Liu Zongling and Jiang Ruibing: Insight into the Distinctive Characteristics of Comprehensively Deepening Reform through the "Seven Focuses" [1]
At present, the cause of reform and opening up has entered a new critical period. The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization, deliberated and adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, explicitly proposed the "Seven Focuses." This important thesis fully highlights the distinctive characteristics of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in the new historical stage: adhering to the leadership core, firming up the development path, clarifying forward objectives, grasping value orientations, and applying a problem-oriented approach to continuously push the cause of reform toward in-depth development.
Adhering to the Leadership Core: Maintaining Party Leadership throughout All Aspects and the Entire Process of Reform
One of the distinctive characteristics of comprehensively deepening reform lies in always placing the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the leadership core of the cause of reform and opening up. Possessing a strong leadership core is the key to a nation and a country managing its affairs well. The core of further comprehensively deepening reform and pushing forward the great cause of reform and opening up lies in consistently adhering to Party leadership throughout all aspects, the entire process, and multiple fields of reform and opening up.
The "Seven Focuses" clearly propose to "focus on improving the Party’s leadership level and long-term governing capacity." In essence, this means that in the process of adhering to the CPC’s comprehensive leadership over the cause of reform, the Party’s governing capacity and level are continuously enhanced. Through a process of mutual reinforcement, this promotes the steady and sustained progress [1] of comprehensively deepening reform.
First, consistently adhering to the leadership of the proletarian party is an important Marxist idea regarding proletarian hegemony [2]. Since the day of its founding, the CPC has always developed under the guidance of the scientific Marxist worldview and methodology, consistently emphasizing the persistence and strengthening of the Party’s comprehensive leadership. This is a further enrichment of the Marxist theory of Party building and a political principle that must always be upheld in the cause of comprehensively deepening reform.
Second, history and practice have fully proven that the CPC is the "dinghai shenzhen" [3] (ballast stone) supporting the continuous forward movement of the Chinese nation. Over the past century, the CPC has led the Chinese nation through the arduous journey from standing up and becoming prosperous to becoming strong [4]. This is the path of the Chinese nation's rise and a world-renowned great achievement of the CPC. Therefore, at this new historical juncture, the CPC is bound to continue leading the Chinese nation to achieve new breakthroughs, meet new expectations, and attain new achievements in the struggle to comprehensively deepen reform.
In this regard, at this new and important historical moment, to further promote major breakthroughs in comprehensively deepening reform, we must always adhere to the CPC's all-around guidance at the levels of both innovative theory and reform practice. First, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important expositions on comprehensively deepening reform are based on the basic tenets of Marxism and profoundly summarize the important historical experience of the Chinese nation’s reform and opening up. On the basis of discerning the trends of historical development, these expositions provide a detailed consolidation of major issues such as the theme, subjects, goals, path, and direction of reform. They constitute the theoretical framework that ensures the cause of reform continues to advance steadily and sustainably. Second, based on the various strategic deployments and specific implementation measures made by the CPC for the cause of comprehensively deepening reform, we must systematically adjust the bottlenecks, "stuck points," pain points, and difficulties existing in various fields such as economy, politics, culture, society, and ecology. This will realize the all-around advancement of the cause of comprehensive reform and opening up, from top-level design [5] to every specific aspect.
Firming up the Development Path: Unswervingly Following the Path of Socialist Political Development with Chinese Characteristics
The second distinctive characteristic of comprehensively deepening reform is that the Party and the state always hold high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The proposal of the "Seven Focuses" points out specific directions for further comprehensively deepening reform. But fundamentally, no matter which aspect is being reformed, we must always remain firm in the fundamental path forward. The question of "holding the banner and determining the direction" is a fundamental issue for ensuring that the cause of reform and opening up always moves in the right direction. The path of socialism with Chinese characteristics realizes a choice of direction characterized by the dialectical unity between scientific theory and the logic of China's social and historical development. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee once again emphasized that we must unswervingly follow the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core emphasizes the need to always maintain a clear head to ensure that reform and opening up never shift or deviate from the correct direction of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Persisting in ensuring that comprehensively deepening reform advances along the development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the correct path found by the CPC through a century of struggle to lead the Chinese nation toward its great rejuvenation. Having experienced many failed explorations, the path of development for socialism with Chinese characteristics not only led the Chinese nation to find a new dawn amid the humiliating history of the modern era but also led our country to achieve a massive leap in comprehensive national strength and people's living standards, realizing the "First Centenary Goal" [6]. These world-renowned great achievements fully prove the correctness and scientific nature of adhering to the development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Over the past forty-six years, the Party and the state have started from top-level design to continuously promote in-depth reform in various fields. At the economic level, we have continuously pushed our economic system to shift from a planned economy to a socialist market economy, thereby achieving a great liberation of social productive forces and greatly improving the people's material living conditions. Regarding the pattern of reform and opening up, we have moved from an initial local development based on "points, lines, and planes" toward all-around opening up. In terms of the construction of the rule of law, we have continuously improved the building of a socialist country under the rule of law to safeguard Chinese social development and push our country toward greater fairness and justice. Long-term progress and major breakthroughs in various fields fully prove that at the new historical juncture, the path of development for socialism with Chinese characteristics can still ensure that China’s cause of reform and opening up moves from victory to new victories.
The reason why China’s socialism is full of vitality and vigor lies in its inherent "Chinese characteristics"—in other words, in the "Two Combinations" [7]. It is precisely because of this that the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a correct path that combines historical inheritance, cultural confidence, and scientific theory. It can consistently lead the Chinese nation to "catch up with the times" [8] with giant strides through continuous reform and embark on the broad road to leading development. Therefore, in the future historical process of comprehensively deepening reform, we must continue to strengthen our confidence in the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and unswervingly forge ahead along this correct path.
Grasping Value Orientations: Persisting in Reform for the People and Reform Relying on the People
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Reform and opening up is the cause of the hundreds of millions of people themselves." The third distinctive characteristic of comprehensively deepening reform is that the Party and the state always respect the people's initiative [9], placing the masses at the starting point and the ultimate goal of the cause of reform and opening up. "For whom to reform" and "who performs the reform" are fundamental questions that China's cause of reform and opening up has always faced. The "Seven Focuses" may appear to be summarized into seven different angles, but fundamentally, they all aim to consistently safeguard the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people in all aspects through reform and opening up, thereby continuously increasing the people's well-being.
In the process of comprehensively deepening reform, always reforming for the people and relying on the people is determined by the CPC's original aspiration and founding mission. The people's standpoint is the prominent hallmark distinguishing a Marxist political party from other parties, and it is the fundamental political standpoint of the CPC. Since its founding, the CPC has always taken "serving the people heart and soul" as its purpose. The all-around advancement of the cause of reform is solely to realize, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people. It can be said that the CPC has always been consistent and unswerving in its people-centered standpoint.
Comprehensively deepening reform requires the wide participation of the masses, which is the majestic power allowing the continuous advancement of reform. Marxism holds that historical activity is the activity of the masses, and the masses are the decisive force in social change. Centering on the people as the principal force, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee pointed out that the masses, especially high-quality and high-level talents, are the foundational and strategic support for comprehensively deepening reform and continuously advancing Chinese-path modernization.
In this sense, the cause of reform should be widely participated in and fully promoted by the Chinese people; the fruits of reform should be shared by all the people; whether the results of reform meet the standards should be judged by the masses themselves; and the continuous advancement of the cause of reform is, in the final analysis, to continuously meet the new requirements, new expectations, and new aspirations put forward by the masses.
Applying a Problem-Oriented Approach: Implementing the Cause of Comprehensively Deepening Reform in Specific Aspects
The fourth distinctive characteristic of comprehensively deepening reform is that the Party and the state always uphold problem-consciousness, adopt a problem-oriented approach, and push reform and opening up into all aspects of Chinese-path modernization. The "Seven Focuses" proposed at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee involve the economic system, the democratic system, public cultural undertakings, the quality of people’s lives, national security, and the building of the governing party, among other aspects. In essence, the "Seven Focuses" clearly respond to the questions of "what to reform" and "how to reform," further detailing the goals of reform.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Reform is forced by problems and deepened through the continuous resolution of problems." From falling behind the times to catching up with the times, and then to leading the times, China's cause of reform and opening up has exhibited characteristics of phased development. These achievements are the result of the CPC making targeted strategic deployments for the cause of reform and opening up at different historical stages. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee put forward new theses and made new deployments surrounding fifteen aspects—including the market economy system, the national innovation system, integrated urban-rural development, opening up to the outside world, the political system, the rule-of-law system, the cultural system and mechanisms, the system for people's livelihoods, and the ecological civilization system. It targets the specific contradictions faced during the reform process to seek specific ways of resolution, making reform and opening up more targeted, specific, and directed.
Currently, our country faces new situations, new problems, and new circumstances. In the process of further advancing reform in an all-around way, the Party and the state should focus on the currently fluid domestic and international situations, the development trends of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and the new expectations of the masses. We must use a problem-oriented approach, discover problems during reform, and seek solutions within those problems—promoting reform through problems and promoting development through reform—to continuously open up broad prospects for Chinese-path modernization.
Adhering to Systems Thinking: Promoting Holistic Transformation through Local Adjustments
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Advancing Chinese-path modernization is a systematic project that requires overall planning, systematic layout, and holistic advancement." The fifth distinctive characteristic of comprehensively deepening reform is that the Party and the state adhere to system integration, emphasizing the coordination, unity, internal fit, and collaborative progress between various links, aspects, fields, levels, and regions. The proposal of the "Seven Focuses" means that comprehensively deepening reform needs to focus on resolving a series of major difficulties: handling the relationship between the "whole and the parts" regarding top-level design and specific fields; handling the coordination between development and security; handling the collaborative relationship between different fields such as economy, politics, ecology, and security; and handling the relationship of mutual progress between reform and opening up. We must adhere to systems thinking [10]—jointly planning, deploying, implementing, and advancing—to promote development through synergy and promote reform through development.
Comprehensively deepening reform must always adhere to systems thinking; this is determined by the complexity of the cause of reform and opening up. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "In planning and advancing reform, we must adhere to systems thinking and a holistic perspective, strengthen strategic and dialectical thinking, prioritize tasks by urgency, and pay more attention to system integration." Since the beginning of reform and opening up in 1978, our country has expanded reform from the economic system to numerous fields such as politics, culture, society, and ecology. We have expanded the scope of reform from the initial eastern coastal areas to the inland regions; and from the rural household contract responsibility system [11] to urban economic system reform. This has given the cause of reform and opening up the characteristic of gradual development moving from "points" to "lines" and then to "planes."
Comprehensively deepening reform must always adhere to systems thinking; this is also determined by the current status of comprehensively deepening reform. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee realized an ice-breaking exploration moving from local adjustments to comprehensive breakthroughs, pushing the cause of reform and opening up to develop in depth. The more content and fields the reform involves, the more it requires coordinated action between upper and lower levels to deliver a "combination punch" of reform and opening up.
Going forward, comprehensively deepening reform will become increasingly complex. Therefore, we must plan further comprehensively deepening reform within the framework of coordinately advancing the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four Comprehensives. We must make coordinated deployments for systematic reforms in various fields such as economic system reform, political systems and mechanisms, the development of public undertakings, the national security system, the ecological environment, and the pattern of high-level opening up. We must emphasize the coordination between the specific and the comprehensive in reform to enhance the systematic, holistic, and synergistic nature of reform.
(Liu Zongling is Vice Dean and Professor at the School of Marxism, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; Jiang Ruibing is at the School of Marxism, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)
Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net (CASS) Web Editor: Huihui