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On September 16, 1993, a day like any other, Deng Xiaoping, who had already retired from the Party and state leadership, put forward a thought-provoking argument with a forward-thinking, penetrating political perspective: "The problems after development will be no smaller than those before."
From Deng Xiaoping’s judgment made in 1993, we see that the primary stage of socialism can be divided into two different historical phases: the pre-development period and the post-development one. Today, socialism with Chinese characteristics finds itself in a new era. This means that China has entered the phase that Deng Xiaoping called "the historical period after development".
Deng’s pronouncement is a cause for concern, a call to action, and a source of inspiration at the same time. The path to development has never been smooth, and it is impossible to follow it unhindered. The closer the Chinese nation is to the dream of national rejuvenation, the more frequently issues and difficult situations will present themselves. The problems arising after development are no less significant than those that existed before. And these new problems are even more difficult to solve.
During a conversation with his younger brother Deng Ken, Deng Xiaoping said, "There is a significant question of how to achieve prosperity for 1.2 billion people and distribute wealth among them. The question has already been raised, and it is more difficult to solve than the question of development. It’s a huge question. We talk about preventing polarization, but in fact it’s something that happens naturally. It’s necessary to address the problem through various means, methods, and solutions. China can resolve the problem, but it will only get more serious. With only a small minority having so much wealth, while the rest have very little, there will be problems in the future. Unequal distribution will lead to polarization, and that will mean problems sooner or later. This problem has to be solved. In the past, we focused on development. But now, we know that problems after development will be no smaller than those before.
In the new era today, China has entered the uncharted waters of intense reform, a hard period of development, and a critical moment of transformation. As China moves towards socialist modernization, it is facing unprecedented challenges and difficulties that are uncommon in this world. Our main task, however, is to realize the Chinese Dream.
At this new starting point, the best means of commemorating our history and predecessors is creating new achievements and writing a new history. So this leads to the question: Where is the road to the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation? And how will we usher in a new prelude of history? How will China’s post-development problems be resolved? How can we create a new frontier for China’s path? To address these questions, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as general secretary has written a new and wonderful chapter for China’s path that marks out a clear blueprint for the country’s future development and shows how the dream of China’s path can be realized.
The Chinese Dream has emerged from the historical picture of China’s glory and turns of fortune experienced over the past 100-plus years. The dream is a stimulating and inspiring vision that has arisen after the many hardships suffered by several generations fighting in the nation’s struggle. It reflects the noble wishes of the Chinese people since the advent of modern times and points to the historical destiny of the Chinese people. It also marks out the direction of contemporary China’s development and outlines the common goal for the nation in the new era. Such an important strategic concept reflects the CPC’s immense historical responsibility and mission, giving new meaning to following and broadening China’s path in the new era.
On the morning of November 29, 2012, Xi Jinping visited the National Museum of China to see the grand exhibition entitled "The Road to Rejuvenation". He walked through the halls, looked closely at the pieces, and listened attentively to the curators’ explanations. Many of the items there–photos, charts, artifacts, film clips –brought onlookers back to the unforgettable years of ups and downs during the country’s modern period. Xi Jinping said, "Everyone has ideals and goals, as well as their own dreams. Now, people are discussing the Chinese Dream. I believe that bringing about the grand rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the country’s greatest dream since modern times. The dream has now taken shape after having been the long-held wish of several generations of Chinese people. It reflects the universal interests of the Chinese nation and its people, and it is the expectation of every Chinese."
In his speech, Xi reflected on China’s periods of suffering and success, drew on the CPC’s struggles and experimentation over the past 90 years, and presented the Chinese Dream as being at the intersection of history, reality, and the future. He showed how the Chinese Communists will be responsible for leading the people to national rejuvenation in a new era with strong determination and confidence.
The Chinese Dream is inextricably linked to China’s path. This path carries dreams along with it and leads to glory. Just as a tree has no two leaves that are the same, no single universal experience exists in the world, and there is no development model that cannot be altered. It is only by following the path chosen by the Chinese people themselves that we can go far. If we stay on course, we will be able to realize our own dreams.
In the new era, we can set sail towards the Chinese Dream. As the Chinese saying goes, "Everything moves forward, but the path behind cannot be forgotten; going further and taking another step toward the glorious future does not mean the past road can be forgotten." China’s path is an integral part of the Party’s development strategy and goal for the new era.
As China enters this new era, we are on the cusp of successfully building a prosperous society in every respect. China’s Communists are now proposing a two-step strategy to engineer socialist modernization and make the aspiration for the Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation a reality.
At the 19th CPC National Congress, a strategy was set forth for engineering a socialist modernization and strengthening the country in all respects. On the basis of creating a moderately prosperous society by 2020, it involved two steps–achieving basic socialist modernization by 2035, and making China into a strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful modern socialist country by 2050.This two-step strategy pushes forward the goal of achieving socialist modernization by 15 years to 2035, rather than 2050 as first set out during the 1980s. This shows how China’s reform and opening up has achieved brilliant results in terms of development, particularly since the 18th CPC National Congress. The two goals of improving living standards and increasing overall prosperity have been achieved ahead of schedule, while the conditions for creating modernization have also been created in advance. This two-step strategy has made China’s second centenary goal clearer and more complete.
The blueprint has been drawn up and the roadmap laid out. The dream is ahead, and the road is before us. In order to make the Chinese Dream a reality, we must follow China’s own path. Without the right course, nothing can be achieved– no matter how beautiful the vision or how lofty the dream. Death is the only thing that awaits us if we follow a narrow path leading nowhere or a road to a different flag.
As a well-known quotation goes, "Our mission is to cross the river, but we cannot cross it without a bridge or a boat, If we do not solve the problem of bridges or boats, crossing the river is empty talk." Today, the Chinese path is that very"bridge" or "boat" that will lead to the Chinese Dream. There’s no other way for China if it does not follow this path.
To follow China’s path in the new era, it’s necessary to adhere to the new concept of development. This new concept, involving innovation, coordination, conservation, openness, and a sense of sharing, did not come from nothing. Rather, it was put forward as we summarize the past development experience of China and other countries, analyze trends of development at home and abroad, and identify the salient contradictions and problems in China’s development. The new concept for development sets out the only way to achieve higher quality, greater efficiency, and fairer and more sustainable development. It is the "signpost" that directs China’s overall development and structural changes and provides key guidance for transforming China’s means of development, optimizing its economic structure, changing the momentum for growth, and promoting a high-quality development of the Chinese economy.
The "new normal" is different from before, and it is a relatively stable state of being. The term refers to an irreversible kind of development that is in line with current trends. Such a concept indicates that the Chinese economy has entered a new phase that is different from the high-speed growth period of the past 30 years.
The concepts of innovation, coordination, conservation, openness, and sharing in turn solve the problems of development drive, unequal development, the harmony between human beings and nature, the relationship between the domestic and the international, and the issues of social fairness and justice. It is a distilled expression of China’s ideas for development, direction, and focus.
The new concept of development is a key solution to the current state of affairs in which we see China’s economic development entering a new normal state, while the global economy’s recovery continues to be weak. In recent years, the world economy has experienced major readjustments, international trade has been sluggish, the financial markets have been turbulent, and there has been a significant rise in protectionism. Given these changes and new circumstances, it is clearly unfeasible to continue using the extensive development model from before and simply pursue the growth rate as-is. We must establish a new concept of development in order to move the Chinese economy from a stage of high-speed growth to one of high-quality development and to continuously create new phases of economic development.
The country’s manufacturing industry has been consistently making new achievements under the framework of the new concept of development, and it is drawing increasing amounts of attention at home and abroad. Many Chinese brands, such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Gree, and DJI, have come onto the world stage, offering competitive, cost-effective, and high-tech products, which have time and again received good reviews and produced good results. Companies in industries such as aerospace engineering and supercomputers, along with high-tech and high-end manufacturing industries including quantum communications, high-speed rail, and domestic aircraft carriers, have made a significant global impact. China, the world’s largest developing country, is becoming a manufacturing and technological power.
The plan known as "Made in China 2025"proposes to adhere to a policy that is "driven by innovation, prioritizes quality, focuses on green development, and is oriented towards structural optimization and the fostering of talent".Furthermore, it follows a basic principle that is "market-driven, government-led, responds to a current as well as a long-term perspective, and encourages overall advancement, major breakthroughs, self-development, and open cooperation". To achieve the strategic goal of becoming a manufacturing power, the first step is for China to become a powerful manufacturing country by 2025. The second step is for it to join the middle ranks of the global manufacturing powers. The third step is for the country to become the world’s manufacturing powerhouse some 100 years after the PRC was founded.
In 2015, China launched a major 10-year strategy plan known as "Made in China 2025" as a means of guiding the development of industry to allow the country to adapt to the new economic normal, accelerate the pace for building a strong manufacturing power, and drive the transformation of the country’s economy.
As the new technological revolution unfolds in the future, China will move in leaps and bounds toward high-end development. There will be a shift from China speed to China quality, from Chinese products to Chinese brands, and from a country that does manufacturing to a true manufacturing power. To follow China’s path in the new era, we need to promote true openness to the rest of the world. While openness brings progress, being closed-off generates backwardness, which in turn leads to defeat. This is the lesson of history, and it is also the truth of the Chinese road. Given the general trend of economic globalization and the gap between China and other nations, we must reconsider our relationship with the rest of the world. Which direction should China take? How should China’s relationship with the world be positioned? How can we keep up with the times? General Secretary Xi Jinping said,“There is no way out if we halt or retreat. Reform and opening up will never be completed and will only go on.”
Over the past 40 years, reform and opening up has become both the most distinctive feature of contemporary China and the key decision that has determined the country’s future. The policy has become a silver bullet enabling China to catch up with the times. It is possible to say that opening to the outside world has promoted China’s economic and social development. It is only by continually engaging with the rest of the world and responding to the trends of globalization can we achieve our goals for development more successfully.
To follow China’s path in the new era, we need to increase our confidence in the path itself. Even when we are closer to our dreams, the road is still difficult. The nearer we are to our goal, the more we need to take heart, muster our strength, and increase our confidence in our choice of road.
The results show how the Chinese path has gained a new energy through its extensive and profound transformation. In enabling the shift from poverty and backwardness to the first signs of wealth, in moving from a lack of food and clothing to a modest sense of prosperity, in "getting up from the ground"to "growing in wealth", it has engendered a miracle in the history of human society’s development.
In short, China’s path is neither a "spin-off" from the traditional socialism model, nor is it an "imported good" that can correct the soviet model, and it is also not an "imitation product" that copies the pattern of Western modernization. It is rooted in Chinese soil, reflects the wishes of the Chinese people, and responds to the requirements for China’s development and progress in modern times. It is the only way for China to move towards the future and it is also a contribution of the Chinese nation to the world development model.