Chinese-style modernization must adhere to the party's leadership

Author: Cai Menghong (Postdoctoral Fellow, Guangdong Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base, China Southern University-China Southern Power Grid Digital Media Technology Co., Ltd., Associate Professor of Hanshan Normal University); Zeng Zhiwen (Associate Professor, School of Marxism, Zhongkai College of Agricultural Engineering)

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the modernization we are promoting is socialist modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and we must persist in promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization, neither take the old road of closure and rigidity, nor take the evil road of changing banners and changing banners, and persist in putting the development of the country and the nation on the basis of our own strength and firmly grasping the fate of China's development and progress in our own hands. Upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the fundamental guarantee for realizing Chinese-style modernization.

The historical experience of the party's leadership over modernization

Realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese and the Chinese nation for more than a hundred years. Chinese-style modernization is a necessary path for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In the course of its century-old historical journey, the CPC has accumulated rich experience and made important contributions to exploring a new path of Chinese-style modernization.

After the Opium War in 1840, China gradually degenerated into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, with its territory cut off, its sovereignty lost, its people deceived, and the Chinese nation suffered unprecedented disasters. In order to save the nation from peril, countless benevolent people in China rose up to resist, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Penghu Rebellion, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Xinhai Revolution occurred one after another, but unfortunately they all ended in failure.

It was not until the outbreak of the October Revolution in Russia that Marxism-Leninism was able to spread rapidly in China and give birth to the Communist Party of China. As soon as the Communist Party of China was born, it established seeking happiness for the Chinese and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation as its original mission, worked hard, dared to make sacrifices, and actively created, "profoundly changing the direction and process of the development of the Chinese nation after modern times, profoundly changing the future and destiny of the Chinese and the Chinese nation, and profoundly changing the trend and pattern of world development."

During the period of the new-democratic revolution, the Communist Party of China led the Chinese to fight the local tyrants and divide the land, oppose the armed counter-revolution with armed revolution, open up a new revolutionary road of encircling the cities in the countryside, creatively use guerrilla warfare, sparrow warfare, tunnel warfare, and movement warfare in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and finally overthrow the three great mountains of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, and establish the People's Republic of China in which the people are the masters of their own affairs, "completely ending the history of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society in old China." It has completely put an end to the scattered situation in old China, completely abolished the unequal treaties imposed on China by the great powers and all the privileges of imperialism in China." The founding of New China created fundamental social conditions for the realization of Chinese-style modernization.

During the period of socialist revolution and construction, the Communist Party of China led the Chinese to carry out the socialist revolution, and after three major transformations, eliminated the feudal exploitation system that had lasted for thousands of years in China, established the basic socialist system, and the productive forces developed rapidly; from 1953 to 1956, the country's total industrial output increased by an average of 19.6 percent per year, the total agricultural output value increased by an average of 4.8 percent a year, and the country's educational, scientific, cultural, health, sports, and other undertakings were comprehensively promoted. Achieved the most extensive and profound social changes in the history of the Chinese nation; From 1953 to 1976, the gross domestic product grew by an average annual rate of 5.9 percent, of which the gross industrial output value grew by an average of 11.1 percent per year.

In the new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, the CPC has led the Chinese to emancipate their minds, seek truth from facts, establish the basic line for the primary stage of socialism, take economic construction as the center, adhere to the four cardinal principles, persist in reform and opening up, formulate a "three-step" modernization development strategy, and outline a beautiful blueprint for socialist modernization. In the face of the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, NATO's bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, terrorist attacks, Wenchuan earthquake, financial crisis and other domestic and foreign emergencies, the CPC led the Chinese to calmly cope with them, resisted various risks and challenges, pioneered, upheld, defended, and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics, "achieved a historic breakthrough from the relatively backward situation of productive forces to the second largest economic volume in the world, and realized the historic leap of people's lives from insufficient food and clothing to overall well-off and to all-round well-off." It has laid a solid material foundation for the realization of Chinese-style modernization.

The party's leadership has provided a fundamental guarantee for Chinese-style modernization

Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. Over the past 10 years, the CPC has united and led the Chinese, self-confidence and self-improvement, uprightness and innovation, taking charge of great struggles, great projects, great undertakings, and great dreams, comprehensively implementing the party's basic line and basic strategy, adopting a series of strategic measures, promoting a series of revolutionary practices, achieving a series of breakthroughs, achieving a series of landmark achievements, overcoming many long-term unresolved problems, accomplishing many major and important events of long-term significance, and withstanding political, economic, ideological, and ideological issues. The risks and challenges in nature and other aspects have created great achievements in socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, a new path of Chinese-style modernization, and a new form of human civilization.

In terms of economic and ecological construction, the Communist Party of China has united and led the Chinese to base themselves on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, build a new development pattern, promote high-quality development, and continuously enhance the balance, coordination and sustainability of economic development. In 2020, the gross domestic product exceeded 100 trillion yuan for the first time in history, and the per capita GDP exceeded 10,000 US dollars for two consecutive years. The battle against poverty has won a comprehensive victory, and all 98.99 million rural poor people have been lifted out of poverty under the current standards, creating a miracle in the history of human poverty reduction. In 2021, the mainland's GDP will increase by 8.1% over the previous year, and the economic growth rate will be among the best in the world's major economies, and the 14th Five-Year Plan has made a good start. At the same time, we should adhere to the integrated protection and systematic management of grass and sand in landscapes, forests, fields, lakes and lakes, so that the ecological environmental protection of the mainland will undergo historical, transformational and overall changes, the people's homes will be more beautiful and clean, and the harmonious coexistence between man and nature will be realized.

In terms of the construction of science, education and culture, the Communist Party of China has united and led the Chinese to implement the innovation-driven development strategy, regard scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement as the strategic support for national development, improve the new national system, promote key core technology research and independent innovation, and achieve a large number of landmark and leading major scientific and technological achievements such as quantum communications, iron-based superconductivity, and manned spaceflight. Vigorously promote the comprehensive and healthy development of cultural undertakings and cultural industries, and a number of spiritual and cultural products that embody truth, benevolence, beauty, transmit positive energy, and carry forward good customs have emerged, the people's spiritual life has become more abundant, and the people's education, culture, and moral cultivation have been significantly improved.

In terms of modern national defense and social governance, the CPC has adhered to the goal of strengthening the army in the new era, solidly promoted political army building, reformed and strengthened the army, strengthened the army with science and technology, strengthened the army with qualified personnel, and managed the army according to law, accelerated the modernization of military theory, the modernization of the army's organizational form, the modernization of military personnel, and the modernization of weapons and equipment, comprehensively strengthened military training and preparation for war, and made all-out efforts to forge a people's army capable of fighting and winning wars, thus greatly enhancing national defense strength. Strengthen and innovate social governance, build a higher level of safe China, and constantly increase the intensity of supporting the right and eliminating evil, punishing the evil and promoting the good, upholding justice, and rectifying chaos, so as to create a peaceful, stable, and orderly social environment for the people. In the spatio-temporal environment of the new era, people's lives have improved in all aspects, and their sense of gain, happiness and security has become more fulfilling, more secure and more sustainable. In the new era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has made historic achievements and historic changes in the cause of the Party and the country with the broad vision of "not fearing the floating clouds to cover the eyes", the strategic determination of "flying through chaotic clouds and still calm", and the will quality of "thousands of hardships and hardships", so that the cause of the Party and the country has made historic achievements and undergone historic changes, "providing a more perfect institutional guarantee, a more solid material foundation, and a more active spiritual force for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", providing the most vivid reality for the successful realization of Chinese-style modernization.

The theoretical evolution of Chinese-style modernization

In the centenary journey of leading the Chinese to carry out revolution and socialist construction, the Communist Party of China has successively founded Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thinking of "three represents", the scientific outlook on development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, forming a series of major theoretical achievements in the sinification of Marxism, which have gradually and deeply understood and expressed China's socialist modernization construction, and enriched and improved the theoretical connotation of Chinese-style modernization.

After the founding of New China, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as the main representative, began their arduous exploration of socialist modernization. The First National People's Congress, held in 1954, for the first time clearly put forward the four tasks of realizing the modernization of industry, agriculture, transportation, and national defense. In his speech on "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" in 1957, Mao Zedong pointed out: Build the mainland into a socialist country with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture. From December 1959 to February 1960, when Mao Zedong read the Soviet Union's "Political Economy Textbook", he pointed out: The original requirements for building socialism were industrial modernization, agricultural modernization, and scientific and cultural modernization, and now we must add national defense modernization. At the first session of the Third National People's Congress held from the end of 1964 to the beginning of 1965, Zhou Enlai put forward the grand goal of "four modernizations" in the government work report, that is, to build the mainland into a socialist power with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense, and modern science and technology in a not too long historical period, and expounded the strategic concept of realizing the "two-step" modernization of the four modernizations. It embodies the urgent desire of the first generation of the central leadership of the Communist Party of China to build the mainland into a socialist modern power.

After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as the main representative, united and led the whole party and the people of all nationalities throughout the country to profoundly sum up the positive and negative experiences since the founding of New China, founded Deng Xiaoping Theory, and responded to the major issue of "what is socialism and how to build socialism." On the issue of the road of socialist development, we should emphasize taking our own road and building socialism with Chinese characteristics; On the question of the fundamental tasks of socialism, it is pointed out that the essence of socialism is to liberate the productive forces, develop the productive forces, eliminate exploitation, eliminate polarization, and ultimately achieve common prosperity; On the issue of external conditions for socialist construction, it is pointed out that peace and development are the two major themes of the contemporary world, and we must adhere to an independent foreign policy of peace; On the issue of political guarantees for socialist construction, emphasize adhering to the four cardinal principles; On the issue of the strategic steps of socialist construction, it is proposed that the basic realization of modernization should be carried out in three steps. After the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee, the Chinese communists, with Comrade Jiang Zemin as the main representative, deepened their understanding of what kind of party to build and how to build the party, formed the important thinking of "three represents," and deepened the party's mission and role as the core of leadership. After the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Hu Jintao as the main representative, profoundly understood and answered major questions such as what kind of development to achieve and how to develop under the new situation, formed a scientific outlook on development, and emphasized adhering to people-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development. The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has built a theoretical prototype for Chinese-style modernization.

Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the main representative, have adhered to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality and with China's excellent traditional culture, founded Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and achieved a new leap in the sinification of Marxism. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has systematically answered a series of major issues of the times, such as "what kind of socialism with Chinese characteristics to uphold and develop in the new era, how to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics", "what kind of socialist modern power to build, how to build a socialist modern power", "what kind of long-term ruling Marxist political party, how to build a long-term ruling Marxist political party", and so on. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has made a meticulous, accurate and comprehensive exposition of Chinese-style modernization.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the great social changes in contemporary China are not simply the continuation of the master version of the mainland's history and culture, not a simple application of the template conceived by Marxist classic writers, not a reprint of the socialist practice of other countries, nor a copy of the development of modernization abroad. Therefore, the road of modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China is based on China's national conditions and independently "takes the road that suits itself." In the new era, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the main representative, have created a new road of Chinese-style modernization, created a new form of human civilization, pointed out the way forward for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and made new contributions to mankind's exploration of the road of modernization.

Source: Guangming Network - Theory Channel