It has been 45 years since the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people under its leadership began to build socialism. The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee convened at the end of 1978 blazed a trail for the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This trail wasn’t easily found: it was the result of hard exploration by the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people for half a century and a heavy price was paid.
Building socialism in an economically and socially backward populous eastern country like China is full of challenges. The national conditions Chinese Communists face are not only different from those envisaged by the founders of Marxism (where socialism would be built on the basis of a highly developed capitalist society), but also somewhat different from other socialist countries. In building socialism, neither blindly following what books say or wholesale copying other countries’ experiences will work. We must proceed from China’s realities and integrate the fundamental tenets of Marxism with these concrete realities, finding new ways of building socialism in China. This is the most basic historical conclusion Chinese Communists have reached in their practice.
For quite some time, China was “not wholly sober-minded,” “not very sure about” and “there were different understandings” of what socialism was and how to build it. As a result, the superiority of socialism was not given full play, the social productive forces were not fully developed, and the living standards of the people were not raised as they should have been. China failed to quickly get rid of poverty and backwardness. In the face of harsh reality, Chinese Communists and the Chinese people began to reflect on a basic question: what is socialism and how to build it?
The first question to reflect on was what is socialism’s fundamental task and should socialism develop the productive forces? For a very long time, because the “left” policy of taking class struggle as the key link was followed, the task of developing the productive forces was severely neglected and people were asked to be content with poverty. As a result, production stagnated for a long time. There was little improvement in people’s quality of life, and China’s gap with developed economies widened further. All of this made Chinese Communists ask themselves time and again the following questions: Where on earth was the superiority of socialism? Was socialism rich or poor? What is revolution and what was its purpose? The theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, which took the development of the productive forces as its fundamental task, came into being amid and as a result of these reflections and reviews.
The second question to reflect on was what form of production relations and ownership structure should be adopted? In handling the basic contradiction between socialist productive forces and production relations, the Chinese Communist Party erred in two aspects. One was to talk about production relations without taking into account the level of the development of the productive forces, thinking that with regard to socialist ownership, the bigger and more public the better.
The other was the failure to give priority to the development of productive forces. Things that fettered development of the productive forces and were not essential to socialism were regarded as socialist principles and adhered to. Things that were good for the development of the productive forces under socialist conditions were condemned as capitalist and opposed. The form of production relations and structure of ownership should depend on whether it can develop the productive forces more efficiently and rapidly. It should depend on whatever form people like. There is no set model for the development of production relations. Their reform and improvement must be in line with the level of the development of productive forces and must favor the expansion of production.
The third question to reflect on was whether a planned economy was still viable, whether a socialist economy was a commodity economy and whether a market economy could be practiced in socialism. These questions perplexed Chinese Communists for a very long time. Besides China, this issue was heatedly debated and explored in other socialist countries. After carefully reviewing their historical experience and lessons, the CPC came to realize that although the centralized planned economy was advantageous in that we could pool resources to accomplish big tasks, it was becoming a fetter on the development of productive forces. When production was more and more socialized, economic activities and relations were all the more complicated.
The fourth question to reflect on was whether socialism was common poverty or common prosperity. Did socialism call for breaking [what we call] the “Big Rice Pot”? With farmers representing the majority of the population, egalitarianism was deeply rooted in people’s minds. Common prosperity was very often misconstrued as equally rich or egalitarian prosperity. Thus, for a very long time, people “ate out of a big rice pot.” Under low efficiency, the pursuit of common prosperity led nowhere but to common poverty. Egalitarianism was by no means socialism. It inhibited people’s enthusiasm and initiative. In order to achieve the goal of common prosperity, some people, some areas should be encouraged to become rich first so that they can help backward areas in an effort to realize common prosperity. Common prosperity is the important essence of socialism.
Basic Theory and Practice of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Socialism with Chinese characteristics is based on yet different from socialism defined by Marx. It is Chinese socialism in tune with China’s reality. It reflects the objective laws of building socialism in China in a more systematic, in-depth and detailed way and is a perfect combination of the universality and particularity of socialism. Therefore it can serve as a better guide for the CPC and the Chinese people in building socialism.
There are seven points with regard to the theory and practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics: 1. It defines the essence of socialism for the first time and from a scientific viewpoint. The essence of socialism is to liberate productive forces, develop productive forces, eliminate exploitation and polarization, and finally achieve common prosperity. This definition deepened people’s understanding of socialism. By defining it as the fundamental task and the essence of socialism, it raises the importance of liberating and developing the productive forces.
In the meantime, it places emphasis on the basic value and goal of socialism, i.e. to eliminate exploitation and finally achieve common prosperity. To reach this goal, we must adhere to the basic socialist principle, which retains a dominant position for public ownership and the system of distribution according to work. We must also adopt diversified forms for realizing the socialist essence. The above points to the correct direction for improving China’s socialist ownership structure.
2. It decides in a scientific way that China is in the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for a long period of time. This scientific judgment combines the nature of Chinese society and its stages of development. It includes two aspects: first, China is already a socialist society and must adhere to socialism and never scrap it. Second, with a large population, weak basis and disparities in the level of development of different regions, the productive forces are far from developed. [Again], the development of socialism is in the primary stage and will remain so for a long time. This is the biggest reality in China. This scientific judgment also serves as the most important basis on which the CPC formulates its basic lines, programs and policies.
3. It encompasses an economic system combining the basic socialist system and a socialist market economy. In the process of exploring socialism, the CPC has come to realize that the full development of a commodity market economy is a phase that cannot be surpassed during socialist economic development.
This is a breakthrough from traditional thinking that a planned economy equals socialism and market economy equals capitalism. Besides, the CPC has also come to realize there is no fundamental contradiction between socialism and a market economy. A market economy is indispensable to the allocation of resources in socialized production. By making the establishment and improvement of a socialist market economy as the goal of China’s economic restructuring, the CPC has found the ideal economic structure in the process of the socialist modernization drive. Combining socialism with the market economy is a creation and breakthrough in the Marxist theory on socialist economies. It is an extremely important and significant innovation during the development of the socialist system.
4. It establishes the basic strategy of the rule of law, the building of a socialist legal system and has put forward the important goal of building a socialist political civilization. China has a state system [of government] under the people’s democratic dictatorship. [This is a] system of political power as manifested in people’s congresses and a system of multi- arty cooperation and political consultation led by the Communist Party of China. All of these basic political systems are the results of people’s long-standing struggle and the natural choices of historical development. They are suited to national conditions and embody the essential requirements of socialist democracy. We must therefore adhere to and continue improving them. The key to promoting socialist democracy and political civilization is to combine the need to uphold the Party’s leadership and to ensure the people are the masters of the country with the rule of law. Leadership by the Party is the fundamental guarantee that the people are the masters of the country and that the country constitutes the essential requirement of socialist democracy. The rule of law is the basic principle the Party pursues while it leads the people in running the country.
5. It aims to build a socialist spiritual civilization (socialist cultural and ideological progress). Socialist spiritual civilization is a significant feature of socialist society and an important goal and guarantee of modernization. It has a direct bearing on the cause of socialism. Material progress serves as the basis and it is imperative to unswervingly take economic construction as the focus. However, if there is a lack of spiritual civilization, material progress will be hampered. It can even result in the degeneration and decaying of the society. Thus, socialism with Chinese characteristics can only be built on both material and cultural and ideological progress. Economic development offers the material basis for spiritual development while in return, cultural and ideological progress provides the ideological motive force and intellectual support.
6. It aims to improve Party building so that the CPC becomes a powerful leading core in leading the socialist modernization drive. Our Party plays a vital role in seeking solutions to all issues in China. History has endowed the CPC with great responsibilities while people have placed high expectations on it. Facing a new century, the CPC has raised and taken into its practice the “Three Represents:” the Party should always represents the development trend of China’s advanced productive forces, the orientation of China’s advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.”
In this regard, it is imperative to further address the two major historical topics of how to enhance the Party’s art of leadership and governance and how to raise the Party’s capacity to resist corruption, prevent degeneration and withstand risks. Unyielding efforts should be made to ensure that our Party is forever the vanguard of both the Chinese working class and the Chinese people and nation as a whole.
7. Reform and opening up is a basic practice and national policy. It remains the most outstanding feature in building socialism with Chinese characteristics in that the implementation of all six aims and tasks above requires the adoption of reform and opening up. To reform and open-up is to view socialism and its systems as a process requiring gradual development and perfection. Specifically speaking, socialism and its systems can be developed and perfected through the reform of the economic system, political system, and cultural system, etc. Furthermore, through the deepening of reform and the expansion of opening up, all the fruits of human civilization can be made use of in serving the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Consolidating and developing socialism through reform and opening up is a vital law in the development of socialism and it adds vigor and momentum to the undertakings of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics has given comparatively systematic answers to a series of basic issues such as the road, stages, fundamental tasks, motive force, external environment, political guarantee, strategic steps, leadership of the party, forces to rely on and unification of the motherland. All in all, it has become the Marxism of contemporary China.
Great Accomplishments In over half a century, especially in the past two decades and more since the beginning of the reform and opening up, great achievements have been made by the CPC through leading the Chinese people to pioneer and advance on the road of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Wide-ranging changes have taken place from urban areas to rural areas, from coastal cities to border areas, from ways of production, styles of living and patterns of consumption to ways of thinking, manner of behavior and even migration. These changes, which are unprecedented in China’s history in terms of its degree, coverage and size, lie mainly in three aspects:
1. The national economy has enjoyed a sustained, sound and rapid development while overall national strength has substantially improved. China’s economy has developed so much that it now ranks sixth in the world. From 1997 to 2002, China’s GDP grew from 7.4 trillion RMB to 10.2 trillion RMB with an average annual growth rate of 7.7 percent. Per capita annual disposable income of urban households increased from 5,160 RMB in 1997 to 7,703 RMB in 2002, with an annual growth rate of 8.6 percent. China’s per capita income reached $850 in 2000 and $1,000 in 2002 at the current exchange rate. The output of many of China’s industrial and agricultural products also leads the world.
2. A socialist market economy in the primary stage has been established and the reform and opening up has yielded great fruits. In the past two decades since the beginning of reform and opening up, the public sector of the economy has further expanded and the reform of state-owned enterprises steadily advanced. Non-public sectors of the economy such as the self-employed and private-owned economy including foreign-owned economy have developed rapidly. Systems of markets are being built. The state continues to improve its macro-control mechanism. The government is adjusting its functions. The reform of finance, banking sectors, circulation, housing and governmental structures has been further deepened.
An open economy grows rapidly. A pattern of all-round, multi-level and wide-ranging opening up has taken shape. Total trade volume increased from $325.2 billion in 1997 to $620.8 in 2002, ascending from the tenth to the fifth on the international ranking list. Foreign reserves reached $286.4 billion in 2002 on the basis of $139.9 billion in 1997, being the second largest in the world. After China’s entry into the WTO, the opening up has reached a new stage. The pace of integration into the global economy is further quickened.
3. People’s living standard has generally reached the well-off level. Since the reform and opening up, residents’ income both in urban and rural areas has notably increased and a lot of durable consumer goods have become popular. Before the policy of reform and opening up was introduced, consumer goods such as watches, bicycles and sewing machines were symbols of family wealth. In present China, color-TVs, refrigerators, washing machines and cell-phones are no longer rare. Expensive consumer goods such as computers, real estate and automobiles have become popular among urban residents. The Engel Index (ratio of expenditure on food in total expenditure on consumption goods), which reflects changes in residents’ consumption structure, has plunged below 50 percent in 1994 (for urban residents) and in 2000 (for rural residents). The deposit outstanding for urban residents has reached 8,700 RMB, excluding banking assets such as stock shares, debenture, etc. In addition, people’s average life expectancy has reached 71.8 years in 2002, which approaches that of middle-developed countries.
