The Central Economic Work Conference held in December 2023 stressed that "the promotion of Chinese-style modernization must be regarded as the most important politics". This reflects the Party's profound grasp of the laws governing the modernization of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, demonstrates the Party's historical consciousness, strategic self-confidence and action consciousness in promoting Chinese-style modernization, and provides scientific guidance and fundamental compliance for promoting Chinese-style modernization. Taking Chinese-style modernization as the biggest politics is the practical and theoretical achievement of the CPC in leading the Chinese people to carry out modernization, and it has a distinct political nature. Promoting Chinese-style modernization as the biggest politics is an inevitable requirement of the original aspiration and mission of the Communist Party of China. It is an inevitable choice for the construction of a strong country, national rejuvenation, the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and the creation of a new form of human civilization.
The original mission is to promote Chinese-style modernization
General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that "our goal is very grand and simple, and in the final analysis, it is to let the people live a better life." The Communist Party of China is a Marxist political party, and seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation is the party's original aspiration and mission, which determines that the party must unswervingly promote the great cause of Chinese-style modernization and realize the great mission of people's happiness and national rejuvenation.
Since the founding of the party, the party has taken the liberation of the nation and the happiness of the people as its goal. The party's first-generation central leadership collective with Comrade Mao Zedong at the core led the people of all ethnic groups across the country to win the victory of the new democratic revolution, established the People's Republic of China, started the arduous exploration of socialist modernization, and laid the fundamental institutional premise, valuable practical experience, and basic material foundation for Chinese-style modernization. During the period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out that economic construction, economic development, and the improvement of the people's living standards are "the main politics in the future." Without this main content, politics will become empty politics and will be divorced from the greatest interests of the party and the people." He also explicitly pointed out that "the four modernizations are China's greatest politics" and that "socialist modernization is our greatest politics at present, because it represents the greatest and most fundamental interests of the people."
General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: "As a Marxist political party, our party's emphasis on politics is an outstanding feature and advantage. Without a strong political guarantee, the unity of the party is an empty phrase. There was a period when the mainland was politically in charge and engaged in 'class struggle as the key link,' but that was wrong. However, we can't say that politics is not talked about anymore, and we don't talk about politics anymore, is the Communist Party still called the Communist Party if it doesn't talk about politics? Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has accurately studied and judged the changes in the world, national and party conditions in the new era, and has successively put forward major assertions such as "the people's will is the greatest politics" and "the promotion of Chinese-style modernization must be regarded as the biggest politics". In January 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the important thesis of "the people's will is the greatest politics" for the first time; In November 2021, the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party in the Past Century once again emphasized that "the will of the people is the greatest politics". The support of the masses of the people is the foundation of the party's ruling power and is also the core of the party's political construction. The fundamental principle of stressing politics is to keep in mind the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, to stand firmly on the people's stand, to always put the people in the highest position in our hearts, and to take the people's yearning for a better life as the goal of struggle. Whether the masses of the people support it or not depends on whether the party's policies are good or not, whether the masses are crying or laughing, and whether the masses of the people are benefiting and how they are living. This is the original aspiration and mission of the Communist Party of China, and it is also the biggest politics.
Throughout the history of the Party, from Comrade Deng Xiaoping's proposal in 1978 that "the four modernizations are China's greatest politics" to General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thesis in 2023 that "the promotion of Chinese-style modernization must be regarded as the greatest politics", the "greatest politics" has taken different practical forms under different historical conditions, but the core essence that runs through it has always been the goal of realizing modernization. Realizing modernization is the dream that the Chinese people have been diligently pursuing since modern times. Enabling the people to live a good life and promoting the fruits of modernization to be shared by all the people has always been the unswerving goal of the Communist Party of China, and it is also determined by the party's essential attributes and original aspiration and mission.
Fuxing Weiye decided to promote Chinese-style modernization
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) drew a grand blueprint for comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization, and clarified the central tasks and goals of the Party in the new era and new journey. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "only by standing at the height of politics can we understand the major policies and decision-making arrangements of the Party Central Committee more thoroughly, and can we be more predictable and proactive in our work."
Chinese-style modernization is a broad road to building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation. Achieving high-quality development is the essential requirement of Chinese-style modernization and the primary task of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. The great cause of building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation requires that we must focus our actions on the central task of economic construction and the primary task of high-quality development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "In the new journey of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, we must unswervingly promote high-quality development" and "without high-quality development, there can be no talk of socialist modernization". "China's economy has overcome challenges, moved forward steadily, and achieved high-quality development, which is also an inevitable requirement for promoting Chinese-style modernization." In the new era and new journey, promoting Chinese-style modernization is to promote high-quality development. High-quality development is the only way to promote Chinese-style modernization, which not only reflects the common characteristics of the modernization of all countries, but also has distinctive Chinese characteristics, which is highly in line with the essential connotation of Chinese-style modernization, and is the focus of grasping the major principles of Chinese-style modernization.
The construction of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the nation must have a solid material foundation, which inevitably requires the promotion of Chinese-style modernization, because only by promoting Chinese-style modernization and realizing Chinese-style modernization can the material products be greatly enriched and the material foundation solid and strong. To promote Chinese-style modernization, we must firmly grasp the bull's nose of economic construction. In the new era, the economic construction of Chinese-style modernization has entered a new stage of development, which requires following the new development concept and building a new development pattern. The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference emphasized the need to focus on promoting high-quality economic development, highlighting key points, grasping the key, and deploying nine key tasks for economic work, whether it is focusing on leading the construction of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation, strengthening the foundation of Chinese-style modern industries, deepening reforms in key areas, providing fundamental impetus for promoting Chinese-style modernization, or expanding high-level opening-up and expanding the development space of Chinese-style modernization. It has given new connotations to economic construction as the center, and clarified the new task of promoting high-quality development.
It should be pointed out that in the process of promoting Chinese-style modernization, we must not only insist on making the "cake" bigger, but also insist on dividing the "cake" well. Expanding the "cake" is the key to high-quality development, which means continuously developing the total economic volume and realizing the expansion of quantity. Dividing the "cake" means that we should focus on promoting urban-rural integration and regional coordinated development, and build a coordinated supporting system for primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution. The essential attribute of Chinese-style modernization is socialist modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Only the party's leadership can ensure that the task of making the "cake" bigger is fulfilled and the mission of dividing the "cake" is realized. This requires the majority of party members and cadres to take the greatest politics as the guide, to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as the guide, and to put a clear stand on politics and consciously implement it in practice and action. Promoting Chinese-style modernization, continuously enhancing the mainland's economic, scientific and technological strength, and comprehensive national strength, while constantly meeting the needs of the people for a better life, and achieving common prosperity not only provide a strong guarantee for the construction of a strong country and national rejuvenation, but also an inevitable requirement for the construction of a strong country and national rejuvenation.
Build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation
Create a new form of human civilization
General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important expositions on Chinese-style modernization are an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, which provides strong ideological guidance and fundamental guidance for promoting Chinese-style modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We have adhered to and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics, promoted the coordinated development of material, political, spiritual, social and ecological civilizations, created a new path of Chinese-style modernization, and created a new form of human civilization. Taking "Chinese-style modernization" as the "greatest politics" is the proper meaning of the practice and development of socialist modernization, and marks the further deepening of our party's understanding of the laws governing the Communist Party, the laws governing socialist construction, and the laws governing the development of human society. It is the mission and task of the Communist Party of China in the new era and new journey to comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and build a modern socialist country with Chinese-style modernization, and it is an inevitable requirement for building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation and creating a new form of human civilization.
Chinese modernization has always adhered to the concept of putting the people first, fully demonstrated the people's nature, anchored the people's yearning for a better life, conformed to the people's desire for civilization and progress, and strived to make the "cake" bigger and divide the "cake" at the same time, so that the broad masses of the people can share the fruits of reform and development. Holding high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese-style modernization has made more obvious and substantive progress in promoting common prosperity for all people in the course of high-quality development, meeting the demands and multi-level needs of the broad masses of the people in all aspects, and promoting common prosperity for all people with Chinese-style modernization. Chinese-style modernization is the cause of hundreds of millions of Chinese people, and the people are the main body of Chinese-style modernization. We must closely rely on the people, respect the creative spirit of the people, fully stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all the people, actively develop whole-process people's democracy, embody the will of the people, protect the rights and interests of the people, better pool the wisdom and strength of the people into the cause of Chinese-style modernization, and let the fruits of modernization benefit all the people more and more fairly, so as to promote the continuous development of Chinese-style modernization.
Since the beginning of reform and opening up, our country has "completed the development process that developed countries have gone through for hundreds of years in a few decades, and has created a miracle of world development." The successful practice of Chinese-style modernization has not only enabled China to achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects as scheduled, but also laid a solid material foundation for the realization of the second centenary goal. Different from Western modernization, Chinese modernization is based on socialism as its essential attribute, and has distinctive characteristics such as a huge population, common prosperity for all people, harmony between material civilization and spiritual civilization, harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and the path of peaceful development.
It should be pointed out that modernization is a worldwide phenomenon, and Chinese-style modernization has made great contributions to the world economy, including developing countries, and its successful poverty alleviation practice has also given hope to developing countries and fully demonstrated China's wisdom and solutions to the world. With its unique path of modernization and great achievements, Chinese modernization has got rid of the myth of "modernization = Westernization", greatly expanded the way for developing countries to modernize, and profoundly demonstrated that Chinese modernization has endowed Chinese civilization with modern strength and created new glories for the Chinese nation.
The country is the people, and the people are the country. Taking the people as the center is the starting point and the end goal of Chinese modernization, and achieving common prosperity for all people is the essential requirement of Chinese modernization. "The prosperity of government is in accordance with the will of the people, and the abolition of government is against the will of the people." In the new era, the main contradiction in mainland society has been transformed into a contradiction between the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development, and the contradictions and problems in development are reflected in the quality of development. In the new era and new journey, the central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country to build a modern socialist country in an all-round way, realize the second centenary goal, and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization. The important thesis that "the will of the people is the greatest politics" is not only the valuable experience of the great achievements of the Communist Party of China, but also the mission and task of the party in governing the country. "What the people's livelihood refers to, and the country's fortune is related; What the people want, what the government does. "The essence of Chinese modernization is the modernization of people, and its value pursuit is people-oriented, insisting on the supremacy of the people, and ultimately realizing the all-round development of people.
Chinese modernization is an important part of the modernization of all mankind, and it will add more than 1.4 billion people to the total population of the world's modernization, which will undoubtedly comprehensively enhance the scale and level of world modernization. Chinese modernization follows the concept of "people-oriented" development, makes overall plans and coordinates the promotion of the "five-in-one" and "four-pronged" strategic layout, and depicts a grand blueprint for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and building a modern socialist country with Chinese characteristics to all mankind. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) drew a grand blueprint for comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization, and clarified the central task of the Party in the new era and new journey. In the process of unswervingly following the path of Chinese-style modernization, we must take "the biggest politics" as the guide, always focus on the central task of economic construction and the primary task of high-quality development, work hard and move forward bravely, realize the grand blueprint of Chinese-style modernization, build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and create a new form of human civilization.
(The author is a professor at Guizhou University and chief expert of Guizhou Grassroots Social Governance Innovation Think Tank)
Source: "China Social Sciences Daily" Issue 2893 on May 15, 2024 Author: Li Jianjun
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