Wang Yuchen: The Solution and Significance of Chinese Modernization for the Modernization Challenges of China
The academic understanding of the meaning of modernization stems from explorations conducted across various disciplines. We can broadly reveal the connotation and substance of modernization from two dimensions: the macro and the micro. From a macro-dimensional perspective, modernization refers to the process by which human society, based on industrialization, transforms from a traditional agrarian society into a modern industrial society. From a micro-dimensional perspective, modernization refers to the developmental process by which backward countries adopt high-efficiency paths to catch up with and surpass advanced industrial nations. Modernization is a process based on industrialization and scientific and technological innovation that promotes the continuous transformation of the material, institutional, and spiritual levels from tradition to modernity. As an intrinsic component of the world modernization process, Chinese-path modernization possesses the general characteristics of modernization, yet it is also the result of the Communist Party of China (CPC) independently exploring and resolving the difficult problems of China's modernization based on China's specific national conditions. Therefore, Chinese-path modernization is modernization led by the Party, which is distinct from "modernization in China." According to the universal laws of modernization and China's specific national conditions, we can broadly summarize the difficult problems of China's modernization into the following four aspects: the difficulty of forming a political leadership force to drive modernization; the difficulty of realizing both efficiency and common prosperity; the difficulty of resolving the ecological constraints of modern development; and the difficulty of persisting in a path of peaceful development characterized by mutual learning between civilizations [1]. General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out in the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC: "Scientific socialism is full of vitality in 21st-century China, and Chinese-path modernization provides a new choice for humanity to achieve modernization." Therefore, exploring how Chinese-path modernization resolves the aforementioned difficult problems is of great value and significance for how backward countries can launch modernization and promote the development of human civilization.
I. The Resolution of the Issue of the Political Leadership Force for China's Modernization by Chinese-path Modernization
Divided by the dimension of developmental time, world modernization began with the British Industrial Revolution in the 19th century and gradually formed the first and second waves of modernization represented by developed European and American countries, as well as the third wave of modernization aimed at catching up with these nations. Divided by the dimension of modernization types, modernization can be categorized into "early-developing endogenous" and "late-developing exogenous" types. So-called "early-developing endogenous" modernization refers to a proactive, bottom-up, and incremental modernization where modern factors accumulated gradually; this mainly refers to the first and second batches of developed capitalist countries in Europe and America. Conversely, "late-developing exogenous" modernization refers to a passive "challenge-response" type of modernization stimulated by external factors; this mainly refers to the catch-up modernization of backward countries and regions in the third wave. "Early-developing endogenous" modernization is generally an organic combination of economic and political revolutions: building a market economy system compatible with modernization through political revolution, and achieving industrialization and modernization through economic revolution. "Late-developing exogenous" modernization belongs to the "challenge-response" type, the prerequisite for which is the formation of a political leadership force to drive modernization, upon which basis it can catch up with early-developing nations. China's modernization was not formed through the accumulation of internal factors, but was a "challenge-response" and "late-developing exogenous" modernization reacting to the invasion of Western powers. This type of modernization requires a mature political leadership force for its advancement. Before the founding of the CPC, people of vision in the Chinese nation explored modernization through stages including the Self-Strengthening Movement [2], the Taiping Rebellion [3], the Hundred Days' Reform [4], the Boxer Movement [5], and the Revolution of 1911 [6]. However, due to the lack of a mature political leadership force and the constraints of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, these efforts and attempts failed successively. Only the CPC, by following the universal laws of modernization while combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality, independently explored a new path for Chinese modernization, truly solved the problem of the political leadership force in China's modernization process, and realized Chinese-path modernization. The reason the CPC has been able to become a mature political leadership force is closely related to the Party's original aspiration and founding mission, its purpose, and its essential characteristics.
From the dimension of the CPC's original aspiration, founding mission, and purpose, the CPC is a new type of political party guided by Marxism. Its original aspiration and founding mission is to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. This commitment determines not only that the Party has no special interests of its own, but also that all its struggles and explorations revolve around the theme of how to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. During the revolutionary period, this mission was embodied in the Party’s exploration of the path to national independence and people's liberation; during the period of construction, it was embodied in the exploration of how to continuously improve the people’s material and cultural standards of living and realize common prosperity through socialist modernization. Throughout this exploration, the CPC has consistently combined the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality, achieving three leaps in the Sinicization of Marxism and forming a new path for Chinese-path modernization suited to China's conditions. Chinese communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, achieved the first leap in the Sinicization of Marxism, with Mao Zedong Thought as its theoretical crystallization. The CPC proposed a path for the Chinese revolution suited to national conditions—encircling the cities from the countryside—allowing the nation to throw off the "Three Great Mountains" [7] of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, and established a new socialist China. This allowed the Chinese nation to truly "stand up" and provided the fundamental social conditions for Chinese-path modernization. During the period of socialist modernization and construction, the CPC moved from emulating the Soviet model to independently exploring socialist modernization, proposing the goal of transforming China from a backward agrarian country into an advanced industrial country through industrialization, and putting forward the strategic goal of the "Four Modernizations" [8]. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Comrade Mao Zedong repeatedly emphasized the goal of "achieving socialist industrialization, the socialization and mechanization of agriculture, and building a great socialist country." Based on Mao’s vision, Comrade Zhou Enlai formally proposed the "Four Modernizations" in the 1964 Report on the Work of the Government, emphasizing that the main task for economic development was "to build China into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense, and modern science and technology within a not-too-long historical period, catching up with and surpassing world levels." Simultaneously, the 8th National Congress of the CPC posited that the principal contradiction [9] in Chinese society was no longer between the working class and the bourgeoisie, but between the people’s need for rapid economic and cultural development and the current state which could not meet those needs. It called for resolving this contradiction by vigorously developing the social productive forces, leading to the establishment of a relatively complete industrial and national economic system. However, because the correct line of the 8th National Congress was not fully maintained, errors occurred such as the expansion of class struggle under the slogan "taking class struggle as the key link," and the tragedy of the "Cultural Revolution," causing serious setbacks to China's socialist modernization.
The second generation of Party leadership, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as their core representative, set things right [10] and shifted the focus of the Party and state's work to economic construction. They emphasized that the essence of socialism is to liberate and develop the productive forces, eliminate exploitation and polarization, and achieve common prosperity. They proposed the strategic goal of achieving Chinese-path modernization through reform and opening up, achieving a new leap in the Sinicization of Marxism, the theoretical crystallization of which is the Theory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Comrade Deng Xiaoping not only first proposed the concept of "Chinese-path modernization" but also vividly compared it to a "moderately prosperous society" (xiaokang shehui). In March 1979, while meeting a delegation from the Great Britain-China Centre, he first proposed the new concept of "Chinese-style Four Modernizations." On December 6, 1979, in response to Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira's question about the blueprint for China's future, he specified Chinese-path modernization as a "moderately prosperous society": "The Four Modernizations we want to achieve are the Chinese-style Four Modernizations. Our concept of the Four Modernizations is not like your concept of modernization, but a 'moderately prosperous family' (xiaokang zhijia)." Deng quantified this goal as reaching a per capita GNP of $1,000 by the end of the 20th century. In 1983, Deng further emphasized, "The modernization we are pursuing is Chinese-path modernization. The socialism we are building is socialism with Chinese characteristics." Building on this, Comrades Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao successively proposed the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the "Three-Step" strategy [11], the sustainable development strategy, and the Scientific Outlook on Development as specific paths to realize Chinese-path modernization. They also set the goal of building a socialist modernized country by the centenary of the People's Republic of China. The practice of reform and opening up and modernization with Chinese characteristics achieved world-renowned success; China’s GDP rose to second in the world, achieving the historic leap of the Chinese nation from "standing up" to "becoming prosperous."
General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly pointed out that there is no "set in stone" or universally applicable model or standard for modernization. He emphasizes that Chinese-path modernization is the result of following the universal laws of modernization while being rooted in the shift in the principal contradiction of Chinese society [12] and guided by people-centered thinking. On this basis, a two-stage strategic plan was made to achieve the Second Centenary Goal for Chinese-path modernization: basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035, and building a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century. It is precisely the CPC’s original aspiration and founding mission—to seek happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation—that enables the Party to be the political leadership force for China’s modernization, uniting and leading the Chinese people in tireless exploration to realize Chinese-path modernization through this new path.
From the dimension of the CPC's essential characteristics, the CPC is a proletarian party guided by Marxist theory. The Marxist materialist conception of history requires that "serving the people heart and soul" be the Party's purpose and mission. This determines that the CPC has no special interests of its own but must always put the interests of the masses first, which is the distinctive mark distinguishing the CPC from other political parties. Adhering to the people-centered development philosophy—relying on the people, being for the people, and benefiting the people—is both the fundamental purpose of the Party's governance and the reason for maintaining "flesh-and-blood" ties with the masses. These ties are the source of the Party’s strength to overcome all difficulties in the pursuit of modernization. This allows the Party to lead and unite the people in carrying out Chinese-path modernization, scientifically solving the problem of the political leadership force and enabling the CPC to become a mature political force that successfully explored a new path and formed Chinese-path modernization.
II. The Resolution of the Conflict between Efficiency and Common Prosperity by Chinese-path Modernization
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in The Communist Manifesto, affirmed that Western modernization greatly promoted the development of productive forces and created a vast material civilization, noting that "the bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together." Max Weber viewed Western modernization as a continuous process of rationalization, efficiency-building, and secularization. Modernization originated in the West; it was a capitalist modernization guided by a system of modernity values, based on a market economy, and aimed at the pursuit of capital expansion and profit acquisition. Under the drive of profit motives and the dominance of capital expansion goals, capital views humanity and nature through an instrumentalist and utilitarian lens. Both are seen by capital as tools for pursuing infinite economic growth, thereby forming a relationship in which capital dominates both man and nature. However, because the purpose of Western modernization is to produce exchange value to satisfy capital's need for profit—rather than producing use value to satisfy the needs of the people—it not only fails to truly promote the well-rounded and free development of individuals [13], but can only bring about polarization between the rich and poor and the alienation of interpersonal and human-nature relationships. Marx thus criticized capitalist modernization, built on exploitation and plunder, for causing the phenomenon of polarization between the wealth of the bourgeoisie and the abject poverty of the proletariat. He emphasized that only by establishing a communist society can the development of social productive forces and production be aimed at "the prosperity of all," thereby achieving common prosperity and the well-rounded and free development of individuals. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The purpose of production in a socialist society is to satisfy the people’s ever-growing material and living needs and ultimately realize common prosperity and the well-rounded and free development of individuals. This dictates that Chinese-path modernization must necessarily and continuously improve productive forces and achieve high-quality development to increase social wealth, while simultaneously taking the realization of common prosperity and well-rounded, free development as its value pursuit.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has always upheld the Marxist idea that the essence of socialism is the realization of common prosperity, taking its achievement for all people as the value pursuit and ultimate goal of Chinese-path modernization, and has carried out arduous explorations to this end. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the central issue of the Party's concern was how to improve the living standards of the masses through industrialization. It explicitly defined socialism as a social system capable of achieving common prosperity, establishing a series of institutions to resolve poverty, poverty alleviation policies, and specific measures. Comrade Mao Zedong not only emphasized that the socialist ideal is to "enable the peasants to gradually and completely shake off their impoverished state and attain a life of common prosperity and universal flourish," but also pointed out that the socialist system is one capable of realizing common prosperity. "Now we are implementing such a system and such a plan, which can lead us to become richer and stronger year by year... and this richness is a common richness, this strength is a common strength; everyone has a share." After the launch of Reform and Opening-up [14], Comrade Deng Xiaoping, while emphasizing that poverty is not socialism, defined the essence of socialism as liberating and developing the productive forces, eliminating exploitation, eliminating polarization, and ultimately achieving common prosperity. He emphasized that common prosperity is both the fundamental principle and value pursuit of socialism, as well as the theme and purpose of Reform and Opening-up and the Party's governance. "Getting rich together is something we have spoken of since the beginning of reform; one day in the future it will become the central task." Regarding how common prosperity can be achieved and the path toward it, Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out on the one hand that upholding the leadership of the Party and socialism is the political guarantee for realizing common prosperity. On the other hand, he emphasized that the ability to liberate and develop productive forces is the material basis for achieving common prosperity, and proposed the specific path of letting "some get rich first to lead those who lag behind." In Comrade Deng Xiaoping's view, achieving common prosperity cannot be done overnight; it must go through a long historical process of development with a sequence of progression. At the CPC Central Committee Working Conference from November 10 to December 15, 1978, Comrade Deng Xiaoping proposed that some regions and some people should be allowed to get rich first to create a demonstration effect for other regions and groups, leading all people in the country toward common prosperity. In 1992, he further pointed out: "The conception of common prosperity was proposed like this: some regions with the right conditions develop first, and some regions develop slower; those that develop first drive the later-developing regions, eventually reaching common prosperity." Comrades Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao not only pointed out that the ability to achieve common prosperity is the essential feature distinguishing socialism from other systems, but also emphasized that the fruits of development must be directed toward the realization of common prosperity for all people.
General Secretary Xi Jinping, while reflecting upon and critiquing the phenomenon of polarization caused by capitalist modernization, has emphasized that common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and an important feature of Chinese-path modernization. He believes that Western modernization allows capital to pursue profit unchecked, arguing that a "market lacking morality is difficult to sustain the edifice of world prosperity and development. A situation where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is not only unsustainable but also violates fairness and justice." He has also pointed out that our country should learn from the lessons of social tearing and political polarization caused by Western modernization and the rich-poor divide in Western nations. He emphasizes that the common prosperity pursued by Chinese-path modernization is "the common prosperity of all the people, the prosperity of both the material and spiritual lives of the masses; it is not the prosperity of a few, nor is it a rigid egalitarianism [15]." Consequently, he pointed out that we must attach importance to the current problems in China such as unbalanced development and the large distribution gap that affect social stability, requiring that Chinese-path modernization must prevent polarization and promote common prosperity. Based on these insights, General Secretary Xi Jinping has systematically discussed the phased goals and basic principles that should be followed to achieve common prosperity. From the perspective of phased goals: first, by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan" [16], the income gap among residents will gradually narrow, laying a solid foundation for achieving common prosperity for all people; second, by 2035, substantial progress will be made toward common prosperity for all people, and equalization of basic public services will be achieved; third, by the middle of the 21st century, common prosperity for all people will be basically realized. Regarding the principles to be followed: first, emphasizing that common prosperity requires labor and a necessary material basis, and we must persist in achieving it through creative labor and the promotion of high-quality development. Second, it must be based on the primary stage of socialism [17] and the people-centered development philosophy, adhering to the mainstay of public ownership while allowing multiple forms of ownership to develop together. On the premise of adhering to "prosposity through labor," we encourage some people to get rich first, advocating that those who get rich first lead and help those who follow. It is emphasized that so-called common prosperity does not mean all people and all regions reaching prosperity simultaneously; rather, there will be variations in the degree of wealth and the timing of its achievement—realizing common prosperity is a dynamic process of development. Third, correctly handling the relationship between efficiency and equity in the modernization process. While "making the cake bigger," we must establish and improve a reasonable distribution system, constructing a basic institutional arrangement in which primary distribution, redistribution, and third distribution [18] are coordinated. This involves expanding the middle-income group, increasing the income of low-income groups, reasonably coordinating the income of high-income groups, and promoting social fairness, justice, and the well-rounded and free development of individuals. General Secretary Xi Jinping particularly emphasized that since there is still a significant gap between China’s development level and that of Western developed countries, in the pursuit of common prosperity, we must persist on the basis of sustainable and high-quality development, making overall plans and taking all factors into consideration. We must avoid making unrealistic promises that go beyond the reality of development and the government's capabilities, while focusing on social security construction that is basic, universal, and provides a safety net. He noted that even in the future when the economy is developed and financial resources are abundant, we must avoid the trap of "welfarism" seen in developed countries. Fourth, realizing common prosperity is both a long-term goal and a gradual process. We must fully estimate the long-term, arduous, and complex nature of this goal, which requires that we neither wait around nor act with undue haste, and encourages various localities to independently explore effective paths. Fifth, General Secretary Xi Jinping particularly emphasized a complete understanding of the connotation of "common prosperity" and "common prosperity for all the people," organically combining the realization of common prosperity with the well-rounded and free development of individuals. The so-called realization of common prosperity includes not only material life but also spiritual life. The core of this spiritual dimension is to satisfy the diverse, multi-level, and multifaceted spiritual and cultural needs of the masses, which is an important component of realizing the well-rounded and free development of individuals. "Common prosperity for all" is a collective concept for the whole of society; it should not be misunderstood as identical levels of wealth for different regions or different groups of people.
Overall, the CPC has always maintained that the essence and value pursuit of socialism is common prosperity. It has always viewed the leadership of the Party and the socialist system as the political guarantee, and the development of productive forces and the increase in social wealth as the material basis. It has systematically explored and discussed the connotation of common prosperity, its relationship with the well-round and free development of individuals, and the specific paths and historical processes for its realization. On the basis of ensuring the organic unity of modernization efficiency and social equity, common prosperity is achieved, and its realization for all Chinese people is taken as an important feature of Chinese-path modernization.
III. The Solution to Ecological Constraints and the Exploration of the Development Path for Ecological Civilization in Chinese-path Modernization
Western modernization is an extensive mode of development [19] primarily based on the input of labor factors, aimed at the pursuit of profit by capital. Although it created a developed material civilization, its modernization path of "pollution while developing" also brought about ecological crises that threaten human survival and development. Accompanied by the colonial activities and spatial production of capital, these ecological crises have shown a trend of globalizing development. In the process of pursuing economic development, the CPC has attached great importance to environmental protection, paying attention to the balance between economic development and the ecological environment, and has undergone a transition from industrial-civilization environmental protection to the concept of ecological civilization. During the stage where the concept of industrial-civilization environmental protection was dominant, while vigorously promoting afforestation, water conservancy construction, and mass Patriotic Health Campaigns, the CPC emphasized that economic development should follow the principles of strict economy and increasing production and income. It required strengthening the recycling and reuse of the "three wastes" (waste water, waste liquid, and waste gas), and attached importance to the role of scientific and technological progress in improving the efficiency of natural resource utilization. It successively proposed the "sustainable development strategy" and the Scientific Outlook on Development [20], emphasizing that development should respect and understand natural laws, take the well-rounded and free development of individuals as the goal, and persist in the harmony and stability of the human-nature relationship on the basis of ensuring the organic unity of development's quantity, quality, and benefit. The term "ecological civilization" (生态文明) was first written into a central document in the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating Forestry Development" in June 2003; it was first written into a Party document in the report to the 17th CPC National Congress in 2007. The report to the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 not only emphasized that ecological civilization construction should be given a prominent position in the cause of socialist construction but also formulated the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan" for the socialist cause. This signaled that the CPC had achieved a fundamental transformation from the concept of industrial-civilization environmental protection to the concept of ecological civilization. The modernization of socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a New Era of ecological civilization construction, ultimately forming Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the socialist view of ecological civilization. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the socialist view of ecological civilization are grounded in China’s specific national conditions. Through critical reflection on the path of Western modernization and an analysis of China’s modernization’s ecological constraints and the transformation of the principal contradiction in Chinese society [21], they propose that Chinese-path modernization should follow a "path of scientific development" different from the old Western path—namely, a new path of ecological civilization development, the inevitable result of which is Chinese-path modernization.
The reason Chinese-path modernization emphasizes achieving development by practicing the path of ecological civilization is determined by China's specific national conditions. Specifically: First, although reform and opening up enabled the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics to achieve immense success—with the total economic volume rapidly jumping to second in the world, allowing the Chinese nation to achieve the historical leap from "standing up" to "becoming rich"—the long-term, [22] extensive mode of development [23] primarily based on labor factor inputs caused massive destruction to the ecological environment. Constraints on ecological resources meant that this extensive development mode not only resulted in a distorted national economic structure and the defect of overemphasizing the speed of economic development while neglecting quality and efficiency, but also rendered this development mode unsustainable and difficult to maintain. Transitioning away from the extensive development mode and replacing it with an ecological civilization development mode to pursue sustainable high-quality development is an inevitable choice for Chinese-path modernization. Second, the principal contradiction in contemporary Chinese society has shifted to the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. On one hand, this contradiction determines that "development" remains the theme of Chinese-path modernization; on the other hand, the development pursued here is no longer the type where quantity and efficiency are decoupled as in the extensive development mode, but rather high-quality development characterized by the organic unity of quantity, quality, and efficiency. This is because products produced by the extensive development mode can no longer truly satisfy the people's needs for a better life and have instead become ineffective supply; only products where quality and efficiency are organically unified, produced by an ecological civilization development mode led by scientific and technological innovation, can meet the people’s expectations. This dictates that the realization of Chinese-path modernization can only follow the new path of ecological civilization development. Third, the Communist Party of China's (CPC) governing purpose is to serve the people whole-heartedly, which determines that the purpose and value orientation of the Party's governance must satisfy the people's needs for a better life. A beautiful ecological environment and ecological products are important components of a better life. This objectively requires the establishment of a people-centered outlook on development and performance, which must resolutely reject the "GDP-growth-only" development outlook that pursues temporary economic growth regardless of the ecological environment. The concern of the masses for ecological environmental issues must be placed at the center of the Party and the state's pursuit of modernization. Fourth, ecological environment issues are not only a predicament restricting Chinese-path modernization, but also a challenge concerning whether the sustainable development of the Chinese nation can be guaranteed and whether a global clean and beautiful world can be built. Consequently, Chinese-path modernization has proposed the goal of building a "Beautiful China" and the theoretical proposition of jointly building a global ecological civilization. It is based precisely on these national conditions that General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that the core of the new path of Chinese-path modernization lies in placing the construction of ecological civilization in a strategic and foundational position within socialist modernization. He has defined Chinese-path modernization as the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and proposed advancing Chinese-path modernization through the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan," emphasizing that "in the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, ecological civilization construction is one sphere; in the basic strategy for maintaining and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, maintaining harmony between humanity and nature is one point; among the new development concepts, 'green' is one concept; among the three critical battles, [24] pollution prevention and control is one battle; and among the goals for building a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century, 'Beautiful China' is one goal."
Based on this understanding, the CPC has further explored specific ways to realize the modernization of the relationship between humanity and nature and the goal of building a "Beautiful China." First, based on Marxist thought regarding the relationship between humanity and nature, and through surpassing Western ecological civilization thought while performing a "creative transformation" [25] of the ecological wisdom in traditional Chinese culture, it proposed an ecological ontology based on three original concepts: the "life community," the "life community of humanity and nature," and the "life community of Earth." This reveals the organic relationship of mutual dependence, interaction, and influence between humanity and nature, emphasizing that only by utilizing nature on the basis of respecting, conforming to, and protecting it can humanity achieve a relationship of harmony between humanity and nature. Furthermore, using historical thinking such as "civilizations thrive when their ecology thrives, and decline when their ecology declines," it reveals that the rise and fall of human civilization depends on the evolution of the ecological environment, repeatedly emphasizing that human practical activities must take the respect for natural laws as their basis and prerequisite, or they will face punishment from nature. Second, it proposed a "harmonious" value system for ecological culture based on environmental justice and the importance of establishing a green lifestyle. The "harmonious" ecological cultural values mentioned here are built on the basis of critically absorbing the positive fruits of Western ecological civilization theory and the value of "harmony" (he 和) from traditional Chinese ecological wisdom. These values are further grounded on historical materialism, characterized by the dialectical unity of the view of nature and the view of history. This has formed a unique "harmonious" ecological cultural value system that uses the value orientation of environmental justice to handle the ecological interest relationships between humanity and nature, between individuals, within the human mind and body, and between different nation-states. It also proposes the importance of establishing a green survival mode based on frugal and low-carbon consumption to advance the construction of ecological civilization. Third, it emphasizes the need to establish the ecological civilization concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," [26] correctly handling the relationship between economic development and ecological protection. It practices an ecological productive forces outlook where protecting and improving the ecological environment is equivalent to protecting and developing the productive forces, thereby truly transforming ecological resources—as natural and ecological wealth—into economic and social wealth. Fourth, it emphasizes that the construction of ecological civilization must rely on a rigorous rule of law. By strengthening the construction of the ecological civilization institutional system and promoting the modernization of the environmental governance system, it ensures the efficiency of ecological governance. Since ecological civilization construction is a complex systemic project, the CPC has strengthened unified leadership and top-level design, forming a multi-centered ecological governance system involving the leadership of the Party and governments at all levels, enterprises as the main actors, and the active participation of the general public, ensuring the efficiency of ecological governance and ecological civilization construction. On this basis, the CPC has adopted new measures and methods such as the "equal responsibility of Party and government," the "one post, two responsibilities" system, [27] ecological assessment and accountability systems, as well as the "River Chief" and "Forest Chief" systems, [28] leading to a historic turning point and immense achievements in China's ecological environmental protection work. Fifth, it persists in a people-centered value orientation and a concern for humanity. The Party’s original aspiration and founding mission determine that Chinese-path modernization must persist in the people-centered development philosophy. This requires the purpose and value destination of ecological civilization construction to be the improvement of the people’s livelihood. It views ecological civilization construction as a cause participated in, built by, and shared by the masses, regarding the people as the subjects of ecological civilization construction. Whether the people’s livelihood has improved and whether the masses have a sense of gain, satisfaction, and happiness are the sole criteria for judging the success or failure of ecological civilization construction. Simultaneously, ecological environment issues concern the future of humanity and the question of whether a beautiful human home can be built—a challenge no nation-state can ignore. This requires us to establish the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity and to jointly build a global ecological civilization in accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated" environmental justice, based on historical responsibility for ecological crises and current developmental realities.
We can see that Chinese-path modernization, precisely by resolving the ecological constraint predicaments facing China's modernization—grounded in China's national conditions, guided by Marxist thought on humanity and nature, critically absorbing Western ecological thought, and creatively transforming traditional Chinese ecological wisdom—has explored a new path of Chinese-path modernization for ecological civilization development. This path is based on the ecological concept of harmony between humanity and nature, rejects traditional extensive development modes, replaces them with ecological development and lifestyles, and adheres to the Party’s unified leadership and top-level design.
IV. Chinese-path modernization has resolved the predicament of following a path of peaceful development through exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations.
Marx and Engels viewed capitalist modernization as the result of capital's colonial plunder of backward countries. They pointed out that through such colonial plunder, even if capital obtained necessary raw materials and world markets, it destroyed the foundation of national industries in backward countries and their "veiled, sentimental, idyllic" relations, criticizing that "capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt." During the period of free capitalism, if Western modernization obtained raw materials and world markets by conducting colonial activities against backward countries, then in the period of monopoly capitalism—starting from the purpose of maintaining the interests of capital—developed Western countries, upholding zero-sum and Cold War mentalities, utilized the international political and economic order dominated by capital to further exploit and plunder developing countries. On one hand, they transferred high-pollution industries to developing countries, shifting ecological pollution and crises onto them; on the other hand, they utilized the international political and economic order controlled by capital to implement low-price procurement of raw materials from developing countries while selling industrial products with technological content at high prices, thereby exploiting the natural resources of developing countries. We can say that the history of Western modernization is a history of constant conquest filled with "blood and fire." Chinese-path modernization not only opposes Western modernization that relies on a path of colonization and plunder at the expense of the interests of backward countries, but also emphasizes that the hegemonic zero-sum mentality and Cold War thinking should be abandoned. It persists in equality and mutual learning between nation-states and different civilizations, actively promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for humanity to realize world peace and prosperous development.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) consistently maintained a stance against colonialism, hegemonism, racism, and great-power chauvinism. It supported the just cause of third-world nations in their struggle for national independence, demanded respect for the sovereignty of nation-states and their legitimate rights to handle internal affairs, and proposed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as the standard for international relations. Grounded in a position of internationalism and equality, the Party made a solemn commitment to always stand with third-world countries and never to seek hegemony.
Since entering the New Era of socialism, the CPC has adhered to an independent foreign policy of peace, focusing on the main themes of serving national rejuvenation and human progress. It opposes the threats to world peace and development posed by unilateralism, protectionism, hegemonism, and power politics. While safeguarding national security and development interests, it has held high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, actively working to build a community with a shared future for humanity. It advocates for a path of peaceful development and has explicitly proposed adhering to the common values of humanity—peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom. It pursues the common development of different countries and nations, emphasizing that "only when everyone develops together is there real development, and only sustainable development is good development."
This determines that Chinese-path modernization possesses the following characteristics in its development path and methods: First, Chinese-path modernization adheres to a path of peaceful development, requiring us to pursue development in a manner that neither depends on others nor plunders them. On the question of how to achieve modernization, the Western modernization model—dominated by Western-centric thinking—was lauded as the model all countries must follow. This led newly independent nation-states and regions after World War II to copy the Western model indiscriminately, ignoring their own historical conditions and cultural traditions. Although this resulted in a significant increase in total economic volume, it also brought about problems such as the polarization of wealth, heavy foreign debt, and the rupture of cultural values, ultimately leading to "dependent development" [29] on Western developed nations.
As a reaction against the practice of blindly copying Western modernization, theorists in Latin American countries successively proposed Dependency Theory and World-Systems Theory. They attributed the root causes of backwardness in underdeveloped countries to the dominance and control over the global economic system by developed countries, subsequently proposing a "decoupling" from the world economic system to pursue modernization through isolation. In contrast, Chinese-path modernization demands that while modernization must follow universal laws, there is no such thing as a "one-size-fits-all" model as claimed by Western-centrism. It advocates for exploring modernization paths independently based on the national conditions of the nation-state, emphasizing that "there is no fixed model for the path to modernization; the one that fits is the best, and one cannot 'cut the feet to fit the shoes' [30]. Every country's effort to independently explore a modernization path suited to its own national conditions should be respected." Chinese-path modernization is the result of the CPC's independent exploration based on China's national conditions while following the universal laws of modernization. Its value orientation is people-centered and seeks win-win cooperation for all people globally, characterized by the pursuit of modernization without depending on or plundering others.
Second, Chinese-path modernization opposes the "Clash of Civilizations" and the "End of History" [31], advocating instead for the realization of modernization and the common development of humanity through equal dialogue and mutual learning between different civilizations. The "Clash of Civilizations" theory was proposed by the American scholar Samuel Phillips Huntington in his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Its core premise is to view the world as composed of different civilizations—such as Sinic, Western, and Islamic—arguing that post-Cold War conflicts are no longer ideological but civilizational. The "End of History" theory was proposed by the Japanese-American scholar Francis Fukuyama in his book The End of History and the Last Man. Its core argument is that the upheavals in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe proved the failure of communism, and that the only remaining path for human historical development is liberalism; the liberal democratic system represents the final point of human ideological evolution.
By summarizing the laws of human civilizational development, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that the exchange and mutual learning between civilizations is an important driving force for human progress and world peaceful development. He revealed that the "Clash of Civilizations" and the "End of History" result from a lack of inclusive spirit toward civilizations and a mindset of hegemonism. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that civilizational exchange and mutual learning should not be predicated on the superiority of one civilization or the disparagement of another. Every civilization is rooted in its own soil, representing the wisdom and value pursuits of each country and nation, and possesses its own unique value. Human civilizations differ in their diversity, not in hierarchy. "To think that one’s own race or civilization is superior, and to insist on transforming or even replacing other civilizations, is intellectually foolish and catastrophically practical!" General Secretary Xi Jinping not only affirms that civilizations are diverse, equal, and inclusive, but also emphasizes that exchange and mutual learning are the essence of civilizational development. Only through equal exchange can "a civilization maintain its vitality. As long as an inclusive spirit is maintained, there is no such thing as a 'clash of civilizations,' and harmony between civilizations can be achieved."
Regarding Fukuyama’s "End of History," General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes on the one hand that the pursuit of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom constitute the common values of humanity. On the other hand, he emphasizes that the choices made by different countries regarding their development paths and the ways to realize these values should be respected. He points out that a country's system and governance framework are "determined by that country’s history, culture, social nature, and level of economic development." Every country should explore a system suitable for its own modernization rather than being restricted to the single path of Western political systems and modernization models.
Third, it proposes opposing the erroneous practices of unilateralism and hegemonism in the international governance system. Holding high the banner of "true multilateralism" as defined by the UN Charter, it seeks to improve the global governance system. With a value orientation of win-win cooperation, it opposes various forms of "decoupling" that harm the interests of other nations. It coordinates cooperation between nation-states, organically combining the development of the nation-state with global common development and prosperity.
V. The Value and Significance of Chinese-path Modernization for Advancing Modernization in Late-Developing Countries and the Development of Human Civilization
Chinese-path modernization has broken through the practice of universalizing Western modernization experiences and models. It not only holds significant value and meaning for late-developing countries exploring modernization paths suited to themselves, but also overcomes the one-sided and distorted modernization of the West, possessing vital significance for advancing human civilization and creating a new form of human civilization.
First, if we view the Self-Strengthening Movement [32] as the starting point of Chinese modernization, we find that Chinese modernization has been a historical process full of twists and complexities. This is closely related to the fact that Chinese modernization belongs to the "challenge-response" and "exogenous late-developing" type of modernization. Unlike the gradual unfolding of modernization in "pioneer endogenous" modernization countries (the first and second waves), the modernization of "exogenous late-developing" countries is characterized by the need for a "package solution" to the problems faced by modernization. This makes the handling of contradictions between various factors in the modernization process exceptionally sharp and complex.
From the Self-Strengthening Movement to the founding of the CPC, the political forces pushing for Chinese modernization often came from government officials at various levels within the feudal ruling class who possessed a modernization value orientation. They sought to maintain the feudal political order while simultaneously initiating modernization under that order to achieve the goal of "saving the nation from extinction" (救亡图存). Furthermore, they faced the conflict between Chinese and Western cultural values, and between traditional culture and modernization. This led to the debate and evolution of various modernization trends in modern Chinese history, such as "learning the foreigners' superior techniques to control the foreigners" [33], "Chinese learning for the essence, Western learning for application" [34], "total Westernization," and "Sino-Western complementarity." This period was also marked by the contradiction between national salvation and the method of modernization, highlighting the importance of achieving national independence and forming a mature leadership force for modernization. It was precisely the complexity of these contradictions and the necessity of a "package solution" that made the process of Chinese modernization full of hardships and setbacks.
By combining the universal truths of Marxism with China’s concrete reality, the CPC enabled China to escape its semi-colonial and semi-feudal state, established the People’s Republic of China, and achieved national independence, laying the political foundations for Chinese modernization. After the founding of the PRC, the CPC led the Chinese people in exploring modernization, establishing the goal of transforming China from a backward agricultural country into an advanced industrial country through industrialization. However, this process also underwent an exploratory journey—from blindly copying the Soviet socialist model to independent exploration based on China's national conditions. It was not until the period of Reform and Opening-up that Comrade Deng Xiaoping first proposed the concept of "Chinese-style modernization" [35], opening a new path for Chinese-path modernization. This broke through the misconceptions of Western-centrism, the "Clash of Civilizations," and the "End of History," forming a Chinese-path modernization fundamentally different from the one-sided and distorted Western modernization. The exploratory process and successful experience of Chinese-path modernization provide a reference and a brand-new choice for late-developing countries to explore modernization paths that are suitable for themselves and not dependent on others. Modernization in late-developing countries requires the formation of a mature political force to drive modernization; it cannot simply copy other nations' models but must follow the universal laws of modernization while independently exploring a path suited to their own national conditions.
Second, Western modernization was launched under the guidance of a modernity value system centered on Enlightenment Rationality. Enlightenment Rationality performed a "disenchantment" of nature and myth, demanding that people liberate themselves from the worship and fear of nature and God. Regarding how nature is viewed, this transformed the pre-Renaissance obsession with nature's mysteries and reverence for nature into an obsession with nature's utility and exploitation. Consequently, a mechanistic philosophical worldview replaced the simple organic and holistic philosophical worldview of the pre-Enlightenment era, forming a modernity value system centered on reason, freedom, and equality. This system, combined with capital, became an inherent part of bourgeois ideology, eventually forming a view of social progress based on scientific and technological advancement.
However, the problem lies in two areas: First, Enlightenment Rationality took "utility" as the standard for whether a concept was scientific, requiring the rejection and negation of knowledge exploring the essence and meaning of the world as "useless metaphysics." This means the "reason" promoted by Enlightenment Rationality is a form of instrumental reason divorced from value-based reason. Second, because of the existence of the specific interest group of capital, capital—driven by the profit motive—not only pursues infinite economic growth but also simplifies "happiness" to the possession and consumption of material wealth, ignoring and negating other contents of happiness. The purpose of its modernization lies in maintaining the valorization of capital. This not only determines that the logic of equating technological progress with social progress is necessarily untenable but also causes science and technology to become alienated into tools for capital to control both humans and nature.
Western modernization, guided by this modernity value system, has not brought people freedom and happiness; on the contrary, it has led to the alienation of relations between humans, and between humans and nature. It has formed a "one-dimensional society" [36] characterized by material abundance but spiritual poverty—where the value of "things" rises while the value of "man" declines. This implies that Western modernization is a one-sided and distorted modernization. In contrast, Chinese-path modernization is a transcendence of Western modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping summarized the characteristics of Chinese-path modernization into five points: "the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development."
Chinese-path modernization adheres to the leadership of the CPC and the socialist system, the people-centered development philosophy, and the new path of ecological civilization development. Following the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, it emphasizes the coordinated advancement of the "Five Civilizations" [37]. It stresses that the fruits of development are shared by all people, taking the realization of common prosperity for all as the value objective and ultimate destination of modernization. It advocates realizing modernization through a path of peaceful development characterized by civilizational exchange and mutual learning, promoting the common development and prosperity of the world's people. It overcomes the defects of Western modernization—the alienation of humans from each other and from nature, and the gap between material abundance and spiritual poverty. It is a comprehensive and holistic modernization aimed at the free and well-rounded development of the individual, and it will inevitably create a new form of human civilization.
Third, Chinese-path modernization both reflects the deepening of the Communist Party of China’s understanding of the laws governing human development and a deeper understanding of the laws of socialist construction; it represents a new development of contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism. From the dimension of the deepening of the CPC’s understanding of the laws of human development, the history of human society is the history of the human pursuit of free and well-rounded development. We can investigate this historical process of development through two dimensions: the relationship between humans and other humans, and the relationship between humans and nature. From the dimension of the relationship between humans, Marx proposed the "five-stage theory" and the "three-stage theory" respectively. The so-called "five-stage theory" divides the development of human society into the sequential processes of primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and communist society. The "three-stage theory" divides human society into three stages characterized by personal dependence, material dependence, and free individuality. The "five-stage theory" and "three-stage theory" reveal the laws of human social development from different perspectives; the two exist in a relationship of mutual reinforcement and dialectical unity. Primitive society, slave society, and feudal society correspond to the developmental stage characterized by personal dependence; capitalist society corresponds to the stage of material dependence; and communist society corresponds to the developmental stage characterized by free individuality.
From the dimension of humans and nature, we can divide human civilization into the developmental stages of primitive civilization, agricultural civilization, industrial civilization, and ecological civilization [38]. Based on the people-centered development philosophy and the value objective of the free and well-rounded development of individuals, Chinese-path modernization proposes the realization of modernization through a new path of ecological civilization development. This not only regards ecological civilization as a new form of civilization that transcends industrial civilization, but also emphasizes that the essence of ecological civilization is to utilize the technological achievements of industrial civilization to realize the harmonious and common development of both human and nature and human and human. This is a deepening of the understanding of the laws of human development.
From the dimension of deepening the understanding of socialist construction, the CPC’s understanding of how to unfold socialist construction has undergone a transformation from "two civilizations" [39] to the "Three-Sphere Integrated Plan," "Four-Sphere Integrated Plan," and the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan." It regards ecological civilization as an essential attribute that distinguishes socialism from capitalism. It requires abandoning the traditional extensive development mode [40] characterized primary by labor-factor inputs, in favor of realizing modernization through the green and low-carbon development mode of ecological civilization. This transcends both the developmental patterns of Western modernization and the existing developmental patterns of socialism; it is a deepening of the understanding of the laws of socialist construction. Chinese-path modernization led by the CPC is the product of combining the universal truths of Marxism with China’s concrete reality. It is a new leap and contemporary development of Marxism in China, and a new development of contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism.