Yin Xiaoen and Qin Xuan: On the Common Characteristics of Socialist Modernization

Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China. It shares the common characteristics of modernization in all countries, but more importantly, it possesses Chinese characteristics based on our own national conditions." Chinese-path modernization falls under the category of socialist modernization and inevitably possesses the common characteristics of socialist modernization. Conducted a deep exploration into these common characteristics holds significant theoretical and practical value. As some scholars have noted: "The relationship between modernization and socialism is a simple and clear issue, but upon closer inspection, it is a problem raised by the global modernization process and the reform practices of socialism that has yet to be explored in depth as a whole." Currently, domestic academia has produced fruitful research on the common characteristics of global modernization and the distinct features of Chinese-path modernization, but high-quality research on the common characteristics of socialist modernization remains scarce. These common characteristics reflect both the ought-to-be state of socialist modernization at the level of value goals and the as-is content of general laws within the practice of socialist modernization. They represent an organic unity of the basic principles of scientific socialism and the universal laws of modernization, constituting the essential requirements that all socialist countries must follow in advancing their own modernization. Through a vertical historical investigation and a horizontal international comparison, this article systematically summarizes the common characteristics of socialist modernization to provide theoretical support for better advancing socialist modernization.

I. The Periodized Presentation of the Common Characteristics of Socialist Modernization

From the theoretical conceptions and principled definitions of socialist modernization revealed by Marx and Engels based on historical laws, to the early practice of socialist modernization centered on industrialization after the Russian October Revolution, then to the traditional socialist modernization path typified by the Soviet model, and finally to the new modernization form emphasizing comprehensive social development, the common characteristics of socialist modernization have undergone a periodized transformation from theoretical construction to practical exploration, and from partial and one-sided views to systematic and scientific understanding.

(1) Marx and Engels’ Theoretical Conceptions and Principled Provisions for Socialist Modernization

In Marx's theory, "modern society" was used more as a synonym for "capitalist modern society." His dissection and critique of capitalist modern society form the core of his modernization theory. Within his prediction of the inevitable demise of the capitalist system, he clearly presented the theoretical prototype of socialist modernization. Capitalist modernization achieved a brand-new transformation of the productive forces. "The bourgeois period of history has to create the material basis of the new world: on the one hand, universal intercourse founded upon the mutual dependency of mankind, and the means of that intercourse; on the other hand, the development of the productive powers of man and the transformation of material production into a scientific domination of natural agencies." At the same time, capitalist modernization created a dilemma for the development of modernity: "On the modern, misbegotten basis, every new development of the productive forces of labor must inevitably result in a deepening of social contrasts and an intensification of social antagonisms." Therefore, the replacement of capitalism by socialism is an objective trend for the development of productive forces and the progress of human modern civilization. Based on this conclusion, Marx made the following rational conception of the ideal future society: the future society—namely, communist society—is an association of free individuals, which is the value goal; the immense growth and high-level development of productive forces are the prerequisites for establishing a communist society; there exists a transition period of the dictatorship of the proletariat between capitalist and communist society; and the future society is one of continuous change. These characteristics constitute the principled provisions of Marx and Engels for the ideal future society, serving as the theoretical principles that socialist modernization must uphold and the value goals it urgently needs to achieve.

When turning his research focus toward Eastern societies, including Russia, Marx confirmed the historical possibility of a non-capitalist path to modernization. In his reply to Vera Zasulich ^[1], Marx emphasized that the crisis of the capitalist system "will end only with the elimination of capitalism, with the return of modern societies to the 'archaic' type of communal property." Subsequently, Marx focused on discussing the non-capitalist path of development for Russian society, further demonstrating from the perspective of the dialectical laws of social transformation the historical necessity for countries with relatively backward economies and cultures to take the road of socialist modernization. It was precisely through his critique of the anti-modern and anti-civilized essence exposed by capitalist modernity that Marx conducted an in-depth investigation into issues such as the fundamental prerequisites, drivers, internal contradictions, and laws of motion of social development, as well as the evolution of human social forms from lower to higher stages. He proposed the possibility and necessary historical conditions for countries with relatively backward economies and cultures to leap over the capitalist system and take the road of socialist modernization, initially constructing the first theoretical form of socialist modernization.

(2) The Development of Socialist Modernization after the Russian October Revolution with Industrialization as its Main Characteristic

"Modernization is a process in which a new form of civilization (industrial civilization) is gradually established." The fundamental reason why modern society differs from traditional society, which is based on an agrarian economy, is that modern large-scale industry can transform almost infinite sources of inanimate power into immense production and manufacturing capabilities through large machinery. The Soviet regime in Russia was established after the major Western European countries had basically achieved industrialization. Therefore, Lenin attached great importance to establishing and developing modern large-scale industry in Soviet Russia, emphasizing that "large-scale machine industry and its application to agriculture are the only economic basis for socialism." He clearly stated that "industry and agriculture must be restored on the basis of the latest achievements of modern science," and the basis he referred to was electrification. Based on this, Lenin put forward the slogan "Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country" and formulated and implemented the GOELRO plan ^[2], which was conducive to the industrialization of Soviet Russia. While affirming the correctness of Lenin’s idea that industrialization plays a foundational and decisive role in socialist construction, Stalin further emphasized the role of heavy industry, explicitly stating that "the center of industrialization, its basis, is the development of heavy industry (fuel, metal, etc.)." This established the keynote for socialist construction in the Soviet Union: the prioritized development of heavy industry. In 1925, the 14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) formally proposed the policy of industrialization and determined the priority development of heavy industry. Subsequently, the Soviet Union completed industrialization in roughly three Five-Year Plans. By 1937, the Soviet Union's industrial production level ranked first in Europe and second in the world, demonstrating the unique advantages of the socialist system in advancing national industrialization.

The achievements of socialist construction in the early Soviet Union showed that although industrialization did not fully embody the essential characteristics of socialist modernization, it conformed to the universal laws of global modernization at the time and suited the developmental needs of late-developing socialist countries to escape backwardness and catch up with the world's advanced nations.

(3) The Expansion of the Traditional Socialist Modernization Path Represented by the Soviet Model during the Cold War

The Soviet model "formulated plans through state functional departments with the goal of strengthening national defense, prioritized the development of heavy industry, and established a national economy dominated by state-owned enterprises and collectivized agriculture." It was "a catch-up industrialization path carried out through extraordinary means under conditions where internal spontaneous economic momentum was insufficient." The socialist camp formed in the mid-20th century and its exploration of socialist modernization possessed distinct characteristics due to specific historical conditions: a weak material foundation and internal relations presented as "one large and many small" ^[3]. The Soviet model became an object of imitation for various socialist countries.

East European socialist countries followed the Soviet model, relying on Five-Year Plans to establish policies for socialist construction that prioritized heavy industry. For example, in 1950, Poland began implementing its Six-Year Plan, proposing that industrial production would increase by 85%–95% over 1949 after six years; Romania proposed to double its industrial production by 1955 compared to 1950; Hungary proposed an 86.4% increase in total industrial output value during its first Five-Year Plan; Yugoslavia proposed to increase the proportion of industry in the national economy from 45% in 1939 to 64% in 1951; and so on. After the 20th Congress of the CPSU ^[4], Bulgaria followed the Soviet example in reforming its domestic politics and economy, proposing a return to Leninist principles. Albania not only studied the Soviet economic model but also replicated the Soviet Union in political terms, allowing the Party of Labour of Albania to lead everything without any restrictions. Furthermore, the influence of the Soviet model on socialist countries outside Eastern Europe was concentrated in the establishment of a highly centralized planned economic system. Radical sectors of the Communist Party of Cuba, represented by Che Guevara, believed the basic method for achieving socialism was total nationalization, high centralization, economic planning, and accelerated industrialization. The 3rd Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba viewed maintaining relations with the socialist camp—especially the Soviet Union—as its fundamental strategic principle, determining the Soviet-model orientation of Cuba’s socialist construction. In 1950, upon witnessing the great achievements of Soviet socialist construction, Mao Zedong stated: "The experience of the Soviet Union in economic, cultural, and other important construction will serve as a model for the construction of New China." In 1953, at the fourth session of the First National Committee of the CPPCC, he again proposed: "We should set off a high tide of learning from the Soviet Union throughout the country to build our nation." With the completion of the socialist transformation of the private ownership of the means of production in 1956, China gradually established a highly centralized planned economic system.

During the Cold War, the achievements of global socialist modernization demonstrated the significant advantages of the Soviet model. However, "due to the attempt and effort to establish the most advanced and perfect social system on a backward or very backward foundation, the most prominent feature of the Soviet-model socialism was the imbalance of social development, such as the imbalance between politics and economy, between relations of production and productive forces, between industry and agriculture, and between heavy industry and light industry." After the 20th Congress of the CPSU, some socialist countries attempted to combine Marxism with their own domestic construction practices, hoping to transform the socialist modernization model through institutional reform. This led to experiments like the "Polish Road," but these explorations of modernization failed to reach their expected goals due to the inertial constraints of the Soviet model and the influence of the international situation.

(4) Innovation in Socialist Modernization with Comprehensive Social Development as the Main Content after the Cold War

The drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe showed that the traditional socialist exploration centered on industrialization failed to objectively and comprehensively reflect the essential requirements and scientific connotations of socialist modernization. This led to a misunderstanding of socialist modernization and triggered setbacks in socialist practice. These changes marked the end of the traditional Soviet-model socialist modernization path. After the Cold War, socialist countries, represented by China, promoted the all-round development of socialist civilization by deepening their understanding of the essence of socialism and the scientific connotations of modernization, causing socialist modernization to present the main characteristic of comprehensive social development.

In fact, before the changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the CPC had already established the basic line of taking economic construction as the center and confirmed the decisive significance of material civilization for socialist modernization. The 12th National Congress of the CPC defined the general task of the Party in the new historical period as: "uniting the people of all ethnic groups in the country, relying on our own efforts, working hard, gradually achieving the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense, and science and technology, and building our country into a highly civilized and highly democratic socialist country." It proposed to "vigorously promote the construction of socialist material civilization and spiritual civilization." After the changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, China's socialist modernization construction gradually expanded from the construction of "two civilizations" to the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan." Promoting the well-rounded development of the person through comprehensive social development became the distinct main thread in the evolution of Chinese-path modernization. In 2001, at the meeting celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Jiang Zemin emphasized: "All the work we do must both focus on the actual material and cultural needs of the people and on promoting the improvement of the people's quality—that is, we must strive to promote the well-rounded development of the person. This is the essential requirement of Marxism for building a new socialist society." The 16th National Congress of the CPC proposed to "promote all-round social progress and the well-rounded development of the person," emphasizing that "by grasping this point, we fundamentally grasp the wishes of the people and the essence of socialist modernization." The 18th National Congress of the CPC proposed to "promote the well-rounded development of the person, gradually achieve common prosperity for all people, and build a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious socialist modern country." The 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed to "better meet the people's increasing needs in economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological areas, and better promote the well-rounded development of the person and all-round social progress."

The realization of the ultimate communist goal of achieving the free and well-rounded development of individuals has always been the intrinsic value pursuit of socialist modernization. However, the common characteristics of socialist modernization exhibit significant differences across different historical periods; moreover, the commonalities presented at different historical stages do not preclude the uniqueness and divergence in the modernization practices of individual socialist countries. The Soviet Union's emphasis on industrialization profoundly influenced the modernization explorations of various socialist countries during the Cold War. During that era, reform attempts within the socialist camp directed at the Soviet model accumulated valuable experience and profound lessons for the economic and political structural reforms undertaken by socialist countries following the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe ^[5]. As a vital component of modernization, industrialization has remained an unwavering developmental goal in the modernization efforts of socialist countries, embodying the distinct characteristics of practice and theory corroborating one another, and history and reality being interconnected. The staged evolution of the common characteristics of socialist modernization fully proves that its developmental process is an organic unity of stages and continuity, of twists and turns and progress, profoundly revealing the inherent laws and developmental logic of socialist modernization construction.

II. The Horizontal Expansion of the Common Characteristics of Socialist Modernization

As a system of social transformation, modernization involves multiple dimensions including people, material factors, and institutions. As an important practice of a new form of human modern civilization, the common characteristics of socialist modernization demonstrate a distinct feature of the dialectical unity among the modernization of people, the modernization of things, and institutional modernization.

(1) The common characteristics of socialist modernization are manifested in the organic unity of the modernization of people, things, and institutions

While each has its own emphasis, the modernization of people, things, and institutions are closely interrelated and collectively constitute socialist modernization. The modernization of people is the fundamental goal of socialist modernization; it profoundly demonstrates the people-centered core value and serves as the essential marker distinguishing socialist modernization from capitalist modernization. The modernization of things is a realistic choice based on the level of development of productive forces in the primary stage of socialism ^[6] and constitutes the material foundation for achieving socialist modernization. Institutional modernization, as the fundamental guarantee of socialist modernization, plays a key role in coordinating social development with human progress, balancing social interest patterns, and satisfying the developmental needs of the people.

The organic unity of the modernization of people, things, and institutions is a unique advantage of socialist modernization. Capitalist modernization and traditional socialist modernization once represented two different paths of human modernization, both making significant contributions to the development of modern human civilization. Capitalist modernization once demonstrated unique advantages in advancing the modernization of things through the application of advanced modes of production and continuous institutional innovation; capitalist civilization "compared with previous forms like slavery and serfdom, is more conducive to the development of productive forces, the development of social relations, and the creation of elements for various higher new forms." However, the internal contradictions of capitalism mean that the comprehensive abundance of things in capitalist modernization comes at the cost of human alienation; the "intensification of contradictions between labor and capital, between colonies and metropoles, and among the major imperialist powers inevitably leads to the occurrence of a general crisis of capitalism, making the arrival of world wars and proletarian revolutions imminent." The traditional socialist modernization path, represented by the Soviet model, laid the social institutional foundation for the well-rounded development of people through the holistic transformation of the relations of production. However, it neglected the issue that even under socialist systems, there remain problems of institutional modernization that do not adapt to the development of productive forces, thereby causing socialist practice to deviate from the Marxist value pursuit regarding human liberation. That is to say, the material-centrist position of capitalist modernization turns its institutional modernization into the legal basis for the legitimate exploitation by capital, while traditional socialist modernization, by neglecting institutional modernization, hindered the process of the modernization of things and rendered the well-rounded development of people a value slogan lacking substantive content. Socialist modernization should always adhere to the people-centered value position, advance the process of the modernization of things through the construction of institutional modernization, and achieve the organic unity of the modernization of people, things, and institutions.

Historical experience shows that to advance socialist modernization, one must persist in using the modernization of people to lead the direction of development, the modernization of things to consolidate the foundation of development, and institutional modernization to optimize the environment for development, achieving the organic unity of the three. Regarding the direction of development, we must provide ideological-theoretical guidance and practical momentum for technological progress and institutional innovation by molding modernized subjects endowed with an innovative spirit, scientific literacy, and a sense of social responsibility. At the level of the material foundation, we must create a supply of high-quality material products and services to meet the people's ever-growing needs for a better life, providing realistic conditions for the well-rounded development of individuals. At the level of institutional environment construction, we must achieve a dynamic balance between equity and efficiency by establishing fair distribution mechanisms, improving the legal system, and optimizing governance efficacy.

(2) The modernization of people is the fundamental goal of socialist modernization

"The essence of modernization is the modernization of people." Achieving the modernization of people, with the well-rounded development of the individual as its core content, is an inherent requirement of socialist modernization. First, the modernization of people is the prerequisite for socialist modernization. To achieve socialist modernization, the modernization of people's ideological concepts and ways of thinking must be the prerequisite; that is, the people who act as the subjects of modernization must embody socialist ideals, convictions, and spiritual realms, representing the developmental direction of advanced productive forces and advanced culture. Second, the modernization of people is the driving force of socialist modernization. The modernization of people is accompanied by the liberation of ideological concepts and is manifested in the improvement of people's ability to apply and innovate modern scientific and technological knowledge and modern rules and institutions. Finally, the modernization of people is an important component of socialist modernization. Communist society is a social form based on the principle of the free and well-rounded development of each individual; therefore, socialist modernization, which takes communism as its ultimate goal, necessarily requires the realization of the well-rounded development of people. In other words, the well-rounded development of people as a historical process naturally exists within the actual movement of socialist modernization.

Rooting ourselves in the free and well-rounded development of people and making efforts to advance the modernization of people runs through the entire practical process of socialist modernization construction. Lenin was a pioneer who recognized the significant importance of the modernization of people for socialist construction and actively explored paths for achieving well-rounded human development. In the process of exploring the modernization of people, Lenin affirmed the major significance of human subjective initiative for socialist construction practices and clearly defined the goal of educational modernization as molding "new socialist persons" through proletarian ideology. Simultaneously, Soviet Russia proposed the implementation of the principle of combining education with productive labor and the principle of polytechnic education. Soviet Russian leaders, represented primarily by Lenin, recognized the dialectical relationship between the modernization of people and socialist construction. Guided by Marxism, they implemented socialist educational policies that combined education with productive practice, molded socialist culture and values through proletarian ideology, and promoted the modernization of the common people's ideological concepts and ways of thinking through reforms in the educational line and the practice of proletarian cultural construction. This improved the scientific and cultural literacy of the masses and their ability to adapt to modern industrial civilizational society, greatly advancing the process of the modernization of people under socialist conditions. In the process of modernization, socialist countries have gradually recognized the importance of the free and well-rounded development of people and have striven to achieve the modernization of people through various measures. For example, China "continually enriches the material foundation of modernization and steadily consolidates the material conditions for the people's happy lives, while simultaneously making great efforts to develop advanced socialist culture, strengthening education in ideals and convictions, carrying forward Chinese civilization, and promoting the comprehensive abundance of things and the well-rounded development of people." From the emphasis on "grasping with both hands" ^[7] both material and spiritual civilization to the proposal of coordinated development among the five civilizations—material, political, spiritual, social, and ecological—Chinese-path modernization has always persisted in the people's standpoint, achieving the organic unity of the subject, object, and connecting medium within the modernization process. Practice shows that continuously advancing the modernization of people, with well-rounded human development as the core content, remains the fundamental goal of socialist modernization. Holistic social progress and well-rounded human development constitute two sides of the same coin in socialist modernization.

(3) The modernization of things is the basic prerequisite for socialist modernization

The essence of the modernization of things is the historical process through which human society escapes the state of dependence on things and transitions toward the full flushing forth of material wealth and, based upon this, the free and well-rounded development of the individual. "Human history does not first manifest as the history of the alienation of human essence, but as the history of actual economic movement, the history of the movement of material production (alienated labor)." Marx and Engels emphasized that "real liberation can only be achieved in the real world and by using real means," and "people cannot be liberated as long as they are unable to obtain food and drink, housing and clothing in adequate quality and quantity." When discussing the nature of exchange value and social exchange relations, Marx clearly pointed out that the degree of human liberation and the degree to which free individuality is realized in different social forms depend on the level of development of social productive forces. Therefore, although "actual socialism" ^[8] bypassed the capitalist system and escaped the comprehensive rule of capital over society under specific historical circumstances, it cannot bypass the stage of dependence on things. Only by achieving the full development of things can socialism be pushed to evolve from the primary stage to a higher stage.

The modernization of things is a developmental process of progress in the material civilization of modern society and the universal improvement of people's living standards; it is the historical process through which socialist countries escape the condition of relative economic and cultural backwardness and achieve industrialization, the commodification of production, and socialization. As a modernization that characterizes the degree of development of human civilization, the modernization of things is both a system of goals and a developmental process, involving multiple dimensions such as economy, technology, politics, law, culture, and the people who act as social subjects. In early modernization studies, modernization was considered a phenomenon of economic and social development primarily manifested through industrialization and urbanization. The modernization of things focuses on the structure and developmental level of a country's or region's social productive forces; economic modernization is the core content of the modernization of things, the former involving specific indicators such as a country's or region's level of economic development, scientific and technological strength, and comprehensive national power. Economic modernization cannot occur without marketization using capital as a medium. The practice of socialist construction shows that a social form that blindly rejects the positive role of capital will become disconnected from the "modern." Whether it was Soviet Russia's early attempt to transition directly to communism through the policy of War Communism, or the subsequent highly centralized planned economic systems established by the Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist countries, all led to the stagnation of economic and social development because they were divorced from the actual level of development of productive forces, thereby delaying the process of socialist modernization. After drawing lessons from the experience of world socialist construction, Chinese Communists returned to the criterion of productive forces ^[9], proposing that "poverty is not socialism, and socialism must eliminate poverty," and emphasizing that "to uphold socialism, we must first escape the state of poverty and backwardness and greatly develop the productive forces to demonstrate the characteristics of socialism's superiority over capitalism." In promoting the great development of material civilization and holistic social progress, they created a new form of human civilization, demonstrating the unique advantages of the socialist system in promoting human modernization and embodying the common characteristics of socialist modernization.

(4) Institutional modernization is the important guarantee for socialist modernization

Institutions are the standardized generalization of social relations and social order; institutional modernization involves the transformation of social relations and the adjustment of interest relations between people during the modernization process. The reform and optimization of institutions are important components and guarantees of social development, as well as significant markers of the level of social development. The system of national institutions—composed of fundamental institutions, basic institutions, important institutions, and the series of systems and mechanisms derived therefrom—provides the fundamental guarantee for the effective discharge of various state functions. It "is not only the rule and order foundation for the operation and development of the modern state, but also an important carrier for the modernization construction and development of the state." In a certain sense, "modernization is the modernization of social institutions." Institutional modernization is both a result and an important measurement indicator of the modernization of human society, as well as the fundamental guarantee for ensuring the smooth operation of modern society.

The inherent contradiction between the private ownership of the means of production and socialized large-scale production is a developmental shackle that capitalism cannot break. Marx and Engels pointed out:

"The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society." This assertion profoundly reveals the historical transience of capitalist modernization. As the product of institutional transformations driven by the internal contradictions of capitalism, socialism achieves a revolutionary transcendence of the paradoxes of capitalist modernity within the logic of historical materialism. By restructuring the relations of ownership of the means of production and the system of social governance, socialism constructs a modern civilizational institutional form and ideological system that is oriented toward the free and well-rounded development of the individual and compatible with large-scale socialized production. The core essence of advancing socialist modernization lies in strengthening the building of the socialist state system, promoting the modernization of the state governance system and capacity, and achieving a comprehensive enhancement of state governance effectiveness. The establishment of the socialist system fundamentally dissolves the irreconcilable antagonistic contradictions inherent in the process of capitalist modernization. Constrained by historical conditions characterized by relatively weak economic and cultural foundations, the principal contradiction ^[10] in socialist society remains for a long time. Therefore, in advancing socialist modernization, we must remain unswerving in upholding the fundamental and basic systems ^[11]. Simultaneously, based on the laws governing the contradictory movement between the productive forces and the relations of production, we must make adaptive adjustments to important institutions. Through continuous refinement and innovation of institutions, we provide solid institutional support and guarantees for socialist modernization, ensuring that the socialist cause always advances steadily along the correct direction.

III. The Future Orientation of the Common Characteristics of Socialist Modernization

The unification of advanced productive forces with advanced relations of production; the unification of the "abundant flow of things" ^[12] with the well-rounded development of the individual; the unification of the objectivity of historical development with human subjective agency; the unification of the integrity of civilizational forms with the synergy of civilizational processes; and the unification of the criticality toward modern civilization with the constructiveness of an ideal society—these elements respectively highlight the essential differences between socialist modernization and capitalist modernization in terms of essential content, value goals, evolutionary characteristics, civilizational patterns, and practical approaches. They constitute the basic requirements that must be followed to enrich and expand socialist modernization.

(1) Adhering to the Unification of Advanced Productive Forces and Advanced Relations of Production

Modernization is primarily "a process triggered by the driving forces of modern industrial, scientific, and technological revolutions to realize the great transformation from traditional agricultural society to modern industrial society, allowing industrialism to penetrate the spheres of economy, politics, culture, and ideology, and inducing profound changes in social organization and social behavior." Its essence is a historical process in which breakthrough changes occur in the contradictory movement of the productive forces and the relations of production. The contradictions between the productive forces and the relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure, run through the development of human society from beginning to end. They define the basic nature of social formations and social systems, and by conditioning the existence and development of other social contradictions, determines the general process of human social history. They constitute the fundamental driving force for the development of modern human civilization and the evolution of civilizational forms.

The socialist relations of production envisioned by Marx evolved from developed capitalist relations of production. The unification of advanced productive forces and advanced relations of production constitutes the holistic definition of socialist modern civilization in Marxism. The practice of socialist modernization highlights the unremitting pursuit of advanced productive forces and the exercise of the active, agential role of advanced relations of production in promoting these forces. This causes socialist modernization to exhibit the characteristic of a benign interaction between advanced productive forces and advanced relations of production. To adhere to this unification, we must, on the one hand, seize the opportunities of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, promoting independent innovation and breakthroughs in high-end technology through new quality productive forces that embody the latest scientific achievements. We must promote high-quality development in the acceleration of building a modern industrial system, laying a solid material foundation for the accelerated evolution of human civilizational forms. On the other hand, we must give full play to the unique advantages of the socialist system in liberating and developing the productive forces, breaking through the institutional and mechanistic obstacles in the process of socialist modernization that do not adapt to the development of advanced productive forces, and effectively exerting the safeguarding role of institutional building for socialist modernization.

(2) Adhering to the Unification of the Abundant Flow of Things and the Well-rounded Development of the Individual

As an alternative to capitalist modernization, socialist modernization is essentially a historical process in which humanity escapes the constraints of nature, social fragmentation, and the reification of the person to finally move toward harmony and unity. In this process, "it is necessary not only to solve the problem of how to make human material life extremely abundant, but also to solve the problem of how human social life can achieve fairness and justice; not only to solve the problem of how to make social productive forces develop greatly and science and technology progress rapidly, but also to solve the contradiction between the relations of production and the productive forces, and between the superstructure and the economic base, promoting the comprehensive development and progress of social, political, and spiritual life." That is to say, the unification of the abundant flow of things and the well-rounded development of the individual is the intrinsic requirement and value goal of socialist modernization.

The well-rounded development of the individual is the value goal established by Marx for the future ideal society; it is the rational inheritance and sublimation of ultimate values concerning the human being since the Axial Age ^[13], and an obligatory principle for the practice of socialist modernization. The abundant flow of things is the realistic foundation for the well-rounded development of the individual, embodying the basic principles of historical materialism and serving as the logical starting point for the emergence and development of socialist modernization. The fundamental reason why countries with relatively backward economies and cultures take the socialist road is that socialist modernization can not only solve the internal contradictions of capitalism and achieve leapfrog development of the productive forces, but more importantly, it ensures the comprehensive sharing of the fruits of modern civilization through fundamental institutional forms, anchoring the historical goal of the well-rounded development of the individual. To realize this unification, we must adhere to economic construction as the center, fully absorbing and drawing lessons from all beneficial achievements in capitalist modernization that reflect the laws of development of human civilization, achieving extreme abundance of material wealth to solidify the material civilizational foundation for the person's development. Simultaneously, we must continuously strengthen the building of socialist spiritual civilization, constantly elevating people’s ideological and moral realms and their subjective consciousness of self-actualization, promoting the transformation of the person from a "traditional person" bound by relations of material dependence into a "modern person" characterized by free and well-rounded development.

(3) Adhering to the Unification of the Objectivity of Historical Development and the Exercise of Human Subjective Agency

The process of modernization involves two types of relationships: between humans and nature, and between humans and society. That is to say, modernization include both the relationship between humans and nature and its changes—along with relatively stable factors such as a country's geographical and natural endowments, level of development of productive forces, and the comprehensive quality of its citizens—and the social nature determined by the fundamental system and various institutional and mechanistic factors derived from it. This dictates that the modernization process has an objective side, limited by the level of development of productive forces, as well as the characteristic of subjective agency, shaped by social relations. Socialist modernization breaks through the predicament of capitalist development by transforming the relations of production, highlighting the organic unity of historical objectivity and subjective agency in the process of creating a new form of human civilization.

From a theoretical dimension, compared to capitalist modernization which upholds the logic of capital, socialist modernization must effectively exert human subjective agency. It must thoroughly change the attributes of capitalist relations of production and the resulting attributes of factors of production, change the situation where capital dominates labor, suppress the negative factors of alienation caused by capitalism, and reshape the overall logic of the development of modern human civilization. Since existing socialist countries all emerged from traditional agricultural societies with relatively backward levels of productive forces, socialist modernization is not a process of spontaneous transition from a traditional to a modern society. Rather, it is an innovation of the development model under the logic of "revolution-modernization." "This process of transformation is top-down; that is, the change (reform or revolution) first occurs in the upper political sphere, using political revolution to drive economic revolution, transferring the distribution of national wealth and resources into the hands of state power implementing modernization, and forming a political and economic basis for independent development." From a practical dimension, the construction of socialist modernization cannot be detached from objective historical conditions. "Men make their own history, but they do NOT make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past." The reality of a country with a relatively backward economy and culture dictates that socialist modernization must follow the objective laws of the development of modern civilization, establish institutions and mechanisms compatible with the primary stage of socialism, and complete the tasks of material production necessary for modernization.

(4) Adhering to the Unification of the Integrity of Civilizational Forms and the Synergy of Civilizational Processes

"Modernization is the process of transformation from a traditional society to a modern society," which can be "viewed as an interactive process of industrialization in the economic sphere, democratization in the political sphere, urbanization in the social sphere, and rationalization in the sphere of values." Marx pointed out: "The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political, and intellectual life." Material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civilization, and ecological civilization together constitute the foundational dimensions of the Marxist theory of civilizational structure. Socialist modernization should follow the theoretical basis of the unification of the integrity of civilizational forms and the synergy of civilizational processes.

Human civilization is an evolutionary process from low-level to high-level, and from one-sided to comprehensive. Socialist modernization is not a simple negation of traditional civilization, but an innovation and development based on the dialectical sublation ^[14] of traditional agricultural civilization and modern industrial civilization. In the construction of socialist modernization, material civilization creates material conditions, political civilization provides institutional guarantees, spiritual civilization contributes ideological resources, social civilization creates a favorable atmosphere, and ecological civilization creates an ecological foundation for sustainable development. The holistic development of the "Five Civilizations" promotes overall social progress, creating the historical prerequisite for the realization of the free and well-rounded development of the individual. The construction of civilizational integrity involves not only the pluralistic unity of civilizational elements but also the regional balance of development and the inclusive sharing of civilizational achievements. The practice of socialist modernization shows that only by promoting the organic combination of civilizational elements, driving regional linkage in development, and practicing the sharing of civilizational achievements by all people can we realize a holistic transcendence of capitalist modernization in promoting the all-around progress of socialist civilization. Regarding the synergy of civilizational processes, the intrinsic structural contradictions of capitalism make it difficult for capitalist modernization to harness breakthrough changes in productive forces and large-scale socialized production. In the context of the coexistence of capitalism and socialism, socialist modernization possesses the "disadvantage of the latecomer." Only by relying on the advantages of the socialist system to achieve a systematic restructuring of civilizational elements, strategic coordination of civilizational development processes, and pluralistic participation of subjects can we avoid risks of dependency in the exchange and collision with capitalist civilization, and avoid the modernization trap of "single-point breakthroughs" accompanied by "overall stagnation."

(5) Adhering to the Unification of the Criticality toward Modern Civilization and the Constructiveness of an Ideal Society

"The common direction of modernization is to move toward innovation and endless change through a process of creative destruction, the increasing differentiation of social structures (the separation of economic production and distribution from the family and community, the separation of politics and religion), and the formation of sovereign nation-states." This indicates that modern civilization is a process of development that unifies deconstruction and construction. Unlike the Utopian Socialists who critiqued capitalism based on moral and emotional grounds, Marx demonstrated the transience of capitalist modernization through an investigation of the capitalist mode of production, proposing to "discover the new world through criticism of the old." Therefore, thoroughly critiquing the anti-civilizational essence of capitalist modernization, while simultaneously creating an ideal society consistent with the free and well-rounded development of the individual—based on the dialectical absorption of the positive achievements of capitalist modernization—constitutes the evolutionary logic of socialist civilization.

The critique of modern capitalist civilization is the logical main thread of socialist modernization, moving from theoretical construction to practical expansion. As a historical process for late-developing countries to escape the state of underdeveloped productive forces and move toward communism, socialist modernization is essentially a process in which people escape the predicament of capitalist modernity and explore and construct an ideal society. To advance the construction of socialist modernization, we must continuously explore new paths of modernization that regulate and harness capital, maintain the principal status of the people, and cultivate "new socialist persons." At the same time, socialist modernization must construct an ideal society while absorbing and drawing on the achievements of modern capitalist civilization. In the early period when Soviet Russia was exploring the path of socialist modernization, Lenin once proposed that...

"[To] turn all the richest culture, knowledge, and technology accumulated by capitalism—which are historically and necessarily required by us—from tools of capitalism into tools of socialism." Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "If socialism is to gain the advantage over capitalism, it must boldly absorb and draw upon all the achievements of civilization created by human society, and absorb and draw upon all the advanced operating modes and management methods of all countries in the modern world, including the developed capitalist countries, which reflect the laws of modern socialized production." The practice of socialist modernization demonstrates that the relationship between the market economy and the planned economy is not one of complete succession and mutual exclusion. The high degree of overlap between capitalism and socialism in terms of economic development modes, coupled with the underdeveloped state of actualized socialism, dictates that socialism and capitalism will exist for a long time in a state of both struggle and mutual learning and emulation. Socialist modernization must fully absorb and draw upon the achievements of civilization initiated by capitalism that reflect the general laws of modern development. It must promote the organic integration of the general principles of scientific socialism with the scientific elements of modernization to fulfill the historical task of developing the productive forces during the primary stage of socialism ^[15].