From March 9 to 11, the Academy of Marxism Held a Special Training Session on Studying and Implementing the Spirit of the "May 17" Important Speech

In order to deeply implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the CPC and the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Plenary Sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee; to earnestly study General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches and the new concepts, thoughts, and strategies for governance; and to further implement the spirit of the "May 17" important speech ^[1], guiding cadres and staff to profoundly understand the guiding ideology, objective requirements, key measures, and fundamental guarantees for conducting philosophy and social science work under the new situation; to consciously persist in taking Marxism as guidance, persist in conducting scholarship for the Party and the people, and remain firm in political direction and academic orientation; and in accordance with the unified deployment of the Party Leadership Group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the special training work plan, the Institute of Marxism Studies (hereafter referred to as the Institute) held a special training course on studying and implementing the spirit of the "May 17" important speech at the CASS Miyun Lilin Training Base from March 9 to March 11.

At the mobilization meeting for the opening of the course, Comrade Deng Chundong, Party Committee Secretary and President of the Institute, conveyed the deployment of the Central Publicity Department's coordination meeting on philosophy and social science training work, as well as the requirements proposed by the CASS Party Leadership Group regarding special training. He delivered a mobilization speech for the special training course and put forward study requirements for all cadres and staff. Comrade Deng Chundong pointed out that this special training course must take the study and implementation of the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences on May 17, 2016, as its primary training content. The "May 17" important speech should be used as the basic teaching material, while integrating the spirit of other important speeches such as "February 19," "April 19," and "August 19" ^[2]. Participants must study the original texts as they are written, study comprehensively and systematically, and study for mastery and integration. This study should be treated as a political responsibility and a political requirement, effectively linking it to the reality of one's thoughts and work, earnestly conducting seminars and exchanges, and using the spirit of the speeches to unify thinking, improve understanding, and guide work. First, we must take this study as an opportunity not only to study the "May 17" important speech, but also to further study the classic original works; we must have a clear grasp of the important discourses in the original works of Marx, Engels, and others, and a clear grasp of Mao Zedong Thought, the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches, and the new concepts, thoughts, and strategies for governance. Second, through study, we must better promote the major tasks we have undertaken, integrating theoretical study with the tasks assigned by the Central Committee and the CASS Party Leadership Group. We must avoid "two separate skins" ^[3] and use theory to better guide our own practice. Third, through study, we must better implement the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, implement the deployment of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, fulfill the primary responsibility of the Party Committee and the supervisory responsibility of the Discipline Inspection Commission, and better promote the various tasks of the Institute. The meeting also conveyed the spirit of relevant documents from the CASS Party Leadership Group and the Discipline Inspection Group stationed at CASS.

During the training, all cadres and staff of the Institute were divided into four groups to hold seminars on the "May 17" important speech. Members of the Institute’s leadership team participated in the exchange and discussion of each group, taking the lead in studying the original text, grasping the principles, and discussing their understandings. At the seminars, all cadres and staff of the Institute spoke about their experiences in studying General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences. Participating comrades linked their thoughts, understanding, and work reality to engage in heated discussions around such arguments as "belonging to the Party, belonging to Marx, and belonging to Communism," "the discourse system of science and scholarship," "innovation projects and think tank construction," and "firming up political direction and academic orientation." During the process of exchange and discussion, the political direction was firm, the academic orientation was correct, and the arguments presented were fair and balanced. The seminars in this training course generally improved the level of ideological understanding among cadres and staff and achieved positive results.

At the general assembly for study and exchange, representatives from various research departments spoke based on the results of the seminars and their respective research expertise. From the Department of Marxist Principles, Comrade Zheng Yiming spoke on his insights and reflections regarding several important issues in constructing a contemporary philosophy and social science system; Comrade Zhang Jianyun discussed the fundamental spirit and contemporary value of traditional culture based on his study of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thoughts on traditional culture. From the Department of Sinicization of Marxism, Comrade Jin Minqin argued that persisting in theoretical autonomy is an important prerequisite for constructing philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics; Comrade Dai Lixing gave an exchange speech on persisting in a people-centered research orientation. From the Department of Marxist Development, Comrade Liu Zhiming shared several insights on General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thoughts on the modernization of national governance; Comrade Zeng Xiankui discussed his findings from studying the "May 17" important speech from the perspective of building a socialist economy with Chinese characteristics. From the Department of International Communist Movement, Comrade He Qin shared several reflections and insights on the perspective of making the Chinese philosophy and social sciences system substantial and strong; Comrade Kang Yanru argued for the necessity of firming up ideals and convictions and resisting erroneous trends of thought through the lesson of the Soviet Communist Party's collapse. From the Department of Foreign Marxism, Comrade Chen Huiping shared her reflections on how to strive to develop philosophy and social sciences; Comrade Shen Yang gave an exchange speech on unswervingly continuing to persist in and develop Marxism. From the Periodical and Network Center, Comrade Li Jianguo expressed his views on confidence in the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics; Comrade Wang Zhongbao spoke on how to innovate and develop Marxism from the relationship between "policy publicity" and "theoretical research," and between "inheritance of the core" and "development of the extension."

At the concluding assembly, Comrade Deng Chundong, Party Committee Secretary and President of the Institute, pointed out: This special training course was conducted very well. The leadership team attached great importance to it, the responsibilities of the "Two Committees" ^[4] were fulfilled, each department and office prepared fully, and the cadres and staff responded actively, meeting the training requirements and achieving the expected results. During the training, the speeches made by representatives of the various research departments were well-prepared and reflected profound insights, demonstrating that all cadres and staff of the Institute are able to grasp the essence of the "May 17" important speech and know how to use it to guide their practice, showing high political literacy and theoretical level. At the same time, as a national-level professional institution for Marxist research and a bridgehead of the strong fortress of Marxism, we must soberly recognize our own responsibility and mission. Learning does not end with the conclusion of the training course; we should play the role of the vanguard and the front-line troops in implementing the spirit of the symposium and accelerating the construction of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. In future work, we must further implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the CPC and its Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Plenary Sessions, and continue to study General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches, especially the "May 17" important speech. We must focus on the series of major theoretical and practical issues proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new concepts, thoughts, and strategies for governance, actively conducting publicity and interpretation, theoretical research, and scientific research breakthroughs. We must prepare ideologically, politically, and theoretically for the 19th National Congress, and prepare for the publicity and interpretation of the 19th National Congress. We must further enhance the awareness of the politics, the general interest, the core, and alignment ^[5], and persist in the correct political direction and academic orientation. We must advance theoretical innovation with a historical perspective, a focus on the era, and an international vision, applying the latest achievements of the Sinicization of Marxism to promote great transformations under the new situation, and contribute strength to the prosperity and development of philosophy and social sciences in our country.