Gong Yun: Achievements and Experiences of Contemporary China from the Perspective of the History of Socialist Development
The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed that the continuous success of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism has presented Marxism to the world with a brand-new image. This has caused a major shift in favor of socialism in the historical evolution and competition between the two ideologies and two social systems of socialism and capitalism on a global scale. This important conclusion reveals contemporary China’s major contribution to world socialism. From the perspective of the history of socialist development, contemporary Chinese history has passed through three stages: the period of socialist revolution and construction, the period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, and the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Contemporary China has achieved immense successes and accumulated precious experience in socialist development, occupying an important and prominent position in the history of socialist development.
I. Immense Successes of Contemporary China in Socialist Development
The classical writers of Marxism revealed the laws of development of human society, which generally evolves from lower to higher stages according to the sequence of primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, socialist society, and communist society. Moving toward socialism is the historical trend of human social development. Since the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China has taken the ideological system of Marxism—namely communism—as the theoretical foundation of the Party’s guiding ideology, and has taken the realization of the social systems of socialism and communism as its goal of struggle. For over 70 years since the founding of New China, under the leadership of the CPC, the problem of how a backward, large agricultural country could embark on the socialist path was solved creatively. A realistic path for building socialism was creatively blazed, and a great miracle in the development of human society was created. This has greatly demonstrated the superiority of the socialist system and powerfully promoted the development of world socialism.
(1) The Successful Establishment of the Socialist System in China
New China was established upon the ruins of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. "For the Chinese people living in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, the greatest suffering came from national oppression and feudal oppression, rather than general capitalist oppression; therefore, the primary task of the Chinese people was to carry out a national revolution to overthrow the oppression of foreign imperialism and a democratic revolution to overthrow the oppression of feudalism, rather than carrying out a socialist revolution against general capitalism." Mao Zedong explicitly pointed out in On Coalition Government that "it is a self-evident principle [1] of Marxism that only through democracy can one reach socialism." In China, "without a New Democratic, united, and unified state, without the development of a New Democratic state economy, without the development of a private capitalist economy and a cooperative economy, without the development of a national, scientific, and mass culture—that is, a New Democratic culture—without the liberation and development of the individuality of hundreds of millions of people; in a word, without a thorough democratic revolution of a new-bourgeois nature led by the Communist Party, it would be a complete utopia to try to build a socialist society upon the ruins of a colonial, semi-colonial, and semi-feudal state." Leading the Chinese people through 28 years of struggle, the CPC achieved victory in the New Democratic Revolution and established the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Thus, the Chinese people became the masters of the country, society, and themselves, creating the fundamental political prerequisites for establishing the socialist system.
Following the founding of New China, accompanied by the recovery of the national economy, class relations underwent changes, creating the conditions for the peaceful establishment of a socialist system. The CPC lost no time in carrying out the socialist transformation, promoting the transition from the New Democratic Revolution to the socialist revolution. As the "Five-Antis" [2] movement was drawing to a close in June 1952, Mao Zedong wrote a comment on the CPC Central Committee’s Decision on the Work of Democratic Parties (Draft): "After the overthrow of the landlord class and the bureaucrat-bourgeoisie, the main internal contradiction in China is the contradiction between the working class and the national bourgeoisie. Therefore, the national bourgeoisie should no longer be referred to as an intermediate class." In February 1953, during an inspection of Anqing, Mao Zedong pointed out: "We must handle the issue of the revolutionary transition well. Suppose the New Democratic Revolution has ten tasks, and seven or eight have already been completed; should we wait until all ten are done before pursuing socialism? No. As long as the basic conditions are ripe, we can begin the work of the socialist revolution. We are believers in the theory of revolutionary stages, but the two stages cannot be cut off from each other." In February 1956, the Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Issue of the Transformation of Capitalist Industry and Commerce pointed out that through the "Three-Antis" [3] and "Five-Antis" movements, "as a class, the bourgeoisie has been overwhelmed by the might of the worker masses and the state led by the working class." This indicated that our country had basically completed the socialist transformation of the private ownership of the means of production.
During the process of socialist transformation, Mao Zedong broke away from the concept of "mechanization first, cooperation later," and blazed a new path for the Chinese-path socialist transformation of agriculture. He argued: "Since Western capitalism had a handicraft workshop stage in its development process—that is, a stage where steam-powered machinery was not yet adopted but a new productive force was formed through the division of labor in workshops—it is also feasible for Chinese cooperatives to use the new productive forces formed through unified management to shake the foundations of private ownership." Carrying out agricultural cooperation was also a necessity for promoting the transformation of capitalist industry and commerce. In October 1955, Mao Zedong pointed out at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 7th CPC Central Committee: "Only through the process of complete socialist transformation of agriculture—whereby the alliance between the working class and the peasantry is gradually consolidated on a new basis, that is, a socialist basis—can we thoroughly sever the ties between the urban bourgeoisie and the peasantry, thoroughly isolate the bourgeoisie, and make it easier for us to thoroughly transform capitalist industry and commerce."
Based on the characteristics of capitalist national industry and commerce and the good relationship established with the national bourgeoisie during the New Democratic Revolution, and by leveraging the power of state authority while giving play to the role of advanced capitalists, the CPC successfully implemented a policy of "redemption" [4], achieving the socialist transformation of capitalist industry and commerce peacefully. During this process, Mao Zedong paid great attention to the leading role of advanced figures within capitalist industry and commerce. He emphasized the need to cultivate advanced capitalists, noting: "We need to continue patriotic education among capitalists. For this, we must systematically cultivate a group of advanced capitalists who are farsighted and willing to draw close to the Communist Party and the People’s Government, so that we may use them to persuade the majority of capitalists." Meanwhile, he personally took the lead in this work. During the "Five-Antis" movement, some problems were discovered in the enterprises of Rong Yiren, a famous national capitalist in Shanghai. When capitalists were being classified, the preliminary opinion in Shanghai was to categorize Rong’s enterprises as "basically law-abiding." This was reported to Mao Zedong, who said: "Why be so stingy! Be a bit more generous and classify them as 'completely law-abiding'." Once this "model" was set, it had a great impact in Shanghai and across major cities nationwide. On October 27 and 29, 1955, Mao Zedong held two consecutive symposiums with representative figures from the industrial and commercial sectors, which Rong Yiren attended. Mao requested that these figures take hold of their own destinies and work together for the nation’s prosperity and the people's common prosperity. He also proposed strengthening publicity and education on socialist public ownership throughout the industrial and commercial sectors: "By doing work for a month or two, a year or two, we will slowly allow our new system to penetrate people’s minds a little, gradually reducing their anxiety, increasing the number of core members, and expanding the core group, so that everyone realizes the new system is indeed feasible and beneficial." To this, Rong Yiren responded: "We will certainly follow Chairman Mao’s instructions, maintain close ties with the broad masses of industrial and commercial workers, learn to master our own destinies, and move toward communism." Facts have proved that the CPC’s combination of utilizing, restricting, and transforming private industry and commerce with the uniting, educating, and transforming of the national bourgeoisie—changing capitalist ownership into socialist ownership through peaceful methods—was a great creative feat in the history of world socialism.
Through socialist transformation, the CPC completed the socialist revolution and realized the most extensive and thorough social change in Chinese history. This marked China’s entry into a socialist society and provided the fundamental institutional conditions for the rapid development of China’s productive forces. According to statistics, after the completion of socialist transformation, the total industrial output value in 1956 increased by 28.1% over 1955, exceeding the level pre-determined for 1957 in the First Five-Year Plan. At the same time, it should be recognized that the socialist transformation was carried out according to the CPC’s understanding of socialism at the time: "The essence of the Party's general line for the transition period is to make socialist ownership of the means of production the sole economic base of our state and society." This was both a historical limitation and the root of certain subsequent problems.
(2) The Successful Exploration of a Path for Socialist Construction in China
Exploring a path for socialist construction in a backward agricultural giant was an entirely new undertaking for the CPC. There were no precedents in the history of Marxist development; everything had to be conducted through exploration.
1. Exploration before Reform and Opening Up
Mao Zedong made numerous important expositions regarding the exploration of the path for socialist construction. As early as April 4, 1956, at the final meeting to discuss and revise the draft of On the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, Mao pointed out: "Combine the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete reality of the Chinese revolution and construction. During the period of the democratic revolution, we only successfully achieved this combination and won victory in the New Democratic Revolution after suffering great losses. Now we are in the period of socialist revolution and construction; we must carry out a 'second combination' to find the path for how to build socialism in China. I began considering this issue several years ago." On May 8, 1958, at the Second Session of the 8th CPC National Congress, Mao further emphasized: "Marx never conducted a revolution as large as China’s. Our practice has surpassed Marx, and principles must emerge from practice. This revolutionary practice is reflected in ideology, and that is theory." On June 12, 1961, at a CPC Central Committee work conference, Mao noted: "No one has done socialism before; one does not first learn the specific policies of socialism and then do socialism. We have been doing socialism for eleven years, and now we must sum up our experience. What I am speaking of today is summing up experience; I will speak on it again next time. We are historicists; I am telling everyone about history, for only by speaking of history can one persuade people." On January 30, 1962, at the "Seven Thousand Cadres Conference," Mao pointed out: "There must be a process for understanding the laws of building socialism. We must start from practice, moving from having no experience to having experience, from having less experience to having more experience, and from the 'kingdom of necessity' of building socialism—which is not yet understood—to gradually overcoming blindness, understanding objective laws, and thereby attaining freedom, achieving a leap in understanding to reach the 'kingdom of freedom'."
The Soviet Union was the first socialist country, and its model of national construction became an object of study for China for a period. The 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956 made the CPC realize there were problems with the Soviet model. It proposed "taking the Soviet Union as a warning" and exploring a path for socialist construction in combination with China's reality. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, proposed strategic ideas during their exploration, such as attaching great importance to ideological issues, preventing the ruling Communist Party from degenerating, preventing "peaceful evolution" [5] by imperialism, and cultivating proletarian successors in the midst of "great winds and waves." During his exploration, Mao believed that "revisionism" had appeared in the Soviet Union and might also appear within China. On December 26, 1966, he said in a conversation: "The socialist revolution has developed to a new stage. The Soviet Union has undergone a restoration; the source-land of the October Revolution is no longer functional. The lesson of the Soviet Union shows that whether the proletariat can maintain power after seizing it, and whether it can prevent a capitalist restoration, is the new central topic. The problem arises within the Party; a fortress is most easily breached from within. The class struggle is not over. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is a comprehensive contest with the bourgeoisie, especially their agents within the Party among the petty bourgeoisie." Mao once told staff members around him: "I have no selfish motives. I think of the common people of China who have suffered; they want to take the socialist road. Therefore, I rely on the masses; I cannot let them take the road backward." Breaking down hierarchies and privileged thinking, avoiding the wide gap between rich and poor and polarization, and eradicating the soil and conditions for the emergence of the bourgeoisie remained important problems Mao sought to solve—and were also important motivations for his launching of the "Cultural Revolution."
Prior to the launch of reform and opening up, China’s exploration of the path for building socialism was generally conducted under the Soviet model. This meant there was a significant degree of blindness regarding how to build socialism; there remained many "realms of necessity" [6] yet to be recognized. It was necessary to accumulate experience through practice, to deepen the understanding of objective laws through practice, and to emancipate the mind. One could not treat the visions of classical Marxist writers or the experiences of other nations dogmatically. As Mao Zedong pointed out in May 1963, while revising the draft of the CPC Central Committee’s reply to the Central Committee of the CPSU: "If a party cannot think for itself and use its own brains; if it does not conduct earnest investigation and research to gain a deep and accurate understanding of the trends of the various classes in its own country; if it is not adept at integrating the universal truths of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of its own country’s revolution, but instead merely parrots others, copies foreign experience without analysis, and dances to the baton of certain people abroad—then it will possess a hodgepodge of every kind of revisionism and dogmatism, missing only the principled nature of a Marxist-Leninist party."
2. Exploration after reform and opening up
The historical lessons of the "Cultural Revolution" led the Communist Party of China to realize that following the establishment of the socialist system, the development of productive forces must be placed in the primary position. It was necessary to comprehensively reflect on the Soviet model and its underlying theoretical supports, and to explore through practice what socialism is and how to build it. Deng Xiaoping provided profound expositions on this matter. On May 20, 1984, while meeting a delegation from the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Deng pointed out regarding the question of how to build socialism: "Socialism cannot be built with closed doors. Socialism must demonstrate its superiority. For socialism to triumph over capitalism, it must rely on the development of productive forces." On June 21, during a meeting with U Tun Tin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Planning and Finance of Burma, he noted: "The greatest change we speak of in China is still in our domestic policy. The foothold of our domestic policy is to engage in socialism. We are a socialist country, and socialism should be a system in which the productive forces develop relatively quickly. If we have made mistakes since the founding of the People's Republic, the greatest was our failure to emphasize the development of production, which is why our country remained backward." On September 14, 1985, during a meeting with Austrian President Rudolf Kirchschläger, Deng discussed the issue of opening up: "Only by opening up domestically and to the outside world can we facilitate the development of productive forces and strengthen our nation’s power. For many years in the past, we followed the Soviet method, which was a rigid method that effectively tied the hands and feet of the entire society and its people." On September 23, at the closing ceremony of the National Conference of the CPC, he proposed: "Reform is the self-perfection of the socialist system, and within certain limits, a degree of revolutionary change has also occurred... In the process of reform, we have always adhered to two fundamental principles: one is the primacy of the socialist public ownership economy, and the other is common prosperity."
The Chinese Communists, with Comrades Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao as their chief representatives, integrated the basic principles of Marxism with China’s reality. They emancipated the mind, sought truth from facts, advanced with the times, and were realistic and pragmatic, embarking on China’s own path through reform and opening up. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe [7] beginning in 1989 strengthened the confidence of Chinese Communists in following their own path. On September 4 of that year, in a conversation with central leading comrades, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "The chaos in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union is, I see, inevitable. To what extent it will reach is difficult to predict now; we must observe very calmly... Imperialism certainly wants socialist countries to undergo a change in nature. The issue now is not whether the Soviet flag falls—the Soviet Union is certain to be in chaos—but whether China's flag falls. Therefore, first, China itself must not be in chaos, and we must earnestly and truly carry on with reform and opening up... As long as China proceeds this way and the flag does not fall, it will have a great influence." He continued: "In short, regarding the international situation, it can be summarized in three sentences: first, observe calmly; second, secure our position; third, cope with affairs with composure. Do not be anxious; one cannot be anxious. Be calm, calm, and calm again, immerse ourselves in practical work, and do one thing well—our own business." Between October and December 1991, Jiang Zemin presided over eleven symposia to discuss the reform of the economic system, covering three main topics: first, using Marxist perspectives to analyze post-war capitalist development; second, the causes and lessons of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe; and third, building socialism with Chinese characteristics. These symposia formed the preliminary formulation of the "socialist market economy," providing important theoretical preparation for the 14th National Congress of the CPC to establish the socialist market economy system as the objective of reform. After the 16th National Congress of the CPC, Hu Jintao proposed the Scientific Outlook on Development, answering major questions such as what kind of development to achieve and how to achieve it under new circumstances.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Chinese Communists—with Comrade Xi Jinping as their chief representative—have held high the great banner of Marxism and socialism. They have remained firm in the lofty ideal of Communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Responding to the requirements of the change in the principal contradiction of society during the primary stage of socialism [8], they have continued to explore along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. They have creatively answered the difficult problem of how to modernize the national governance system and governance capacity, promoting the perfection and development of the socialist system. They have creatively answered how to build a great modern socialist country, opening a new path to modernization for the world. They have creatively answered how to solve the challenge facing the international communist movement regarding the long-term governance of a Marxist party through people's democracy and self-revolution. This has inaugurated the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, promoting socialism with Chinese characteristics to become the spiritual banner and mainstay of world socialism.
The CPC has led the people in socialist construction through two historical periods—before and after the launch of reform and opening up. During this time, great achievements were made, but serious setbacks were also experienced, including grave errors like the "Cultural Revolution." On the basis of profoundly summarizing both positive and negative historical experiences and scientifically analyzing our country’s basic national conditions, a realistic and feasible path of socialist construction has been explored for humanity: namely, the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
III. Successfully Creating a Miracle of Socialist Development in China
In the 70-plus years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the CPC has led the Chinese people to achieve a series of world-renowned accomplishments on the path of socialist construction. These include long-term rapid economic development, long-term social stability, and the creation of a global miracle in poverty alleviation.
1. Creating the miracle of long-term rapid economic development
In the early days of the People's Republic, China was an impoverished and weak agricultural country. Through 30 years of construction, China established the basic socialist system and built an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system. This accumulated important ideological, material, and institutional conditions for the opening of the Chinese path. Following the launch of reform and opening up, China maintained rapid economic development for a long period. For a large country, this is unprecedented in the history of human economic development. In 2010, China's total economic output rose to second in the world. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the economy has continued to develop at a relatively fast pace. Especially since 2020, faced with the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, China successfully coordinated epidemic prevention with economic and social development, becoming the only major economy in the world to achieve positive economic growth. In 2021, China's total economic output reached 114 trillion RMB, further increasing its share of the world economy. China has thoroughly transformed its state of overall backwardness to become a prosperous socialist country, and is striving toward the comprehensive building of a great modern socialist country. "Practice shows that Chinese-path modernization both suits China’s reality and reflects the laws of socialist construction, as well as the laws of the development of human society. Our country must unswervingly promote Chinese-path modernization, using it to advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and continually making new and greater contributions to humanity." This further demonstrates the superiority of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
2. Creating the miracle of long-term social stability
Since the Opium War of 1840, China fell into a long-term state of social instability; incessant warfare, in particular, caused immense losses to the lives and property of the people. Since the founding of the People's Republic, under the effective governance of the CPC, the Chinese nation has been united in spirit. Although social instability occurred due to errors, overall, the entire society has remained in a state of peace and stability. For a large country undergoing rapid economic and social development, this is extremely rare. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the world has been in the midst of "changes unseen in a century" [9] and has entered a period of turbulent transformation. "China's governance" and "the West's chaos" stand in sharp contrast. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine that erupted in 2022 has further exacerbated global instability. The themes of the era—peace and development—face serious challenges. Under the strong leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have maintained historical resolve and are moving steadily forward.
3. Creating the miracle of world poverty alleviation
Since humanity entered civilized society, how to eliminate poverty has remained a global conundrum. To this day, although the level of productive forces in developed capitalist countries is already very high, poverty has still not been eliminated. Since the founding of the People's Republic, the CPC has always taken the realization of common prosperity for the people as its goal.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, by relying on the institutional advantages of socialism, leveraging the political advantages of CPC leadership, and carrying forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation in unity and mutual assistance, China won the battle against poverty through targeted poverty alleviation. This enabled nearly 100 million people to completely escape absolute poverty, creating a miracle in the history of human poverty alleviation. Through a century of effort, the Chinese Communists have successfully built a moderately prosperous society in all respects in China, turning the Chinese nation's millennia-old dream of xiaokang [10] into reality. "Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects on schedule and winning the battle against poverty has allowed the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation to take a major step forward, achieving a new leap from lagging significantly behind the times to catching up with the times in great strides." Since the 19th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC has mapped out a timetable and roadmap for achieving common prosperity for all people, leading 1.4 billion Chinese people in the struggle to achieve this goal. In 2021, China's per capita GDP surpassed 12,000 USD, approaching the level of high-income countries.
Since the founding of the People's Republic, the CPC has always stood on the right side of history and the side of human progress. It has promoted the full verification of the scientific and truthful nature of Marxism in China, the full implementation of the people-centered and practical nature of Marxism in China, and the full demonstration of the open and contemporary nature of Marxism in China. It has "created miracles that shine in the history of the development of the Chinese nation, the history of the development of world socialism, and the history of the development of human society; thoroughly reversed the historical course of the Chinese nation in modern times; vividly composed a magnificent chapter in the historical development of world socialism; successfully opened up a new realm of Marxism; established immortal feats for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; and made significant contributions to the promotion of human progress."
Successful Experiences of Contemporary China in Socialist Development
Over the 70-plus years since the founding of the People's Republic, rich successful experiences have been accumulated in socialist development, mainly including the following aspects:
(I) Adhering to the development of productive forces
The fundamental task of socialism is to develop the productive forces; building socialism in a backward China necessitates placing the development of productive forces first. Marx and Engels pointed out in The German Ideology: "In order to be able to 'make history,' men must be in a position to live. But life involves before everything else eating and drinking, a habitation, clothing and many other things. The first historical act is thus the production of the means to satisfy these needs, the production of material life itself." In February 1957, Mao Zedong proposed "uniting the people of all ethnic groups in the country to wage a new war—a war against nature, to develop our economy and our culture, so that all the people can pass through the current transitional period relatively smoothly, consolidate our new system, and build our new state." In September 1982, Deng Xiaoping remarked while accompanying Kim Il-sung, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, on a visit to Sichuan: "In a backward country building socialism, for a long period at the beginning, the level of productive forces will not be as high as in developed capitalist countries, and it is impossible to completely eliminate poverty. Therefore, socialism must vigorously develop the productive forces, gradually eliminate poverty, and continuously improve the people’s standard of living. Otherwise, how can socialism triumph over capitalism?" It is evident that in adhering to the development of productive forces and improving material living standards, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping are in direct descent from Marx and Engels.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that development is the foundation and key to solving all problems. In January 2013, at a seminar for newly elected members and alternate members of the Central Committee to study and implement the spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress, he pointed out: "Most importantly, we must continue to concentrate our energy on running our own affairs well, constantly strengthening our comprehensive national strength, constantly improving our people's lives, constantly building a socialism that possesses superiority over capitalism, and constantly laying a more solid foundation for us to win the initiative, win the advantage, and win the future." On December 18, 2018, in his speech at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, he noted: "We must persist in taking development as the top priority and continuously enhance our country's comprehensive national strength. The practice of forty years of reform and opening up has taught us: liberating and developing the productive forces and enhancing the comprehensive national strength of the socialist state are the essential requirements and fundamental tasks of socialism. Only by firmly grasping the center of economic construction, unswervingly upholding the strategic thought that 'development is the absolute principle' [11] and that development must be scientific development and high-quality development, and promoting sustained and healthy economic and social development, can we comprehensively enhance our country's economic, technological, and defense strength, as well as our overall national power. Only then can we lay a massive material foundation for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." These expositions fully prove that the Communist Party of China has consistently adhered to developing the productive forces and has struggled tirelessly for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
(2) Upholding the Four Cardinal Principles
The Four Cardinal Principles are the foundation of the nation's 1 establishment and existence. In March 1979, at a theoretical work conference (wūxūhuì) [12] of the Party, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "To achieve the four modernizations in China, we must uphold the Four Cardinal Principles in the ideological and political spheres. This is the fundamental prerequisite for achieving the four modernizations. These four are: first, we must adhere to the socialist road; second, we must adhere to the people's democratic dictatorship (proletarian dictatorship); third, we must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party; fourth, we must adhere to Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought." He further stated: "If any one of these Four Cardinal Principles is shaken, the entire socialist cause and the entire cause of modernization will be shaken." In April 2001, at a national conference on public security work, Jiang Zemin noted: "The Four Cardinal Principles govern the political direction and political guarantees of our construction and development; therefore, we say they are the foundation of the nation's establishment. If the Four Cardinal Principles are shaken, or if they are not upheld well, problems will arise in our political direction and political guarantees, and our cause of modernization will not succeed." In December 2008, at the conference commemorating the 30th anniversary of reform and opening up, Hu Jintao pointed out: "The Four Cardinal Principles are the foundation of the nation's establishment and the political cornerstone for the survival and development of our Party and our country." In December 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping also noted at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up: "We must adhere to the Party's basic line, and unify the focus on economic construction with the two basic points of upholding the Four Cardinal Principles and upholding reform and opening up within the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, persisting in them over the long term and never wavering."
Specifically, upholding the Four Cardinal Principles requires the following:
1. We must adhere to the socialist road. Direction determines the road, and the road determines destiny. "The question of the road is the primary issue concerning the success or failure of the Party's cause; the road is the very life of the Party." General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "After Marxism was introduced to China, the propositions of scientific socialism were warmly welcomed by the Chinese people and eventually took root, blossomed, and bore fruit in the land of China. This was by no means accidental; rather, it was through their integration with the fine traditional history and culture passed down in our country for thousands of years and with the values that the broad masses of the people 'use daily without realizing it' [13]." Deng Xiaoping also clearly stated: "Only socialism can save China, and only socialism can develop China." The path of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the correct path explored and formed by the CPC starting from China's national conditions and conforming to Chinese reality; it is the broad road (kāngzhuāng dàdào) [14] for creating a beautiful and happy life for the people and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. By adhering to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC and the Chinese people will surely be able to build China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful great modern socialist country on schedule.
To adhere to the socialist road, one must remain firm in socialist convictions. Lenin said: "The important thing is to be convinced that the path chosen is correct, and this confidence will increase revolutionary energy and revolutionary enthusiasm a hundredfold, and with such revolutionary energy and enthusiasm, miracles can be performed." At the same time, we must view the twists and turns in the process of socialist construction correctly. Lenin noted: "If we look at the matter in its essence, has any new mode of production in history ever been established at once without numerous failures, errors, and setbacks?" In February 1957, in "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People," Mao Zedong also pointed out: "Our country's current social system is much superior to the social systems of the old era. If it were not superior, the old system would not have been overthrown and the new system could not have been established."
Adhering to the socialist road also requires high importance to be placed on developing the public ownership economy. Under the capitalist system, "the worker's economic subjection to the monopolizer of the means of labor—that is, the sources of life—is the foundation of servitude in all its forms, of all social misery, mental degradation, and political dependence." Lenin pointed out: "For the true liberation of the working class, a social revolution is necessary... namely, the abolition of private property in the means of production, their transformation into public property, and the organization of the socialist production of products by society as a whole to replace capitalist commodity production, so as to ensure the full welfare and free, all-around development of all members of society." In October 1978, while meeting with a press delegation from the Federal Republic of Germany, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "Good traditions must be preserved," and "what was effective in the past must be maintained; especially the fundamental system, the socialist system, and socialist public ownership—these cannot be shaken."
2. We must adhere to the people's democratic dictatorship. The fundamental question of all revolutions is the question of state power. Transforming the world is inseparable from state power. Lenin said: "Only he is a Marxist who extends the recognition of the class struggle to the recognition of the dictatorship of the proletariat"; "this is the touchstone on which the real understanding and recognition of Marxism should be tested." As early as the eve of the founding of New China, Mao Zedong pointed out in "On the People's Democratic Dictatorship": "We are the opposite of the political parties of the bourgeoisie. They are afraid to speak of the extinction of classes, state power, and the party. We, on the contrary, declare openly that we are striving hard to create the very conditions which will bring about their extinction. The leadership of the Communist Party and the state power of the people's dictatorship are such conditions. Anyone who does not recognize this truth is no communist." The founding of the People's Republic of China announced the formal establishment of the state power of the people's democratic dictatorship. As the 1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China stated: "After more than a hundred years of heroic struggle, the Chinese people, finally under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, won a great victory in 1949 in the people's revolution against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism; they thereby ended the long history of oppression and enslavement and established the People's Republic of China, a people's democratic dictatorship." Since then, the theory of the people's democratic dictatorship has been continuously enriched and developed, becoming an important component of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In December 1990, during a talk with several leading comrades of the Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping also emphasized: "Marx said that class struggle was not his discovery; the most essential point of his theory is the dictatorship of the proletariat. When the proletariat, as a rising class, seizes power and establishes socialism, its own strength is certainly weaker than that of capitalism for a considerable period, and it cannot resist the onslaught of capitalism without the dictatorship. Upholding socialism requires upholding the dictatorship of the proletariat; we call it the people's democratic dictatorship"; "the people's democratic dictatorship cannot be discarded."
3. We must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The leadership of the CPC is the core force of China's socialist cause. The leadership of the CPC is the most defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest strength of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Marx pointed out: "In its struggle against the collective power of the possessing classes, the proletariat can act as a class only by organizing itself into a distinct political party, opposed to all the old political parties formed by the possessing classes." "This organization of the proletariat into a political party is indispensable in order to ensure the triumph of the social revolution and its ultimate goal—the abolition of classes." In December 1998, at the conference commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, Jiang Zemin noted: "Upholding, strengthening, and improving the Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the victorious advance of our cause. It is inconceivable to unify and condense the thoughts and strength of over a billion people to jointly build socialism with Chinese characteristics without the unified leadership of the Communist Party of China." The fundamental reason why the Chinese people and the Chinese nation were able to reverse their historical fate after the dawn of the modern era and achieve today's great accomplishments is the strong leadership of the CPC. Both history and reality prove that without the Communist Party of China, there would be no New China and no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. As long as we unswervingly uphold the Party's comprehensive leadership, resolutely safeguard the core of the Party and the authority of the Central Committee, give full play to the political advantages of the Party's leadership, and implement the Party's leadership in all fields, aspects, and links of the cause of the Party and the state, we will surely be able to ensure that the entire Party, the entire army, and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country march forward in unity along the socialist road.
4. We must adhere to Marxism. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Why is the Communist Party of China capable? Why is socialism with Chinese characteristics good? Ultimately, it is because Marxism works!" "The tortuous course of the practice of world socialism tells us that once a Marxist party abandons its faith in Marxism and its convictions in socialism and communism, it will collapse." Marx said: "The degree to which theory is realized in a country depends on the degree to which the theory satisfies that country's needs." In September 1949, Mao Zedong pointed out in "The Bankruptcy of the Idealist Conception of History": "The Russian Revolution of 1917 awakened the Chinese, and they learned something new, which was Marxism-Leninism"; the CPC was established "under the impetus of the ideas of the Russian Revolution," and "these ideas were none other than Marxism-Leninism." "Marxism-Leninism produced such a tremendous effect in China because China's social conditions called for it, because it has been integrated with the practice of the Chinese people's revolution, and because the Chinese people have grasped it." In June 1984, while meeting with the Japanese delegation to the second meeting of non-governmental personages from China and Japan, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "We have reiterated many times that we must adhere to Marxism and keep to the socialist road. However, Marxism must be Marxism that is integrated with Chinese reality, and socialism must be socialism with Chinese characteristics that is suited to Chinese reality." Adhering to the guidance of Marxism is not contradictory to ideological diversity. As Lenin pointed out: "Diversity, far from destroying unity in what is main, fundamental, and essential, will ensure it."
(3) Upholding Reform and Opening Up
Only reform and opening up can develop socialism and develop Marxism. We must advance socialist construction with a spirit of reform and innovation. The fact that actual socialist practice differs greatly from the visions of the classical Marxist writers dictates the necessity of creatively exploring a path for socialist construction in reality. Lenin’s New Economic Policy [15] was a creative attempt in this regard. "The New Economic Policy does not change the essence of the workers' state, but it does radically change the methods and forms of socialist construction." As early as April 1956, at the final meeting to discuss and revise the draft of On the Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, Mao Zedong proposed: "The most important thing is to think independently and integrate the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution and construction. During the period of the democratic revolution, it was only after paying a heavy price that we successfully achieved this integration and won the victory of the New Democratic Revolution. Now that we are in the period of socialist revolution and construction, we must carry out a 'second integration' [16] to find a path for how to build socialism in China." In August 1985, while meeting with Robert Mugabe, President of the Zimbabwe African National Union and Prime Minister of the government, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "What socialism actually looks like—the Soviet Union engaged in it for many years, but they did not fully figure it out. Perhaps Lenin’s thinking was better, as he implemented the New Economic Policy, but later the Soviet model became ossified. The success of the Chinese revolution was precisely because we applied the universal principles of Marxism-Leninism to our own reality." Subsequently, he emphasized on various occasions: "There is no way out without reform; decades of practice have proven that the old way was unsuccessful. In the past, we indiscriminately copied the models of other countries, which resulted in hindering the development of the productive forces." "Reform and opening up must run through the entire process of China's development—not for three, five, or ten years, nor for twenty years, because there is too much that needs to be done"; and so on.
Socialist construction must be open to the outside world and draw upon the achievements of capitalist civilization. Classical Marxist writers once pointed out: "The proletariat can only exist world-historically, just as its activity, communism, can only have a 'world-historical' existence." "Communism is by no means the fading, abstraction, or loss of the objective world created by man, that is, of man's essential powers taking an objective form; it is by no means a return to poverty, to an unnatural, undeveloped simplicity." In December 2018, at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The practice of forty years of reform and opening up has taught us: openness brings progress, while closure inevitably leads to backwardness. China’s development cannot be separated from the world, and the world’s prosperity also needs China."
(4) Persistent and Correct Treatment of Capital
New China established the socialist system under conditions of extremely backward productive forces, facing the problem of how to utilize capital to develop those forces. The history of contemporary Chinese socialist development shows that the correct treatment of capital, especially private capital, is an important lesson. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Developing the socialist market economy is a great creation of our Party. Since it is a socialist market economy, various forms of capital will inevitably emerge. While capital in a capitalist society and capital in a socialist society are certainly different in many ways, all capital pursues profit. 'Wealth is what brings the people of the world together; law is what manages the wealth of the world.' [17] We must explore how to give play to the positive role of capital under the conditions of the socialist market economy while effectively controlling its negative effects. In recent years, due to insufficient understanding and a lack of supervision, the disorderly expansion of capital, wanton manipulation, and the seeking of exorbitant profits have appeared in some areas of our country. This requires us to regulate the behavior of capital, promote its benefits while avoiding its harms, and ensure that we neither allow 'capitalist predators' to act recklessly nor fail to leverage the function of capital as a factor of production. This is an unavoidable and major political and economic issue." On one hand, we must fully recognize that capital can play an important role in developing productive forces. Marx pointed out in Capital: "One of the civilizing aspects of capital is that the way and conditions under which it pumps out surplus labor are more favorable to the development of the productive forces, to the development of social relations, and to the creation of elements for a new and higher social formation than were the earlier forms of slavery, serfdom, etc." On the other hand, we must also see that capital is profit-seeking by nature, and private capital possesses the character of wage labor. In his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx argued that "capital is the power of command over labor and its products"; in Capital, he proposed that capital is the entire process of the special movement of the value of surplus value and its social attributes, and that capital consists of "bourgeois relations of production, the relations of production of bourgeois society."
Under the conditions of a socialist market economy, we must correctly understand the characteristics and behavioral laws of capital. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must set 'traffic lights' for capital. The 'traffic lights' apply to all vehicles on the road, and the same goes for capital; no type of capital can be allowed to run amok. We must prevent some capital from growing wildly. We must oppose monopolies, profiteering, sky-high prices, malicious speculation, and unfair competition. We must strengthen effective supervision of capital according to the law. The socialist market economy is an economy governed by the rule of law, and capital activities must be conducted in accordance with the law. Curbing the disorderly expansion of capital does not mean doing away with capital, but rather ensuring its orderly development. Where relevant laws and regulations are incomplete, we must hasten to improve them; where they already exist, we must strictly enforce supervision. We must support and guide the regulated and healthy development of capital. We must persist in and improve the basic socialist economic system, unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy while unswervingly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector, promoting the healthy development of the non-public economy and the healthy growth of personages in the non-public sector." In socialist practice, we must anticipate that private capital may have a negative impact on maintaining the purity of communism. When the Communist Party of China cooperates with personages from the non-public sector, it must not forget its lofty goals. As Marx and Engels pointed out in the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "The Communists fight for the attainment of the immediate aims, for the enforcement of the momentary interests of the working class; but in the movement of the present, they also represent and take care of the future of that movement."
Promoting Greater Achievements for Contemporary China in the New Stage of Development
The history since the founding of New China is the most brilliant chapter in the more than 500-year history of world socialism. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, New China has already written a glorious page. Currently, China has entered a New Stage of Development. This stage is a phase in the development of socialism—a stage moving from the primary stage of socialism toward a higher stage. High achievements over the 70-plus years since the founding of New China have laid a solid foundation for this New Stage of Development, and the accumulated successful experiences provide a reference. We should be full of confidence and push the cause of Chinese socialism toward even greater achievements with high spirits.
Promoting the development of contemporary Chinese socialism is a progressive undertaking. Socialism is the inevitable trend of human social development. In early 1920, Liang Qichao [18], known as the "foremost figure of the Chinese intellectual world," returned to China after a year of traveling in Europe and published Impressions of a European Journey (Ouyou Xinying Lu). In the book, he described the tragic scenes of post-WWI Europe that he witnessed firsthand, sighing: "Social revolution is likely the unique characteristic of the twentieth century; no country can escape it, it is only a matter of sooner or later." In 1922, the young Zhang Wentian [19] vividly described his own mental journey: "Regarding this irrational society, we long ago felt unease in our hearts, and out of that unease, we long ago produced a determination for transformation. But what method should be used to transform it? Into what should it be transformed? These questions often weighed on my chest and would not leave for a single day. Non-resistance? Resistance? Anarchism? Socialism? Like a flowing river, they brought me endless vexation. But one cannot live forever without making a decision. Thus, taking the strengths and discarding the weaknesses, one naturally cannot help but take the path of socialism. From this day forward, I hope to be a foot soldier in the journey to realize socialism." In the century-long history of the Communist Party of China, countless people with lofty ideals, like Zhang Wentian, have devoted themselves to the progressive cause of Chinese socialism. Chinese socialism has already joined the great tide of world socialism. World socialism has traversed more than 500 years of history, becoming a symbol of human progress and a powerful force driving human development.
Promoting contemporary Chinese development requires continuously demonstrating the superiority of socialism in practice. In September 1985, at the National Conference of the CPC, Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "We struggle for socialism not only because socialism has the conditions to develop the productive forces faster than capitalism, but also because only socialism can eliminate the various forms of greed, corruption, and injustice that are inevitably produced by capitalism and other systems of exploitation." Marx once pointed out that socialism is "a society of individuals, based on the common ownership of the means of production." The public ownership of the means of production determines that the socialist principle of distribution is the "exchange of equal amounts of labor," namely, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work." Lenin pointed out that this principle "contains the principle of socialism, the inexhaustible source of socialist strength, and the indestructible guarantee of the final victory of socialism." The realization of the superiority of the socialist system requires the joint efforts of all the people and must be continuously manifested in practice. In February 1957, in On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, Mao Zedong pointed out: "The establishment of our socialist system has opened the road leading to the ideal society of the future, but to translate this ideal into reality needs hard work."
In promoting the development of socialism, we must recognize that socialism has shortcomings and requires perfection, but we must not see only the defects. Lenin long ago pointed out: "Whoever... forgets the content of the new system due to the struggle against the maladies of the new system... simply does not know how to think." Mao Zedong also emphasized that the contradictions of capitalist society "cannot be resolved by the capitalist system itself, but can only be resolved by socialist revolution. The contradictions of socialist society are another matter; on the contrary, they are not antagonistic contradictions and can be continuously resolved through the socialist system itself." As the cause of contemporary Chinese socialism continues to develop, the immense superiority of the socialist system will surely be demonstrated more and more fully, and will surely drive world socialism toward revitalization.
(Author info: Gong Yun, Ph.D. in History, second-grade researcher, doctoral supervisor, Vice President of the Institute of Marxism Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Executive Deputy Director of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)