Zhu Jiamu: Fully Understand the Milestone Significance of the Great Changes in the Decade of the New Era in the History of the People's Republic of China
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that in the decade since the 18th National Congress, our Party has adopted a series of strategic measures, advanced a series of transformative practices, achieved a series of breakthrough advances, and attained a series of landmark results. He systematically expounded on these measures, practices, advances, and results across 16 dimensions. On this basis, he made the important judgment that "the great transformations of the ten years of the New Era hold milestone significance in the history of the Party, the history of New China, the history of reform and opening up, the history of the development of socialism, and the history of the development of the Chinese nation." This judgment is of vital and far-reaching significance for people to profoundly understand the historic changes of the decade of the New Era, to further unify their thoughts and actions with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, to clarify the forward direction for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to strengthen their firm conviction and confidence in victory for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Moreover, it is of vital and far-reaching significance for people to fully recognize the new period opened in the history of New China and the history of reform and opening up since the 18th National Congress, and to further lead the in-depth development of research into the history of New China.
Periodizing history—what historiography calls duanxian [1]—primarily depends on whether there have been major overall changes in the productive forces and relations of production, or the economic base and the superstructure, when dealing with societies of different social forms. When dealing with societies that share the same basic social form, it depends primarily on whether new stage-specific characteristics have emerged in history. Dialectical materialism tells us that the reason everything in the world differs in a thousand ways is that the internal contradictions of things possess particularity. Mao Zedong said that if people want to study the forms of motion of matter in a large system, they must "study the particular contradiction and the essence of each form of motion of matter in each process of its long course of development." He also said: "Only by comparison can one distinguish" [2] and "Scientific research must start from an understanding of the characteristics of quality." As long as we compare the decade of the New Era with the several historical stages that reform and opening up have already passed through, it is not difficult to see that after the 18th National Congress, obvious and profound changes did indeed occur, and distinct stage-specific characteristics emerged. This is true whether in terms of the philosophy of governance; the practice of socialist modernization; the construction of the economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological civilization; or the principles and methods of institutional reform, national security, and the Party's own self-building. These mark the entry of both the history of New China and the history of reform and opening up into a new period. Without making this comparison, it would be difficult to see how the decade of the New Era differs from previous historical periods, and difficult to clarify exactly what is "new" about the New Era.
Regarding the stage-specific characteristics of the decade of the New Era in the history of New China, there are seven aspects that I feel most deeply.
I. Regarding the philosophy of governance: a greater emphasis on "the people first" and "the people-centered approach"
Since its birth, the Communist Party of China has regarded serving the people as its sacred purpose. After taking national power, our Party has always regarded serving the people as its supreme philosophy of governance. After the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has repeatedly emphasized upholding "the people first" and a "people-centered approach." This is in the same lineage as the purpose of serving the people, yet it has been deepened and innovated in its connotation and focus based on changes in actual conditions; it is the concretization of the purpose of serving the people under the new conditions of the New Era.
When our Party spoke of serving the people during the years of revolutionary war, it was primarily directed against individualism and "small-group mentality"—that is, thoughts and actions that placed personal interests above the interests of the people. After the founding of New China, our Party became the national governing party, and Party members—especially cadres at all levels—held a certain amount of power. At this time, the emphasis on serving the people, while generally directed against individualism, was primarily directed against bureaucratism and the use of power for personal gain. After reform and opening up, our country implemented a basic economic system in which public ownership is mainstay and multiple forms of ownership develop together, and a distribution system in which distribution according to work is the mainstay and multiple modes of distribution coexist. We established a socialist market economy, encouraged and supported the development of the non-public sector, and established opening up to the outside world as a basic national policy. Private capital, including foreign capital, became a factor of production permitted and encouraged to participate in distribution, and there appeared capital markets, capital transactions, and owners of immense wealth. Under these circumstances, some of our Party members and cadres, especially a few leading cadres, could not withstand the tests of reform and opening up, the market economy, and the external environment; using power for personal gain turned into naked "power-money trading." With one hand they accepted bribes from private capital owners, and with the other they opened the door wide for the illegal operation and profit-making of private capital. Their actions not only damaged the Party's image and seriously undermined Party-mass relations, but also fueled the "disorderly expansion and barbaric growth" of capital, seriously sabotaged the normal order and healthy development of the socialist market economy, widened the gap between rich and poor, and endangered the security of the socialist system. The report to the 20th National Congress stated that ten years ago, "many people within the Party and in society were deeply worried about the future of the Party and the country." Remembering what Deng Xiaoping said in the early stages of reform and opening up—"Some people now worry whether China will turn into capitalism; this worry cannot be said to be without a grain of truth"—I understand that the "deep worry" mentioned in the report was primarily focused on this issue.
Since the 18th National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized upholding "the people first" and a "people-centered approach." While this still targets individualism and the use of power for personal gain, to a greater extent it targets "capital first" and a "capital-centered approach." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must both see and give play to the positive role of capital in promoting the development of the productive forces, while also remaining vigilant against and preventing the disorderly expansion of capital. He emphasized: "Regulating and guiding the development of capital under the conditions of a socialist market economy is not only a major economic issue but also a major political issue; it is not only a major practical issue but also a major theoretical issue. It concerns upholding the basic socialist economic system, the basic national policy of reform and opening up, high-quality development and common prosperity, and national security and social stability." Once this principle is understood, going back to study General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches on upholding "the people first" and a "people-centered approach" allows for a more authentic feeling and a more thorough comprehension. That is to say, whether it is our economic and social development or our institutional reform, we must uphold "the people first" and a "people-centered approach," and must never uphold "capital first" or a "capital-centered approach"; otherwise, we would become a capitalist party and a capitalist state.
After Comrade Xi Jinping was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee at the First Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, in his first public speech he clearly proposed: "The people’s aspiration for a better life is our goal." From that point on, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has centered on the people’s aspiration for a better life, putting forward a series of governing principles and implementing a series of policies and measures.
For example, it clearly proposed the "people-centered development philosophy"; the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan" for the coordinated promotion of economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization construction; and the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout for the coordinated promotion of finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, comprehensively deepening reform, comprehensively advancing the law-based governance of the country, and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.
To take another example, it required that improving the people's well-being be treated as the fundamental purpose of development; that promoting social fairness and justice and increasing the people's well-being be the starting point and goal of economic structural reform; and that in the course of reform, we must seize upon the most immediate, direct, and practical interest issues of the people, so that the people have a greater, more direct, and more substantial sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security.
Furthermore, it launched and organized the "battle against poverty" [3], causing more than 9.6 million impoverished people to be relocated from inhospitable areas, nearly 100 million rural poor to be lifted out of poverty, all 832 national-level poverty-stricken counties to have their "poverty labels" removed, and nearly 130,000 impoverished villages to be removed from the list. This completed the task of eliminating absolute poverty and realized the CPC’s solemn promise to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the centenary of its founding.
All these philosophies and measures have greatly improved the relationship between the Party and the masses. To a large extent, they have restored and reshaped the trust of the masses in the Party and the government, and consolidated and strengthened the masses' conviction in socialism with Chinese characteristics and their confidence in the country's bright future. This is the greatest transformation among all the transformations of the decade of the New Era.
II. Regarding political construction: a greater emphasis on upholding the comprehensive leadership of the CPC
Since the beginning of reform and opening up, the reform of the leadership system of the Party and the state has become an important part of political structural reform. This reform was originally intended to maintain the vitality of the Party and the state, overcome bureaucratism, improve work efficiency, and mobilize the enthusiasm of the grassroots and the masses, thereby benefiting the consolidation of CPC leadership and the development of the productive forces under the socialist system. However, some people took the opportunity to one-sidedly propose the slogan "separation of Party and government" (dangzheng fankai). Under this influence, many government agencies and state-owned enterprises or institutions abolished the system of leadership by Party committees, causing the Party's leadership to be hollowed out and weakened. Furthermore, some advocated Western democratization and so-called "universal values," "constitutional" democracy, the multi-party system, the separation of powers, and a bicameral system. They raised pseudo-propositions such as "Which is greater, the Party or the law?" which for a time caused a certain degree of ideological confusion regarding the relationship between upholding the Party's leadership and the law-based governance of the country.
In response to these tendencies, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must urge the whole Party to implement the maintenance of the correct political direction into the practice of planning major strategies, formulating major policies, deploying major tasks, and promoting major work. We must frequently 'align the watches' and 'standardize against the benchmarks' [4], timely calibrate deviations, and resolutely correct behaviors that deviate from or violate the Party's political direction, ensuring that the various causes of the Party and the state always develop along the correct political direction." Facts show that solving the problem of the hollowing out and weakening of the Party's leadership is a major achievement of "aligning the watches, standardizing against the benchmarks, and calibrating deviations" according to the correct political direction in the New Era.
1. Emphasizing that the leadership of the CPC is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that after the 18th National Congress, we faced "major challenges which were still the weakening of the Party's leadership, organizational fragmentation, and lax discipline. Without changing this situation, the Party's governing capacity would be undermined, the Party's governing foundation would be shaken, and the bright future of our Party and the people might even be ruined. Before the 18th National Congress, many comrades within the Party and the broad masses of the people were worried, and this is exactly where their worry lay." Analyzing why this situation occurred, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "After the start of reform and opening up, we once discussed the issue of the 'separation of Party and government,' the purpose of which was to solve problems such as low efficiency, bloated institutions, overstaffing, and a procrastinating work style. It should be said that at that time, our theoretical understanding and practical experience on this issue were both insufficient, and our efforts to solve the problems of the national governance system and governance capacity facing us were exploratory." In other words, because our theoretical understanding and practical experience were insufficient at that time, in the process of exploring the relationship between the Party and the government, we simplified it into the "separation of Party and government." He pointed out: "The Party's leading position and its governing status are closely linked. The Party's power of centralized and unified leadership is indivisible. We cannot simply talk about 'separation of Party and government' or 'integration of Party and government'; rather, we must adapt to the characteristics and basic conditions of different fields." Precisely because of this, since the 18th National Congress, "we have adopted a series of major measures to correct the blurred and erroneous understandings that existed for a period of time, and reversed the phenomena of weakened Party leadership and deficient Party building in some localities and departments, thereby comprehensively strengthening the Party's leadership." Under the guidance of this ideological understanding, the system of leadership by Party committees that had been abolished in past enterprises and institutions has been gradually restored; even primary and secondary schools have re-established the system of the principal assuming responsibility under the leadership of the Party branch. Private enterprises with a certain number of Party members have generally established primary-level Party organizations.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has provided a clear answer to the question of why the leadership of the Communist Party of China must be upheld. He stated: "Governing the country is like planting a tree; if the roots and trunk are unshaken, the branches and leaves will flourish." [5] The "roots and trunk" of our national governance are the leadership of the CPC and our country's socialist system. On this point, we must be self-confident and take a clear-cut stand." He emphasized that "the leadership of the CPC is the most essential characteristic of socialism with Chinese characteristics," "China's greatest national reality," "our greatest institutional advantage," "a prominent feature of the superiority of our country’s socialist political system," and "a great blessing for the Chinese people and the Chinese nation." He further noted: "Upholding and improving Party leadership is the very foundation and lifeblood of the Party and the state, and the source of interest and happiness for the people of all ethnic groups in the country." In accordance with the recommendations of the 19th CPC National Congress, the Constitutional Amendment adopted at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in 2018 added "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential characteristic of socialism with Chinese characteristics" to the second paragraph of Article 1 of the Constitution. Writing the Party’s leadership directly into the main body of the Constitution, compared to previously only being mentioned in the Preamble, clearly carries greater political, practical, and institutional significance, and constitutes a concrete manifestation of our deepened understanding of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
2. Emphasizing that the leadership of the Communist Party of China is comprehensive and concrete
After the 18th CPC National Congress, responding to the phenomenon where Party leadership had been weakened and hollowed out for a time, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The requirement to strengthen the Party's leadership over all work is not hollow or abstract; it must be implemented and reflected in all aspects and links." He emphasized: "Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have not only reached a new theoretical understanding of upholding Party leadership but have also conducted new explorations in practice, improving the systems and mechanisms of the Party's leadership over all work. We must implement and reflect the persistence of Party leadership across all fields and aspects of reform, development, and stability; internal affairs, diplomacy, and national defense; and the governance of the Party, the state, and the military, ensuring that the Party always oversees the overall situation and coordinates all parties." From a series of relevant discourses, it can be seen that besides the work fields, systems, and departments such as the People's Congresses, the government, the Political Consultative Conferences, supervisory organs, judicial organs, procuratorial organs, people's organizations, enterprises, public institutions, social organizations, and the armed forces, those that need to uphold and strengthen Party leadership also include national security, news media, internet information, higher education, agriculture and rural areas, organizational structures and staffing, military-civilian integration, ethnic and religious affairs, finance, and Party schools. He emphasized: "Government, military, society and schools, north, south, east and west—the Party leads everything." [6] "The power to decide the major policies and principles of the Party and the state resides in the CPC Central Committee. We must take practical actions to maintain the authority of the Central Committee as the 'final word' and 'sole source of authority' [7]. Any Party organization or member, regardless of the field, level, or unit, must obey the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee." He simultaneously pointed out: "Emphasizing the maintenance of the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership does not mean we no longer want democratic centralism or to promote intra-Party democracy; it is wrong to set these two against each other." Party leadership "means planning big things, discussing big things, and grasping big things," and "is not about holding every trivial detail in one’s hands."
3. Emphasizing that the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most fundamental guarantee for the socialist rule of law
After the 18th CPC National Congress, our Party has placed greater emphasis on law-based governance than at any time in the past, convening a dedicated Central Committee Plenary Session to discuss the comprehensive advancement of law-based governance. It pointed out that the "overall goal of law-based governance is to build a system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and to build a socialist country under the rule of law." At the same time, it has placed greater emphasis on strengthening Party leadership in the process of advancing law-based governance than ever before, emphasizing that Party leadership "is the fundamental requirement of socialist rule of law," "the most fundamental guarantee," and "an inherent part of comprehensively advancing law-based governance," and that the two "are consistent." In response to the question raised by some as to "whether the Party is greater or the law is greater," General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out on several occasions: "'Whether the Party is greater or the law is greater' is a political trap and a false proposition; on this issue, we must not be ambiguous or vague, but must answer explicitly. Party leadership and law-based governance are not opposites, but are unified." He said: "The leadership of the Party is the soul of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and the greatest difference between our rule of law and that of Western capitalist countries. Without the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and a socialist country under the rule of law cannot be built. Our comprehensive advancement of law-based governance is by no means intended to hollow out, weaken, or even shake and negate the Party's leadership." In short, Party leadership, the people as masters of the country, and law-based governance are unified, and "the three are unified in the great practice of our country’s socialist democratic politics."
III. Regarding economic construction: highlighting the balance, coordination, pragmatism, innovation, and sustainability of development
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, there have likewise been obvious changes in the concepts and approaches to economic development. These changes are mainly manifested in the mode of economic growth, development strategies, and the guiding principles for opening up to the outside world.
1. Changes in the mode of economic growth
Since the beginning of Reform and Opening-up, and even for a long time preceding it, the general tendency in economic development was to emphasize rapid speed. Although there were times when attention was paid to quality and efficiency, and to the idea of "good and fast" development, in practice, speed was often placed before quality and efficiency, and "fast" before "good." Rarely was "stability" treated as the prerequisite for "progress." However, since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that the Chinese economy has entered a "New Normal," shifting "from high-speed growth to medium-to-high-speed growth." He stated that this is "the major logic of our country's economic development at present and for a period to come" and is "an inevitable reflection of the stage-specific characteristics of our country's economic development, which does not change according to human will." If we "still think about the extensive high-speed development of the past, and remain accustomed to 'spreading the stalls' [8] and launching [excessive] projects, we will fail to keep up with the situation." He proposed that "seeking progress while maintaining stability" should become the general keynote of our work, and introduced the "New Development Philosophy" of "innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing." He further integrated the construction of ecological civilization with the previously established economic, political, cultural, and social construction to form the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan.
Another issue linked to the New Normal of economic development is the strategic adjustment of the economic structure. Since the founding of the People’s Republic, there was a long-term shortage of people, finance, and materials on both the supply and demand sides; supply could not meet demand. Consequently, supply-side problems were often obscured by the fact that demand exceeded supply. However, through continuous construction and the reform of systems and mechanisms, the principal aspect of the contradiction [9] gradually shifted, and a situation of traditional overcapacity and insufficient demand began to emerge. In the past, people's understanding of this change was insufficient, and response measures were not in place. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly pointed out that the nature of the contradiction between supply and demand has changed; the inability of supply to meet demand has shifted from a quantitative issue of the past into structural issues of quality, variety, and service. Therefore, to adapt to and lead the New Normal, we must "strike a balance between appropriately expanding total demand and focusing on strengthening supply-side structural reform," "reducing overcapacity, destocking, deleveraging, reducing costs, and bolstering weak spots," and adapt to the changes in the principal contradiction in society through the optimization and upgrading of industrial structures and high-quality development.
2. Changes in economic development strategy
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, there have also been many significant new changes in economic development strategies and arrangements compared to the past.
For example, regarding the goals of development strategy: after the first session of the 3rd National People's Congress in 1964 proposed the "Four Modernizations" of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, striving for the "Four Modernizations" remained the slogan for mobilizing the people of the whole country. After the 18th CPC National Congress, taking into account the development of China and the world over the past half-century, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core further proposed the "New Four Modernizations" goals of new-type industrialization, Informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, building upon the original "Four Modernizations."
Regarding the arrangement of development strategies: after the start of Reform and Opening-up, the CPC Central Committee proceeded from reality and changed the original proposal of achieving the "Four Modernizations" by the end of the 20th century into a "Three-Step" strategy: reaching a "subsistence" level by the end of the 1980s, reaching a "moderately prosperous" level by the end of the 20th century, and reaching the level of a moderately developed country by the middle of the 21st century. After entering the 21st century, it was further proposed to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society through two decades of effort, and basically realize modernization by the middle of the 21st century. Standing at a new historical starting point of our country's development, the 19th CPC National Congress made a "Two-Step" strategic arrangement for the 30 years following the comprehensive completion of a moderately prosperous society: the first step, from 2020 to 2035, is to basically realize socialist modernization; the second step, from 2035 to the middle of the 21st century, is to comprehensively build a great modern socialist power.
Regarding the deployment of development strategies, the 19th CPC National Congress proposed building a modern economic system. This includes building an industrial system led by innovation and coordinated development; a market system that is unified, open, and characterized by orderly competition; an income distribution system that reflects efficiency and promotes fairness; a rural-urban and regional development system that highlights advantages and coordinated linkages; a green development system that is resource-saving and environmentally friendly; a comprehensive openness system that is multi-dimensionally balanced, safe, and efficient; and an economic system that gives full play to the role of the market while better utilizing the role of the government.
In developing an industrial system led by innovation and coordinated development, since the 18th CPC National Congress, emphasis has been placed on developing the real economy, technological innovation, modern finance, and human resources. Within the real economy, the focus is on developing advanced manufacturing and its integration with the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence. In technological innovation, the focus is on establishing and improving a "New Whole-of-Nation System" [10] for tackling key core technologies, improving the national laboratory system, and implementing major science and technology projects that reflect national strategic intentions. Regarding regional development, following the major strategies already implemented—such as the Western Development Drive, the Revitalization of Northeast China and other old industrial bases, and the Rise of Central China—new regional development strategies have been successively launched, including the Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta, the Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development of the Yellow River Basin, and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. Simultaneously, efforts have begun to effectively link the consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements with rural revitalization, accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.
In the overall layout of development—facing the world's unseen changes in a century, the sluggish recovery of the world economy since the 2008 international financial crisis, the ebbing of economic globalization, the rise of trade protectionism, the repeatedly intensified strategic suppression of China by the United States, and the continuous heightening of economic and trade frictions—the CPC Central Committee proposed in early 2021 the acceleration of a new development pattern featuring dual circulation, with the domestic cycle as the mainstay and domestic and international cycles reinforcing each other. This promotes high-quality development, with particular emphasis on creating more well-known brands, overcoming core technology bottlenecks, and adjusting the domestic income distribution pattern to ensure our country's economy remains invincible.
3. Changes in the guiding principles for opening up to the outside world
Based on the need for both markets and resources to be "externally oriented" [11] following the start of Reform and Opening-up, and considering the strengthened construction capabilities and abundant capital of recent years, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the "Belt and Road" international cooperation initiative for opening up. In the eight years from 2013 to 2021, China successively signed "Belt and Road" cooperation agreements with 171 countries and international organizations, established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), opened 13 highway and land-sea intermodal transport corridors and 8 railways connecting Asia and Europe, and implemented more than 3,000 projects including energy, transportation, minerals, agricultural machinery, agricultural product processing, medicine, biology, new materials, finance, and culture.
In order to expand and improve the level of opening up, our country has successively decided to build the Hainan Free Trade Port, established 21 Free Trade Pilot Zones, and signed 19 free trade agreements with 26 countries and regions. Among these is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which accounts for approximately 30% of global GDP and total foreign trade. This has formed a new opening-up pattern of land-sea and internal-external linkage, as well as bidirectional interaction between East and West. At the same time, we have transformed the growth mode of foreign trade to improve its efficiency, and actively and effectively utilized foreign capital with a greater focus on introducing advanced technology and high-quality talent. At present, China's contribution to world economic growth has exceeded 30%, becoming the main source of power and stabilizer for world economic growth.
IV. Regarding cultural construction: greater emphasis on maintaining the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field and requiring struggle against various erroneous tendencies and social trends
1. Calling for the confident consolidation of the guiding position of Marxism
Guidance by Marxism is explicitly stipulated in the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and the Constitution of the People's Republic of China; it is the fundamental guiding ideology for our Party and country's establishment and flourishing. However, after the start of Reform and Opening-up, some individuals, under the banner of "emancipating the mind," spread the "theory that Marxism is outdated." This resulted in a situation where "in certain fields, Marxism was marginalized, hollowed out, and turned into a mere label; it suffered from 'aphasia' in some disciplines, 'disappearance' from textbooks, and 'loss of voice' at forums." Addressing this phenomenon, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out with clear-cut conviction: "The task of propaganda and ideological work is to consolidate the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological sphere." "Party schools, cadre academies, social science academies, universities, and theoretical study center groups must all treat Marxism as a compulsory course, becoming important fronts for the study, research, and propagation of Marxism." He especially emphasized that "the Party school's surname is 'Party,'" stating that "Party schools, especially the Central Party School, must persist in taking Marxism as their guide." He further noted: "Persistence in Marxist guidance is the fundamental hallmark that distinguishes contemporary Chinese philosophy and social sciences from other philosophies and social sciences; it must be upheld with a clear-cut stand." "An important task for our country's philosophy and social sciences is to continue promoting the Sinicization, modernization, and popularization of Marxism." Under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping, Marxism Schools were established throughout the nation's universities. He solemnly cautioned: "Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought must never be lost; to lose them is to lose our foundation."
- Requiring an unambiguous struggle against various erroneous trends of thought
For a long period before the 18th CPC National Congress, a dominant formulation in ideological work was "avoiding contention" [12], which was attributed to Deng Xiaoping. In reality, what Deng Xiaoping spoke of was avoiding contention regarding the specific practices of Reform and Opening-up, so as to avoid "arguing away all our time and accomplishing nothing." He was certainly not suggesting that there should be no contention regarding the direction of Reform and Opening-up, or the question of whether to take the socialist road or the capitalist road. On these issues, he consistently emphasized the need to oppose bourgeois liberalization and persist in the socialist direction of reform. In his own words: "I have spoken the most about opposing bourgeois liberalization, and I am the most persistent in it." He also stated: "The so-called reform of certain people should be given a different name: liberalization, which is to say, capitalization. The core of their 'reform' is capitalization. Our reform is different from theirs; this issue remains a matter for continued contention." Clearly, "avoiding contention" was not, and could not have been, Deng Xiaoping’s position on ideological work.
After the 18th CPC National Congress, targeting the phenomenon of abandoning ideological struggle under the pretexts of "not contending," "not heating things up," or "letting people speak," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Persisting in positive propaganda as the mainstay by no means signifies giving up the struggle in public opinion. Hostile forces are doing their utmost to propagate so-called 'universal values.' Do these people really want to talk about some 'universal values'? Not at all. They are 'hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat' [13]; their goal is to contend with us for positions, for hearts and minds, and for the masses, ultimately to overthrow the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese socialist system. If we allow these remarks to gain widespread currency—'pointing at a deer and calling it a horse' [14] or 'three people making a tiger' [15]—it will inevitably throw the heart of the Party and the people into chaos, endangering the security of the Party's leadership and the socialist state power." He emphasized: "When faced with political rumors and bizarre fallacies spread by those with ulterior motives, our Party members and cadres must not be 'soft-eared' [16] or 'hear the wind and assume it is rain' [17]. At the same time, we cannot remain silent; we must refute them in a timely manner, letting the correct voice drown them out. This is a different matter entirely from 'keeping a low profile' [18] or 'avoiding contention.'" He demanded that regarding all erroneous words and deeds, we must "dare to seize control and manage, dare to unsheathe the sword," and engage in "targeted, frontal confrontation."
As history progressed, trends of thought derived from bourgeois liberalization—such as neoliberalism, social democracy, and historical nihilism [19]—gradually emerged, at one point proceeding without hindrance and causing an uproar. Targeting these erroneous trends, General Secretary Xi Jinping carried out a sharp, point-by-point critique. For instance, regarding the remarks of those advocating Western "constitutionalism," he pointed out: "Our people's democracy is essentially different from so-called Western 'constitutionalism.'" "Promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity is by no means Westernization or capitalization!" Regarding those advocating Western values, he noted: "If we were to tailor our practice according to Western capitalist value systems, or measure our country’s development using Western capitalist evaluation systems—where things are fine if they meet Western standards and are backward or obsolete if they do not—the consequences would be unimaginable! In the end, we would either be following servilely in their footsteps or be left with nothing but abuse." He emphasized: "If we 'venerate the foreign,' 'regard the foreign as beautiful,' and 'obey only the foreign'; if we treat winning foreign awards as our highest pursuit and follow others servilely like 'Dong Shi imitating a knit' [20]; if we are keen on the 'five de-prioritizations' (de-ideologization, de-valuation, de-historicism, de-Sinicization, and de-mainstreaming), there is absolutely no future!" Regarding historical nihilism, he pointed out that the crux of this trend "is to fundamentally deny the guiding position of Marxism and the historical necessity of China's movement toward socialism, and to deny the leadership of the Communist Party of China." In his "January 5" speech in 2013, he emphasized that an important reason the Soviet Communist Party fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated was that problems arose in the ideological sphere: "By engaging in historical nihilism, thoughts were confused, and the Party organizations at all levels became almost entirely useless." Connecting this to China's situation, he emphatically proposed the need to view the two historical periods before and after Reform and Opening-up correctly, noting: "The two are by no means severed from one another, much less fundamentally opposed. ... One cannot use the historical period after Reform and Opening-up to negate the historical period before it, nor use the period before to negate the period after." He also said: "Correctly handling the relationship between the socialist practical explorations before and after Reform and Opening-up is not just a historical issue, but more importantly, a political one."
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the role of the propaganda and ideological front. He pointed out: "If we do not occupy the positions of propaganda and ideology, others will." He criticized how "some units and Party or government cadres lack political sensitivity and a sense of responsibility, acting in a vague and evasive manner on major ideological issues, which has encouraged the spread of erroneous trends." He required that "comrades on the propaganda and ideological front must be warriors, not gentlemen; they must not be 'fence-sitters' or 'weather vanes' [21], and they cannot engage in the practice of 'cherishing one's own feathers' [22]." They should "actively throw themselves into the front line of struggle in the propaganda and ideological field with the posture of a combatant and the responsibility of a warrior." He emphasized: "The principle of Party spirit is the fundamental principle of the Party's news and public opinion work. The Party managing propaganda, the Party managing ideology, and the Party managing the media are important aspects of upholding the Party's leadership. The principle of Party spirit must not only be spoken of, but spoken of with full confidence and straight backs, without dodging or being coy." "The Party managing the media does not mean only managing the media directly held by the Party. The Party managing the media means placing all types of media at all levels under the Party’s leadership... The principle of the Party managing the media cannot be allowed to be hollowed out."
- Emphasizing the need to correct deviations in the cultural sphere with a clear-cut stand
Our Party has always valued the role of literary and artistic work and the construction of spiritual civilization in the cause of revolution. The most representative statement in this regard is what Mao Zedong said in 1943: Our Party has "two fronts, the civil and the martial, which are the cultural and military fronts"; it has two armies, namely "the army with guns" and "the army of culture." Therefore, whenever deviations appear in the cultural sphere, the Party leadership always steps forward personally to carry out corrective work. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yan'an attracted a large number of intellectual youths from all over the country, leading to a daily increase in Yan'an's literary and artistic organizations and cultural periodicals. On the one hand, this produced a large volume of revolutionary works; on the other hand, it also led to deviations that were divorced from the workers, peasants, and soldiers, and divorced from real life. For example, some people only focused on researching and expressing the thoughts and feelings of petty-bourgeois intellectuals while looking down on the masses; some focused on uncritical transplanting and imitating of ancient or foreign works while neglecting popularization; some were only keen on "exposing darkness" and were unwilling to extol the virtues of the revolutionary people, and so forth. In order to rectify these phenomena, the Party Central Committee specially convened the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art. Mao Zedong attended in person and delivered his famous speech, requiring that literary and art workers must go deep among the masses and into the heat of the struggle, opposing abstract theories of human nature and abstract love, and advocating the unity of revolutionary political content with the best possible artistic form.
In the early period of Reform and Opening-up, influenced by the trend of bourgeois liberalization, the literary and art circles saw the emergence of "scar literature" represented by the film script Unrequited Love (Kūliàn), as well as trends promoting abstract humanitarianism and "modernism," and erroneous tendencies toward "spiritual pollution" characterized by a keenness to write about the dark side and distort revolutionary history and reality. In response, Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech titled "The Urgent Tasks of the Party on the Organizational and Ideological Fronts." While affirming the achievements of the literary and art circles, he seriously pointed out that "there still exists considerable confusion" among them. He criticized some for being indifferent to the Party Central Committee's slogan that literature and art must serve the people and socialism, and for lacking the enthusiasm to express and extol the revolutionary history of the Party and people or the heroic deeds of the struggle for socialist modernization. He also noted that some performers, influenced by the unhealthy wind of "looking toward money in everything," used vulgar and low-level content and forms to rake in cash. He pointed out that conducting criticism must not be set in opposition to implementing the "Double Hundred" policy [23]: "No matter what kind of expert, scholar, writer, or artist—as long as they are a Party member, they are not allowed to view themselves as special." Following Deng Xiaoping's speech, although work was carried out to clear away spiritual pollution, the problem was not fully resolved. The phenomenon of spiritual pollution continued to appear and disappear, rising and falling; in some fields, it even intensified, becoming one of the problems the Party had long wanted to solve but failed to.
Entering the New Era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, possessing a high sense of responsibility and a spirit of daring to take charge, convened a Forum on Literature and Art—the first such forum held since the 1940s. At the meeting, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, pointing out: "The cause of literature and art is an important cause of the Party and the people; the literary and art front is an important front of the Party and the people." While affirming the significant achievements made by the vast numbers of literary and art workers, he also candidly criticized the prominent problems existing in literary and artistic creation. For example: plagiarism and imitation, repetitive monotony, mechanized production, and "fast-food" style consumption; mocking the sublime, distorting the classics, subverting history, and vilifying the masses and heroic figures; failing to distinguish right from wrong or good from evil, taking the ugly as beautiful and excessively rendering the dark side; searching for the exotic or the lewd, blindly catering to vulgar tastes, and treating works as "money trees" for profit or "ecstasy pills" for sensory stimulation; reckless writing, shoddy production, and far-fetched associations that create "cultural garbage"; pursuing luxury, excessive packaging, and flaunting wealth, where form outweighs content; being keen on so-called "art for art's sake" and only writing about one's own joys and sorrows or "storms in a teacup," thus becoming detached from the public and reality; and so on. He pointed out: "All these things warn us that literature and art cannot lose their direction in the tide of the market economy, nor can they deviate on the question of who they serve; otherwise, literature and art will have no vitality." He emphasized: "Vulgarity is not popularity; desire does not represent hope; and simple sensory entertainment does not equal spiritual happiness." He said that under the conditions of the socialist market economy, literary and artistic works cannot ignore economic benefits. "However, compared to social benefits, economic benefits are secondary. When the two benefits and the two kinds of value conflict, economic benefits must yield to social benefits, and market value must yield to social value. Literature and art cannot be slaves to the market, nor should they be reeking of the smell of copper [money]." Literary criticism "cannot be all praise or even vulgar flattery and sycophancy; it cannot mechanically apply Western theories to tailor Chinese aesthetics, much less replace artistic standards with simple commercial ones, treating literary and artistic works entirely as ordinary commodities and believing that 'the thickness of the red envelope equals the height of the review.'" His words were earnest and struck at the heart of current malpractices, giving people a sense of something long-awaited.
V. On the issue of institutional reform, more emphasis on correcting the direction, focusing on actual results, comprehensive deepening, and promoting fairness
Since the beginning of reform and opening up, some people have propagated such ideas as the "theory of directionless reform and opening up," the "theory of lagging political structural reform," and the "theory of public ownership's inefficiency." They have advocated for propositions such as "quantifying state-owned assets down to the individual," "placing equity in a secondary position," and "continuing to widen the income distribution gap." The crux of these fallacies lies in using the banner of reform and opening up to speak only of reform and opening up while ignoring the Four Cardinal Principles [24]. They attempt to sever the "one center, two basic points" [25] within the Party's basic line for the primary stage of socialism, seeking to pull reform and opening up off the socialist track. They speak only of the primary stage while ignoring socialism, severing the basic program of the primary stage of socialism from the Party's highest program [26] in an attempt to freeze and perpetualize the primary stage. They speak only of the market economy while ignoring macro-control, severing the market economy from the basic socialist system in an attempt to turn the reform of the economic system into a fundamental change of the economic system itself. They speak only of letting some people get rich first while ignoring common prosperity, setting equity against efficiency in an attempt to strip efficiency of its inherent requirement, starting point, and ultimate goal: social fairness and justice. Whenever reform fails to satisfy the desires of these individuals, they fabricate public opinion, despicably claiming that "reform has stagnated" or "lagged behind."
These fallacies were quite fashionable for a period, confusing many and even influencing policy formulation to a certain extent. Regarding these fallacies, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out incisively after the 18th Party Congress: "Our reform and opening up has a direction, a position, and principles. We certainly must hold high the banner of reform, but our reform is a reform that continuously advances on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics." "What should and can be changed, we change resolutely; what should not be changed, we remain resolutely steadfast." "We cannot broadly say that China’s reform is lagging in a certain area. In certain aspects or periods, it may be faster or slower, but overall, it is not a matter of which aspects of China’s reform have changed and which have not. The essence of the question is what to change and what not to change; some things cannot be changed, and no matter how much time passes, they will not be changed." To rectify the correct direction of reform and opening up, he proposed a series of major principles.
1. Using the Four Cardinal Principles to rectify the direction of reform
General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed: "On issues of major right and wrong and political principles concerning the adherence to or denial of the Four Cardinal Principles, we must increase our initiative, master the initiative, and fight the proactive battle." "No matter what is changed or how it is changed, the orientation cannot change, and the positions must not be lost." During a collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee in December 2012, he said: "We cannot 'imitate the gait of others in Handan' [27]. The world is developing and society is progressing; not implementing reform and opening up leads to a dead end, but engaging in a 'reform and opening up' that denies the socialist direction also leads to a dead end." In his speech at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, he stated even more powerfully: We must "firmly grasp the forward direction of reform and opening up. What to change and how to change must be fundamentally measured by whether it conforms to the general goal of improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. What should and can be changed, we change resolutely; what should not and cannot be changed, we resolutely do not change. We must adhere to the Party's basic line, unifying the focus on economic construction with the two basic points of adhering to the Four Cardinal Principles and reform and opening up within the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, persisting long-term and never wavering." He also reminded everyone: "Some hostile forces and people with ulterior motives are also there cheering, creating public opinion, and blurring the lines, defining reform as moving toward the Western political system—otherwise, they call it 'not reforming.' They are 'the drunkard whose heart is not in the wine' [28]; 'Xiang Zhuang performing the sword dance, but aiming for Liu Bang' [29]. Regarding this, we must 'see as clearly as a fire' [30], maintain political steadfastness, and clarify our political positioning."
2. Guarding against the defects of the capitalist market economy during reform
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We are developing a market economy under the major premise of the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system; we can never forget the qualifier 'socialist.' The reason we call it a socialist market economy is to persist in the superiority of our system and effectively guard against the defects of the capitalist market economy." "The market playing a decisive role in resource allocation does not mean it plays the entire role." "The market playing a decisive role is a general statement; we cannot blindly and absolutely speak of the market playing a decisive role. Rather, we must both let the market play a decisive role in allocating resources and better play the role of the government."
Regarding the question of whether ownership reform must adhere to the dominant position of public ownership, he pointed out, "State-owned enterprises are an important force for promoting national modernization and guaranteeing the common interests of the people," and we must "unswervingly make state-owned enterprises stronger, better, and larger." "The dominant position of public ownership cannot be shaken, and the leading role of the state-owned economy cannot be shaken. This is the institutional guarantee for the people of all ethnic groups in our country to share the fruits of development, and it is also an important guarantee for consolidating the Party's governing position and adhering to our country's socialist system." Regarding the public opinion favoring the privatization of rural land, he emphasized: "Persist in the collective ownership of rural land by peasants. This is the 'soul' of the basic rural management system." "No matter how rural reform is carried out, the collective ownership of rural land must not be destroyed."
After the beginning of reform and opening up, in handling the relationship between efficiency and equity, efficiency was placed above equity for a long time, as seen in the proposal to "give priority to efficiency while giving consideration to equity"; although this was later adjusted to "giving consideration to both efficiency and equity," in practical work, priority was still given to efficiency. Regarding this, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly stated: "Comprehensively deepening reform must take the promotion of social fairness and justice and the enhancement of the people's well-being as the starting point and ultimate goal. ... If it cannot bring real benefits to the common people, if it cannot create a fairer social environment, or if it even leads to more unfairness, then reform loses its meaning and cannot be sustained." He pointed out: "We must use the promotion of social fairness and justice and the enhancement of the people's well-being as a mirror to examine our systems, mechanisms, and policy regulations in all aspects. Wherever there is an issue that does not conform to the promotion of social fairness and justice, that is where reform is needed; whichever field or link has prominent problems, that field or link is the focus of reform."
After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, as traditional conceptual constraints on ownership were broken, a new understanding was gained regarding capital's role as an important factor of production, a tool for market resource allocation, and a method and means of economic development. Various types of capital began to be utilized under the socialist system to promote economic and social development. At the same time, phenomena such as the disorderly expansion of capital, "barbaric growth" [31], and unfair competition gradually came to light. Since the 18th Party Congress, the understanding of the nature of capital has gradually deepened, the recognition of capital's role has become more comprehensive, the grasp of capital has become more thorough, and the ability to govern the operation of capital has continuously improved. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Capital is an important link for driving the aggregation and configuration of various factors of production, and an important force for promoting the development of social productive forces; we must play the positive role of capital in promoting the development of social productive forces. At the same time, it must be recognized that capital has a profit-seeking nature; if not standardized and constrained, it will bring immeasurable harm to economic and social development." Guided by this thought, over the decade of the New Era, the Party and the government have focused not only on guaranteeing that capital participates in social distribution to obtain appreciation and development, but even more so on maintaining the dominant position of distribution according to labor. At the same time, they have comprehensively implemented the fair competition review system, improved the legal system for capital development, and strengthened anti-monopoly and anti-corruption measures in the field of capital, enabling various types of capital to develop healthily.
3. Placing the focus of reform more on common prosperity
Regarding the problem that the distribution gap remains relatively large, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that currently, "The problem of unfair distribution is quite prominent, and the income gap and the gap in public service levels between urban and rural areas and regions are relatively large. In terms of sharing the fruits of reform and development, there are still imperfections in both the actual situation and institutional design." We must "enable all people to move steadily toward the goal of common prosperity, and we must never allow the phenomenon of 'the rich accumulating millions while the poor eat husks and chaff' [32] to occur." Addressing comments by some who oppose emphasizing common prosperity during the primary stage of socialism, he stated: "Our country is in and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism. We cannot do things that transcend the stage, but this does not mean we should do nothing in gradually achieving common prosperity. Rather, we should do as much as possible based on existing conditions, accumulating small victories into major ones, and continuously advancing toward the goal of common prosperity for all people." That is to say, emphasizing common prosperity does not mean achieving it in one step, but putting more focus on common prosperity in our work, doing what we can while remaining within our means. He pointed out that the winning or losing of the people's hearts does not depend solely on economic development: "Once developed, there is still the problem of common prosperity. If material wealth is abundant, but development is extremely unbalanced, the gap between rich and poor is huge, society is unfair, and polarization occurs—can that win the people's hearts?" In the report to the 19th Party Congress, he proposed that before the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, we must concentrate forces to win the battle against poverty. After the battle against poverty was won, he proposed effectively linking the consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements with rural revitalization. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in 2020, he further emphasized that "promoting common prosperity for all people must be placed in a more prominent position." At the conference celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, he pointed out even more clearly that we must "develop whole-process people's democracy, maintain social fairness and justice, focus on solving the problems of unbalanced and insufficient development and the urgent anxieties and expectations of the people, and promote more obvious substantive progress in the comprehensive development of the person and common prosperity for all people." At the 20th Party Congress, he again required that we "firmly grasp the most direct and realistic interest issues that the people are most concerned about, persist in doing our best within our means... and solidly promote common prosperity." He reiterated that we must strive to increase the proportion of resident income in the distribution of national income and increase the proportion of labor remuneration in primary distribution, and proposed to "explore multiple channels to increase the factor income of low- and middle-income groups" and "standardize the order of income distribution and the mechanism for wealth accumulation." All these expositions demonstrate that the current priority is how to steadily promote common prosperity, gradually repair the defect of an excessive income gap, and prevent the phenomenon of "the rich accumulating millions while the poor eat husks and chaff." Of course, we must also pay attention to preventing egalitarianism and "robbing the rich to give to the poor," but currently such problems do not exist, and they are certainly not the focus of our Party's emphasis.
VI. In maintaining national security and promoting the great cause of national reunification, highlighting a sense of urgency, bottom-line thinking, and the spirit of "not believing in heresies and not fearing ghosts"
From the time Lenin proposed the theory of imperialism in the early 20th century to today, more than 100 years of history have repeatedly proven that capitalism has indeed entered the stage of monopoly from the stage of free competition; that bank capital and industrial capital have indeed merged to form financial oligarchs based on finance capital; that the export of capital has indeed acquired particularly important significance; and that revolution and war have indeed become the concomitants of the era of imperialism. However, as the world entered the 1970s and 80s, many obvious changes occurred in the international situation, and peace and development gradually replaced war and revolution as the main issues and prominent characteristics of the times.
Based on these changes in the international situation, Deng Xiaoping, in the mid-1980s, made his exposition on peace and development being the two prominent issues in the world today. This exposition by Deng Xiaoping was a new judgment by the CPC on the international situation and served as one of the important bases for implementing the policy of reform and opening up and opening the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Based on this judgment, the Party Central Committee later summarized "peace and development" as the two major issues of the era in official documents, sometimes expressing them as the two major themes, tasks, or characteristics of the era. Starting from this characteristic of the era, the Party Central Committee proposed seizing opportunities and accelerating development. In the strategy of implementing opening up to the outside world, it combined "bringing in" with "going out," fully utilizing both international and domestic markets and resources, and joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, forming a more comprehensive export-oriented economic development pattern.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the international situation has undergone many changes with new historical characteristics, confronting humanity with numerous new challenges. It was precisely these changes and challenges that triggered high alertness within the Party Central Committee, leading to new judgments on the situation. After the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core affirmed, on one hand, that peace and development remain the themes of the times; the overall direction of world multipolarity, economic globalization, and the democratization of international relations has not changed, and the general trend toward peaceful development is irreversible. On the other hand, it pointed out that the instability and uncertainty facing the world have become increasingly prominent, and the various risks facing China’s development are continuously increasing or even surfacing in a concentrated manner, noting that "the instability and uncertainty of the security situation are increasing" and that "suppression and containment from the outside could escalate at any time." General Secretary Xi Jinping has called on all countries to work together to build a community with a shared future for humanity, characterized by mutual respect and equal consultation, resolutely rejecting Cold War mentality and power politics, and taking a new path of state-to-state relations defined by dialogue rather than confrontation and partnership rather than alliance. Simultaneously, he required that the prevention of risks be placed in a more prominent position domestically, establishing and implementing a holistic approach to national security. He emphasized the need to "focus on security work in all aspects, including political security, economic security, territorial security, social security, and cyber security," and to "persist in planning with a global mindset, coordinating development and security, maintaining bottom-line thinking, and unifying principle with strategy, so as to keep the strategic initiative for safeguarding national security firmly in our own hands" and "strive to create a new situation for national security work." The above illustrates that, in the face of the great changes unseen in a century [33] currently experienced by the world, the Party Central Committee has formed new judgments on the international situation and made corresponding adjustments to international strategy. This strategic adjustment is most evident in the following aspects.
- Establishing the goal of strengthening the military for the New Era and the military strategic guidelines
Our Party has always attached importance to armed struggle and army building. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" and "opposing armed counter-revolution with armed revolution" were not only characteristics of the Chinese Revolution but also its key experiences. After the founding of New China, under extremely difficult conditions, China developed cutting-edge technologies such as "Two Bombs, One Satellite" [34], grew the national defense industry from nothing, and evolved a single-service army into combined forces, continuously improving the level of revolutionization, modernization, and regularizaton of the people's army and increasing national defense strength. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, while inheriting and carrying forward the glorious traditions of the people's army, the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission have carried out a series of rectifications, reforms, innovations, and optimizations in response to problems that emerged in the previous period.
First, addressing the problem of the weakening of the Party’s leadership over the people's army under the "sinister wind" [35] of so-called "nationalization of the military," the Party emphasized the absolute leadership of the Party over the people's army and the principle that the Party commands the gun. The Gutian All-Military Political Work Conference [36] was convened to strictly implement the comprehensive and strict governance of the military. Decisive measures were taken to rectify the political discipline, rules, and conduct of the military, advancing political rectification in the spirit of "rectification movements" [37], deeply advancing the improvement of Party conduct, clean government, and the anti-corruption struggle within the military, thereby promoting a fundamental turnaround in the military's political ecosystem.
Second, the Party vigorously carried out the most extensive and profound reform of national defense and the military since the founding of New China. It restructured the leadership and command system, the modern military force system, and the military policy system, forming a new pattern where the Military Commission manages the whole, theater commands focus on combat, and various services focus on construction. It adjusted and optimized the strategic layout of the military, strengthened strategic forces and new-domain and new-quality combat forces, enhanced the joint combat command system and capabilities, built a "three-in-one" [38] new-type military talent training system, implemented the strategy of governing the military according to law, and advanced the construction of the military honor system.
Finally, the Party firmly established combat effectiveness as the sole fundamental standard, resolutely shifting the focus of the entire military back to preparing for and fighting wars. All energy is concentrated on fighting, and all work is directed toward fighting, with a major focus on realistic military training and strengthening combat readiness to improve the capability to win and cure "peace ailments" [39].
- Comprehensively advancing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics
After the 18th CPC National Congress, while continuing to implement New China’s independent foreign policy of peace and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, our Party—faced with the profound adjustment of international power dynamics and the entry of the world into a period of turbulence and change, as well as unprecedented external risks and challenges—has on one hand proactively set the agenda and made strategic plans for major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics to promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. On the other hand, it has actively carried forward the spirit of struggle, placing political security first, resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and resolutely opposing hegemonism, power politics, bullying, and Cold War mentality. It has forcefully countered the interference of external forces in China’s internal affairs and the patronizing "lectures" from those who act like "lord-teachers," [40] harbor ideological prejudice, and engage in zero-sum games. At the same time, it has protected the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas, continuously improving the system for protecting overseas interests.
During the decade of the New Era, China has held high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, advancing and improving an all-dimensional, multi-level, and multifaceted diplomatic layout, and promoting the construction of a new type of international relations and major-country relations. It has adhered to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness, as well as the policy of forging friendships and partnerships with neighbors, deepening relations with surrounding countries. Holding to the principles of sincerity, real results, amity, and good faith, China has strengthened unity and cooperation with the vast number of developing countries. It has deepened exchange and cooperation between political parties, actively participated in the reform and construction of the global governance system, and promoted economic globalization toward a more open, inclusive, universally beneficial, balanced, and win-win direction. China telah increasingly become the initiator, advocate, and organizer of international organizations, conferences, and actions, opposing the formation of camp-based and exclusive "small circles" targeting specific countries. Its international influence, appeal, and power to shape have significantly increased, moving closer to the center of the world stage. After the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, China launched the largest global emergency humanitarian rescue operation since the founding of New China, demonstrating the image of a responsible major power and winning wide international acclaim.
- Comprehensively and accurately advancing the practice of "One Country, Two Systems" and implementing the overall strategy for resolving the Taiwan question in the New Era
The issues of Hong Kong and Macau were left over from modern Chinese history. At the time of New China's founding, the older generation of revolutionaries considered that leaving administrative power temporarily in the hands of the British and Portuguese authorities would help break the blockade of China by the United States and the West, and could be recovered at any time when conditions matured. In the 1980s, as the lease on the Kowloon Peninsula approached its end, Deng Xiaoping, considering the international and domestic situation at the time, proposed the concept of "One Country, Two Systems" to solve the Hong Kong and Macau issues, allowing for "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" and "Macau people governing Macau" with a high degree of autonomy, reaching agreements with the British and Portuguese governments respectively. Subsequently, the smooth return of Hong Kong and Macau was achieved in 1997 and 1999. However, for a period of time, "anti-China and destabilizing" elements in Hong Kong colluded with external anti-China forces, repeatedly holding illegal assemblies and demonstrations, and frantically carrying out violent acts of destruction such as smashing, looting, and arson, even raising the banner of "Hong Kong independence," causing a severe situation in Hong Kong for a time. Faced with these circumstances, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core responded calmly, emphasizing the need to comprehensively and accurately implement "One Country, Two Systems," "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong," and a high degree of autonomy. It pointed out that a high degree of autonomy is not total autonomy, and that it is necessary to adhere to "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" with patriots as the mainstay, growing the patriotic forces that love both the country and Hong Kong, and enhancing the national consciousness and patriotic spirit of Hong Kong compatriots. To improve the system by which the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over the Special Administrative Regions (SARs) in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law, and to promote the establishment of a legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding national security in the SARs, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the Fourth Session of the 13th NPC successively passed the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Decision on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They also established the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Hong Kong SAR also established the Committee for Safeguarding National Security according to law and perfected the oath-taking system for public officials. These measures solved the long-standing problem of Hong Kong not being fully integrated into the national governance system since its return to the motherland. They are of major and far-reaching significance for Hong Kong's transition from chaos to order, the effective implementation of the central government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong, and the guarantee of Hong Kong's long-term peace, stability, and prosperity. This represents the true return of administrative power following the return of sovereignty.
The Taiwan question is a legacy of the Liberation War. The older generation of revolutionaries also considered using the "One Country, Two Systems" method to solve this problem. After the reform and opening up, our Party further proposed the principle of peaceful reunification and realized the "Three Links" [41] across the Taiwan Strait in accordance with the "1992 Consensus." At the same time, our Party emphasized that the one-China principle is the political foundation of cross-Strait relations; while we make the greatest efforts to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification, we never promise to renounce the use of force. Since "Taiwan independence" elements came to power, the Taiwan authorities have continuously intensified secessionist activities, dealing a serious blow to the momentum of peaceful development in cross-Strait relations. Entering the New Era, our Party has proposed a series of new important concepts and major policy propositions regarding work related to Taiwan, forming an overall strategy for resolving the Taiwan question and firmly grasping the leadership and initiative in cross-Strait relations. The Chinese government declared: We will never allow any person, any organization, or any political party, at any time or in any form, to secede any part of Chinese territory from China. When high-ranking U.S. officials made "sneak visits" to Taiwan, the Chinese People's Liberation Army immediately conducted live-fire exercises surrounding Taiwan Island, dealing a resolute counter-blow to the provocative acts. This was also unprecedented.
VII. In terms of the governing party’s own construction, highlighting the keynote of "comprehensive and strict" more prominently
The Communist Party of China is the leader and organizer of China’s socialist modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Persisting in and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This dictates that it is of exceptional significance for the Party to ensure its nature as a proletarian political party—its advanced nature, its purity, and its mission of serving the people—remains unchanged through its own construction. As the ancients said: "All have a beginning, but few can reach the end" (mǐ bù yǒu chū, xiǎn kè yǒu zhōng) [42]. This is true for individuals and even more so for a political party. Especially for a large party like the Communist Party of China, which has long been at the core of national leadership and faces the context of reform and opening up, how to withstand the tests of governance, reform and opening up, the market economy, and the external environment, and how to deal with the dangers of mental slackening, lack of capacity, being detached from the masses, and corruption—how to ensure we "never change our nature, our color, or our flavor"—is indeed a serious problem that must be faced at all times. If this problem is not solved well, let alone maintaining vigor, even the qualification to lead will be lost. The only way to solve this problem is through continuous self-purification, self-perfection, self-innovation, and self-improvement.
During the Yan'an Rectification Movement, Mao Zedong said: "Many Party members have joined the Party organizationally, but have not fully joined ideologically, or even not at all. ... Although the majority of our ranks are pure, in order to lead the revolutionary movement toward better development and faster completion, we must seriously rectify ourselves ideologically and organizationally. To rectify organizationally, we must first rectify ideologically, and an ideological struggle of the proletariat against the non-proletariat must be launched." He also said: "A house should be swept regularly, or it will be covered with dust; a face should be washed regularly, or it will be covered with grime. The thoughts of our comrades and the work of our Party can also be stained with dust and should also be swept and washed. 'Running water does not stagnate, and a door hinge never rusts' means that they resist the erosion of microbes or other organisms through constant motion." Regularly reviewing work and carrying out criticism and self-criticism "is the only effective way to resist the erosion of our comrades' thoughts and the Party's body by various political dusts and political microbes." These discourses show that to maintain the Party's advanced nature and purity and prevent Party members' thoughts from degenerating or becoming detached from the masses, there is no other way but to continuously carry out criticism and self-criticism and regularly perform ideological, conduct-related, and organizational rectifications.
After the founding of the Communist Party of China, for a long time, it was in a state of underground or guerrilla warfare, making it difficult to carry out criticism, self-criticism, and self-rectification on a large scale. It was not until the later stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, when the base areas were relatively stable, that a large-scale rectification movement centered in Yan'an could be carried out throughout the Party. It was precisely this movement that laid the ideological and political foundation for the final victory of the War of Resistance and the seizure of national power. In the early years of New China, in response to new situations that had appeared or might appear after governing the whole country, our Party carried out a series of Party rectification movements. Some of these movements made "Leftist" errors in guiding ideology, and some suffered from problems of simplification and over-expansion, leaving behind various "sequelae." However, their purpose was always to strengthen the Party's own construction, and they indeed played a positive role in preventing corruption and detachment from the masses after the Party took power.
After the reform and opening up began, our Party drew lessons from the past and ceased the practice of turbulent, movement-style rectification. However, it did not stop using concentrated education as a method for internal ideological struggle and the correction of work styles. In the period of less than 30 years from 1983 to 2008 alone, the Party successively launched four nationwide concentrated education campaigns: Party rectification, the "Three Stresses" [43] education, the education to maintain the advanced nature of CPC members, and the study and practice of the Scientific Outlook on Development. To varying degrees, these activities addressed issues of impurity in ideology and work style among the ranks of Party members, serving as a constant alarm bell in a complex environment. Nevertheless, due to a temporary period of laxity in governing the Party, some organizations became weak and slack, while problems of formalism and bureaucratism became prominent. Not only was the serious phenomenon of luxury and waste not fundamentally reversed, but passive corruption grew increasingly rampant. There even emerged depraved situations unprecedented in the history of the New China, such as the soliciting and selling of official positions, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the broad masses of Party members and the people.
After the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Reform and opening up and the development of the socialist market economy have changed the original modes of resource allocation and organizational management. More and more 'unit people' have become 'social people' [44]. Various complex interpersonal and vested interests have exerted an impact on intra-Party life that cannot be underestimated, triggering a variety of problems, of which weak organizational awareness and organizational slackness are issues that must be treated seriously." He stated: "Our current major challenges remain the weakening of Party leadership, organizational slackness, and lax discipline... This is precisely where many comrades within the Party and the broad masses of the people felt concern prior to the 18th National Congress." He emphasized that the primary problem at present is that "governing the Party and enforcing discipline have been too broad, too loose, and too soft."
To solve this problem of being "broad, loose, and soft," the Party Central Committee, following the 18th National Congress, began by setting rules for the Central Committee itself. Starting with the formulation and implementation of the Eight-Point Regulations to break the initial deadlock, it successively rolled out a series of measures and institutions. From that time until the 20th National Congress, the Party continuously carried out the following among all members or cadres at or above the county and division level: the education on the mass line, the special education on the "Three Stricts and Three Honests" [45], the "Two Studies and One Action" [46] education and practice, the "staying true to our original aspiration and founding mission" thematic education, and the Party history study and education activities, which included sessions for democratic life meetings. Looking at the practice of recent years, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has exhibited two most prominent points in grasping the Party’s self-construction compared to the past.
- Conducting education on ideals and convictions with unprecedented intensity
In our Party's history, especially since the founding of the New China, although much importance has been attached to educating members on ideals and convictions, it has never reached the degree of emphasis seen in the New Era. One major reason for this is that the root cause of those corrupt elements falling into the abyss of crime after the reform and opening up was the shaking of their "ballast stone"—their ideals and convictions—and the loosening of their "master switch"—their worldview, outlook on life, and values. They suffered defeat in the face of bourgeois liberalized thinking, such as the supremacy of the individual, the supremacy of money, and the concept of "universal values."
Prior to the reform and opening up, our Party committed the error of being overly hasty to enter communism, causing serious losses to the cause of socialist construction. After the reform and opening up, the Party restored the Marxist ideological line of seeking truth from facts. It realized that because our country's economic base was backward, not only would socialism be a long historical stage, but within that stage there would also exist a very long primary stage. In this stage, it is necessary to implement policies compatible with the actual level of the productive forces, including developing the private economy and attracting foreign capital. However, some people went to another extreme, believing that communism was indefinitely remote. They advocated that in the future we should speak less of, or even stop speaking of, communism, and only speak of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Some even proposed that in order to put capitalists at ease, the Communist Party of China should change its name to something like the "People's Party," "Labor Party," or "Socialist Party." Influenced by this, a strange phenomenon appeared in public discourse: it seemed that anyone who spoke of communism was "Leftist" or opposed to reform. Consequently, the word "communism" almost vanished from newspapers, periodicals, radio, and television.
After the 18th National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out with a clear-cut stand: "A Marxist party is not a party joined together by interests, but a party organized by common ideals and convictions. Building a strong Marxist ruling party must first start with ideals and convictions." He criticized: "Among our ranks of Party members and cadres, the lack of faith is a problem that requires high attention. Among some people, some consider it a 'fashion' or a gimmick to criticize and ridicule Marxism; some are spiritually empty, believing that communism is an illusory fantasy—they 'ask not the people but the spirits' [47], being keen on fortune-telling, physiognomy, and praying to gods or Buddha, or having blind faith in 'Qigong masters'; some have wavering convictions, legalizing their spouses and children’s immigration abroad and depositing money overseas to 'keep a path open' for themselves, ready to 'jump ship' at any time; some are enslaved by material things, believing in the supremacy of money, fame, and pleasure, with no reverence in their hearts and no bottom line in their behavior." He emphasized at a democratic life meeting of the Central Politburo: "What we are doing now are matters of the primary stage of socialism, but we must not forget our initial purpose, nor our ultimate goal of struggle. On this issue, we must not be ambiguous or vague. Ambiguity and vagueness are expressions of blurred or even wavering ideals and convictions—as if this thing is too distant and we are unsure of it, so we are unwilling to mention it. For matters at hand, we see them, so we dare mention them; we dare mention the primary stage of socialism, we dare mention the 'Two Centenary Goals,' and we dare mention the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects since it could be achieved by 2020. We see these clearly, so we dare mention them even more. I believe that as content explicitly stipulated in the Party Constitution, and as an ideal that our Party has consistently and clearly upheld, we must strengthen our conviction and firmly believe in its scientific nature. If you feel unsettled, go and study the classic works; read the Communist Manifesto a few more times."
Regarding the view that "communism is indefinitely remote," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Strengthening ideals and convictions and upholding the spiritual pursuit of Communists have always been the foundation of a Communist's life and work. Faith in Marxism and conviction in socialism and communism are the political soul of Communists and the spiritual pillar for Communists to withstand any test." "Our Party takes Marxism as its foundation for building the Party, the realization of communism as its highest ideal, and wholehearted service to the people as its fundamental purpose. This is the 'root' of a Communist. Without these, it would be a tree without roots. This is where the logical relationship of our entire path, theory, and system lies... Since the reform and opening up, our Party has led the people of all ethnic groups in the country to create and develop the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics—all of which originate from this ideal and conviction. To establish the ambition of loyalty and faithful belief is to strengthen this ideal and conviction." At the symposium commemorating the 110th anniversary of Comrade Chen Yun's birth, General Secretary Xi Jinping also cited Chen Yun’s view that "communism is not indefinitely remote; socialism is the first stage of communism," pointing out: "Faith in Marxism and communism and conviction in socialism are the spiritual 'calcium' of Communists. Without ideals and convictions, or if they are not firm, one will suffer from 'rickets' [48] spiritually and will sway back and forth in the face of wind and rain."
Regarding the view that since the realization of communism is a very long process, why should one strive for it, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Realizing communism is the highest ideal of us Communists, and this highest ideal requires generations of people to fight in a relay. If everyone feels that this is something invisible and untouchable for which there is no need to struggle and sacrifice, then communism truly will never be realized. Our current persistence in and development of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the concrete effort being made toward the highest ideal." He also said: In the Party's history, "generations of Communists, in order to pursue national independence and the liberation of the people, did not hesitate to shed their blood and sacrifice themselves; what they relied on was a faith, and what they did it for was an ideal. Although they knew that the ideal they pursued would not be realized in their own hands, they firmly believed that as long as generation after generation continued to work hard and make sacrifices for it, the lofty ideal would surely be realized."
Regarding the clamor that "the Communist Party should change its name," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Various hostile forces at home and abroad always attempt to make our Party change its banner and its name. The crux of this is the attempt to make us lose our faith in Marxism and our conviction in socialism and communism. Yet some of our people, and even some comrades within the Party, have failed to see the hidden mystery within this, thinking: Western 'universal values' have been around for hundreds of years, why can't we identify with them? Why can't we borrow some Western political discourse? Accepting them won't cause us any major loss, so why insist on going against them?" He said: "The reason why the Communist Party of China is called the Communist Party is that from the day of its founding, our Party established communism as its lofty ideal. The reason why our Party has been able to withstand setbacks again and again and rise up again and again is, in the final analysis, because our Party has lofty ideals and sublime pursuits." To strengthen the entire Party's conviction in communism, General Secretary Xi Jinping has also many times led the members and Standing Committee members of the Central Politburo in revisiting the Party admission oath under the Party flag.
A question closely related to ideals and conviction is whether the Communist Party is still a revolutionary party after taking power, and whether it still needs revolution. As mentioned earlier, after the reform and opening up, the theory of "continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat" was negated. Some people used this as an excuse to propose the fallacy that "the Communist Party must achieve a transition from a revolutionary party to a ruling party," which became the theoretical basis for some weak-willed individuals to abandon their ideals and convictions. After the 18th National Congress, in response to this public opinion that treated "revolution" as a derogatory term, General Secretary Xi Jinping repeatedly emphasized that "revolutionary ideals soar higher than the sky," constantly reminding everyone "not to forget that we are revolutionaries" and "not to lose the revolutionary spirit." He criticized the view that the CPC had transformed from a "revolutionary party" into a "ruling party," pointing out that our Party is a Marxist ruling party, but at the same time, it is also a Marxist revolutionary party.
- Carrying out an unprecedented anti-corruption struggle
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party has strictly rectified the "Four Winds"—formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance. With the sense of mission and responsibility of "offending thousands to avoid failing the 1.4 billion," the Party has eliminated maladies and restored order. It has carried out the anti-corruption struggle with unprecedented intensity, punishing a large number of corrupt elements among high-ranking cadres, including former members and members of the Standing Committee of the Central Politburo and former vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission. It has truly achieved "no forbidden zones, full coverage, and zero tolerance" in anti-corruption. At the same time, in addition to the Party's disciplinary inspection system, the National Commission of Supervision and its local branches have been established, and a system for conducting inspections of Party and government organs, enterprises, and public institutions at all levels has been founded, with responsibilities for governing the Party implemented at every level. In the anti-corruption struggle, particular attention has been paid to punishing corruption where political and economic problems are intertwined, preventing leading cadres from becoming spokespersons or agents for interest groups and power blocs. Simultaneously, the Party has seriously investigated and dealt with the corruption of leading cadres’ spouses, children, and their spouses, as well as other relatives and close staff members who use their influence for corruption. This has been achieved through a multi-pronged approach of "hitting tigers," "swatting flies," and "hunting foxes," [49] while persisting in investigating both those who accept bribes and those who offer them. These measures have secured an overwhelming victory in the anti-corruption struggle, eliminated serious hidden dangers within the Party, the state, and the military, and fundamentally improved the "broad, loose, and soft" state of Party governance. A clean and healthy intra-Party political ecosystem is continuously forming and developing. In the report to the 20th National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward new tasks for the anti-corruption struggle, requiring the "punishment of new types of corruption and hidden corruption." He pointed out that we must resolutely win the tough and protracted battle against corruption: "As long as the soil and conditions for corruption exist, the anti-corruption struggle cannot stop for a single moment; the charge must be sounded forever."
The reason why a minority of Party members—and particularly leading cadres—have degenerated into corrupt elements stems not only from ideological factors but also from economic ones. Following Reform and Opening-up, the regulatory role of the market in the economy was continuously expanded, and the development of private and foreign capital was encouraged. Under these circumstances, the principle of commodity exchange [50] can easily penetrate internal Party life, and various material interests can easily exert a seductive influence. If ideological vigilance is relaxed, those with weak wills can easily fall into traps, becoming captives and agents of capital. Therefore, strengthening the Party’s self-construction and preventing or halting the spread of corruption requires more than just the rectification of ideology, work style, and organization; it must also begin at the institutional level by improving regulations and plugging loopholes. This requires, on the one hand, unswervingly upholding the basic economic system in which public ownership remains the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership develop together, alongside the socialist market economy system, so as to give full play to the positive roles of the market and capital under the premise of maintaining the socialist system. On the other hand, it requires correctly understanding and remaining vigilant against the defects of the market and the characteristics of capital, severing potential interest links between Party members—especially leading cadres—and domestic or foreign private capital, and putting a stop to power-for-money trades, collusion between officials and businessmen, and the transfer of interests between Party and government organs or officials and private capital.
After the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the concept of a "pro-establishment" and "clean" [51] new type of relationship between government and business. He pointed out: "For leading cadres, 'pro-establishment' means being open and sincere in contacts and interactions with private enterprises... 'clean' means that the relationship with private entrepreneurs must be honest and pure, without greed or selfishness, and one must not abuse power for personal gain or engage in power-for-money trades." In the report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC, he further pointed out the need to "consciously resist the erosion of internal Party life by the principle of commodity exchange" and "resolutely prevent the formation of interest groups within the Party." In his speech at the ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, he reiterated that the Party "does not have any special interests of its own," clearly stating that our Party "has never represented the interests of any interest group, any power bloc, or any privileged stratum. Any attempt to divide the Communist Party of China from the Chinese people or to set them against each other is destined to fail." These expositions and practices were rare or even unseen in the past, and they have exerted an important influence and clear effect on the CPC as the governing party and on society as a whole.
In addition to the seven aspects of stage-specific characteristics presented by the ten years of the New Era in the history of the People's Republic of China and the history of Reform and Opening-up listed above, one can also see that the history of the PRC and Reform and Opening-up indeed entered a new period after the 18th National Congress of the CPC from the Party Central Committee’s judgments regarding: "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics has entered a New Era," "the principal contradiction in Chinese society has undergone a new change," and "China's primary stage of socialism [52] has entered a new stage of development."
This new period is one in which a great struggle with many new historical features has been and will continue to be carried out. It is a period in which many major and important matters concerning long-term interests have been and will continue to be accomplished, and many long-unresolved difficulties and long-accumulated contradictions have been and will continue to be overcome. It is a period of advancing and expanding, and continuing to advance and expand, Chinese-path modernization. It is a period of moving from the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society [53] toward basically realizing socialist modernization. It is a period in which China's international status and influence are further enhanced and it plays a greater role in global governance. It is a period in which we are closer to, and have more confidence and capability in achieving, the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than at any time in history. This new period must answer the question of what kind of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics should be built and how to build it; while this is related to the previous question of "what is socialism and how to build it," they are no longer the same question.
(About the author: Zhu Jiamu is the former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the President of the Association of National History of the People's Republic of China.)