Chai Yi: China's Practice of Building a Leading Cultural Power under the Guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Xi Jinping has focused on the construction of socialist culture through a series of important expositions, organically unifying the two strategic goals of building a socialist cultural power and achieving socialist modernization. He has led and promoted historic achievements in the cause of socialist culture. As we strive on the new journey, we are in a critical period of comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a powerful country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization. The innovative development of further comprehensively deepening reform must move in the same direction and resonate at the same frequency as the unremitting struggle anchored toward the strategic goal of building a socialist cultural power. The prosperity of a country or a nation is inseparable from the soaking and nourishment of culture. Realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation requires the development and prosperity of Chinese culture as a condition, and the flourishing of cultural undertakings calls for innovative breakthroughs in cultural thought. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture was conceived and born in the innovative practices of the New Era; it is precisely a response to the requirements of cultural prosperity and development, and serves as a powerful ideological weapon guiding the construction of a socialist cultural power.
I. The Distinct Advantages of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture in Guiding the Construction of a Socialist Cultural Power
The series of new ideas, new viewpoints, and new judgments put forward by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture have enriched and developed Marxist cultural theory. It has formed a complete system with scientific content, a profound theory with incisive thought, and a clear goal with distinct direction. It systematically answers a series of major questions regarding China's socialist cultural construction, establishing a theoretical monument in the history of Marxist cultural development and demonstrating distinct advantages in guiding the construction of a socialist cultural power.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture emphasizes upholding the Party's cultural leadership, providing a fundamental guarantee for building a socialist cultural power. Upholding the Party's cultural leadership is a vital viewpoint of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, concerning the fundamental question of what flag the cultural cause unfurls, what road it travels, and toward what direction it develops. Upholding the leadership of the Party is a valuable experience accumulated through history; the continuous progress of cultural undertakings alongside the times cannot be separated from the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Entering the New Era, the Party Central Committee has emphasized cultural leadership by incorporating it into the national governance system, aiming to ensure that the direction of cultural construction is consistent with national development strategies. In his Speech at the Symposium on Literature and Art, Xi Jinping pointed out: "The Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the development of socialist literature and art." [1] We must guide the development of literature and art to adapt to the Party's leadership, correctly handle the relationship between the Party's leadership and cultural development, and grasp the relationship between Party spirit and people-centeredness, as well as between political stance and cultural principles. Xi Jinping’s important expositions provide clear answers as to why and how the Party must uphold its cultural leadership. The cultural power we aim to build must be explicitly prefixed as "socialist"; the essence of a socialist cultural power lies in the leadership of the Communist Party of China. To adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Culture as a guide and promote the prosperity and development of socialist culture, we must implement the Party's cultural leadership in all aspects of cultural work, providing a fundamental guarantee for maintaining the correct direction in the practice of building a socialist cultural power.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture reveals the cultural mission of the New Era, defining the struggle objectives for building a socialist cultural power. The shift from proposing "to build a cultural power" to locking in the strategic goal of "completing the construction of a cultural power" reflects the Party's grasp of the law of transition from quantitative accumulation to qualitative breakthrough in leading cultural development. The cultural mission of the New Era consists of promoting the prosperity of socialist culture and building a socialist cultural power; the two are internally connected and complementary, serving as the "dual engines" for the development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. Promoting the prosperity of socialist culture is the foundational work for building a socialist cultural power, with the latter based on the former, and the latter being the goal sought by the former. From the perspective of target orientation, promoting socialist cultural prosperity is a specific requirement for building a socialist cultural power proposed at the level of the Party's cause, providing content support, innovative impetus, and a social foundation for the latter. Building a socialist cultural power is the struggle goal for promoting the prosperity of socialist culture proposed at the level of national construction, pointing out the direction, providing guarantees, and expanding space for the latter's development. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture reveals the cultural mission of the New Era, embedding the requirements for socialist cultural prosperity and the construction of a socialist cultural power into the objectives of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It guides the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups to strive and forge ahead on the journey toward the Great Chinese Dream with a deeper cultural connotation and a broader civilizational dimension.
Xi Jinping Thought on Culture requires strengthening cultural confidence, gathering spiritual strength for building a socialist cultural power. In his speech at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development, Xi Jinping pointed out: "To strengthen cultural confidence is to persist in taking our own road." [2] The cultural power we want to build follows a Chinese path that possesses unique Chinese characteristics while also providing intellectual enlightenment for the healthy development of world civilizations; cultural confidence is the powerful spiritual force leading us toward this strategic goal. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture creatively put forward the concept of "Chinese cultural subjectivity," profoundly elucidating the source of strength that allows Chinese culture to maintain its independence and autonomy throughout historical evolution and modern development. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters the New Era, we have more confidence in our culture than at any other historical period. A vital source of this is the continuous consolidation and development of Chinese cultural subjectivity. Fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture not only constitute the ethnic genetic makeup of the Chinese people and profoundly influence the thoughts and behaviors of the sons and daughters of China [1], but also exert a profound influence on human civilization with rich philosophical ideas, possessing value attributes that adapt to contemporary cultural development and meet the needs of modern society. "With cultural subjectivity, we have a firm 'self' in the cultural sense, cultural confidence has a fundamental reliance, the Communist Party of China has a powerful cultural force to lead the times, the Chinese nation and the Chinese people have a solid cultural foundation for national identity, and Chinese civilization has distinct cultural characteristics for exchange and mutual learning with other civilizations in the world." [3] Xi Jinping Thought on Culture requires strengthening cultural confidence and inspires the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups to exert their spirit of historical initiative, gathering majestic spiritual strength for building a socialist cultural power.
II. Principles to Follow in Guiding the Construction of a Socialist Cultural Power under Xi Jinping Thought on Culture
"Achieve greatness while addressing the minute" [2] (zhi guangda er jin jingwei)—the more complex and diversified a systematic task is, the more it requires precise practical guidance. Xi Jinping Thought on Culture comprehensively expounds the principles and policies of cultural construction in the New Era, becoming the program of action for promoting the construction of a cultural power in the New Era.
Adhere to the "Two Combinations" and grasp the correct path for building a socialist cultural power. On July 1, 2021, at the ceremony marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "persist in combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with China's fine traditional culture." This is a major achievement of theoretical innovation and creation by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in the New Era, reflecting the scientific worldview and methodology of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Explaining from the perspectives of logic, academic theory, and philosophy why the basic tenets of Marxism must be combined with China's specific practices and fine traditional culture, what the underlying mechanism of this combination looks like, and how to achieve an organic combination, remains the key to writing this great chapter of "combination." Whether we can persist in the "combination," whether it is "combined" correctly, and whether it produces "combinational" efficacy is extremely important for the development of the Party's cause. Based on the experiential cognition developed from long-term revolutionary and construction practices, the in-depth development of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism has put forward new requirements for the "chemical reaction" formed by combining basic Marxist tenets with fine traditional Chinese culture. The "Two Combinations" serves as the code of conduct for guiding contemporary Chinese practice, including socialist cultural construction, and answers the question of the principles the CPC must follow in its adherence to Marxism. It indicates that the development of the Party's cultural cause must both adhere to the guidance of Marxism and draw upon the intellectual resources of fine traditional Chinese culture. Only by taking the "Two Combinations" as theoretical guidance and exploring the practical path of socialism with Chinese characteristics on the profound foundation of over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization can we transform the theoretical power generated by the combination into the practical momentum for building a socialist cultural power.
Adhere to the "Two Creatives" principle to open up a modern path for building a socialist cultural power. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out: "We must stay committed to the direction of serving the people and serving socialism, adhere to the policy of 'letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend,' and persist in creative transformation and innovative development. Guided by the core socialist values, we will develop an advanced socialist culture, promote revolutionary culture, and carry forward fine traditional Chinese culture. We will meet the people's growing intellectual and cultural needs, consolidate a common ideological foundation for the concerted efforts of all Party members and all Chinese people, and continuously increase the country's cultural soft power and the influence of Chinese culture." Placing the "Two Creatives" (creative transformation and innovative development) alongside the "Hundred Flowers" [3] and "Two Servings" [4] policies forms a cultural construction strategy that integrates policy, direction, and principles, serving as the practical observance for guiding the development of advanced socialist culture. In terms of function, "creative transformation" requires focusing on the re-creation of fine traditional Chinese culture to adapt to the trends of the times; "innovative development" requires focusing on promoting the re-innovation of fine traditional Chinese culture to suit the requirements of contemporary Chinese construction. The "Two Creatives" principle manifests the idea that the progress of a country and nation is fundamentally rooted in cultural inheritance and development, treating the promotion of creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture as the best way to inherit history and tradition. Building a socialist cultural power is a task of great responsibility and a long way to go. We must persist in taking Xi Jinping Thought on Culture as guidance, use the "Two Creatives" as a principle, draw spiritual nourishment from fine traditional Chinese culture, and open up new horizons for the era through innovation and creation. By upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground and carrying forward the cause into the future, we can open up a modern path for building a socialist cultural power.
Adhere to the people's stance and forge a Chinese path for building a socialist cultural power. The fundamental purpose of the Communist Party of China—to serve the people wholeheartedly—dictates that the Party's leadership in building a socialist cultural power always puts the people's interests first. Reflecting the Party's fundamental purpose in its outlook on culture, implementing the people-centered development philosophy in cultural construction, and making the satisfaction of the people's intellectual and cultural needs the starting point and goal of cultural work have become distinct conceptual expressions of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must always ensure that cultural construction focuses on the people and lands on the people" [4], elucidating the people-centered work orientation of socialist cultural undertakings. The fundamental purpose of building a socialist cultural power is to enhance the people's sense of cultural gain and happiness by continuously improving the country's soft power, realizing the governing goal of creating a better life for the people, which highly resonates with the people's stance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture. To persist in culture serving socialism and the people, we must correct our ideological understanding and take the people's evaluation as the highest criterion for assessing the gains and losses in socialist cultural construction. We must proceed from satisfying the people's intellectual and cultural needs so that the fruits of cultural construction are shared by the broad masses of the people. We must rectify the value orientation of literary and artistic creation, continuously improve the quality of cultural products, strengthen the construction of public cultural facilities, create a positive cultural atmosphere, and promote the people's intellectual and cultural lives to new heights. By adhering to the people's stance, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture has forged a Chinese path for building a socialist cultural power.
III. The Practical Approach to Building a Socialist Cultural Power Under the Guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture
The "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Resolution"), adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, made comprehensive arrangements for the strategic tasks in various aspects of the development of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. As one of the "Seven Focuses" [5] of the strategic deployment, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture is fully reflected in the "focus on building a socialist cultural power" proposed by the Plenary Session. Taking the implementation of the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee as an opportunity, and successfully completing various tasks closely centered on the strategic goal of building a cultural power, is the realistic task of adhering to Xi Jinping Thought on Culture to guide Chinese practice.
Improving the responsibility system for ideological work. Placing the improvement of the responsibility system for ideological work at the forefront of the tasks deployed for building a strong socialist culture reflects the practical requirement of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought to maintain the Party’s cultural leadership. The most fundamental requirement for upholding the Party’s leadership over cultural construction is to persist in the guiding position of Marxism in the field of ideology. In reality, some individuals advocate for the "de-ideologization" [6] of cultural development, suggesting that cultural creation should maintain neutrality, freedom, and independence. This severs the connection between cultural construction and ideology. Such erroneous viewpoints would shake, weaken, and resist the Party’s leadership over cultural work and must be resolutely opposed. Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Ideological work is an extremely important task for the Party." [10] "In the ideological struggle, we have no room for compromise or concession; we must firmly grasp the power of leadership in our hands and never let it fall away, otherwise, we will commit an irreparable historical error." [11] The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee established the fundamental system of persisting in the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field; anchoring the strategic goal of building a strong socialist culture necessitates upholding this fundamental system. Using the system to guarantee the direction, and using the direction to lead the path—this is a vital guarantee for building a strong socialist culture. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed improving the responsibility system for ideological work and made a series of deployments. This is both an important task for maintaining the Party’s cultural leadership and a major measure for anchoring the strategic goal of building a strong socialist culture.
Optimizing the mechanism for supplying cultural services and products. As a major national development strategy, building a strong socialist culture must resolve the fundamental questions of whom culture serves and who enjoys cultural products. Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches on socialist cultural construction have provided clear answers to these fundamental questions. Xi Jinping noted: "Being people-centered means taking the satisfaction of the people's spiritual and cultural needs as the starting point and objective [7] of literature and art work, treating the people as the subjects of literary and artistic expression, treating the people as the connoisseurs and judges of literary and artistic aesthetics, and taking service to the people as the heaven-sent duty [8] of literary and art workers." [12] The Party Central Committee emphasizes that the relationship between social benefit and economic benefit in cultural construction must be handled correctly, placing social benefit at the fore. This is to emphasize that the object of cultural service is the people and that cultural products are supplied to the people. The strategic goal of building a strong socialist culture is, in the final analysis, to meet the people’s growing spiritual and cultural needs. Guided by the "people’s standpoint" of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee focused on ensuring the high-quality development of cultural services and product supply through institutional mechanisms. Examples include establishing mechanisms for high-quality cultural resources to directly reach the primary level [9], improving mechanisms for social forces to participate in public cultural services, improving work mechanisms for the service, guidance, and organization of literary and artistic creation and production, deepening comprehensive governance in the entertainment sector, and constructing a system of Chinese civilization identifiers. These specific tasks have broad coverage, strong targeting, clear requirements, and pragmatic measures, providing a practical follow-through for building a culturally strong country.
Improving the comprehensive cyber-governance system. Cyberspace construction and comprehensive cyber-governance are major tasks facing the construction of a strong cultural country, reflecting the "problem awareness" [10] in Xi Jinping’s cultural thought regarding mastering the power of initiative in public opinion and broadly forging social consensus. One driving factor of the current profound evolution of the "changes unseen in a century" [11] is the accelerated pace of scientific and technological innovation and the rapid breakthrough of artificial intelligence. While this opens vast space for the prosperity of socialist culture, it also brings severe tests in the cultural "game" [12]. Xi Jinping emphasized: "Cyberspace is the shared spiritual home of hundreds of millions of people." [13] In fact, various forms of online platforms have already become battlegrounds for the collision and conflict of ideas and culture; if they are not governed well, controlled effectively, or if norms become disordered, the harm will be endless. Strengthening the Party’s comprehensive leadership over cyber-information work, continuously enhancing the level of the rule of law in cyberspace, and creating a path of cyber-governance with Chinese characteristics are inherent requirements for building a strong socialist culture. The Decision [13] proposed specific deployments such as deepening the reform of the internet management system, improving mechanisms for the development and management of generative artificial intelligence, and strengthening the construction of the rule of law in cyberspace. These are all key points and difficulties on the practical path toward building a culturally strong country. Therefore, we must work with a strong sense of mission and a high sense of responsibility to focus on making positive propaganda through online channels bigger and stronger, striving to build an online culture that is active, healthy, and oriented toward the good. These practical measures to improve the comprehensive cyber-governance system help provide the people with safe and reliable cultural scenarios, creating a clean and righteous [14] online environment to provide security for building a culturally strong country.
Constructing a more effective international communication system. Promoting mutual learning and exchange between civilizations and creating a new form of human civilization reflects the global vision of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, which encompasses "all under heaven." Since the 18th National Congress, Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions on promoting Chinese culture’s "going out" and improving international communication capabilities, and has dedicated himself to being a promoter and propagator of Chinese culture on various international occasions, setting an example for telling China’s story well to the world. The history of world development proves that human civilization achieves prosperity precisely through the mutual inclusion and absorption of the cultures of all countries and nations. Today, we must work harder to show the world the unique charm of Chinese culture: "We must ensure that the most basic cultural genes of the Chinese nation are adapted to contemporary culture and coordinated with modern society, and promote them in a way that people enjoy and that has broad participation." [14] In October 2023, Xi Jinping gave important instructions on national propaganda, ideological, and cultural work, proposing "Seven Targets" [15], which include "focusing on strengthening the construction of international communication capabilities." In July 2024, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee further proposed "accelerating the construction of a Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative system, and comprehensively enhancing international communication effectiveness." The CPC has always persisted in maintaining a global vision, enhancing historical consciousness, and exerting spiritual initiative, forming a distinct practical feature of unifying domestic cultural construction with the development of world culture.