Ministry of Education Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era: Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects: A Historic Victory Won Through the United Struggle of the Party and the People
Through decades of united struggle by the Party and the people, we have finally completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects on the land of China. We have historically resolved the problem of absolute poverty and secured a historic victory in the process of building the New China and achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This achievement has written a thick, heavy, and brilliant stroke [1] in the history of China’s economic and social development and the progress of human civilization, creating a great historical time for the Chinese nation within the great historical time of humanity.
Providing Powerful Strength to Advance Chinese-path Modernization
Modernization can be traced back to the mid-18th century, becoming the necessary path for all countries and nations to move toward modern civilization. Since the founding of the New China, our Party has always remained grounded in our country’s basic national conditions and specific stages of social development. Aiming for socialist modernization, we have traversed in just a few decades the developmental process that took Western developed countries several centuries. We have independently blazed a new path of Chinese-path modernization characterized by material and spiritual abundance, common prosperity for all, harmony between humanity and nature, and peaceful development and win-win cooperation, thereby creating a new form of human civilization. During this long and magnificent practical process, the Communist Party of China's (CPC) understanding of "what kind of socialist modernization to build and how to build it" has continuously deepened, and its strategy has become more mature. On the basis of long-term exploration and practice since the founding of the New China—and particularly since the Reform and Opening-up [2]—and through theoretical and practical innovations and breakthroughs since the 18th Party Congress, we have successfully advanced and expanded Chinese-path modernization. In particular, achieving the vision of a moderately prosperous society and building a moderately prosperous China on schedule as the Party marked its centenary was a historic victory that will shine in the annals of the Chinese nation's development, providing powerful strength for the continuous advancement and expansion of Chinese-path modernization.
The completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, as a historic victory won through the united struggle of the Party and the people, means that socialism is capable of creating higher levels of productive forces. It generates the fundamental momentum for the transformation and reorganization of every aspect of society, from the economic base to the superstructure, supporting the continuous unfolding and gradual evolution of Chinese social development toward a higher level of beauty. It marks the complete elimination of absolute poverty and a holistic improvement in the people's standard of living, as the Chinese people stride forward toward the grand goal of achieving common prosperity and living a better life. The completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects scientifically answered the major fundamental issue of human economic and social development—that "people must first eat, drink, have shelter, and be clothed" [3]. It successfully realized the long-held dream of "the people are indeed overworked, but perhaps they may achieve a little prosperity" [4], a pursuit of the sons and daughters of China for thousands of years. This achievement constitutes an important milestone in the history of the Chinese nation's development and has powerfully boosted the confidence and determination of the entire Party and the people of the whole country to comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization.
Laying a Solid Foundation for Achieving the Second Centenary Goal
Through the unremitting exploration, tenacious struggle, and sacrifice of generations of Chinese Communists and the Chinese people, the First Centenary Goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects was achieved on schedule. The CPC is now continuing to unite and lead the Chinese people to forge ahead with enterprise and fortitude toward the Second Centenary Goal [5] of building a great modern socialist country in all respects. The completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects has laid a solid foundation for the sustained development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
First, a qualitative leap in productive forces has consolidated a substantial material foundation. Completing a moderately prosperous society in all respects has liberated and developed social productive forces, significantly enhancing our country's comprehensive national strength. Particularly in the decade since entering the New Era, our country has utilized technology to empower productive forces, completing the leap from extensive quantitative accumulation to intensive qualitative transformation. This has achieved a fundamental change in productive forces and the optimized adjustment of the economic structure, providing lasting momentum for the comprehensive building of a modern socialist country.
Second, institutional construction and governance capacity provide support and protection. That is, adhering to and consolidating the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and improving and promoting the national governance system and governance capacity has provided supportive guarantees. In a certain sense, the completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects is a major periodic achievement of the modernization of national governance. It reflects the evolution of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the process of change in national governance. It has created rich institutional results, forming a series of institutional types including fundamental, basic, and important systems, with the maintenance of Party leadership as the core and guide. This gives full play to the superiority of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, effectively promoting the transformation of institutional advantages into governance efficacy, and providing an indispensable guarantee for the steady and long-term progress of Chinese-path modernization after the completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
Finally, the people's support has cultivated a broad mass foundation. Completing a moderately prosperous society in all respects was a "key move" [6] for the CPC to follow the historical trend, fulfill its political promises, and practice its original aspiration and founding mission to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. The broad masses of the people have gained real material benefits and achieved abundant spiritual satisfaction; this is a matter of people's livelihoods and the direction of their hearts, which accords with the fundamental interests of the masses. The Party leads the people in winning the country and maintaining the country—what is being maintained is the hearts of the people. Without doubt, the CPC has won the "hearts of the people," which is the greatest politics. It has gained the support and advocacy of the broad masses, making the practical foundation for achieving the Second Centenary Goal broader, deeper, and more solid, gathering the majestic power to comprehensively build a modern socialist country and comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Creating a Chinese Model for Global Poverty Reduction Governance
Poverty has been a chronic malady of human society throughout the ages, and the struggle against poverty has always been a major affair of statecraft and national stability, both in China and abroad. The Party led the people in grasping the laws of poverty reduction, anchoring themselves to "comprehensive moderate prosperity," implementing targeted poverty alleviation, and sending out the "best and brightest" to the front lines. With firm conviction and tenacious will, they realized the thousand-year-old dream of the Chinese nation—"moderate prosperity"—through their own development. They won the largest battle against poverty in human history, making a major contribution to the global struggle against poverty. The Party’s leadership in completing a moderately prosperous society in all respects has provided extremely valuable experience for solving the historical and global problems shared by humanity, created a Chinese model for global poverty reduction governance, and made a Chinese contribution to the global cause of poverty reduction.
Our country's journey of poverty reduction has been magnificent. Starting from basic national conditions, the CPC has consistently set goals in stages, struggled through successive steps, and focused on breaking through key issues, leading the Chinese people to completely eliminate absolute poverty. These practices-born and practice-tested methods and institutional achievements provide Chinese experience for the global cause of poverty reduction. Embarking on a new journey, the Party Central Committee has identified the realization of common prosperity as a major theoretical and practical issue for the new stage of development. We can proudly say that China's completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects proves that every nation and country can independently choose a development path suited to its own national conditions to escape poverty and move toward modernization. It has realized a diversified transformation and innovation of poverty alleviation concepts, paths, and models on a global scale, reduced the map of the world's impoverished population, injected development confidence into countries and peoples around the world—especially developing countries—provided a practical model, and demonstrated the responsibility and power of a major country in building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Enriching the Latest Achievements in the Sinicization and Modernization of Marxism
The practice of completing a moderately prosperous society in all respects eloquently proves that why the CPC "works," and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is "good," is ultimately because Marxism "works," and because Marxism that has been Sinicized and modernized "works." Having the guidance of scientific Marxist theory was the fundamental basis for the completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Accompanied by the process of Sinicization and modernization, the completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects has become an essential component of contemporary Chinese Marxism and occupies an important position in the history of the Party’s major theoretical innovations.
Since the 18th Party Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has insisted on combining the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with China’s fine traditional culture, establishing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, whose main content consists of the "Ten Clarifications," the "Fourteen Perseverances," and the "Achievements in Thirteen Areas." This latest achievement in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism is contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st-century Marxism. The completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects was the specific goal of the "total task" during the first centenary stage. It plays a key role as a bridge in the process of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is a theoretical innovation and practical initiative with a distinct Marxist hue and rich Chinese national characteristics that conforms to the developmental reality of contemporary China, enriching the theoretical treasury of Sinicized and modernized Marxism with original contributions.
Since entering the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions while leading the Party and the people in the great practice of "recognizing changes, opening new horizons, responding to crises, and nurturing new opportunities." He emphasized that completing a moderately prosperous society in all respects is a "key step toward realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," which deepened the theory of the developmental stages of socialism with Chinese characteristics and mapped out a grand blueprint for achieving national prosperity and people's happiness. He emphasized a people-centered approach, winning the battle against poverty to prevail in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and then entering a new stage of "solidly promoting common prosperity." This refined the theory of the essence of socialism with Chinese characteristics and laid out strategic arrangements for satisfying the people's aspirations for a better life. He emphasized that on the basis of a moderately prosperous society, we must continue to march toward the Second Centenary Goal and embark on a new journey to build a modern socialist country in all respects. This expanded the theory of the developmental path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and provided the signposts for writing a more brilliant chapter of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. These far-sighted and wisdom-filled original thoughts and strategic measures vividly reflect the essential characteristics and practical orientation of Sinicized and modernized Marxism, making an outstanding contribution to the Party's efforts to uphold the fundamentals and break new ground in theory.
(Author: Huang Rongsheng)