Chen Yunping: Continuing to Write New Chapters of the "Two Great Miracles" with Historical Initiative
The "Suggestions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" proposes to overcome difficulties, battle risks, and meet challenges with a spirit of historical initiative. It emphasizes concentrating efforts on managing our own affairs, continuing to write new chapters of the "two miracles" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, and striving to create a new situation for Chinese-path modernization.
During the "15th Five-Year Plan" [1] period, China’s development environment faces profound and complex changes. It is a period where strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges, and where uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. To seize the window of opportunity in the next five years, win the strategic initiative in fierce international competition, and write new chapters of the "two miracles," we must vigorously promote the great spirit of historical initiative to lay a more solid foundation for the basic realization of socialist modernization.
The Spirit of Historical Initiative is the Key Secret to Creating the "Two Miracles"
The road of history is not entirely a smooth path; the creation of the world-renowned "two miracles" stems from the powerful support of the great spirit of historical initiative.
The creation of the "two miracles" originates from the support of a spirit of historical initiative that unifies conformity to objective laws with conformity to purposeful goals. Miracles do not fall from the sky; creating them requires active agency under the premise of following objective laws. The "two miracles" created by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have neither transcended nor violated objective laws to one-sidedly pursue value-based goals, nor have they ignored or abandoned noble value pursuits due to adherence to objective laws. In the midst of arduous exploration and bitter struggle, they have combined following the trend with active participation, achieving an organic unity of conformity to laws and conformity to goals.
The creation of the "two miracles" originates from the support of a spirit of historical initiative that unifies theoretical innovation with practical development. The spirit of historical initiative has never been an abstract theoretical concept, but is a spiritual crystallization constantly tempered in the practice of overcoming difficulties. It is both the theoretical character of Marxism and the practical trait of a Marxist party. As two important subsystems of the regional development system, economic development and social stability are in a dynamic evolution of intertwined action. Dynamic changes in the foundation, stage, and conditions of development inherently require the guidance of a dynamically adapted spirit of historical initiative; that is, the theoretical connotations of the spirit of historical initiative are continuously expanded and enriched in practical development, thereby better driving that practice forward. In the process of providing timely answers to the questions of China, the world, the people, and the times [2], the CPC has continuously enriched and developed Marxism based on concrete practice. By promoting the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, the Party has continuously strengthened the ideological banner and political soul of the spirit of historical initiative, providing a powerful spiritual impetus for creating the "two miracles" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability through stepwise progression and continuous advancement.
The creation of the "two miracles" originates from the support of a spirit of historical initiative that unifies the subjectivity of the people with the people-centered nature of the Party. The core of the spirit of historical initiative lies in the word "initiative"—proactively analyzing situations, planning layouts, reforming and innovating, and responding to challenges. The subject of this initiative is the masses. The basic motivation stems from the people’s needs for a better life and the modernization of the people in terms of their demands, abilities, and rights. The CPC, representing the fundamental interests of the broadest possible range of people, always adheres to the philosophy of "people centeredness" [3] and firmly coordinates the relationship between reform, development, and stability. It regards relying on the people and serving the people as the fundamental position and value orientation for promoting the great spirit of historical initiative, thereby building an indestructible "People’s Great Wall" for rapid economic development and long-term social stability, creating one world-shaking miracle after another through the inexhaustible power of the people.
The "Two Miracles" are the Concentrated Expression of the Spirit of Historical Initiative
The history of China’s modernization development is a struggle-filled epic of continuously carrying forward the spirit of historical initiative, and the "two miracles" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability created by the Party leading the people are the concentrated expression of the spirit of historical initiative in this process.
The "two miracles" concentratedly demonstrate the "China Path" contained within the spirit of historical initiative. The "two miracles" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability do not fall from heaven, but are achieved through the continuous exercise of the spirit of historical initiative. A large developing country with a population of over 1.4 billion completed the industrialization process in just a few decades that took developed countries several centuries. It jumped from a "latecomer to modernization" to becoming the "growth pole of world modernization," providing a brand-new model of modernization for the globe. This is unprecedented in human history and fully demonstrates the unique advantages of the road of Chinese-path modernization. This road has deepened the understanding of the laws of Communist Party governance, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society with a brand-new perspective. It is the product of combining the general laws of world modernization with China’s specific national conditions. It is a correct path rooted in Chinese soil, reflecting the will of the people, and adapting to the requirements of China's development and the progress of the times. The successful opening and vigorous advancement of the road of Chinese-path modernization concentratedly reflect the organic unity of conformity to laws and conformity to goals inherent in the spirit of historical initiative.
The "two miracles" concentratedly demonstrate the "China Governance" (中国之治) [4] contained within the spirit of historical initiative. Economic development is the foundation of social stability, and social stability provides the guarantee for economic development; the two inevitably face contradictions and conflicts at different stages of development. How to minimize the negative correlation between economic development and social stability during the modernization process is a major issue that developing countries must handle well. The CPC flexibly applies the positions, viewpoints, and methods of historical materialism to promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity with a great spirit of historical initiative. It takes the initiative to recognize, adapt to, and seek change, turning "impossibilities" into possibilities and solving "unsolvable problems." It has created the "two miracles" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, powerfully refuting false Western narratives and providing a "China model" for developing countries to coordinately promote economic development and social stability, writing a vivid footnote for the "China Governance" contained within the spirit of historical initiative.
The "two miracles" concentratedly demonstrate the "China Theory" (中国之理) [5] contained within the spirit of historical initiative. Practice has repeatedly shown that why the CPC "works," and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is "good," is ultimately because Marxism "works," especially Marxism that has been Sinicized and modernized. Since the New Era, Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as their chief representative, have persisted in combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with China’s excellent traditional culture [6]. With great theoretical courage, a high degree of theoretical consciousness, a brand-new theoretical vision, and profound theoretical insight, they have promoted theoretical innovation based on practice and established Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. This thought has guided the successive creation of the "two miracles" and the writing of their new chapters, pushing the causes of the Party and the country to achieve historical achievements and undergo historical transformations, demonstrating immense power of truth and unique ideological charm through major achievements in practical development. The CPC incorporates the spirit of historical initiative into its theoretical consciousness and confidence regarding the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, pushing Chinese-path modernization to take new, solid steps, which concentratedly demonstrates the organic unity of the theoretical innovation and practical development of the spirit of historical initiative.
Writing New Chapters of the "Two Miracles" Requires Vigorously Promoting the Spirit of Historical Initiative
The "15th Five-Year Plan" period is a critical period for laying the foundation and exerting full force for the basic realization of socialist modernization. It holds an important position as a bridge between the past and the future in the process of basically achieving socialist modernization. We must write new chapters of the "two miracles" with a strong spirit of historical initiative.
We must persist in taking economic construction as the center and promote high-quality development to achieve significant results. As the world’s largest developing country, without a solid material and technical foundation, our goal of basically achieving socialist modernization would be out of the question. On the new journey of Chinese-path modernization, facing a development environment where the world's once-in-a-century changes are accelerating, we must always focus on economic construction as the central task and high-quality development as the primary mission. We must fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, coordinate the relationship between improving quality and expanding total volume, and unify effective qualitative improvement with reasonable quantitative growth throughout the process of high-quality development. We must accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, consolidate and strengthen the foundation of the real economy, and lead the development of new quality productive forces through high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology. We must move forward with the construction of a unified national market, enhance the internal driving force and reliability of the domestic cycle, accelerate the construction of a high-level socialist market economic system, expand high-level opening up with a focus on autonomous opening, solidly promote comprehensive rural revitalization, and strive to enhance the coordination of regional development.
We must persist in closely combining investment in "things" with investment in "people," promoting the continuous improvement of the quality of people’s lives. The essence of modernization is the modernization of people. The irreconcilable contradiction between the private ownership of the means of production and socialized mass production in capitalism will eventually cause Western-style modernization to consume itself through the alienation of the person. In Chinese-path modernization, the people's livelihood is of paramount importance; improving people’s lives and meeting their aspirations for a better life are always the value orientation and benchmark for handling the relationship between reform, development, and stability. Therefore, during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, we must always adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, closely combine high-quality population development with a high-quality life for the people, and focus on coordinating investment in "things" and "people" from the perspective of the overall, fundamental, and long-term interests of the people. We must ensure that the improvement of the service efficiency of "things" deeply aligns with the development needs of "people," creating an overlapping advantage of total population momentum, structural dividends, and quality capital conducive to development. We should expand new spaces for development while better meeting livelihood needs such as education, employment, medical care, and elderly care, making "investment in people" a powerful support for high-quality development, and allowing the achievements of modernization to benefit all people more extensively and fairly.
We must coordinate development and security, promoting more consolidated national security barriers. National security is the important foundation for the steady and long-term progress of Chinese-path modernization. Only by ensuring security during development and promoting development through security can we provide the foundational support for continuing to write new chapters of the "two miracles." Currently, China's development is in a period where strategic opportunities and risks/challenges coexist, and where uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. Under the intertwined influence of profound adjustments in international forces and the accelerated resolution of domestic structural contradictions, the security risks of economic and social development face the possibility of cascading, cumulative, and amplified effects. The complexity and difficulty of national security issues have significantly increased. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, we must persist in bottom-line thinking and extreme-scenario thinking [7], unswervingly implement the Holistic Approach to National Security, follow the path of socialist social governance with Chinese characteristics, and accelerate the modernization of the national security system and capacity. We must effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas, improve the level of public security governance, ensure that society is both vibrant and orderly, proactively shape an external security environment favorable to us, build a higher-level "Peaceful China," and safeguard the new development pattern with a new security pattern.
We must promote the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party in depth, continuously improving the Party's ability and level of leadership over economic and social development. The reason China has been able to create the "two miracles" that have "astonished the world" [8]—both in vertical historical comparison and horizontal international comparison—and successfully write new chapters for them, lies in the strong leadership of the CPC, which possesses a strong spirit of historical initiative. To continue writing new chapters of the "two miracles," we must unswervingly persist in and strengthen the Party's overall leadership and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. We must persist in leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, persevere in promoting the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, and further improve the system for comprehensive and strict Party governance that is fully equipped, functional, scientific, and efficient. We must constantly enhance the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social mobilization, continuously improving the Party's ability and level of leadership over economic and social development, and gathering monumental strength to strive for a new situation in Chinese-path modernization.