Sun Yingshuai and Zhao Shiyu: An Analysis of the Practical Positioning in the New Stage of Development
Correctly grasping the current stage of social development is an essential foundation for a Marxist party to formulate its line, principles, and policies. Throughout the great processes of revolution, construction, reform and opening up, and the New Era, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has creatively explored the laws of Chinese social development based on the Marxist theory of social development stages and in light of China’s specific realities. In different historical periods, the Party has conducted active explorations and made scientific judgments regarding China’s socio-historical position, developmental stage, principal contradiction, and historical tasks. Particularly since the start of reform and opening up, the CPC has made major judgments concerning historical positions and developmental stages, such as the primary stage of socialism, the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the New Development Stage. These are of great significance for the CPC to consciously follow the laws of social development and conform to social developmental trends in order to promote stage-based leaps and advance Chinese society forward in a law-bound manner.
After finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving the First Centenary Goal [1], China officially entered the New Development Stage. This is a major strategic judgment made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, standing at a new historical starting point. it provides scientific guidance for China’s current historical mission, developmental direction, and practical tasks.
I. The New Development Stage is a "Stage Within the Primary Stage of Socialism"
In January 2021, at a provincial and ministerial-level leading officials' seminar on studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: "The New Development Stage we are in today is a stage within the primary stage of socialism." [2] This explicitly defines the position of the New Development Stage within the history of socialist development.
(1) The New Development Stage is a sub-stage of the primary stage of socialism
First, one must clarify the basic understanding that while society develops in stages, China’s basic national condition of being in the primary stage of socialism will remain unchanged for a long time; this is the basic logic for grasping the origins of the New Development Stage. Second, it must be understood that the New Development Stage is one stage within the primary stage of socialism, but also a stage that stands at a new starting point after decades of accumulation. It is not yet a developmental stage that has entered communism, nor—even less so—is it a developmental stage still within capitalism. Correctly grasping the social nature of the New Development Stage is fundamental to ensuring that the direction of development in this stage does not veer off course, does not become radical, and moves forward steadily. Finally, it must be clarified that the "primary stage of socialism" does not refer generally to a stage every socialist country must experience, but is a specific stage that China must undergo based on its unique national conditions.
As a stage or sub-stage embedded within the primary stage of socialism, the New Development Stage possesses an internal unity with the primary stage in terms of its characteristics, objectives, and tasks. Currently, academic circles are discussing the "newness" and "change" of the New Development Stage quite fervently, while providing less exploration of its "constancy." The authors believe that as a sub-stage of the primary stage of socialism, the New Development Stage embodies a unified core with the primary stage in the following aspects, reflecting the continuous characteristics of social development.
First, from the perspective of the time horizon, the primary stage of socialism requires a relatively long period, and the New Development Stage is contained within it. Based on Deng Xiaoping’s thought on the primary stage of socialism, the 13th CPC National Congress clearly pointed out that this stage "will take at least a hundred years." The 19th National Congress made the major judgment of the "Two Unchangeds" regarding the New Era [3]. The 20th National Congress emphasized once again that "our country is a large developing nation and is still in the primary stage of socialism." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "After finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving the First Centenary Goal, we must build on this momentum to embark on a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and march toward the Second Centenary Goal. This marks China's entry into a New Development Stage." This assertion clarifies that the time horizon for the New Development Stage is from 2021 to the middle of the 21st century, which is contained within the developmental period of the primary stage of socialism.
Second, from the perspective of the movement of social contradictions, the transformation of the principal contradiction in Chinese society has not fundamentally broken through the basic contradiction of the primary stage of socialism. Its essence is the concrete extension of the movement of the contradictions between the productive forces and the relations of production into the prominent problems of different social realities within the same social formation. Marxism maintains that the principal contradiction of a society reflects the nature of its basic contradictions. Within the same social formation, although different developmental stages evolve due to different principal contradictions, the nature of the basic social contradictions never changes. Specifically, in the New Development Stage, the basic national condition that China "is still in and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism remains unchanged," and the fundamental task of China constantly improving the relations of production to promote the liberation and development of productive forces has not changed. Since "the level of social productive forces in China has significantly improved overall, and social production capacity has entered the world's front ranks in many aspects," the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics "not only places higher demands on material and cultural life but also sees increasing demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, and the environment," whereas "the more prominent problem is unbalanced and inadequate development." Therefore, the New Development Stage, which is dedicated to meeting the people's ever-growing needs for a better life, generally remains within the primary stage of socialism.
Third, from the degree of the well-rounded development of the individual, China is currently still within a social formation based on "objective dependence" (物的依赖性), and human development generally still manifests a state based on dependence on things [4]. Therefore, the New Development Stage still adheres to taking economic construction as the center, while committing to promoting the transformation of developmental concepts from "one center" to "three centers"—that is, adhering to "taking economic construction as the center" while more prominently highlighting "taking the improvement of developmental quality and efficiency as the center" and "taking the people as the center." This allows the development of socialism to gradually break away from the determinacy of external things and enhance the self-determinacy of the person.
Fourth, from the perspective of the global developmental process and China’s level of development, China remains the world’s largest developing country and has not yet reached the level of a moderately developed country. Engels once divided "each epoch [of the same social formation] into lower, middle, and higher stages" based on the progress of the production of the means of subsistence. Mao Zedong, using the degree of development as the yardstick, divided socialism into two stages: the first is "undeveloped socialism" and the second is "comparatively developed socialism." The logic of these two divisions is basically correspondent; therefore, the primary stage of socialism can be considered equivalent to the undeveloped stage of socialism. In 2023, China’s per capita GDP reached 89,358 yuan (approximately $12,681 USD based on the average 2023 exchange rate of 7.0467 RMB to 1 USD), far exceeding the $4,000 that Deng Xiaoping believed in the 1980s would constitute a "moderately developed country." However, China has not actually reached the level of a moderately developed country today. This is because all countries in the world are developing forward as a whole, and a nation's degree of development is assessed through horizontal comparison; one should not measure current development by past standards. Thus, the New Development Stage will remain dedicated to shedding the undeveloped, unbalanced, and inadequate state of socialism, laying a solid foundation for the development of socialism from the primary stage to a higher stage.
Fifth, from the perspective of the goals and tasks of stage-based development, the general goals proposed for the New Development Stage are highly consistent with those of the primary stage of socialism, while being more precise and explicit. Deng Xiaoping first proposed "blazing a path for Chinese-path modernization," indicating the goal of basically realizing modernization by the middle of the 21st century—the end of the primary stage of socialism. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Shortly after the founding of the People's Republic, our Party proposed the goal of building a modern socialist country... the next thirty years will be the New Development Stage for us to complete this great historical aspiration." The strategic goal of the New Development Stage is to complete the goals of building a modern socialist country in stages: 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. In this way, the strategic goals set for the New Development Stage make the goals of the primary stage of socialism more precise and explicit, enabling the transition to a higher stage with higher-level and higher-quality developmental achievements.
(2) The New Development Stage will continuously improve the primary stage of socialism
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that while "firmly basing ourselves on the greatest reality of the primary stage of socialism," we must also "more accurately grasp the constantly changing characteristics of China’s primary stage of socialism." Only by recognizing that the undertakings of the Party and the state have undergone historic changes—and recognizing that "China’s development stands at a new historical starting point and socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era [5]"—can we accurately understand the present, plan the future, formulate policies, and advance our cause. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the movement and transformation of the principal contradiction in Chinese society in the New Era have driven the evolution of the social development stage into the New Development Stage. Therefore, the New Development Stage should naturally become a stage for deeply resolving the new social principal contradiction and continuously improving socialism.
Socialism is the lower stage of communism, and the primary stage of socialism is an undeveloped, "under-qualified" stage of socialism. As a sub-stage of the primary stage of socialism, the core task of the New Development Stage is to change the undeveloped, unbalanced, and inadequate state of socialism and realize the historical mission of the primary stage. Entering the New Development Stage, the productive forces of the primary stage of socialism have developed greatly, people's lives have improved significantly, and the people's needs have transformed into more comprehensive and deep-level needs for a better life. Simultaneously, the situation China faces is more complex, and the tasks it shoulders are more arduous. At present, we should use the changed social principal contradiction as a basis, comprehensively consider the contradictions and difficult problems China urgently needs to solve, start with the commonality of contradictions to formulate systematic methods and strategies, and be adept at controlling the specificity of contradictions to implement precision policies, seeking the focal and entry points for resolving social principal contradictions.
The fundamental method for resolving the principal socialist contradiction is to further comprehensively deepen reform. In the New Development Stage, the direction of reform should be "anchored to the general goal of improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity." While further liberating and developing social productive forces, we must "promote a better fit between the relations of production and the productive forces, and between the superstructure and the economic base." We should "resolutely break down the ideological concepts and institutional defects that hinder the advancement of Chinese-path modernization, and strive to solve deep-seated institutional obstacles and structural contradictions," providing a strong institutional guarantee for Chinese-path modernization. Innovation should be regarded as the primary driver leading development, focusing on solving the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development across regions, industries, and fields. We should guide the people to establish a positive outlook on a better life and strive to create for them a high-quality standard of living, an atmosphere of democracy and freedom, a diverse and rich spiritual life, and a harmonious and beautiful living environment.
Continuously improving and developing socialism needs to be advanced in an orderly manner through stages. The New Development Stage is a process of unified coordination and steady development; internally, it can be divided into two developmental stages of step-by-step advancement. By 2035, China’s comprehensive national strength will leap forward significantly, per capita GDP will achieve new breakthroughs reaching the level of moderately developed countries, substantial progress will be made toward common prosperity, people’s lives will be happier and better, and the well-rounded development of the individual will be further advanced. By the middle of the 21st century, China will become a great modern socialist country leading the world in all respects. A continuously improving socialism will increasingly highlight its advantages over capitalism, radiating brilliant light in the 21st century.
(3) The New Development Stage will drive socialism from the primary stage toward a higher stage
Socialism is not achieved overnight. From the perspective of the history of socialist development, the goal of the primary stage of socialism is to push socialism toward a higher stage, stimulate its potential advantages, and pave the way for the lofty ideal of communism. As a sub-stage of the primary stage, the New Development Stage will drive socialism from the primary stage toward a higher stage.
First, we should understand that the New Development Stage is a "leaping stage" (跨越阶段) rather than a "transition stage" (过渡阶段) of history within the primary stage of socialism. When classical Marxist writers spoke of the concept of a "transition stage," they usually linked it to "social formation theory," referring to a transitional period between the change from one social formation to another. For example, Marx in...
In the Critique of the Gotha Programme of 1875, the concept of a "transition period" was proposed: "Between capitalist and communist society there lies the period of the revolutionary transformation of the one into the other. Corresponding to this is also a political transition period in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat." Shortly after the founding of New China, Mao Zedong proposed the theory of the socialist transition period and formulated the general line for the transition period—the stage from the founding of the People's Republic to the basic completion of the socialist transformation of the private ownership of the means of production. As a sub-stage of the primary stage of socialism, or a "leap-over stage" moving toward a higher phase, the New Era [6] is not a transition stage between different social formations, but rather a developmental stage within the socialist social formation. Therefore, in terms of theoretical categories, it belongs to the "theory of social stages" rather than the "theory of social formations." In this way, the New Era can be distinguished from the "transition stage" associated with the "theory of social formations," thereby helping to better grasp the New Era's practical positioning and target orientation.
Second, we should understand that the New Era is the result of partial qualitative changes caused by quantitative accumulation, and it is also a process that triggers new qualitative changes through new quantitative accumulation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that the primary stage of socialism is not stagnant or unchanging; it is "a process of quantitative accumulation and developmental change that progresses in a step-by-step manner, continuously developing and advancing, and increasingly approaching a qualitative leap." This judgment inherently contains two layers of meaning: First, on the basis of more than 60 years of quantitative accumulation in China's socialist development, a partial qualitative change has already formed, reaching a new height—the New Era. Second, viewed as a whole, the New Era remains a stage of quantitative change "approaching a qualitative leap" and has not yet formed a total qualitative change—i.e., entry into a higher stage.
Finally, we should understand that the New Era is a preparatory stage for advancing toward a higher phase. To this end, we should lose no time in constructing an evaluation system for the degree of progress in the New Era. We must persist in using historical materialism to examine social change and development, use the movement and transformation of the principal contradiction [7] in society to judge the degree of social progress in the New Era, and use systems thinking [8] to coordinately construct a multi-level, multi-dimensional, and multi-weighted scientific evaluation system. We must strengthen comprehensive research on the objective indicators and measurement standards for reaching a higher stage, providing more precise reference coordinates and a more scientific practical guide for the process of entering that higher stage.
II. The New Era is the Stage of "Comprehensively Building a Modern Socialist Country and Marching Toward the Second Centenary Goal"
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The New Era is the stage of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and marching toward the Second Centenary Goal." This distinguishes the New Era, in terms of both time and scope of goals, from the periods of winning the final victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and subsequently building a great modern socialist country. It directly specifies that the strategic task of the New Era is to basically realize modernization by 2035 and to comprehensively build a great modern socialist country by the middle of the 21st century. Modernization in the New Era is Chinese-path modernization; it is socialist modernization, and it represents a total transcendence of Western modernization dominated by the logic of capital.
(1) The New Era is the stage of comprehensively building a great modern socialist country
From the perspective of historical development, the New Era is a brand-new stage in which Chinese-path modernization enters a new journey. The pursuit of modernization has been the unswerving ideal of people with lofty ideals seeking national strength since modern times. Since the Opium War, many people of insight in China began the arduous journey of seeking modernization. After its founding, the Communist Party of China (CPC) continued this ideal of modernization and provided the correct theoretical guidance for Chinese-path modernization. Since the founding of New China, under the leadership of the CPC, the Sinicization of Marxism and Chinese socialist modernization have integrated and advanced together, demonstrating vigorous vitality especially in the flourishing process of the cause of modernization with Chinese characteristics. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the theory and practice of Chinese-path modernization have achieved substantive progress and innovative breakthroughs. In the New Era, this will provide a solid material foundation and civilizational support for the leap from the primary stage of socialism to a higher stage, pushing the new form of human civilization represented by Chinese-path modernization toward the world.
From the perspective of realistic conditions, through the long-term efforts of the Party and the people, the path of Chinese-path modernization already has a relatively solid realistic foundation. The New Era has opened a new starting point for building a great modern socialist country after China achieved leapfrog economic and social development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that through the persistent struggle of the CPC and the Chinese people, especially through more than 40 years of construction during reform and opening up, China "already possesses a solid material foundation for starting a new journey and achieving new and higher goals." According to IMF data, the proportion of the global economy accounted for by emerging markets and developing countries rose from 21% in 2000 to 43% in 2022, while China's share of the global economy rose from 11.4% in 2012 to 18%. In particular, after the comprehensive completion of a moderately prosperous society, the problem of absolute poverty that had plagued the Chinese nation for thousands of years was resolved historically. In short, China has "become the world's second-largest economy, the largest industrial country, the largest trader in goods, and the holder of the largest foreign exchange reserves. Its GDP has exceeded 100 trillion yuan, GDP per capita has exceeded 10,000 US dollars, the urbanization rate has exceeded 60%, and the middle-income group exceeds 400 million people." Following this, the Chinese people will initiate modernization in the New Era with greater confidence and resolve, promoting the comprehensive construction of a great modern socialist country and the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
From the perspective of the developmental environment, both the opportunities and challenges faced in the New Era have undergone new changes. On the one hand, the world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, with accelerating evolution; trends of anti-globalization, unilateralism, protectionism, and hegemonism frequently appear, and local conflicts and regional turbulence are recurrent. "The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation." At this juncture, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping the map of global economic development and technological innovation. After years of effort, China has caught up with or even led the world in many technical fields alongside Western developed countries. In 2023, the number of top 100 global science and technology clusters owned by China reached 24, jumping to first in the world for the first time, indicating that China has made substantive breakthroughs in the field of technological innovation. In addition, the center of the world economy has shown an initial trend of shifting from West to East; the accelerated development of developing countries, represented by China, has promoted the trend toward a multipolar world. The role played by China on the international stage is growing, and its influence is widening. On the other hand, modernization in the New Era faces many deep-seated contradictions, as well as the risk of external suppression and containment escalating at any time. Consequently, our country has entered a "period in which strategic opportunities and risks/challenges coexist, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing." To this end, we must not only expand and utilize existing advantages but also evade unprecedented risks. The risks and challenges China faces in the New Era are concentrated in: the risk of local wars and fragmentation triggered by major power competition, geopolitics, trade protectionism, and hegemonism; the risk of the United States uniting other countries to intensify the "containment" of China's development; the potential risks brought by China's economic transformation and unbalanced and inadequate domestic development; and the risks in the process of managing a massive body of Party members under the CPC's long-term governance, preventing internal degeneration, and promoting the innovative development of the Party's governing capacity. In the journey of promoting the comprehensive construction of a great modern socialist country in the New Era, the CPC must also be prepared to "withstand the major test of high winds, turbulent waves, and even perilous storms," uphold socialist principles and directions, and "be adept at fostering new opportunities amidst crises and opening new frontiers amidst changes" [9].
(2) The New Era will earnestly implement the New Development Philosophy and construct the New Development Pattern
The New Development Philosophy serves the grand blueprint of socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics and is the action guide for the path of Chinese-path modernization; the New Development Pattern [10] is dedicated to promoting the unhindered flow of domestic and international dual circulation and is the practical path of Chinese-path modernization. Grasping the practical positioning of the New Era is the realistic basis for implementing the New Development Philosophy and constructing the New Development Pattern, while the latter two provide the operational guarantee for steady and sustained progress in the New Era.
"Philosophy is the precursor to action." The leading role of the New Development Philosophy in the New Era should be highlighted. The transformation of the principal contradiction in Chinese society dictates that the New Development Philosophy must be implemented in the New Era. The "Short-Board Effect" [11] caused by China's unbalanced and inadequate development has constrained the enhancement of China's comprehensive national strength and its pace of progress. Thus, the New Development Philosophy must be utilized as a "conductor's baton," highlighting its people-centered value position and realizing its role in promoting the transformation of the mode of economic development. First, use "innovative development" to provide the driving force for the New Era, with scientific and technological innovation being the most important element. We must persist in problem-oriented technical bottlenecks, focusing on overcoming "chokepoint" [12] technologies in key fields, emphasizing the stimulation of the vitality of innovators, creating a healthy and upward innovation ecosystem, and empowering development with new kinetic energy. Second, use "coordinated development" to smooth out shortcomings and gaps in the New Era, focusing on using systems thinking to promote the balanced development of various regions, fields, and industries, while also preventing a resurgence of "egalitarianism." Third, use "green development" to reverse the development mode in the New Era, changing the extensive development mode of the past that emphasized production over environment, speed over quality, the present over the long term, and capital accumulation over resource protection, ensuring that the next generation shares the fruits of development. Fourth, use "open development" to open up broader developmental paths for the New Era. On the one hand, we must strive to overcome the adverse effects of anti-globalization and drive higher-quality development through a higher level of opening up; on the other hand, we must practice the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity, allowing China's development achievements to benefit the whole world. Fifth, use "shared development" to pave the road toward the ultimate goal of the New Era. Shared development emphasizes cutting the cake well while making it bigger; it is an inevitable requirement for promoting common prosperity for all people and is the ultimate purpose of innovation, coordination, greening, and openness. To this end, we should persist in and develop China's basic socialist economic system and distribution system, give full play to the roles of both the market and the government, and more actively and effectively resolve the problems of urban-rural and regional development and large gaps in income distribution to achieve a higher degree of social equity.
"Implementing the New Development Philosophy inevitably requires constructing the New Development Pattern." This is a strategic choice to smooth the circulation of the national economy and maintain dynamic equilibrium at a high level; it is an overall deployment concerning the entire scope of development made by the Party Central Committee based on China's developmental realities. Due to the "lean to one side" [13] policy in the early days of New China and the blockade by external forces, China's international economic and trade development and technology introduction were weak. In the early stages of reform and opening up, out of the need to "borrow a boat to go to sea" [14] to quickly complete the century-long journey of developed countries, China implemented an open development model of international circulation characterized by "both ends [raw materials and markets] staying outside, and large-scale imports and exports." Although this policy met the strategic requirements of China's economic development at the time, in the long run, this mode of global value chain participation under low-end embedding was unfavorable to the vigorous development of the domestic market and China's exercise of a leading international role. The international financial crisis, the isolation of countries under the pandemic, and the US "sanctions" and "containment" of China made China realize that only by establishing a solid and powerful domestic market can China "not lose the chain" [15] at any time—guaranteeing the smooth flow of production, supply, and sales chains, building a firewall against attacks, and possessing the confidence to resolve any risks and confront hostile forces. Therefore, the New Development Pattern requires taking the domestic circulation as the mainstay, persisting in the synergy of deepening supply-side structural reform and expanding effective domestic demand, and enhancing the compatibility of the supply system with the diverse needs of the people, thereby constructing a virtuous dynamic cycle where demand drives supply and supply stimulates new demand. At the same time, we cannot abandon the international circulation or follow the old path of "closing the country to the world." We should use the continuously growing domestic circulation to attract external resources and new factors of production, enhance our strategic initiative in external opening and interaction, and, with ourselves as the mainstay, establish and improve the domestic and international dual circulation system.
(3) The New Era will promote high-quality development in China
General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly pointed out: (Text continues...)
"High-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in all respects." Promoting high-quality development is the theme of the 14th Five-Year Plan period and indeed the entire New Era. Achieving high-quality development is the key weight and powerful evidence used to demonstrate the advantages of Chinese-path modernization to the world. China's problem of unbalanced and inadequate development is concentrated in the quality of development, which places demands on improving the current quality and efficiency of China's development.
In the New Development Stage, the state should promote a shift in the pursuit of development from quantitative scale to qualitative excellence. Since "the requirements of high-quality development must be reflected in all fields including the economy, society, culture, and ecology," the key lies in developing new quality productive forces. New quality productive forces represent "a more advanced form of productive force formed by the qualitative leap of productive factors and their optimized combination," including three basic elements: new-quality laborers, new-quality instruments of labor, and new-quality subjects of labor. Through studying panel data from 30 provinces from 2012 to 2022, some scholars have concluded that the input of new quality productive factors—new-quality laborers, instruments, and subjects—as well as green output and scientific output, have significant driving effects on high-quality development. This driving effect shows a trend of "increasing marginal returns" under different levels of economic development, industrial structure, and digitalization, and also has a significant spillover effect on economically adjacent regions.
The characteristics of new quality productive forces are innovation, integration, and sustainability. They possess the inherent requirements of high technology, high efficiency, and high quality. They can form high-tech productive forces, giving rise to new technologies, new industries, and new drivers of growth, promoting high-quality and high-efficiency economic development and facilitating the self-iteration and leap of productive forces. They can form high-efficiency productive forces, significantly increasing total factor productivity and the efficiency of resource allocation, thereby improving economic and social benefits. They can form cultural productive forces: driven by digital technology in the New Era, intangible spiritual culture or cultural carriers—such as music, emotions, calligraphy and painting, cuisine, landmarks, performances, and knowledge—are transformed into visual, audible, and tactile heterogeneous objects that transcend time and space, endowing various cultural elements with new forms and economic value. They can form green productive forces, accelerating the green transition of the economic development mode, strengthening the promotion and application of green technologies, driving the formation and extension of green low-carbon industrial chains, and gradually building a green low-carbon circular economic system. Therefore, new quality productive forces will inevitably drive major transformations in new types of relations of production. They are the "living source" [16] of modernization in all fields and provide the fundamental driving force for achieving high-quality development. In the New Development Stage, we should take the development of new quality productive forces as an important handle for promoting high-quality development, using them to strengthen the foundation and empower Chinese-path modernization.
III. The New Development Stage is a "Major Leap in the Historical Process of the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation"
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the New Development Stage is "a new stage in which our Party has led the people to usher in a historic leap from standing up and becoming prosperous to becoming strong," and is "a major leap in the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." This clarifies the practical positioning of the New Development Stage as a "leap-frog stage" and elucidates the historical necessity of ushering in a comprehensive national rejuvenation upon entering this stage.
(1) The New Development Stage is the leap-frog stage for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation
The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has been the theme of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) struggle for over a century. The report to the 20th National Congress explicitly stated that in the New Development Stage, the central task of the CPC is to achieve the Second Centenary Goal [17] and "comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization." In the New Development Stage, the process of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has become irreversible, manifesting as an inevitable trend of historical development.
The ability of the New Development Stage to achieve a major leap in the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is rooted in the truth of Marxism and the innovativeness of 21st-century Marxism and contemporary Chinese Marxism. At the Mobilization Meeting for Party History Learning and Education, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The history of our Party is a history of continuously promoting the Sinicization of Marxism, and a history of continuously advancing theoretical innovation and theoretical creation." Numerous social trends, theories, and "isms" emerged in Chinese history, but without exception, they were eliminated or forgotten by history. Yet Marxism continues to shine brightly in the 21st century. Why does Marxism work? It is because Marxism is a scientific theory, a theory of the people, a theory of practice, and an open theory that undergoes constant development. Marxism profoundly reveals the inevitable laws of historical development and pointed out the direction forward for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Its integration with China's specific realities and fine traditional Chinese culture gave birth to the innovative theoretical fruits of Sinicized Marxism, enabling the CPC to unite and lead the Chinese people in achieving the great leap from standing up and becoming prosperous to becoming strong.
Entering the 21st century, the Sinicization of Marxism achieved a new leap. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, with its complete and rigorous scientific theoretical system, expounds on the basic connotation, historical coordinates, and implementation path of the cause of national rejuvenation, providing realistic practical guidance. By integrating with the specific realities of 21st-century China and fine traditional Chinese culture, it has creatively developed socialism with Chinese characteristics, causing scientific socialism to radiate strong vitality in 21st-century China and providing a scientific theoretical guide for national rejuvenation. It has proposed original concepts such as a community with a shared future for humanity and a new form of human advancement [18] dedicated to solving global problems, demonstrating China's concerns and responsibilities as a major power and creating a unique global significance for national rejuvenation. Therefore, in the New Development Stage, Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era will certainly guide the Chinese nation toward its great rejuvenation.
The New Development Stage will inevitably realize a major leap in the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Following the Opium War in 1840, the country was humiliated, the people suffered, and civilization was covered in dust; the Chinese nation fell into an unprecedented crisis. Since then, "realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation became the greatest dream of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation." All classes of Chinese society followed one after another, launching the Taiping Rebellion, the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days' Reform, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Xinhai Revolution, attempting to find a way to save the nation, but all ended in failure. This proved that "in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the path is the most fundamental issue."
The salvos of the October Revolution brought Marxism-Leninism to China. A segment of China's progressive elements accepted the guidance of Marxist theory and established the Communist Party of China, providing the Chinese revolution with a firm leading core. The Chinese Communists, with Mao Zedong as their chief representative, gradually explored a path of New Democratic Revolution characterized by encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing political power by armed force. They created a people's democratic state, established the socialist system, and began the great journey toward national strength and rejuvenation, creating the fundamental social conditions and institutional foundations for this cause. Since the beginning of reform and opening up, the Chinese Communists, with Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao as their chief representatives, initiated and expanded the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, consolidating the institutional guarantee and material foundation for national strength and rejuvenation.
Entering the New Era, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as their chief representative, have pushed the development of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics to a new historical height. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation now possesses a more complete institutional guarantee, a more solid material foundation, and a more proactive spiritual force. China has officially entered the decisive stage of becoming a great power and achieving rejuvenation. Looking back at the journey of over a century, the Chinese people, under the leadership of the CPC, have walked the correct path of socialism. Through 28 years of the New Democratic Revolutionary struggle, nearly 30 years of accumulation in socialist revolution and construction, over 30 years of striving in the new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, and over 10 years of pioneering in the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Chinese nation is currently marching with long strides on the broad road of comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. This has realized the continuity of the history of the Chinese nation and demonstrated the powerful resilience of a nation that has survived thousands of years of hardship. In the New Development Stage, the Chinese people already have a better foundation for life, firmer cultural confidence, and more conscious historical initiative. They will complete the final leap in the historical relay race of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with even more heroic strides.
(2) The New Development Stage will solidly promote common prosperity for all people
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Promoting common prosperity for all people is a long-term task." With the completion of the task of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the beginning of the new journey to build a modern socialist semi-powerful country in all respects, the New Development Stage "must place the promotion of common prosperity for all people in a more prominent position."
The people are the subject-force in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Always upholding the requirement of "putting the people first" necessitates that the New Development Stage must solidly promote common prosperity for all people. Common prosperity not only reflects the basic principles of scientific socialism—criticizing capitalist exploitation, taking "prosperity for all" as the goal of production, and emphasizing that all laborers share in the "welfare created by everyone"—but also contains the millennial ideals of "enriching the people" (fumin), "moderate prosperity" (xiaokang), "great harmony" (datong), and "shared wealth" (gongfu) found in fine traditional Chinese culture. This is a distinct hallmark that distinguishes Chinese-path modernization from Western modernization. The development of socialism needs to be gradual; common prosperity is also a dynamic developmental process from quantitative accumulation to a qualitative breakthrough. From the founding of the People's Republic of China to the present, common prosperity has achieved staged success through the efforts of the Chinese people. The victory in the battle against poverty marked the fact that the Chinese people have completely shaken off absolute poverty. However, as "the profit of capital is linked to relative poverty," the elimination of absolute poverty is still insufficient for common prosperity; the problem of relative poverty must also be gradually resolved.
With the completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China has entered a new stage of solidly promoting common prosperity for all people. On October 29, 2020, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted the "Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035," which pointed out that basic realization of socialist modernization by 2035 should lead to "more obvious and substantive progress in common prosperity for all people," and highlighted that improving the quality of people's lives must "solidly promote common prosperity." This means that "common prosperity" has been raised to an unprecedented height in Party documents, serving as a concentrated expression of the socialist nature and communist direction of the New Development Stage.
In the New Development Stage, we should focus on coordinating the relationship between efficiency and fairness, and between performance and quality. We must address the "Achilles' heel" of common prosperity, such as unbalanced and inadequate development and the excessive gap in income distribution. We must adhere to the ownership of the means of production by the state and the people to prevent the "emergence of a new bourgeoisie"; adhere to the dominance of public ownership while allowing multiple forms of ownership to develop together; and promote state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises to become stronger, better, and larger, continuously consolidating the foundation of common prosperity. We must scientifically understand the wealth standards of common prosperity, breaking the capitalist standard that measures wealth fundamentally by the appreciation of capital. We should establish a wealth evaluation system that gives equal weight to material, spiritual, social, ecological, and political-civilizational wealth. This will promote the transformation of the ideal of shared wealth from simple "material prosperity" to "both material abundance and spiritual enrichment," endowing "prosperity" with the true meaning of achieving the free and comprehensive development of individuals. At that time, all countries in the world will not only see an ancient Eastern nation rejuvenated in the New Era, radiating dazzling light once again, but will also be inspired to find their own paths of development in the integration of tradition and modernity. It will also display a beautiful vision of the future communist society to the people of the world.
(3) The New Development Stage will promote the construction of a new form of civilization compatible with Chinese-path modernization
As the only civilization in the world that has developed without interruption, Chinese civilization is all-encompassing and unique, having tempered a profound and long-standing fine traditional Chinese culture. The integration of the basic principles of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture has opened the way to...
This "another liberation of the mind" [19] has realized the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, creating a modern form for Chinese civilization. This spans from the people-oriented (minben) [20] thought of "the people are more important than the ruler" and "the ruler is the boat, the people the water," to the mass-line thinking of "the people above all"; from the social ideals of "Great Harmony" (datong) [21] and "moderate prosperity" (xiaokang) [22], to the socialist ideals of finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and realizing common prosperity; from the sense of national responsibility in "everyone bears responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation," to the mission of a major power to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and co-shape a community with a shared future for humanity; from following the natural laws of "heaven moves with constancy," to the ecological civilization concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets"; and from the pragmatic thought that "knowledge gained from books is shallow; one must practice to understand it deeply," to the spirit of practical action characterized by the slogans "empty talk harms the nation, hard work prospers the country" and "rolling up one's sleeves to work hard." The new form of civilization, compatible with Chinese-path modernization, has achieved in its actuality a transcendence of the value core of fine traditional Chinese culture. It has not only imprinted the mark of modernization onto fine traditional Chinese culture but has also injected distinct national genes into Sinicized and modernized Marxism. Building this new form of civilization compatible with Chinese-path modernization is an inherent requirement for realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and a driving factor in generating a new form of human civilization. It "contains the interaction and simultaneous advancement of 'inheritance' and 'construction,'" thereby becoming the cultural mission of the New Development Stage.
The New Development Stage is a period for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. The great rejuvenation pursued by generations of Chinese people is not only a return to economic prosperity, political strength, social stability, and ecological beauty; it is, more importantly, a cultural renaissance. "The height and achievements reached by cultural renaissance possess greater competitiveness and vitality than those of economy or politics." Building a new form of civilization compatible with Chinese-path modernization not only inherits and develops the history of Chinese civilization but also concerns the future and destiny of the Chinese nation. Consequently, achieving a renaissance of civilization and building a leading cultural power (wenhua qiangguo) [23] has become the vision for cultural development and civilizational progress in the New Development Stage. Based on this, at the Cultural Inheritance and Development Symposium on June 2, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping provided a clear positioning and set of expectations for building a leading cultural power: First, he pointed out that "comprehensively and deeply understanding the history of Chinese civilization" is an inherent requirement for building a leading cultural power, which implies the necessity for the new form of civilization to uphold its national core and inherit its national essence. Second, he clarified that "continuing to promote cultural prosperity and building a leading cultural power from a new starting point... is our new cultural mission in the New Era," thereby specifying the practical positioning of building a leading cultural power. Third, he emphasized the practical persistence required for building a new form of civilization compatible with Chinese-path modernization—namely: firming up cultural confidence, upholding openness and inclusiveness, and adhering to upholding the fundamentals and break new ground. Fourth, he highlighted the practical content of this construction: "creating a new culture that belongs to our era." Thus, through the struggles of the New Development Stage, the construction of a leading cultural power will be advanced, creating a new form of human civilization for China and the world.
In summary, having entered the New Development Stage, the Communist Party of China will continue to unite and lead the Chinese people toward the strategic goal of comprehensively building a great modern socialist country. It will effectively implement the new development philosophy, construct a new development pattern, strive to promote high-quality development, solidly advance common prosperity for all people, and struggle to realize the great cause of building a strong nation and achieving national rejuvenation.