Zhao Zicheng & Huang Yingyun: The People’s Creative Practice Runs Through the Entirety of the Chinese-path Modernization Process
By Zhao Zicheng and Huang Yingyun
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized: "We must persist in a people-centered approach, respect the people’s principal status and pioneering spirit, respond to the people’s calls through reform, and ensure that reform is for the people and by the people, and that its fruits are shared by the people." The people are the creators of history; they are the most solid foundation and the deepest source of strength for advancing modernization. To advance Chinese-path modernization, we must rely closely on the people and fully stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the masses. Chinese-path modernization is the undertaking of the entire Chinese people; we must rely closely on the people, gather the infinite wisdom and strength inherent within them, and fully stimulate the spirit of historical initiative [1] of all the people.
The leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the defining feature and fundamental guarantee of Chinese-path modernization. Adhering to the Party's leadership is an essential requirement of Chinese-path modernization and the primary principle for its advancement. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "Political parties must anchor themselves to the people’s aspirations for a better life and conform to the people’s longing for civilization and progress." By promoting the coordinated development of material, political, spiritual, social, and ecological civilizations [2] and creating the road of Chinese-path modernization, we "ensure that modernization better responds to the various demands and multi-level needs of the people." The creative practices initiated by the Party leading the people reflect the requirements of the internal laws of social development and have opened the process of Chinese-path modernization. Marx and Engels pointed out in the Communist Manifesto: "The proletarian movement is the self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority." Only the CPC consistently represents the fundamental interests of the broadest possible range of people, always acting for and relying on the people, without any special interests of its own. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "In 1921, the Communist Party of China came into being. From then on, the Chinese people's struggle for national independence, people's liberation, national prosperity, and the people's happiness had a backbone [3], and the Chinese people moved from being passive to being active in spirit." The achievements gained by the Party leading the people in the practices of revolution, construction, and reform [4] established the CPC's leading position, which was formed through the choices of history and the people.
The creative practice of the people runs through the entire process of Chinese-path modernization and serves as its source of momentum. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The viewpoint of practice and the viewpoint of life are the basic viewpoints of Marxist epistemology; practicality is the prominent feature that distinguishes Marxist theory from other theories." As the creative practice of the people continuously expands, understanding will also continuously deepen; the path of Chinese-path modernization is formed and developed within the creative practice of the people. To comprehensively grasp Chinese-path modernization, we must base our understanding on the Party's century-long journey of struggle and exploration while leading the people, adhering to the principle that the people are the fundamental driving force for creating history.
The creative practice of the people laid the practical foundation for Chinese-path modernization. The subjects of Chinese-path modernization are the people, and the source of strength comes from their creative practice. Engels pointed out: "Where history begins, the process of thought must also begin, and the further development of the process of thought is nothing but the reflection of the historical process in an abstract and theoretically consistent form." Historical activity is, in the final analysis, human practical activity. Through creative practice, the people fully recognize the essence of things and their laws, creating spiritual wealth and the fruits of civilization—such as literature, art, and science—that align with the people's aesthetics, preferences, and style. As creators of history, the people are not only the creators of material wealth but also the creators of spiritual wealth. The creative practice of the people initiated the process of Chinese-path modernization.
The creative practice of the people forged the principal force for building Chinese-path modernization. The people are both the subjects of creative practice and the subjects of building Chinese-path modernization. Through creative practice, the people not only satisfy their own needs for existence and development but also fully enjoy the rights of political participation and managing state affairs, creating science and technology beneficial to their own development and the building of a great modern socialist country. Through creative practice, the people have mastered thinking methods for analyzing the essence and laws of things, enabling them to elevate perceptual knowledge [5] generated in practice into rational knowledge—such as concepts, judgments, reasoning, hypotheses, and theories—which are abstract, indirect, and reflective of the essence of things. The creative practice of the people is the endogenous power of Chinese-path modernization, forging and stimulating its process. It was precisely by applying the basic stance, viewpoint, and method of historical materialism that Marx and Engels fully affirmed the historical status and driving role of the masses in the development of human society.
The creative practice of the people reflects the fundamental direction of Chinese-path modernization. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress stated: "Theories that are detached from the people are pale and weak, and theories that do not benefit the people are lifeless." Being "of the people" is a distinct character of Marxism. Looking back at the Party’s century-long struggle, this character has permeated the entire process of the Party leading the people through revolution, construction, and reform, condensed within the arduous exploration and unremitting struggle for a modernization path by generations of Chinese Communists. Realizing the people's aspirations for a better life is the unremitting pursuit of Chinese-path modernization.
Whether the road to modernization can be successfully traversed and remain stable depends crucially on whether it adheres to a people-centered approach. The reason Marxism can transcend eras and nations, fully demonstrating its scientific nature, vitality, and influence, lies in its deep roots among the people and its role in speaking for and representing them. We must uphold the principal status of the people and take the maintenance, realization, and development of the fundamental interests of the broadest range of people as the starting point and ultimate goal of all work, ensuring that the fruits of modernization benefit all people more extensively and fairly. To advance Chinese-path modernization, we must persist in putting the people first, proceed from the people's creative practice, uphold the attitude that "all achievements are credited to the people," and profoundly grasp the theoretical significance of the "people-oriented" nature of Chinese-path modernization. Only then can we continuously turn the people's aspirations for a better life into reality and promote new developments in Chinese-path modernization.
The ultimate goal of modernization is to achieve the free and comprehensive development of individuals. In his keynote speech at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must uphold the concept of putting the people first and highlight the people-oriented nature of the direction of modernization." This clearly reflects the fundamental value orientation of Chinese-path modernization and scientifically answers the fundamental question of "for whom and by whom." "We must improve the institutional system through which the people run the country, refine the institutional mechanisms for maintaining social fairness and justice, strive to ensure and improve people's livelihoods, follow the mass line in the New Era, always maintain flesh-and-blood ties with the masses, always accept people's criticism and supervision, and always breathe the same air as the people, share the same fate, and be linked heart-to-heart with them, so that Chinese-path modernization possesses the most reliable, deepest, and most lasting source of strength." In the process of building Chinese-path modernization, putting the people first means taking the people’s calls and needs as the focus of work, doing practical things for the masses, bringing them tangible benefits, and ensuring that development achievements benefit all the people more extensively and fairly. Always placing the people in the highest position and taking their aspirations for a better life as the goal of struggle is one of the major principles that must be firmly grasped on the road of Chinese-path modernization. It is the development and sublimation of the Party's purpose [6] as the Party stands at a new historical juncture, because "modernization depends not only on indicators and data on paper but also on the happiness and well-being of the people."
The creative practice of the people determines the choice of the path for Chinese-path modernization. Creative practices of the people are constantly emerging across science and technology, culture, and ecology, providing inexhaustible momentum for our modernization process. On the basis of the creative practices carried out by the people under the Party's leadership, China has blazed a new path of Chinese-path modernization. This path is guided by the people-centered development philosophy and adheres to the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan" [7] overall layout. It encompasses practical requirements such as pursuing high-quality development, advancing whole-process people's democracy, enriching the spiritual world of the people, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmony between humanity and nature, and building a community with a shared future for humanity. Marx believed that everything people fight for is related to their interests. The road of Chinese-path modernization must fully reflect the principal status of the people, strive to improve their material and cultural standards of living, and highlight their creativity and innovativeness. This road not only accords with China's national conditions but also provides a useful reference for the modernization of other countries worldwide.
(The authors are researchers at the Guangxi University Base of the Project to Study and Build Marxist Theory) Source: Guangming Daily February 18, 2025