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[[File:Four Modernizations poster.png|thumb|Unite, work hard for the prosperity of the country, to speed up the struggle to realize the Four Modernizations (1978, September)]]
The '''Four Modernizations''' (simplified Chinese: 四个现代化; traditional Chinese: 四個現代化) were goals first set forth by [[Deng Xiaoping]] to strengthen the fields of [[agriculture]], [[Industrial sector|industry]], [[Military|defense]], and [[science]] and [[technology]] in China.<ref name="Ebrey">{{cite web | url=http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/graph/9confour.htm | title=Four Modernizations Era | publisher=University of Washington | work=A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization | access-date=October 20, 2012 | author=Ebrey, Patricia Buckley | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007221511/http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/graph/9confour.htm | archive-date=October 7, 2010<!-- 22:15:11 -->| url-status=live}}</ref>  
The '''Four Modernizations (simplified Chinese: 四个现代化; pinyin: Sì gè xiàndàihuà)'''  are industrial modernization, [[Agriculture|agricultural]] modernization, national defense modernization, and scientific and technological modernization.<ref>[https://baike.baidu.com/reference/4298043/7222lyh1IZD784EnqYXqQGd_MXaqP25eavjFexbg3EVc5xooSNTy6ucJqLezIGgR_YA1wdJIPmNpokNtZhusXaE3_hYTWe5MCy2MDejd-f6uByfc <nowiki>[Party History Encyclopedia] "Four Modernizations" Jiangxi Normal University Party History Learning and Education Special Network</nowiki></ref>  


The Four Modernizations were adopted as a means of rejuvenating [[economy of China|China's economy]] in 1977, following the death of [[Mao Zedong]], and later were among the defining features of [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s tenure as the paramount leader of China. At the beginning of "[[Reform and opening up|Reform and Opening-up]]", Deng further proposed the idea of "xiaokang" or "[[Moderately prosperous society]]" in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web|title=从"小康"到"全面小康"——邓小平小康社会理论形成和发展述论--邓小平纪念网--人民网|url=http://cpc.people.com.cn/n/2014/0714/c69113-25279758.html|website=cpc.people.com.cn|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Meet "moderately prosperous" China|url=https://worldin.economist.com/article/17353/edition2020meet-moderately-prosperous-china|website=worldin.economist.com|date=November 21, 2019|language=en|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref>
The first National People's Congress held in 1954 clearly stated for the first time the task of realizing the four modernizations of industry, agriculture, transportation and national defense . The first meeting of the People's Congress put forward the grand goal of "four modernizations" and announced that the task of adjusting the national economy has basically been completed. The main task of developing the national economy in the future is to build [[People's Republic of China|China]] into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense and modern science and technology within a not too long historical period.<ref>[https://baike.baidu.com/reference/4298043/babb5ORgmsmW8Uyl1yiLulmyZkpMPO3sxp__CVzPOV4fgAHVpZxnV0AaBm-c1fc8gjW1YwRya_HkIeO-2UMJZk9p6Gm2-peL0GeFnnE7I0Fqu7uZ4n7ovJxw How the "Four Modernizations" were proposed and developed] - Xinhuanet </ref>  
==Summary==
They were introduced as early as January 1963: at the Conference on Scientific and Technological Work held in [[Shanghai]] in January 1963, [[Zhou Enlai]] called for professionals in the sciences to realize "the Four Modernizations."<ref name="ScienceTechnology">{{cite news | url=http://rmrbw.net/read.php?tid=302475&fpage=14 | script-title=zh:在上海举行的科学技术工作会议上周恩来阐述科学技术现代化的重大意义 | publisher=Central Committee of the Communist Party of China | newspaper=People's Daily | date=31 January 1963 | author=人民日报 | pages=1 | language=zh | trans-title=Science and Technology in Shanghai at the conference on Zhou Enlai explained the significance of modern science and technology | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214201234/http://rmrbw.net/read.php?tid=302475 | archive-date=February 14, 2016 | url-status=dead | access-date=October 21, 2011 }}</ref> In February 1963, at the National Conference on Agricultural Science and Technology Work, Nie Rongzhen specifically referred to the Four Modernizations as comprising agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology.<ref name="tasks">{{cite news | url=http://rmrbw.net/read.php?tid=303499&fpage=10 | script-title=zh:阐明农业科学技术工作任务 | publisher=Central Committee of the Communist Party of China | newspaper=People's Daily | date=22 February 1963 | author=人民日报 | pages=1 | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215103105/http://rmrbw.net/read.php?tid=303499 | archive-date=February 15, 2016 | url-status=dead | trans-title=Clarify the tasks of agricultural science and technology | access-date=October 21, 2011 }}</ref> The [[Cultural Revolution]] prevented and delayed implementation of the Four Modernizations for years. In 1975, in one of his last public acts, Zhou Enlai made another pitch for the Four Modernizations at the [[4th National People's Congress]].


After Zhou's death and Mao's soon thereafter, [[Hua Guofeng]] assumed control of the party in 1976. Hua had the leadership of the Cultural Revolution arrested. Known as the [[Gang of Four]], their arrest marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. This event enabled the enactment of the Four Modernizations. By 1977 all entities in every sector and at every level of society were focused on implementing the Four Modernizations. One core tenet was the rejection of the previously long-held concept known as the "[[iron rice bowl]]".
== Basic information ==
The four modernizations are the national strategic goals proposed by the [[Communist Party of China]] and the People's Republic of China from the 1950s to the 1960s. At the first meeting of the Third National People's Congress in December 1964 , [[Zhou Enlai]] proposed for the first time in the government work report based on [[Mao Zedong]]'s suggestion that within the 20th century, China should be built into a country with modern agriculture, modern industry, and modern national defense. A socialist powerhouse with modern science and technology, and the "two-step" vision of realizing the four modernization goals.


The new idea was that all workers should not be paid the same, but rather, paid according to their productivity. The thinking was that in order to be a consumer society, China would need to be a producing society. In December 1978 at the [[3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China|3rd Plenum of the 11th Central Committee]], [[Deng Xiaoping]] announced the official launch of the Four Modernizations, formally marking the beginning of the reform.
The first step is to use 15 years to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system, so that China's industry can generally approach the world's advanced level;


The science and technology modernization although understood by Chinese leaders as being key to the transformation of industry and the economy, proved to be more of a theoretical goal versus an achievable objective. This was primarily due to decades-long isolation of Chinese scientists from the international community, outmoded and outdated universities, and an overall lack of access to advanced scientific equipment, information technology, and management know-how.
The second step is to strive to make China's industry take the lead in the world by the end of the 20th century, and fully realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology.


Recognizing the need for technical assistance to spur this most important modernization, the Chinese Government elicited the support of the [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP) in the fall of 1978 to scope out and provide financial resources for the implementation of an initial complement of targeted projects. The initial projects from 1979 to 1984 included the establishment of overseas on-the-job training and academic programs, set-up of information processing centers at key government units, and the development of methods to make informed decisions within the Chinese context based on market principles. The key advisor to the Chinese Government on behalf of the UNDP was Jack Fensterstock of the United States. This first technical assistance effort (CPR/79-001) by the UNDP led to the entry of large-scale multilateral funding agencies including the [[World Bank]] and the [[Asian Development Bank]].
On December 6, 1979, during talks with [[Japan|Japanese]] Prime Minister [[Masahiro Ohira]], [[Deng Xiaoping]] quantified the four modernizations as, by the end of the twentieth century, striving for a per capita GDP of US$1,000 and achieving a moderately prosperous level. Deng Xiaoping called this goal "the four modernizations of Chinese style", that is, "a moderately prosperous family".
==See also==
 
*[[Deng Xiaoping Theory]]
The four modernizations are based on the understanding of the word " modernization ", and modernization mainly refers to a phenomenon of social and cultural changes since modern times, and its meaning is relatively broad. In the economic sense, it is basically equivalent to industrialization and capitalization , emphasizing the separation of time and space, the formation of currency and the establishment of expert systems , as well as the establishment of trust mechanisms behind these mechanisms. And as people reflect on the disadvantages of modernization, the view that equates modernization with development and progress is problematic. There are inherent disadvantages in modernization, such as over-exploitation of environmental resources, excessive dominance of capital over labor, and so on. Based on this, the emergence of post-modern theory, and the scientific development concept that emphasizes sustainable development were put forward.
*[[Shenzhen speed]]
 
==References==
== Historical Development ==
{{reflist}}
From the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 to 1954, Mao Zedong and other leaders of the Communist Party of China gradually put forward the idea of ​​realizing "modernized industry, modernized agriculture, modernized transportation and modernized national defense". Later, the strategic goal of "modernization" was gradually established. On February 27, 1957, Mao Zedong said in his speech "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People" and "Build China into a socialist country with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture."
==Further reading==
 
*
March 1957: On the 12th, Mao Zedong said in his speech at the National Propaganda Work Conference of the Communist Party of China: "We can assuredly build a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture."<ref>[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-5/mswv5_59.htm SPEECH AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY'S NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK]</ref>
{{cite book|last=Hsü|first=Immanuel C. Y.|title=[[The Rise of Modern China]]|year=2000|edition=6th|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-19-512503-7}}
 
*
From December 1959 to February 1960, Mao Zedong When reading the "Textbook of Political Economy" of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]], it said: "Building socialism originally required industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, and scientific and cultural modernization, and now it must also include national defense modernization."
{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Richard|title=Deng Xiaoping and the Making of Modern China|year=1995|edition=2nd|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-013945-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dengxiaopingmak00evan}}
 
From this, Mao Zedong put forward the "four modernizations" for the first time.
 
In mid-February 1960, when Zhou Enlai was reading the Soviet Union's "Textbook of Political Economy", he changed the name of "science and culture modernization" to "science and technology modernization".
 
On January 29, 1963, Zhou Enlai said at the Shanghai Science and Technology Work Conference,<blockquote>"Our country's scientific foundation in the past was very poor. We want to realize agricultural modernization, industrial modernization, national defense modernization, and science and technology modernization, and build our motherland into a society. The key to building a strong country with socialism lies in realizing the modernization of science and technology.” </blockquote>The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Work Conference held from September 6 to September 27 of the same year proposed a two-step process: <blockquote>“The first step is to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system. and the national economic system, so that China's industry is generally close to the world's advanced level; the second step is to make China's industry take the lead in the world and fully realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology." </blockquote>Held from November 17th to December 3rd of the same year The Fourth Session of the Second National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China called on the people of the whole country to "strive hard, rely on self-reliance, and strive to build our country into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense and modern science and technology." On August 6, 1963, Bo Yibo talked at the meeting of heads of various ministries and commissions. The main content was,<blockquote>"It was originally planned to start the third five-year plan in 1963, but now it will not be carried out. It will start in 1966. The three-year plan will start in 1966. Adjustment, focusing on enriching, consolidating, improving, filling and supplementing, and becoming a dragon."</blockquote>Since the third five-year plan could not be introduced in 1963, the goals of the third five-year plan were "four Modernization" was announced. In December 1964, Mao Zedong , Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, stated when revising the "Report on the Work of the Government" made by Premier Zhou Enlai of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on behalf of the State Council at the first meeting of the Third National People's Congress :<blockquote>"We must break the rules, Adopt advanced technology as far as possible, and build our country into a socialist modernized power within a not too long historical period." </blockquote>From December 20, 1964 to January 4, 1965, the third session of the National People's Congress A meeting was held at which Zhou Enlai announced to the people of the whole country the task of realizing the "four modernizations":
 
The main task of developing the national economy in the future is, generally speaking, to build China  into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense and modern science and technology in a not too long historical period, catching up with and surpass the world advanced level. In order to realize this great historical task, starting from the third five-year plan, my country's national economic development can be considered in two steps: the first step is to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system; the second step , realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology in an all-round way, so that China's economy will be at the forefront of the world.
 
In January 1975, at the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress , Zhou Enlai followed Mao Zedong 's instructions and reiterated in the "Government Work Report" the first session of the Third National People's Congress " Government Work Report". "The two-step strategy to realize the four modernizations in an all-round way."
 
Zhou Enlai announced in the "Government Work Report": <blockquote>"Starting from the third five-year plan, the development of my country's national economy can be envisioned in two steps: the first step is to take fifteen years, that is, in 1980 In the past, an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system should be established; the second step is to fully realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology within this century, so that our national economy can be at the forefront of the world."</blockquote>On May 31, 1989, when Deng Xiaoping wanted to change the leadership and form a promising leadership group to carry out reforms, he mentioned:<blockquote>"Our comrades in the Politburo, the Standing Committee of the Politburo, and the Secretariat are all in charge of major affairs. When considering any issue, we must focus on the long-term and the overall situation. ... The people are basically satisfied with our collective. It is because we carried out reform and opening up, put forward the four modernization routes, and have really achieved real results....It is impossible to close the door. It is impossible for China to return to the closed era of the past. That closed method also caused Disasters, such as the "Cultural Revolution".</blockquote>In that state, it is impossible for the economy to develop, people's lives to improve, and national power to increase. The world is developing rapidly and changing every day, especially science and technology. Difficult to catch up.
 
== Theoretical Proposition ==
The goal of China's socialist construction is to realize the four modernizations of industry, agriculture, science and technology, and national defense. To change the extreme poverty and backwardness of old China, to make the Chinese nation stand among the nations of the world, and to become a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized country is the goal that Chairman Mao has set since he was very young. He devoted himself to and led the revolution and construction, and after decades of arduous struggle, it can be said that it was all to achieve this goal. The written expression of this goal has gradually become clear and clear during the practice of revolution and construction.
 
==== From Chairman Mao Zedong ====
In 1945, in the political report "''On the Coalition Government''" of the [[7th National Congress of the Communist Party of China|Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China]], he stated that <blockquote>"after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan... the task of the Chinese working class is not only to fight for the establishment of a new democratic country, Moreover, they are fighting for China's industrialization and agricultural modernization."<ref>Mao Zedong Selected Works " Second Edition Volume III Page 1081</ref> </blockquote>In his speech at the Second Plenary Session of the Party, he proposed that "the backward agricultural China has become an advanced industrial country", Mao  added the two attributives "backward" and "advanced" before "agricultural country" and "industrial country"
 
Changing a backward agricultural country and building an advanced industrial country is the way Comrade Mao Zedong expressed his goal of national construction during this period. On June 14, 1954, he said in his speech "On the Draft Constitution of the People's Republic of China": <blockquote>"We are a big country with a population of 600 million. We must realize socialist industrialization, socialist agriculture and mechanization..."<ref>Collected Works of Mao Zedong ", Volume VI, page 329</ref> </blockquote>On October 18 of the same year, in his speech at the first meeting of the National Defense Committee, he mentioned industry, agriculture, culture, and military for the first time. He said:<blockquote>"We are not good enough in industry, agriculture, culture, and military. The imperialists estimate that we have only a little stuff, so they come to bully us."<ref>Collected works of Mao Zedong, Chapter 6, Page 357</ref> </blockquote>In March 1957, in his speech at the National Propaganda Work Conference of the Communist Party of China, he proposed three modernizations. He said: "We can assuredly build a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture."<ref>[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-5/mswv5_59.htm SPEECH AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY'S NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK]</ref>
 
The above formulation in this speech is only a small step away from the formulation of the four modernizations. From the end of 1959 to the beginning of 1960, he perfected and supplemented this formulation in his notes while reading the Soviet Union's "Textbook of Political Economy". He said:
 
"Building socialism originally required industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, scientific and cultural modernization, and now national defense modernization."<ref>Collected Works of Mao Zedong" Vol. 8, page 116</ref>
 
The "original requirement" here refers to the request he put forward in his speech at the National Propaganda Work Conference. So far, the slogan of "realizing the four modernizations of socialism" has been comprehensively understood. On March 18, 1960, in his talk with the Prime Minister of Nepal, he once again reiterated the goal of realizing the four modernizations:<blockquote>"[Our task] is to settle down, so that we can build our country's modernized industry, modernized agriculture, modernized scientific culture and modernized national defense."<ref>"Collected Works of Mao Zedong" Volume VIII, page 162)</ref> </blockquote>Chairman Mao's goal of the four modernizations was not immediately announced to the outside world at the time. Later, it was written into the "Government Work Report" It was officially released to the world in this format. Later, it was written again in the "Government Work Report" of the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress held in 1975. In this way, "realize industrial, Modernization of agriculture, science and technology, and national defense" spread more widely and deeply, and became the basis and motivation to inspire the unity and struggle of hundreds of millions of people in China.
 
It should be pointed out that in Chairman Mao's above statement about the four modernizations, he mentioned that science and culture are linked together. This statement shows that in Chairman Mao's mind, industry is the first, followed by agriculture, science is the third, and culture is the next. This expression reflects his great emphasis on cultural modernization. It is Chairman Mao's consistent thinking to attach importance to the role of culture in the process and progress of the whole society, and to attach importance to the development of cultural undertakings. Looking back today, Chairman Mao's formulation may be more accurate and comprehensive. Indeed, in the process of realizing the four modernizations of socialism, it is impossible to do without the modernization of culture. With the gradual advancement of other modernizations, the modernization of culture becomes even more important and cannot be ignored. This point is worthy of our deep thinking and grasping today and in the future.
 
==== From Comrade Deng Xiaoping ====
Deng Xiaoping once said, <blockquote>The four modernizations we are talking about are actually proposed by Chairman Mao, and Premier Zhou mentioned them in his government work report<ref>Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping" Second Edition Volume II, pages 311-312</ref> </blockquote>After understanding the process of "putting forward" and "telling" the goal of "realizing the four modernizations of socialism" mentioned above, we will further deepen our understanding. To understand this exposition of Comrade Deng Xiaoping. At the same time, from one aspect, it deepens the questioning of "Deng being anti Mao" and the "four modernizations being anti Mao". Considering Mao and Zhou Enlai were the first two to really focus upon the Four Modernizations.
 
In December 1979, during his meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister and his party, Deng Xiaoping put forward the concept of realizing " moderately prosperous society"<blockquote>"The four modernizations we want to realize are Chinese-style four modernizations. Our concept of the four modernizations is not the concept of modernization like yours, but a 'well-off family'. By the end of this century, China's four Even if modernization achieves a certain goal, our per capita GNP is still very low. To reach the level of the richer countries in the third world, such as per capita GNP of US$1,000, we still have to pay a lot. Great effort. Even if it reaches that level, compared with the West, it is still lagging behind."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200526173439/http://www.china.com.cn/culture/txt/2008-09/28/content_16549900.htm From "Four Modernizations" to "Well-off" Conception and Deng Xiaoping's Suzhou-Hangzhou Trip] - China.net</ref> </blockquote>In 1982, the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China officially cited the concept of "[[moderately prosperous society]]" and made it a strategic goal at the end of the 20th century.  In a "moderately prosperous society" people's life reaches the "moderately prosperous level", which means that on the basis of food and clothing, the quality of life is further improved and sufficient food and clothing are achieved.<ref>What is the meaning of "moderately prosperous society" proposed by Deng Xiaoping? - People's Daily Online</ref>
 
After 1984, Deng Xiaoping began to focus on the design of the strategic steps and goals of China's economic development in the 21st century, and proposed that it would take 30 to 50 years to reach the level of moderately developed countries after realizing "moderately prosperous". By 1987, Deng Xiaoping had drawn up a clear "three-step" development blueprint for China's economic construction. The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China confirmed his strategic vision, pointing out that through the implementation of the "three-step" development strategy, "by the middle of the next century, the per capita GNP will reach the level of moderately developed countries , people's lives will be relatively rich, and modernization will be basically realized."
 
Although the "three-step" strategic step is based on economic indicators as the standard for division, its effect is to implement the improvement of people's material and cultural life, thus reflecting the unity of production construction and people's life; it focuses on the comprehensive.
 
The improvement of national strength, using the gross national product as a measure, fully reflects the unity of speed and efficiency. It was with the introduction and gradual implementation of this strategic step that people clearly felt the limitations of the term "four modernizations," that is, the understanding of modernization was still relatively narrow, and it only involved the economic and cultural aspects rather than the four modernizations.
 
It does not involve the political and social aspects, only involves the level of material civilization but not the ideological and institutional level, does not reflect the goals of socialist spiritual civilization and democratic political construction, and does not take into account the simultaneous progress and coordination of economic and social development develop. Therefore, after the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the concept of the four modernizations gradually faded out of people's memory.
 
Abandoning the long-standing reference to the four modernizations is not a whim, but has historical reasons. As early as the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1979, Ye Jianying pointed out in his National Day speech that the four modernizations we refer to are the four aspects of modernization, not that the cause of modernization is limited to these four aspects. He believes that reforming and improving the socialist system, promoting socialist democracy, improving the socialist legal system, and building socialist spiritual civilization, "these are important goals of our socialist modernization, and they are also necessary conditions for realizing the four modernizations."
 
Deng Xiaoping later further deepened and developed this idea, pointing out: "The task of modernization is multifaceted, all aspects need to be comprehensively balanced, and cannot be singled out." The "Historical Resolution" passed by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee continued to emphasize the four While building modernization is "the goal of our party in the new historical period", it also proposes that "gradually building a highly democratic socialist political system is one of the fundamental tasks of the socialist revolution" and that "socialism must have a high degree of spiritual Civilization", thus for the first time incorporated a high degree of democracy and a high degree of civilization into the goal system of socialist modernization.
 
The Twelfth National Congress put forward the general task of the party in the new period: "Unite the people of all nationalities in the country, rely on themselves, work hard, gradually realize the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology, and build my country into a highly civilized and highly democratic socialist country. .” Here, a high degree of civilization and democracy began to be regarded as the goals and characteristics of a socialist modern power.
 
It was on this basis that the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China used the concept of "prosperity, democracy, and civilization" and put forward the grand goal of "struggling to build my country into a prosperous, democratic, and civilized socialist modern power", thus formally replacing the past The formulation of the four modernization goals has been used all the time.
 
The proposal of the new goal not only focuses on the improvement and improvement of the people's material and cultural life, but also focuses on the unification of the three aspects of socialist economy, politics, and culture, reflecting the characteristics of the overall development and common progress of the entire society.
 
Therefore, it is a more comprehensive socialist modernization goal. The new goal is based on the [[Reform and Opening Up]], involves all levels of social life, requires changing the traditional way of life, thinking and behavior of our society, and rebuilding our country's social and economic structure, so as to make a relatively backward economy and culture China will become a prosperous, democratic, and civilized socialist modern power. It can be said that this is not only a comprehensive goal, but also a three-dimensional goal.
 
==== From Comrade Jiang Zemin ====
After the Fourth Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee of the Party , the third-generation central leadership group with [[Jiang Zemin]] as the core carefully summarized the basic theories and basic practices since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, and passed the "On the Formulation of In the ten-year plan for national economic and social development and the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" proposal, the twelve principles for building socialism with Chinese characteristics are put forward from the economic, political and cultural aspects, which symbolizes our party's commitment to socialist modernization. The understanding of the law has become more profound and comprehensive.
 
In 1991, when Jiang Zemin comprehensively summarized the pursuit and exploration of China's modernization in the past 70 years since the founding of the party, he proposed for the first time the three concepts of building a socialist economy, politics and culture with Chinese characteristics. was further explained.
 
Since then, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has listed the development of the socialist market economy, the construction of socialist democratic politics, and spiritual civilization as the three major goals of socialism with Chinese characteristics, further deepening the development of "a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized socialist modern power"
 
The Fifteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized: "Around the goal of building a prosperous, strong, democratic and civilized socialist modern country, further clarify what is the economy, politics and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the primary stage of socialism, and how to build such an economy, politics and culture. , is necessary." Thus, the goal of socialist modernization is clearly linked with the basic goals of building a socialist economy, politics and culture with Chinese characteristics.
 
It can be said that the basic goals of socialist economy, politics and culture with Chinese characteristics and the modernization goals of prosperity, democracy and civilization are two corresponding categories, and they complement each other and explain each other. It was on the basis of this organic unity that Comrade Jiang Zemin put forward the scientific concept of the basic program of the primary stage of socialism.
 
He believes that it is "the basic goals and basic policies of building a socialist economy, politics, and culture with Chinese characteristics, which are organically unified and inseparable, and constitute the basic program of the party in the primary stage of socialism."
 
The basic program includes three aspects: economy, politics, and culture. It further specifies the goals of modernization that the Chinese Communists have long pursued, and decomposes them into economic construction goals, political construction goals, and cultural construction goals. The basic goals and related principles and policies complement each other and are interrelated, making people visible and tangible, making the overall goals of prosperity, democracy, and civilization changed from theory to policy, from goals to programs, and from slogans to slogans.
 
In practice, it avoids the fate that the goals raised for a long time in the past are too high, too big, too empty, divorced from China's specific reality, lack of relevant implementation strategies, and eventually become empty words or slogans.
 
It is precisely in order to strengthen the party’s leadership over socialist modernization and ultimately realize the basic program for the primary stage of socialism that Jiang Zemin also put forward a basic program for comprehensively strengthening party building at the turn of the century. This is the important thought of the “Three Represents.”
 
Facing the new century, only when Chinese Communists always represent the development requirements of China's advanced productive forces can they truly build a socialist economy with Chinese characteristics; only when they always represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people can they truly build socialism with Chinese characteristics, Only by always representing the direction of China's culture can China truly build a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.
 
In other words, only by truly achieving the "[[Three Represents]]" can China adhere to the basic program of the primary stage of socialism and lead the people of the whole country to finally realize the modernization goal of prosperity, democracy, and civilization. 
 
==== From Comrade Hu Jintao ====
The Party Central Committee with [[Hu Jintao]] as the general secretary proceeds from the overall development of the party and the country's modernization cause in the new century and new stage, implements the scientific outlook on development, and inherits the three generations of central leadership groups of the party to explore the theoretical and practical achievements of the socialist modernization strategic goal , gradually formed a new thinking of building a socialist harmonious society, clearly stated that "social harmony is the goal of our party's unremitting struggle", and incorporated it into the goal system of socialist modernization, and called on the whole party and the people of the country to "build China's Strive to become a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious modern socialist country."
 
To further expand the goal of socialist modernization from "prosperous, democratic and civilized" to "prosperous, democratic, civilized and harmonious" is a major strategic deployment of the Party Central Committee since the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. In 2002, the report of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China included "a more harmonious society" into the grand blueprint for building a well-off society in an all-round way for the first time, and proposed to build a more comprehensive well-off society in the first 20 years of the new century. more progress, more prosperous culture, more harmonious society, and better people’s lives.”
 
Since then, our party has continuously deepened its understanding of the importance of social harmony, seized historical opportunities, and promptly proposed a development strategy for building a harmonious socialist society.
 
The Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward the scientific concept of development according to the requirements of the times and the contemporary national conditions, emphasizing that "adhere to people-oriented, establish a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development concept, and promote the comprehensive development of economy, society and people".
 
Guided by this, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee not only proposed to continuously improve the ability to build a harmonious socialist society, but also compared it with "the ability to control the socialist market economy," "the ability to develop socialist democratic politics," and "the ability to build a socialist harmonious society." The ability of advanced socialist culture" was put forward side by side, which reflects our party's new thinking on the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
 
In February 2005, Hu Jintao pointed out for the first time that the building of a socialist harmonious society belongs to "social construction" in a special seminar for major leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels, and put it in parallel with economic construction, political construction, and cultural construction.
 
The overall layout of the building has developed from the past "trinity" to "four in one". Since then, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee has defined building a harmonious socialist society as an important task that must be grasped to fully implement the Scientific Outlook on Development, and put forward a series of work requirements and major measures related to it.
 
In 2006, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee made the "Decision on Several Major Issues Concerning the Construction of a Socialist Harmonious Society", which clearly put forward the guiding ideology, objectives, tasks, working principles and major arrangements for building a socialist harmonious society at present and in the future. It further clarified the position of building a harmonious socialist society in the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and profoundly clarified that social harmony is the essential attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important guarantee for the prosperity of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation, and the happiness of the people. The understanding of the essence of socialism has been deepened under historical conditions, which shows that our party's understanding of "what is socialism and how to build socialism" has reached a new level.
 
The Seventeenth National Congress clearly stated the goal of "building my country into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious modern socialist country", emphasizing that in accordance with the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively promote economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, and social construction, that is, "Construct a socialist market economy, socialist democratic politics, advanced socialist culture, and a harmonious socialist society, and build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious."
 
According to this new goal, the Party Central Committee has further enriched and developed the basic program for the primary stage of socialism put forward by the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The basic program composed of basic goals and basic policies".
 
According to the overall layout of "four in one", this basic program makes a comprehensive deployment of the contents of economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, and social construction, and makes a specific interpretation of "prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony."
 
Juxtaposing social construction with economic, political, and cultural construction, emphasizing the "four in one" and jointly serving the modernization goal of "prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony" is not only a supplement and improvement to the basic program of the primary stage of socialism, but also a A new expansion of the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
 
On the basis of fully summarizing the theory and practice of the party's three generations of central leadership on the goal of modernization of New China, the 17th National Congress clearly put forward the goal of "prosperity, democracy, civilization and harmony" and the "four in one" of economic, political, cultural and social construction. This fully demonstrates that Chinese Communists have a more scientific and comprehensive understanding of the objective laws of modernization at the new stage in the new century, a clearer and more specific approach to building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and a more suitable goal and basic program for China.<ref>[https://baike.baidu.com/reference/4298043/127220_KPqbuvTVVrBSA81m3ZuZZbpYAf7x-Xq7XOspdzI5epSEl_hjKJ14sF595O0X_ltCi32sNhLfPAlik40omWskxjL7sXJg6 China's Goals: From Industrialization and Modernization to Prosperity, Democracy, Civilization and Harmony] - Sohu News </ref>
 
==== From Comrade Xi Jinping ====
In the report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary [[Xi Jinping]] stated: "Strive to build my country into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modern power." "Harmony and beauty" - "beauty" has been added, the overall layout of the "five in one" has been better aligned with the goal of modernization, and the better life pursued by the Chinese people has become more perfect.
 
Clearly taking "beauty" as one of the goals and symbols of building a powerful modern socialist country is a new deployment arrangement made in response to the changes in the main contradictions in our society. The report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of my country pointed out: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the main contradiction in our society has been transformed into the contradiction between the people's growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development." The environment is people's livelihood, and green hills are beauty , the blue sky is also happiness. Entering the new era, we must not only create more material wealth and spiritual wealth to meet the people's growing needs for a better life, but also provide more high-quality ecological products to meet the people's growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment, and persevere in building harmony between man and nature Symbiotic modernization.
 
Incorporating "beauty" into the important connotation of socialist modernization is also conducive to accelerating the construction of a beautiful China. The report of the Nineteenth National Congress put forward new goals for the construction of ecological civilization and the protection of the ecological environment: <blockquote>"By 2020, we will resolutely fight the tough battle against pollution; by 2035, the ecological environment will be fundamentally improved, and the goal of a beautiful China will be basically realized; by the middle of this century, we will build our country into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modern power. This demonstrates the Communist Party of China's ruling philosophy of people's supremacy and the mission of realizing the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Firmly establish the concept of socialist ecological civilization, implement the concept of green development, and promote the formation of a new pattern of modernization with harmonious development between man and nature. China will follow the strategic arrangement of socialist development with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and by the middle of this century, we will build a prosperous, strong, democratic and civilized society. A harmonious and beautiful socialist modern power!"<ref>[https://baike.baidu.com/reference/4298043/e540FjMh6Q95iox3ea1KMUk1a7STOr9_ojU1mJ1WkDv4i1COflL1_ym6RnzQZ-zYmLA0YT5NW0kgYQCeq-gIIIUlivT3CUDb8gYVgJDgLpURmec-B-wWLaoM-9adJEmbMCOkZHXxnferGFEJ One Hundred Questions on the Spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China - Why should we add "beautiful" after "rich, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious"?] - Website of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision </ref> </blockquote>
 
== See Also: ==
 
* [[Socialist market economy]]
* [[Deng Xiaoping Theory]]
* [[Socialism with Chinese Characteristics]]
 
== References ==
[[Category:Ideology of the Communist Party of China]]
[[Category:Ideology of the Communist Party of China]]

Latest revision as of 18:44, 20 October 2024

Unite, work hard for the prosperity of the country, to speed up the struggle to realize the Four Modernizations (1978, September)

The Four Modernizations (simplified Chinese: 四个现代化; pinyin: Sì gè xiàndàihuà) are industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, national defense modernization, and scientific and technological modernization.[1]

The first National People's Congress held in 1954 clearly stated for the first time the task of realizing the four modernizations of industry, agriculture, transportation and national defense . The first meeting of the People's Congress put forward the grand goal of "four modernizations" and announced that the task of adjusting the national economy has basically been completed. The main task of developing the national economy in the future is to build China into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense and modern science and technology within a not too long historical period.[2]

Basic information[edit | edit source]

The four modernizations are the national strategic goals proposed by the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China from the 1950s to the 1960s. At the first meeting of the Third National People's Congress in December 1964 , Zhou Enlai proposed for the first time in the government work report based on Mao Zedong's suggestion that within the 20th century, China should be built into a country with modern agriculture, modern industry, and modern national defense. A socialist powerhouse with modern science and technology, and the "two-step" vision of realizing the four modernization goals.

The first step is to use 15 years to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system, so that China's industry can generally approach the world's advanced level;

The second step is to strive to make China's industry take the lead in the world by the end of the 20th century, and fully realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology.

On December 6, 1979, during talks with Japanese Prime Minister Masahiro Ohira, Deng Xiaoping quantified the four modernizations as, by the end of the twentieth century, striving for a per capita GDP of US$1,000 and achieving a moderately prosperous level. Deng Xiaoping called this goal "the four modernizations of Chinese style", that is, "a moderately prosperous family".

The four modernizations are based on the understanding of the word " modernization ", and modernization mainly refers to a phenomenon of social and cultural changes since modern times, and its meaning is relatively broad. In the economic sense, it is basically equivalent to industrialization and capitalization , emphasizing the separation of time and space, the formation of currency and the establishment of expert systems , as well as the establishment of trust mechanisms behind these mechanisms. And as people reflect on the disadvantages of modernization, the view that equates modernization with development and progress is problematic. There are inherent disadvantages in modernization, such as over-exploitation of environmental resources, excessive dominance of capital over labor, and so on. Based on this, the emergence of post-modern theory, and the scientific development concept that emphasizes sustainable development were put forward.

Historical Development[edit | edit source]

From the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 to 1954, Mao Zedong and other leaders of the Communist Party of China gradually put forward the idea of ​​realizing "modernized industry, modernized agriculture, modernized transportation and modernized national defense". Later, the strategic goal of "modernization" was gradually established. On February 27, 1957, Mao Zedong said in his speech "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People" and "Build China into a socialist country with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture."

March 1957: On the 12th, Mao Zedong said in his speech at the National Propaganda Work Conference of the Communist Party of China: "We can assuredly build a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture."[3]

From December 1959 to February 1960, Mao Zedong When reading the "Textbook of Political Economy" of the Soviet Union, it said: "Building socialism originally required industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, and scientific and cultural modernization, and now it must also include national defense modernization."

From this, Mao Zedong put forward the "four modernizations" for the first time.

In mid-February 1960, when Zhou Enlai was reading the Soviet Union's "Textbook of Political Economy", he changed the name of "science and culture modernization" to "science and technology modernization".

On January 29, 1963, Zhou Enlai said at the Shanghai Science and Technology Work Conference,

"Our country's scientific foundation in the past was very poor. We want to realize agricultural modernization, industrial modernization, national defense modernization, and science and technology modernization, and build our motherland into a society. The key to building a strong country with socialism lies in realizing the modernization of science and technology.”

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Work Conference held from September 6 to September 27 of the same year proposed a two-step process:

“The first step is to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system. and the national economic system, so that China's industry is generally close to the world's advanced level; the second step is to make China's industry take the lead in the world and fully realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology."

Held from November 17th to December 3rd of the same year The Fourth Session of the Second National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China called on the people of the whole country to "strive hard, rely on self-reliance, and strive to build our country into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense and modern science and technology." On August 6, 1963, Bo Yibo talked at the meeting of heads of various ministries and commissions. The main content was,

"It was originally planned to start the third five-year plan in 1963, but now it will not be carried out. It will start in 1966. The three-year plan will start in 1966. Adjustment, focusing on enriching, consolidating, improving, filling and supplementing, and becoming a dragon."

Since the third five-year plan could not be introduced in 1963, the goals of the third five-year plan were "four Modernization" was announced. In December 1964, Mao Zedong , Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, stated when revising the "Report on the Work of the Government" made by Premier Zhou Enlai of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on behalf of the State Council at the first meeting of the Third National People's Congress :

"We must break the rules, Adopt advanced technology as far as possible, and build our country into a socialist modernized power within a not too long historical period."

From December 20, 1964 to January 4, 1965, the third session of the National People's Congress A meeting was held at which Zhou Enlai announced to the people of the whole country the task of realizing the "four modernizations":

The main task of developing the national economy in the future is, generally speaking, to build China into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense and modern science and technology in a not too long historical period, catching up with and surpass the world advanced level. In order to realize this great historical task, starting from the third five-year plan, my country's national economic development can be considered in two steps: the first step is to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system; the second step , realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology in an all-round way, so that China's economy will be at the forefront of the world.

In January 1975, at the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress , Zhou Enlai followed Mao Zedong 's instructions and reiterated in the "Government Work Report" the first session of the Third National People's Congress " Government Work Report". "The two-step strategy to realize the four modernizations in an all-round way."

Zhou Enlai announced in the "Government Work Report":

"Starting from the third five-year plan, the development of my country's national economy can be envisioned in two steps: the first step is to take fifteen years, that is, in 1980 In the past, an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system should be established; the second step is to fully realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology within this century, so that our national economy can be at the forefront of the world."

On May 31, 1989, when Deng Xiaoping wanted to change the leadership and form a promising leadership group to carry out reforms, he mentioned:

"Our comrades in the Politburo, the Standing Committee of the Politburo, and the Secretariat are all in charge of major affairs. When considering any issue, we must focus on the long-term and the overall situation. ... The people are basically satisfied with our collective. It is because we carried out reform and opening up, put forward the four modernization routes, and have really achieved real results....It is impossible to close the door. It is impossible for China to return to the closed era of the past. That closed method also caused Disasters, such as the "Cultural Revolution".

In that state, it is impossible for the economy to develop, people's lives to improve, and national power to increase. The world is developing rapidly and changing every day, especially science and technology. Difficult to catch up.

Theoretical Proposition[edit | edit source]

The goal of China's socialist construction is to realize the four modernizations of industry, agriculture, science and technology, and national defense. To change the extreme poverty and backwardness of old China, to make the Chinese nation stand among the nations of the world, and to become a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized country is the goal that Chairman Mao has set since he was very young. He devoted himself to and led the revolution and construction, and after decades of arduous struggle, it can be said that it was all to achieve this goal. The written expression of this goal has gradually become clear and clear during the practice of revolution and construction.

From Chairman Mao Zedong[edit | edit source]

In 1945, in the political report "On the Coalition Government" of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he stated that

"after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan... the task of the Chinese working class is not only to fight for the establishment of a new democratic country, Moreover, they are fighting for China's industrialization and agricultural modernization."[4]

In his speech at the Second Plenary Session of the Party, he proposed that "the backward agricultural China has become an advanced industrial country", Mao added the two attributives "backward" and "advanced" before "agricultural country" and "industrial country" Changing a backward agricultural country and building an advanced industrial country is the way Comrade Mao Zedong expressed his goal of national construction during this period. On June 14, 1954, he said in his speech "On the Draft Constitution of the People's Republic of China":

"We are a big country with a population of 600 million. We must realize socialist industrialization, socialist agriculture and mechanization..."[5]

On October 18 of the same year, in his speech at the first meeting of the National Defense Committee, he mentioned industry, agriculture, culture, and military for the first time. He said:

"We are not good enough in industry, agriculture, culture, and military. The imperialists estimate that we have only a little stuff, so they come to bully us."[6]

In March 1957, in his speech at the National Propaganda Work Conference of the Communist Party of China, he proposed three modernizations. He said: "We can assuredly build a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture."[7]

The above formulation in this speech is only a small step away from the formulation of the four modernizations. From the end of 1959 to the beginning of 1960, he perfected and supplemented this formulation in his notes while reading the Soviet Union's "Textbook of Political Economy". He said:

"Building socialism originally required industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, scientific and cultural modernization, and now national defense modernization."[8]

The "original requirement" here refers to the request he put forward in his speech at the National Propaganda Work Conference. So far, the slogan of "realizing the four modernizations of socialism" has been comprehensively understood. On March 18, 1960, in his talk with the Prime Minister of Nepal, he once again reiterated the goal of realizing the four modernizations:

"[Our task] is to settle down, so that we can build our country's modernized industry, modernized agriculture, modernized scientific culture and modernized national defense."[9]

Chairman Mao's goal of the four modernizations was not immediately announced to the outside world at the time. Later, it was written into the "Government Work Report" It was officially released to the world in this format. Later, it was written again in the "Government Work Report" of the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress held in 1975. In this way, "realize industrial, Modernization of agriculture, science and technology, and national defense" spread more widely and deeply, and became the basis and motivation to inspire the unity and struggle of hundreds of millions of people in China.

It should be pointed out that in Chairman Mao's above statement about the four modernizations, he mentioned that science and culture are linked together. This statement shows that in Chairman Mao's mind, industry is the first, followed by agriculture, science is the third, and culture is the next. This expression reflects his great emphasis on cultural modernization. It is Chairman Mao's consistent thinking to attach importance to the role of culture in the process and progress of the whole society, and to attach importance to the development of cultural undertakings. Looking back today, Chairman Mao's formulation may be more accurate and comprehensive. Indeed, in the process of realizing the four modernizations of socialism, it is impossible to do without the modernization of culture. With the gradual advancement of other modernizations, the modernization of culture becomes even more important and cannot be ignored. This point is worthy of our deep thinking and grasping today and in the future.

From Comrade Deng Xiaoping[edit | edit source]

Deng Xiaoping once said,

The four modernizations we are talking about are actually proposed by Chairman Mao, and Premier Zhou mentioned them in his government work report[10]

After understanding the process of "putting forward" and "telling" the goal of "realizing the four modernizations of socialism" mentioned above, we will further deepen our understanding. To understand this exposition of Comrade Deng Xiaoping. At the same time, from one aspect, it deepens the questioning of "Deng being anti Mao" and the "four modernizations being anti Mao". Considering Mao and Zhou Enlai were the first two to really focus upon the Four Modernizations. In December 1979, during his meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister and his party, Deng Xiaoping put forward the concept of realizing " moderately prosperous society"

"The four modernizations we want to realize are Chinese-style four modernizations. Our concept of the four modernizations is not the concept of modernization like yours, but a 'well-off family'. By the end of this century, China's four Even if modernization achieves a certain goal, our per capita GNP is still very low. To reach the level of the richer countries in the third world, such as per capita GNP of US$1,000, we still have to pay a lot. Great effort. Even if it reaches that level, compared with the West, it is still lagging behind."[11]

In 1982, the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China officially cited the concept of "moderately prosperous society" and made it a strategic goal at the end of the 20th century.  In a "moderately prosperous society" people's life reaches the "moderately prosperous level", which means that on the basis of food and clothing, the quality of life is further improved and sufficient food and clothing are achieved.[12]

After 1984, Deng Xiaoping began to focus on the design of the strategic steps and goals of China's economic development in the 21st century, and proposed that it would take 30 to 50 years to reach the level of moderately developed countries after realizing "moderately prosperous". By 1987, Deng Xiaoping had drawn up a clear "three-step" development blueprint for China's economic construction. The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China confirmed his strategic vision, pointing out that through the implementation of the "three-step" development strategy, "by the middle of the next century, the per capita GNP will reach the level of moderately developed countries , people's lives will be relatively rich, and modernization will be basically realized."

Although the "three-step" strategic step is based on economic indicators as the standard for division, its effect is to implement the improvement of people's material and cultural life, thus reflecting the unity of production construction and people's life; it focuses on the comprehensive.

The improvement of national strength, using the gross national product as a measure, fully reflects the unity of speed and efficiency. It was with the introduction and gradual implementation of this strategic step that people clearly felt the limitations of the term "four modernizations," that is, the understanding of modernization was still relatively narrow, and it only involved the economic and cultural aspects rather than the four modernizations.

It does not involve the political and social aspects, only involves the level of material civilization but not the ideological and institutional level, does not reflect the goals of socialist spiritual civilization and democratic political construction, and does not take into account the simultaneous progress and coordination of economic and social development develop. Therefore, after the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the concept of the four modernizations gradually faded out of people's memory.

Abandoning the long-standing reference to the four modernizations is not a whim, but has historical reasons. As early as the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1979, Ye Jianying pointed out in his National Day speech that the four modernizations we refer to are the four aspects of modernization, not that the cause of modernization is limited to these four aspects. He believes that reforming and improving the socialist system, promoting socialist democracy, improving the socialist legal system, and building socialist spiritual civilization, "these are important goals of our socialist modernization, and they are also necessary conditions for realizing the four modernizations."

Deng Xiaoping later further deepened and developed this idea, pointing out: "The task of modernization is multifaceted, all aspects need to be comprehensively balanced, and cannot be singled out." The "Historical Resolution" passed by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee continued to emphasize the four While building modernization is "the goal of our party in the new historical period", it also proposes that "gradually building a highly democratic socialist political system is one of the fundamental tasks of the socialist revolution" and that "socialism must have a high degree of spiritual Civilization", thus for the first time incorporated a high degree of democracy and a high degree of civilization into the goal system of socialist modernization.

The Twelfth National Congress put forward the general task of the party in the new period: "Unite the people of all nationalities in the country, rely on themselves, work hard, gradually realize the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology, and build my country into a highly civilized and highly democratic socialist country. .” Here, a high degree of civilization and democracy began to be regarded as the goals and characteristics of a socialist modern power.

It was on this basis that the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China used the concept of "prosperity, democracy, and civilization" and put forward the grand goal of "struggling to build my country into a prosperous, democratic, and civilized socialist modern power", thus formally replacing the past The formulation of the four modernization goals has been used all the time.

The proposal of the new goal not only focuses on the improvement and improvement of the people's material and cultural life, but also focuses on the unification of the three aspects of socialist economy, politics, and culture, reflecting the characteristics of the overall development and common progress of the entire society.

Therefore, it is a more comprehensive socialist modernization goal. The new goal is based on the Reform and Opening Up, involves all levels of social life, requires changing the traditional way of life, thinking and behavior of our society, and rebuilding our country's social and economic structure, so as to make a relatively backward economy and culture China will become a prosperous, democratic, and civilized socialist modern power. It can be said that this is not only a comprehensive goal, but also a three-dimensional goal.

From Comrade Jiang Zemin[edit | edit source]

After the Fourth Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee of the Party , the third-generation central leadership group with Jiang Zemin as the core carefully summarized the basic theories and basic practices since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, and passed the "On the Formulation of In the ten-year plan for national economic and social development and the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" proposal, the twelve principles for building socialism with Chinese characteristics are put forward from the economic, political and cultural aspects, which symbolizes our party's commitment to socialist modernization. The understanding of the law has become more profound and comprehensive.

In 1991, when Jiang Zemin comprehensively summarized the pursuit and exploration of China's modernization in the past 70 years since the founding of the party, he proposed for the first time the three concepts of building a socialist economy, politics and culture with Chinese characteristics. was further explained.

Since then, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has listed the development of the socialist market economy, the construction of socialist democratic politics, and spiritual civilization as the three major goals of socialism with Chinese characteristics, further deepening the development of "a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized socialist modern power"

The Fifteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized: "Around the goal of building a prosperous, strong, democratic and civilized socialist modern country, further clarify what is the economy, politics and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the primary stage of socialism, and how to build such an economy, politics and culture. , is necessary." Thus, the goal of socialist modernization is clearly linked with the basic goals of building a socialist economy, politics and culture with Chinese characteristics.

It can be said that the basic goals of socialist economy, politics and culture with Chinese characteristics and the modernization goals of prosperity, democracy and civilization are two corresponding categories, and they complement each other and explain each other. It was on the basis of this organic unity that Comrade Jiang Zemin put forward the scientific concept of the basic program of the primary stage of socialism.

He believes that it is "the basic goals and basic policies of building a socialist economy, politics, and culture with Chinese characteristics, which are organically unified and inseparable, and constitute the basic program of the party in the primary stage of socialism."

The basic program includes three aspects: economy, politics, and culture. It further specifies the goals of modernization that the Chinese Communists have long pursued, and decomposes them into economic construction goals, political construction goals, and cultural construction goals. The basic goals and related principles and policies complement each other and are interrelated, making people visible and tangible, making the overall goals of prosperity, democracy, and civilization changed from theory to policy, from goals to programs, and from slogans to slogans.

In practice, it avoids the fate that the goals raised for a long time in the past are too high, too big, too empty, divorced from China's specific reality, lack of relevant implementation strategies, and eventually become empty words or slogans.

It is precisely in order to strengthen the party’s leadership over socialist modernization and ultimately realize the basic program for the primary stage of socialism that Jiang Zemin also put forward a basic program for comprehensively strengthening party building at the turn of the century. This is the important thought of the “Three Represents.”

Facing the new century, only when Chinese Communists always represent the development requirements of China's advanced productive forces can they truly build a socialist economy with Chinese characteristics; only when they always represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people can they truly build socialism with Chinese characteristics, Only by always representing the direction of China's culture can China truly build a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

In other words, only by truly achieving the "Three Represents" can China adhere to the basic program of the primary stage of socialism and lead the people of the whole country to finally realize the modernization goal of prosperity, democracy, and civilization. 

From Comrade Hu Jintao[edit | edit source]

The Party Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the general secretary proceeds from the overall development of the party and the country's modernization cause in the new century and new stage, implements the scientific outlook on development, and inherits the three generations of central leadership groups of the party to explore the theoretical and practical achievements of the socialist modernization strategic goal , gradually formed a new thinking of building a socialist harmonious society, clearly stated that "social harmony is the goal of our party's unremitting struggle", and incorporated it into the goal system of socialist modernization, and called on the whole party and the people of the country to "build China's Strive to become a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious modern socialist country."

To further expand the goal of socialist modernization from "prosperous, democratic and civilized" to "prosperous, democratic, civilized and harmonious" is a major strategic deployment of the Party Central Committee since the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. In 2002, the report of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China included "a more harmonious society" into the grand blueprint for building a well-off society in an all-round way for the first time, and proposed to build a more comprehensive well-off society in the first 20 years of the new century. more progress, more prosperous culture, more harmonious society, and better people’s lives.”

Since then, our party has continuously deepened its understanding of the importance of social harmony, seized historical opportunities, and promptly proposed a development strategy for building a harmonious socialist society.

The Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward the scientific concept of development according to the requirements of the times and the contemporary national conditions, emphasizing that "adhere to people-oriented, establish a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development concept, and promote the comprehensive development of economy, society and people".

Guided by this, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee not only proposed to continuously improve the ability to build a harmonious socialist society, but also compared it with "the ability to control the socialist market economy," "the ability to develop socialist democratic politics," and "the ability to build a socialist harmonious society." The ability of advanced socialist culture" was put forward side by side, which reflects our party's new thinking on the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

In February 2005, Hu Jintao pointed out for the first time that the building of a socialist harmonious society belongs to "social construction" in a special seminar for major leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels, and put it in parallel with economic construction, political construction, and cultural construction.

The overall layout of the building has developed from the past "trinity" to "four in one". Since then, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee has defined building a harmonious socialist society as an important task that must be grasped to fully implement the Scientific Outlook on Development, and put forward a series of work requirements and major measures related to it.

In 2006, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee made the "Decision on Several Major Issues Concerning the Construction of a Socialist Harmonious Society", which clearly put forward the guiding ideology, objectives, tasks, working principles and major arrangements for building a socialist harmonious society at present and in the future. It further clarified the position of building a harmonious socialist society in the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and profoundly clarified that social harmony is the essential attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important guarantee for the prosperity of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation, and the happiness of the people. The understanding of the essence of socialism has been deepened under historical conditions, which shows that our party's understanding of "what is socialism and how to build socialism" has reached a new level.

The Seventeenth National Congress clearly stated the goal of "building my country into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious modern socialist country", emphasizing that in accordance with the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively promote economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, and social construction, that is, "Construct a socialist market economy, socialist democratic politics, advanced socialist culture, and a harmonious socialist society, and build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious."

According to this new goal, the Party Central Committee has further enriched and developed the basic program for the primary stage of socialism put forward by the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The basic program composed of basic goals and basic policies".

According to the overall layout of "four in one", this basic program makes a comprehensive deployment of the contents of economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, and social construction, and makes a specific interpretation of "prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony."

Juxtaposing social construction with economic, political, and cultural construction, emphasizing the "four in one" and jointly serving the modernization goal of "prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony" is not only a supplement and improvement to the basic program of the primary stage of socialism, but also a A new expansion of the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

On the basis of fully summarizing the theory and practice of the party's three generations of central leadership on the goal of modernization of New China, the 17th National Congress clearly put forward the goal of "prosperity, democracy, civilization and harmony" and the "four in one" of economic, political, cultural and social construction. This fully demonstrates that Chinese Communists have a more scientific and comprehensive understanding of the objective laws of modernization at the new stage in the new century, a clearer and more specific approach to building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and a more suitable goal and basic program for China.[13]

From Comrade Xi Jinping[edit | edit source]

In the report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated: "Strive to build my country into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modern power." "Harmony and beauty" - "beauty" has been added, the overall layout of the "five in one" has been better aligned with the goal of modernization, and the better life pursued by the Chinese people has become more perfect.

Clearly taking "beauty" as one of the goals and symbols of building a powerful modern socialist country is a new deployment arrangement made in response to the changes in the main contradictions in our society. The report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of my country pointed out: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the main contradiction in our society has been transformed into the contradiction between the people's growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development." The environment is people's livelihood, and green hills are beauty , the blue sky is also happiness. Entering the new era, we must not only create more material wealth and spiritual wealth to meet the people's growing needs for a better life, but also provide more high-quality ecological products to meet the people's growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment, and persevere in building harmony between man and nature Symbiotic modernization.

Incorporating "beauty" into the important connotation of socialist modernization is also conducive to accelerating the construction of a beautiful China. The report of the Nineteenth National Congress put forward new goals for the construction of ecological civilization and the protection of the ecological environment:

"By 2020, we will resolutely fight the tough battle against pollution; by 2035, the ecological environment will be fundamentally improved, and the goal of a beautiful China will be basically realized; by the middle of this century, we will build our country into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modern power. This demonstrates the Communist Party of China's ruling philosophy of people's supremacy and the mission of realizing the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Firmly establish the concept of socialist ecological civilization, implement the concept of green development, and promote the formation of a new pattern of modernization with harmonious development between man and nature. China will follow the strategic arrangement of socialist development with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and by the middle of this century, we will build a prosperous, strong, democratic and civilized society. A harmonious and beautiful socialist modern power!"[14]

See Also:[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. [Party History Encyclopedia] "Four Modernizations" Jiangxi Normal University Party History Learning and Education Special Network
  2. How the "Four Modernizations" were proposed and developed - Xinhuanet
  3. SPEECH AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY'S NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK
  4. Mao Zedong Selected Works " Second Edition Volume III Page 1081
  5. Collected Works of Mao Zedong ", Volume VI, page 329
  6. Collected works of Mao Zedong, Chapter 6, Page 357
  7. SPEECH AT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY'S NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROPAGANDA WORK
  8. Collected Works of Mao Zedong" Vol. 8, page 116
  9. "Collected Works of Mao Zedong" Volume VIII, page 162)
  10. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping" Second Edition Volume II, pages 311-312
  11. From "Four Modernizations" to "Well-off" Conception and Deng Xiaoping's Suzhou-Hangzhou Trip - China.net
  12. What is the meaning of "moderately prosperous society" proposed by Deng Xiaoping? - People's Daily Online
  13. China's Goals: From Industrialization and Modernization to Prosperity, Democracy, Civilization and Harmony - Sohu News
  14. One Hundred Questions on the Spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China - Why should we add "beautiful" after "rich, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious"? - Website of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision