Initial mark ｜ Why is reform and opening up a ＂great awakening＂ of our party？

In 2018, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader delivered an important speech at the celebration of the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, profoundly pointing out: "Reform and opening up is a great awakening of our party, and it is this great awakening that gave birth to our party’s great creation from theory to practice." Then, saying that reform and opening up is "a great awakening", what can be interpreted?

(A) the reform and opening up has given new vitality to socialist China, which has enabled us to re-understand socialism in theory and practice.After the "Cultural Revolution", facing the situation that everything is in ruins, Comrade Deng Xiaoping put forward "emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts" with great political courage, which opened the ideological valve for the start of reform. Starting from the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, China’s domestic reform and opening to the outside world in a large-scale and deep-seated way from rural areas to cities, from coastal areas to inland areas, and from economic system reform to political system reform have become the most remarkable features of China in the new period. Reform is a revolutionary change. Comrade Deng Xiaoping defined China’s reform and opening up as the "second revolution". He pointed out that the nature of reform is the same as that of the past revolution, and it is also aimed at removing obstacles to the development of social productive forces and getting China out of poverty and backwardness. As the basic principle of socialist China, reform and opening up has been adhered to for a long time, which is the result of understanding, thinking and exploring the socialist ideal and reality and the internal and external environment of national development. Thanks to the successful promotion of China’s reform and opening up, socialism is full of great vitality in China in the 21st century. The reform and opening-up drive socialist China to realize the great transformation from tradition to modernity and from closed to open, and endow Socialism with Chinese characteristics with the inherent characteristics of continuous self-innovation and self-transcendence. Since its birth, socialism has experienced many leaps from fantasy to science, from theory to practice, and from one country to many countries. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out: After long-term efforts, Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era.In the new era, Socialism with Chinese characteristics carries forward the past and innovates, which has achieved another leap in the history of socialist development. Historical experience tells us that only reform and opening up can develop China, socialism and Marxism. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "Reform and opening-up can only be carried out when it is not completed. Without reform and opening up, there would be no China today, and there would be no China tomorrow. "

(2) The reform and opening up has liberated and developed social productive forces, which has enabled us to re-understand the market economy in theory and practice.The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made a strategic decision to shift the focus of its work to socialist modernization, which realized a far-reaching historical turning point since the founding of New China and initiated a brand-new period of socialist modernization and economic system reform — — The market-oriented reform of China’s economic system has officially started. In the practice of economic reform from 1978 to 1983, the principle of "planned economy as the mainstay, supplemented by market regulation" was initially put forward. In the market-oriented reform, China’s economy has recovered and developed rapidly. In September, 1982, the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated for the first time that it is a fundamental issue in the economic system reform to correctly implement the principle of giving priority to planned economy and supplementing market regulation. This is the first historic breakthrough of our party in understanding the relationship between planning and market since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee. From 1984 to 1988, the practice of economic reform experienced a transformation from "planned commodity economy" to "the state regulates the market and the market guides enterprises". The Thirteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly pointed out that the socialist planned commodity economy system should be a system of internal unity of planning and market; Planning and market are both forms and means of economic operation, rather than signs that distinguish socialism from capitalism. After that, the theory of socialist market economy has been continuously improved, and every improvement is accompanied by the rapid development of economy and the great improvement of wealth creation efficiency.China’s socialist market economy has broken through the inherent understanding of market economy, and made it clear that market economy, as a way of resource allocation, is subordinate to the basic social system, which stipulates the scope, mode and purpose of market economy’s resource allocation. Market economy has a broader development prospect under socialist conditions. The socialist market economy has got rid of the disadvantages of market economy development under neo-liberal conditions, and is closer to the inner essence of market economy to promote the development of social productive forces and increase social wealth to a certain extent. The socialist market economy always focuses on people’s interests, always insists that development depends on people and development is for people’s development goals. It is an inclusive sharing reform based on people’s well-being, which largely avoids the dilemma of market economy under other social systems. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "Developing the market economy under socialist conditions is a great pioneering work of our Party. A key factor for the great success of China’s economic development is that we have brought into play the advantages of both the market economy and the socialist system. We are developing the market economy under the premise of the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership and the socialist system, and we must never forget ‘ Socialism ’ This attribute. The reason why it is a socialist market economy is to uphold the superiority of our system and effectively prevent the drawbacks of the capitalist market economy. "

(3) Reform and opening up have made China make new and greater contributions to mankind, and made us re-understand the rise of great powers from the theoretical and practical levels.At the beginning of Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s reform, it is necessary to break the closed and semi-closed development state and actively integrate into the world development trend. Over the past 40 years, an all-round and multi-level opening pattern has been formed. Opening to the outside world has enabled China to truly establish a bridge link with the world, so that the development of socialism can truly absorb the civilized achievements of human society and make China’s modernization road truly have world significance. Facing the rising reality of China, various "China theories" in the western world are endless. From "China collapse theory" to "China threat theory", all kinds of arguments have been shattered in reality. China negates the logic of "a strong country must dominate" with his own actions, and tells the world with his own actions that the revival and rise of a country is not necessarily based on exploitation and oppression, and peaceful development is the best choice for the rise of a great country. China’s reform and opening up has sent a signal to the world that the more successful China’s reform and opening up is, the better it will be for the world. With the increasing strength of soft and hard power, China’s responsibility of leading global governance is also increasing. The current world situation has given China a new connotation and task in opening to the outside world. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: No country can cope with the challenges faced by mankind alone, and no country can retreat to an isolated island. China’s opening to the outside world is not only the input and output of utensils and capital,Instead, it is necessary to put forward a series of China’s propositions and China’s proposals around major issues such as what kind of global governance the world needs, for whom global governance is aimed, and how to promote the reform and construction of global governance. The eyes of the world are increasingly turning to this open and inclusive country. Socialist China has proved with practical actions that the purpose of reform and opening up is peaceful development and to make the world more inclusive, more generous and more friendly.

(The author is Professor Huang Xianghuai of the Central Party School (National School of Administration))