Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

1989 Poster, titled "Advance bravely along the road of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics."

The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics (Chinese: 中国特色社会主义; pinyin: Zhōngguó tèsè shèhuìzhǔyì) is a set of socio-political theories, socio-economic theories and policies of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that are the application of Marxism–Leninism adapted to Chinese circumstances and specific time periods, consisting of Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, Three Represents (Jiang Zemin), Scientific Outlook on Development (Hu Jintao), and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

In this view, Xi Jinping Thought is considered to represent Marxist–Leninist policies suited for China's present condition while Deng Xiaoping Theory was considered relevant for the period when it was formulated. Ultimately they are still core elements of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

Mao Zedong Thought

Mao Zedong Thought (Simplified Chinese: 毛泽东思想; Pinyin: Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng) is a development of Marxism-Leninism adapted for the material conditions of China. Mao Zedong Thought was originally developed by Mao Zedong and other leading members within the CPC. Mao Zedong thought is ultimately the Sinicization of Marxism. The belief that the Party should adapt the basic principles of Marxism to China's reality. Marxism is the system of socialism with a scientific world outlook. It is a practical Marxist philosophy, with it being applied to the material conditions of China through it being sinicized.

New Democracy

The New Democracy (Chinese: 新民主主义; Pinyin:Xīn mínzhǔ zhǔyì) is a revolutionary form of government developed by Mao Zedong, based on the alliance of 4 progressive classes (the proletariat as the ideological core, the peasantry, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie) in semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries. The goal of New Democracy is to advance to the dictatorship of the proletariat through the dictatorship of the 4 classes or the people's democratic dictatorship.

The Mass Line

The Mass Line (Simplified Chinese: 群众路线; Pinyin: qúnzhòng lùxiàn) is the political, organizational and leadership method developed by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China (CPC) during the Chinese revolution. The essential element of the mass line is consulting the masses, interpreting their suggestions within the framework of Marxism–Leninism, and then enforcing the resulting policies. It is a basic part of Mao Zedong Thought , one of the guiding ideologies of the Chinese Communist Party, and is declared by the Chinese Communist Party to be one of the three basic aspects of the "living soul" of Mao Zedong Thought. Summarized by Mao Zedong as "all for the masses, everything depends on the masses" and "from the masses, to the masses"

The Sinicization of Marxism

The Sinicization of Marxism (Chinese: 中国化马克思主义; Pinyin: Zhōngguó huà mǎkèsī zhǔyì) was formally put forward by Ai Siqi in April, 1938 and firmly put forward in 1941. The Sinicization of Marxism is simply applying dialectical materialism to China’s reality, develop the world outlook of dialectics and historical materialism on China’s own territory according to China’s own material conditions, so that it can become a way to create a New China.

In the process of Sinicization of Marxism, Mao Zedong’s philosophical thought and the philosophical thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics came into being. These two achievements play an important role in guiding China’s progress.

People's Democratic Dictatorship

People's democratic dictatorship (simplified Chinese: 人民民主专政; traditional Chinese: 人民民主專政; pinyin: Rénmín Mínzhǔ Zhuānzhèng) is a phrase incorporated into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. The concept of people's democratic dictatorship is rooted in the "new" type of democracy promoted by Mao Zedong in Yan'an during the Chinese Civil War.

At its founding the PRC took the form of a people's democratic dictatorship. In the Chinese political framework, revolutionary consciousness and revolutionary activity distinguish "the people" from counter-revolutionaries. Within the PRC, the democracy includes united revolutionary classes and supportive political parties operating under the leadership of the CPC. It could include workers, peasants, intellectuals, petty bourgeoisie, and even national bourgeoisie who supported the revolutionary project.

Deng Xiaoping Theory

Deng Xiaoping Theory (Chinese: 邓小平理论; pinyin: Dèng Xiǎopíng Lǐlùn) was formulated by the "Architect of Reform" Deng Xiaoping to better account for the socioeconomic conditions of China during the time period of him being party chairman.

The 4 Cardinal Principles

The Four Cardinal Principles (simplified Chinese: 四项基本原则; traditional Chinese: 四項基本原則; pinyin: Sì-xiàng Jīběn Yuánzé) were stated by Deng Xiaoping in March 1979, during the early phase of Reform and Opening-up, and are the four issues for which debate was not allowed within the People's Republic of China. The Four Cardinal Principles were one of Deng's Two Basic Points, the other of which was Reform and Opening.

The principles include:

1. The principle of upholding the communist path.
2. The principle of upholding the people's democratic dictatorship.
3. The principle of upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
4. The principle of upholding Mao Zedong Thought and Marxism–Leninism.

The 4 Modernizations

The Four Modernizations (simplified Chinese: 四个现代化; traditional Chinese: 四個現代化) namely the modernization of agriculture, science and technology, defense and industry, 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. Zhou Enlai first put forward the concept of "four modernizations" in the "Government Work Report " made at the First Session of the Third National People's Congress in September 1954.  At the beginning of reform and opening up , Deng Xiaoping allowed the "four modernizations" to become the focus of the work of the party and the government.

Reform and Opening Up

Reform and opening-up (Chinese: 改革开放; pinyin: Gǎigé kāifàng) was proposed and founded by Deng Xiaoping , the second-generation paramount leader of the People's Republic of China . It was a series of economic-oriented reform measures that were implemented after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on December 18, 1978. It can be summarized as "Reform internally and open externally".

It was proposed in order to deal with the main problems the country faced at the time: namely a very poor population, the lack of an industrial base, and the lack of a large urban population (80% of the population lived in rural areas at the time). Deng Xiaoping saw that the country was still too underdeveloped to build Socialism where premature collectivization has brought antagonistic contradictions between the relations of production and the social character of the productive forces. The idea was proposed of implementing market policies in order to build the productive forces in order to eventually be able to build Socialism.

One Center, Two Basic Points

One Center, Two Basic Points (Simplified Chinese: 一个中心、两个基本点; Pinyin: Yīgè zhōngxīn, liǎng gè jīběn diǎn)is the core content of the Communist Party of China's basic line. One center refers to Socialist construction as the center; two basic points refers to adhering to the four basic principles and adhering to reform and opening up. The unity of the two basic points is the complete content of the line of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in November 1, 1987.

Here are 4 basic things to know regarding it:

(1) The concise summary of the party's basic line in the primary stage of socialism is "one center, two basic points".

(2) Socialist construction is the center of the work of the whole party and the country, and Socialist construction is the core and main body of the basic line.

(3) The four basic principles are the foundation of a country and provide political guarantee for modernization; reform and opening up is the only way for China to modernize and provide impetus for modernization.

(4) "One center, two basic points" are interdependent and indispensable. They are all for the better liberation and development of productive forces to improve the material standards of the people, unified in the great practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Primary stage of socialism

During the Mao era

The term "Primary Stage of Socialism" (Chinese: 社会主义初级阶段; Pinyin: Shèhuì zhǔyì chūjí jiēduàn) was only briefly mentioned by Chairman Mao, While discussing the necessity of commodity relations at the 1st Zhengzhou Conference held between 2 and 10 November 1958. He specifically mentioned the "initial stage of socialism"

After Mao's death

The term had been used by the CPC during the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign of 1983 but had never been explained. After consulting with Deng Xiaoping, the theory of a primary stage of socialism was used as the theoretical basis of the Political Report to the 13th National Congress held in 1987. The theory focused mainly on developing the productive forces and took a highly economic deterministic view on developing socialism.

Despite certain pitfalls, the theory is still used to explain the use of capitalist techniques in China. The main aim of the theory was to reconceptualize socialism to make Marxism fit for contemporary use. Su and Zhang Xiangyang said the primary stage of socialism in China began in the 1950s when the CPC put an end to the policies of New Democracy and would last an estimated 100 years. The previous emphasis on economic equality in favour of economic growth was abandoned. Deng stated:

"Of the many lessons we have to sum up, a very important one is this: we should make clear what is socialism and how to build socialism ... The primary task of socialism is to develop production forces and to elevate the standard of the material and cultural life of the people. Our twenty years of experience from 1958 to 1976 have told us: poverty is not socialism, socialism is to eliminate poverty. It is not socialism to not develop production forces and raise the people's living standards."

By this point, Deng had equated upholding socialism with developing the level of the productive forces; the ideal of common equality was postponed until an unspecified time. Su and Zhang reached similar conclusions, saying that Marx had two goals when he wrote about the socialist future: a social system in which the productive forces developed and the individual would be granted a great chance of self-development.

However, developing the productive forces became the precondition for the greater self-learning of the individual through common equality; Su and Zhang said that the former would lead to the latter. The left were generally pleased with the theory, which was based upon orthodox Marxist premises. However, some people on the right considered the theory was proof that China needed to reintroduce capitalism to build socialism. Marx had written that socialism developed from capitalism, but China had skipped the capitalist mode of production and went from feudalism to socialism.

The 3 Represents

The Three Represents or the important thought of Three Represents (Chinese: 三个代表; Pinyin: Sān ge dàibiǎo) is a guiding socio-political theory within China credited to then-general secretary of the Communist Party of China, Jiang Zemin, which was ratified at the 16th Party Congress in 2002. The "Three Represents" defines the role of the CPC. Jiang Zemin first introduced his theory on 25 February 2000 while on an inspection tour in Maoming, Guangdong province.

Core Ideas

The important thought of "Three Represents" requires the Communist Party of China

• It must always represent the development requirements of China's advanced social productive forces
• It must always represent the direction of China's advanced culture
• We must always represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.

Main Content

1. Development is the party's top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country.
2. Establish a socialist market economic system.
3. Building a moderately prosperous society.
4. Build a socialist political civilization.
5. Promote the new great project of party building.

Justification of the Three Represents

The Communist Party of China believes that the "Three Represents" is the inheritance and development of Marxism-Leninism , Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory , reflecting the new requirements of the development and changes of the contemporary world and China for the work of the CPC. It is an important theoretical weapon to promote the self-improvement and development of socialism in China, and it is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the Communist Party of China.

In Jiang's speech on the "Three Represents" on the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CCP, he claimed that the expansion of "working class" would help the party remain advanced as the vanguard of the working class by expanding its popular support and increasing its social influence. Jiang made a statement on the concept of the working class that it includes intellectuals:

“With intellectuals being part of the working class, the scientific, technical and educational level of the working class has been raised considerably... Consequently some workers have changed their jobs. But this has not changed the status of the Chinese working class. On the contrary, this will serve to improve the overall quality of the working class and give play to its advantages as a group in the long run. The Chinese working class has always been the basic force for promoting the advanced productive forces in China. Our Party must remain the vanguard of the working class and unswervingly and wholeheartedly rely on the working class.”

The Scientific Outlook on Development

The Scientific Outlook on Development (Chinese: 科学发展观; pinyin: Kēxué Fāzhǎn Guān) is one of the guiding socio-economic principles of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), credited to former Chinese leader Hu Jintao and his administration, who was in power from 2002 to 2012. The ideology was ratified into the CPC constitution at the 17th Party Congress in October 2007. It is lauded by the Chinese government as a successor and extension ideology to Marxism–Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the Three Represents.

Core Ideology

Humanism is at the center of the scientific development concept. The people-oriented concept is "to take the interests of the people as the starting point and end point of all work, to continuously meet people's multifaceted needs and promote the overall development of people." It includes 4 specific aspects:

• On the basis of economic development, continuously improve the people's material and cultural living standards and health standards
• Respect and protect human rights, including the political, economic and cultural rights of citizens
• Continuously improve people's ideological and moral quality, scientific and cultural quality and health quality
• Create a social environment where people develop equally and give full play to their intelligence

People Oriented

People Oriented (Chinese: 以人为本; pinyin: Yǐrénwéiběn) means to take the interests of the people as the starting point and foothold of all work, to continuously meet people's various needs and promote the all-round development of people; to be comprehensive means to continuously improve the socialist market economic system and maintain a sustained, rapid, coordinated and healthy economy while developing.

To speed up the construction of political civilization and spiritual civilization to form a pattern of mutual promotion and common development of material civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization; coordination means to coordinate urban and rural coordinated development, regional coordinated development, economic and social coordinated development, and domestic development.

And opening up to the outside world; sustainability means coordinating the harmonious development of man and nature, properly handling the relationship between economic construction, population growth, resource utilization, and ecological environment protection, and promoting the entire society to embark on a civilized development path of production development, affluent life, and good ecology.

Socialist Harmonious Society

The Socialist Harmonious Society (Chinese: 和谐社会; pinyin: héxié shèhuì) , is a strategic goal of social development proposed by the Communist Party of China in 2004 , which refers to a harmonious and harmonious social state in which all classes work together. On September 19, 2004, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , the concept of “persisting in mobilizing all positive factors in the broadest and most complete way, and continuously improving the ability to build a harmonious socialist society ” was formally put forward

The formulation of a harmonious society aims to point out the common interests accepted by all walks of life for the confused direction of reform. Prior to this, people repeatedly debated between "fairness" and "efficiency". There is no doubt that at the beginning of the reform and opening up , the CPC’s policy was to “prioritize efficiency and give consideration to fairness.” As a result, while achieving construction achievements, social injustice occurred, and the problem has hindered the deepening of reform.

Harmonious society is quite specific to the current Chinese society. The equalization of basic public services including education, medical care, social security and other social hotspots , as well as the system of guaranteeing democratic rights and widening channels for the expression of social conditions and public opinions are the specific contents of the theory of harmonious society.

The 8 Honors and 8 Shames

The 8 Honors and 8 Shames (simplified Chinese: 八荣八耻; pinyin: bā róng bā chǐ) is a set of concepts and guidelines put in place by Hu Jintao, used to measure the work, conduct and attitude of Chinese citizens and CPC members.

The 8 Honors and 8 Shames are as follows:

1. Love your nation; do it no harm.
2. Serve the people; never betray them
3. Follow science; discard superstition
4. Be diligent; not indolent
5. Be united and help each other; make no gains at another's expense
6. Be honest and trustworthy; do not sacrifice ethics for profit
7. Be disciplined and law-abiding; not chaotic and lawless
8. Live plainly, work hard; do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.

The Party stressed Hu's list of eight honors and disgraces in the resolutions, saying that these virtues including patriotism, professional dedication and honesty should be further promoted and government, business and social credibility should be enhanced.

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Age

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era (Simplified Chinese:习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想; Pinyin: Xíjìnpíng xīn shídài zhōngguó tèsè shèhuì zhǔyì sīxiǎng) is a further socio-political formulation of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. It is the successor of Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theory, The 3 Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development.

The 14 Point Program

The concepts behind Xi Jinping Thought were elaborated in Xi's The Governance of China book series, published by the Foreign Languages Press for an international audience. Volume one was published in September 2014, followed by volume two in November 2017, followed by volume three in June 2020.

1. Ensuring Communist Party of China leadership over all forms of work in China.
2. The Communist Party of China should take a people-centric approach for the public interest.
3. The continuation of "comprehensive deepening of reforms".
4. Adopting new science-based ideas for "innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development".
5. Following "socialism with Chinese characteristics" with "people as the masters of the country".
6. Governing China with the Rule of Law.
7. "Practise socialist core values", including Marxism-Leninism and socialism with Chinese characteristics.
8. "Improving people's livelihood and well-being is the primary goal of development".
9. Coexist well with nature with "energy conservation and environmental protection" policies and "contribute to global ecological safety".
10. Strengthen the national security of China.
11. The Communist Party of China should have "absolute leadership over" China's People's Liberation Army.
12. Promoting the one country, two systems system for Hong Kong and Macau with a future of "complete national reunification" and to follow the One-China principle and 1992 Consensus for Taiwan.
13. Establish a common destiny between the Chinese people and other peoples around the world with a "peaceful international environment".
14. Improve party discipline in the Communist Party of China.

The Four Comprehensives

The Four Comprehensives, or the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy (Chinese: 四个全面战略布局) is a list of political goals for China, put forward by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2014. They are:

1. Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society
2. Comprehensively deepen reform
3. Comprehensively govern the nation according to law
4. Comprehensively strictly govern the Party.

The Two Establishes and the Two Safeguards

Two Establishes (Chinese: 两个确立; Pinyin: Liǎng gè quèlì ) and Two Safeguards (Chinese: 两个维护; Pinyin: Liǎng gè wéihù) are two political slogans promoted by the CPC to reinforce Comrade Xi Jinping's tenure. According to the CPC historical resolution, the Two Establishes are:

1. "To establish the status of Comrade Xi Jinping as the core of the Party’s Central Committee and of the whole Party"
2. "To establish the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era"

According to the Sixth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, the Two Safeguards are:

1. "Safeguard the 'core' status of General Secretary Xi Jinping within the CPC"
2. "To safeguard the centralized authority of the Party"

During the 20th National Congress of the CPC, the Two Safeguards was added to the CPC Constitution.

Chinese Dream

The Chinese Dream (simplified Chinese: 中国梦; traditional Chinese: 中國夢; pinyin: Zhōngguó Mèng) is a term closely associated with Xi Jinping which conveys the aspirations of China to rejuvenate itself and become a moderately prosperous society. Xi began promoting the phrase as a slogan during a high-profile tour of an exhibit at the National Museum of China in November 2012, shortly after he became leader of the CPC.

Socialist market economy

Socialist market economy (Chinese: 社会主义市场经济; Pinyin: Shèhuìzhǔyì Shìchǎng Jīngjì) is the official term of the government of the People's Republic of China for the economic system implemented in the country. It was first proposed by Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , in the report of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1992. It is an important policy of Reform and opening up, being a core part of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

The system is a market economy with the predominance of public ownership and state-owned enterprises. Originating in the Chinese economic reforms initiated in 1978 that integrated China into the global market economy, the socialist market economy represents a preliminary or "primary stage" of developing socialism.

See also

Quotes on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Reform and Opening Up

Socialist market economy