Press Forward with Chinese Modernization

Press Forward with Chinese Modernization*

December 26, 2023

The best way to commemorate Comrade Mao Zedong is to carry forward the cause he pioneered. Building China into a great country and realizing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization is the central task of the whole Party and the whole country on our new journey in the new era. This is the uncompleted quest of China’s veteran revolutionaries including Mao Zedong; it has been and remains the solemn historic responsibility of contemporary Chinese Communists. On the new journey ahead, we should stay true to our original aspiration and founding mission, boost confidence in our history, and seize the opportunity to drive forward the cause of Chinese modernization.

– We should motivate all our people to create a better future. The people, and the people alone, are the driving force in making world history. Chinese modernization is the common cause of all Chinese people. Only by firmly relying on our people and gathering their infinite wisdom and strength will we be able to achieve new and historic successes. Upholding the historical materialist view that the people are the fundamental driving force behind history, we should recognize the principal status of the people and respect the aspirations they express, the experiences they have created, the rights and interests they enjoy, and the role they play. We should make safeguarding, realizing and developing the fundamental interests of all the people the ultimate goal of everything we do, and ensure that they all receive a fair share of the fruits of modernization.

We should improve the framework of systems that underpins the people’s position as masters of the country, and promote whole-process people’s democracy. We must ensure that the people always remain the masters of the country, of society, and of their own destiny, and enjoy more extensive, authentic and accessible democratic rights and freedoms. We should improve the institutions and mechanisms that safeguard social fairness and justice, guarantee equal rights to participation and development, and ensure that every diligent, hardworking and innovative individual has the opportunity to realize their dream and live their best life.

We should guarantee and improve the people’s wellbeing, promote relevant undertakings, focus on public expectations and concerns, and deliver on areas of their most immediate concern, such as employment, education, medical and health care, eldercare, childcare, and social security. Our goals are to ensure that the people have a greater and sustained sense of gain, fulfillment and security, and to facilitate substantive progress towards common prosperity.

We should understand the dynamics of public engagement in the new era, and apply our Party’s mass line with solid work. In reaching out to the people, we should deepen our bond with them, understand what they think, provide them with targeted services, meet their diverse needs, and live up to their expectations. We must engage closely with the people, accept their criticism and scrutiny, always stand together with them in one mind, and share their weal and woe. They are the most reliable, profound and inexhaustible source of strength for realizing Chinese modernization.

– We should explore new dimensions of Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times. Marxism provides the fundamental guidance upon which our Party and our country are founded and thrive. We must resolutely uphold Marxism and keep it up to date, promote innovative thinking based on practice, and conscientiously guide new practice with Marxism adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times. This holds the key to our Party’s success in seizing opportunities, keeping pace with the times, and breaking new ground in our undertakings.

There is no end to innovation in theory and practice, nor to seeking truth. Chinese modernization has opened up broad prospects for innovation in our Party’s theories, and at the same time set new and more formidable tasks. We should further integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s realities and the best of its traditional culture, explore the laws governing Chinese modernization, respond to new challenges emerging from practice, and steer innovations in practice with innovations in theory.

The whole Party must make a concerted effort to write a new chapter in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times. All Party members, especially leaders at all levels, must approach Marxism with a scientific mindset and in the spirit of truth. With the courage to uphold and the motivation to explore truth, all Party members should think actively and creatively, provide insights, and contribute their wisdom and strength to driving innovation in the Party’s theories.

The people’s creative practice is the inexhaustible source of inspiration for new theories. We should learn from the people sincerely and review their practical experiences in a timely manner, so that our Party’s theories are welcomed, recognized and adopted by the people.

We should develop a global perspective, identify the trends of human progress, and actively respond to the common concerns of all peoples, contributing China’s solutions to addressing the challenges facing all of humanity. With a broad and open mind, we should learn and draw from the merits of all civilizations to expand the theoretical and cultural resources for our Party’s innovations.

– We should promote deeper reform and wider opening up. Reform and opening up has been essential for China to catch up with the times, and key to the success of Chinese modernization. Chinese modernization requires us to advance all-round reform and opening up, and continue to unleash and develop productive forces and to spur and boost social vitality. We should follow the new trends of global development, meet the new requirements of our national development, and fulfill the new expectations of our people. We must carry reform through to the end with firm resolve, taking solid measures to tackle tough problems, and making targeted, coordinated and continuous efforts to remove all institutional barriers that impede the progress of Chinese modernization.

We should advance economic reform, fully leveraging the decisive role of the market in resource allocation while giving better play to the role of the government. We should move faster in fostering a new development dynamic and a unified national market, improve macroeconomic governance, boost the vitality of diverse market players, and continue to build an institutional framework that facilitates high-quality development. We should advance scientific and technological structural reform, leverage the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide, and grow our strength in strategic science and technology. To achieve greater strength and self-reliance in science and technology, we should maximize the leading role of enterprises in innovation, optimize the allocation of resources for innovation, and make breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields. We should coordinate cultural, social and eco-environmental structural reform, constantly injecting new impetus into Chinese modernization.

Modernization relies on opening up; opening up facilitates modernization. We should continue to expand high-standard opening up, and uphold a mutually beneficial strategy. Leveraging the strengths of our enormous market, we should attract global resources and factors of production with our vibrant domestic economy, and amplify the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources. We should steadily promote institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards, and raise the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation, creating broader prospects for Chinese modernization.

– We should further strengthen internal Party governance. The CPC is the core leading force of all our undertakings. Chinese modernization is, in essence, socialist modernization led by the CPC. We must remain clear-headed about the challenges that we as a large political party might encounter, and stay resolute in overcoming them to make our Party stronger. This is the only way to ensure solid and steady progress in Chinese modernization.

We should implement the overall requirements for strengthening our Party in the new era, advance all our work in strengthening the Party under the overarching principle of reinforcing its political foundations, improve the systems for full and rigorous internal Party governance, and drive the Party’s endeavors to cleanse, improve, renew and temper itself. These efforts will enable our Party to stay true to its original aspiration and founding mission, remain at the forefront of the times, and maintain its vigor and vitality.

To meet the new requirements raised by Chinese modernization, we should train high-caliber and professional officials who are loyal, honest and responsible. We should inspire all Party members, especially officials, to demonstrate a strong sense of political responsibility and urgency, keep up with new thinking and ideas, remedy their deficiencies, and improve their ability to perform duties. Our Party members should stay abreast of changing times, exhibit high competence, discard outdated ideas, thoughts, practices and approaches, and oppose irresponsibility, nonperformance, dereliction and stagnation.

Party organizations at all levels should take a clear stance in supporting officials who assume their responsibilities, fulfill their duties, and deliver real results, thus creating a favorable environment for advancing our undertakings. We should improve Party conduct and enforce Party discipline to the strictest standards, starting with leadership bodies and leading officials. We should value practical initiatives, solid work, and real results, combat form over substance and bureaucratism, and enable Party officials, particularly those at the grassroots, to focus on facilitating development and serving the people.

Corruption is a cancer to the vitality and ability of our Party, and our fight against corruption must not pause for a single moment. To ensure that officials do not have the audacity, the opportunity, or the desire to engage in corruption, we must adopt systematic measures to address both the symptoms and the root causes, and maintain a tough stance on punishing corruption. We must take resolute actions to investigate corruption involving both political and economic interests, prohibit leading officials from acting for any interest group or power group, and punish corruption in sectors with a high concentration of power, funds and resources. The success of this tough and protracted anti-corruption campaign will ensure that our Party never betrays its nature and mission.

– We should adhere to and improve the policy of One Country, Two Systems, and promote national reunification. Chinese modernization requires the concerted and dedicated efforts of all Chinese nationals. We must fully, faithfully and resolutely implement the policy of One Country, Two Systems, under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong Kong and the people of Macao administer Macao, both with a high degree of autonomy. Under the principle of law-based governance in Hong Kong and Macao, we must uphold and improve the policy framework of One Country, Two Systems, ensure that the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over the special administrative regions (SARs), implement the principle of patriots administering Hong Kong and Macao, and safeguard both the central government’s overall jurisdiction and a high degree of autonomy within the two SARs. We must support Hong Kong and Macao in growing their economies, improving people’s wellbeing, and resolving deep-seated problems hampering economic and social development, and we must enable them to further integrate their own development into the overall development of the country.

Realizing China’s complete reunification is an irresistible trend, a just cause, and the people’s shared aspiration. China must be and will undoubtedly be reunified. We must implement our Party’s overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, facilitate integrated development across the Taiwan Straits in all sectors, and promote peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. The Chinese people have the resolve, the confidence, and the ability to defeat any attempt to separate Taiwan from China in any way.

– We should promote a community with a shared future for humanity. The need for a global vision has been an important lesson that our Party has drawn from its struggle over the past century. Chinese modernization follows the path of peaceful development, benefiting the Chinese people while facilitating global modernization.

We will stand firmly on the right side of history and the side of human progress, championing peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, and promoting the common values of humanity. We will drive the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, with the goal of building an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security, and shared prosperity. We will uphold the basic norms for international relations, safeguard international fairness and justice, and always decide our position and policy on issues based on their own merits. We respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, and oppose all forms of hegemony and power politics.

We will keep to the course of economic globalization, pursue a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up, work with all countries to foster new growth drivers for global development, contribute to an open global economy, and oppose protectionism. We will promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, strengthen policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity with partner countries, and create new platforms for global economic cooperation.

We will take an active part in reforming and developing the global governance system, and act on the principle of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit. We will practice true multilateralism, promote democracy in international relations, and work for more just and equitable global governance.

China’s development represents the growth of peaceful forces. No matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion.

More than one hundred years ago, Mao Zedong said, “We must make efforts! We must move forward! Our golden age, a bright and brilliant world, lies right ahead!” Today, our grand undertakings, initiated by Mao and other senior revolutionaries, are thriving and prospering. Their lofty ideals are becoming realities. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will herald the brightest prospects ever. Let us forge greater unity, lose no time, and work harder, progressing in determined strides along the path of socialism to build a great country and advance national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.

* Part of the speech at a meeting to mark the 130th anniversary of the birth of Mao Zedong.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)