Marxism Research Network
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Mei Rongzheng and Zhu Ying: An Interpretation of Xi Jinping's Discourses on Common Prosperity from the Perspective of Chinese Modernization

Academy News

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that common prosperity is a defining feature of Chinese-path modernization. Common prosperity and socialist modernization constitute an organically unified whole and share the same historical trajectory. The Chinese Communists have integrated the goal of achieving common prosperity throughout the great process of building socialist modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era. China has completed the historical task of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, laying a solid foundation for achieving common prosperity and embarking on a new journey toward common prosperity within the process of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. The Chinese-path modernization proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping has created a new avenue for humanity to achieve common prosperity and provided a brand-new choice for developing countries to realize the same goal.

Over the past century, the Communist Party of China has consistently upheld its original aspiration and founding mission to seek happiness for the people and rejuvenation for the nation, leading the people of all ethnic groups in unremitting struggle for national independence, people's liberation, national prosperity, and public happiness. Common prosperity is a shared ideal of human society, an essential requirement of socialism, and an important goal of socialist modernization. Throughout the various historical periods of revolution, construction, and reform, the Chinese Communists have focused on achieving common prosperity for all people, building on past achievements to open up new vistas and translating common prosperity into practical actions in socialist modernization. Since the 18th National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important discourses on common prosperity, proposing the integration of common prosperity with the process of socialist modernization. The report to the 19th National Congress synchronized "basically achieving socialist modernization" with "making solid strides toward common prosperity for all" as the first stage of the Second Centenary Goal. It further synchronized "transforming China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful" with the "basic realization of common prosperity for all" [1] as the second stage of the Second Centenary Goal. During the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed in the draft recommendations that "making more notable and substantive progress toward common prosperity for all" and "solidly promoting common prosperity" be the substantive content and long-range objectives throughout the "realization of a great modern socialist country" [2]. This was the first time a Party plenary document explicitly specified this direction and goal. At the start of the new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee that the "New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics" is the "era of comprehensively building a great modern socialist country" and the "era of gradually achieving common prosperity for all" [3]. These discourses clearly illustrate that the historical processes of achieving socialist modernization and common prosperity are consistent. This article attempts to clarify the relationship between General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thoughts on common prosperity and the path of Chinese-path modernization, with the hope of contributing to the realization of common prosperity and the building of a great modern socialist country.

I. The Modernization China Seeks to Achieve is the Modernization of Common Prosperity for All

General Secretary Xi Jinping has provided a clear explanation of common prosperity: "Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and an important feature of Chinese-path modernization. The common prosperity we speak of is common prosperity for all, encompassing both the material and spiritual lives of the people. It is not prosperity for a few, nor is it a pursuit of uniform egalitarianism. We must conduct in-depth research on the goals of different stages and promote common prosperity in phases" [4]. The path of Chinese-path modernization differs from traditional Western paths of modernization and possesses distinct characteristics. It is a path of civilized development characterized by developed production, affluent living, and sound ecosystems, opened by the CPC leading the people across various historical periods of revolution, construction, and reform by continuously liberating and developing the productive forces across economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological fields. It is a path toward common prosperity with Chinese characteristics, transitioning from an underdeveloped social stage to a developed one. From the perspective of the characteristics of the times, the principal contradiction in Chinese society has evolved into the contradiction between the people's ever-growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. Promoting common prosperity is precisely about solving the problem of "unbalanced and inadequate development"; the two are internally and highly unified. The modernization we aim to build is one characterized by the goal of realizing common prosperity. The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee emphasized, within the "Ten Clarifications" of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, that the "clarification of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, the overarching task of which is to realize socialist modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, on the basis of having built a moderately prosperous society in all respects... and to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization" [5]. The value pursuit of the Chinese-path modernization is to seek rejuvenation for the Chinese nation and happiness for the people. Common prosperity can realize the people's happiness; it follows the principle of putting the people's interests above all else, serves as an important means of seeking happiness, and injects new connotations into the path of Chinese-path modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that achieving common prosperity requires adhering to the people-centered development philosophy, maintaining that "development for the people, development relying on the people, and development fruits shared by the people" [6] serves as the starting point and endgame of the march toward common prosperity.

II. Continuously Promoting the Realization of Common Prosperity within the Dynamic Development of Chinese-path Modernization

The achievement of common prosperity exhibits phased characteristics within the process of building socialist modernization. The Chinese Communists are adept at standing at a strategic height to promote the realization of common prosperity continuously and step-by-step through a dynamic forward process.

(1) Top-level Design: The Strategic Evolution of the Path of Chinese-path Modernization

The Chinese Communists have proposed different strategic visions based on the tasks of socialist modernization in different historical periods. In his report to the 7th National Congress in 1945, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "The task of the Chinese working class is not only to struggle for the establishment of a New Democratic state, but also to struggle for China's industrialization and the modernization of agriculture" [7]. In 1954, he mentioned: "We are a large country with a population of 600 million; we must achieve socialist industrialization, and the socialization and mechanization of agriculture" [8]. In 1957, Comrade Mao Zedong again proposed: "To build our country into a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture" [9]. In 1959, while reading the Soviet Union’s Textbook of Political Economy, he said: "In building socialism, the original requirements were the modernization of industry, agriculture, and science and culture; now we must add the modernization of national defense" [10]. Thus, Comrade Mao Zedong for the first time completely proposed the content of the "Four Modernizations." In 1964, following Mao Zedong's suggestion, Comrade Zhou Enlai first proposed a two-step approach to achieving the Four Modernizations in the Government Work Report, stating: "To build China into a great socialist power with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense, and modern science and technology... consider it in two steps: the first step is to build an independent and relatively complete industrial and national economic system; the second step is to achieve the comprehensive modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, placing China's economy in the world's front ranks" [11].

After the start of reform and opening up, Comrade Deng Xiaoping clearly proposed following a Chinese-style path to modernization. In 1979, during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, he noted: "The Four Modernizations we want to achieve are Four Modernizations of a Chinese type. Our concept of the Four Modernizations is not like yours; it is the concept of a 'Xiaokang' [moderately prosperous] family" [12]. Later, at the 12th National Congress, Comrade Deng Xiaoping proposed "quadrupling the GDP" and "achieving Xiaokang" as strategic goals. The 13th National Congress mapped out a clear blueprint, determining the "Three-Step" strategic deployment: the first step was to solve the problem of food and clothing (subsistence); the second step was for the people to reach a moderately prosperous level by the end of the 20th century; and the third step was to basically achieve modernization by the mid-21st century. In 2002, the 16th National Congress proposed the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, "making the entire people advance steadily toward the direction of common prosperity" [13]. Due to the successful realization of the first and second steps of the "Three-Step" strategy, the people's lives had reached a moderately prosperous level overall.

In 2014, at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping added to the overall goal of comprehensively deepening reform: "Improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity" [14]. This is the "Fifth Modernization," following the previously proposed modernization of industry, agriculture, science and technology, and national defense. The meaning of this modernization is very clear—China's comprehensive deepening of reform in the 21st century is not merely about solving institutional models or value systems, but requires a comprehensively modernized governing party, placing higher demands on the Party and government.

As the problem of the people's food and clothing had been solved and the goal of an overall moderately prosperous society had been completed ahead of schedule, the Party Central Committee proposed the "Two Centenary Goals" in the report to the 18th National Congress, highlighting that the realization of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and a modern socialist country share the same historical process. In 2020, China achieved the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, completing the First Centenary Goal, and thus China embarked on a new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal. Based on new requirements from changes in domestic and international situations, the report to the 19th National Congress adjusted the Second Centenary Goal into two stages—the "two fifteen-year periods." The first fifteen years propose that socialist modernization be basically realized and solid strides be made toward common prosperity for all; the latter fifteen years propose building a great modern socialist country and the basic realization of common prosperity for all. This reflects a more explicit and resolute strategic vision from the Party Central Committee. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee focused on the coordination of the "14th Five-Year Plan" for National Economic and Social Development and the 2035 Long-Range Objectives, ensuring a good start for comprehensively building socialist modernization. On August 17, 2021, at the tenth meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee has placed the gradual realization of common prosperity for all in a more prominent position, creating favorable conditions for it. Now, we have reached the historical stage of solidly promoting common prosperity [15]. In November 2021, the Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee again clarified the promotion of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization, emphasizing that China's modernization is a modernization leading 1.4 billion people toward common prosperity.

In summary, the process of socialist modernization is a process in which common prosperity continuously makes substantive progress; conversely, the profound advancement of common prosperity is the process of the continuous development and refinement of socialist modernization. The two are mutually reinforcing and organically unified.

(2) Solid Foundation: Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects Laid a Firm Material Foundation for Common Prosperity

Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is a key step on the path of socialist modernization and lays a solid foundation for common prosperity. It is also an important goal of socialist modernization that the Chinese Communists have diligently pursued. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and particularly since reform and opening up, our Party has united and led the people in unremitting efforts toward the goal of common prosperity, with the people's living standards continuously rising. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee has treated poverty alleviation as a top priority, lifting all rural poor people under the current standard out of poverty. This is a major measure to promote common prosperity for all. The achievement of a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2021 meant that the problem of absolute poverty, which had long plagued the Chinese people, was resolved. This was an important and crucial step in achieving socialist modernization. China has achieved the fastest and largest-scale poverty reduction in human history, laying a firm material foundation for a higher level of common prosperity in the new stage of development.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to study the goals of different stages in depth and promote common prosperity in phases. He linked poverty alleviation, moderate prosperity (Xiaokang), and common prosperity together. Only by solidly performing the work of poverty alleviation and development can comprehensive poverty alleviation be achieved, absolute poverty be eliminated, and a moderately prosperous society be realized. Only on the basis of comprehensively realizing a moderately prosperous society can common prosperity finally be achieved.

In 2012, following the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the baton of history was passed into the hands of General Secretary Xi Jinping, and poverty reduction entered its "most difficult stage." General Secretary Xi Jinping deployed plans personally from the front lines. From his original aspiration to "let the villagers have a full meal of meat" during his time as a sent-down youth [14] in Liangjiahe, to his willingness to take risks in Zhengding, Hebei, to strip away the label of a "high-yield but impoverished county," to his exploration of the "weak birds flying first" [15] path to poverty alleviation in Ningde, Fujian, and finally to the Central Government's implementation of the "targeted poverty alleviation" strategy—throughout this journey, General Secretary Xi Jinping has "devoted the most energy" to the cause of poverty alleviation. Over the years, during his numerous domestic inspection tours, the battle against poverty has been a vital theme. He has visited more than 40 impoverished villages, most of which were concentrated in 14 contiguous areas of extreme poverty, representing the "hardest bones to crack" [16] in the antipoverty campaign.

A little over a month after being elected General Secretary, while visiting distressed masses in the old revolutionary base areas [17] of Luotuowan Village, Fuping County, Hebei Province, Xi Jinping proposed that we must "adjust measures to local conditions, clarify thinking, perfect planning, and identify the right breakthrough points." This marked the ideological budding stage of the targeted poverty alleviation strategy. A year later, in November 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed the concept of "targeted poverty alleviation" in the impoverished village of Shibadong in western Hunan. From this point on, China's poverty alleviation and development cause shifted from development-oriented poverty reform to the stage of targeted poverty alleviation.

He convened a series of special meetings to research and deploy plans around winning the battle against poverty, with each meeting focusing on a specific theme. In February 2015, at the Symposium on Poverty Alleviation and Prosperity in Old Revolutionary Base Areas held in Yan'an, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that a moderately prosperous society in all respects [18] would be incomplete without the inclusion of these base areas. In June 2015, at a symposium in Guiyang on poverty alleviation and the economic and social development of the 13th Five-Year Plan period for certain provinces and municipalities, he proposed the "Six Targeteds" implementation strategy. In July 2016, at the Symposium on Poverty Alleviation Collaboration between the East and West held in Yinchuan, he proposed that such collaboration and paired assistance are major measures to realize the goal of the "already prosperous helping those yet to become prosperous" and ultimately achieving common prosperity. In June 2017, he convened a symposium in Taiyuan on the battle against poverty in areas of extreme indigence to study strategies for breaking the cycle of poverty there, aiming the "poverty alleviation target" at the main difficulties to ensure the timely completion of tasks. In February 2018, at a symposium in Chengdu on fighting the tough battle of targeted poverty alleviation, he proposed that high-quality poverty eradication must be placed first to solidly advance the work. In April 2019, at a symposium in Chongqing on solving prominent problems regarding the "Two No Worries and Three Guarantees" [19], he pointed out that this period was the decisive stage of the battle against poverty, and that solving this issue was the basic requirement and core indicator for the poor to escape poverty, directly relating to the quality of the campaign. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 added significant difficulty to the work; in March of that year, General Secretary Xi Jinping made the final deployments at the Symposium on Securing a Decisive Victory in the Battle Against Poverty to ensure the high-quality completion of the campaign's goals and tasks.

In summary, it is evident that General Secretary Xi Jinping possesses a complete set of plans and deployments for the battle against poverty. The end of 2012 raised the curtain on the anti-poverty struggle in the New Era; 2013 saw the proposal of the targeted poverty alleviation strategy and the innovation of work mechanisms; 2015 saw the proposal of the overall requirements for poverty eradication goals; 2017 saw the comprehensive deployment of targeted poverty eradication; and 2020 saw the successful completion of the "extra credit question" posed by COVID-19 as the march toward final victory concluded. Since becoming General Secretary, Comrade Xi Jinping has placed the battle against poverty in a prominent position in the governance of the country, treating it as the "bottom-line task" for the comprehensive buildup of a moderately prosperous society. In 2020, China achieved a complete victory in the battle against poverty, creating a miracle in human history, forging a path of poverty reduction with Chinese characteristics, and taking a solid step forward on the road to common prosperity. The above review and summary hold important guiding significance for embarking on the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

(III) Future Orientation: Continuously Promoting the Realization of Common Prosperity in the New Journey of Comprehensively Building a Modern Socialist Country

The beautiful social form of common prosperity is the future vision of Chinese-path modernization. At present, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development in our country remains prominent; the gap between urban and rural regional development and income distribution is relatively large. Promoting common prosperity for all people is both a long-term task and a realistic one. With the completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects—the realization of the First Centenary Goal—a staged goal on the road of socialist modernization has been achieved. When planning future development goals at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, the Party emphasized "solidly promoting common prosperity." Now, our country has entered the second stage, forging ahead toward the new goals of the New Era; this is a new historical starting point and a new stage of development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that the realization of common prosperity for all people must be placed in a more prominent and important position, keeping our feet on the ground and persisting over the long term, working more proactively and effectively toward this goal.

First, we must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy. "The way to govern a country begins with enriching the people" [20] is a proposition that General Secretary Xi Jinping has consistently emphasized. "People first" is the fundamental purpose of the Party's insistence on serving the people wholeheartedly; it is also "the fundamental political position of the Communist Party of China and a distinctive mark that distinguishes a Marxist party from other political parties." The "people-centered development philosophy" was first proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and was adjusted to become one of the basic strategies of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the report to the 19th National Congress. At the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping again emphasized that on the basis of "developing whole-process democracy," common prosperity has made "more obvious" and "substantial progress," and he incorporated "unswervingly following the path of common prosperity for all people" into the historical experience of "putting the people first." Undoubtedly, the starting point and the ultimate goal of all work of the Party and the state is the people. The people are the country, and the country is the people [21]. The people are both the creative subjects of socio-historical activities and the beneficiary subjects of the fruits of social development. As creative subjects, the people are a driving force in the socio-historical process and a practical force in understanding and transforming social activities. In exploring the path to common prosperity, it is not the prosperity of a few, but the prosperity of all the people; we must give full play to the initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity of the masses. During his time working in Ningde, General Secretary Xi Jinping already stated that "the practical process of escaping poverty and getting rich is not only a process of our transforming the objective world and building a material civilization [22], but also a process of our transforming the subjective world and building a spiritual civilization." Common prosperity must be created by the hard work and wisdom of the masses; it is not some grand academic theory for the study, nor is it a "flower in a mirror" or "the moon in the water" [23]. We must "form a development environment in which everyone participates, avoiding 'involution' [24] and 'lying flat' [25]." We must pay attention to stimulating the endogenous drive of individuals and mobilizing the strength of all members of society to participate in achieving common prosperity. Furthermore, as the beneficiary subjects of social development, the people enjoy the right to equal participation and development; we should promote social fairness and justice so that the fruits of development benefit all the people more broadly and fairly.

Second, we must consolidate and expand the achievements of the battle against poverty and construct a sound mechanism for linking it with rural revitalization. Stripping away the "poverty label" is not the end, but the starting point of a new life and struggle. The battle against poverty is the "bottom-line task" for realizing common prosperity, while rural revitalization is an inevitable requirement for achieving it. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "effectively linking the consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements with rural revitalization... relates to the overall situation of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and the realization of the Second Centenary Goal." We must "adhere to the direction of common prosperity and place the consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements in a prominent position," while emphasizing two goals: by 2025, the achievements of poverty alleviation will be consolidated and expanded, and rural revitalization will be comprehensively advanced; by 2035, the economic strength of areas out of poverty will be significantly enhanced, major progress will be made in rural revitalization, the urban-rural gap will be further narrowed, and more obvious substantive progress will be made in promoting common prosperity for all people. It should be recognized that the most arduous and heavy tasks for comprehensively building a modern socialist country remain in the countryside, and the broadest and deepest foundation still lies in the countryside. "In the new development stage, 'San Nong' [26] work remains extremely important and cannot be relaxed for a moment." Rural modernization is an important step in implementing the rural revitalization strategy and an effective prescription for narrowing the urban-rural gap and solving "urban diseases." Compared to the past emphasis on "agricultural modernization," the report of the 19th National Congress proposed "accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas," taking "rural modernization" as the general goal of "San Nong" work—this shows the magnitude of its significance and marks the entry of "San Nong" work into a new period of development. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Central Committee has proposed building a "new socialist countryside" to escape the state of rural poverty and backwardness. With the advancement of the urbanization process, how to build a new socialist countryside with thriving industries, ecological habitability, civilized rural customs, effective governance, and a prosperous life has become the core content of rural governance. The Party Central Committee insists on the integrated design and simultaneous promotion of agricultural and rural modernization, because the modernization of agriculture and the countryside is inseparable from the modernization of the entire country. In the process of modernization, whether the relationships between industry and agriculture, and between urban and rural areas, can be handled well determines the success or failure of modernization to a certain extent. "In a country with nearly 1.4 billion people, no matter how far industrialization and urbanization progress, agriculture must develop, and the countryside will not disappear. Urban and rural areas will coexist for a long time; this is an objective law. Even if China's urbanization rate reaches 70%, there will still be more than 400 million people in rural areas. If these 400 million people are left behind in the process of modernization, resulting in 'prosperous cities on one side and desolate countryside on the other,' this would not conform to our Party's governing purpose, nor to the essential requirements of socialism. Such modernization cannot succeed!" Therefore, realizing the integrated development of urban and rural areas is a vital measure for achieving modernization.

Third, correctly handling the relationship between equity and efficiency within high-quality development. Common prosperity can be viewed simply as the unity of "efficiency" (economic development) and "equity" (social fairness), which entails two layers of meaning. First, common prosperity must be built upon the foundation of highly developed productive forces; that is, the "cake" must be continuously enlarged. Otherwise, even if exploitation and polarization are eliminated, the result would only be universal poverty. Promoting common prosperity means focusing on high-quality development and shifting from a focus on "whether it exists" to "how good it is." Our country has entered the stage of high-quality development, which in essence embodies the New Development Philosophy [27] characterized by shared construction and benefits. It emphasizes reflecting on how to make the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security more substantial, better guaranteed, and more sustainable, using this as the breakthrough point and focus of development. Second, provided there is sufficient wealth, how to divide the "cake" well becomes the key point and the difficulty. The basic economic system established in our country takes public ownership as the mainstay, which determines a distribution system in which distribution according to work is the mainstay and multiple modes of distribution coexist. Distribution according to work is the socialist mode of distribution. In capitalist society, the private ownership of the means of production determines that the wealth created by laborers is appropriated by capitalists without compensation. The socialist mode of distribution is "equal pay for equal work," which is an equitable mode of distribution. "Equivalence consists in the fact that measurement is made with an equal standard, labor." [51] Socialism can eliminate inequality in the possession, distribution, and enjoyment of material wealth. Implementing an equitable mode of distribution can mobilize the initiative and creativity of all members of society in production and management. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly mentioned that equity is linked to common prosperity and the people's sense of gain. In 2013, he mentioned: "We must listen to the voices of the people and respond to their expectations at all times, ensure the people's rights to equal participation and equal development, and maintain social equity and justice." [52] In 2018, he pointed out: "We must strive to solve the needs, anxieties, and aspirations of the masses, so that the people can share the fruits of development in economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological fields." [53] In 2021, he mentioned that the realization of common prosperity requires adhering to "developing whole-process people's democracy." [54] It is evident that the Party Central Committee is attaching increasing importance to the issue of equity. Equitable distribution is an important foundation for common prosperity. For a long time, the income gap between urban and rural areas, regions, and industries in China has remained large, the distribution structure has been uncoordinated, and the proportion of the middle-income group has been relatively low, which affects the process of common prosperity. Constructing a reasonable and just income distribution pattern and a modernized income distribution system is the inherent meaning of gradually narrowing the gap and promoting high-level balanced development. Taking primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution as the grasp [28], the aim is to solve the widest and most influential income gaps. The core of primary distribution is to achieve market-oriented reforms of factors such as capital, land, and labor, increase the share of labor remuneration, and promote common prosperity in the possession of labor income. Redistribution should prioritize equity; its core is to narrow the income gap through auxiliary means such as state fiscal transfer payments and the implementation of property taxes like cumulative personal income tax, real estate tax, and inheritance tax, so as to prevent the polarization of wealth. The core of tertiary distribution is to solve the problem of relative poverty through social public welfare and charitable undertakings. Although views on the feasibility of tertiary distribution vary, it can be explored as an important supplement to promote the spiritual prosperity of all people.

III. Chinese-path modernization characterized by common prosperity creates a new path for humanity to achieve common prosperity and provides a brand-new choice for developing countries to achieve common prosperity.

In the speech at the ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the new path of Chinese-path modernization. Characterized by common prosperity, it has created a new path for human society to achieve common prosperity and provides a brand-new choice for those countries that wish to accelerate development while solving the problem of the gap between the rich and the poor.

First, Chinese-path modernization has created a new path for humanity to achieve common prosperity. Common prosperity is a distinctive mark distinguishing socialist society from capitalist society. Primitive society was the first social formation in the early stages of human society. Under the primitive communist system, the level of productive forces was very low, resulting in universal poverty. The communist household economy organized by blood-related families and clan communes was free of exploitation and enslavement, and the distribution of products was carried out among all members. However, this social system was built upon extremely backward production and a community formed by subordination to nature. In the late stage of primitive society, with the three great social divisions of labor and the emergence of private ownership of the means of production, the phenomena of class opposition and the division between rich and poor arose. Humanity entered the era of civilization, namely class society; the split between the exploiting class and the exploited class existed throughout the entire period of class society. "Since the civilization era is based on the exploitation of one class by another, its entire development proceeds in constant contradictions. Every advance in production is at the same time a retreat in the living conditions of the oppressed class, that is, the majority. What is a boon for some is necessarily a bane for others; every new liberation of one class is necessarily a new oppression for another class." [55] In capitalist society, one can see that capitalists adopt either overt or covert methods of exploitation to maximize the unpaid appropriation of the surplus value created by laborers. On the one hand, a tiny minority obtains a vast amount of wealth; on the other hand, the propertyless proletarians are exploited. This undoubtedly intensifies the opposition between the rich and the poor and exacerbates the contradictions between them. What was depicted by the founders of Marxism was a bloody picture of capital devouring people; under the exploitation and oppression of capital, laborers had no happiness to speak of. "The Communists can summarize their theory in one sentence: the abolition of private property." [56]

To this day, whether in developed capitalist countries or the vast number of developing countries, the social polarization between the rich and the poor remains serious. Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008, unemployment has been severe and social inequality has been increasing year by year. The 2019 "Global Multidimensional Poverty Index" report released by the United Nations Development Programme showed that 1.3 billion people worldwide were still in a state of multidimensional poverty, with a huge gap between the rich and the poor among countries and regions. In September 2015, the 193 member states of the United Nations reached a consensus and jointly signed the "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," aiming to promote the realization of three unprecedented and extraordinary feats, one of which is to eliminate extreme poverty, stating: "We are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions... by 2030." [57] It can be seen that eliminating poverty and pursuing a prosperous life are the common aspirations of people all over the world. Why is there such a strong determination?

Take the United States as an example. Beneath the veil of overall national wealth and power lies the cold reality of severe polarization between the rich and the poor. "The United States has degenerated into the Western country with the most serious polarization between the rich and the poor. About 40 million Americans live in poverty, 18.5 million Americans live in extreme poverty, and more than 5 million people live in conditions equivalent to those of the absolutely poor population in the Third World." [58] Income distribution in the United States is polarized. In May 2019, the Gini coefficient in the U.S. reached 0.482, far exceeding the international "warning line" of 0.4. "The wealth of the 50 richest people in the United States is equivalent to that of the 165 million poorest people." [59] This figure is quite shocking; the annual income of a person in the high-income bracket is equivalent to the total lifetime income of an ordinary person. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further exacerbated the polarization. On January 19, 2021, the day before Biden took office, the death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 400,000, increasing by a full 100,000 in just one month. The United States unfortunately became a severely affected area of the pandemic. This was caused by the government's ineffective anti-pandemic policies. At this important historical juncture, the U.S. ruling power failed to show responsibility and the U.S. society failed to show solidarity. American democratic politics has moved toward extremism, social inequality has further intensified, human rights disasters have been serious, and the people at the bottom have fallen into an even more difficult predicament. During the pandemic, there were significant differences in infection and mortality rates among different ethnic groups; the mortality rates for African Americans and Latinos were higher than for white people. Most of them are engaged in low-end jobs with poor living environments, making them more susceptible to the virus, and their chances of hospitalization are lower than those of white people, thus leading to higher mortality rates. The middle class is gradually shrinking. Blue-collar workers in the U.S. with stable incomes, housing, and life prospects originally belonged to the middle class, but due to deteriorating conditions, many have fallen out of the ranks of middle-class families. The 2019 German documentary "How the Poor Live in the USA" (Poverty in the USA) truly reproduces the daily life of the American working class and poor population [60]. At the end of the 20th century, about one-tenth of the U.S. population had to rely on government relief for part of their food; many of them were previously middle class and later fell into relying on relief. Poverty pressure has led to a decline in the health status of the masses. Some people have lost their medical insurance due to poverty and are unable to pay medical expenses, leading to deteriorating health as they cannot treat their illnesses. The Atlantic Monthly website reported in April 2020 that low-income people in the U.S. would delay seeking medical treatment after falling ill due to lack of money. [61]

The poverty phenomena shown above did not occur in poor and backward countries, but in the United States, which ranks among the top in terms of GDP and economic strength. What is more terrifying is that this is not just a problem for the United States. International conflicts such as the "Maidan Revolution" in Ukraine, the "Yellow Vests" in Paris, the "Blackshirts" [29] in Thailand, and the refugee crisis on the Belarus border continue. The crux of this series of contradictions and conflicts lies in the fact that the capitalist system itself cannot avoid the occurrence of these phenomena, nor can it block the intergenerational transmission of poverty. In contrast, China has not only achieved victory in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but has also completed the phased tasks of poverty alleviation and is moving toward a new journey of achieving common prosperity for all people. This fully demonstrates the superiority of the socialist system and interprets to the world the possibility of a new type of modernization path with Chinese characteristics. "For a large country with more than 1.3 billion people to achieve modernization, there is no precedent to follow in human history. China's development is destined to follow a path of its own." [62]

Second, Chinese-path modernization provides a new choice for developing countries to achieve common prosperity. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has paid close attention to the global cause of poverty reduction from a global perspective, keeping the people of the world living in poverty in his heart. He pointed out: "The Communist Party of China came from the people and has grown strong by relying on the people. It has always had deep feelings for the people—not only for the Chinese people but also for the people of all countries in the world. It is willing not only to benefit the Chinese people but also to benefit the people of all countries in the world." [63] In today's world, the North-South development gap and the problem of the wide disparity between rich and poor remain serious. In some regions such as South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, economic development is slow, society is turbulent, and people live a life of hunger and cold. General Secretary Xi Jinping believes that the problem of poverty is not just a problem for one country or one region, but a problem where "you are in me and I am in you," where we breathe the same air and share the same fate. For this reason, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that eliminating poverty is the common mission of all mankind and that we should "give full play to the role of international poverty reduction exchange platforms such as the International Poverty Reduction Center in China, proposal Chinese solutions, contribute Chinese wisdom, and more effectively promote the exchange and sharing of poverty reduction experiences among the vast number of developing countries." [64] In 2020, the "Research Report on China's Poverty Alleviation" series of national think tank reports was published in 24 volumes in both Chinese and English. Relying on 11 classic local poverty alleviation cases, the reports systematically summarize China's practices, experiences, and practical models of poverty alleviation and development, providing excellent examples for poverty reduction in developing countries and providing rich references for the global cause of poverty reduction.

In general, to achieve the goal of common prosperity, we must adhere to the path of modernization with Chinese characteristics. Common prosperity is a systematic project. It not only requires the Party and the government to plan a clear blueprint for development, strengthen top-level design, and implement target plans in steps and stages under centralized and unified leadership; it also requires all the people to work together with one heart and soul and struggle hard to lay the bricks and mortar for the realization of common prosperity and build a solid foundation. We must do a good job in the historical relay between the two centuries [30] and successfully start the new journey of the next stage. In the new stage, with new goals and new tasks, how to better coordinate the realization of common prosperity and a great modern socialist country has become an urgent, popular, key, and difficult issue. At the same time, we must also see the long-term, complex, and arduous nature of the realization of these two great historical tasks. Therefore, it is necessary to persist in doing our best while acting within our capabilities, and work toward the common goal with our feet on the ground.

In terms of achieving common prosperity on a global scale, Xi Jinping’s discourse focuses on a dual dimension of external "advocacy" and internal "practice." Standing at the height of the shared interests of all mankind, Xi Jinping has proposed the initiative to build a community with a shared future for humanity, emphasizing that "all countries and nations should enjoy the fruits of development equally" [31]. In terms of practical promotion, the primary focus is on the coordinated development of the "Belt and Road" Initiative [32]. According to World Bank research reports, the "Belt and Road" Initiative has the potential to lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty [33]. This demonstrates that Chinese-path modernization is not a closed road leading only to China’s own modernization, but an open path that helps the world achieve common development.

Xi Jinping’s discourse on common prosperity in the New Era clarifies the nature, status, and path of common prosperity within the framework of Chinese-path modernization. It provides a scientific guide for addressing the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development in the New Era and offers "Chinese wisdom" and "Chinese solutions" for solving the global problem of the gap between the rich and the poor. In the process of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, we must persist in the leadership of the Party, rely on high-quality development to "make the cake bigger," and rely on scientific institutional arrangements to "divide the cake well." We must persist over the long term, and steadily move toward the goal of common prosperity for all people.

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(Affiliation: School of Marxism, Wuhan University) Web Editor: Lian Yu Source: Journal of Guangxi University (Philosophy and Social Science Edition), No. 1, 2022.