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Thursday, April 18, 2019, 00:58
Past seven years stand out in history of New China
By Zhou Bajun
Thursday, April 18, 2019, 00:58 By Zhou Bajun

This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Seventy years ago Chairman Mao Zedong, standing in Tiananmen Square — the southern gate of Forbidden City — declared to the world that the Chinese people had finally stood up on their own feet, free from a century of bullying and humiliation by imperialist powers. Today, the Chinese people, under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, are resolutely advancing on the path of building socialist modernization. It is no exaggeration at all to describe the past 70 years of New China as full of dramatic changes.

While celebrating the epic achievements of New China in the past seven decades that marked a monumental chapter in human history, it is particularly important to summarize the rich experience throughout the glorious 70 years. From this perspective one can see the last seven years since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012 have been even more exciting than before.

In a nutshell, the past seven years saw the progress of socialism with Chinese characteristics, led by the CPC Central Committee, with General Secretary Xi Jinping at the core, entering a new era.

The period between the founding of the PRC in 1949 and the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC in 1978 can be seen as the groundbreaking phase of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In those years the country basically pursued a socialist transformation without copying the Soviet model completely. From the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in December 1978 to the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, we saw socialism with characteristics gradually take shape. Its fundamental characteristics are the clear understanding that China is and will be for a long time in the early stage of socialism, with economic development as its central task. This will be achieved by maintaining the reform and opening-up strictly according to the Four Cardinal Principles of adherence to the socialist path, the people’s democratic dictatorship, the leadership of the CPC, and Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought.

No matter what difficulties and dangers may emerge in front of the Chinese people as they march forward, the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era will surely point the way forward for the Chinese nation to achieve its great rejuvenation

At the 18th National Congress of the CPC in November 2012 Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Less than two months later he delivered two very important speeches.

The first one was made on Jan 5, 2013 at a symposium held by the Party School of the CPC Central Committee for newly elected members and alternate members of the CPC Central Committee. It focused on carrying out the decisions reached at the 18th National Congress of the CPC. In that speech Xi said succinctly: “The process by which the people build socialism under the leadership of the Party can be divided into two historical phases  — one that preceded the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, and a second that followed on from that event. The two phases — at once related to and distinct from each other – are both pragmatic explorations in building socialism conducted by the people under the leadership of the Party.” “We should neither negate the pre-reform-and-opening-up phase in comparison with the post-reform-and-opening-up phase, nor the converse.”

The second speech was delivered on the afternoon of Jan 28, 2013, when he presided over the third study session of the Politburo of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC, which focused on firmly adhering to the path of peaceful development. In that speech he emphasized, “While pursuing peaceful development, we will never sacrifice our legitimate rights and interests or China’s core interests. No foreign country should expect China to trade off its core national interests or swallow the bitter fruit that undermines China’s sovereignty, security or development interests.”

The central idea of the first speech can be summarized as “neither of the two historical periods can be used to negate the other”. It is a scientific summary of the exploratory phase and formative phase of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the guiding principle of the deepening of all-round reforms.

Before the 18th CPC National Congress there were people in and outside China who misunderstood the country’s reform and opening-up, assuming it had negated the pre-reform-and-opening-up phase of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the path of socialist development. They had chosen to follow the capitalist path of Western countries instead. Such erroneous views typically emphasize the market and judge the thoroughness of China’s reform and opening-up solely by how market-oriented the economy is. On the other hand, discontent was growing among the great masses in China at that time, especially over difficulties in getting a school education, access to medical services and buying residential units. Apparently reform measures targeting the existing education, healthcare and housing systems were too ambitious for their own good. Such mistakes may be unavoidable under certain historic circumstances, but they must be corrected as they emerge. In other words, deepening all-round reform must include perfecting the previous reform measures.

The central idea of the second speech is the guiding principle for broader opening-up on all fronts in the era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. By declaring no foreign country should expect China to sacrifice or trade off its core interests or swallow any bitter fruit that undermines China’s sovereignty, security or development interests, General Secretary Xi Jinping clarified that it is wrong to assume China’s reform and opening-up as subscribed to the international order set by the United States. At the same time he also made it clear that China does not seek hegemony or submit to it.

These very important speeches, delivered by Xi in January 2013, symbolize the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new and maturing phase.

The 19th National Congress of the CPC put forward the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, which combines the guiding principle for deepening all-round reforms that he introduced in January 2013. He did this with a series of important ideas put forward in the following five years, such as building a community of a shared future for mankind. It is a detailed, well-sorted-out and complete system of theories.

No matter what difficulties and dangers may emerge in front of the Chinese people as they march forward, the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era will surely point the way forward for the Chinese nation to achieve its great rejuvenation.

The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.


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