Yang Xuedong: Reform and opening up is a continuous ideological revolution

Source: Global Times

The cause of reform and opening up, which began on the land of China 45 years ago, is undoubtedly one of the most influential global events in the past half century. Through self-reform and opening-up, China has closely linked its own development with the development of the world, fully integrated into the world and shaped the world, and substantially promoted the development of the global market and the process of world history. Its occurrence and advancement have dramatically changed the appearance of China, a big country with a long history and arduous exploration of modernization, and profoundly changed the global modernization picture formed in modern times and the corresponding world pattern.

As a major global event, the impact of reform and opening up involves many aspects such as material, system, and ideology, and the ideological revolution triggered by it is particularly worthy of consideration and summary.

First, China's reform and opening up hastened the end of the Cold War system and greatly weakened the influence of the Cold War mentality. Domestically, through emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, the focus of the work of the party and the state has been rapidly and solidly shifted to economic construction, and through the "non-argumentative" mode of governance, the differences in reform have been diluted, the space for reform has been expanded, and consensus for action has been built. China's posture, efforts, and creative approach have created a favorable international environment for domestic development, created a situation of benign interaction between opening up and reform, and greatly promoted the weakening of the confrontational thinking of the international community after the Cold War, and provided a conceptual foundation for the development of a multipolar pattern in the world.

Second, China's reform and opening up has embarked on a successful development path for a latecomer to modernization, enriching the ideological spectrum of global development. China, a large country with distinctive characteristics, can adapt to the development trend of the times, adapt to the changes in the flow and allocation of global resources, effectively combine the forces of the government, the market and society, and achieve rapid development, sustained stability and successful transformation, which illustrates the diversity of the path of modernization and the importance of effectively combining the national conditions with the requirements of the times. China's development has not only solved the problem of food and clothing for more than one billion people and comprehensively improved the quality of life of the Chinese nation, but also injected strong momentum into the global economic development and provided a reference for the modernization path of the vast number of developing countries.

Third, China's reform and opening up has embarked on a path of institutional self-innovation, shattered the myth of the modern system in the West, and revealed that no set of modern systems can exist once and for all, and that it is necessary to constantly renew itself in light of changes in the world and national conditions, and attach importance to mutual learning and Xi in order to maintain the vitality of the system. Under the shadowless light of globalization, the advantages and disadvantages of national systems are clearer in comparison with other countries, and there is no perfect system, let alone a universally applicable system. The key to China's reform and opening up is that it has a clear diagnosis of the shortcomings of its own system and mechanism, and it has absorbed and transformed the achievements of human civilization with an open mind.

For the Chinese, reform and opening up has not only brought about the continuous improvement of material life and the continuous improvement of the institutional environment, but also stimulated a profound ideological and conceptual revolution. In this revolution, China's excellent traditions have been re-evaluated and recognized, and have been creatively transformed in contemporary social practice. More importantly, in the rich practice of reform and development governance, Chinese are forming their own understanding of the interaction between "government-society-market", the relationship between "state-society-family-individual", the relationship between "state-nation", the relationship between "domestic-international-global", the relationship between "individual-group-environment", and the relationship between "society-science and technology". These relationships are fundamental to modern society. The understanding of the Chinese is different from the theoretical preconceptions formed in a closed and rigid state, and it is also different from the theoretical conclusions that are held up as the guideline based on the development experience of the West. It is precisely these ideological understandings rooted in China and with the world in mind that make the China of reform and opening up a China full of vitality and imagination. This is the distinctive quality of China today, the image that the Chinese are showing on the world stage.

In this self-initiated and self-driven ideological and conceptual revolution, the national characteristics of "although Zhou is an old state, its life is renewed" has been continued, the national characteristics of "Gou is new, every day is new, and every day is new" has been stimulated, and Mao Zedong's statement before the founding of New China that "Chinese have spiritually changed from passive to active" has been fully demonstrated at the level of the whole society. Only when the spirit of all Chinese people changes from passive to active will there be a successful completion of the great course of industrialization that the developed countries of the West have traversed for hundreds of years under the leadership of the Communist Party of China in a few decades, a miracle of modernization with rapid economic development and long-term social stability, and a great dream of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and creating a new form of human civilization.

Reform and opening up are only in progress, not completed. The ideological and conceptual revolution is not a flash of inspiration, let alone a superficial taste, but it is necessary to draw nourishment and motivation from the practice of continuous reform and development of governance, continue to promote the self-renewal and transformation of the ideological system and conceptual system, and emancipate the mind forever on the road. In the course of reform and opening up over the past 45 years, whenever we encounter difficult problems in reform, when our ideological understanding has stagnated, and when we lack a unique way to solve them, our party will take out the sharp weapon of emancipating the mind, break the situation of ideological rigidity, and achieve a new ideological unity and a leap forward in understanding in the process of carrying forward full democracy. Comrade Deng Xiaoping said: "If a party, a country, or a nation proceeds from its roots, is ideologically rigid, and superstition prevails, it will not be able to advance, its vitality will cease, and it will be doomed to the destruction of the party and the country." This sentence has never been outdated, it has always been sonorous and powerful.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that the mainland's reform has entered a period of tackling tough problems and deep waters. In order to solve the problem of reform and gnaw away the "hard bones", the concept of combining top-level design and practical exploration has been proposed. This has reshaped the party and state institutions and their relations, and elevated the gradual reform path of "crossing the river by feeling the stones" formed at the beginning of reform and opening up to a new form of overall reform and systematic reform. The more reform and opening up develops in depth, the more it involves the adjustment of major interest relationships, and the improvement of systems and mechanisms in all aspects, the more necessary it is to further stimulate and unite social creativity, strengthen the sense of progress, opportunity, and responsibility, and constantly break through the barriers of ideology and concepts, and break through the barriers of solidified interests.

In the form of overall reform and system reform, to carry out reform and opening up to the end, it is all the more necessary to be keenly aware of the changes in the conditions and environment, always maintain the ideological vitality and creativity of a big country, and avoid falling into systemic rigidity. It is necessary to stimulate the initiative of all Chinese people in China and promote the exchange of ideas and the integration of civilizations in the international community through various methods such as topic setting, action advocacy, and empowerment. In the face of the impact of anti-globalization, deglobalization and populism, and the challenges of solidifying interests and weakening consensus, we should take the initiative to carry forward the spirit of reform and opening up and promote a new round of ideological revolution. It is necessary to take the initiative to open up to the outside world in an all-round way, break down the economic "small courtyard and high walls," the political "choosing sides," and the cultural "discrimination and confrontation," and actively shape a new form of global development; we must always remain modest and cautious, handle problems with the mind and courage of a major country, and build a wider consensus in the process of support, assistance, and guidance; we must always be vigilant against being complacent, follow the map, and encounter difficult problems in reform, and do not just choose the methods that we are familiar with. Rather, it is necessary to fully transform the experience of reform and opening up into a way to solve new problems. (The author is a professor at the Department of Political Science, Tsinghua University)