Feng Yanli: Fully Understand the Important Characteristics of the Chinese Path to Modernization

Achieving modernization, as a prominent hallmark of the development and progress of human civilization, has been a common goal sought assiduously by all countries throughout the world since the advent of the modern era. Since the founding of the New China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has led the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country in heroic struggle and tenacious perseverance, creating a miracle of rapid economic development and a miracle of long-term social stability rare in world history. We have completed the process of industrialization in mere decades that took developed countries several centuries to achieve; our country has leaped to become the world's second-largest economy, and our comprehensive national strength, scientific and technological prowess, national defense capabilities, cultural influence, and international impact have risen significantly. We have created a Chinese-path modernization and a new form of human civilization. Reviewing the historical process of China’s march toward modernization, our Party has united and led the people in persisting to combine the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities, creatively forging a road of Chinese-path modernization. The reason this path is viable, correct, and stable is that it both follows the universal laws of modernization and is based on independent exploration rooted in our national conditions and developmental practice, possessing distinct Chinese characteristics.

First, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "our country's modernization is the modernization of a huge population." In the course of human history over the past few centuries, Western countries have consistently occupied a dominant position in development, leading the trends and direction of modernization. To date, the number of countries and regions in the world that have achieved modernization does not exceed 30, with a total population of no more than one billion. As the world's largest developing country, we have successfully forged a road of Chinese-path modernization; if modernization is successfully realized, it means that a Chinese population larger than the sum of all current developed countries and regions will enter the ranks of modernization. Its impact will undoubtedly be immense, unprecedented, and world-shaping. This not only provides Chinese experience, Chinese wisdom, and Chinese solutions ^[1] for the development of the vast number of developing countries and peoples, but also greatly enhances their confidence, consciousness, and self-reliance in development.

Second, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that our modernization is "the modernization of common prosperity for all," and that "common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and an important feature of Chinese-path modernization." Fundamentally different from Western modernization, our country's modernization is carried out under socialist conditions and naturally contains the value pursuit of shared prosperity and shared benefits. Prosperity is the goal pursued by all countries in modernization, but Chinese-path modernization pursues common prosperity. The pursuit of common prosperity runs through the historical process of the formation and development of the Chinese-path modernization road. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "The common prosperity we speak of is the common prosperity of all people; it is the prosperity of both the material and spiritual lives of the masses, not the prosperity of a few, nor is it a uniformed egalitarianism." If the results of development lead to the "Matthew Effect" ^[2] where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, it would seriously deviate from the direction of socialism and violate our Party's original aspiration in leading the people toward modernization. On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, we must place the promotion of common prosperity for all in a more important position, staying grounded and persisting over the long term, working more proactively and effectively toward this goal. We must improve the balance, coordination, and inclusiveness of development, focus on expanding the size of the middle-income group, promote the equalization of basic public services, strengthen the regulation and adjustment of high incomes, promote the common spiritual prosperity of the people, and promote common prosperity for farmers and rural areas, so that the fruits of development benefit all people more extensively and fairly, and continuously promote more obvious and substantive progress in achieving common prosperity for all.

Third, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of material and spiritual civilizations in harmony. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that our modernization is "the modernization of material and spiritual civilizations in harmony," and that "while persisting in taking economic construction as the center, we must comprehensively promote economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization construction, and promote the coordinated development of all links and aspects of modernization." The Marxist historical materialism tells us that the economic base determines the superstructure, and the superstructure reacts upon the economic base; social development is premised on the common progress of material and spiritual civilizations. To achieve national rejuvenation, we need both strong material strength and strong spiritual strength. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a socialism with the comprehensive development of material and spiritual civilizations, and Chinese-path modernization is a modernization in which these two civilizations harmonize. To follow the road of Chinese-path modernization, we must base ourselves on the new development stage, implement the new development philosophy, construct a new development pattern, and promote high-quality development to provide solid material support for comprehensively building a modern socialist country. Meanwhile, we must effectively carry out various tasks in the construction of spiritual civilization, continuously satisfy the people's growing spiritual and cultural needs, combine the improvement of people's material and spiritual lives, unify the satisfaction of needs with the improvement of quality, promote the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations, and continue to create new glories for Chinese culture.

Fourth, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The modernization we want to build is a modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. We must create more material and spiritual wealth to meet the people's growing needs for a better life, and also provide more high-quality ecological products to meet the people's growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment." This elucidates the relationship of harmony between humanity and nature from both theoretical and practical levels, further enriching and expanding the connotation and extension of modernization. Examining the modernization process of Western developed countries, they basically followed a development path of "pollute first, treat later," which, while creating extremely abundant material wealth, also brought unimaginable environmental trauma. The "Eight Great Environmental Disasters" ^[3] that occurred between the 1930s and 1960s sounded an alarm for humanity at an extremely tragic cost. China's modernization will never follow the old path of Western industrialization; instead, it organically unifies development and protection, utilization and restoration, incorporates ecological civilization construction into the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, and firmly establishes and practices the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" ^[4]. We must protect the ecological environment like we protect our eyes, and cherish it like we cherish our lives, following a civilized development path of productive development, prosperous life, and sound ecology, and building a modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.

Fifth, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of peaceful development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that our modernization is a "modernization following the road of peaceful development," and that we must "unswervingly follow the road of peaceful development." After the founding of New China, our Party persisted in an independent foreign policy of peace, advocated and adhered to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence ^[5], firmly safeguarded national independence, sovereignty, and dignity, and made a solemn commitment that China will never seek hegemony, winning the respect and praise of the international community, especially the vast number of developing countries. Since socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has accurately grasped the changes unseen in a century, based itself on the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, held high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, persisted in following the road of peaceful development, promoted the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and championed the common values of humanity—peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom—leading the trend of human progress. China is committed to seeking its own development while safeguarding world peace, and maintaining world peace through its own development, forging a modernization road that both develops itself and benefits the world, creating a development miracle in the history of human modernization. No matter how the international situation changes or how China itself develops, China will unswervingly follow the road of peaceful development.

In short, the road of Chinese-path modernization is the road of socialist modernization construction and development with Chinese characteristics. The modernization we aim to achieve is a modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and spiritual civilizations in harmony, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of following the road of peaceful development. The formation and expansion of the road of Chinese-path modernization demonstrate the strong vitality and great superiority of socialism with Chinese characteristics, dispel the myth that "modernization equals Westernization," expand the pathways for developing countries to achieve modernization, scientifically answer the major proposition of how socialist countries can achieve modernization, and promote human progress and the process of economic globalization, possessing significant value and meaning for both China and the world.