Marxism Research Network
Unofficial English Translation

Luo Wendong: Providing More Complete Institutional Guarantees for National Rejuvenation

Notable Scholars

For more than 40 years of reform and opening up, our Party has led the people in painting a magnificent and grand historical landscape. As socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has promoted reform with comprehensive force, achieving breakthroughs at multiple points, maintaining a "swift yet steady" [1] pace, and advancing into deep waters. Moving from "laying the foundation and erecting the pillars" [2] to comprehensive promotion and "accumulating strength into momentum," and finally to "systemic integration and collaborative efficiency," the basic institutional framework in various fields has been essentially established. Historic transformations, systemic reshaping, and holistic reconstruction have been achieved in many areas. Great historic achievements have been made in comprehensively deepening reform, writing a brilliant chapter in the history of reform and opening up.

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee sounded the clarion call for comprehensively deepening reform, making deployments for reforms in the economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization systems, as well as national defense, the armed forces, and Party building. It clearly defined the general goal of comprehensively deepening reform as "perfecting and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the state governance system and governance capacity." It elucidated the great significance, strategic priorities, order of precedence, main directions of attack, working mechanisms, promotion methods, timetables, and roadmaps for comprehensively deepening reform, possessing epoch-making significance. The 19th National Congress of the CPC established "persisting in comprehensively deepening reform" as a basic strategy for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, emphasizing the construction of a system that is comprehensive, scientifically standardized, and effective in operation, to give full play to the superiorities of our country's socialist system. The Third Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Deepening Reform of Party and State Institutions and the Plan for Deepening Reform of Party and State Institutions, carrying out a systemic and holistic reconstruction of the organizational structure and management system of the Party and the state, providing a powerful organizational guarantee for perfecting and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the state governance system and governance capacity. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee systemically integrated the theoretical, institutional, and practical fruits of comprehensively deepening reform since the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, providing a clearer top-level design for comprehensively deepening reform in the New Era and offering fundamental guidance for the systemic integration and collaborative efficiency of these reforms.

Theoretical innovation brings about breakthroughs in practice. Under the leadership of the Party, we have broken through the shackles of traditional concepts, breached the barriers of entrenched interests [3], and eliminated defects in the systems and mechanisms of various sectors. We have actively responded to the risks and challenges brought by changes in the external environment, realizing a transition in reform from local exploration and "breaking the ice" to systemic integration and comprehensive deepening. By the end of 2020, a total of 2,485 reform plans had been launched, and the basic institutional framework involving every link of clothing, food, housing, transportation, education, medical care, and elderly care, as well as every field of the economy and society, was essentially established. The reform goals and tasks proposed by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee were generally completed as scheduled, providing the fundamental driving force for promoting the historic achievements and historic transformations in the cause of the Party and the state.

Opening up and reform complement and promote each other. Facing a complex and volatile international situation, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has unswervingly expanded opening up to the outside world, implemented a more proactive opening strategy, and promoted the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. Persisting in the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, we have promoted the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, making it a widely welcomed international public good and a platform for international cooperation in today's world. We persist in the mutual promotion of domestic and international opening up, better combining "bringing in" [4] and "going out," promoting the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment. We have constructed a network of high-standard free trade zones facing the globe and promoted institutional opening up [5] involving rules, regulations, management, and standards, forming a pattern of opening up to the outside world characterized by a wider scope, broader fields, and deeper levels, while continuously strengthening our country's new advantages in international cooperation and competition. As the world's largest trader in goods, the second-largest trader in services, and the second-largest recipient of foreign investment, our country is a major trading partner for nearly 200 economies. We have signed more than 200 cooperation documents on jointly building the "Belt and Road" with 149 countries and 32 international organizations, striking a new chord of common prosperity and peaceful development.

Reform and opening up have mobilized the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of hundreds of millions of people, stimulated the vitality of economic and social development, and greatly promoted socialist modernization. In 2021, our country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 114.4 trillion yuan, firmly ranking second in the world; GDP per capita exceeded 12,000 USD. The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress exceeded 60%, the output of intellectual property rights ranked among the top in the world, and international patent applications have ranked first globally for three consecutive years. The vitality of market entities has increased significantly, with the total number of registered market entities increasing from 55 million in 2012 to 161 million by the end of June 2022. We have built the world's largest social security system. As of the end of June 2022, the number of people participating in basic old-age, unemployment, and work-related injury insurance nationwide was 1.04 billion, 233 million, and 286 million respectively, and basic medical insurance covered 1.36 billion people. The Human Development Index (HDI) has increased significantly; among the 47 countries that were in the "low human development" group in 1990, China is the only one to have successfully leaped into the "high human development" group.

The practice of the ten years of the New Era has fully proven that reform and opening up is an important "magic weapon" [6] for the Party and the people to catch up with the times in modern strides. It is the only path to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, the "crucial move" [7] that decides the fate of contemporary China, and the "crucial move" to achieve the "Two Centenary Goals" [8] and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. As comprehensively deepening reform advances in breadth and depth, the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has become more mature and finalized, and the modernization level of the state governance system and governance capacity has continuously improved, providing a more perfect institutional guarantee for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.