While talking about the outlook of Chinese Communists on development and modernization, General Secretary Xi Jinping said that “Working for the wellbeing of the people and the rejuvenation of the nation is the immutable aim of our Party in leading the modernization drive, and the root and essence of the new development philosophy. We will only have the right view of development and modernization if we follow a people-centered approach, insisting that development is for the people, reliant on the people, and that its fruits should be shared by the people.” He also emphasized that it is what we have upheld that has enabled us to successfully advance and expand Chinese modernization through long-term exploration and practice.

It shows that Chinese modernization is closely linked with people’s wellbeing and national rejuvenation.

1. Chinese modernization is closely linked with the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Chinese modernization is inseparable from national rejuvenation. It has been developed as we pursue national rejuvenation. All the endeavors through which the Party has united and led the Chinese people since its founding have been tied together by one ultimate theme—developing China into a great modern socialist country and bringing about the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Promoting national rejuvenation through the path of Chinese modernization is also the mission and task of Chinese Communists in the new era.

The Party’s understanding of Chinese modernization has gradually deepened along with its explorations of realizing national rejuvenation. After it came to power, the Party has been advancing toward the goals of building a modern socialist country and realizing national rejuvenation. To this end, the Party has led the whole country in promoting economic and social development by implementing five-year plans one after another and setting long-range objectives, so as to gradually move toward the goal of a modern socialist country. Though our understanding of the connotation of modernization was not comprehensive enough at first, we have never wavered on our goal toward modernization and never stopped deepening our understanding. As early as in 1964, the Party had proposed a two-step strategy while formulating the Third Five-Year Plan. The first step was to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system and economic system within 15 years starting from the Third Five-Year Plan period, and the second step was to realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology in another 15 years by the end of the 20th century. When our country entered a new period marked by the launch of reform and opening up, the Party set the grand objective of building a prosperous, powerful, democratic, and culturally advanced socialist country. After Chinese socialism entered a new era, the Party proposed at its 19th National Congress a new two-step strategy from an even higher starting point. In the first stage of 15 years from 2020 to 2035, China will, on the basis of moderate prosperity in full, strive to basically realize socialist modernization. In the second stage of another 15 years from 2035 to the middle of the 21st century, building on basically achieved modernization, China will strive to turn itself into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. The 20th CPC National Congress reaffirmed the two-step strategy for building a great modern socialist country in all respects.

After considering the logic relation between Chinese modernization and national rejuvenation, we can easily come to the conclusion that the Party has constantly deepened its understanding of and improved its strategy for building a modern socialist country, and gradually enriched its practice in this regard. The Party and the people have never wavered in their will and determination to build a modern socialist country. History has proved and will continue to prove that the historical course of Chinese modernization is irreversible, as is the historical trend of promoting national rejuvenation through the path of Chinese modernization.

2. One important objective for Chinese modernization is to achieve common prosperity.

Common prosperity is a key indicator of the people’s wellbeing. Achieving common prosperity for all is both a persistent goal for our Party and an essential requirement of Chinese modernization. Chinese Communists’ pursuit of for “common prosperity” has a long history.

Achieving common prosperity is a basic question that Marxist theorists need to resolve and what Marx and Engels envisaged in socialist society and communist society. Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has consciously shouldered the historic responsibility of resolving this question and making this vision a reality. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong pointed out that under the leadership of the CPC, China “can grow more prosperous and in strength year by year, and we will see that happen. The prosperity is shared prosperity and the strength is also shared by all the people.” In the early 1980s, against the backdrop of reform and opening up, Comrade Deng Xiaoping constantly reminded us, “We keep to the socialist road in order to attain the ultimate goal of common prosperity.” As Chinese socialism entered a new era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has given high priority to “achieving solid progress in promoting common prosperity” and stressed that “bringing about common prosperity is a defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important mission of the Communist Party of China,” that “it is crucial to focus due attention on the issue of common prosperity,” and that “we must move steadily toward the goal of common prosperity for all.”

As China secured a complete victory in its fight against poverty and a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2020, a substantial step forward has been made in the CPC’s efforts to unite and lead the people in the pursuit for better lives and common prosperity. China has made historic achievements in solving the problem of absolute poverty that has plagued the Chinese nation for thousands of years, and brought about a miracle in humanity’s history of poverty reduction. This has laid a solid foundation for building a modern socialist country in all respects and created favorable conditions for realizing the Second Centenary Goal.

It can be said with certainty that only under the firm leadership of the CPC could we mobilize the whole Party and the entire nation to lift the people out of poverty, and only Chinese Communists can take on such a great historic task, lead the people in moving on toward the goal of common prosperity, and eventually resolve this major question.

Excerpt from Yang Mingwei's Speech at "Hong Ting Forum: Understanding the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China".