialism.'

The core contents of the scientific concept and basic national policy of ‘peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" are as follows:

First, one China. There is only one China in the world. The Mainland interior areas) region and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions are all inseparable parts of China. China's sovereignty and territorial integrity are inseparable. The only legitimate government that represents China in the nternational community is the government of the People's Republic of China. This is the precondition and foundation for the peaceful reunifica- ion of our country.

Second, two systems. Under the premise of one China, the main body of China, i.e. the mainland (interior areas) has implemented the socialist sys- m. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan maintain their original capitalist sys- tem, their social and economic systems remain unchanged, their lifestyles main unchanged, their laws remain basically unchanged, and they keep same economic and cultural ties with foreign countries, we will coexist ‘long-term and seek common development.

From the first half of 1979 to the first half of 1982, Deng Xiaoping ducted a three-year investigation and study on the Hong Kong issue. Ba on the "Taiwan Plan" of the scientific concept of "one country, two tems", Deng Xiaoping initially formed the decision-making and poli

7 Ybid., p.500f.

340

inciples, namely, a unification which will "resume the exercise of sover- ignty, maintain stability and prosperity" and a unification that "sees off co- jonialism and preserves capitalism". China's precondition for the negotia- tion was that "the sovereignty issue cannot be compromised." The Chinese government should resume the exercise of sovereignty in Hong Kong and Macao in 1997 and 1999 and only after reaching a consensus on this key jssue would it possible to discuss how to implement the "one country, two systems" after Hong Kong and Macao will be returned to China, in "1997" and "1999",

The Sino-British talks were "unveiled" by the visit of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1982. Deng Xiaoping made a clear-cut stand during the talks: "We have a clear-cut position regarding the Hong Kong is- sue, which involves three things. First, it involves the issue of sovereignty. Second question is about what method China will adopt to govern Hong Kong after 1997. The third question is that both the Chinese and British governments should carefully discuss how to ensure that no major fluctua- tions will occur in Hong Kong from 1982 to 1997.8

Third, a high degree of autonomy, self-administration. After the peace reunification of the country, Hong Kong and Macao established special ministrative regions directly under the jurisdiction of Central Governme and enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, including administrative powe legislative powers, independent judicial power and power of final adjudic tions, and certain foreign affairs powers. Taiwan can also preserve its arm

Fourth, diplomatic negotiations, political negotiations and peaceful re unification. Through diplomatic and political negotiations, we can achieve the peaceful unification of our country, but at the same time, we will not make any commitment to renounce the use of force. This is not aimed at our own countrymen, but for the separatist conspiracy of various separatist forces at home and abroad.

Before and after the introduction of the scientific concept and basic national policy of "new thinking" and "new policy'—"peaceful reunifica- tion and one country, two systems" of the Communist Party of China and — Chinese government for solving the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan issue, there have been a great variety of state unification patterns in the inter- national community, such as the "model of the Civil War" in the United States, the "Vietnam Model", the "Yemen model" and the "German mod- el", there are two important common grounds: the first is "solution by the armed forces" and the second is "one country one system". The realization of national reunification in the manner of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" conforms to the current theme of peace and develop- ment and the trend of democratization, multi-polarity and diversification io the contemporary world, is in the fundamental interest and the long-term interest of the Chinese people and the people of the world, which is a great pioneering undertaking of the CPC and the Chinese government on politi- cal civilization and a great contribution made by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government to the cause of human peace and justice.

The return of Hong Kong and Macao to the motherland under the guidance of scientific concept of "One Country, Two Systems"

First, "One Country, Two Systems" and the "Hong Kong and Macao model"

As the prelude to the return of Hong Kong and Macao, the Sino-British negotiations and the Sino-Portuguese negotiations were basically cord ed under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping's scientific concept of "peaceful unification and one country, two systems", which was based on the general

On the first question, Deng Xiaoping clearly explained the three basic positions that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government adhere to: First, "the question of sovereignty is not a question that can be discussed". Second, "China will regain sovereignty over Hong Kong in 997". Third, China wants to recover "not only the New Territories, but also Hong Kong Island and Kowloon". Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "China has no room for maneuver on this issue! On the second question, Deng expressed full confidence: "I am not worried about this." "I believe we will formulate a policy that should be implemented and is acceptable to all sec- tors after the return of Hong Kong". On the third question, Deng Xiaoping did not dissemble his concern: "What I'm worried about is how to make a perfect transition during the transitional period in the next 15 years. I am worried that there will be a lot of chaos during this period, which is gener- ated by human factors". Mrs Thatcher had to accept these points.

The Sino-British negotiations lasted a full two years. According to the content, it can be divided into two stages: secret consultation (September 1982 to June 1983) and formal talks (July 1983 to September 1984). The diplomatic negotiations between China and the United Kingdom, which were held in the first phase through secret negotiations, mainly addressed the basic issues of "topics" and "procedures". The diplomatic negotiations between China and the United Kingdom in the second phase, which were rmal talks, took 22 rounds. The 22 rounds of formal talks can be divided 0 three smaller stages, depending on the content involved. The first to

_ From 1985 to 1990, the Drafting Committee of the Basic Law of Hong ‘ong passed nine plenary meetings, 25 general board meetings, 73 panel eetings and three general working group meetings. After two times of ore than one year of seeking for opinions on the Basic Law of Hong Kong Draft) for Comments and the' Basic Law of Hong Kong (Draft) in Hong ong, across the country' and all departments, and after several discussions nd repeated revisions, the extremely precious Grand Code of "one coun- try, two systems" was launched . On April 4, 1990, the Third Session of he Seventh National People's Congress passed the Basic Law of the Hong _Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

sixth rounds of formal talks from July 1983 to November 1983 was first stage. The main agenda was the overall arrangement after Hong K was taken back in 1997. The seventh to twelfth rounds of formal talks f December 1983 to April 1984 was the second stage. The main agenda i the basis of the "Twelve Special Policies" proposed by China on solvin: Hong Kong issue to discuss the substantive arrangements after the resun tion of Hong Kong in 1997. The thirteenth to the twenty-second roun formal talks from April 1984 to September 1984 was the third stage. The main agenda is to resolve the remaining issues of the formal talks in the pre- vious stage and discuss the arrangements, transfer of power issues and the | preparation of the agreement during the transitional period of Hong Kong, In the process of diplomatic negotiations, China has taken full advantage of the political intelligence and the art of struggle, which are highly integrated with the firmness of principle and the flexibility of tactics, and all the prob- lems encountered in formal talks were solved one by one.

The formulation of the "Basic Law" which guarantees the "small con- titution" of "one country, two systems" that has remained unchanged in Hong Kong for 50 years has aroused strong repercussions at home and abroad. It is considered as another milestone of Hong Kong's return journey after the signing of the "Sino-British Joint Declaration". Deng Xiaoping highly praised it: "By historic I mean it is significant not only for the past and the present but also for the future. By international and far-reaching I mean it is significant not only for the Third World but for all mankind. This ocument is a creative masterpiece."

On December 19, 1984, the formal signing ceremony of the Sino-British Joint Declaration was held in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. On the same day, People's Daily published an editorial titled Important Events in the History of the World Today—Congratulating the Official Signature of the Declaration on the Issue of Hong Kong by China and the United Kingdom stating: Both the Chinese and British governments take the overall interes 342 as their priority, base on friendly cooperation, mutual understanding an mutual accommodation, and solve the issues of Hong Kong left over b history through negotiation. This will not only help maintain the a stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, but also further promote the frien : and cooperative relations between China and Britain as well as safeguard the peace in Asia and the world. It will not only serve the ne demands of the British people but also the interests and demands ) entire Chinese people including Hong Kong and Taiwan compare 7d : formal signing of the joint declaration on the issue of Hong Kong e 1 the two countries is not only a major event in the relations between ; ina and Britain, but also a major event in international politics. It prow . an example for the international community to solve issues left over by his on . through peaceful and friendly consultations.

__ The preparation of "New Hong Kong" follows the steps of the generation of "Preparatory Commission", "Organizing Commission", and "Selection 343 Commission", the generation of the Chief Executive, the generation of 3. ——— groups of administrative, legislative and judicial teams headed by the Chief Executive, and the preparatory process "Handover Ceremony". Its "par- ent machine" of work is the "Organizing Commission" and the "Selection Commission, and its "head" is the first chief executive. On December 11, 1996, the 3" Plenary Session of the "Selection Commission" elected Tung Chee Hwa as the first Chief Executive by an absolute majority of 320 votes.

_ From June 30 to July 1, 1997, the "new" and "old" Hong Kong was "docked". The "handover ceremony" of Hong Kong mainly meant "‘fare- ell" to the "old master", handover of Hong Kong from Britain to PRC, and e establishment ceremony of the SAR and SAR (Special Administrative egion) government of the Hong Kong as the "new master". On July 1, hinese President Jiang Zemin solemnly declared to the world in Hong ong: "Chinese and British Governments have held the handover ceremo- y of Hong Kong, solemnly announcing the resumption by the Chinese overnment of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong. Now, the Hong ong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is rmally established, which is an event of great importance and far-reach- g influence for Hong Kong, for China and even for the whole world. I

After the Sino-British Joint Declaration was put into effect an ent the "12 years of transitional period" (1985-1997) from "old eee a "new Hong Kong", in order to fully implement the basic spirit and spe contents of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and to achieve the sm transition and smooth handover before "1997" and the saan go. "maintaining stability and prosperity" after "1997", China mainly a out the two major tasks of making the "Hong Kong Basic Law' @ preparation of "New Hong Kong".

_ Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, Vol.3, p.352.

lobal cooperation between the two systems" has been a great innovative ontribution made by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese gov- ronment to the development and practice of the Marxist nation-state theory nd to the history of human political civilization and to the contemporary orld with the theme of peace and development. The "Hong Kong-Macau odel" of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" with the welve Special Policies", Jomt Declaration and the Basic Law as the main ontents.and the successful practice of the return of Hong Kong and Macao pened up a new path for the development history of Marxism, the de- elopment history of human political civilizations, and the unification of ation-states and the integration of nation-states in the contemporary world, ch not only provides a First Example of reference and enlightenment for ontemporary China to continue resolving similar issues of national uni- cation such as the Taiwan issue and resolving similar border territorial isputes such.as the Sino-India Boundary Issue, it is also beneficial to the ‘contemporary world to continue to solve the similar problems of national unification such as the issue of the Korean Peninsula and to solve similar rritorial disputes such as the Malvinas Islands Issue between Britain and rgentina, which also can be used as the First Example of reference and nlightenment. British Prime Minister Thatcher once spoke highly of Deng iaoping's scientific concept of "one country, two systems" as "the most lented creation." She said: "There is no precedent for the idea of ‘one 345 ountry, two systems', that is, to retain two different political, social and Comrade Ledlecreeper27 ^(talk) conomic systems in one country. It provides an imaginative answer to the ecial historical environment of Hong Kong. This concept sets an example f how the seemingly insoluble problem can be solved and how it should e solved." Javier Perez de Cuellar, the then UN Secretary-General, said: The way in which the two countries solved the Hong Kong issue should € vigorously promoted. This is undoubtedly a very prominent example hen tension and confrontation are unfortunately covering many parts of e world. "

ay not only for the Hong Kong compatriots, also for the Chinese people and the entire Chines nation... Hong Kong' turn to the motherland is a shining page in the annals of the Chinese nat From now on, the Hong Kong compatriots will truly Lata masters, in this region new page of history is opened in the annals of Hong Kon

basically follows the successful return model ani °s "First Example".

take this as a red letter d

The return of Macao successful experience of Hong Kong . 86 to March 1987, the Sino-Portuguese negotiations were held in Beijing and four rounds of formal talks were held. April 13, 1987, Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration was officially signe in Beijing. The Joint Declaration announced: The government of the People's Republic of China resumed its exercise of sovereignty over Macao on December 20, 1999. After the "historical issues" of Hong Kong bene and Britain, which lasted for a century and a half, has been solved, the "histori- cal issues" of Macao between China and Portugal, which has lasted for four and a half centuries, has finally been successfully solved in the era by whic the Chinese Communists came to power, In the era of the People S : epubli of China where people are the masters of their country, and a ‘ era 0 rejuvenation and peaceful development of the Chinese es T e — of several generations was wiped out and the dream of reunification of sey

344 eral generations came true. _ - From December 19, 1999 to December 20, 1999, the new and : Macao "docked." The "handover ceremony" of Macao sine a "farewell" to the "old master", the handover ceremony of the "I gime between China and Portugal, and the establisiment corey A SAR and SAR government as the "new master". On TSeIaee - pe: President Jiang Zemin solemnly announced to the world - as : B government of China and the government of Portugal are holding |-

k the transfer of government of Macau and to

emn ceremony here to mar unce the Chinese Government's resumption of the exercise of sove ‘ ce + Macau."! "This signifies that henceforth our compatriots econd, "One country, two systems" and a new type of eignty over | :

Macao have become the masters of this land and that Macao has entered BE cmance suited for Hone Kong and Macao

ae upon a brand new era in 1 will shine forever in the annals of history.

Peaceful settlement of the territorial and sovereignty disputes eh from history by means of diplomatic negotiations and peaceful reso NI he ions implementing diff

the issue of national unification of Chinese reg uae no social systems with the "one country, two systems" policy, an K

From June 19

s early as 1985 when the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed took effect by exchange of the instruments. Hong Kong just stepped to the "12-year transitional period", Deng Xiaoping has proposed and atedly emphasized the two "simple" standards to judge whether the tice of "one country, two systems" is really successful in Hong Kong Macao: the first is whether we can achieve a smooth transition and a oth handover before "1997" and "1999"; the other is whether we can ntain long-term stability and prosperity after "1997" and "1999". As the first test, after overcoming the "expected difficulties" both inside

9912

nation

10 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.1, p.651. 11. Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.2, p.484.

12 Ibid., p.486.

346

Kong" and "Macao people administering Macao", the "new" Hong Kong d Macao, faced with the "dilemmas" of "change" and "unchange", un-

the governments of Hong Kong and an ik. ,

Sasi oe ae ghoe we have finally submitte, der the impacts of the negative Asian financial storm, SARS and the glob- SAR, Hong Kong ney: Sellout ewer Ale "handover ceremonies' al financial crisis on one hand, and the positive double challenges of the mS aera Oa "without occurrence of any unpleasant major ace Mainland's entry into WTO, ‘the signing of "Closer Economic Partnership ee F tie latter test of criterion, Deng Xiaoping has proposed: if, under Arrangement" with Hong Kong anc Nlacao and He CnporHaity ot roe dent". Fo | background of economic globalization and the peaceful rj Kong and Macao opening up'the "Individual Visit Scheme" and "Individual the ee d ae after the "new" Hong Kong and Macao can overcome Traveler Policy" to some provinces and cities on the other hand. We made of nee an acme "unexpected difficulties" inside and outside Hong Kong the best use of the opportunity of the worldwide trend of political multi- various KINGS Or by the joint efforts of Central Government, and the polarization, economic diversification and cultural diversification, and for and Macao nee te a cae Macao Special Administrative Regions, as the building of an all-round capitalist material civilization, spiritual civi- ae van fe Fe Kong and Macao, we will also submit a second lization, political civilization and "harmonious society" with Hong Kong ass pees ill be "fairly appreciated by the whole world". and Macao characteristics, we found a new path to keep maintaining the answer which will be 7 : traditional and regional advantages of the status of "free port", "indepen- Just at the beginning of the construction of "one country, two systems"

of "new" Hong Kong and Macao, on the question of how to "observe and

dent customs territory" and "international economic center" and "the cen- ‘ a ter of East-West cultural exchanges", and continued to maintain the tradi- assess the situation in Hong Kong and Macao", Chinese President Jiang Zemin also proactively put forward four basic preconditions: the great

tion and core values of "freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule ines : of law", that is, the construction of the "Hong Kong-Macau model" under conor oe page ree by pee Xiaopine "one country, two systems" of "continuing to maintain long-term stability the concept of "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong , "Macao people Bd prosperity". administering Macao", a high degree of autonomy 1s completely cone compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao are fully capable of managing Hong Kong and Macao well; the wisdom and experience of the SAR government : can handle complex situations; the great socialist motherland is the strong backing for Hong Kong and Macao in maintaining prosperity, stability and the difficulties and risks ahead of victory."°

He expressed the sincere hope and firm confidence in the "new era . Hong Kong and Macao history" and "better tomorrow in Hong Kong and Macao" of the Central Government and people of all nationalities in me country. For more than a decade since the return of Hong Kong and Moe the construction and practice of "one country, two systems" in the a Hong Kong and Macao has fully proved the correctness of this scienti : judgment. The return of Hong Kong and Macao and the "one country, two system construction of "new" Hong Kong and Maucao are the two experimen fields that set the example for "peaceful unification" project a country, two systems" in contemporary China. Since the return 0 Kong and Macao and the start of "Hong Kong people administering

and outside Hong Kong-Macao society and after concerted efforts by

For the general political and economic development trend since the re- unification of Hong Kong and Macao, the Central Government, the SAR government, compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao and the international community have a basic assessment: in the "new" Hong Kong and Macao, "the concept of "one country, two systems" has been transformed from a scientific concept to a vivid reality"; "'One country, two systems' has been integrated into the life of ‘new' Hong Kong and Macao". On July 1, 2007, at the celebration of the 10" anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a speech compre- hensively summarizing the great achievements made in the construction of "one country, two systems" in the "new Hong Kong". He pointed out: Over he past 10 years, the Central Government has earnestly implemented the principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong people administer- ing Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy. We must strictly abide the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and swervingly safeguard Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. Hong Kong ntinues to maintain its existing capitalist system and way of life, fully ercising its administrative power, legislative power, independent judi- | power and final adjudication power under the Basic Law of the Hong

» pene: ng Special Administrative Region. Hong Kong residents enjoy extensive

Delegation to the Second Session of the wee ee ae = eae mocratic rights and freedoms, "Hong Kong people administering Hong ae pedi Sie - eee al People's Congress" People's D ng" and a high degree of autonomy has become a vivid reality. Over

2000/03/09.

13. See "Conversations of Jiang Zemin Attending the Discussions of the Hong

347

under "one country, two systems" is viable. Moreover, "one country, two systems" provides a system guarantee for "better tomorrow of Hong Kong and Macao". Practice has proved that the principle of "one country, two systems" is completely correct and has strong vitality.

f the Central Government ar the past 10 years, under the strong support 0 a the Bead the Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa and Donald Tsa: successively led the SAR government together with the broad masse: Hong Kong compatriots to overcome serious difficulties and challenges

On October 15, 2007, Hu Jintao once again raised the issue of "main- taining long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao" to the strategic height of "a major issue confronting the Party's state administra- tion under the new situation", he emphatically pointed out: Since the return of Hong Kong and Macao, the practice of "one country, two systems" has been increasingly enriched. "One country, two systems" is completely cor- rect and has strong vitality. A major task the Party faces in running the country in the new circumstances, is to ensure long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao. We will unswervingly implement the system under which Hong Kong people administer Hong Kong and Macao people administer Macao with a high degree of autonomy, and act in strict accordance with the basic laws of the two special administrative regions. We support to the governments of the two regions in their administration in accordance with the law and in their efforts to promote economic growth, improve people's lives and advance democracy. We encourage people from all walks of life in Hong Kong and Macao to work with one accord to pro- mote social amity under the banner of love for the motherland and devotion to their respective regions. We will increase exchanges and cooperation 349 between the mainland and the two regions so that they can draw on each other's strengths and develop side by side. We will actively support the two regions in their external exchanges and firmly oppose attempts by any external force to interfere in their affairs. Our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao, without doubt, have the wisdom and ability to successfully administer and develop their regions. Both regions have played and will continue to play an important role in China's modernization drive, and the _ great motherland will always provide them with strong backing for their _ prosperity and stability.

safeguarded Hong Kong's overall social stability and achieved econem recovery, and made great strides in various undertakings in Hong Kong. In the past 10 years, the community of Hong Kong has maintained its stabil- ity, the economy is more prosperous, the democratic and orderly develop- ment is achieved, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, showing a thriving scene. Facts have indisputably proved that the principle of "one country, two systems" is completely correct. Hong Kong compa- triots are completely wise and capable of managing well. Building a good Hong Kong and a great motherland have always been the strong backing of Hong Kong's prosperity and stability! On December 20, 2009, On the oc- casion of the 10 anniversary celebration of Macao's return to the mother- land, Hu Jintao delivered a speech comprehensively summarizing the great achievements made in the construction of "one countty, ue systems" in "New Macao". He pointed out: In the 10 years since Macao's return to the motherland, with the vigorous support from the Central Government and the motherland, the Macao Special Administrative Region and its Chief Executive, H.E. Edmund Ho, and the SAR government lead the people of all walks of life in Macao to work hard in unity and pragmatism to ac- tively deal with the severe challenges posed by the Asian financial crisis, the SARS outbreak and the international financial crisis, and Work hard to overcome the difficulties encountered in the process of Macao's develop- ment, maintain the prosperity and stability of Macao and make great strides in various undertakings, thus Macao, the famous historic city oF commerce, emerged an unprecedented vitality. The successful practice of "one a two systems" in Macao has created a brilliant chapter for the develo of Macao and added dazzling luster to the development of the country. : € successful practice of "one country, two systems" in Macao has ee . brilliant chapter for the development of Macao and added dazzling us a7 to the development of the country. The 10 years since Macao's return : - the motherland have been the successful practice of "one country, ee sys tems". It is a 10-year period of the successful implementation of the . : Law in Macao. It is also a period of 10 years in which Macao people : all walks of life actively have explored ways of development that are in } with Macao's realities and have made constant progress!

The breakthrough in cross-strait relations and the new situation of peaceful development in cross-strait relations

First, the basic state policy of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" and breakthrough in Cross-Strait relations

Recalling the 10plus years after the return of Hong Kong and ees can draw a historic conclusion: the practice of "one country, two Sys € in Hong Kong and Macao is a success. The "Hong Kong-Macao mot

_ In current China, to solve the Taiwan issue—‘peaceful reunification of the motherland and one country two systems"—is a "top priority" strat- gy among its great undertakings. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Deng

hinese. The vast majority of Taiwan compatriots have also made great fforts to promote the development of cross-Strait relations. From the late 1980s on, there have been signs of loosening over the stalled impasse in the Taiwan issue.

5 wos Xiaoping's scientific concept of "one country, ae ane a Neco designed to solve the Taiwan issue. Only when t 7 Negev aw. issue was not easy to be solved in a short period OF HUE, dcacadi ie Be the problem of Hong Kong and Macao whose timing ne i aS : relatively ripe as a sally port, make use of the First eae ee Hong Kong and Macao with the "Hong Shan ns a pres ae country, two systems" to accumulate experience an eyes : i fi "a final solution to the Taiwan issue. Since the 1990s and the 21" century, the _

third generation of the central collective leadership with Jiang Zemin at the

core and the Party Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the general secre-

tary have carried out new theoretical and practical pean = ie a. of inheriting and developing this scientific concept, On the = an : efforts to bring about the return of Hong Kong and Macao an con rue ed the "Hong Kong and Macao model" under "one country, two aysiu ‘ a the other hand, shifted the strategic focus of the great project o se reunification and one country under two systems in einai ina to the settlement of Taiwan issue. According to the new aa : " s domestic situation and the international situation, accor ae (e) ee i tion of political ecology in Taiwan and the new changes He € ae ae relations in the "post-Cold War era", it is necessary to Tully ready

strategic thinking and specific policies on the work related to Taiwan affairs

i ‘independence rather than equally focus on anti- which should focus on anti-indep ne Caan it fon Gea

i ing reunification, 1 placi independence and promot 1 d ! the fobe on the "passive reaction" of Taiwan authorities to our initiating

i s i le's" "hard and soft i i lacing the hope on "the Tarwan peop cote nee : »> "active control". We have formed a

a: 66 "harder" and "softer F mq ie : tactics" to the "h theoretical and policy guidelines such

moprehensive and systematic aoe ae of Taiwan and China's Reunification and the white The One-China Principle and the Taiwan Issue, the "5.17 Statement , Ine

Anti-Secession Law of the pase of as oacier : : 4-points" and "Hu's 6-points", or the wor pe. Be further opened up a new situation for the peace velop oe i ‘ons and laying a solid foundation for settling the ai ue ee ies the tania goal of "peaceful reunification and one co try under two systems" in contemporary China. a Since the entry into the new period, the Communist a on and the Chinese government — ede aes ee ta ‘r utmost sincerity and strive for the reatlz : | real ate the principle of "one country, two systems snd series of pro-active policies and measures to comprehenslv ly ae peaceful development in cross-Strait relations, our sincerity, he new ideas are gradually gaining the understanding and suppo ee more Taiwan compatriots, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao

At the end of 1987, Chiang Ching-kuo, the leader of the Kuomintang authorities in Taiwan, made the decisions of his most important and direct influence on the evolution of political ecology on the island of Taiwan and the development of cross-Strait relations—"lifting the ban on political par- ties" and "opening up family visits from the mainland". The cross-strait re- lations have begun to enter a new stage of historical development. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, in just a few short years, the isolation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has been broken, and the cross-Strait eco- nomic and cultural exchanges and personnel exchanges have made great strides. In order to properly settle the specific problems arising from the exchanges of compatriots on both sides of the Strait through negotiation, in November 1992, the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) reached an agreement that each of them verbally states "both sides of the Strait uphold the one China principle" in conducting transactional talks, namely the so-called "1992 Consensus" (mainland China's understand- ing and interpretation are "there is only one China and both sides agree to accept it", and Taiwan's understanding and explanation are "both sides agree to accept there is one China"). On the basis of this, the leaders of the ARATS and SEF successfully held the first "Wang (Wang Daohan) -Koo (Koo Chen-fu) Talks" in April 1993 and signed four agreements on protect- ing the legitimate rights and interests of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In October 1998, the leaders of the ARATS and SEF held a meeting in Shanghai and successfully held the second "Wang-Ku Talks", which opened the process for cross-Strait political dialogue.

Since the mid-1990s, because that the leader of Taiwan's authorities Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian gradually abandoned the one-China inciple and vigorously pushed forward the separatist policy of "Taiwan Independence" with "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" at the core, € newly opened process of political dialogue across the Taiwan Strait has en interrupted. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese govern- ent considered the current situation, conformed to the new situation of the olution of political ecology on the island of Taiwan and the development cross-Strait relations, and open up a new situation in the exchange of po- ical parties across the Taiwan Strait. In 2005, the CPC successively invit- the leaders of the three parties on the island of Taiwan, the Kuomintang, People First Party and the New Party, who have always been adhering to one-China principle, to visit the mainland and successfully realized the

351

direct dialogue among political party leaders—"Hu (Hu Jintao) ie Chan) Meeting" "Hu (Hu Jintao) Song (James Soong) Meeting", ai

2

i -mi ing". In particular, the so-called Hu Jintao) Yu (Yok Mu ming) meeting led een of the Kuomintang and Communist Party on the "Hu

Meeting" held on April 29, 2005 is of extraordinary significance. ;

meeting, both sides jointly published the "Common Prospect of Peac

Development on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait", jointly establishi "Three Recognitions" and the "Five Promotions", which set a for

veloping cross-Strait relations." Jiang Zemin emphasized: "Adherence to e China principle is the basis for resolution of the Peaceful Reunification the Motherland."'*

Hu Jintao emphasized: "Adhering to the one-China principle is the cor- stone of developing cross-Strait relations and realizing the motherland's aceful reunification."

On January 30, 1995, Jiang Zemin delivered a speech entitled "Keep iving to Promote the Great Cause of the Reunification of the Motherland".

ow for resuming the political dialogue between Taiwan and main| the basis of "1992 Consensus" after the Kuomintang party again won | Taiwan government in 2008.

Compared with the stalemate in the political exchanges between the t sides of the Strait, which have been intermittent and slow in political ‘ logue since the isolation between the two sides of the Strait was broken the late 1980s, the momentum of cross-Strait economic exchanges and sonnel exchanges has always been unstoppable. By the end of 2007 i than 47.03 million Taiwanese residents came to the mainland and mai residents totaled more than 1.63 million to Taiwan. The _ he tally approved 75,146 Taiwanese investment projects and Taiwan usi men actually invested 45.76 billion US. dollars. According to ee actual use of foreign investment, Taiwan's investment in ~ a. 352 accumulatively absorbs 6.0% of the overseas investment in the mai The trade volume between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait amour 728.1 billion U.S. dollars, of which 125.9 billion US dollars were ex] to Taiwan, 602.2 billion U.S. dollars were imported from oo deficit of the Mainland added up 476.3 billion US dollars. ie - he volume between the mainland and Taiwan was 145.37 PY " x and 3,072 Taiwanese investment projects were approved. By tf December 2010, 83,133 Taiwan-funded projects had been _ mainland, actually utilizing 52.02 billion US dollars. At is the mainland's seventh largest trading partner, the ae i : market and the fifth largest source of imports. The we - largest trading partner, the largest export market and the a trade surplus. The general trend of the peaceful developmen

relations has become irreversible.

Second, the basic national policy of "peaceful eu one country, two systems" and the new situation of peaceful development in cross-strait relations

At the turn of the century, the third generation of ns ee leadership with Jiang Zemin at the core and the es re with Hu Jintao as general secretary have always t . of adhering to the One-China principle in settling the 14

put forward eight propositions of "developing cross-Strait relations at s stage and advancing the process of peaceful reunification of the moth- and", namely, the famous "Jiang's 8-points", for the first time he clearly t forward the issue of "adhering to'the one-China principle" and pointed t:" Adhering to the ‘one-China' principle is the basis and premise for Jizing peaceful reunification." Since the beginning of the 21 century, February 21, 2000, the Chinese government issued a white paper en- ed "The One-China Principle and the Taiwan Issue". It has conducted a mprehensive and systematic study of Jiang Zemin's "Adherence to the e-China Principle" from different angles and aspects and concretely ex- xined: "The One-China Principle is the foundation stone for the Chinese vernment's policy on Taiwan."!°

Since the 16" CPC National Congress, the party Central Committee with 353 1 Jintao as General Secretary has repeatedly emphasized that upholding ne-China principle is the basis for developing cross-Strait relations and zing peaceful unification. On this issue of non-trivial matter relating

e fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, our stance is firm and istent.!

n March 14, 2005, the "Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of a" passed at the Third Session of the Tenth National People's Congress e it clear for the first time in the legal language that reflects the will state: "Adherence to the One-China Principle is the Realization of ful Reunification of the Motherland The foundation."

e the beginning of the new century, in order to demonstrate the sin- goodwill and new ideas of the CPC and the Chinese government olding the "One-China Principle," our party has also adjusted the connotation of "One-China principle" with keeping pace with

lected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol. 1, p.421. i Jintao: "We will never waver in upholding the One China principle", see -com, 2005/03/04. ‘The One-China Principle-the Basis and Prerequisite of Peaceful Reunification", aily, 2000/02/22. Hu Jintao: "We will never waver in upholding the One China principle", see com, 2005/03/04.

the times: since the traditional "world there is one China, Hates is : of China, the sole legal government that pe a China 2 4 e inte tional community" is the "old" "syllogism government a the Peop : Republic of China". At this stage there is ° only one cna int e world; bot the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China, China's sovereignty and ritorial integrity cannot be divided""*.

From the only one China in the world in the "new" "syllogism" to that _ in "Hu's 6-points", China's sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be divided. Since 1949, although the mainland and Taiwan have not yet reuni- fied, it is not a division of China's territory and sovereignty but a political antagonism left over and extended by the civil war in the mid-to-late 1940s in China. This has not changed the fact that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China. For the two sides of the Straits, to return to unity is not the

recreation of sovereignty or territory, but an end to political antagonism."

sole subjectivity of the Chinese Kuomintang" and "phased political nego- tiations ", and so on.

This "new thinking" is mainly reflected in Jiang Zemin's speech at the Spring Tea Party held by the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (Jiang's 8-points). Jiang zemin pointed out: "It has been our consistent stand to hold negotiations with the Taiwan authorities on the peaceful reunification of the motherland.... We have proposed time and again that negotiations should be held on officially ending the state of hostility between the two sides and accomplishing peaceful reunification step by step. Here again I solemnly propose that such negotiations be held. I suggest that, as the first step, ne- gotiations should be held and an agreement reached on officially ending the state of hostility between the two sides in accordance with the principle that there is only one China. On this basis, the two sides should undertake jointly to safeguard China sovereignty and territorial integrity and map out plans for the future development of their relations. As regards the name, place and form of these political talks, a solution acceptable to both sides can certainly be found so long as consultations on an equal footing can be held at an early date... Leaders of the Taiwan authorities are welcome to pay visits in appropriate capacities. We are also ready to accept invitations from the Taiwan side to visit Taiwan. We can discuss state affairs, or ex-

change ideas on certain questions first. Even a simple visit to the other side will be useful.'""°

It is a basic political view on settling the Taiwan issue of the first genera- tion of the central collective leadership of the Party with Mao Zedong as the core and the second with Deng Xiaoping as its core before the - that through the negotiation of the two ruling Parties, the ann arty of China and the Kuomintang, to settle the Taiwan Issue wit vale i to realize the peaceful reunification of contemporary China. Int e - e of the 1990s, when the Kuomintang still took power in Taiwan : i did not give up its "one-China" stance, the third-generation ae : . ship collective with J iang Zemin as its core also continued to adhere to ‘ "third KMT-CPC cooperation" for the settlement the Taiwan issue in order to achieve the peaceful unification of contemporary China.

Since then, Jiang Zemin reiterated this basic political stance on different political occasions. Starting from the mid-1 990s, in response to the evolution of pe : fe _ mestic political ecology, pe ee ae venice a "Taiwan Independence" split trend ana the di sae within the Kuomintang, the leading collectives re: " generation of the Party with Jiang Zemin as its core, while pas " m "hold high the banner of political negotiations across the Strait", be : tegic and even structural adjustments to the targets, aap a ie contents of the cross-Strait political negotiations and put panes, : of new political propositions. Among them, the most meen ee explicitly put forward the principle of "upholding the i F ee is the basic premise and the political foundation for po itica : ee across the Taiwan Strait", "diluting the object of political negotiatio!

As for the specific content of "political negotiations across the Taiwan Strait", the basic open stance of the third-generation central leadership col- lective with Jiang Zemin at its core and the CPC Central Committee with Hu Jintao as general secretary since the 1990s and the 21* century has al- ways remained the same—"Under the premise of one-China, any problem n be discussed", "our status is equal and the topic for discussion is open". 1992, at the 14° Congress of the Party, Jiang Zemin pointed out: "On e premise that there is only one China, we are prepared to talk with the aiwan authorities about any matter, including the form that official nego- ations should take, a form that would be acceptable to both sides.""!

In 2002, Jiang Zemin pointed out in the report of the party's 16" National ongress that "On the premise of the one-China principle, all issues can be scussed. We may discuss how to end the cross-straits hostility formally.

ia anes . q ° . . . # . . 18 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol. 3, p. 564. /e may also discuss the international space in which the Taiwan region may

19 See Hu Jintao, "Let Us Join Hands to Promote the aye pee i ' i i ited Resolve for the Grea' a -Straits Relations and Strive with a United L icles Nation-Speech at the Forum Marking the 30" oe of the ts of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan," People's Daily, 2009/01/01.

Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.1, pp.421-423. Ibid., p.252.

359

356

cultural and social activities compatible with its statu:

ct economic : "4: i eres status of the Taiwan authorities or other issues.""?

or discuss the political

And Jiang Zemin for the first time, proposed focusing and opening

"three links" across the Taiwan Strait, namely direct trade, transportation,

and postal links.

i 1Committee _ Nat 1 Congress of the CPC, the Party Centra Cane ee : continued to "hold high the banner of _

. fay

with Hu Jintao as general secre 1 cross-Strait political negotiations" and at the same time the targets and top-

ics for cross-Strait political negotiations were further opened and the "flex- ible" space was further increased, which fully demonstrated the sincerity, oodwill and new idea of the CPC and the Chinese government in settling fe Taiwan issue through cross-Strait political negotiations and realizing the peaceful unification of contemporary China.

On March 4, 2005, Hu Jintao, when visiting some members of the 3" Plenary Meeting of the 10% CPPCC National ae ti proposed four points of views on cross-Strait development under t e new situ- ation ("Hu's 4-points"): "As long as the Taiwan authorities roo the "1992 Consensus', the cross-Strait dialogue and negotia " " be resumed, and any questions can be discussed. We can not only ' about the issues we have already proposed that formally A . ie . the state of hostility on the two sides of the Strait and establish mutu

trust in the military, the space for t ting in with its status internationally, authorities and the framewor of cross-Strait relations. All the probl process of peaceful reunification can a the efforts made by any person a nize the one-China principle. As ‘1992 Consensus' is recognized, no mat cal parties they are or what they have sa talk with them about the issue of deve promoting peaceful unification.""

On March 14, 2005, the 3" Congress passed the Anti-Secession

which is the first time that the three talked" ruling party on "cross-Strait political negotiations" are further substantia

and upgraded to the six "can be talked" on the national legal level.

i i 64. lected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.3, pp. ine PCa Sons and Daughters including Taiwan Compatriots Are United

es fl Work Together To Promote the Great Cause of Peaceful Reunification of The Mothe People's Daily, 2005/03/05.

he activities of the Taiwan region fit- the political status of the Taiwan k for the peaceful and stable development ems that need to be solved in the Iso be discussed. We welcome all nd political party in Taiwan to recog: long the One-China Principle and the ter who they are or what politi- id in the past, we are willing to loping cross-Strait relations and

Plenary Session of the 10" National People's Law of the People's Republic of China "can be talked" at the policy level 0 the

On March 4, 2008, Hu Jintao pointed out during his visit to some mem- bers of the 1* Session of the 11% CPPCC National Committee the impor- tant suggestions on developing cross-Strait relations that if any political party in Taiwan who recognizes that both sides belong to the same China, we are willing to exchange dnd negotiate with them. The status of each party in the negotiations is equal. The topics are open and any questions can be discussed. Through negotiations, the two sides should seek solu- tions to.important issues such as politics, economy, military affairs, cul- ture and foreign exchange between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and plan the future development of cross-Strait relations. We expect that both sides of the Strait will work together to create the conditions for the two sides to negotiate and formally conclude the state of hostility on the basis of the one-China principle, reach a peace agreement, establish a framework for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and create a new phase for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. We must also strive to unify with people who have previously nursed illusions of Taiwan's independence, advocated independence or even en- gaged in independence activities. As long as they return to the correct path of promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, they will all be warmly welcome."

On December 31, 2008, in his important speech at the symposium commemorating the 30" anniversary of the publication of the Message to Taiwan Compatriots, Hu Jintao further released his sincerity, goodwill and new ideas in pushing for political negotiations across the Taiwan Strait, and released his self-confidence, grace and mind-set for the promotion of cross-Strait political negotiation. He said: "In order to facilitate con- sultations and negotiations between the two sides of the Strait and make arrangements for reciprocal transactions, the two sides of the strait should pragmatically discuss the political relations under special circumstances in which the state has not yet been unified. In order to be in a position to stabilize the situation in the Taiwan Strait and ease military security con- cerns, both sides of the Strait can conduct timely contact and exchange on military issues and discuss the issue of establishing a mechanism for mu- tual trust in military security. On the basis of the one-China principle, we once again called for consultations to formally end the hostile state across e Strait, to reach a peace agreement and establish a framework for the eaceful development of cross-Strait relations". "With regard to Taiwan's tivities in participating in international organizations, it is possible to ake fair and reasonable arrangements through pragmatic consultations tween the two sides on the premise of not creating ‘two Chinas' and

See "Firmly Grasping the Peaceful Development Theme of the Cross-Strait lationship, Sincerely Seeking Welfare for the Compatriots on Both Sides and Seeking ace Across the Taiwan Strait", People's Daily, 2008/03/05.

357

principles, namely "place hope on Taiwan people and also place hope on Taiwan authorities" and "place hope on Taiwan authorities and place more hope on the people of Taiwan", to the sole "placing hope" principle, namely "place hope on Taiwan people", which was more pragmatic and targeted.

i an'? Hu Jintao also stressed once again: "We als i Sree es sar the past, stood for, engaged in and pu ate independence" to change course and join us in promotin; se fi 1 development of cross-Straits relations. We hope the DPP will ates ‘cl ar judgment of the current situation and stop the separatist ee Oe al a "Taiwan independence" rather than going against the ae aspiration of the nation. As long as oe oe ratist stance and stop pursuing "Taiwan independence", y to respond positively."" | . , To solve the Taiwan issue (including the Game Police tions" with the Taiwan authorities), a precondition ae spree Tl for the peaceful unification of contemporary China st ot we ms the problem of "return of people's hearts of the people es : y ee the "Placing Hope on Laren te as ee cc and the Chinese government have a ways ; othe " third generation of the central collective leadership Wi eee ie Be and the Party Central Committee avi Hu _ . h eral secretary have attached great importance to resolving ees le's hearts" of the people in Taiwan. They have always

"return of peop » impor- ie ‘deine well the work of Taiwan people" as one of the most mp

tant goals of the CPC and the Chinese government in their work on Taiwan.

i 23 million 358 The CPC and the Chinese sahacoiey eh ee cee a . iots i i brothers and siste Se an ie a the basis for the peaceful development of

ition of patriotism. They are > pei paves relations and the anchor for the realization of the motherland's

peaceful reunification. They are also the current nea ena i ition and containment of "latwan al iviti Ive the Taiwan issue and real- i litting activities. To solve the separatist forces and sp aa ey "Che i i i f the motherland requires ; ize the peaceful unification o cee i y? "Chinese people solve their 0 not fight Chinese" but also os i oe the Taiwan issue "mainly with our power we must work tog

through the efforts of 1.3 billion mainland China compatriots and 23 mil-

lion Taiwan compatriots. ae oe Over the past 30 years or So, the specific content of the jain ‘a i i : ification and one © i 1 policy of peaceful reunifica' ne cept and basic nationa SI en oto . tantly adjusted due to the ¢ two systems" has been cons ae i i the cross-Strait relations, ecology in Taiwan and changes 1n | See gone Caen and transformation from two different "placing nop

Since the 1990s and the 21% century, all previous meetings of the CPC and the Chinese government on the work of Taiwan, the policy documents and relevant laws and regulations issued to Taiwan in the past and the talks made by previous leaders and Taiwan-related officials both at home and abroad have, without exception, taken "doing good things regarding the Taiwan Strait work", and "winning the hearts and minds of the Taiwan people" was raised to the strategic height to resolve the Taiwan issue and realize the peaceful reunification of,China.

Since the 16% National Party Congress in 2002, the Party Central Committee with Hu Jintao as general secretary has continued to hold high the banner of "placing hope on the Taiwan people" and doing a good job in "winning the hearts and minds of the Taiwan people". Hu Jintao made it clear that "the principle of implementing ‘placing hope on Taiwan peo- ple' will never change". On March 4, 2005, Hu Jintao, while visiting some members of the 3 Plenary Session of the 10% CPPCC National Committee, pointed out when he put forward the four points guideline on developing cross-Strait relations under the new situation "The Taiwan compatriots are 359 our flesh-and-blood brothers, as well as an importance force in developing —— cross-Straits relations and checking the "Taiwan independence" secession- ist activities. The more the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces want to isolate the Taiwan compatriots from us, the more closely we have to unite with them. Under whatever circumstances, we shall always respect, trust and rely on the Taiwan compatriots, land ourselves in their position to think of their difficulties, and do everything we can to look after and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests... And here in the following Hu Jintao defined his idea of "4 conductives" as the following Anything beneficial to the Taiwan compatriots and conducive to the promotion of cross-Straits ex- changes, to the maintenance of peace in the Taiwan Straits region and to the motherland's peaceful reunification, we will do it with our utmost efforts and will do it well. This is our solemn commitment to the broad masses of the Taiwan compatriots."

For the first time, the idea of "4 conductives" was formally proposed the context of "doing a good job in winning the hearts and minds of the

. . aid 95 Hu Jintao: "Promoting The Peaceful Development of Cross-Strait Relations

i on and Achieve the Great Revival of the Chinese Nation-Speech at the ee Commemorating the 30" Anniversary of Message to Compatriots in Taiwan' ,

Daily, 2009/01/01.

"All Chinese Sons and Daughters including Taiwan Compatriots Are United In Their ork Together To Promote the Great Cause of Peaceful Reunification of The Motherland", eople's Daily, 2005/03/05.

360

Since the 16" National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the general secretary has further advocated the new think- ing, new idea that the people on both sides of the Strait should be a "com munity of common destiny" based on the guiding thought and basic prin- ciple of keeping "unswervingly implementing the principle of placing hope on the people of Taiwan". :

Hu Jintao pointed out explicitly: "No matter the past, the present or. fu- ture, 1.3 billion mainland compatriots and 23 million Tatwan compatriots are all connected by a common destiny."*' The long history of 5,000 years of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, and splendid culture, we are all closely linked. We are all descendants of the Chinese nation. We all should take our great nation as our pride. We should all also take our responsibility to rejuvenate this great nation."

"China belongs to the 1.3 billion Chinese people including 23 million Taiwan compatriots. The Mainland belongs to the 1 3 billion Chinese peo- ple including 23 million Taiwan compatriots. Taiwan belongs to the 13 billion Chinese people including 23 million Taiwan compatriots. Any issue involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be decided col- lectively by the entire 1.3 billion Chinese people.

In October 2007, for the first time, Hu Jintao put forward the important idea of "firm grasping the theme of peaceful development of cross-Straits relations" in the Report to the 17 National Congress of the Conn Party of China and emphasized that "China is the common homeland or the compatriots on both sides of the Straits, noe every reason to join hands to safeguard and develop this homeland".'

This set the main tune for the work on Taiwan and the Taiwan policy of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government at a later time.

On December 31, 2008, in his important address on the symposium to commemorate the 30" anniversary of the publication of the eee : Taiwan Compatriots, Hu Jintao put forward six suggestions on ge . grasp the theme of peaceful development of cross-Strait relations a tively promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations". :

abide by one China and enhance mutual political trust. Second, promote

"Pirmly Grasping the Peaceful Development Theme of the Cross-Strait fae cue cae eae Welfare for the Compatriots on Both Sides and Seeking _ Peace for the Taiwan Strait Area", People's Daily, 2008/03/05. sn aisoek 28 See "Hu Jintao Meets with PFP Mainland Delegation F People s Dai Ue coaatie 29 "All Chinese Sons and Daughters including Taiwan Compatriots com ee harliat Work Together To Promote the Great Cause of Peaceful Reunification of The Mo ¢

le's Daily, 2005/03/05. oe a CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since

the 17" National Congress" (Vol.I]), p.34.

economic cooperation and promote common development. Third, promote Chinese culture and strengthen spiritual ties. Fourth, strengthen personnel exchanges and expand exchanges between people from all walks of life. Fifth, safeguard national sovereignty and negotiate foreign affairs. Sixth, put an end to hostilities and reach a peace agreement. This is the famous "Hu's 6-points" "Hu's 6-points" which once again demonstrated the good- will, sincerity and new ideas of the CPC and the Chinese government in settling the Taiwan issue and is a new programmatic document for the CPC and the Chinese government in settling the Taiwan issue.

Since March 2008, under the correct guidance and active promotion of the CPC and the Chinese government, with the joint efforts of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, there has been a significant positive change in the political ecology in Taiwan and in cross-Strait relations. The cross-Strait relations ushered in a rare historic opportunity. Before and af- ter Kuomintang, who opposed "Taiwan Independence" and acknowledged the "1992 Consensus", "holding power" in Taiwan, it showed great enthu- siasm for the development of "normalized" cross-Strait relations and put forward the new idea of "facing reality, opening up the future, shelving controversy, and pursuing win-win cooperation" for the development of cross-Strait relations. For that, we gave a positive response. On April 29, 2008, Hu Jintao met with Lien Chan, Honorary Chairman of the KMT, and exchanged views on the issue of developing cross-Strait relations. Hu pointed out explicitly that the situation in Taiwan has undergone positive changes and the cross-Strait relations have shown a good momentum of development. Both sides of the Strait should make joint efforts to "build mutual trust, lay aside disputes, seek consensus and shelve differences, and jointly create a win-win situation.""!

On May 28, Hu Jintao met with Wu Po-hsiung, chairman of the Kuomintang, and exchanged in-depth views on promoting the improve- ment and development of cross-Strait relations under the new situation. Hu Jintao told Wu Po-hsiung earnestly that with the joint efforts of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the situation in Taiwan has undergone a positive change and the development of cross-Strait relations is facing a rare historical opportu- nity. This situation is not easy, it is worth cherishing."

Since June 2008, thanks to the concerted efforts of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the channels and mechanisms for communication between _ARATS and SEF, which were forced to be shelved for a relatively long eriod of time, have been restored. Consultations on developing the direct

1 "Hu Jintao meets with Lien Chan and his entourage", in: "People's Daily", 2008/04/30.

2 See "CPC Central Committee General Secretary Hu Jintao Hold Talks with Wu Poh- siung, Chairman of the Kuomintang," People's Daily, 2008/05/29.

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At present, the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations has become the common will and the common goal of the compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The peaceful development of cross-Strait relations is the prerequisite and foundation for the peaceful unification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and the prepatation and accumulation for the cross-Strait peaceful reunification. Although the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations still faces numerous ‘hindrance and obstacles, it will inevitably undergo twists and turns in the future. However, we firmly believe in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and we will never falter. The future of the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations lies in the hands of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The bright future of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation belongs to all the Chinese people, including the compatriots in Taiwan. We believe that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits have enough wisdom and ability to jointly create anew situation of peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and jointly welcome the prosperous future of the Chinese nation.

"Three Links" and comprehensive economic exchange and cooperation and other issues between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were held, and a series of important progress and breakthrough results were made. From June 12 to June 13 to December 20 to December 20, Chen Yunlin, the new ARATS president, and Chiang Pin-kung, the new chairman of SEF, conducted six consecutive "Chen Chiang Meeting" and co-signed the "Cross-Strait Meeting Minutes on Chartered Airplane", "Cross-Strait Agreement on Mainland Residents Travelling to Taiwan", "Cross-Strait Air Transport Agreements", "Cross-Strait Maritime Transport Agreements", _ "Cross-Strait Postal Services Agreements", "Cross-Strait Food Safety Agreements", "Cross-Strait Financial Cooperation Agreement", "Cross- Strait Supplementary Agreement on Air Transport", "Cross-Strait Joint Anti-Crime and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement", "Cross-Strait Labor Cooperation Agreement on Fishing Vessel Crew Members", "Crogs-Strait Cooperation Agreement on Quarantine and Inspection of Agricultural Products", "Cross-Strait Cooperation Agreement on Standard Metrological Verification Certification", "Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement" (ECFA), "Cross-Strait Intellectual Property Protection Cooperation Agreement", "Cross-Strait Agreement on Pharmaceutical and Health Cooperation", and so on. The signing of these cooperation agreements not only satisfactorily resolved the issue of the "Pull Three Links" that the two sides of the strait have suspended for a long time, but also gradually brought the cross-Strait economic exchanges and cooperation into an institutionalized track, becoming more and more com- prehensive and in-depth.

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At present, the cross-Strait relations have seen gratifying new develop- ments. Both sides properly handle a series of issues, maintain the momen- tum of improvement and development of cross-Strait relations and promote the prospects for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. There have emerged unprecedented frequent contacts, close economic ties, thriv- ing cultural exchanges, and vast common interests between the compatriots on both sides of the Strait. The Chinese people have increasingly won the - understanding and support of the international community in safeguarding the peace across the Taiwan Strait, promoting the development of cross: Strait relations and realizing the peaceful reunification of the motherland The majority countries in the world have generally recognized the continu- ous consolidation and development of the "one China" pattern. After expe- riencing a certain "freezing period", the relations between the two sides the strait have ushered in a "new spring" after the snow melt.

Peaceful Foreign Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics

The Development and changes in the international situation in the new period of Reform and Opening-up and basic characteristics of the international situation

First, peace and development remain to be the two main themes of the times

The so-called era refers to a historical development process and a his- torical development stage of a social form gradually forming, maturing and starting to decline and change to a new social form. The theme of the times _refers to the major issues that need to be resolved in the process of world history under certain historical conditions and is determined by the ma- _jor contradictions in the world and reflects the basic characteristics of the world situation. It is also a big issue which has a global impact and strategic ignificance for the development of the world situation. The themes of the imes are generally transformed along with the development and changes in he world's major contradictions and the international situation. In the 20° entury, two major changes took place in the theme of the times: in the first If of the 20 century, the theme of the times in the development of world istory was "War and Revolution"; In the second half of the 20" century, specially since the 1970s, the theme of the times in the development of the rld's history was gradually replaced by "Peace and Development".

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growing inhibition of the war. First, since the end of the Second World War, the new world wars have not taken place. The current world is in a long pe- riod of relative peace. Although local wars and regional conflicts continue, the local wars cannot change the general trend of the world which remains in a relatively peaceful situation. Second, although the danger of war exists, the growth of the peace force exceeds the growth of the war factors.

After the late 1970s, Deng Xiaoping gained a profound insight into the : nt world situation. He seized the major contradic. tions in the contemporary world from the numerous and une con tradictions existing in the contemporary international peo an mad the remark that "peace and development are the two ee issues in the world today" and great issues confronting the world today, issues of global strategic significance". a Which was a scientific thesis. The 13 CPC National Congress in 1987 confirmed the new thesis that peace and development are two major themes in the world today. This new judgment on the theme of the times . oe con- temporary world reflects not only the objective laws Satene eh ve opment of the world history but also the common aspirations of the peop e in the world and fundamentally reversed the traditional mindset of "War

and Revolution".

In the new period of reform and opening up, China's ere has achieved two important adjustments and changes in its diplomatic 1 Jeo on diplomatic strategy and foreign policy. First, it has changed the ee fe) inevitable world war and believed that it is possible to strive for a one general peace. To this end, it takes the maintenance of world peace promoting common development as the fundamental sia iat an ; oe guiding ideology of New China's diplomacy and has formulated a po 7 opening to the outside world in all respects. The second Stee he adjus and change the strategy of "One Line and A Vast Area and the ee not to ally with any big powers and not to support either party 2 other party thus China gave a new meaning and contents to - ormer - dependence" policy. And China decided not to delineate and satel 2 relationships with other countries based on social systems and ideolog a Since then, the diplomacy of New China has been constantly oe f i developed from "Friend-Enemy Diplomacy" to All-round a ones a Since the mid-1990s, China's diplomacy has not only broadened t : » and scale of its diplomacy, but also deepened the content and level o changes, creating a new situation in its foreign relations.

new changes in the curre

The world-wide Anti-Fascist War completely defeated the German, Italian and Japanese fascism, cleared the biggest obstacle in the democ- ratization process of the world and greatly changed the contrast of inter- national forces. The large number of socialist countries emerging after the war and the emerging independent nationalities in the country have cre- ated extremely favorable conditions for world peace and development. In the 20" century, humankind experienced the catastrophes of the two world wars and also experienced the hardships of confrontation between the two poles and the Cold War, paying a huge price. The anti-war sentiments of all peoples are on the rise, and they are longing for peace. Third, the rise of the new scientific and technological revolution has made the decisive role of the productive forces in the economic and social development of the world economy increasingly prominent. It has also promoted the world economy to develop in the direction of globalization. Economic globalization has made the issue of development a global issue. Fourth, evaluating from a worldwide perspective, the epoch of proletarian socialist revolution has not yet arrived. The proletarian revolutionary movement in the developed capi- talist countries is at a low ebb. The world socialist movement is at a low ebb. The emphasis, themes and forms of relations between the capitalist and the socialist countries has taken a significant turn.

The contemporary world is undergoing major changes and adjustments, peace and development are still the two main themes of the times. the world needs peace, peoples of whole countries demand cooperation, countries de- mand development, societies demand reform and improvement, these have become an irresistible trend of the current times.

However, we must also point out that we should read even more pro- found implication from Deng Xiaoping's interpretation of the theme of the contemporary world era. Although he pointed out that "there is hope for peace", "world war can be put off and peace maintained for a longer time if

the struggle against hegemonism is carried on effectively".

f the times in the con- and development have become the theme o : a : e result of the concerted efforts of the devel radictions in the world and the world's

temporary world. They are th opment and changes of various cont

iaopi ition, Vol.3, p.105. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, ist Edition, /ol.3,

In order to find a solution to the situation that China was caught in the ant ae

between the two superpowers, Mao Zedong took a farsighted an ee A a - st "uni 4 ing from China through the Middle East, :ursey, - hegemony "united front" extending Ran i i i the Atlantic to Canada and the Unite p to Western Europe, which also included the ee ie through apacae to Japan, including Australia and New Zealand, oe also pe | vast areas of Asian, African and Latin American countries along the line. This 1s S the strategic diplomatic thought of "One Line and a Vast Area.

However, Deng Xiaoping never talked about global peace and that war will not happen again. Instead, he is affirming that peace is the major trend of the world. While the new world war is likely to be avoided, there is also a clear understanding of the dangers of war. On different occasions, Deng Xiaoping repeatedly stressed: "Peace and development are the two major and economics

sssues in the world, and neither one has been resolved™, at present, "gener- ally speaking, the forces for world peace are growing, but the danger of war still exists', "small wars will be unavoidable. The current wars between underdeveloped countries are actually what the developed countries need. Their policy of bullying backward countries has not changed"®.

1. The irreversible trend of multi-polarization

The multi-polarization of the world politics refers to a historical trend of development that devélops towards a multi-polar pattern through the in- teraction of basic political forees such as countries and groups of countries that have an important influence on international relations in a certain pe- riod of time.

The western world and the United States in particular, "In by inciting unrest in many countries, they are actually playing power politics and seeking hegemony. They are trying to bring into their sphere of influence those countries that—up to today—heretofore they have not been able to control."" In his report to the 17 National Party Congress, Hu J intao in- sisted on Deng Xiaoping's dialectical thinking on the theme of the times of the contemporary world. After affirming the overall stability in the inter- national situation, he immediately and profoundly pointed out: "The world remains far from tranquil. Hegemonism and power politics still exist, local conflicts and hotspot issues keep emerging... All this poses difficulties and challenges to world peace and development."*

In the 1960s and 1970s, political multi-polarization broke through the two major systems controlled by the two superpowers—the United States and the Soviet Union at that time and first revealed the momentum of de- velopment, and the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union tried their best to stop it but failed. The "Gaulleism" in Europe broke the domination of the United States in the capitalist world. The ideological trend of opposition to Soviet control in Eastern Europe, as well as the break- down of Sino-Soviet relations and the breakdown of the relations between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan, ended the epoch of the unified socialist camp. Since then, the trend of political multi-polarization has become in- creasingly evident. Now that the bipolarity cold war situation has collapsed, it is even harder for the remaining superpower to stop the development of political multi-polarization.

Since the end of the Cold War, the international situation has witnessed the most profound change since the Second World War ended. Hegemonism and power politics have also emerged in new forms in the world political 368 arena. Utilizing so-called "human rights" and "universal values" and other —— issues to rampantly interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, expand military blocs, strengthen military alliances, push for power over socialist countries and developing countries in the Third World, make peaceful evo- lution and implement economic sanctions have become the dominant tac- tics of hegemony and power politics nowadays. As the only major socialist country in the contemporary world, China has become the main target of the peaceful evolution of the West. The task of opposing hegemonism and power politics is still arduous. We must also remain high vigilant and never allow it to be taken lightly.

Second, the development trend of contemporary world politics

The fundamental reason why the development trend of political multi- polarization is irreversible lies in the interaction and mutual influence of various forces in the world and in the mutual growth and decline of various forces. Specifically, the reason why the trend of political multi-polarization is irreversibly strengthened and accelerated is that the United States wants to establish a uni-polar world, but is powerless and that the big powers such as China and Russia resolutely oppose it, and the EU does not agree with it. The United States hegemonism has been opposed by the people of all countries in the world. The diversified combination of various forces in the world and the profound readjustments in the relations among major pow- ers is conducive to the development of political multi-polarization. Science and technology and economic strength have become increasingly important factors that affect the development of international relations. In the rapid development of science and technology and economy, no force is ever able to occupy an absolute superiority in all aspects and control the world at its will. The process of economic globalization has greatly reduced the pos-

Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist Edition, Vol.3, p.383. sibility of building a uni-polar world. The imbalance of economic develop-

id., p.105. ; "s . Cee Works of Deng Xiaoping, Ist Edition, Vol.3, p.319. ment has led to changes in the political status and role of all countries. As Ibid., p.348. China's overall national strength increases, and Russia is committed to re-

CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the Vitalizing its economy and restoring its position asa big power, developing

7th National Congress" (Vol.1), p.36-37.

mm CONAN S

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countries are developing themselves in adjustment, the EU as a whole has

a growing influence in global affairs, Japan's economy is strong and Japan _

has the ambition of being both a major political power and a military power, these major world countries and major regional powers (countries) invari. ably advocate that the world should develop toward multi-polarization,

In this epoch the development of a multi-polar world pattern demon- strates a progressive demand and serves the common interest of all peoples, Multi-polarization will enable all forces in the world to gradually form a relationship of mutual support and mutual restraint and counterbalance so as to avoid the outbreak of a new world war and to contain hegemonism and power politics and promote the establishment of a just and reasonable international new political and economic order, which will be conducive to the good pursuit of peace, stability and prosperity of the peoples of all countries in the new world.

However, the formation of a multi-polar world pattern will be a long- term process. This is because: First, the US hegemonism and its attempt to construct a uni-polar world are the biggest obstacles to multi-polarization. Second, the continuation of the Cold War mentality in the world and the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the North and the South have all produced various disruptions and impacts on the multi-polarization trend. Third, the formation of a multi-polar pattern is a process of reorga- nization and redistribution of various forces in the world. As a result, there will be many uncertainties and the process of world multi-polarization will be full of contradictions and struggles.

In this long process of political multi-polarization in the contemporary world, the cooperation in competition and the competition in cooperation have become the main features. In the increasingly fierce competition for comprehensive national strength, scientific and technological forces and eco- nomic forces are at the center. The scientific and technological strength and economic strength of a country can become the fundamental condition for it to be one of the world's poles. Therefore, all countries give top priority to the development of science and technology and the development of economy. Whether the multi-polarization of the world pattern can become a reality de- pends on the rapid development of science and technology and economy at the major centers of powers in the world and on whether the technological

and economic development in developing countries will take off so as to en _

economic sectors and various economic links, exercise different levels of cooperation and coordination and develop toward integration.

Since the end of the Second World War, the new scientific and tech- nological revolution and its achievements have been rapidly transformed into direct productivity, which has greatly enhanced labor productivity, pro- moted the internationalization of all countries, boosted the development of world trade and increased the degree of economic interdependence among _ all countries, brought the world economy to the direction of globalization. These are mainly manifested in: the growth of international direct invest- ment has brought about the internationalization of capital; brought about the internationalization of trade and made trade become the most active link in international exchanges and an indispensable part of the economic development of all countries; and the growth of the world's total import and export trade volume is at a much higher rate than that of production, which has become a basic feature of international economic relations; it has brought about internationalization of finance, with international financial transactions far exceeding world production and trade in commodities; and transnational corporations have increasingly become the dominant force in the world economy.

The development of economic globalization is conducive to the rational flow of factors of production both at global and regional levels, forming complementary advantages with each other, promoting the growth of glob- al productivity, boosting the new round of global industrial restructuring and promoting the development of world economy. However, the nega- tive impact of economic globalization cannot be ignored. The prominent weaknesses of the market economy and the acceleration of the globaliza- tion process have exposed all countries to different opportunities and chal- lenges. For developing countries, economic globalization is both an op- portunity and a challenge. Economic globalization will help them to obtain more funds, especially direct investment by multinational corporations, and speed up economic development and structural readjustment. It will help _ them make better use of their own advantages, open up international mar- kets and develop foreign economy and trade. it will help them quick access _ to advanced technology and management experience, play the late-starting _ advantage, and achieve technological leaps. However, economic globaliza- _ tion has also had a negative impact. It has exacerbated the imbalances in

hance their political and economic development driving force in the world. 2. Economic globalization that is developing in depth

Economic globalization refers to the breakthrough in national economs borders between countries. The economies of all countries are interdepen dent and interpenetrated. They are closely linked with each other in the

_ the development of various countries and regions. In particular, it has wid- ened the development gap between North and South and widened the gap _ between the rich and the poor. It has also made developing countries more vulnerable to external economic fluctuations and financial crises, and the problem is even worse when the developed countries intend to use global- ization to intervene in developing countries.

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Faced with the opportunities and challenges brought about by the eco- nomic globalization, the vast number of developing countries should, in accordance with its specific conditions, increase its ability to guard against and resist risks step by step while expanding its opening to the outside world. As the deepening economic globalization has deepened the inter- dependence and mutual influence of all countries in the world and sprea the crisis around the world, the challenge of globalization requires global

cooperation. All countries should strengthen their international cooperation _ whit a responsibility and risk-sharing spirit and jointly safeguard the steady

development of the international economy so as to jointly promote the glo- balization toward a balanced, inclusive and win-win situation.

The current economic globalization has far exceeded the economic sphere and is now having an increasingly widespread impact on the interna- tional political, security, social and cultural fields. For example, economic globalization has led to the expansion of security connotations. Security has expanded from traditional security domains to non-traditional security domains. Terrorism, economic security, deteriorating environment, cli- mate warming, epidemic spread, waves of immigration and cross-border crimes and other non-traditional security threats are increasing, and these threats are not solvable by any single country. Strengthening international security cooperation is extremely urgent. One typical example is that after the Sept.11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the U.S. President George W. Bush, who was seeking "unilateralism" immediately called for international co- operation in the fight against terrorism. As another example, the trend of economic globalization resulting in the deeper interdependence of interna- tional political and economic relations has been. The rules governing the world's political and economic development are no longer represented by the traditional "zero sum" but replaced by the "win-win" principle. This made compromises and cooperation, coexistence become the general trend of international relations. The ways of settling political conflicts and eco- nomic disputes have increasingly relied on diplomatic negotiations and the arbitration and involvement of international organizations.

The independent and peaceful foreign diplomatic policy

First, safeguarding world peace and promoting common development as the basic goals of China's diplomatic strategy and policy

In the new period of reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government continue to adhere to the independent and peaceful diplomacy strategy and policy, unite with all peace-loving people in the world, strive to maintain lasting peace in the world, actively promote the common prosperity of all countries and make best efforts to seek justice in the international community and international affairs, strive for and create a peaceful international environment and favorable external conditions for the construction and development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, so that China's comprehensive strength has be continuously enhanced and its international status, image and influence continuously improved . The socialist nature, international status and vital interests of China all determine that the purpose of China's foreign policy is to safe- guard world peace and promote common development, which is reflected in the basic objective of foreign policy but also in promoting peace and development, since the founding of new China, its foreign policy has un-

_ dergone major adjustments in different historical periods, but the basic ob-

jective of this purpose and its embodiment, namely the foreign policy has remained unchanged.

The world needs peace, the country needs development, the society needs progress, the economy needs prosperity, and life needs to be enhanced. It is

_ the common aspiration and fundamental interest of the people of all coun-

tries in the world. The first constitution after New China~The Constitution

_ of the People's Republic of China in 1954 clearly stipulated: In internation-

al affairs, our unswerving policy is to fight for the lofty goal of world peace and human progress. Since the founding of New China, we have always adhered to this principle and made our own contribution to safeguarding world peace and the cause of progress in mankind.

In order to safeguard world peace, China has always opposed the arms race. China attaches importance to and supports international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation and takes practical measures to strictly comply with relevant international obligations and works with the inter- national community to abide by the purposes and principles of the "UN

Charter", as well as other universally recognized norms governing inter-

tional relations, and to safeguard the international strategic stability and

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promote the common security of all nations, on which basis to consolidate and strengthen the existing international arms control, ped aca and non-proliferation systems. China supports the early entry into oo . the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and will continue to abide by the "moratorium on tests" promise. China supports the preparatory work done by the Preparatory Committee of the Treaty Organization for the entry into force of the Treaty and actively participates in the construction of the inter- national monitoring system. China strictly abides by its comm itment of not to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and to its commitment of: not to use or threat to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear weapon states or regions under any circumstances, and calls on other nuclear-weapon states to make the same commitments and conclude relevant international legal in- struments. China has signed all relevant protocols to the Treaty on Nuclear- Weapon-Free Zone that are open for signature and has already agreed with ASEAN on relevant issues of the Protocol to the Treaty on South-East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, China also welcomes the signing by the five Central Asian countries of the Treaty on the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia. China has conscientiously fulfilled all obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and established implementation agencies at all levels from the central government to the local authorities. China has joined all international treaties and international organizations in the field of non-proliferation. It attaches great importance to the role of evi on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Biologica : eapons Convention (BWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention Ss ) Hs a venting the proliferation of WMD. China supports the role played y t ° : in the field of non-proliferation, and has conscientiously implemente t € relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. China attaches great im- portance to military transparency, and makes unremitting efforts to ae military transparency and promote mutual trust with other countries es | : military sphere. In 2007 China joined the UN Standardized aoe Reporting Military Expenditures, and reports annually is the the data of its military expenditures for the latest fiscal year. In order to safeguard world peace, China has always advocated the peace- ful settlement of disputes between two sides through peaceful nee They should not resort to or threaten to use force. They should not ae le in the internal affairs of any country on any pretext, let alone bullying, invading or subverting other countries.

and attempt to transform the hegemonist acts of other countries ae political systems, economic development models and values of the a oped western countries, Jiang Zemin pointed out: "Any country that :

9 See Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China: "China's National Defense in 2008", People's Daily, 2009/ 01/20.

In response to the fact that some developed countries in the world do not respect the diversity of the world

itself on its mightiness and superstition to seek hegemony and promotes its expansion policy is doomed to failure. Making an excuse to infringe on the sovereignty of other countries and interfere in the internal affairs of other countries will eventually bring its own fruits. In spite of the objective reality of the colorful world in the contemporary world, attempts to impose one's own social system, development model and values on one's own are often threatened with isolation and sanctions. Such overbearing behavior can only be judged as a harmful way, and will also end in harming oneself. With unfair and irrational international economic order, it is unpopular for us to build our own development on the basis of poverty and backwardness in other countries. The attempt to swell the world affairs and dominate the fate of other peoples has become increasingly unreasonable."!°

"Historical experience, especially nearly a century of historical expe- rience, has repeatedly warned people that the consequences of imposing one's development mode to other countries will be grave and will always give rise to confrontation, turmoil and even wars. We should learn from this. The diversity of the world is an objective reality. We should face it and adapt to it. This requires that all countries respect each other, do not inter- fere in each other's internal affairs, treat each other as equals, seek common ground while shelving differences, coexist peacefully and develop coopera- tion. Only in this way will it be possible to maintain lasting peace and sta- bility and create the necessary international environment for the common development of all nations.""!

In order to safeguard world peace, China has actively advocated a new concept of security. Hu Jintao pointed out at the summit of the 60° anni- versary of the United Nations: "We must abandon the Cold War mentality, cultivate a new security concept featuring trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation, and build a fair and effective collective security mecha-

nism aimed at preventing war and conflict and safeguarding world peace and security.""!?

The new concept of security is based on mutual trust and opposes the expansion of military alliances and the intensification of the arms race to achieve their own safety. It advocates that all countries resolve disputes through consultation and dialogue. It emphasizes the principle of equality and mutual benefit and advocates that we should surmount the traditional thinking of "zero sum game" and achieve the win-win situation on the basis of mutual benefits; it advocates to promote cooperation for security. History

10 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.1, p.478. li Ibid., p.331. 12 Hu Jintao: "Striving to Building a Harmonious World of Lasting Peace and Common

Prosperity—Addressing the Summit Meeting Celebrating the 60" Anniversary of the United Nations", People's Daily, 2005/09/16.

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has proved that force cannot conclude peace, power cannot ensure pies only through sincere and effective cooperation can we prevent conflicts and

wars and safeguard common security.

In order to promote common development, China has nee are: the reform of the unreasonable old international economic or . . = tablished a just and reasonable new international economic or n ae meantime, China is committed to its own pelo opening up and mo i ernization drive. It also vigorously promotes South-South aon ‘ promotes "North-South dialogue", and creates a favorable eneaioe Or the world's prosperity. The third world countries are populous, ric in re sources and vast in market. The development of South-South ariel not only has great potential but also helps to enhance the os rent of developing countries. As the largest developing country, os as ot actively promoting "South-South cooperation . In the process 0 oe ing "South-South cooperation", China respects the prinnent an aes eignty of developing countries, supports and promotes the soli ay = oe operation among developing countries. It emphasizes on ane me interests and taking a restrained attitude and solving the us sie = e vergences among developing countries through peare talks. : t ‘ is — 1982 consultation on "South-South cooperation" in New De li. _ ae Pe posed the following five principles for "South-South Le i South cooperation" should unswervingly move towards aa oping at dependent national economy and strengthening collective sell-re : — _ follow the principle of equality and mutual benefit and mutua ¢ . Ke general plan of "South-South cooperation should take into we a different interests and demands of developing countries so as to ane parties participating in the cooperation; and the cooperation projec : : - be based on the actual situation and should be realistic, pragma . & : full play to their respective economic advantages and euatia oie capability for self-reliance. Interregional and global saa o should mutually reinforce and complement each other; Sow ; ‘odie operation" should help promote and develop the unity of ae ia ee countries so as to enhance the negotiation status with the develope nae tries and promote the establishment of a new antsenaion#) eee der. The deepening of "South-South cooperation has increase ie fe strength of developing countries and brought them increasing in re ee role in international affairs. Since the 21% century, China has use ae of opportunities and platforms to advance "South-South ee par promote "North-South dialogue". In July 2008, Hu Jintao too . : ae . nity of the dialogue meeting between leaders of the Group of ie no veloping countries to further elaborate the Chinese government's P

2 yal? ‘ "ce 2 th of strengthening "South-South cooperation" and promoting ‘North-Sou

and

—

dialogue": The "South-South cooperation" is a way for developing coun- tries to complement each other's strengths, and an important way to achieve common development. We should play an exemplary role in making a posi- tive contribution to the promotion of "South-South cooperation". On the one hand, we should jointly promote the democratization of multilateralism and international relations, enhance the participation and decision-making power of developing countries in international affairs and strive for a favor- able external environment for the development of developing countries. On the other hand, we should actively promote the reform of the international economic, financial, trade and development systems, safeguard the legiti- mate rights and interests of developing countries, enhance the ability of de- veloping countries to deal with various risks and challenges, and promote a balanced, coordinated and sustainable development of the world economy. Take a long-term perspective, promote "North-South dialogue". Under the conditions of deepening economic globalization, all countries in the world have the connected interests and common destiny. If the developing coun- tries lag behind, the world economy will not achieve lasting development. Only by working together can the developed countries and developing countries effectively solve global problems. We should continue to adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts and seeking common grounds while reserving differences, and promote the establishment of a new type of partnership based on equality, mutual benefit, cooperation and win-win by both countries. We should strengthen consultation with the developed countries, push them to listen more to the voices of developing countries, make full use of the resources of the international community and increase their investment in promoting global development.

Second, independence as the fundamental principle of China's foreign strategy and policy

Independence is the safeguarding of the sovereignty of the country and not giving in to any external pressure or interference in our domestic and foreign affairs and handling all our internal and external affairs indepen- dently and autonomously according to our own actual conditions and the development of the international situation.

The principle of independence and self-government are the basic prin- ciples of safeguarding national sovereignty, national security, national in- terests and national dignity. It is the crystallization of the Chinese people's historical experience of striving for national independence and the libera- tion of the people over the past century. It is also the summary of the histori- cal experience in the international struggle since the founding of People's Republic of China, although many important strategic adjustments have

13. See Hu Jintao: "Addressing the Collective Meeting of Leaders of Five Developing Countries," People's Daily, 2008/07/09.

377

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taken place in the diplomacy of New China during different historical aa ods, the principle of independence and autonomy 1s always awa! ° matter how the international situation changes, China has sare sacri ice its principle of independence. Deng Xiaoping emphasized Fi e eas speech of the 12 National Congress of the CPC: Indepen Bar di : eo reliance have always been and will always be their basic aes ile dl € Chinese people value their friendship and cooperation with ot spite and other peoples, they value even more their hard-won ae ence 7 | sovereign rights. No foreign country should expect Coe to be its vassal or to allow any act that will harm China's interests.

Hu Jintao pointed out more clearly: In a populous pee peat? country like us, we must regard independence, soverignity, seli-relance as the fundamental starting point for our own development at pea We must uphold the social system and development path Aah y tie Chinese people at any time, always give top priority to are and security of our country, resolutely safeguard interests ete ional sey ereignty, security and development, insist on handling the a fairs 0 i" in accordance with the situation in China and rely on the ese sai e's own strength to manage these affairs, and resolutely oppose t e : er- ence of external forces in our domestic affairs. In all internationa : ee we must proceed from the fundamental interests of the Chinese ae e by the common interests of all world peoples, determine our policies ase he the merits of each other, and follow the principle of calm see aa sot we response and mutual respect, and seek common grounds while mag : differences. Deal with any external pressure, and not succumb to any ex nal interference.'° 7 Since the 1980s, China has given new connotations ang pecnueaineer : the principle of independence and sovereignty, namely "genuine make i ment", alliance with no major power, and no support #0 any sya one party to the other, which better safeguarded China's ae pee sovereignty. After the end of the Cold War, China has establis ee _ gic partnership with some major powers but it does not mean alli pe rather friendly cooperation. It does not aim at any third party, a - pose a threat to any country. Its purpose is to strengthen coopera a ae exchanges among big powers, and promote our own development.

only helps safeguard the independence and sovereignty of China, but also

helps promote the just cause of world peace and development.

i i i eign forei ina' rving pursuit of an independent and soverels fe eee oy d its position on the

international stage. To adhere to an independent and autonomous foreign policy is to give top priority to state sovereignty and security, resolutely safeguard China's national interest, and oppose any country's detriment to China's independence, sovereignty, security, interests and dignity; that is, starting from the fundamental interests of the Chinese people and the peo- ple of the world, we must make decisions on our own positions and policies based on the merits of all international affairs and not give in to any external pressure; we should insist that the affairs of all countries be decided by the governments and peoples of various countries and that affairs in the world should be equally consulted between the government and people of all countries and oppose all forms of hegemonism and power politics. Instead of deciding on the similarities and differences between social systems and ideologies, we should adhere to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence with all other countries to build and develop friendly relations; We should adhere not to ally with any major power or groups of major powers, not to engage in an arms race, not to participate in an arms race, not to carry out military expansion, and never seek hegemony.

In the ever-changing international situation, China upholds its indepen- dent and autonomous foreign policy, resolutely defends its independence, sovereignty, security, interests and dignity, strengthens the good-neighborly and friendly relations with neighboring countries, consolidates and develops solidarity and cooperation with the vast number of developing countries, im- prove and develop relations with the developed countries, take an active part in multilateral diplomatic activities, work hard to promote the establishment of a fair and rational new international political and economic order, and fight resolutely with various acts and schemes aimed at splitting and overthrowing the country, safeguard the integrity of the territory and sovereignty, promote the great cause of peaceful reunification of the country and thus further en- hance the international status, image and influence of China.

Third, Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as the basic criteria in dealing with the relationships between countries

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are the basic principles for New China in handling all the national relations. China put forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence originally used to deal with the relations with the nationalist countries and then gradually recognized by the international community and become recognized as a universal principle of international relations.

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are the mutual respect for

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policy is determined by China's socialist nature an sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interfer- ence in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peace-

ful coexistence. The five principles are interrelated and are essentially

iaopi ition, Vol.3, p.3. Anthology of Deng Xiaoping, Ist edition, »P. is CPOCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since

the 17"National Congress" (Vol.D, p.805.

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are based on the principle of national sovereignty and go beyond the similarities and differences in ideology, social system and development path in handling the paradigm of international relations. To establish a new international political and eco- nomic order guided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, we must respect each country's right to independently choose its own social system and development path according to its own national conditions. No country should impose its own social system, ideology and development model on other countries and can interfere in the internal affairs of other countries on any pretext. Although the in-depth development of economic globalization has brought the relations between countries in close contact with each other and the exchange and integration of various cultures reached unprecedented heights, at the same time, all countries were forced to pay more attention to the national characteristics of their culture. It is impossible for the world to be governed by a single culture. It is unrealistic, harmful and even dangerous for some countries to try to enclose the rich and colorful world in a single mode. As Jiang Zemin pointed out: "We have thousands of nations, more than 200 countries and regions on this earth. We live in different natural environments and have different social development experiences. We have formed a great variety of lifestyles, values, religious beliefs and cultural traditions. It is rea- sonable and deserves respect for peoples of all countries to choose effective social systems and modes of development that are in keeping with their actual 381 conditions and to formulate effective laws and policies according to their na- tional conditions... People of all countries know best the specific conditions of their own country and are most qualified to find a suitable development path for their own country. Therefore, the affairs of all countries should, in the final analysis, be governed by their own governments and people them- selves and should not interfere with others." Hu Jintao further stressed at the summit on the 60® anniversary of the United Nations: "We should respect the right of all countries to independently choose their own social systems and develop their paths of development. We should learn from each other instead of deliberately excluding each other rather than being one. We should encourage all countries to rejuvenate and develop according to their national conditions. Dialogue and exchanges among civilizations should be strength- ened. Make concerted efforts to seek common development while reserving differences, work hard to eliminate mutual doubts and estrangements, make mankind more harmonious and make the world more colorful and rich. We should safeguard the diversity of civilizations in an equal and open spirit, promote the democratization of international relations and work together to build a civilized and inclusive world of harmony."

g ge 3 SOV-

defender and executor. | | ; Based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, eee a = i er friendly relations and cooperation with all other tu ie ; - ee and promoted peaceful coexistence and equal treatment among

tions. China adheres to the principle of "Friendship and Partnership with —

its neighbors and its friendly relations and cooperation with its neighboring

ountries and other Asian countries have continued to cane me ae interests have been constantly expanded. China has es

i i i j tween whom various forms of cooperative relations with major powers, be

the dialogue, exchanges and cooperation have been continuously strength-

: : of

ened. China constantly strengthens its cooperation with the vast numbe

" - era- developing countries and, under the framework of "South pacrueaise tion", tries its best to achieve complementary and common de p :

In the late 1980s, when the old — a a . - ee jaopi i asize ah nae ods guided by the Five Principles . sian terete In December 1988, when Deng Xiaoping met wit Nee Prime Minister, he said: "The general world situation is peed: opens ntry is thinking about appropriate new policies to establis a aaa ea s ai order. Hegemonism, bloc politics and treaty organizations palnae wrk Then what principle should we apply to guide the new inter- - oa Asne? I have talked about this matter recently with some foreign eran vid friends Two things have to be done at the same time. One is to sent ie new international political order; the other is to establish a ut Sarton economic order. With Hee to the le j ited Nations Gene a reese ae a Ge and we shall go on talking ot Hs eee na international political order, I think the Five Principles o eee em ae initiated by China and India, can withstand all tests.

In October 1989, Deng Xiaoping said in talks lee pane hatichai Choonhavan of Thailand: "A new internationa e eer ne id be established, so as to settle the North-South question. Ane - ae political order should also be Sune nies se i ee i i i ional economic order. 1 hav ( a eal of Peaceful Coexistence, which we re see in the 1950s, be made norms governing the future internatio

political order."

18 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Vol.1, p.331.

19 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the

Ist edition, Vol.3, p.282-283. Ue deer aea

Xiaoping, 16 Selected Works of Deng ee eos

17. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping,

382

outside world in the new period of reform and opening up has transformed China from a relatively closed economy into one of the most open devel- oping economies. Its opening up to the outside world has gone through an early phase of pilot exploration, the phase of expansion of the opening in the 1990s, and the institutional opening phase after accession to WTO. Opening to the outside world has strongly promoted the process of indus- trialization in China, greatly enhanced the international competitiveness of the Chinese economy and its influence in the world economy. China has fused with the world economy in a wider area and at a deeper level. Practice has fully proved that opening to the outside world and making full use of both the international and domestic markets and resources are conducive to promoting China's economic and social development, promoting scientific and technological progress and innovation in China, improving China's in- ternational competitiveness and influence, and contributing to create a fa- vorable international environment for the development of China, this is the only way to push forward China's socialist modernization.

Fourth, following an opening-up strategy of mutual benefit and pursuing a win-win situation

Since the 3" Plenary Session of the 11" CPC Central Committee, the opening up to the outside world has been a major strategy formulated by the _ CPC and the Chinese government in light of the development and changes in the international situation as well as the requirements of the Party aid the country's central work. It is one of the basic national policy on building and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. The future and des- tiny of contemporary China are increasingly closely linked with the future and destiny of the world. The development of China cannot be separated from the world and the development of the world needs China. "Tn today's world, no country can succeed in shutting its doors and doing construction, We have comprehensively analyzed and judged the external environment in which the trend toward multi-polarization in the world is strengthening and the development of economic globalization is deepening. We comprehen- sively grasp the opportunities and challenges brought about by the develop- ment and changes in the world today. We not only uphold independence and autonomy but also bravely participate in economic globalization. "We will continue to expand our opening to the outside world and closely integrate ‘bringing in' and ‘going out'. We will consciously study and draw lessons from all civilized achievements created by human society and adhere to the principle of seeking benefits and avoiding disadvantages so as to take part in international economic cooperation and competition under the condi- tions of economic globalization. Advantage and promote the development of economic globalization in a balanced, inclusive and win-win manner. Together, we should care for the earthly homeland on which mankind dé- pends and promote the prosperity and progress of human civilization. We should not only use the peaceful international environment is devel it- self, but also maintain world peace through own development.

With the deepening of economic globalization and the continuous im- provement of the socialist market economic system in China, profound changes are taking place in the internal and external conditions China faces for its opening up. This not only provides a good opportunity for us to expand opening up to the outside world and promote a sound and rapid economic development, but also poses a severe challenge to our firm grasp of the initiative of China's economic development in the increasingly fierce international competition and the effective safeguarding of the coun- try's economic security. Facing such a new situation, the report of the 17° National Congress of the CPC made a concrete plan for China to continue expanding the breadth and depth of its opening up to the outside world: adhere to the basic national policy of opening up, better combine "bringing in" with "going out" , expand the field of opening, optimize the opening structure, improve the quality of opening, and improve the open economic system featuring internal and external linkage, mutual benefits and win- win results, safety and efficiency, thus forming a new advantage of par- _ticipating in international economic cooperation and competition under the condition of economic globalization. Deepen the opening up of the coastal areas, speed up the opening up of the interior areas, enhance the opening _up along the borders, and mutually promote the opening up to the domestic _and outside market. We will speed up the transformation of the pattern of growth of foreign trade, base ourselves on winning by quality, adjusting the tructure of imports and exports, promoting the transformation and upgrad- ng of the processing trade and vigorously developing the service trade. Make innovations in the use of foreign capital, optimize the structure of for- ign capital utilization, and play the positive role of utilizing foreign capital © promote independent innovation, industrial upgrading and coordinated

Under the planned economy system of the traditional socialism that began before the new period of reform and opening up, China's foreign economic relations and cooperation were basically closed and stagnant. Although the 3" Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of the Communist i of China historically proposed the basic requirements of opening up to the outside world in 1978, the development of China's foreign economic eX- change and cooperation in the first ten years of the new period oF and opening up was actually rather slow. After Deng Xiaoping's Sou Talks in 1992, especially after the Party's 14" National Congress, Chi foreign economic exchange and cooperation began to rapidly deve was fully improved. The more than 30 years of practice of opening up t0

20 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature Sim the 17% National Congress" (Vol.ID, p.805.

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regional development. Innovate the ways of overseas investment and coop- eration, support enterprises to carry out international operations inR&D, production and sales, and speed up the cultivation of multinationals and in. ternational famous brands in China. We will vigorously carry out mutually beneficial international cooperation in energy and resources. Implement the strategy of a free trade zone and strengthen bilateral and multilateral trade and economic cooperation. Adopt comprehensive measures to promote the

basic international balance of payments and pay attention to preventing in-

ternational economic risks. The new strategy of opening up to the outside world formulated in the report of the 17" National Congress of the CPC has profound meaning and reflects the new characteristics and new trends of China's opening to the outside world: improving the quality of opening, strengthening internal and external linkage and paying attention to mutual benefit and win-win results, Internally, this new strategy of opening to the outside world is to make full use of international resources to support the transformation of the mode of development, achieve scientific development and guarantee the grand goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way. Internationally, it is to create a favorable international environment for peaceful development and safeguard China's peaceful rise.

Unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and promote building a harmonious world

First, unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development

Asa specific political concept, the path of peaceful development of China was proposed in recent years. Initially, the term "peaceful rise" was used. In December 2003, in his speech at the General Meeting commemorating the 110 anniversary of Mao Zedong, Hu Jintao pointed out that China must stick to the path of development with peaceful rise. Starting from April 2004, the official document of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government began to use the expression "peaceful development : On August 22, 2004, Hu Jintao formally proposed to the General Meeting

in commemoration of the 100° anniversary of Deng Xiaoping the important proposition of "adhering to the path of peaceful development". In March 2005, Premier Wen Jiabao for the first time comprehensively elaborated

on the idea of "peaceful development" in his Report on the Work of t

Government. On December 22, 2005, the State Council Information Office

published a white paper entitled "China's Path of Peaceful Development". For the first time, it systematically addressed the issue of China's peaceful

development in the form of government's announcement. In August 2006, at a conference on foreign affairs held by the Central Government, Hu Jintao listed "adhering to the path of peaceful development" in his speech as one of the six key tasks to be done in the future. In October the same year, the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues concern- ing Building.a Harmonious Socialist Society adopted by the 6" Plenary Session of the 16" CPC CentrahbCommittee for the first time made a explicit and clear statement of the path of peaceful development in the resolution document of the Party Central Committee. In October 2007, Hu Jintao set forth a separate section on the path of peaceful development in the report to the 17" National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which is of great practical and far-reaching historical significance for the development and layout of China's diplomacy. In September 2011, the State Council Information Office again promulgated the white paper entitled "China's Peaceful Development," responding to world concerns and elaborating on the chosen path of development for China. Answered in detail the issue of "what kind of development path has China chosen and what does China's development mean to the world", a world focused question. This is the sec- ond time after six years that the Chinese government once again published a white paper on the issue of "peaceful development".

To realize peaceful development is the sincere desire and unswerving pursuit of the Chinese people. Since the implementation of the basic nation- al policy of reform and opening up in the late 1970s, China has successfully embarked on a path of peaceful development suited to its own national con- ditions and characteristics of the times. China's path of peaceful develop- ment is a brand-new way for mankind to pursue progress in civilization. It is the only way for China's modernization and a serious choice and solemn commitment of the Chinese government and the Chinese people. China un- swervingly follows the path of peaceful development as an inevitable choice based on China's national conditions; it is an inevitable choice based on the tradition of Chinese history and culture; and an inevitable choice based on the development trend of the present world. Looking back on history, based on reality and looking forward to the future, China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and strive to achieve scientific development, independent development, open development, peaceful de- velopment, cooperative development and common development.

At present, the international situation is undergoing complicated and pro- found changes. Peace and development remain the main themes of pres- ent era. The path of China's socialist modernization is a path of peace- ful development. This path is to use the favorable opportunity of world peace to realize our own development and to better safeguard and promote _ world peace by our own development. It is, while actively participating in

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economic globalization and regional cooperation, to achieve developmen relying mainly on our own strength and on reform and innovation. It is to adhere to the principle of opening up to the outside world and actively develop cooperation with all countries in the world on the basis of equality and mutual benefit; It is to concentrate on the construction and wholeheart- edly seek for development, and maintain the peaceful international environ: ment and a good surrounding environment for long-term; It means, never to seek hegemony, always be a staunch force in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development.

As we adhere to the path of peaceful development, we must unswerv- ingly hold high the banner of peace, development and cooperation, always follow the independent and autonomous foreign policy of peace, implement the opening-up strategy of mutual benefit and win-win results, safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests and actively strive for a peaceful and stable international environment, a neighborhood with neighbourly and friendly relations, a cooperative environment of equality and mutual benefit, a safe environment of mutual trust and cooperation, and an objective and friendly public opinion environment. Adhere to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world, improve the level of opening up to the outside world, actively develop economic and tech- nological cooperation with foreign countries, vigorously carry out cultural exchanges with other countries, make better use of both domestic and in- ternational markets and resources, and pay more attention to strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation and common development. In accordance with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other universally rec- ognized norms governing international relations, we should develop friend- ly relations with all countries in the world and create a favorable external

environment.

Peace, openness, cooperation, harmony and win-win are our ideas, our philosophy, our principles and our pursuit. To take the path of peaceful development is to unite China's domestic development with opening to the outside world, link China's development with the development of the world, combine the fundamental interests of the Chinese people with the common interests of the peoples of the world, and promote the peace and development of the world by our own development.

Peace is the foundation of development and development is the basis _ of peace. For a long time, the Chinese government and Chinese people have worked tirelessly for the peaceful international environment and have cherished the peaceful international environment which was won throne struggle of the peace-loving and progress-secking countries and people all over the world. "The Chinese nation is a peace-loving nation. Chi has always been a staunch force in safeguarding world peace. We insist on

combining the interests of the Chinese people with the common interests of all peoples, upholding justice and doing justice. We insist that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor are equal and respect the right of peoples to choose their own path of development. We will neither interfere in other countries' internal affairs nor impose our own will on others. China is committed to resolving international disputes and hot issues peacefully, promoting international and regional security cooperation and opposing all forms. of terrorism. China pursues a defensive national defense policy, does not engage in an arms race and does not pose a militarythreat to any country. China opposes all forms of hegemonism and power politics. It will never engage in expansion."

China's development is an important part of the development of the world. We persist in concentrating ourselves on construction and whole- heartedly seeking development. Through our own development, we con- tinuously add' positive factors to the development of human society and promote the development of the cause of human civilization and progress. Hu Jintao solemnly pointed out in the report to the 17" National Congress of the CPC: "We will continue to contribute to regional and global develop- ment through our own development, and expand the areas where our inter- ests meet with those of various sides. While securing our own development, we will accommodate the legitimate concerns of other countries, especially other developing countries. We will increase market access in accordance with internationally recognized economic and trade rules, and protect the rights and interests of our partners in accordance with the law. We support international efforts to help developing countries enhance their capacity for independent development and improve the lives of their people, so as to narrow the North-South gap. We support efforts to improve international trade and financial systems, advance the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and properly resolve economic and trade frictions through consultation and collaboration. China will never seek benefits for itself at the expense of other countries or shift its troubles onto others.""

Under the guidance of mutually beneficial win-win and open strategy, a more open and rapidly developing China is conducive to the common pros- perity and stability of all countries in the world. First of all, China's opening up and development will make the world situation more stable and world peace more secure. Because today's China is a responsible world power in the international community, it is an active participant in the building of the international order and economic cooperation, it is a staunch force in safeguarding world peace and stability. Second, the sustained, rapid,

2]

CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 17" National Congress" (Vol.II), p.36-37.

22 Ibid., p.37.

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coordinated and healthy development of China's economy will surely con- tinue to bring more opportunities and greater space for cooperation to the international community. It will create more community of interests and communities of stakeholders so as to benefit the world economy and help to promote the common development of all countries. Finally, China's peace- ful development will provide the international community with a brand- new development model. Instead of going through the traditional military expansion, struggle for hegemony or hegemony, China will, through peace- ful means and gradual advance, make the best use of the situation, seek advantages and avoid disadvantages in its progress path closely linked with economic globalization. It not only applies the entire international com- munity with all-round opening up, but also insists on independence and autonomy. It relies mainly on its own strength to expand domestic demand, tap potential and take the path of modernization to enrich the people and strengthen the state with Chinese characteristics. This will have great refer- ence and inspiration significance to the international community.

In the meantime, the Chinese government and Chinese people are also soberly aware that China is still a developing country and still faces many difficulties and problems in its development. There is still a long way from China's modernization drive. It is in the fundamental interests of the Chinese people to take the path of peaceful development, which also meets the objective requirements of the development and progress of human so- ciety. China must take the path of peaceful development today and must stick to the path of peaceful development even it is strong in the future. The determination of the Chinese government and the Chinese people to follow the path of peaceful development is firm and unwavering. China has made it clear that its goal for the first two decades of the 21* century is to build a well-off society at a higher level in an all-round way that benefits the population of billions, which will make the economy more developed, the democracy more complete, the science and education more advanced, the culture more prosperous, the society more harmonious, and the people s life more affluent. By that time, China will definitely make greater contribu- tions to the lofty cause of peace and development.

Second, the construction of a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity

"Promoting the construction of a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity" is a major diplomatic ideology and diplomatic strat- egy put forward by the Party Central Committee with Hu J intao as its gen- eral secretary. In April 2005, at the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta, Hu Jintao put forward the proposal that Asian and African countries should promote friendly coexistence, equal dialogue, and development and pros- perity among different civilizations and jointly build a harmonious world.

This is the first time that the concept of "harmonious world" appeared on the international stage. On July 1, more than two months later, when Hu Jintao visited Moscow. "Harmonious World" was written into the Sino- Russian Joint Statement on the International Order of the 21% Century. It was first time recognized as 4 consensus on the relations among nations, marking this new concept gradually entered the horizons of the interna- tional community. Chinese leaders are also gradually deepening their think- ing on building a "Harmonious World". In September 2005, at the summit of the 60" anniversary of the United Nations, Hu Jintao delivered a speech entitled "Striving to Build a Harmonious World of Lasting Peace, Common Prosperity", in which he comprehensively expounded the profound conno- tation of "Harmonious World". The speech aroused a warm response from participants. The foreign media also paid high attention and make positive comments on the speech, they thought it was a message to the contempo- rary world that China is eager for peace, is willing to be a responsible great power and hopes to build a peaceful, prosperous and harmonious world with other countries. There is only one earth for human being and it is the common aspiration of all the peoples in the world and the lofty goal of China to follow the path of peace and development to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

After the catastrophes of the two world wars, the people of all countries in the world doubly cherished peace and hoped to establish a harmonious and beautiful world, regardless of their nationality, race or color, equally and peacefully achieve international cooperation. However, the current in- ternational environment has both advantages and disadvantages for build- ing a harmonious world. On the one hand, peace and development are still the theme of the times in the contemporary world. The overall situation in the world is moving towards relaxation. The world's forces for maintaining peace continue to grow. The factors that restrict the war not only still exist but will continue to grow. At the same time, with the rapid development of economic globalization and the world's scientific and technological progress, the interdependence and mutual needs of all countries have been deepened, the interests of China and other countries in the world have been closely linked and their common interest has been steadily growing. As a result, achieve common development through win-win and multi-win ap- proaches become possible. The global economy needs global cooperation. On the other hand, hegemony impedes the democratization of international relations. Terrorism, the Cold War mentality and extreme thinking pose a grave threat to world peace and security. The widening gap between the rich and the poor has led to the imbalance of global development. The legacy of colonialism has sparked hot spots in the region and globalization has brought the world into a period of high incidence of contradictions. In the

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face of great revolution and adjustment of the world, what kind of view on world order is advocated by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government? This is an important issue that has attracted worldwide atten. tion. The report of the 17" National Congress of the Party made a distinct and profound answer to this question: "We maintain that the people of all] countries should join hands and strive to build a harmonious world of last- ing peace and common prosperity. To this end, all countries should uphold the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, observe inter- national law and universally recognized norms of international relations, and promote democracy, harmony, collaboration and win-win solutions in international relations. Politically, all countries should respect each other and conduct consultations on an equal footing in a common endeavor to promote democracy in international relations. Economically, they should cooperate with each other, draw on each other's strengths and work to- gether to advance economic globalization in the direction of balanced de- velopment, shared benefits and win-win progress. Culturally, they should learn from each other in the spirit of seeking common ground while shelv- ing differences, respect the diversity of the world, and make joint efforts to advance human civilization. In the area of security, they should trust each other, strengthen cooperation, settle international disputes by peaceful means rather than by war, and work together to safeguard peace and stabil- ity in the world. On environmental issues, they should assist and cooperate with each other in conservation efforts to take good care of the Earth, the

only home of human beings.""

This thesis accurately expresses the basic proposition of the CPC and the Chinese government on the reasonable trend of the contemporary world, profoundly expounds the concept of world order advocated by the Cpe and the Chinese government, and shows the broad mind that the Chinese Communists and the Chinese government base on and fight for the funda- mental interests of the Chinese people and the people around the world.

The new concept and new strategy of a harmonious world have seized the main theme of the development of the times and is the inheritance, development and innovation of the independent and peaceful foreign pol- icy that China has long pursued. It has inherited and deepened the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, developed the just and rational view of a new international order China has always advocated, and integrated the new concept of security based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation advocated by China. It summed up the new development concept of mutual benefit, win-win and sustainable development proposed by China in recent years, and the new concept of civilization that respects diversity and mutual tolerance.

23 Ibid., p.36.

The harmonious world we advocate is a peaceful and stable world in which all nations trust and live in harmony with each other and jointly safe- guard the peace and security of the world through fair and effective security mechanisms. The harmonious world we advocate is a democratic and just world in which sovereignty and sovereignty of all countries are equal and international relations are based on the rule of law and multilateralism and the affairs of the world are settled through consultations among all nations. The harmonious world we advocate is a mutually beneficial and coopera- tive world, in which,the economic globalization and progress in science and technology are conducive to the common development of the international community, especially to the developing countries. The harmonious world we advocate is an open and inclusive world, in which different civilizations conduct dialogues with each other, learn from each other, different social systems and development models learn from each other and seek common development.

The way to achieve a harmonious world means that all countries in the world are on the path of peaceful development. Without peace, a harmoni- ous world cannot be established. To keep peace requires that all countries in the world take the path of peaceful development. There will be no world peace when only a part of the countries follow the path of peaceful develop- ment. As a practitioner of building a harmonious world and following the path of peaceful development, China upholds the banner of "peace, develop- ment and cooperation". It emphasizes developing friendly cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which means that China will pursue a policy of no hostile country. In other words, China does not set any country as its enemy. All countries in the world can become friends of China. China is also willing to make friends with all the countries in the world. In developing relations with big powers, China places greater emphasis on the development of various "partnership" and "cooperative relations"; China has formulated the policy of "bringing harmony, security, prosperity and strength to neighbors" in advancing the relations with neighboring countries, adhere to the principle of "Friendship and Partnership". In addition, China's diplomacy has further diluted the ideological colors and emphasized the friendly cooperation between coun- tries with different ideologies. This proves that in the diplomatic concept of China, the common interest in peace and development of all countries in the world goes beyond ideological interests. China attaches importance to com- mon development and common prosperity and pursues an open strategy of mutual benefit and win-win. It emphasizes the democratization of interna- tional relations and promote democracy, harmony, cooperation and win-win spirit. It upholds the new concept of security based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination. It consolidates the cultural exchanges among various countries, draws on each other's cultural accomplishments

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and seeks common ground while shelving differences with other countries in the world. It strengthens cooperation with other countries in the world on

environmental issues and attaches importance to assuming corresponding _

responsibilities in international affairs.

Building a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity cannot be achieved without the joint efforts of all mankind and long-term struggle, which is by no means an overnight event. In the important historic period in which both opportunities and challenges coexist, what kind of ap-. pearance the world will ultimately assume is both objective and necessary and also inseparable from our expectations and efforts toward the expected direction. In September 2009, Hu Jintao emphasized at the 64" UN General Assembly that in the face of unprecedented opportunities and challenges, the international community should continue to work hand in hand to main- tain the concept of peace, development, cooperation, win-win results and tolerance and promote the building of a harmonious world with lasting peace and common prosperity and make unremitting efforts for the lofty cause of mankind's peace and development. Hu Jintao put forward four propositions in this regard: First, examine security with a broader perspec- tive and safeguard world peace and stability. Second, take a more holistic view of development and promote common prosperity. Without the univer- sal development and equal participation of developing countries, there can be no common prosperity of the world and a more just and reasonable inter- national economic order cannot be established. Third, carry out cooperation with a more open mind and promote mutual benefit and win-win results. Fourth, contain each other with a broader mind and achieve harmonious

coexistence.

The harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity is the common aspiration of all peoples around the world, and promoting the con- struction of such a world is in the fundamental interest of all mankind. To establish such a goal and work towards it is to demonstrate the expectations and pursuit of the Chinese Communists and Chinese people towards the de- velopment of the world and to show the value orientation we take in various actions. The proposal of the CPC and the Chinese government on building a harmonious world seeks to arouse countries and peoples with similar ideals to form a just force for the pursuit of peace, development and cooperation so as to guide the correct course of the world. No matter how far and how hard the ultimate realization of a harmonious world is, some people have to advocate and attract everyone to make unremitting efforts. We believe that as long as all the countries in the world closely unite to seize the opportunt ties and meet the challenges, we will be able to create a bright future for the development of human society and can truly build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

The Concept and Practice of the Core of Leadership of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The strengthening and improvement of the Party's leadership

First, the leadership of the CPC is the choice of history and people

The core position of the leadership of the CPC has been formed in the long-term revolutionary struggle and is the inevitable result of the devel- opment of the Chinese modern history and the long-term choice of the Chinese people.

After 1840, due to the invasion by the Western powers, China gradually became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society and the national crisis and the social crisis deepened all the way. In order to get rid of the double op- pression of imperialism and feudalism, the Chinese people conducted an indomitable struggle, but all failed. China is looking forward to new social forces and new ideological theories so as to open up a new path to save the country and people. In 1921, in the process of integrating Marxism- Leninism with the Chinese workers' movement, the Communist Party of China came into being. Since then, the great mission of leading the revolu- tionary struggle against imperialism and feudalism, winning national inde- pendence and liberating the people, and rejuvenating China has historically fallen upon the shoulders of the Communist Party of China. The Chinese revolution entered a completely new stage of development.

After the founding of the Communist Party of China, it persisted in combining the basic principles of Marxism with the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution and led the Chinese people in winning the democrat- ic revolution and establishing the People's Republic of China. After the

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w China, the Communist Party of China became the lead- a and the cause of socialism. Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "China always used to be described as ‘a heap of loose sand". But when our Party came to power and rallied the whole country around it, the disunity resulting from the partitioning of the country by various forces was brought to an end. So long as the Party exercises correct leadership, it can rally not only its whole membership but also the whole nation to accomplish any mighty undertaking." | In fact, the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people to establish a socialist system and to realize the most extensive and profound social change in Chinese history. It has also initiated the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and opened the correct path for the

n of the Chinese nation. It established the people's demo- people take charge

founding of Ne ing core of Chin

reat rejuvenatio i ee deen in the state power and the Chinese of their own destiny; It established an independent and relatively com- plete system of national economy, which markedly enhanced the economic strength and overall national strength; It developed the socialist cus and enriched the spiritual life of the people throughout the country; it con pletely ended the situation of a heap of loose sand in old China, es : high degree of unification of the country and unprecedented uni alee all ethnic groups: It forged a people's army under the absolute megs ip of the Party and established a fortified national defense; It insiste on an independent and autonomous foreign policy of peace and made an pee tant contribution to the peace and development of the world. The socia _ country of China enjoys increasing international status and puma influence. Without the communist party, there will be no new oe the communist party, the situation of China is completely renewed. T . is the most basic and important conclusion drawn by the Chinese people In

the course of long-term struggle.

In the new phase of the new century, if China is to realize the prosper and strength of the country and the common prosperity of the people, ita must rely on the leadership of the Communist Party of China. a 2 China only the Communist Party of China is the political forces w unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country to achieve the great rejuvenation the Chinese nation.

First of all, to ensure the correct direction of China's modernization oo requires the leadership of the Communist Party of China. To nee ee ernization and national rejuvenation is a century-long pursuit and dream : the Chinese people. History proves that only by taking the path of mee ism can China realize its modernization. Therefore, to ensure the corre

ane carvan OES aye 1 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2nd Edition, Vol.2, p.267.

direction of China's modernization, we must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party. Only by adhering to the leadership of the Communist Party of China and following the path of socialism with Chinese character- istics can we formulate and implement the correct guidelines and policies and ensure that the catise of modernization will continue to make progress and eventually realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Second, safeguarding national reunification and social harmony and sta- bility requires the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The unifi- cation of the country and the social harmony and stability are the neces- sary prerequisites for the prosperity and strength of the country and for the people to live and work in peace and contentment. The warlordism, disinte- gration and political turmoil brought disaster after disaster to contemporary China. It is engraved in the bones and printed on the heart of the Chinese people. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the New China has completely ended the history of national disunity and the politi- cal turmoil, and has formed a brand-new situation in which the reunifica- tion of the country and the unity of the people of all ethnic groups across the country have been achieved. In the new phase of the new century, by virtue of its rich ruling experience and ability to control the overall situation, only the Communist Party of China can make overall plans for the economic and social development and maintain the unity of the country and the social harmony and stability.

Once again, taking overall control of the entire situation, coordinating all parties, pooling the wisdom of people and bringing together forces all call for the leadership of the Communist Party of China. With its vast territory and large population, China has unbalanced development and great differ- ences between urban and rural areas and between regions, and faces various complicated social conflicts. Only by properly adjusting and coordinating the relations of interest in all aspects can we mobilize all positive factors to the maximum extent, concentrate all resources, strength and wisdom on major issues concerning the national economy and the people's livelihood so as to ensure the sustainable economic and social development. In China, to smoothly resolve all kinds of difficulties and problems in its progress, to effectively handle various complicated social conflicts, to unify and unite the thoughts and forces of over a billion people, and to build a beautiful

future are inconceivable without the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

Finally, coping with the complicated international environment requires

the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In today's world, econom-

ic globalization and world multi-polarization are developing with twists

and turns. Science and technology are changing with each passing day. Competition in overall national strength is becoming increasingly fierce.

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Confrontation and cooperation, hegemony, nationalism and terrorism are all intertwined. In a complicated international environment, if China js to take an independent and peaceful path of development, it must have a strong political core to unite the people of all ethnic groups across the coun- _ try. In China, only the Communist Party of China is qualified and capable of serving as the political core. :

The key of Chinese issue is the Party, the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the fundamental guarantee for the success of moderniza- | tion and the reform and opening up. It is the fundamental guarantee for uniting the people of all nationalities across the country and rejuvenating the Chinese nation. By their individual experiences, the Chinese people have deeply recognized this point and resolutely support the leadership of

the Communist Party of China.

Second, the nature and the goal of the CPC

The Communist Party of China is the vanguard of the Chinese working class. At the same time it is the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. It is the leading core of the cause of socialism with Chines¢ characteristics. It represents the development requirements of oe s ad- vanced productive forces, represents the way forward for China's advanced culture and represents the most fundamental interests of the broad masses

of people. The leadership of the Communist Party of China in contemporary China is closely linked with its nature and purpose. 1. The Communist Party of China is the vanguard of the Chinese work- ing class Political parties have nature of class. Any political party represents the

interests of a certain class and has the class basis on which they exist and

develop. Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has been politi-

cal party of the Chinese working class and has always adhered to the nature

of the vanguard of the working class.

First of all, the Communist Party of China is the product of the me bination of Marxism-Leninism and the Chinese workers' movement, hss the working class is the class basis of the Communist Party of China. : - Chinese working class is the product of the mechanized big industry ; _ modern times, the undertaker of mass production, the representative of - vanced productive forces and relations of production, and has the eee ing characters of selflessness, strict organizational discipline, and be : resolute and thorough in revolution. The Communist Party of China is a concentrated crystallization of the characteristics and excellent qualities

the working class in China.

Second, the Communist Party of China is made up of the advanced ele- ments of the working class. the Party has gathered the advanced elements in the working class with communist consciousness. They are infinitely loyal to the cause of communism and have the spirit of devoting their lives to the fundamental interests of the working class and the people of all na- tionalities. In the meantime, the Party also recruited people with other class backgrounds who meet the conditions for joining the Party to join the Party organization. In the process of building socialism with Chinese character- istics, we admit outstanding individuals from other strata (including from new emerging strata) who believe in communism, and accept and practice the Party's program and constitution, consciously strive for the Party's line and program, go through long tests, and conform to the conditions of Party members into the Party so as to continuously enhance the Party's class ba- sis, expand the mass base of the Party and continuously raise the Party's influence and cohesion in the whole society, these are the requirement of the times. This will not change the nature of the vanguard of the working class of the Party. Judging the nature of a political party depends mainly on the interests of which class its theory and program represent. The theory and program of the Communist Party of China represent the interests of the working class and represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people.

Finally, taking the Marxism as our theoretical basis and guiding action, the Communist Party of China holds a scientific world outlook and meth- odology and can grasp the law of historical development on the whole and represents the correct direction for the development of Chinese society. The Party attaches great importance to ideologically building the Party and in- sist on educating and arming all party members with Marxist theories. It not only requires that party members organizationally join the Party, but also requires party members to ideologically join the Party at first and guide them to fight for the Party's program and tasks.

2. The Communist Party of China is also the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation

The CPC has always represented the long-term interests and fundamen- tal interests of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. In keeping with China's reality and the wishes of the Chinese people, as the core of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, the CPC has brought together the forces of the entire nation and society to a high degree to strive for the common ideals and goals of our country and benefit our motherland and our people.

As a political party of the Chinese working class, the reason why the Communist Party of China is both the vanguard of the Chinese people and

the Chinese nation lies in the fact that:

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First, the fundamental interests of the Chinese working fae in line with the fundamental interests of the Chinese people and : e os ns tion. Marxism believes that only by liberating all ee ee e 7 2 ing class ultimately liberate itself. The interests of the ; inese ee class have always been closely linked with the fundamenta eaetia a i | Chinese people and the Chinese nation. Its historical destiny is : . closely: linked with the historical fate of the whole Chinese people ee sa Chinese nation. In order to accomplish the historic mission O : pis ing class means that the Communist Party have to struggle se t : oy fi of the working class and at the same time strive for the bene of a fis people and the entire nation. Since its entry into the historica arena, : € Communist Party of China has both the dual mission of Aaa ee oppression and realizing national independence. The Wayao a mee ing held in 1935 pointed out that the Communist Party of China is the _ of the Chinese proletariat and the vanguard of the entire sen ee e past 90 years since the founding of the Party, no matter in lea me the ee lutionary cause of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism, striving . na me independence and the liberation of the people, or in leading t rete ef socialist modernization after assuming power, the Party was a ibe i realizing the prosperity of the country and the common pee nace : a people. Undoubtedly, this will accord with and represent the a S ne Chinese working class as well as the long-term interests and fundamen interests of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. Second, achieving to become the vanguard of the Chinese people es the Chinese nation, is an inherent requirement of the Communist ce : ne to perform its ruling mission. It is also the political Se oharone or ies ‘ : the people and the nation as the ruling party. The essence of the ve aa party's ruling is to use the power entrusted by the people to shed Peete and to effectively safeguard, achieve and develop the fundamen a : ~ of the overwhelming majority of the people. History and reality ‘ ae a the interests of the overwhelming majority are the ‘most he . " most decisive factor. As a ruling party, it will risk losing its mee a a i ruling if it does not stand in the position of the vanguard of the rine a tion to consciously care for the interests of the overwhelming ee i take care of the overall interest of the country and nation ae oe will of the overwhelming majority. The Communist Party of China 1 i osition has always had a pro paaree important reasons why some veteran ruling partie

have lost their ruling position is th

deepening of reform and opening up, new ¢ structure of social strata in our country and n

blem of strengthening the mass base. s in the world

at this problem has not been solved. The

Communist Party of China fulfills its ruling mission in the capacity of the

1 e

ew social strata have emerged.

the Party must take the initiative to stand on the position of the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. While continuing to rely on the working class and strengthening the alliance between workers and peasants, the Party should conscientiously treat the new social classes as an important part of the social mass base of its ruling and attaches importance to them. Only in this way can the Party's social mass base of ruling expand and consolidate day by day. -

Third, becoming the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation is also an inevitable choice for the Party while it takes the national rejuvenation as its own responsibility. As conscientious and resolute patri- ots, the Chinese Communists have always taken the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as their noble historic responsibility. To realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in accordance with the Party's struggle program is to gradually build China into a prosperous, democratic and civilized socialist modern country. To shoulder the lofty responsibility of accomplishing this great cause of history, the Chinese Communists must take the stance of the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation and always adhere to the principle of combining Marxism with China's concrete reality and in the process of working hard to realize the localization of Marxism in China, we must constantly open up new ideas and new realms for rejuvenating the nation. We must carry forward the outstanding cultural traditions of the Chinese nation with great ambition and bread vision, and at the same time, make active use of and draw on the achievements of all advanced civilizations in the world today. We must unite the forces of the entire nation to maximize the mobiliza- tion and development of all positive factors and unite all the positive social forces that are interested in strengthening China and mobilize all the posi- tive social factors conducive to promote the great cause of rejuvenating the Chinese nation; we must actively admit outstanding individuals from all walks of life of the entire nation, into the Party so that we can truly become the "backbone" of the rejuvenation cause of the Chinese nation. The more consciously the Communist Party of China becomes the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, the greater contribution it can make for national rejuvenation.

The "Two Vanguards" is an organic unity. On the one hand, always be- coming the vanguard of the working class in China is the political premise that the Party truly becomes the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. Only by becoming the vanguard of the Chinese working class and by consciously fulfilling the fundamental guiding ideology of Marxism and taking communism as the ultimate goal can the Party truly have the scientific guidance, political foresight and board vision necessary to be the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. On the

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other hand, consciously becoming the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation is the inevitable requirement of the Party, who is the vanguard of the working class in China. Only by consistently representing the interest of the entire people and the entire nation can the Party fully reflect its nature of the vanguard of the working class. Since the reform and opening up, while admitting the Party members among workers and peas- ants, the Party also paid attention to absorb the outstanding elements from all walks of life. To uphold that the Party is the vanguard of the Chinese working class and the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese na- tion will continuously enhance the Party's class foundation, expand the Party's mass base, improve the Party's influence and cohesion in the whole society, and fulfill the solemn mission the times bestows the Party.

3. The purpose of the Communist Party of China is to serve the people wholeheartedly

ing the people wholeheartedly is the purpose of the Communist Party of ie a a of the distinctive hallmarks of the CPC from the other po- litical parties. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Our point of departure is to Pak the people wholeheartedly and never for a moment divorce ourselves from the masses, to proceed in all cases from the interests of the people and not from one's self-interest or from the interests of a small group, and to iden- tify our responsibility to the people with our responsibility to the leading organs of the Party." Deng Xiaoping has repeatedly stressed that the Communist Party a take wholeheartedly serving the people as its criterion. He proposed tt at all our work should be based on the criteria of the support, approval, liking and consent of the people. This is both the guiding ideology for the Party in formulating guidelines and policies and the best explanation for the purpose

of serving the people wholeheartedly.

First of all, the nature of the Communist Party of China determines that people wholeheartedly. The Communist Party 1s

i is to serve the eee by completely liberating all man-

ard of the working class. Only fa ie working class ultimately liberate itself. Therefore, the We ing class party is a party that completely takes up the standpoint o rie vast majority of working people and serves the interests of the fea Communist Party of China represents the interests of the Chinese working

class and at the same time represents the interests of the Chinese people

and the Chinese nation. Aside from the interests of the working class and the broad masses of the people, the CPC has no special interests of its own.

2 Selected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Vol.3, pp.1094-1095.

Second, upholding the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly is the fundamental requirement of upholding the historical materialism of Marxism. The historical materialism holds that the masses of people are the creators of history, the creators of the material and spiritual wealth of the society, the driving force and the ultimate deciding force for the develop- ment of history. It shows that whoever can conform to the requirements of the masses in creating social history, they can lead the people to victory, otherwise they can only be discarded by history. Only by relying on the broad masses of the people can the Party realize its historic mission. Only by relying on the masses of the people can the Party have strength. Only by serving the people can the Party have its internal reason of existence.

Thirdly, serving the people wholeheartedly is the fundamental guarantee for the Party to succeed in socialist revolution and construction. On the one hand, since the founding of the Communist Party of China, it has regarded serving the people as its highest principle. The history of the struggle of the Communist Party of China is the history of serving the people wholeheart- edly. Leading the new-democratic revolution, winning national indepen- dence and liberating the people, or leading the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and realizing the prosperity of the country and the affluence of the people all are aimed at realizing the common interests of the people of all ethnic groups across the country. Serving the people wholeheartedly is the essential feature of the Communist Party of China. On the other hand, just because the Party starts from the interests of the people and serves the people wholeheartedly, it wins the support of the broad masses of the people, defeats the hardships and dangers on the road of advance, and wins one victory after another in revolution and construc- tion. The fundamental reason why the Party has strength is that the Party can faithfully represent the interests of the people and the masses. This is the decisive factor that the Party will always be invincible.

4. Adhering to and improvement of party leadership

Jiang Zemin pointed out: The key to handle China's affairs well is our Party. This on the one hand means that building socialism with Chinese characteristics cannot succeed without Party leadership and must uphold the leadership of the Party. Furthermore, we must insist on the Party's core leadership position in the cause of building socialism with Chinese char- acteristics, adhere to the Party's political leadership over the policies and overall work of the state, uphold the Party's absolute leadership over the army, stick to the principle of Party supervising its cadres and uphold the Party's leading role in ideology, etc. On the other hand, what is even more important is that we must strengthen party building and improve leader- ship of the Party, to which the key is to constantly strive to solve the new situations and new problems encountered in Party building in light of the

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development of the situation and tasks. What kind of Party should be built and how to build the Party are the basic issues for strengthening and pro- moting Party building under the new historical conditions.

It is a dialectical unity to uphold the Party's leadership and improve the Party's leadership. If insisting the Party's leadership should solve the issue of whether or not the socialist cause needs the leadership of the Party and the Party's position and role in the cause of socialism, then improving the Party's leadership needs to solve the problems of further reforming and improving the Party's leading methods and ways of governing and better realizing the Party's leadership over the cause of socialist construction, If we do not adhere to the leadership of the Party, we will not be able to im- prove the Party's leadership. To improve the Party's leadership is to better adhere to the Party's leadership. Under the new historical conditions, only by improving the leadership of the Party can we uphold and strengthen the Party's leadership. This is because:

Judging from the international environment, the world today is undergoing major realignments and adjustments. Judging from the domestic ee our country has entered a new stage of development in building an overa well-off society and accelerating the socialist modernization drive. In the face of the new situation and new tasks, if the Party's ideology, leadership style, working methods and specific systems are not improved or perfected, they will be out of touch with the reality and the masses and the Party's leader. ship and combat effectiveness will be weakened, and insisting on the Party's

leadership will become an empty and a dull slogan.

Judging from the status of the Party itself, after more oe 90 = of de velopment, great changes have taken place in the Party's status, tasks, ae sonnel conditions and environment. The Party has turned from a Party that has led the people in their struggle to seize the power of the entire country, to a Party that leads the people in running the entire country and toa ves which is in power for a long time. The Party's governing Bia . changed from being externally and internationally blocked and 7 ee : ing planned economy to opening up to the outside world and devel oping t socialist market economy; The number of new Party members is peer: substantially and the succession of new cadres is continuously procee me The actual situation of the Party is still far out of accord with the aes mission that the Party shoulders to lead the socialist socpausan example, the Party's ability to govern is not fully adapted to the new st = tion and new tasks, some party members and cadres do not have the com style of work, whose formalism and bureaucratism are rather se and negative conducts such as extravagance, waste and corruption on ‘ i serious. Quite a number of grassroots Party organizations are wea eee loose, etc. All these need to be solved by improving the Party's leadership.

In the new phase of the new century, strengthening the building of the Party and improving the leadership of the Party in particular need to solve the following problems:

First, we must fully understand and grasp the connotation of the Party's leadership. After the Party came into power, the Party's leadership was once understood that Party organizations at all levels made direct decisions and handled various issues. This understanding and practice have seriously af- fected the correct functioning of the Party's leadership. In the new period of reform, opening up and modernization, on the basis of earnestly summing up the ruling experience, the Party made a scientific summary of the Party's leadership, that is, the Party's leadership is mainly political, ideological and organizational leadership. Among them, the political leadership is the core and the foundation; ideological leadership is the basis and premise of political leadership; organizational leadership is the guarantee of political leadership. This requires that in the practice of improving leadership, on the one hand the Party should overcome the tendency of substituting the Party for the regime in the past; on the other hand, it must overcome the tendency of simply emphasizing one aspect of the Party's leadership and neglecting others.

Second, we should strengthen Party building in accordance with the two historic issues of raising the level of the Party's leadership and governance and raising the capacity to resist corruption and prevent degeneration and withstand risks. With the power of mobilizing resources from all over the country, such as the people, property and other resources, the Communist Party of China is ruling a big country with more than 1.3 billion people. Along with the progress of its modernization, the social and economic com- ponents, the organization forms and the relations of interests in our coun- try are increasingly diversified. The selectivity and difference of people's thoughts and behaviors have obviously increased; In addition, we are in an open era, the impact of the international situation, especially the eco- nomic globalization, on national security, especially economic security, has become more and more direct. This requires that in the environment of developing the socialist market economy, the Party must continuously en- hance its ability to coordinate all parties, resolve conflicts, gather strength and resist risks and must continuously enhance its ability to resist corrup- tion and prevent degeneration. the Party must keep pace with the times, keep pushing forward inner-party democracy, promote the entire social democracy through inner-party democracy, promote the democratization and scientification of decision-making, and continuously raise the Party's leadership and governance level; We must harshly punish the corruptive phenomenon within the Party, combine strict discipline, strict law enforce- ment with strengthening ideological education to establish and perfect the

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two lines of defense, namely ideological and moral construction and Party discipline and state law binding, so as to form a governance and supervi- sion system that strictly controls the Party and advanced nature and purity should be completely cured and all tumors grown on the healthy organism

of the Party be removed.

Third, we must reform and improve the leadership system of the Party 4

and the state. In the era of revolutionary war, the Communist Party of China practiced a highly centralized leadership system, which was compatible with the tasks and environment the Party faced at that time. After the founding of new China, the Party still followed this system and leadership style for a long period of time. Practice has proved that leadership form of substitut- ing the Party for the regime and party organizations directly monopolizing everything is not conducive to establishing the authority of the organs of state power where the people are the masters of the country, to the construc- tion of a socialist democratic legal system and to the enhancement of the scientific and efficient decision-making, it is also easy to occur excessively centralized power, patriarchal system and individual arbitrariness and other malpractices. Therefore, we must reform the leadership system of the Party and the state in accordance with the principle of overall consideration of the entire situation and coordination of all parties to both ensure the central role of the Party and give full play to the functions of the NPC, the government, the CPPCC, the people's organizations and economic organizations. The key to reform is to correctly handle the relationship between the Party and the government and solve the problem of how the Party can exercise leader- ship. The ruling party's leadership over the state power system Is achieved through the exertion of political influence, the recommendation of impor- tant cadres, the management of Party organizations and Party members in the power agencies, the proposition of major affairs concerning the state and the passing it through legal procedures to become the will of the state. During the process of governing, Party and government have their own functions and should not be confused or united at will.

Finally, we must conscientiously implement the basic strategy of gov- erning the country according to law and building a socialist country ruled by law. To lead the people in formulating Constitutions and laws, the Party must inevitably lead the people in observing and implementing the Constitution and the law. The Party's own activities must also be carried out within the framework of the Constitution and laws, and become a model for observing and implementing the Constitution and laws. On such basis can the Party's leadership over state affairs be united with the rule of law, can we truly improve the Party's leadership.

The power of the Party rooted in people and a party for the people

First, all rely on the people, everything for the people

In everything we do, having people in our minds, relying on them, doing everything for the people's interests, serving the people wholeheartedly, is the purpose and the fundamental position of the CPC, represented by Mao Zedong, has gradually formed the mass line of "integrating ourselves with the masses in all things, rely on them, and aim everything for the people". This mass line is the fundamental: political line and organizational line of the CPC.

Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "The masses are the source of our strength and the mass viewpoint and the mass line are our cherished traditions."? "Only by consistently relying on the masses, maintaining close ties with them, listening to what they have to say, understanding their feelings and always representing their interests can the Party become a powerful force capable of smoothly accomplishing its tasks."* Jiang Zemin repeatedly stressed: "The cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics is a creative undertaking with broad participation of hundreds of millions of people. We must always uphold the party's mass line of believing in the masses, relying on the masses in everything, coming from the masses going to the masses, respect the creation of masses of people and listen to their voices, reflect their wishes and concentrate their wisdom and strength on the development of our various undertakings."* In the new phase of the new century, Hu Jintao pointed out: "Only by profoundly understanding the people's great force of making history and sincerely representing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people, all is done for the people, all depends on the people can our party win the full the trust and support of the people and be victorious."

Firstly, the conduct of "in everything we do, having people in our minds, relying on them, doing everything for the people's interests, is a necessary conclusion derived from Marxist historical materialism and an essential re- quirement of a Marxist political party. The people are the creators of his- tory, which is a basic Marxist view. The Communist Party of China upholds

3 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 2™ Edition, Vol. 2, p.368. 4 Ibid., p.342. 5 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 15" National Congress" (Vol. D, p.692. 6 CPCCC Party Literature Research Office: "Selection of Important Literature since the 16 National Congress" (Vol. IT), p.522.

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the interests of the people above all else and does not pursue any interests of its own apart from the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. At all times, the Communist Party of China must uphold the principle of respecting the law of social development and respect the main status of the people in making history, adhere to combine striving for lofty ideals with

working for the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, ad- .

here to the consistency of striving for lofty ideals and working for the ben- efits of the overwhelming majority of the people, adhere to the consistency' of accomplishing all aspects of Party work and realizing the interests of the people. Only in this way can we fully display the essential characteristics of establishing the Party for the public and do governing work for the people, i.e. the fundamental nature of a Marxist political party.

Second, doing everything for the people and relying on the people for everything is the fundamental guarantee for the Communist Party of China to overcome various difficulties and risks and continuously achieve the suc- cess of its cause. The historical experience of China's revolution and con- struction has repeatedly proved that insisting on the Party's mass line and always keeping the flesh-and-blood relationship with the people and the revolution and the cause of construction will proceed and succeed; violat- ing the Party's mass line and seriously detaching itself from the masses, the cause of revolution and construction will suffer setbacks or even failure. The masses of the people are the decisive force in promoting historical development and social change. They are the source of strength and the foundation of victory of the Communist Party of China. Under no circum- stances, the Party cannot change its conduct of sharing the same fate with the people, its purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, the Party can- not discard the historical materialistic point of view that the masses are the true heroes who make history. The Party cannot be separated from the people and the people cannot be separated from the Party.

Finally, doing everything for the people and relying on the people for ev- erything, and always maintaining the flesh-and-blood ties with the people are the keys to the Party's long-term governance. Winning The hearts and support of people is the fundamental factor that determines the tise and fall of a political party and a political power. The Party's theoretical line, principles and policies as well as all its work can only remain invincible if it is carried out in accordance with the wishes of the people, the interests of the people and the hearts of the people. We must always regard the will and interests of the masses as the starting point and end aim for all our work and always regard relying on the wisdom and strength of the people as the fundamental line of work in promoting the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Being in close contact with the masses is the greatest political advantage of the Communist Party of China and being divorced from the masses is the greatest danger after the Party is in power. In the era of revolutionary war, the Party survived and developed only under the cover and direct support of the masses, thus forming thé flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses. After the Party came to power, on the one hand, it has obtained the conditions for better serving the people and on the other hand it has also increased the danger of being divorced from the masses. At the 8" National Congress of CPC, Deng Xiaoping once pointed out: For Party organiza- tions and Party members, there is not less but more danger than in the past of becoming divorced from the masses after their coming to power. The reason why the ruling party is easy to be divorced from the masses is that the ruling party has the power and the various resources in hand and easy to set themselves up over the masses and give orders, and issue orders to get things done. The long-term ruling status of the CPC makes it easy for Party organizations and Party members and cadres to ignore or even disregard the aspirations and demands of the people, neglect or even disregard criticism and supervision, and develop a tendency to be arrogant and only account- able to the superior; Some Party members and cadres treat themselves as advanced elements and leaders and are far more knowledgeable than the masses, they don't learn from and discuss with masses, and thus seriously violate the actual situation and abuse the Party's prestige. Some cadres use the power in their hands to seek the personal interests or interests of small groups, resulting in corruption and degeneration, which undermines the Party-masses relations."

The Communist Party of China has always maintained a high degree of vigilance toward the tendency to be easily separated from the masses after it came to power. The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Party held on the eve of the founding of new China re- minds the entire Party of the need to be vigilant against the growth of the airs of arrogance and self-satisfaction and self-styled hero. After the found- ing of New China, the Party Central Committee has always carried out the principle of closing the Party-masses relations in the form of cyclically con- solidating the Party and rectifying its style of work. It has always conducted an uncompromising struggle against the phenomena of bureaucratism, or- derism, formalism and specialization that separate the Party from the mass- es, which exists in government organs and Party members and cadres. In the new phase of the new century, the Party Central Committee repeatedly stressed that whether it can always maintain its flesh-and-blood ties with the people and the masses is directly related to the Party's life and death. Understanding the relationship between the Party and the masses from the perspective of life and death is of great significance to close the relationship

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between the Party and the masses under the conditions of reform and open- ing up and the market economy.

To enhance the Party-masses relations must be implemented in all the work of the Party and the state. Among them, strengthening the construc- tion of the Party's style of work has a special importance. The work style construction is related to the image of the Party and the life of the Party. The

core of building the Party's work style is to maintain the flesh-and-blood .

ties with the masses of the people. Under the conditions of a market econo- my, the most important issue that affects the Party style and the relations be- tween the Party and the masses is corruption. Therefore, constantly improv- ing the ability to resist corruption and prevent degeneration and severely punish corruption have become the top priorities in the Party's work style construction. Corruption is a social phenomenon which has complex and profound social roots and ideological roots. China is in the primary stage of socialism, carrying out the policy of reform and opening up and developing the socialist market economy.China's new system in many aspects is still imperfect and provides a breeding ground for corruption, on the other hand, since the Party has long been in ruling status, some Party members and cadres can be easily divorced from the masses, due to false pride, ignorance or due to lack of internal and external supervision. Besides, some branches and departments are not strict in governing the Party, and their political and ideological and organizational construction work are not properly handled. There are situations wherein the bourgeoisie decadent ideas and remnant of feudal ideas and conducts which has gifted the Party ranks. Some Party members and cadres have ignored remolding of their world view, thus their ideals, beliefs and, their revolutionary aspirations have weakened, they can- not resist the tests of power, money and sex. The existence of these phe- nomena determines that the task of fighting corruption must be long-term and arduous. The more the time Party holds the ruling status, the more arduous must be its task is to resist corruption and prevent degeneration.

The nature and purpose of the Communist Party of China determines that the Party is incompatible with all kinds of negative corrupt practices. In the process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, the stance and attitude of the CPC Central Committee toward fighting corruption have always been clear, the Party thinks that without resolutely quelling corrup- tion, the flesh-blood ties between the Party and the people will be seriously damaged and the Party will face the risk of losing its ruling status and is likely to move toward self-destruction. Fighting corruption and advocacy of clean government are not only a major task for the Party's work style building, but also a major task of strengthening the building of the Party's governing ability and advanced nature, as well as an urgent task of safe- guarding social fairness and justice and promoting social harmony. In the

new phase of the new century, the CPC has fully realized the long-term, complex and arduous nature of the fight against corruption, placed the anti- corruption building on a more prominent position and clearly opposed cor- ruption. The report of the 17" National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that we should adhere to the policy of tackling both the root cause and the symptoms of corruption, comprehensively treating, punishing and guarding at the 'same time and paying attention to preven- tion. We must earnestly prevent and punish corruption and at the same time of resolutely punishing corruption, pay more attention to the root causes, focus on system construction which will prevent it, broaden work areas to prevent corruption at the source and gradually build a long-term mecha- nism of education for corruption prevention, a system of combating corrup- tion and building a clean government, and a monitoring mechanism over the exercise of power. We must strictly investigate and punish all viola- tions of the law and discipline, earnestly handle problems concerning lead- ing cadres' honesty and self-discipline, resolutely rectify malpractices that bring damage to the people's interests, enact and improve laws and systems on combating corruption and building a clean government. We should raise the ability of Party members and cadres to resist corruption and implement the responsibility system for improving Party style and building a clean government and resolutely correct unhealthy trends that harm the interests of the people and earnestly solve the problems that masses have shown strong reactions. Only by constantly strengthening anti-corruption efforts and building a clean government can the Communist Party of China be able to prevent and curb corruption more effectively, continuously improve its ability to resist corruption and prevent degeneration, and strengthen its flesh-and-blood ties with the people.

Second, caring about the people, working so as to benefit the people and developing the fundamental interests of the majority of the people

Realizing, maintaining and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people is the fundamental objective of build- ing socialism with Chinese characteristics and the starting point and the foothold of all the work of the Communist Party of China. The so-called "maintaining" policy is to safeguard and maintain the interests of the mass- es, through various systems, policies and measures and to ensure that the people exercise extensive rights conferred to them by the Constitution and laws and see that their rights are never unjustly infringed. Thirdly, the so- called "developing" policy aims to treat the interests of the masses with a development perspective, by starting from the characteristics of the times and proceed from the short-term and long-term prospects of development, and profoundly recognize the changes and trends regarding the interest of

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the people. On the other hand, with the deepening of reform and opening up and the modernization drive, we will continue to enhance and enrich the interests of the people, expand and increase the rights and interests of the people. Realizing, maintaining and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people is a closely integrated whole. Realizing is the foundation, maintaining is the guarantee, and developing is the prospect. If they cannot be well realized, they cannot be truly main- tained; without realizing and maintaining, the development become empty talk. At the same time, realization and maintenance are dynamic and we must continuously realize and maintain in the light of development. Only in this way, development and maintenance can be fully effective.

With the deepening of reform and opening up and the development of market economy, interests of people have diversified and new interests demands have requirements inevitably arisen. Only when the Communist Party of China realizes, maintains and develops the interests of the over- whelming majority of the people can it be true to its purpose and ideals as the Party that has always represented the fundamental interests of the over- whelming majority and that has served the people wholeheartedly.

First, for the Party, it is the fundamental starting point to consider and satisfy the interests of the overwhelming majority. The interests of the ma- jority are the most crucial and the most decisive factors, which is always related to the overall situation in which the Party is in power and the overall economic and social development of the country, and the overall situation of the unity of the people of all nationalities in the country and the stability of the community. The overall interests of the people are always made up of the specific interests of all parties. In order to truly represent the fundamen- tal interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, the CPC must make efforts to handle the relations among the three parties: First, to correctly handle the relationship between current interests and long-term interests, correctly unite current interests with long-term interests, and unify reform, stability and development. The second is to properly handle the relation- ship between local interests and overall interests, and consciously take the overall interests as the priority and the local ones as subordinate to the over- all situation. The third is to correctly handle the relationship between the diversified specific interest and the fundamental interest. Correctly reflect and give consideration to the interests of the masses at different levels and in different aspects so that all the people will make steady progress towards common prosperity.

Secondly, we should properly handle and give consideration to the in- terests of the masses at different levels and in different aspects. As a ruling party, the Communist Party of China must deeply recognize the interest demands of people from all aspects, so that workers, peasants, intellectuals

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OMe

and other strata can enjoy the fruits of economic and social development and the Party can win the support of the masses from all walks of life all levels to the maximum extent possible. In this way, can we better lay a solid social foundation for its governance and consolidate its ruling position.

Finally, we must earnestly solve the practical problems that concern the people's interests. To realize, maintain and develop the interests of the over- whelming majority of the people, we must concretely solve the most im- mediate, practical and concern interests of the people, and concretely solve the actual problems of the production and livelihood of the masses.

Building the Party for the public and governing for the people are the fundamental embodiment of the purpose of the Communist Party of China. The highest criteria, in judging the quality of all work and policies of the Party and the state, should be whether, they serve the fundamental interest of the overwhelming majority. Only by upholding the principle of building the Party for the public and assume governing for the people, can the Party adhere to the principle of putting the interests of people to the supreme status, and formulate correct lines, guidelines and policies in this direction, only in this way can we uphold the principle of exercising power for the people, showing concern for them and working for their interests, can we fully respect the people's dominant position, give play to the pioneering spirit of the people, safeguard the rights and interests of the people and take the path of common prosperity, can we promote the all-round development of the people, and achieve the ideal of"development for people", "develop- ment relying on the people", and achieve the ideal that the fruits of develop- ment are shared by the people.

Promote the party's task to build itself in an all-round way with a spirit of reform and innovation

First, the Party building as a great undertaking project

In the course of leading the new democratic revolution, Mao Zedong de- fined the building of a nationwide, mass based, an ideologically, politically and organizationally advanced, true Marxist political party as a great proj- ect or great undertaking. To attach great importance to and continuously strengthen party building is a great magic weapon for the Communist Party of China to continue to overcome difficulties, obtain the victory of revolu- tion and construction from small to large, from weak to strong. The Chinese Communists represented by Mao Zedong created and accumulated many valuable experiences in the great project of building the Party mainly in- cluding: focus on building the Party ideologically and through the Marxist

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theoretical education of the majority of Party members, successfully build the Communist Party of China with the vast majority of Party members were peasants into the vanguard organization of the working class in rural areas and war environments; emphasize on reinforcing the building of the Party based on the Party's political line; uphold the principle of democrat- ic centralism of the Party and implement a collective leadership system; strengthen party style building, carry forward the fine style of combining theory and practice, being closely linked with the people, and self-criticism;

correctly handle contradictions within the Party and carry out inner-party struggles, insist on starting from the desire for solidarity and achieving uni- ty through criticism and self-criticism to achieve solidarity, as for comrades who made mistakes, adopt a policy of "learning from past mistakes to avoid

future ones and curing the sickness to save t

he patient". After the founding

of new China, the first generation of the central collective leadership ies Mao Zedong as the core always attached great importance to the Party s construction. The party leadership—through periodical campaigns of recti- fying and consolidating—has constantly strengthened the Party's ideologi-

cal construction, its style construction and o

In the new period of reform and opening

rganizational construction.

up and modernization, the sec-

ond generation of the central collective leadership with Deng Xiaoping as the core held high the banner of "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts" and created a great new project for Party building. Deng Xiaoping put forward the task of building our Party into a militant Marxist

party, and becoming a strong core that leads

the people of the entire country

in carrying forward the building of a material and spiritual civilization of socialism, the emphasis that the issue of the leadership and organizational

systems is of fundamental, comprehensive

, stable and long-term signifi-

cance and other important guiding ideologies, and in close contact with Party's basic line in the primary stage of socialism, to carry out the Party S ideological, organizational and style construction, and thus resolved the is- sue of, indicated what kind of Party should be built in the new historical

period and how to build it.

Facing the new century, the third-generation Party central collective leadership with Jiang Zemin as its core continued to push forward the great new project of Party building. He emphasized that we should constantly

strengthen and perfect ourselves in the sp

irit of reform and put forward

that we should make our Party a Marxist party armed with Deng Xiaoping Theory, which represents the development requirements of China s ad- vanced productive forces, represents the advancing direction of China's advanced culture, represents the fundamental interests of the overwhelm-

ing majority of the Chinese people, who ogy, politics and organization and is able

is fully consolidated in ideol- to withstand various risks and

always keeps ahead of the times, and who leads the people build socialism with Chinese characteristics. To this end, the CPC Central Committee has made a series of decisions on arming the whole Party with Deng Xiaoping Theory, on strengthening the building of an honest and clean government and on strengthening the close ties between the Party and the people.

In the new phase of the new century, the Central Party Committee with Hu Jintao as the General Secretary continues to emphasize pushing forward the Party's construction in the spirit of reform and innovation. In particular, to strengthen the building of the Party's ability to govern and of the ad- vanced nature of the Party, thus the new natures of the great project of Party building has become more prominent.

To stand at the forefront of the times and lead the people to constantly open up a new situation in the career development and to always be the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC must strengthen its own construction in the spirit of reform and in- novation, which is a major strategic task put forward based on the changed conditions of the times, China's economic and social conditions, and the construction status of the Party, and is the fundamental requirement for strengthening Party building in the new situation.

First of all, judging from the perspective of the world, the trend toward multi-polarization and economic globalization is developing in twists and turns with rapid progress in science and technology. The development of high and new technology with information technology as the core has great- ly changed people's production conditions, their life styles, international economic and political relations, and the competition for comprehensive national strength based on economic power, with its high scientific and technological content, has become increasingly fierce. Peace and develop- ment still remain to be the two major themes in contemporary world. At the same time, there are new developments in regard to hegemonism and power politics. The factors of traditional and non-traditional security threats are intertwined. The dangers of terrorism rise, and peace and development face multiple difficulties and challenges. In the face of opportunities and chal- lenges, the Chinese Communist Party must correctly handle the problems and shoulder down its historic mission. Therefore, the CPC must strengthen itself in the spirit of reform and innovation.

Secondly, judging from the domestic situation, the great practice of over 30 years of reform and opening up and the modernization drive has mark- edly enhanced our overall national strength. The cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics has made great achievements that have attracted world attention. However, it must be pointed out that our country is still and will be in the initial stage of socialism for a long time and has a large

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. ; -capita resources,

: te poor in per-cap

ndation and is qui ave een the ie rene conditions. The unserer sone ae asic le and the backw

ds of the people

rial and cultural nee a OF nS -ety, In the new century,

growing mate ill the major contradiction in our society I one acinas production 1s sth evelopment emerges new proble

? 9 arty

> p

new situation and solve new problems. "on the CPC has gone through . °s situation, ; :

‘udging from the Party ; is undergoing major

enue pease and reform periods, geal para its position tyvolunon < ard to its Party members contingency, reg changes in reg

i Party has become a i Broadly speaking, our i nt, and its tasks. ee savuigtie he people in their struggle to seize the s : p oe eat a ee n the state affairs, which is in the s

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tside world and iti f opening to the outsia i ion under the conditions 0 aiden eee ie Oe geal market economy. These two sia im eee tea reflected all the victories and achiev ee have collec its establishment and have collectively ; sia see aoa ee our Party is facing pu In me wn sane ae e illi embers, = scam sae constant succession of new on Party member Aatiecees ae = 2 added fresh blood to the say ie ma en i s than ever before. - ction more arduou: geannne: have drawn from the fate of some of the ies and communist parties that have ae Since the late 1980s and the early Here world, which have been in power " have successively lost ees ere i s for this, h went into decline. There are complicated reason of them even

it j der for them to wield the state power, = . sare: ahi sen pelea pao the CPC must be nite 7 nner see ee its awareness of unexpected peau - ae a aes a ane discipline itself in the light of deve sae ae ar ed haan itself in the spirit of reform. It will eu ee see sea slacken its efforts to sinicize Marxism 1 placent an

The Communist Party of China is a Marxist political party. The nature, purpose and historical mission of the Party determine that the Party not only dares and is good at constantly reforming and innovating in the great

cause it leads, but also dares and is good at constantly reforming and in- novating itself. .

population, a which are our

To promote Party building with the spirit of reform and innovation, we must take Party building as a systematic project. Take the construction of the Party's governing capability and advanced nature as the main | here to the principle that the Party should control the Party, strictly gov- ern the Party, implement the demands of serving the people, practicability and free from corruption, strengthen ideological construction with a firm conviction as the key points, strengthen organizational construction with a focus on training high-quality Party members and cadres, strengthen style construction with a focus on maintaining the flesh-and-blood relationship between the Party and the masses, strengthen the

building of the party systems with a focus on improving democratic centralism, strengthen the

construction of anti-corruption and integrity with a focus on perfecting the system of punishment and prevention of corruption, so that the Party will always become a Marxist ruling party that serves the interests of the public and governs for the people, seeks truth and be pragmatic, insists on reform- ing and innovating, works hard, be honest and clean, be energetic, unified and harmony. Only in this way can the Party maintain its strong creativity, cohesion and combat effectiveness, can it lead the people of all nationalities throughout the country in building an overall well-off society, realize the three historic tasks of promoting the modernization drive, completing the reunification of the motherland, safeguarding world peace and promoting

common development, and can it always be the strong core of leadership in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

ine, ad-

The bitter historical lessons we world's long-governing great an cessively lost power are profoun some major and old parties in the decades or even hundreds of years,

Second, strengthening the Party's ability to govern

The construction of its governing ability has been the fundamental aspect of construction of the CPC after it has assumed power. The Party's ability to govern means the ability of the Party to put forward and apply the correct theories, lines, guidelines and policies, lead the formulation and implemen- tation of the Constitution and laws, adopt a scientific leadership system and leadership style, and mobilize and organize the people in administering state and social affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, take effective

means in governing the Party, leading state and military affairs, and build a modern socialist country.

Since the Party has assumed Power across the whole country, in 1949, its achievements of governance have been obviously demonstrated. The governing capability of the Party can be judged whether it has been able to

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adapt to the tasks and missions, it has faced. At the same time, we must also see that there are issues which are incompatible with the cause of social- ist modernization in the areas of leadership style and governing style, the leading and working mechanism, the qualities and capabilities of leading cadres and leading groups, which have seriously affected the Party's gov- erning image and effectiveness. After the founding of New China, the first generation of the central collective leadership with Mao Zedong as the core emphasized repeatedly that Party members and cadres should learn to man- age the country and manage economic construction, and strive to achieve to "be both socialist-minded and professionally competent". Since the 3" Plenary Session of the 11" Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Deng Xiaoping closely integrated the actual conditions of reform and opening up and the socialist modernization drive, emphasized that it is necessary to improve the Party's leadership in adhering to the leadership of the Party, put forward the issue of the Party's and the state's leadership structure reform, put forward new requirements for the construction of the Party's governing ability. The third generation central collective leadership with Jiang Zemin as its core closely integrated strengthening the building of the Party's ability to govern with the promotion of socialist moderniza- tion and with maintaining the Party's advanced nature, indicating that the Party has a deeper understanding of the construction of its governing ca- pability. The CPC Central Committee with Hu Jintao as general secretary, in face of the profound changes in the world conditions, national condi- tions and Party conditions, on the basis of a comprehensive summary of historical experiences, starts from the test of governance, the test of reform and opening up, the test of market economy and profound changes in the external environment, continues to vigorously promote the construction of the Party's governing capability. In September 2004, the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening the Building of the Party's Ability to Govern adopted by the 4" Plenary Session of the 16 CPC Central Committee comprehensively summed up the major experiences gained by the Party over the past half century and clearly defined the guiding ideology, overall objectives and main tasks for strengthening the building of the Party's ability to govern, which has been a programmatic document for strengthening the Party's ability to govern. In September 2009, the 4° Plenary Session of the 17" CPC Central Committee passed the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues in Strengthening and Improving Party Building under the New Situation, which defined the general requirements for the Party building and put forward new requirements of enhancing Party building with scientific proficiency, and the strategic task of building, an ever learning Marxist party. The implementation of this decision is of great significance to improve the Party's ability to govern and lead.

. a .

|

In more than half a century of ruling practice, the Communist Party of China has accumulated valuable experience, which are mainly reflected as follows: It is imperative to adhere to the CPC's guiding ideology of keeping pace with the times and guiding its practice with the developing Marxism. We must persistently promote thé socialist self improvement and enhance the vigor and vitality of socialism; We must give top priority to governing and rejuvenating the country and regard development as the key to solve all the problems in China; We must uphold the principle of building the Party for the sake of the public and governing for the people, adhere to our flesh-blood ties with the masses; We must adhere to scientific and democratic governance and ruling by law, constantly improve the Party's leadership style and governing style; We must continue to strengthen Party building in the spirit of reform and constantly enhance the Party's creativity, cohesion and combat effective- ness. These experiences as mentioned above are also important guiding prin- ciples for strengthening the building of the Party's ability to govern and need to be persisted and continuously enriched and developed in practice.

The building of the Party's ability to govern determines the overall situ- ation of the Party building and the cause of socialism with Chinese char- acteristics. To strengthen the building of the Party's ability to govern, we must make great effort to improve the Party's leadership system, governing style, organizational form, activity mode and management style, and we must strive to improve the ability to promote scientific development and social harmony. We must strive to build a high-quality leadership team and take the improvement of the leadership and the ability to govern as the core content of building the leading bodies at all levels. According to the requirements of scientific governance, democratic governance and gover- nance according to law, we should improve the thinking and work style of the leading group, improve the leadership skills of leading cadres, improve the leading system, and we must establish the leading groups at all levels into strong leading groups that firmly implement the Party's theories, lines, principles, and policies and are good at leading scientific development. All in all, all above means that we should elevate the level of the entire and mobilize its ranks through enhancing the ability to govern of the leading groups, so that the Party will always become the strong leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Third, strengthening the Party's advanced nature

The advanced nature is what the Communist Party of China lives on and where its strength lies. To enhance the building of the Party's advanced nature means that by strengthening the Party's ideology construction, orga- nizational construction, work style construction, system construction and anti-corruption construction, make the Party's theory, line, principles and policies conform to the trend of the times and the requirements of social

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development and progress of our country, reflect the interests and aspira- tions of the people of all nationalities across the country so that the Party organizations at all levels can continuously improve their creativity, co- hesion and combat effectiveness, always give play to the role of leading nucleus and battle-fighting fortress, drive the majority of Party members to continuously improve their own quality, and always give play to their van- guard and exemplary role, so that the Party will always keep its quality of keeping pace with the times and always keep in the forefront of the times, constantly improve its ability to govern, consolidate its position as a ruling party and accomplish its ruling mission. Keeping the advanced nature is determined by the nature and purpose of Marxist political party. The Communist Party of China has always at- tached great importance to maintaining the advanced nature of the Party and always placed the Party's advanced nature construction in a prominent position. The Party has accumulated a series of valuable experiences in the creative practice of maintaining and developing its advanced nature. mainly including: we must accurately grasp the pulse of the times and ensure that the Party always keeps pace with the development of the times; we must take successfully realizing, maintaining and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the starting point and the foothold of the Party's entire work; we must keep the Party's theory, line, principles and policies constantly advancing with the times so as to ensure that the Party's entire work always meets the actual conditions and social development; we must revolve around the Party's central task and strengthen self-construction with the spirit of reform and innovation, so as to ensure that the Party will always lead the development and progress of Chinese society. We must insist that governance over the Party is exercised fully and with rigor, so as to ensure that the Party always enhances its ad- vanced nature. These valuable experiences will long-term guiding affect for further promoting the building of the Party's advanced nature.

To strengthen the building of the Party's advanced nature, we must al- ways do well the basic project of maintaining the advanced nature of the Party members and unremittingly improve the quality of the Party mem- bers. The advanced nature of the Party must be reflected in millions of high-quality Party members. The majority of Party members should consci- entiously study and observe the Party Constitution and enhance their Party spirit. Party organizations at all levels should establish a regular analysis system of Party members and their spirit, broaden the channels for Party members to serve the masses, build a system for Party members and to contact and serve the masses, improve the long-term mechanism of con- stantly educating Party members and maintaining their advanced nature so that Party members can truly become the advanced elements who firmly remember their purposes and bear the masses in their minds.

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To maintain the advanced nature of the Party, we must promote Party building with the spirit of reform and innovation. We should focus on rais- ing the theoretical level of Marxism in the whole Party, persistently arm the entire Party with the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese char- acteristics, enhance the ability of the vast majority of Party members, es- pecially Party leading cadres, to use scientific theories to solve practical problems; vigorously push forward the building of inner-party democracy, maximize the innovative vitality of the entire Party, extensively unite the wisdom and strength of the Party, and make the reform and innovation a conscious move by the majority of Party members, especially the leading cadres at all levels. We must vigorously promote the Party's system innova- tion and make the institutional building permeate the Party's ideological building, organizational and work Style building, and constantly improve the institutionalization and standardization of Party building; We should vigorously strengthen the building of leadership groups and leading cadres teams and further improve the pioneering and innovative ability to promote the development of the cause; We should vigorously promote the building of grass-roots Party organizations, further enhance the creativity, cohesion and combat effectiveness of grass-roots Party organizations; We should vigorously promote the building of working style of the Party and the build- ing of a clean government, further enhance the ability to resist corruption and prevent degeneration, and resist risks.

To strengthen the work of building the Party's advanced nature is a long- term historic task that must closely revolve around the Party's historical mission and its central task. In the new phase of the new century, in order to strengthen our work of building the Party's advanced nature, we must closely integrate the practice of implementing the scientific concept of development, the practice of building a socialist harmonious society, the practice of strengthening the Party's ability to govern and the practice of maintaining the Party's flesh-and-blood relationship with the masses of the people, so that all work for the Party's construction can stand the test of practice, history and people.