Xin Xiangyang: Deeply Grasp the Chinese Characteristics and Essential Requirements of Chinese Modernization
Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). While it shares common features with the modernization processes of all countries, it is characterized more deeply by Chinese features based on its own national conditions. Chinese-path modernization has already become the most brilliant landscape in the history of human modernization. It is not only rewriting the map of world modernization but also dispelling the myths and mists of Western modernization, shaping a new paradigm and landscape for modernization.
A profound grasp of the Chinese features and essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization, along with successful efforts in the opening phase of building a modern socialist country in all respects over the next five years, will lay a solid foundation for achieving the Second Centenary Goal [1].
Chinese-path modernization has emerged through overcoming countless hardships and obstacles
The report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out that, built upon the long-term exploration and practice since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and especially since the beginning of reform and opening up, and following innovative breakthroughs in theory and practice since the 18th National Congress, our Party has successfully promoted and expanded Chinese-path modernization.
After the Opium War, China was swept into the tide of world modernization. We once sought to "learn the superior techniques of the barbarians to control the barbarians" [2] and attempted reforms through a constitutional monarchy, a multi-party system, and a parliamentary system, bitterly searching for a path toward Chinese modernization.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Fundamentals of National Reconstruction [3] is known as the first blueprint for modern China's pursuit of modernization. It proposed not to follow the old path of Western industrialization, emphasizing the need to "regulate capital" [4] during the industrialization process to prevent the great malady of social inequality between the rich and the poor. However, under the conditions of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, Chinese modernization did not—and could not—achieve success.
The history of the CPC over more than 100 years is a history of struggle to realize a powerful, modern country.
As early as the period of the New Democratic Revolution [5], the CPC committed itself to exploring modernization centered on industrialization. In April 1945, in the written report On Coalition Government submitted to the Seventh National Congress of the Party, Mao Zedong clearly stated: "The task of the Chinese working class is not only to struggle for the establishment of a New Democratic state, but also to struggle for China's industrialization and the modernization of agriculture."
After the founding of the New China, we struggled unremittingly to build our country into a great industrial power with a high degree of modern civilization. In March 1957, at the National Conference on Party Propaganda Work, Mao Zedong mentioned: "We shall surely build a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture."
From December 1964 to January 1965, the first session of the 3rd National People's Congress proposed that, within a relatively short historical period, our country be built into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense, and modern science and technology [6].
At the beginning of reform and opening up, integrating the new characteristics and requirements of that period into the continuous exploration of our country's socialist modernization, the Party formally proposed the concept of "Chinese-style modernization." On March 21, 1979, during a meeting with Eric Deakins, Chairman of the Great Britain-China Centre, Deng Xiaoping for the first time put forward the new concept of the "four modernizations, Chinese-style."
"The goal we have set is to achieve the four modernizations by the end of this century. Our concept is different from that of the West. Let me use a new term: the four modernizations, Chinese-style." On March 23, at a meeting of the Political Bureau, Deng Xiaoping summarized these as "Chinese-style modernization."
Deng Xiaoping continuously enriched and perfected the strategic goals and deployments of socialist modernization. Based on Chinese realities and the characteristics of the era, he proposed the "three-step" strategy for modernization and for the first time put forward the developmental goal of basically achieving modernization by the mid-21st century.
Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee, in the face of the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the dissolution of the Soviet Union—where the world socialist movement fell into a low ebb—and experiencing severe tests such as domestic political disturbances and economic risks, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Jiang Zemin as their chief representative, proposed a new "three-step" strategy on this basis. They defined the modernization goal as basically achieving modernization and building a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized socialist country by the mid-21st century.
Entering the new century and a new stage, along with the development of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Hu Jintao as their chief representative, continuously deepened their understanding of Chinese-path modernization. The 17th National Congress proposed the overall goal of "building a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious socialist modern country."
Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core—on the basis of winning the decisive battle against poverty and finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects—has focused on the major question of the Second Centenary Goal: how to build a modern socialist country in all respects. They have proposed a series of new theories, concepts, and strategies, greatly enriching the new connotations of Chinese-path modernization.
The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee explicitly proposed the new proposition of "modernizing the national governance system and governance capacity," continuously enriching the internal and external dimensions of modernization. The 19th National Congress, through a comprehensive analysis of the international and domestic situations and China's developmental conditions, proposed a new "two-stage" strategic design, clarifying the development goal of building a powerful socialist modern country by the middle of this century.
The Congress determined the goals of securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embarking on a new journey to build a modern socialist country in all respects. The period from 2020 to the middle of the century is arranged in two stages:
The first stage, from 2020 to 2035: building on the foundation of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, to struggle for another 15 years to basically realize socialist modernization.
The second stage, from 2035 to the middle of the century: building on the basis of having basically realized modernization, to struggle for another 15 years to build China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and beautiful socialist modern power.
This strategic design and development goal further deepened and expanded the connotations of Chinese-path modernization, making the orientation of our country's modernization goals even clearer.
The "Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035," adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, explicitly proposed the long-range objectives for basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035. These objectives not only greatly expanded the requirements for 2035 set by the 19th National Congress but also aligned more closely with the 2049 goal, reflecting our Party's deeper understanding of the path to modernization.
The report to the 20th National Congress once again clearly outlined the overall goals for China's development by 2035: economic strength, scientific and technological strength, and comprehensive national power will jump significantly; per capita GDP will reach a new level, reaching the level of moderately developed countries; achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength, entering the forefront of innovative countries; building a modern economic system and forming a new development pattern; basically realizing new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization; basically realizing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity; the system of whole-process people’s democracy will be further improved; basically building a rule-of-law country, government, and society; building a leading country in education, science and technology, talent, culture, sports, and a healthy China, with national cultural soft power significantly enhanced; people's lives will be happier and more beautiful; per capita disposable income will reach another new level; the proportion of the middle-income group will increase significantly; equalization of basic public services will be achieved; rural areas will basically possess modern living conditions; society will maintain long-term stability; and more obvious and substantive progress will be made in the well-rounded development of individuals and common prosperity for all; green production and lifestyles will be widely formed; carbon emissions will stabilize and decline after reaching a peak; the ecological environment will fundamentally improve; the goal of a Beautiful China will be basically achieved; the national security system and capacity will be fully strengthened; and the modernization of national defense and the armed forces will be basically realized.
Chinese-path modernization possesses many important features
The report to the 20th National Congress pointed out that Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population; it is the modernization of common prosperity for all; it is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement; it is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature; and it is the modernization of peaceful development.
Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization led by the CPC. It shares common features with the modernization of all countries, yet it possesses Chinese features based on its own national conditions.
Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population. This means that Chinese-path modernization will thoroughly rewrite the world map of human modernization. With more than 1.4 billion people entering modern society as a whole—a scale exceeding the sum of all existing developed countries—it is a major event with profound influence in human history that will reshape the overall landscape of modernization. It dispels the myths and mists of Western modernization and shapes a new paradigm, declaring that there is no single ordained model of modernization, nor is there a universal standard for it. It will greatly improve the ideological, moral, scientific, cultural, democratic, and legal literacy of over 1.4 billion Chinese people. People's ideological awareness, spiritual outlook, and level of civilization will see a marked increase, providing the most abundant, highest quality, and most vibrant human resources for China's development.
Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all. This means that Chinese-path modernization must never take the Western path of polarization where "the rich accumulate millions while the poor eat husks and chaff" [7]. We must consistently uphold a people-centered development philosophy, consciously and proactively addressing regional, urban-rural, and income distribution gaps to promote social fairness and justice. This is a realization process backed by institutional guarantees, foremost of which is the basic socialist economic system. The ownership structure, with public ownership as the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership developing together, is the ownership foundation for ensuring common prosperity. The distribution system, with distribution according to work as the mainstay and multiple modes of distribution coexisting, is the institutional foundation for achieving common prosperity; it abandons the capital-centered logic followed by Western modernization. The state system of the people's democratic dictatorship and the fundamental political system of the People's Congresses dictate that "baking the cake" is done for all the people, not for a segment, and certainly not for a tiny minority.
Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement. This means that Chinese-path modernization differs from the modernization of Western countries characterized by bloated materialism. It requires that both socialist material civilization and cultural-ethical civilization be handled well, with significant enhancement of both national material and spiritual strength, and improvement in both the material and spiritual lives of people of all ethnic groups. We must persist in "grasping with both hands, and both hands must be firm" [8], correctly handling the relationship between material and cultural-ethical civilizations with a dialectical, comprehensive, and balanced perspective. Cultural-ethical advancement must be integrated throughout the entire process of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, penetrating every aspect of social life, especially emphasizing its important role within material construction. We must uphold the core socialist values, incorporating the socialist core value system into the basic strategy of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. We must strengthen education in ideals and convictions, carry forward fine traditional Chinese culture, enhance the people’s spiritual strength, and promote both the comprehensive abundance of things and the well-rounded development of individuals.
Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. This means that Chinese-path modernization firmly promotes green development, drives a significant increase in natural capital, and makes a good ecological environment a growth point for the people's better life, a focal point for high-quality economic development, and a highlight for showcasing China's positive national image. We must firmly establish the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [9], emphasizing the simultaneous promotion of material civilization and ecological civilization. We must hold the two bottom lines of development and ecology, following a path of civilized development characterized by increased production, affluent living, and a healthy ecosystem. We must place the promotion of green development and lifestyles in a more prominent position, accelerating the construction of a scientific, moderate, and orderly spatial planning system; an industrial system for green, circular, and low-carbon development; an environmental governance system with both constraints and incentives; and a green action system involving government, enterprises, and the public. We will accelerate the construction of three "red lines": the baseline for ecological function security, the floor for environmental quality safety, and the ceiling for natural resource utilization.
Chinese-path modernization is a modernization that follows the path of peaceful development. This means that Chinese-path modernization will never take the old path of Western countries characterized by violent plunder and colonization, or a modernization at the expense of the backwardness of other nations. For human society to continue its progress, all countries should persist in openness rather than closure, cooperation rather than confrontation, and win-win results rather than exclusivity. The law of the jungle [10] and "winner-take-all" are dead ends that become narrower as one proceeds; inclusive, universal benefit and mutual advantage represent the "Righteous Path of the World" [11] that grows broader over time. Mutual coordination and the complementarity of strengths between nations are objective requirements for the development of productive forces and represent the forward direction in the evolution of the relations of production. In this process, countries gradually form a community of interests, a community of responsibility, and a community with a shared future. This is both necessitated by economic laws and consistent with the historical logic of human social development. For the future of humanity and the well-being of the people, we must persist in openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, practice true multilateralism, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
Chinese-path Modernization Has Bright Prospects
The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC pointed out that the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization are: upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China and socialism with Chinese characteristics, achieving high-quality development, developing whole-process people's democracy, enriching the cultural-ethical life [12] of the people, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmony between humanity and nature, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and creating a new form of human advancement.
The modernization path of the Chinese people has traversed over 100 years of history through wind and rain [13], undergoing all manner of tribulations and hardships in the history of human modernization to explore its own successful path—namely, the path of Chinese-path modernization. This path has a brilliant future.
The leadership of the CPC enables Chinese-path modernization to move toward a bright future. Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization led by the CPC. The CPC not only scientifically maps out the grand blueprint for modernization but is also able to advance the cause of socialist modernization in a consistent relay. The Party’s will and determination to lead the people in building a modern socialist country will not waver. This is reflected in the fact that "from the First Five-Year Plan to the 14th Five-Year Plan, the consistent theme has been building our country into a modern socialist country." It is also reflected in the fact that since the reform and opening up, the political reports and various resolutions and decisions adopted by successive National Congresses of the Party and Plenary Sessions of the Central Committee have consistently emphasized the building of a modern socialist country.
This steel-like will, rock-solid determination, and systematic, scientific strategic planning enable the ship of China to overcome towering waves and pass through hidden reefs and turbulent currents, always breaking the waves to move toward the goal of a great modern socialist country. As the report to the 20th National Congress stated: "We must resolutely uphold the Central Committee’s authority and its centralized, unified leadership, and ensure that Party leadership is exercised in all fields, aspects, and links of the cause of the Party and the country, so that the Party always remains the most reliable 'backbone' [14] for the entire people when storms hit." The various risks and trials encountered in the process of modernization can only be resolved under the leadership of the Party.
Chinese-path modernization conforms to the laws of modernization. Chinese-path modernization follows the general laws of modernization, the universal laws of socialist modernization, and the specific laws of China's socialist modernization; therefore, it is able to act in accordance with the prevailing trends. From the perspective of the general laws of human modernization, realizing industrialization and urbanization are basic requirements. Chinese-path modernization has always been committed to the development of industrialization and urbanization. By 2020, industrialization was basically realized, and by 2021, the urbanization rate of China's permanent population reached 64.72%, providing an important foundation for realizing modernization.
From the perspective of the universal laws of socialist modernization, modernization must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, insisting that development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people. From the perspective of the specific laws of China's socialist modernization, our country's modernization is very different from that of Western developed countries. Western developed countries underwent a "serial" development process, where industrialization, urbanization, agricultural modernization, and informatization developed sequentially, taking over two hundred years to reach their current levels. For us to catch up and surpass them, and to recover the "lost two hundred years," it was determined that our country’s development must be a "parallel" process, where industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization are developed through superposition.
Chinese-path modernization can give full play to the significant advantages of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics possesses the significant advantage of maintaining "the whole country as a single chessboard" [15], mobilizing the initiatives of all parties, and concentrating resources to accomplish major undertakings. This enables Chinese-path modernization to concentrate its strength to overcome one difficult barrier after another. It possesses the significant advantage of adhering to reform and innovation, advancing with the times, and being adept at self-improvement and self-development, which keeps society always full of vitality. This ensures that Chinese-path modernization can constantly reach new heights through innovation. It possesses the significant advantage of upholding the people as masters of the country, developing people’s democracy, maintaining close ties with the masses, and relying closely on the people to promote national development. This enables Chinese-path modernization to unite the strong will and majestic power of over 1.4 billion people to build modernization. It possesses the significant advantage of combining independence with opening up to the outside world, actively participating in global governance, and making continuous contributions to building a community with a shared future for humanity. This ensures that Chinese-path modernization receives widespread support from the broadest range of countries and peoples worldwide.