Li Peilin, Zhang Ji, and Ma Feng: United in Leading the People to Create a Better Life
The report of the 20th CPC National Congress emphasized: "The country is its people; the people are the country. As the Communist Party of China has fought to establish and maintain its leadership over the country, it has in fact been fighting to develop and maintain the support of the people." The roots of the Communist Party of China lie in the people, and its lifelines are connected to the people. Since its founding, the fundamental goal of our Party in uniting and leading the people through revolution, construction, and reform has been to ensure that the people live a good life. On the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects, realizing the people's aspirations for a better life is both the starting point and the ultimate goal of modernization.
Realizing the people's aspirations for a better life is the fundamental goal of all Party and state work
Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has been the greatest dream of the Chinese people since the dawn of modern times. Under the invasion of foreign powers and the corruption of feudal rule, our country missed the opportunity of the Industrial Revolution, fell significantly behind the times, and the Chinese nation suffered unprecedented tribulations. Under the conditions of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, Chinese modernization did not—and could not—succeed.
From the day of its founding, our Party took the pursuit of happiness for the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as its original aspiration and founding mission, and has struggled tirelessly toward this end. For more than a century, all the struggle, sacrifice, and creation by the Party in uniting and leading the people have been to practice this original aspiration and founding mission.
Development is the Party's top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country. The development and modernization we promote are always for the people, aimed at promoting well-rounded human development and all-around social progress. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, our Party sought diligently to lead the people in a painstaking exploration of modernization. In 1956, Comrade Mao Zedong proposed: "Our people should have a far-reaching plan to strive to change our country’s backward economic, scientific, and cultural conditions within a few decades, and rapidly reach the advanced levels of the world." After the start of reform and opening up, Comrade Deng Xiaoping proposed the "three-step" strategy: specifically, to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people by the end of the 1980s, to enable the people's lives to reach a level of moderate prosperity [1] by the end of the last century, and to basically achieve modernization by the middle of the 21st century, reaching the level of moderately developed countries. Upon entering the new century, after the people's lives had reached a level of moderate prosperity in general terms, our Party further proposed that by the centenary of the Party's founding, we would finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects at a higher level that benefits more than one billion people. We would then strive for another 30 years so that by the centenary of the People's Republic of China, we would basically achieve modernization and build our country into a great socialist modern country. Since the 18th Party Congress, Socialism with Chinese Characteristics has entered a New Era, and the Chinese nation has welcomed a great leap from standing up and becoming prosperous to becoming strong. Standing at a new and higher historical starting point, the 19th Party Congress made a two-stage strategic arrangement for achieving the Second Centenary Goal, proposing to basically achieve socialist modernization by 2035 and to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of this century. The report of the 20th Party Congress proposed: From this day forward, the central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.
Leading the people in creating a better life is our Party’s unswerving goal. Our people love life and look forward to better education, more stable jobs, more satisfactory incomes, more reliable social security, higher levels of medical and health services, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment; they hope that children can grow up better, work better, and live better. On the new journey, we must coordinate the two overall situations—the domestic and the international—and consider problems, make decisions, and handle affairs based on the realities of the world, the country, and the people. We must neither aim for the unattainable [2] nor stick to old conventions [3]; we must maintain historical patience and strategic resolve, adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, proceeding step-by-step and through sustained efforts. We must persist in ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods in the course of development, encourage the creation of a better life through collective struggle, and continuously realize the people's aspirations for a better life.
Advancing economic development, improve people's livelihoods, and social progress on all fronts
Since the 18th Party Congress, we have thoroughly implemented the people-centered development philosophy, making sustained efforts to see that children have early childhood care, students are well-educated, workers are fairly remunerated, the sick have medical care, the elderly are cared for, residents have housing, and the vulnerable are supported, resulting in an all-around improvement in the people's lives.
As Socialism with Chinese Characteristics entered the New Era, China's economic strength achieved a historic leap. From 2012 to 2021, the Gross Domestic Product grew from 54 trillion yuan to 114 trillion yuan; the total volume of China's economy came to account for 18.5% of the world economy, the urbanization rate reached 64.7%, and the middle-income group exceeded 400 million people. The principal contradiction in Chinese society has evolved into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. China's social structure is undergoing changes, with the Internet profoundly altering the ways of human interaction, and social concepts, social psychology, and social behavior undergoing profound transformations. The people's aspirations for a better life have generally shifted from "having enough" to "how good it is," exhibiting characteristics of diversification, multi-layeredness, and multi-facetedness. Not only have they placed higher demands on material and cultural life, but their demands in the areas of democracy, the rule of law, fairness, justice, security, and the environment are also increasing by the day.
We have achieved great transformations while resolving the prominent contradictions in economic and social development. Facing contradictions accumulated over the long term and a series of new contradictions arising from changes in the domestic and international situation, our Party has proposed a series of new philosophies, thoughts, and strategies for national governance. We have withstood the tests of risks and challenges from political, economic, ideological, and natural fronts; the cause of the Party and the state has achieved historic achievements and undergone historic changes. In the decade since the 18th Party Congress, the people's lives have improved across the board: average life expectancy has increased to 78.2 years; per capita disposable income has increased from 16,500 yuan to 35,100 yuan; an average of over 13 million new urban jobs have been created annually; and we have built the world's largest education, social security, and medical and health systems. The level of educational popularization has achieved a historic leap; basic old-age insurance covers 1.04 billion people, and the participation rate in basic medical insurance is stable at 95%. More than 42 million units of housing in run-down areas [4] and over 24 million dilapidated rural houses have been renovated. Ecological and environmental protection has undergone historic, pivotal, and overall changes. The people's sense of gain, happiness, and security has become more substantial, better guaranteed, and more sustainable. We have completed the historical task of finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, achieved the First Centenary Goal, and witnessed new results in common prosperity. We have won the largest battle against poverty in human history: nearly 100 million rural poor have been lifted out of poverty, resolving the problem of absolute poverty historically and making a significant contribution to the global cause of poverty reduction.
Ensuring that the fruits of modernization benefit all people more extensively and fairly
Building a modern socialist country in all respects is a great and arduous undertaking; the future is bright, but the road is long and the responsibilities are heavy. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Ultimately, we promote economic and social development to constantly meet the people's needs for a better life. We must always keep the people’s security, employment, and well-being at heart, and with heart, soul, and strength, resolve the practical issues concerning the masses such as employment, education, social security, medical care, housing, elderly care, food safety, and social order. We must implement these tasks one by one, working year after year, striving to let the masses see the changes and receive tangible benefits."
Currently, the recovery of the world economy is sluggish, the trend of de-globalization is rising, unilateralism and protectionism have significantly increased, local conflicts and turbulence are frequent, and global issues are intensifying; the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. China's development has entered a period where strategic opportunities and risks/challenges coexist, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing; our reform, development, and stability face many deep-seated contradictions that we cannot dodge or bypass. In response, we must enhance our awareness of potential dangers, adhere to bottom-line thinking, walk our own path, and handle our own affairs well. We must insist on placing the development of the nation and the ethnic group on the foundation of our own strength, adhere to the supremacy of the people, safeguard the fundamental interests of the people, and increase the well-being of the people's livelihood. We must continuously ensure that development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people, so that the achievements of modernization benefit all people more extensively and fairly.
We must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "Only by adhering to the people-centered development philosophy, and insisting that development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people, can there be a correct view of development and modernization." Adhering to the people-centered development philosophy means taking the improvement of people's well-being, the promotion of well-rounded human development, and steady progress toward common prosperity as the starting point and goal of economic development. Deploying economic work, formulating economic policies, and promoting economic development must all firmly adhere to this fundamental stance. On the new journey, we must focus on the most direct and realistic interest issues that the people care about most, realizing, maintaining, and developing the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of people.
We must focus on resolving the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development. Unbalanced and inadequate development has become the main factor restricting the meeting of the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. Currently, the main problems facing China's development are: innovation capacity does not meet the requirements of high-quality development; the agricultural foundation is not yet solid; the gap between urban and rural regional development and income distribution is relatively large; ecological and environmental protection has a long way to go; there are shortfalls in livelihood protection; and there are weaknesses in social governance. "Unbalanced development" refers mainly to the imbalances existing across various regions, fields, and aspects, which restrict the improvement of the overall development level. "Inadequate development" refers mainly to the fact that China still has a fairly long road to go to fully achieve socialist modernization, and the developmental tasks remain very heavy. We must adhere to a problem-oriented and goal-oriented approach, persist in a systems thinking perspective, and focus on consolidating the foundation, leveraging advantages, shoring up weak spots, and strengthening weaknesses. We must focus on solving the urgent problems and anxieties of the masses [5], promoting the comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development of economy and society.
We must promote common prosperity through high-quality development. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all people. Common prosperity is an essential requirement of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Realizing common prosperity is not only an economic issue but also a major political issue concerning the Party's governing foundation. We insist on taking the realization of the people’s aspirations for a better life as the starting point and goal of modernization, focusing on maintaining and promoting social fairness and justice, and consciously and actively solving problems such as regional gaps, urban-rural gaps, and income gaps. First, we must make the "cake" bigger and better through the joint efforts of the people of the whole country, and then cut and distribute the "cake" well through reasonable institutional arrangements. We must strive to expand the size of the middle-income group and push more low-income people into the middle-income ranks. We must dismantle institutional and policy barriers that hinder the flow of labor and talent, eliminate unreasonable restrictions and employment discrimination that affect equal employment, and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their own development through diligent labor.
We must persist in ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods in the course of development. Adapting to changes in people’s needs, striving to run various livelihood undertakings well, and making the people's lives better and better is the fundamental purpose of socialist production. We must focus on promoting the equalization of basic public services, precisely providing basic public services in areas the masses care about most—such as education, medical care, elderly care, and housing—securing the basic living bottom line for people in difficulty, increasing inclusive human capital investment, improving the elderly care and medical security systems, and improving a multi-level social security system that covers the entire population, coordinates urban and rural areas, is fair and unified, safe and standardized, and sustainable.
The people are the greatest source of confidence in our Party's governance and the deepest foundation of the Party and the state. In the process of development, we must seek more benefits for the people's livelihoods and resolve more of their worries. We must improve the distribution system, implement the employment-first strategy, enhance the social security system, and advance the "Healthy China" initiative. We should continuously increase the well-being of the people, improve the quality of life, lead the people in creating a happy life, and stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of all people. On the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects, we will continuously realize the people's aspirations for a better life.