| Jiang
Zemin's speech on Party's 80th anniversary (part III)
(07/01/2002)
Productive forces are the most dynamic and the most revolutionary
factor. It is also the ultimate decisive force of social development.
The contradictions between productive forces and the relations of
production and between economic base and superstructure constitute
the basic social contradiction.
The movement of this basic contradiction determines the direction
of the changes in the nature of society and the direction of social,
economic, political and cultural development. The fundamental difference
between socialism and capitalism lies in the difference between
their relations of production and superstructures.
The establishment and constant improvement of the socialist system
has opened up a broad road for the release and development of our
country's social productive forces. All relations of production
and superstructures, irrespective of their nature, develop with
the development of productive forces.
If they fail to keep up with the requirement of the development
of productive forces and have thus become obstacles to the development
of productive forces and social progress, readjustments and changes
are sure to take place.
To be sensitive to and quickly come to grip with the development
trend and requirements of our country's productive forces and take
practicable steps to promote the constant development of the advanced
productive forces by taking economic development as the central
task and by formulating and implementing correct lines, principles
and policies these are the fundamental expression and fundamental
requirements for our Party to stand in the forefront of the times
and maintain its advanced nature.
As the vanguard of the working class, our Party emerged in the historical
arena as the representative of China's advanced productive forces
at its very inception. The purpose of the new democratic revolution
led by our Party was to abrogate the privileges of imperialism in
China, eliminate exploitation and oppression by the landlord class
and the bureaucrat-capitalist class, change the comprador feudal
production relations and the rotten political superstructure rooted
in such economic base, establish a new political superstructure
with the people's democratic dictatorship as the core and release
from the roots the fettered productive forces.
After the founding of New China, we carried out socialist transformation
of agriculture, handicraft industry and the capitalist industry
and commerce in order to establish the socialist relations of production,
and, on that economic base, bring the socialist superstructure to
perfection so as to further release and develop productive forces.
It is for the same purpose that we have since the Third Plenum
of the 11th Party Central Committee carried out reforms and opening
up policies to adjust and reform the part of the socialist relations
of production that is incompatible with the demand of the development
of the productive forces and to adjust and reform the part of socialist
superstructure that is incompatible with the economic base.
Over the past twenty-plus years, we have made bold explorations
and practice and pushed forward the reforms in economic and political
structures and other areas and greatly released and developed the
country's social productive forces, bringing about tremendous changes
in the national economic development and social progress. The fundamental
task of socialism is to develop productive forces, enhance the comprehensive
national strength of our socialist country and improve the people'
s living standards and in this way reflect the superiority of socialism
over capitalism.
In all historical stages of the socialist society, it is necessary
to make the socialist system improve and develop itself through
reforms in line with the demand of the economic and social development.
Only by so doing, is it possible to make the socialist system filled
with vigor and vitality. All comrades in the Party should firmly
implant in mind this basic viewpoint and awareness on socialist
reform and development.
The development of human society is a historical process of advanced
productive forces replacing the backward ones. Socialist modernization
must be built on the basis of developed productive forces. Our purpose
of realizing modernization is, fundamentally, to obtain developed
productive forces through reforms and development. All comrades
in the Party, no matter what posts they are in, should check and
review their work regularly to see whether it conforms to the requirements
of the development of advanced productive forces. If it does, hold
on to it without wavering. If it does not, correct it where necessary.
Only by doing so, is it possible for Communists to give a full expression
to their advanced nature and to the spirit of the times.
Man is the most decisive factor in productive forces. The Chinese
working class, including intellectuals, is the basic force that
pushes the advanced productive forces forward in China. The peasant
class and other laboring people, closely united with the working
class, constitute a major force that pushes the country's productive
forces forward. To raise the ideological and ethical standards and
scientific and cultural levels of the workers, peasants, intellectuals
and other laboring people and the entire population and improve
their labor skills and creativity and give full scope to their enthusiasm,
initiative and creative power - these should remain the tasks of
primary importance that our Party should perform in representing
China's advanced productive forces.
Science and technology are the primary productive forces and a
concentrated expression and a hallmark of advanced productive forces.
The rapid progress in science and technology has given a powerful
shove-ahead to the productive forces of the world and the economic
and social development of humanity. The future development of science
and technology will result in new and major leaps. We must quickly
and accurately come to grip with this objective trend and give play
to the superiority of China's socialist system and combine it with
the mastering, application and development of advanced science and
technology so as to make big progress in science and technology
and innovation, use advanced science and technology to transform
and upgrade the national economy and achieve a leap-frog expansion
of our productive forces. This, too, is an important duty our Party
should perform in representing the requirements of the development
of productive forces.
Although we have made tremendous achievements in socialist modernization,
the productive forces in China have generally remained underdeveloped
as China is still at the primary stage of socialism and it has a
large population, a weak foundation and uneven economic and cultural
development. To release and develop our productive forces will remain
our central task for a long period of time to come.
We must develop the advanced productive forces without letup. As
to some existing backward modes of production that do not go along
with the requirements of the development of advanced productive
forces and the development of the times, we can not repel them summarily
and unrealistically; nor should we take the attitude of being contented
with what the things are and protecting what is backward. Instead,
we should be realistic and prepare the conditions for transforming,
improving and upgrading them and, through long-time efforts, gradually
make them advanced and applicable.
We must, under the guidance of the Party's basic theories, basic
line and basic program, stick to and improve the basic economic
system with public ownership as the main body and the common development
of multiple sectors; we must persist in and improve the socialist
market system; we must hold on to and improve the multiple ways
of distribution with the distribution of "to each according
to work done" as the main distribution modality; we must continue
to improve our opening-up program; we must hold on to and improve
the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and
based on worker-peasant alliance; we must hold on to and improve
the people's congress system and multi-party cooperation and political
consultation led by the Communist Party and the system of regional
autonomy of minority nationalities while actively and steadily promoting
the reform of the political structure to further expand socialist
democracy, rule the country by law and build a socialist state under
the rule of law.
Through unremitting efforts, we shall constantly improve the socialist
relations of production and superstructure and open up a broader
thoroughfare for the release and development of productive forces.
To make our Party forever represent the orientation of the development
of China's advanced culture is to make the Party's theory, line,
program, principles, policies and all its work reflect the requirements
of the national, scientific and popular socialist culture that develops
toward modernization, the world and the future, enable them to upgrade
the ideological and ethical qualities and scientific and cultural
qualities of the whole nation and to provide the motive power and
support culturally and intellectually.
Socialist society is a society for the development and progress
in all areas of endeavor. The socialist modernization is an undertaking
that features mutual supplementation and harmonious development
of material civilization and spiritual civilization. The comrades
of the whole Party must have a comprehensive mastery of the dialectical
relations between the two civilizations and while promoting material
civilization, it is necessary to promote socialist spiritual civilization.
In contemporary China, to develop advanced culture is to develop
culture with distinct Chinese characteristics and to build socialist
spiritual civilization.
We should have a firm grip on the development trend and requirements
of China's advanced culture. We must persist in taking Marxism-Leninism,
Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory as the guide, base ourselves
on the practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics,
fix our attention on the frontline of the development of the world's
science and culture, develop healthy, progressive, rich and colorful
socialist culture with Chinese styles and characteristics to meet
the increasing demands of the people, and direct the people to get
mentally equipped and upgraded with correct ideas. That is also
the fundamental expression and requirement for our Party to remain
in the forefront of the times and maintain its advanced nature.
The kind of cultural orientation a political party follows and
the kind of culture it promotes constitute the party's ideological
and spiritual banner. Over the past 80 years, our Party has held
high the marching banner of China's advanced culture, worked hard
to build and carry forward the new culture that reflects the requirements
of revolution, construction and reform, and cleaned up the old decadent
and dying culture which was left over from the old society and infiltrated
into China from abroad. As a result, the cadres and masses have
been emancipated and encouraged ideologically and mentally, and
a correct guiding ideology and a common ideal have taken shape among
the whole Party and the people throughout the country to rally popular
feeling and unify public wills.
The fundamental task for developing the socialist culture lies
in cultivating citizens from generation to generation who have lofty
ideals, moral integrity, a better education and a good sense of
discipline. We should persevere in arming the people with scientific
theories, guiding the people with correct public opinions, molding
the people with noble minds, and inspiring the people with superior
works. We must stick to and consolidate the guiding status of Marxism,
help people build up the correct outlook on the world and life and
values, have firm belief in Marxism and socialism, increase confidence
in the reform, opening- up and modernization drive, strengthen trust
in the Party and the government, and increase the awareness about
self-reliance, competition, efficiency, and democracy and the rule
of law, as well as the pioneering and innovation spirit. We should
continue to implement the strategy of invigorating the country through
science and education, further popularize education, enhance its
quality and level of the whole society, and make greater efforts
to develop scientific and cultural undertakings. We should double
our efforts to publicize scientific knowledge, scientific approaches,
scientific thinking, and scientific spirit. A vital principle we
must follow in developing China's advanced culture is to emphasize
the central theme of the socialist culture, persevere in serving
the people and socialism, and let a hundred flowers blossom and
a hundred schools of thought contend. We should master and develop
various kinds of modern communication means and promote the spreading
of the advanced culture.
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