100 ЛЕТ КОММУНИСТИЧЕСКОЙ ПАРТИИ КИТАЯ. Realizing the Ideals of the Party
Upholding Marxism
Marxism is the single guiding ideology, the very soul of the CPC, and the banner under which it strives. Fundamentally, the strength of the Party and the strength of socialism with Chinese characteristics are attributable to the fact that Marxism works. The Party's history of struggle is a process of continuing to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context and to explore creative and innovative ideas.
Inscribing Marxism on its own banner. Marxism reveals the universal laws of the natural world, human society, and the human mind, pointing the direction for humanity and human civilization to progress. The communist and socialist ideals expounded in Marxism tally with Chinese cultural values such as a people-centered orientation, harmony, and unity in diversity. They are consistent with the dream pursued by noble and idealistic Chinese for generations - to build a strong and prosperous nation. And they accord with the aspiration of Chinese progressives, dating back to the Opium War, to rescue the nation from subjugation. A key feature of Marxism is that it not only defines the ideals of communism, but also specifies the ways and means by which they can be achieved.
When Marxism was introduced to China, the founders of the CPC first reflected on it and conducted careful analysis, then gained hands-on experience, and finally chose to embrace it wholeheartedly. Since China's Communists chose Marxism, they have remained firm in upholding and developing it. Never have they wavered in their commitment, deviated from its goals, or abandoned it in favor of other options.
Using Marxism as a powerful ideological weapon to seek the truth, understand the world and its laws, and transform it, rather than applying rigid dogma. Respecting reality and combining with the people are the characteristics and strengths of the CPC.
Over the past hundred years, the CPC has continued to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era are the results. The Party has thus devised well-conceived theories for its own and the people's guidance, and made an enormous and original contribution to enriching Marxism.
At the fundamental level, the CPC's successes can be attributed to its mastery of powerful theoretical weapons to correctly understand, scientifically analyze, and effectively solve problems by applying the Marxist stance, viewpoint and methodology. Experience has proved that the CPC's choice of Marxism is correct. On the journey ahead, considering China's realities in contemporary times the Party will continue to adapt the basic tenets of Marxism to the best of China's traditional culture, and use Marxism to observe, understand, and steer the trends of our times in the 21st century.
Firm Ideals and Convictions
From the outset, the CPC has championed the cause of socialism and communism. Over the past hundred years, standing firm in its ideals and convictions, it has led the people to press forward towards these goals. It has established, upheld and developed socialism, upheld the principles of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and demonstrated the vitality and bright prospects of socialism. The Party has remained true to socialism, and socialism has proved its worth to China.
Rising through adversity and failures. In the years of revolutionary war, the CPC was repeatedly confronted with difficulties and setbacks, to the extent that its very survival was threatened. After the failure of the Great Revolution (1924-1927), the membership of the Party fell from around 60,000 to just over 10,000. After defeat in the fifth encirclement and suppression campaign by the KMT in 1934, the Party and the Red Army were seriously weakened. The Battle of Xiangjiang soon after the beginning of the Long March cost the Central Red Army more than 50,000 of its 86,000 troops. But for all that the situation was bleak, the CPC remained unshaken in its convictions. It shook off its pursuers, rose above adversity, and emerged stronger from the setbacks.
After the founding of the PRC, the country faced testing military and economic challenges and hostility from abroad. Led by the CPC, and fearless of hardship and death, the people overcame these challenges. A new socialist China soon stood firm in the East.
From the late 1980s to early 1990s, when the tide of world socialism was on the ebb, the CPC led the people to press forward on the path of Chinese socialism, heedless of all obstacles.
In the new era, faced with the formidable tasks of reform, development and stability, and confronted by an unpromising external environment, the Party has led the people to continue the great historic struggle and to champion the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Difficulties, failures and setbacks in the past hundred years have never prevented the CPC from forging ahead; they have only made it stronger and helped it mature. At critical historical junctures and in times of crisis, the Party has stood firm in ideals and convictions, rising undaunted to face challenges. This has demonstrated its strength, increased the people's trust and confidence, transformed its own prospects and those of the country, and advanced the cause of socialism.
Fighting in both favorable and unfavorable circumstances. After securing victory in its military campaigns, the CPC maintained its fighting spirit and strove to avoid complacency. After becoming the governing party of China, it continued to remain modest and prudent, never arrogant or impetuous. In leading reconstruction in the cities in peace time, it preserved the style of plain living and hard struggle and never fell victim to the desire for creature comforts. In the process of reform and opening up, the CPC endeavors to guard against the erosive influence of feudalist and capitalist decadence.
Entering the new era, the CPC has never allowed itself to be carried away by the successes the Party and the state have achieved. It has warned all its members that they must never surrender to complacency or sclerotic thinking, never falter, never waver; rather, they must remain alert to dangers in times of peace and keep fighting.
Over the past hundred years the Party has never rested on its laurels, slackened its efforts, or allowed flattery and praise to dilute its spirit and will to fight.
Being firmly grounded while aiming high for the future. Every generation of Party members has fulfilled its respective missions and kept pressing forward. The ideals of communism can only be realized by the Party based on fully developed and highly advanced socialism. Communists in China believe that if they keep fighting for this with sufficient effort over generations it can be achieved. In the battle to realize national rejuvenation, the Party and the people will pass on the torch from one generation to the next, with each generation fulfilling its duties for the benefit of the next.
Forging a fighting spirit in hard work and working hard to keep that spirit. Carrying forward its founding spirit, the CPC has fought hard and persevered. It has developed a set of inspiring principles which are manifested in the ranks of its revolutionary martyrs defiant in the face of death, its hard-working heroes, and its selfless and devoted models. This invaluable spirit has been distilled into the lifeblood of the Chinese nation, boosting the Chinese people's morale, and creating longer, fuller and stronger support for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Over the past hundred years, led by the CPC, the Chinese people have changed the face of the country through their arduous efforts, and more importantly, reshaped China's national psyche.
Breaking New Ground
China's revolution, reconstruction and reform are unprecedented undertakings, with no previous examples to serve as a guide. Facing new situations and new problems on the way forward, and employing indomitable courage and determination, the CPC has succeeded in blazing a new trail from the unknown to the realms of freedom. All its endeavors have advanced the cause of socialism in China.
Recognizing the prevailing trends in the world, seizing and making the most of historic opportunities. There is an essential logic to the progress of human history. Over the past hundred years, the CPC has developed with this logic and kept pace with the trends of the times, constantly adjusting its strategies and policies in accordance with changing circumstances.
The founding of the CPC, the founding of a socialist people's republic, and the launch of reform and opening up all followed underlying global trends. Based on its belief that peace and development were the themes of the times, the CPC pressed ahead with its plans for reform, opening up and modernization. It seized the opportunity of rapid advances in science and technology around the world, and applied the important proposition that "science and technology constitute a primary productive force". It mobilized the resources of the whole country in a series of key national science and technology research and development programs such as the 863 Program and the 973 Program. All of this strengthened China's capacity for original innovation and resulted in significant progress in high-tech and key industries.
The CPC followed the trend of economic globalization and initiated a set of major reform and opening-up measures, for example, creating special economic zones, opening up Shanghai Pudong New Area, implementing the strategies of "bringing in" and "going global", and acceding to the World Trade Organization, all of which helped the Chinese economy to integrate with the international economy.
At the turn of the century, the CPC seized the first two decades as an important period of strategic opportunity to focus on development and promote more rapid growth.
In the new era, the CPC has implemented the strategy of national rejuvenation within the context of global changes of a scale unseen in a century. It has judged that "China remains in an important period of strategic opportunity for development", and that "both opportunities and challenges are unprecedented in scale, with more opportunities than challenges in general".
To tap into the trends of peace, cooperation, multi-polarity, economic globalization, and democracy in international relations, the Party places greater emphasis on the quality of growth. To this end, it has introduced and is implementing a new development philosophy and a new development dynamic as the country enters a new development stage. In external relations, the CPC pursues high-standard opening up and promotes win-win cooperation with more countries in more areas, on a larger scale, and in greater depth. The CPC is willing to contribute more to the world while promoting China's own development.
Following an independent path. To carry out revolution, reconstruction and reform in a poor and backward country with a large population, it is fundamental to choose the right path.
During the New Democratic Revolution, the CPC initially opted to follow the Soviet example of insurrection in key cities. But that proved unsuccessful. It then reviewed the lessons learned, summarized the experience gained, and embarked on the correct path of encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing state power with military force.
After the founding of the People's Republic, the CPC applied itself to learning from the Soviet Union. Encountering problems with the Soviet model, it began to explore its own path for building socialism. Since the beginning of reform and opening up, it has led the people in identifying, upholding, broadening, and committing to the path best suited to China's actual conditions - socialism with Chinese characteristics.
In economic development, the Party has always adhered to the principle of self-reliance. To ensure that robust development continues amid mounting instability and uncertainties in the international environment, the Party has made the major strategic decision to accelerate the fostering of a double development dynamic, with the domestic economy and international engagement reinforcing each other, and the former as the mainstay.
In the field of science and technology, the Party has led the people in independent and self-reliant development. With their own strength, the Chinese people have put in place a complete and independent system of academic disciplines and a comprehensive program of scientific research, paving the way for independent innovation with Chinese characteristics.
All of this has carried forward the country's scientific and technological strength and capacity for innovation in leaps and bounds. In the early days of the People's Republic, even matches and iron nails had to be imported. China now leads the world in quantum communication, artificial intelligence and 5G technology. Its Shenzhou manned spacecraft and Tiangong space lab are orbiting the earth. The rover Zhurong has landed on Mars and is engaged in scientific exploration. Its manned submersible, Jiaolong, dived to the deep sea. All of these serve to demonstrate how China has significantly improved its independent scientific and technological capabilities.
In the process of socialist modernization, the Party has led the people in realizing coordinated material, political, cultural, social and eco-environmental progress, pioneering a new and distinctively Chinese path to modernization, creating a new model for human progress, and refuting the myth that modernization can be achieved only by following the capitalist model.
One of the basic reasons for the Party's success is its adherence to the principles of independence and self-reliance. It follows its own path in managing China's affairs in accordance with the country's own realities and characteristics. The Chinese people have the courage, confidence, and ability to manage their own affairs well.
Emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and moving forward with unrelenting courage. In all of its endeavors in revolution, reconstruction and reform, the CPC has always proceeded from reality rather than placing its faith in books or established authority. It has constantly explored new paths, free from hidebound restrictions and proscriptive models.
In its long-term leadership of economic development, the Party has adopted the basic principles of Marxist political economics and applied them in China's realities, shifting from a model of pure public ownership to a model where public ownership plays the dominant role alongside economic entities under diverse forms of ownership. It is committed to consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy, and to encouraging, supporting, and guiding the non-public sector of the economy. The economic system has been reformed from a traditional planned economy to a socialist market economy, so that the market can play a decisive rather than a supportive role in resource allocation, while the government can fulfill its role better. This has ensured that the lifelines of the Chinese economy remain firmly in the hands of the Party and the people, and that economic development serves the interests of the people and the country. Market entities can be more innovative, and the productive forces have been unleashed and allowed to develop.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China's reform has entered uncharted waters and encountered new problems. The Party has shown tremendous political courage, enacting more than 2,400 measures to remove deep-rooted obstacles, and promoting further comprehensive reform. This has achieved decisive results in key areas and boosted the driving forces of development. In pursuing reform, the Party encourages bold experiments and innovation while making sure that progress continues in the right direction. The basis of reform has always been upholding and improving socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernizing the country's system and capacity for governance. Pressing ahead with reform and development while maintaining the stability of the country, it has rejected both the old and rigid closed-door policy, and any attempt to abandon socialism in favor of some erroneous path.
Understanding, grasping and following the laws of development. The ability to grasp and follow the objective laws of development is an important skill for a progressive Marxist party. The CPC has continued to expand its understanding of governance by a communist party, the development of socialism, and the evolution of human society, and to apply them in practice as a guide for action.
In developing socialism, the Party has constantly asked and answered a series of key questions, such as:
- "What is socialism?"
- "How should we build socialism?"
- "What kind of a political party should the CPC be?"
- "How should we build the CPC?"
- "What kind of development should we pursue?"
- "How should we pursue this development?"
- "What is socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era?"
- "How should we uphold and develop this socialism?"
It has given a series of new answers that have enriched and developed scientific socialism, and gained a much deeper understanding of the essence and nature of socialism, such as:
- "Poverty is not socialism. Development that is too slow is not socialism, either."
- "The nature of socialism is to release and develop the productive forces, eliminate exploitation and polarization, and achieve common prosperity."
- "Achieving common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism."
The CPC has also gained a much deeper understanding of the process of building a socialist system, from establishing the basic socialist system in the early days of the PRC, through creating socialism with Chinese characteristics after the introduction of the reform and opening-up policy, to upholding and improving socialism with Chinese characteristics since the 18th CPC National Congress. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has matured with the completion of an overall framework of systems for state governance.
The CPC has also come to a deeper understanding of the laws of economic and social development, as reflected by its shift from "fast and sound growth" to "sound and fast growth", from "economic growth" to "economic development", from "high-speed growth" to "high-quality development", from "accelerating development" to "equal emphasis on development and security", from "the vision of comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development" to "the vision of innovation-based, coordinated, green, open and shared development". Since its 18th National Congress, the CPC has initiated the Five-sphere Integrated Plan, the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy, the Eight Clarifications and the Fourteen Imperatives", which exemplify the Party's new understanding of the nature of governance by a communist party, the development of socialism, and the evolution of human society.
Socialism can solve problems that other social systems cannot, and can achieve sustained, well-rounded human development and common prosperity. After several decades, socialism in China is still at the primary stage. The Party's understanding and practical experience of socialism with Chinese characteristics is still very limited, with many more questions to answer and many more problems to solve. The Party will continue to explore how best to advance socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era by building a deeper understanding of its nature and laws.
Defusing Risks and Overcoming Challenges
China has carried out its revolution, reconstruction and reform against a backdrop of both conventional and exceptional risks and challenges, from both inside and outside the Party, from both within China and abroad, and from both human society and nature. The CPC has led the people in defusing these risks and meeting these challenges with courage, confidence and resilience, while promoting the cause of socialism. It has secured and consolidated its position as the governing party, guaranteed national security, and ensured continuous and consistent development.
The Party is always ready to protect against potential dangers even in times of peace. Founded in years of trial and tribulation and maturing in adversity, the CPC always keeps in mind the ancient wisdom that "One should be mindful of potential danger in times of peace, the risk of downfall in times of rise, and potential chaos in times of stability."
In the years of revolutionary war, the CPC maintained a high level of vigilance during a life-and-death struggle, and grew in size and strength despite being menaced by formidable enemies.
During reform and opening up, faced with frequent social conflicts and disputes, and major setbacks to world socialism, the CPC made it a priority to increase its ability to fend off threats, and successfully dealt with various risks and challenges.
After its 18th National Congress, the CPC was fully aware of the major changes in the domestic and international environment. One of its major principles of governance is to be always on guard against potential dangers in times of peace. It has made national security its top priority in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. Always alert to the worst possible scenarios, the Party adopts proactive strategies and strives for the best results.
In every historical period, the CPC has remained vigilant and clearheaded about the situation, seizing the initiative on every occasion and ensuring success in defusing risks and overcoming challenges.
The Party meets major risks and challenges head-on. It never hesitates in taking resolute action to address risks and challenges that threaten its position as the governing party, or endanger the stability of state power, the core interests of the country, the fundamental interests of the people, or the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Shortly after the founding of the PRC, in the face of threats and provocation by American imperialism, the CPC had the courage to resist US aggression and aid Korea, in defense of the motherland and at the cost of its own economic development. Victory in this war foiled the aggressors' attempt to suffocate the new-born PRC, and established a firm foothold for the country.
After the launch of reform and opening up, the Party led the people through the political turbulence in 1989, the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the global financial crisis in 2008, and a succession of unprecedented natural disasters. It emerged victorious from the fight against the SARS epidemic in 2002 and the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008. It adopted resolute and lawful measures to quell the riots, robbery, arson and vandalism in Lhasa and Urumqi. It also resisted attempts to isolate, suppress and contain China by external political forces.
Since 2012, faced with a sensitive and volatile international situation, and challenging tasks related to domestic reform, development and stability, the Party has placed equal emphasis on development and security, pursued a holistic approach to national security, and led the people in an effective response to major risks, challenges, obstacles and conflicts by exploring new opportunities and breaking new ground.
It has promoted supply-side reform to stave off economic risks. It has implemented effective countermeasures in the economic and trade friction provoked by the US. It has won a strategic victory in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. It has taken a series of resolute measures to restore order in Hong Kong and ensure a turn for the better in the region. All of these actions have contributed to social stability in China and sound and sustained economic development.
The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will not be easily achieved. It cannot be achieved merely by beating drums and clanging gongs. There will be all kinds of foreseeable and unforeseeable difficulties on the way forward. The CPC is a major political party that has accumulated rich experience in the long-term struggle over the last hundred years, which has enabled it to withstand risks and address complex issues. No matter the difficulties, the Party will lead the people to final victory.
On its centennial journey, the CPC has tempered its character with the courage to vanquish formidable enemies, defuse risks, and overcome challenges. This has become the Party's defining quality. All of its achievements are the results of the hard work of generations of Party members, and the base on which the cause will continue to prosper. The success of the Party in the past equips it to face the future with full confidence.