Topic: The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

Hu Jintao: The fundamental reason for all the achievements and progress in reform and opening up is to open up the road to Socialism with Chinese characteristics.

　　　 On October 15th, The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was grandly opened in the Great Hall of the People. Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Tao photo

　　　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 15th, when talking about the great historical process of reform and opening up, Comrade Hu Jintao pointed out that facts have eloquently proved that reform and opening up is the key choice to determine the fate of contemporary China and the only way to develop Socialism with Chinese characteristics and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Only socialism can save China, and only reform and opening up can develop China, socialism and Marxism.

　　　　Hu Jintao said that we are about to celebrate the 30th anniversary of reform and opening up. In 1978, our party held the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee with great historical significance, which opened a new historical period of reform and opening up. Since then, the people of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China have written a new magnificent epic of the Chinese nation’s self-improvement and indomitable endeavor with indomitable enterprising spirit and magnificent innovative practice. The outlook of the people of China, the outlook of socialist China and the outlook of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have undergone historic changes.

　　　　Hu Jintao pointed out that reform and opening up is a new great revolution led by the Party under the new era conditions, with the aim of liberating and developing social productive forces, realizing national modernization, enriching the people of China and rejuvenating the great Chinese nation. It is to promote the self-improvement and development of China’s socialist system, give socialism new vitality, and build and develop Socialism with Chinese characteristics; It is to strengthen and improve the Party’s construction in leading the development and progress of contemporary China, to maintain and develop the Party’s advanced nature, and to ensure that the Party is always at the forefront of the times. Hu Jintao emphasized that we should always remember that the great cause of reform and opening up was based on the valuable experience gained by the first generation of central collective leadership of the Party with Comrade Mao Zedong at the core, which led the whole Party and people of all nationalities to establish a new China, made great achievements in socialist revolution and construction, and painstakingly explored the laws of socialist construction. The victory of the new-democratic revolution and the establishment of the basic socialist system have laid a fundamental political premise and institutional foundation for all the development and progress of contemporary China.

　　　　We should always remember that the great cause of reform and opening up was initiated by the second generation of central collective leadership of the Party with Comrade Deng Xiaoping at the core, led by the whole Party and people of all ethnic groups throughout the country. In the face of the crisis caused by the "Cultural Revolution" for ten years, the second generation of the central collective leadership of the Party persisted in emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, scientifically evaluated Comrade Mao Zedong and Mao Zedong Thought with great political and theoretical courage, completely denied the wrong theory and practice of "taking class struggle as the key link", made a historic decision to shift the work center of the Party and the state to economic construction and implement reform and opening up, and established the basic line for the primary stage of socialism. Blow the clarion call of the times to go our own way and build Socialism with Chinese characteristics, establish Deng Xiaoping Theory, and guide the whole party and people of all ethnic groups to stride forward on the great journey of reform and opening up.

　　　　We should always remember that the great cause of reform and opening-up was inherited, developed and successfully pushed into the 21st century by the third generation of central collective leadership of the Party with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core. From the Fourth Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee to the Sixteenth National Congress, the third generation of the central leading collective of the Party, which was appointed at a critical historical juncture, held high the great banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory, persisted in reform and opening up, kept pace with the times, relied on the party and people to defend Socialism with Chinese characteristics, create a new socialist market economy system, create a new situation of all-round opening up, promote the new great project of party building, establish Theory of Three Represents, and continue to lead the ship of reform and opening up in the right direction.

　　　　Hu Jintao said: since the 16th National Congress, guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and Theory of Three Represents, we have followed the development and changes at home and abroad, seized the important period of strategic opportunities, carried forward the spirit of seeking truth from facts, pioneering and enterprising, persisted in theoretical innovation and practical innovation, made great efforts to promote scientific development, promote social harmony, improve the socialist market economic system, and unswervingly pushed forward the great cause of reform and opening up in the practice of building a well-off society in an all-round way. The most striking feature of the new period is reform and opening up, the most remarkable achievement in the new period is rapid development, and the most prominent symbol in the new period is to keep pace with the times. Socialism and Marxism are full of vitality on the land of China, bringing more benefits to the people and enabling the Chinese nation to catch up with the trend of the times and usher in a bright future of great rejuvenation.

　　　　Hu Jintao pointed out that reform and opening up, as a new great revolution, cannot be smooth sailing, nor can it be accomplished overnight. The most fundamental thing is that reform and opening up conforms to the party’s heart and people’s hearts and conforms to the trend of the times. The direction and road are completely correct, and the achievements and achievements cannot be denied. There is no way out for pause and retrogression.

　　　　Hu Jintao said that in the historical process of reform and opening-up, our Party has combined upholding the basic principles of Marxism with promoting the sinicization of Marxism, adhering to the Four Cardinal Principles with persisting in reform and opening-up, respecting the people’s initiative with strengthening and improving the Party’s leadership, adhering to the basic socialist system with developing the market economy, and promoting the reform of the economic foundation with the reform of the superstructure. Combining the development of social productive forces with the improvement of the civilization quality of the whole nation, improving efficiency with the promotion of social equity, adhering to independence with participation in economic globalization, promoting reform and development with maintaining social stability, and promoting the great cause of Socialism with Chinese characteristics with the new great project of party building, we have gained valuable experience in getting rid of poverty, accelerating modernization and consolidating and developing socialism in a developing country with a population of over one billion. Hu Jintao emphasized that the fundamental reason for all the achievements and progress we have made since the reform and opening up can be summed up as follows: opening up the road of Socialism with Chinese characteristics and forming the system of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Theory. To hold high the great banner of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, the most fundamental thing is to adhere to this road and this theoretical system.

　　　　Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, Socialism with Chinese characteristics Road is based on the basic national conditions, centering on economic construction, adhering to the Four Cardinal Principles, persisting in reform and opening up, liberating and developing social productive forces, consolidating and improving the socialist system, building a socialist market economy, socialist democratic politics, advanced socialist culture and a harmonious socialist society, and building a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious socialist modern country. The reason why Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s road is completely correct and can lead China’s development and progress lies in that we not only adhere to the basic principles of scientific socialism, but also endow it with distinctive China characteristics according to China’s reality and the characteristics of the times. In contemporary China, adhering to the Socialism with Chinese characteristics Road means truly adhering to socialism. Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s theoretical system is a scientific theoretical system including Deng Xiaoping Theory, Theory of Three Represents and Scientific Outlook on Development. This theoretical system has adhered to and developed Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, condensed the wisdom and painstaking efforts of several generations of the Communist Party of China (CPC) people to lead the people in their unremitting exploration and practice, and is the latest achievement of China Marxism, the party’s most valuable political and spiritual wealth, and the common ideological basis for the United struggle of people of all ethnic groups throughout the country. Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s theoretical system is a constantly developing and open theoretical system. In contemporary China, adhering to Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s theoretical system means truly adhering to Marxism.

Editor: Wang Yuxi