A New Era: New Orientation for Development,and New Goals for Attainment

Chen Shuguang, research fellow of the Party School of CPCCC

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A New Era: New Orientation for Development,and New Goals for Attainment

Chen Shuguang, research fellow of the Party School of CPCCC

Comrade Xi Jinping points out in the Report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that after long-term efforts, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, which is a new historical position for China's development. This profound political judgment injects the connotations of the new era into the CPC's struggle themes, objectives and tasks, value pursuits, historical missions and global responsibilities, and provides the era coordination and scientific basis for promoting the "Four Greats".

A distinct theme of the new era

A new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the era of inheriting the past and carrying forward into the future, and continuously winning the great victory of socialism with Chinese characteristics under the new historical conditions.

Having entered the new era, the historical position of China's development has changed, and the major social contradiction has changed. However, the basic national conditions in the primary stage of socialism have not changed, neither China's international status of the largest developing country in the world has changed. The CPC's theory and practice theme is still to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics; the banner still held high is the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics; the priority tasks of national governance is still this theme focusing on upholding and developing socialism Chinese characteristics, uniting and leading the people to vigorously realize the "two century" goals, writing a new magnificent chapter for socialism with Chinese characteristics, and ensuring socialism to demonstrate stronger vitality in China.

The human correct course finds various vicissitudes in the world. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is neither generated from nothing nor from the sky, but is the fundamental achievement by the Chinese communists and the Chinese people who have gone through numerous hardships and paid great costs, and is the fundamental direction for the development and progress of contemporary China. As Comrade Xi Jinping points out, this road is not easily found. It is developed in the over 30 years great practice of reform and opening up, developed in the 60 years of continuous exploration since the founding of the People's Republic of China, developed in the profound summary of 170 years of developing process by the Chinese nation in modern times, developed in the heritage of the Chinese nation 5000- year long civilization, and has a profound historical origin and wide-ranging realistic foundation. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is the only way to achieve socialist modernization and to create a better life for its people. The Chinese history since the Opium War has proved that socialism is the only feasible path and the good path, only socialism rather than other doctrines can save China; the history of socialist construction has proved that the traditional planned economy mode suffocates the vitality of socialism, taking the old closed and rigid development path cannot develop China, cannot develop socialism either; the historical lessons of the profound changes in the USSR and the Eastern European countries indicate that docking with the Western world is not the development direction for socialism, and taking detour transformation will ruin socialism; practice since the reform and opening up demonstrates that only socialism with Chinese characteristics rather than other doctrines can develop China, the socialist road with Chinese characteristics is the only way to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Strategic arrangements in the new era

The new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the era of making a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all-respects and building a socialist modern country in an all-round way.

At the beginning of the reform and opening up, the CPC made strategic arrangements for the socialist modernization of the country and put forward the "three-step" strategic goals. Both the goal of solving the problem of people's food and clothing and the goal of attaining well-off level of people's life as a whole have been achieved in advance. On this basis, the CPC has put forward the "two century goals". Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the reform and opening up and socialist modernization have made historic achievements, and the CPC and national undertakings have undergone historic changes, and the first century goal is coming true. The 19th National Congress of the CPC gave comprehensive analysis of the international and domestic situations and the conditions of China's development, makes new strategic arrangements for development of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

It is from now to the year 2020 that will be decisive to complete a moderately prosperous society in all-respects. This is the solemn commitment made by the CPC to the history and to the people. Building a moderately prosperous society in all-respects includes both the various tasks and objectives of the economic development as well as the tasks and objectives of other aspects such as social development. In accordance with the completion of the indicators for economic and social development, we are confident that we will complete building a moderately prosperous society in all-respects by 2020 and achieve the first century goal.

From the years 2020 to 2035, the socialist modernization is to be basically realized. This means that the previous planned goal of China's basic modernization will be completed by 15 years ahead of time. Since the reform and opening up, the system superiority of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC governance advantages, and China’s catching-up advantages of economic development are all fully released, the magnificent creativity of the socialist road with Chinese characteristics has and will continue to change the face of China, and the basic realization of modernization stands on a solid foundation.

From the years 2035 to 2050, built our country into a prosperous, democratic, harmonious and beautiful, modernized and strong socialist country. Compared with the previous three-step goals, the connotation is more substantial, the goal is more ambitious and the vision is still greater. Upgrading from a modernized country to a modernized strong country means that the new goal is not only to built a modernized and strong socialist country in the general sense, but by then, the Chinese nation will have completed the great leapfrog from standing up to getting prosperous still to becoming strong, and have stood erect among the nations with a more high-spirited posture.

The value pursuit of the new era

The new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the era for the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to unite and strive to continuously create a better life and to gradually realize the common prosperity of all the people.

The interests of the Chinese people are the highest pursuit of the CPC, shared benefits is the value orientation of the new development concept, and adhering to the people-centered concept is the basic strategy of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. The people's yearning for a better life is the goal for the CPC to work for, and to realize the common prosperity of all the people is the essential requirement of socialism. Today, people's material and cultural life level has been greatly improved, but there is still a short board in building a better life together; social wealth is growing rapidly, but there is still gap in common prosperity. Through development of reform and opening up in nearly 40 years, the level of social productivity has significantly improved, people's life has improved significantly, meanwhile, the connotation of people's needs for a better life has been greatly expanded, and its level of life has been greatly upgraded, and their yearning for a better life is stronger.

In the new era, people's needs show diversified, multi-level and multi-faceted features: looking forward to a better education, more stable jobs, more decent incomes, more reliable social security, higher levels of health care services, more comfortable living conditions, more beautiful environment, and more enriched spiritual and cultural life; looking forward to meeting people’s higher requirements in aspects of democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, environment and others; expecting to meet the people’s "soft" needs in the sense of participation, sense of fairness, and sense of attainment, a sense of well-being and sense of security, a sense of dignity; expecting all the people to achieve all-round development, enjoy common prosperity and share the fruits of economic and social development; looking forward to the balanced development and common progress in the whole country of material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civility and ecological civilization to satisfy good life needs of the people in all aspects. To enter a new era and build comprehensively a moderately prosperous society in all-respects, no one should be left out; on the road to common prosperity, no one should fall behind. We should pay more attention to the people’s needs for a better life, pay more attention to social fairness and justice, pay more attention to protecting and improving people's livelihood, pay more attention to sharing the fruits of development by all the people, and pay more attention to enhancing people's sense of happiness, sense of achievement and sense of security, and continuously make real progress in vigorously creating a better life and achieving common prosperity.

The historical mission of the new era

A new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the era to realize the Chinese dream featuring all the Chinese people making concerted efforts and striving to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

To achieve a great revival is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation since the modern times. After the Opium War, China was reduced into a segmented and dark situations of domestic chaos and foreign invasion. After the repeated trade-offs of various doctrines and roads, the repeated trial of strength among all political forces, and the repeated comparison by the Chinese people, the history and people have chosen the CPC, chosen Marxism and chosen socialism. The history of the CPC is a history of striving for leading the Chinese nation to rejuvenation. The CPC unites and leads the people into finding a Democratic Revolutionary Road compatible with the reality of China, completes the great leapfrog from feudal autocracy to people’s democracy; establishes an advanced social system in accordance with the Chinese actuality, realizes the great leapfrog of the Chinese nation from continuously declining in the modern times to fundamentally reversing the national destiny, to constantly becoming strong and prosperous; pushes forward the new great revolution of the reform and opening up and greets the great leapfrog of the Chinese nation from standing up to getting prosperous to becoming strong, and ushers in the bright prospects of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Today, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, the Chinese nation is standing at a new coordinate of great revival. In a few decades, China has accomplished what the developed countries had for hundreds of years, and has created a development miracle in the human history. The Chinese miracle takes place in a country with a long historical in-depth, large land mass and large population scale, and is the greatest political, economic and social change up to date. In 2017, China's GDP was estimated at over 12 trillion US dollars, the total economic volume is roughly double that of Japan, triple that of Germany, and quadruple that of Britain. China has the most complete industrial chain and the most powerful industrial manufacturing capacity in the world. In 2010, the output value of China's manufacturing industry exceeded that of the United States and became the largest manufacturing country in the world. China has become the source of the world economy and the anchor of its stability, and has contributed more than 30% to the world economic growth, which is more than that of the Unites States, Japan and the EU put together.

The world responsibility in the new era

The new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics is an era in which China is increasingly approaching the center of the world stage and continuously making greater contributions to human kind.

Comrade Xi Jinping points out that the Communist Party of China is a political party to pursue happiness for the Chinese people, and is also a political party to strive for the cause of human progress. What the CPC has been doing is pursuing happiness for the Chinese people, rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, and peace and development for the human race. After the first industrial revolution, the world gradually shaped the West-led world system and the central-edge structure. In this world system, the subject-object binary way of thinking was leading discussions for international affairs, the core states and center states holding the absolute discourse right; the majority of developing countries had to subordinate to the power logic of the center- edge ruling, playing a role of attachment in the industrialization and economic globalization, or even drifting with the stream. In the early 21st Century, with the rising of China and other emerging economies, the capitalist world system faces a severe challenge for the first time. In particular, since 2012, the pace of China's peaceful development has speeded up and is increasingly approaching the center of the world stage. This is an irreversible trend and a mega-change that is unseen in the human society for hundreds of years. It has changed the world basic judgment on the future destiny of socialism and brought to the end the theory of the end of history; changed the description by the West that the "world convergence in the future prospect of world capitalism", declaring the summary of "no choice except capitalism" simple and biased; changed the contemporary situation of world socialism, indicating socialism has broad prospects for development in 21st century; changed the inertia of thinking that modernization is equivalent to Westernization, demonstrating to go ones own way and look for the path of development suited to the national conditions is the invariable law and eternal truth.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, having expanded the ways of modernization for developing countries, and provided a brand new choice for those states which want to accelerate their development and also hope to maintain their national independence, and the China’s wisdom and solution to solve those human problems. In order to solve the development deficit facing the world, comrade Xi Jinping puts forward the Belt and Road Initiative, sponsors the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, promotes the establishment of Silk Road Fund, and injects China’s impetus into global economic development; in order to solve the problem of governance deficit facing the world, comrade Xi Jinping advocates the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, puts forward the governance concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, promotes construction of new-type international relations of mutual respect, equality and justice, and win-win cooperation, contributing the Chinese program to promote democratization of international relations, reform and improve the global governance system; to solve the peace deficit facing the world, comrade Xi Jinping puts forward state-to-state exchange featuring dialogue instead of confrontation and partnership rather than alliance, respect for each other's path of development and social system, and the common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable new security concept, and contributing China's wisdom to the maintenance of world peace.

The great significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era

As it is known, since the industrial revolution, the process of economic globalization and modernization has been promoted under the guidance of the West. The achievement of modernization is basically enjoyed by the developed countries, while the costs of development are shared by the whole world. The vast majority of developing countries plays a dependent role in the economic globalization and modernization current. After the rapid growth through the process of reform and opening up, today, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. China's modernization has come to a new historical juncture. From the access to modernization to the modernization radiation, this is an unprecedented change. Today China, on the one hand has absorption of products from all over the world such as capital, technology, personnel and services, etc.; on the other hand, China’s products, capital and technology go global, etc. population and services go global, Chinese thinking, system and culture start to see radiation to the world. In this historical background, the Chinese policy has essentially become an important factor affecting the global economy, the development strategy of China in essence has become a part of the global economic strategy, and China’s international strategy has essentially become an a part of the reform of the global governance system. From the theoretical attribution, the policy proposition of China, China's development strategy and China's international strategy in the new era are the important contents of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era. From this perspective, Xi Jinping Thoght on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era has a historical significance in the world.

Concretely, the world significance of Xi Jinping Thoght on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era is manifested in three dimensions of economy, system and value. In the economic aspect, the China-opened new modernization path, China-provided new economic globalization program, China-advocated Belt and Road construction, and China-proposed world economic recovery plan, etc. all have made outstanding contributions to development ideas, strengthening global economic governance, accelerating the recovery of the world economy. At the institutional level, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, BRICS Bank, Silk Road Fund and other multilateral financial architecture China has advocated and actively participated in, the new-type international relations with win-win cooperation as the core promoted by China, China-proposed new-type major-country relations, China-advocated Belt and Road international cooperation mechanisms, China-participated G20, APEC and other international platforms, etc. have made contributions to the reform and improvement of the global governance system. From the perspective of value, the China-proposed concept of a community with a shared future for mankind and the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits provide reasonable value guidance for the future development of economic globalization, and contribute China's wisdom in reshaping global exchange theory.

(Excerpts of the article in People’s Daily, 16 Februry 2018)