Marxism Research Network
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Guo Hailong: Persisting in the Development Path of the Integrated Advancement of Education, Science and Technology, and Human Resources with Chinese Characteristics

Modern Chinese History

For over a hundred years, the Communist Party of China (CPC), with an indomitable spirit of exploration, has persisted in advancing the innovative development of education, science and technology, and talent [1], accumulating extremely precious historical experience. From the perspective of the path taken, a path with Chinese characteristics for the coordinated development of education, science and technology, and talent has been formed. From a methodological perspective, the Party has correctly handled a series of major relationships involving the integrated development of these three sectors. From the perspective of objective laws, the Party has deepened and expanded its regular understanding of education development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation. These experiences and insights condense the intellectual crystallization and practical achievements of the Party’s exploration of the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, profoundly answering major questions such as why and how this integration should be coordinated.

In the practice of coordinately advancing this integration, our Party has combined the Marxist views on education, science and technology, and talent with China’s specific realities and with excellent traditional Chinese culture. By summarizing the successful experiences of the Party in uniting and leading the people through struggle and exploration, we have forged a path for the coordinated development of education, science and technology, and talent that is rich in Chinese characteristics. This path is the result of the Party's arduous exploration; it possesses distinct Chinese characteristics, conforms to China's national conditions, and demonstrates the immense advantages of our national system and governance system. In effect, this path encompasses the development path of education with Chinese characteristics, the path of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics, and the path of independent talent cultivation with Chinese characteristics. Overall, the main characteristics of this path are manifested in the "Eight Persistences."

First, persisting in the leadership of the Party. This is the most essential feature of the path with Chinese characteristics for the coordinated development of education, science and technology, and talent. "The affairs of the four quarters all hinge upon the center" [2]. The CPC is the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and Party leadership is the "stabilizing anchor" [3] for the continuous development of the cause of the Party and the state. The Party's comprehensive leadership over education, science and technology, and talent is the primary principle for coordinately advancing their integrated development; to err on this fundamental issue would lead to catastrophic and subversive consequences. For over a century, the CPC has consistently maintained centralized and unified leadership over these sectors, continuously deepening its understanding of the laws governing educational development, technological innovation, and talent cultivation. It has formed a collaborative and efficient system for organizational mobilization and resource allocation, providing a fundamental political guarantee for the integrated development of these fields. Summarizing the exploration and practice of the past century, we recognize that persisting in the Party's comprehensive leadership must firmly grasp three requirements.

  1. Centralized and unified leadership must be maintained. The lines, principles, policies, and strategic deployments for the development of these sectors are formulated under the unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. The supreme decision-making power resides with the Center, and top-level design is researched and decided by the Center. On the New Journey, we must consistently persist in and strengthen the Party's leadership, improving the systems and mechanisms for unified leadership to ensure these undertakings always advance in the correct direction.
  2. The Party’s propositions must be implemented throughout all aspects and the whole process of these undertakings. The Party's leadership is comprehensive, systemic, and holistic. It must be implemented in every field and link, without blind spots or bottlenecks, and must never be weakened or hollowed out.
  3. The Party must play its role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. Strengthening comprehensive leadership does not mean the Party committees should monopolize every trivial detail; rather, specific affairs are handled by specific departments and innovation subjects, while matters between parties are led and coordinated by the Party committee. The Party's leadership focuses on setting the direction, planning the big picture, determining policies, and promoting reform. This involves conducting forward-looking research, strengthening strategic deployment, and formulating effective measures for major issues of principle. Party committees and governments at all levels must put this work on the agenda, playing roles in macro-guidance, overall coordination, and service guarantees to fully aggregate forces from all sides.

Second, persisting in the "Four Orientations." [4] This is the most distinct starting and ending point of the path. Serving the people whole-heartedly is the fundamental purpose of the CPC; "establishing the Party for the public and governing for the people" [5] are the Party's political propositions and governing philosophy, as well as the source of strength for the Party to maintain its vitality and win the trust and support of the masses. Leading the people to create a beautiful and happy life is our Party's unswerving goal. For over a century, the Party has adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, upholding the purpose of innovating for, benefiting, and serving the people. Based on this, the Party clearly proposed the "Four Orientations": namely, "orienting toward the global frontiers of science and technology, orienting toward the main economic battlefield, orienting toward the major needs of the country, and orienting toward the people’s life and health." These "Four Orientations" embody the Party’s ideals, beliefs, nature, purpose, and original aspiration and founding mission; they constitute a "red thread" [6] running through the Party's history. Practice shows that we must:

  1. Advance innovation while standing at the global frontiers of science and technology. We must plan ahead based on global trends, implementing projects that seize the initiative and occupy the "commanding heights" [7].
  2. Base work on the main economic battlefield and serve major national needs. Development strategies must be synchronized with national development and economic progress.
  3. Place the people in the highest position of our hearts when planning development. This embodies our fundamental standpoint and attitude toward the people.
  4. Vigorously develop people's well-being closely related to their lives and health. This ensures the people's sense of gain is more substantial, their sense of happiness more sustainable, and their sense of security better guaranteed.

Third, persisting in a development orientation. This is the fundamental requirement of the path. Development is a basic category of materialist dialectics, manifesting as the forward-moving change and transformative evolution of things within the movement of contradictions. In long-term practice, our Party has sequentially proposed major judgments such as "development is the absolute principle" [8] and "development is the Party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country," demonstrating a high degree of consciousness in promoting development. Weaknesses and thin links in education, science and technology, and talent are problems that arise during development and must be solved through development. We must:

  1. Fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the New Development Philosophy. We must resolve the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development.
  2. Persistence in taking high-quality development as the theme. High-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in all respects.
  3. Accelerate the development of new quality productive forces according to local conditions. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, we must "smooth the virtuous cycle of education, science and technology, and talent" [9] to break through bottlenecks and let advanced productive factors flow smoothly.

Fourth, persisting in the guidance of objectives. This focuses on the Party’s strong sense of the era, responsibility, and mission. Based on the people’s will and the needs of the cause, our Party proposes goals that are both inspiring and feasible. We have proposed the strategic goals of building a leading country in education, a leading country in science and technology, and a leading country in talent. These goals:

  1. Focus on the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. A modern power must excel in these three areas to ensure national prosperity and people's happiness.
  2. Are advanced successively and deepened layer by layer. According to the strategic arrangement for socialist modernization, we aim to basically achieve these goals by 2035.
  3. Have specific requirements and evolving connotations. A leading country in education must have strong "ideological and political leadership" [10]; a leading country in science and technology must be a "source of innovation" [11]; and a leading country in talent must be a "global highland for innovation."

Fifth, persisting in reform and innovation. This is the source of power for the path. Reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system. Since the early days of reform and opening up, the Party has promoted institutional reforms in science and technology to "liberate the productive forces." Especially since the 18th National Congress [12], these reforms have shown a momentum of "breaking the old and establishing the new" [13] with "swift but steady steps" [14]. Practice dictates that we must:

  1. Maintain the direction and principles of reform. We neither take the "old path" of closure and ossification nor the "evil path" of changing flags/banners [15].
  2. Uphold the fundamentals and break new ground. Upholding the fundamentals ensures we do not lose our way or make subversive mistakes, while breaking new ground ensures we lead the era.
  3. Enhance the systematic, holistic, and synergistic nature of reform.

As the reform deepens, the interconnectedness and interaction between reforms in various fields and links have significantly strengthened, placing higher demands on the systemic, holistic, and synergistic nature of reform. Further comprehensively deepening reform is a complex systems engineering project involving all fields and aspects of economic and social development; one cannot emphasize one side at the expense of another [16]. We must be adept at using systems thinking, strengthen overall planning, and advance reforms in all aspects in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. More emphasis must be placed on the supporting alignment and mutual promotion of various reforms to form an integrated synergy.

Sixth, adhering to the establishment of systems and institutions. This is the institutional guarantee for the path of coordinating the development of education, science and technology, and talent with Chinese characteristics. Institutions possess fundamental, overall, stable, and long-term characteristics. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has consistently attached great importance to institutional building. CPC members, represented by Comrade Mao Zedong, in the process of exploring the path of socialist construction, deeply reflected upon and formulated a series of systems to promote the development of China’s education, science, and culture. Comrade Deng Xiaoping explicitly stated: "Reforming and perfecting various systems of the Party and the state is a difficult and long-term task." [18] General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: "Institutional advantage is the greatest advantage of a political party and a country." [19] Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions regarding institutional building, providing scientific guidance for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing the modernization of the state governance system and governance capacity. Practice demonstrates that to coordinate the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, we must adhere to establishing systems and institutions to solidify the institutional foundation.

First, highlight institutional building as the main thread. The improvement of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a dynamic historical process that will inevitably evolve alongside the development of practice. Existing systems need continuous refinement, and new fields and practices require the promotion of institutional innovation to fill institutional gaps. We must continue to strengthen institutional building—consolidating foundations, leveraging advantages, plugging loopholes, and strengthening weak links—to promote the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics toward becoming more mature and stereotyped [17], effectively transforming our institutional advantages into state governance efficacy.

Second, persist in both "breaking" and "establishing," with "establishing" preceding "breaking." [18] Only through both breaking and establishing can institutional building achieve optimal efficacy. We must establish governance with structure and implement governance with order, vigorously and effectively solving systemic obstacles, mechanistic bottlenecks, and policy innovation issues in all areas of education, science and technology, and talent. We must continuously健全 (perfect) the institutional framework, fortifying fundamental systems, improving basic systems, and innovating important systems.

Third, promote the linkage, integration, synergy, and efficiency of systems. We should focus on systems that are foundational and possess a major driving role, scientifically planning the timing, method, and rhythm of institutional building. We must clear through "silt points," "congestion points," and "bottlenecks," [19] strengthen the full linkage and supporting alignment of institutional innovation, and stimulate the holistic effect of institutional building.

Seventh, adhering to rule of law thinking. This is a major principle for the path of coordinating the development of education, science and technology, and talent with Chinese characteristics. When the rule of law flourishes, the state flourishes; when the rule of law declines, the state falls into disorder. At the very beginning of its founding, the CPC placed great importance on calling upon and inspiring the people with the spirit of the rule of law. In the practice of creating revolutionary base areas and beginning local governance, the Party focused on using legal means to consolidate "Red Power." After the founding of New China, our country successively formulated a batch of legal systems for the development of education, science and technology, and talent. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, Comrade Deng Xiaoping repeatedly emphasized: we must strengthen the socialist legal system; we must still rely on the legal system, as relying on the legal system is more reliable; we must ensure that there are laws to go by, that laws are observed, that law enforcement is strict, and that lawbreakers are prosecuted. Based on the practical process of reform and opening up, our Party has vigorously strengthened the construction of the rule of law in the fields of education, science and technology, and talent. Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has insisted on situating the comprehensive rule of law within the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout, vigorously promoting practical and theoretical innovation in the rule of law within the sectors of education, science and technology, and talent. Practice demonstrates that to coordinate the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, we must strive to strengthen the construction of the rule of law and promote work in these fields to operate within the track of the rule of law.

First, give full play to the leading, regulating, and guaranteeing roles of the rule of law. Starting from China's reality and following the laws of the rule of law, we must persist in combining top-level design with legal practice, integrating the requirements of "good laws and good governance" [20] throughout the entire process of educational reform, scientific and technological development, and talent cultivation. The rule of law must be treated as the fundamental path for regulating social relations and handling various contradictions and problems according to the law, ensuring that the reform and development of education, science and technology, and talent remain both vigorous and orderly amidst profound social changes.

Second, persist in treating both symptoms and root causes. While we must focus on "treating symptoms" by urgently solving surface-level issues, we must place even greater emphasis on "treating root causes" by identifying deep-seated systemic and mechanistic reasons and boldly pushing forward rule of law reforms in the education, science and technology, and talent sectors. We must focus on the strategic planning of the Party and the state, targeting real-world problems in practice, key issues of public concern, and gaps and weak points in the legal system to plan and advance the rule of law in these sectors holistically.

Third, persist in precision policymaking. Targeting prominent issues such as the need to improve legislative quality and efficiency, we must strive to make legislation more reflective of the times, more targeted, effective, and operable, so that legislation can lead and promote the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent more scientifically, effectively, timely, and precisely.

Eighth, adhering to open cooperation. This is the "openness" characteristic of the path of coordinating the development of education, science and technology, and talent with Chinese characteristics. It is an inevitable requirement for us to learn from the achievements of world civilizations and to grow ourselves through external cooperation. Educational development, scientific innovation, and talent cultivation are all global and epochal in nature; for any country to develop these sectors, it must possess a global vision and adopt an open perspective and humble attitude to learn from and absorb the advanced civilizational achievements of all countries. For over a hundred years, the CPC has always concerned itself with the future and destiny of humanity from a global perspective, correctly understanding and handling relations with the outside world based on the general trends of human development, the global landscape of change, and the historical context of China's development. It has persisted in relying on open cooperation to develop education, science and technology, and talent to achieve mutual benefit and "win-win" results. Particularly since the 18th National Congress, we have firmly established the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity, actively integrated into the global innovation network, participated in global governance, and strived to solve major challenges facing humanity. We have worked to improve the level of globalization and international influence of China's education, science and technology, and talent undertakings, forming a pattern of open cooperation with greater scope, wider fields, and deeper levels. History demonstrates that to coordinate the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, we must always hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and win-win results, continuously enhancing the quality and level of open cooperation.

First, persist in taking the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity as the guide. In today's world, innovation factors are interdependent and mutually reinforcing; the globalization of innovation has become an unstoppable trend. Although the globalization of innovation is currently developing amidst twists and turns, its general trend is unavoidable. We must expand our thinking, build a "circle of friends" [21] across the globe, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Second, plan and promote the innovative development of education, science and technology, and talent with a global vision. We must participate in international cooperation with a more open and inclusive mindset, integrate into global education, innovation, and talent chains with more proactive actions, and commit to creating an open innovation ecosystem characterized by mutual benefit, shared interests, and reciprocity.

Third, actively participate in global governance. The concept of global governance we advocate is one of equality, extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. The global governance system we advocate is one that manifests international fairness and justice and can fully reflect the will and interests of the majority of countries. In the process of participating in global governance, we must concretely and realistically embody the common values of humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom—within international cooperation in education, science and technology, and talent, working with the international community to jointly build a new pattern of global governance.

[Author Profile: Guo Hailong, Fourth-level Investigator at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee (Central Compilation and Translation Bureau).]
Source: China Theory Network
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