The 6th Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted a landmark resolution on the major achievements and historical experience during the Party's 100 years of existence. “The Resolution on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century” is only the third such resolution following previous ones under Chairman Mao Zedong in 1945 and Deng Xiaoping in 1981. The resolution summarized the main tasks the Party has accomplished in four historical periods and 10 important experiences over the past 100 years. The four periods are the period of the new-democratic revolution (Mao); the period of socialist revolution and construction (Mao); the new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization (Deng, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao); and the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics (Xi Jinping).
In the first one – the period of the new-democratic revolution – the major tasks of the Party “were to oppose imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, seek national independence and the people's liberation, and create the fundamental social conditions for realizing national rejuvenation,” according to the communiqué. “Chinese communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, put an end to China's history as a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, to the rule of a handful of exploiters over the working people, to the state of total disunity that existed in the old China, and to all the unequal treaties imposed on our country by foreign powers and all the privileges that imperialist powers enjoyed on our land."
In the second one – the period of socialist revolution and construction – the major tasks of the Party “were to realize the transformation from new democracy to socialism, carry out socialist revolution, promote socialist construction, and lay down the fundamental political conditions and the institutional foundations necessary for national rejuvenation.” Chinese communists, with Mao as their chief representative, and the Chinese people showed the world that “the Chinese people were not only capable of dismantling the old world, but also of building a new one, that only socialism could save China, and that only socialism could develop China.” The Chinese communists, with Deng – the chief designer of China's reform and opening-up – as their chief representative have started the third period – the new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. In this period, the major tasks “were to continue exploring the right path for building socialism in China, unleash and develop the productive forces, lift the people out of poverty and help them become prosperous in the shortest time possible, and fuel the push toward national rejuvenation by providing new, dynamic institutional guarantees as well as the material conditions for rapid development.”
Chinese communists with Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao as their representatives have also played their part in the third period. From late 1980s to 1990s, China has experienced the political turmoil between spring and summer in 1989, and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of other former socialist states in Central and Eastern Europe have also brought serious challenges to the socialism in China. For Jiang's generation of Chinese communists, the communiqué said that “In the face of complex domestic and international situations and serious setbacks confronting world socialism, they safeguarded socialism with Chinese characteristics.” For Hu's generation of Chinese communists, “taking advantage of an important period of strategic opportunity, they focused their energy on development, with the emphasis on pursuing comprehensive, balanced, and sustainable development that put the people first.” Following the Party's 18th National Congress in 2012, socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a new era, said the communiqué.
The ten aspects are upholding the Party's leadership, putting the people first, advancing theoretical innovation, staying independent, following the Chinese path, maintaining a global vision, breaking new ground, standing up for ourselves, promoting the united front, and remaining committed to self-reform. “All of us must cherish them, uphold them over the long term, and continue to enrich and develop them in practice in the new era,” said the communiqué.
Following the Party's 18th National Congress, when Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a new era. The major tasks facing the Party in this period are to fulfill the First Centenary Goal (building a moderately prosperous society in all respects), embark on the new journey to achieve the Second Centenary Goal, and continue striving toward the great goal of national rejuvenation, said the communiqué.
In the new era, the Central Committee, with Xi at its core, “has demonstrated great historical initiative, tremendous political courage, and a powerful sense of mission, has solved many tough problems that were long on the agenda but never resolved and accomplished many things that were wanted but never got done. With this, it has prompted historic achievements and historic shifts in the cause of the Party and the country.” The Party has established Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defined the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the communiqué said, as reported by the Global Times.
