Xi Jinping: Chinese-style modernization is a broad road to building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation

Chinese-style modernization is a broad road to building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation※

Xi Jinping

What kind of modernization path a country chooses is determined by many factors, such as its historical traditions, social system, development conditions, and external environment. Different national conditions will lead to different ways of modernization. Practice has proved that in order to move toward modernization, a country must not only follow the general laws of modernization, but also conform to its own reality and have its own characteristics. Chinese modernization not only has the common characteristics of the modernization of other countries, but also has distinctive characteristics based on its own national conditions. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) clearly summarized the Chinese characteristics of the five aspects of Chinese-style modernization, and profoundly revealed the scientific connotation of Chinese-style modernization. This is not only a theoretical summary, but also a practical requirement, pointing out a broad road for building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The road is not the same as a flat river. It takes arduous efforts to turn the Chinese characteristics of the five aspects of Chinese-style modernization into successful practice and the distinctive characteristics into unique advantages.

First, the modernization of the huge size of the population.This is a salient feature of Chinese modernization. Depending on the size of the population, the tasks of modernization will be different, and the arduousness and complexity will be different, and the development path and mode of promotion will inevitably have their own characteristics. At present, there are more than 20 countries in the world that have entered modernization, with a total population of about 1 billion. China's population of more than 1.4 billion has entered modernization as a whole, which is larger than the population of the existing developed countries combined, and will greatly change the map of the modern world. This is the largest modernization in human history, and it is also the most difficult.

The super-large population can not only provide sufficient human resources and a super-large market, but also bring a series of problems and challenges. Feeding more than 1.4 billion people is no small challenge. There are also issues such as employment, distribution, education, medical care, housing, old-age care, and childcare, which are not easy to solve, and the number of people involved in each item is astronomical. When we think about problems, make decisions, and do things, we must first consider the issue of the population base and the reality that there is a big difference in the level of development between urban and rural areas in our country.

2023年2月7日，新进中央委员会的委员、候补委员和省部级主要领导干部学习贯彻Xi Jinping新时代中国特色社会主义思想和党的二十大精神研讨班在中央党校（国家行政学院）开班。中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席Xi Jinping在开班式上发表重要讲话。新华社记者 李涛/摄

Second, the modernization of common prosperity for all the people.This is the essential characteristic of Chinese modernization, and it is also a distinctive sign that distinguishes it from Western modernization. The biggest drawback of Western modernization is that it takes capital as the center rather than the people as the center, and pursues the maximization of the interests of capital instead of serving the interests of the vast majority of the people, resulting in a large gap between the rich and the poor and serious polarization. In the process of modernization, some developing countries have approached the threshold of developed countries, but they have fallen into the "middle-income trap" and have been stuck in a state of stagnation for a long time, and even seriously regressed.

Adhering to the principle that development is for the people, development depends on the people, and the fruits of development are shared by the people, Chinese modernization has made important progress in promoting common prosperity for all people, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, winning the battle against poverty, lifting nearly 100 million rural poor people out of poverty. At present, we have formed a set of ideological concepts, institutional arrangements, and policy measures to promote common prosperity for all people. While promoting high-quality development and making the "cake" bigger, we should further divide the "cake", strive to solve people's livelihood issues such as employment, distribution, education, medical care, housing, elderly care, and child care, build a coordinated system of three distributions, standardize the order of income distribution, standardize the wealth accumulation mechanism, guide and regulate the healthy development of capital in accordance with the law, gradually expand the middle-income group, narrow the income distribution gap, let the fruits of modernization benefit all the people more and more fairly, and resolutely prevent polarization. Achieving common prosperity is a long-term task, and we must work hard for a long time, insist on Qingshan, and continue to make new progress.

Third, the modernization of material civilization and spiritual civilization in harmony.It is the noble pursuit of Chinese modernization to have both material and spiritual wealth. Material poverty is not socialism, and spiritual poverty is not socialism. The early modernization of the West was characterized by the accumulation of wealth on the one hand, and the lack of faith and materialism on the other. Today, Western countries are increasingly in trouble, and an important reason is that they cannot curb the greedy nature of capital and cannot solve the chronic diseases such as materialistic expansion and spiritual poverty.

Chinese modernization requires not only great material wealth, but also great spiritual wealth, and self-confidence and self-improvement in ideology and culture. It is necessary to persist in grasping things with both hands and being firm with both hands, promote the coordination and mutual promotion of material civilization and spiritual civilization, and let all the people always have the ideological foundation of unity and struggle, the initiative spirit of pioneering and enterprising, and the healthy and progressive value pursuit. It is necessary to conform to the people's growing spiritual and cultural needs, build a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and leading force, strengthen education on ideals and beliefs and propaganda and education on the "four histories," cultivate and carry forward the core socialist values, develop advanced socialist culture, and introduce more outstanding literary and artistic works, so as to constantly enrich the people's spiritual world, raise the level of civilization of the whole society, and promote the all-round development of the people.

Fourth, the modernization of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.Respecting nature, conforming to nature, protecting nature, and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature are the distinctive characteristics of Chinese modernization. In modern times, most of the modernization of Western countries has gone through the stage of wanton plundering of natural resources and malignant destruction of the ecological environment, which often causes serious problems such as environmental pollution and resource depletion while creating huge material wealth. China's per capita energy resource endowment is seriously insufficient, and accelerating development is facing more energy resources and environmental constraints, which determines that China cannot follow the old road of Western modernization.

2023年7月25日至27日，中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席Xi Jinping在四川考察。这是25日下午，Xi Jinping在广元市剑阁县翠云廊考察。新华社记者 谢环驰/摄

Chinese modernization adheres to sustainable development, adheres to the principle of giving priority to conservation, protection and natural restoration, and unswervingly follows the path of civilized development with production development, affluent life and good ecology, which has opened up broad prospects for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. It is necessary to firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, adhere to the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands, promote ecological priority, conservation and intensive, green and low-carbon development, accelerate the green transformation of development mode, improve the diversity, stability and sustainability of ecosystems, actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and support high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment.

Fifth, we need to follow the path of peaceful development through modernization.Adhering to peaceful development, seeking its own development while firmly safeguarding world peace and development, and better safeguarding world peace and development through its own development, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind are the prominent characteristics of Chinese modernization. The modernization of Western countries is full of bloody crimes such as war, slave trade, colonization, and plunder, which have brought untold suffering to the vast number of developing countries. The Chinese nation has experienced the tragic history of aggression and humiliation by the Western powers, and is well aware of the preciousness of peace, and it is absolutely impossible to repeat the old path of the Western countries.

Chinese modernization adheres to independence and self-reliance, relies on the hard work, innovation and creativity of all the people to develop and strengthen itself, and achieves national development by combining endogenous motivation with the peaceful use of external resources, and does not oppress other nations in any form or plunder the resources and wealth of other countries, but provides support and assistance to the vast number of developing countries within its capacity. We must always hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win results, pursue a mutually beneficial and win-win strategy of opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the world with China's new development. Actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system, practice true multilateralism, promote the common values of all mankind, promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and strive to make greater contributions to peace and development of mankind.

2023年7月28日晚，第三十一届世界大学生夏季运动会在四川省成都市隆重开幕。Xi Jinping、蔡奇、丁薛祥等党和国家领导人出席开幕式。新华社记者 谢环驰/摄

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the beginning of reform and opening up, we have completed the industrialization process that the developed countries of the West have gone through for hundreds of years in a few decades, created a miracle of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, and opened up broad prospects for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Practice has proved that Chinese-style modernization is the only correct path for building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation.

※这是Xi Jinping总书记2023年2月7日在新进中央委员会的委员、候补委员和省部级主要领导干部学习贯彻Xi Jinping新时代中国特色社会主义思想和党的二十大精神研讨班上讲话的一部分。