Having been raised in political cultures which primarily identify "socialism" with hostility to the market economy, Westerners are often confused by China's ideological evolution in the era of "reform and opening up". In particular, they tend to find the notions of "socialism with Chinese characteristics" and the "market-oriented socialist economy" difficult to comprehend.
Nothing could be more mistaken, however, than to take the rigid political categories of Western societies as a guide and conclude that China has merely attempted to find a compromise between market economics and traditional socialist ideas, promoting the results through an enormous public relations exercise. On the contrary, the process of reform and opening up has proceeded in strict accordance with the principles of Chinese Marxism, both politically and theoretically.
Consider the most recent articulation of socialism with Chinese characteristics, found in the theory of the Three Represents, first publicly elaborated by then general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC Jiang Zemin on July 1, 2001, at a gathering to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. In brief, this theory builds upon the important advances made by Deng Xiaoping, by committing the CPC to representing "the development trend of advanced productive forces, the orientation of advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China".
Through the Three Represents, Chinese Marxism re-affirms its defining political allegiance to the interests of the masses as a whole, attuned to the market economy understood as a crucial mechanism for achieving the generalized betterment of the people's conditions.
Furthermore, Chinese Marxism thus demonstrates its dynamically transformative character, based on a theoretical adherence to realism, practicality, and experimental self-development - evolutionary tenets with a deep and productive affinity to market dynamics, which also function as practical methods for the discovery of solutions to social problems, without subservience to the dogmatic assumptions of central planners.
Confusing the market economy with the interests of the large-scale businesses or other "special interests" that prosper within it at any given time may be an understandable error, but it is an error nonetheless. It was, after all, Adam Smith himself, the great proponent of the market economy, who suggested that when members of any given trade meet together, even for entertainment, their conversation quickly turn into a conspiracy aimed against the interests of the public. The market economy is a social institution and constant vigilance is required to protect it against those who threaten to subvert or "privatize" it for their own ends.
Deng Xiaoping's revolutionary usage of Special Economic Zones as laboratories for progressive social and economic reform laid the foundations for a non-dogmatic integration of market liberalization into Marxist theory, based on practical experimentation and learning from facts. This legacy is carried forward by the Three Represents, which orient the CPC to supporting the progressive social forces of free inquiry, artistic innovation, science, technology and market-driven commercial vitality, while constraining the influence of narrow special interests diverging from those of the great mass of the people.
Under contemporary circumstances, true socialism coincides with market-oriented economic policy, and vice versa - that's dialectics, and the Three Represents shows why.
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