Basic Line of the CPC in the Primary Stage of Socialism

The Party’s basic line to build socialism with Chinese characteristics in the primary stage of socialism In 1987, the basic line of the primary stage of socialism formulated by the 13th CPC National Congress was that “leading and uniting the people of all ethnic groups in China, focusing on economic construction, to the Four Cardinal Principles, persisting in Reform and Opening-up, being self-reliant and hard-working, and striving to build China into a prosperous, strong, democratic and civilized modern socialist country”. In 2007, the Party Constitution adopted at the 17th CPC National Congress added “harmonious” after “civilized” as one of the goals of being a modern socialist country”.

The goals set by the 19th CPC National Congress was to build a prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful modern socialist country.

By the middle of this century was to build a prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful modern socialist country. The Party’s basic line is the action program formulated by the Party in a certain historical period to solve the main social contradictions, and it is the strategic guiding principle which takes o the overall situation into account. The basic line of the Party in the primary stage of socialism is a scientific summary of the positive and negative experiences of China’s socialist construction, and it improves and develops the line formulated after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee. In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee decisively ended the erred policy of “taking class struggle as the key link” and made a historic decision to shift the focus of the work of the Party and the state to economic construction and implement Reform and Opening- up. In March 1979, Deng Xiaoping put forward the Four Cardinal Principles of adhering to the path of socialism, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the leadership of the Communist Party, Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought at the meeting on the Party’s theoretical work.

At the 12th CPC National Congress in 1982, Deng Xiaoping put forward the major proposition of “building socialism with Chinese characteristics”. The 12th CPC National Congress put forward the general task of China’s socialist modernization and the strategic policy of striving to build a high-degree socialist spiritual civilization and a high-degree socialist democracy. A series of Deng Xiaoping’s important thoughts have laid a solid foundation for the proposal of the basic line in the primary stage of socialism.

The outstanding contribution of the 13th CPC National Congress held in 1987 is that it systematically expounded the theory of the primary stage of socialism and clearly summarized the basic line of the Party in the primary stage of socialism, that is, leading and uniting the people of all ethnic groups in China, focusing on economic construction, adhering to the four cardinal principles, persisting in Reform and Opening-up, being self-reliant and hard-working, and striving to build China into a prosperous, strong, democratic and civilized modern socialist country. Its main content can be reduced into “one central task and two basic points”. The Party Constitution revised at the 17th CPC National Congress added “harmonious” after “civilized”, that is, we should strive to build China into a prosperous, democratic, civilized and harmonious modern socialist country. The Party Constitution revised at the 19th CPC National Congress set the goal into building a prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful modern socialist country. The goal is the historical mission of the Party and the requirement of the all-round development of socialism in China. “One central task” means to take economic construction as the center; “two basic points” means to adhere to the four cardinal principles and Reform and Opening-up. They are interconnected and none can be neglected.

If we do not take economic construction as the center, the development of the socialism in the primary stage will lose its material foundation and the goal will not be realized. If we go without the two basic points, the economic construction will have neither direction nor motivation. “Being self-reliant and hard-working” is not only the Party’s fine tradition but also an important Party of the Party’s basic line. It is even a significant principle that China has to adhere to in building socialism with Chinese characteristics.