Zhong Huibing: Opening Up a New Realm of the Marxist View of the People
"People-centeredness" (renminxing) is the essential attribute of Marxism. The people’s standpoint is the fundamental political position of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the prominent mark that distinguishes a Marxist party from other political parties. Adhering to the people-centered approach is the consistent governing philosophy of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. On November 15, 2012, in his first public speech after being elected General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized: "The people’s aspiration for a better life is the goal we strive for," clearly declaring his firm determination to lead the CPC in governing for the people. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, our Party has "always placed the people in the highest position in our hearts." The commitment to the people-centered standpoint and sentiment has become increasingly distinct and profound, while policy measures have become more scientific and thorough. This has pushed the theory, system, and practice of adhering to the people-centered approach to new heights, opening up a new realm of the Marxist view of the people and radiating a more brilliant light.
Adhering to the People-Centered Approach Embodies the Value Orientation of Putting the People Above All Else
The CPC is a Marxist party that has always adhered to and developed the Marxist view of the people. The Marxist historical materialism [1] posits that the people, and only the people, are the creators of history. It established for the first time a system of thought for the people to achieve their own liberation and pointed out the righteous path of relying on the people to push history forward. Since the day of its founding, the CPC has always upheld the Marxist view of the people. Mao Zedong profoundly pointed out: "To proceed from the interests of the 450 million Chinese people... this is our starting point, or our standpoint. Is there any other starting point or standpoint? No." At the conference marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, General Secretary Xi Jinping provided an even clearer exposition: "We must always regard the people’s standpoint as our fundamental standpoint, the pursuit of happiness for the people as our fundamental mission, adhere to the fundamental purpose of serving the people heart and soul, implement the mass line, respect the principal status and pioneering spirit of the people, always maintain flesh-and-blood ties with the masses, gather the majestic power of a united will, and unite and lead the people in creating great historical achievements." Adhering to the people-centered thought is an inheritance and development of the Marxist view of the people; it embodies the unity of the historical outlook and value outlook of historical materialism, and the unity of Party spirit and people-centeredness.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has firmly adhered to the people-centered approach, taking "putting the people above all else" as its fundamental value pursuit, characterized by theoretical and practical innovation and thoroughness. It emphasizes integrating the Marxist view of the people with China’s specific realities and with fine traditional Chinese culture, endowing it with distinct Chinese characteristics and the features of the times, making it a theory loved, recognized, and possessed by the people. The report to the 18th CPC National Congress proposed "adhering to the people’s principal status"; the report to the 19th CPC National Congress pointed out: "We must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, continuously promote well-rounded human development and common prosperity for all," and "All the Party's work must take the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the highest standard." It simultaneously emphasized five "whatevers," [2] five "will never agrees," and ensuring "no one is left behind," scientifically revealing the scientific connotation and precise practice of the fundamental interests of the "overwhelming majority" and "every single" person. This achieved a high degree of unity between the collective and the individual, opening up a brand-new path for the most authentic and thorough realization of the "fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people." Shortly thereafter, General Secretary Xi Jinping again emphasized, "Always place the people in the highest position in our hearts." In his speech at the ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The country is its people; the people are the country. As the CPC has fought to establish and maintain its leadership over the country, it has in fact been fighting to earn and keep the people’s support." [3] The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee emphasized "solidly promoting common prosperity." The report to the 20th CPC National Congress listed "putting the people above all else" as part of the worldview and methodology—as well as the basic stands, viewpoints, and methods—of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and as a major principle that must be adhered to in practice. This series of "people-superiority theories" containing thorough and superlative expressions crystallizes the "theoretical baseline, value fulcrum, and practical origin, as well as the starting and ending point of governance" for the people-centered thought. It demonstrates the majestic and vivid picture of our Party’s inheritance and yet advancement with the times regarding the Marxist view of the people in the New Era. It is a major theoretical innovation with unique and distinct theoretical qualities.
The Fundamental Governing Philosophy of Being People-Centered
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "I often say that our goals are very grand but also very simple; in the final analysis, it is about letting all Chinese people live a good life. Being people-centered is our fundamental governing philosophy." Since the 18th CPC National Congress, when the Central Committee carries out various top-level designs and advances major tasks, General Secretary Xi Jinping always emphasizes adherence to the people-centered approach. For example, in deepening reform, he emphasized "addressing whatever the people care about and expect; reform must seize upon and advance these issues to provide the masses with a greater sense of gain through reform." In the fight against poverty, he emphasized that "we must never let the people in old revolutionary base areas [4] fall behind in the process of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects; we must set a 'Foolish Old Man's' determination [5], fight the tough battle well, and let the people of old revolutionary base areas share the fruits of a moderately prosperous society along with the rest of the nation." In urban development, he emphasized "adhering to the principle that the people’s city is built for the people," and "letting cities integrate into nature, so that residents can see the mountains, see the water, and remember their 'homesick' nostalgia." [6] In literature and art work, he emphasized "adhering to a people-centered creative orientation to strive for more excellent works worthy of the times." In national security, he emphasized that "people's security is the cornerstone of national security." The "14th Five-Year Plan" and the 2035 Long-Range Objectives take "meeting the people’s growing needs for a better life as the fundamental purpose," pursuing a "better life for the people."
Adhering to the people-centered approach is not merely a political slogan, but is integrated into all activities and related systems of governance in the New Era. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has persisted in combining the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities. Based on the principle that "the people are the creators of history and the true heroes," it has implemented the people-centered thought across all links, fields, and aspects of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics through scientific and feasible institutional arrangements. On the questions of to whom all power "belongs" and to whom all merit "is attributed," General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that in the People's Republic of China, "all power belongs to the people" and "all achievements are credited to the people." In practice, we adhere to the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, maintaining the organic unity of Party leadership, the people being masters of the country, and law-based governance. By upholding and improving the system of People’s Congresses and the institutional system for the people being masters of the country, we ensure that the people’s status as masters is implemented in the nation’s political and social life. On the questions of "for whom" and "relying on whom," General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "the original aspiration and founding mission of Chinese Communists is to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation." In practice, we have established a system for staying true to our original aspiration and founding mission, improved various systems for governing for and by the people, implemented the Party’s mass line, perfected the system for Party members and cadres to contact the masses, innovated mechanisms for mass work in the internet age, and improved the system for mass organizations, thereby innovating the realization mechanism of the mass line in the New Era. On the questions of "who enjoys" the fruits of construction and "who evaluates" the effectiveness, he particularly emphasized "making the fruits of development benefit all people more fairly and extensively" and that "The times are the paper-setter, we are the examinees, and the people are the markers." [7] In practice, we improve the system for guaranteeing the people’s cultural rights and interests, perfect the national basic public service system, adhere to and improve the social governance system based on collaboration, participation, and common interests, improve the legal guarantee system for social fairness and justice, and establish various interest coordination and sharing mechanisms to meet the people’s growing needs for a better life.
The Most Realistic New Practical Path of the Marxist View of the People
The practical viewpoint is the primary and basic viewpoint of Marxist philosophy, and a commitment to practical work is a distinct quality of Communists. To know is difficult, but to act is even harder. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "socialism is achieved through hard work," and "The people-centered development philosophy is not an abstract or abstruse concept; it cannot just stay on the lips or stop at the level of thought, but must be reflected in every link of economic and social development." To adhere to the people-centered approach and to realize, maintain, and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, we must carry forward the spirit of practical work, respect objective laws, and seize upon the most immediate interests that concern the people most directly. We must advance in an orderly manner, doing our best while acting within our means, handling one task after another, working year after year, seeking actual results rather than false credit, so that the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security becomes more substantial, better guaranteed, and more sustainable.
In every era, the interest issues the people care about are often multifaceted; in different periods and among different groups, the issues they care about most are often different. To successfully safeguard the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, we must adhere to Marxist materialist dialectics, pay attention to strategies and methods, and grasp the principal contradiction [8] while maintaining a view of the whole. The report to the 18th CPC National Congress pointed out the need to ensure the fruits of development are shared by the people and proposed "two synchronizations" and "two increases," namely: "striving to synchronize the growth of residents’ income with economic development and synchronize the increase of labor compensation with the improvement of labor productivity; increasing the proportion of residents’ income in national income distribution and increasing the proportion of labor compensation in primary distribution." The report to the 19th CPC National Congress pointed out that entering the New Era, a major shift occurred in the principal contradiction of society: "The people’s needs for a better life are becoming increasingly broad. Not only have their requirements for material and cultural life increased, but their demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, and the environment are also growing." To this end, General Secretary Xi Jinping required that all Party comrades must seize the most immediate interests that concern the people most directly, starting from the things the masses care about, to continuously achieve new progress and promote social fairness, justice, well-rounded human development, and common prosperity for all.
In 2020, two large-scale "practical combat" operations—the battle to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic and the battle against poverty—tested the mettle of our Party’s adherence to the people-centered approach. Facing the sudden and menacing COVID-19 outbreak, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized "putting the people and their lives above all else." At the critical moment when the decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects overlapped with the epidemic, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that lifting the rural poor out of poverty as scheduled, removing all poverty-stricken counties from the list, and resolving regional overall poverty were the "bottom-line tasks" for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and must be completed on time. It was precisely because of scientific and precise judgment, the advantages of the social system, and well-paced measures that great achievements were made in coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development: we protected the lives and health of the overwhelming majority of the people, achieved a decisive victory in epidemic prevention and control, and China was the first in the world to complete the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. After being tempered by these two overlapping and soul-stirring "practical combats," the new theoretical results of adhering to the people-centered approach in the New Era have been sublimated, the new institutional map has been manifested, and the new practical path has been tested.