The Overall Planning of Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The report of the 18th CPC National Congress pointed out that building socialism with Chinese characteristics was a “five-sphere” integrated plan, namely, economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction and ecological civilization construction are promoted as a whole.

The formation and development of the integrated plan of socialism with Chinese characteristics has gone through a relatively long process. The concept of “integrated plan” was first seen in the “Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Guidelines for the Construction of Socialist Spiritual Civilization” adopted by the 6th Plenary Session of the 12th CPC Central Committee. It was pointed out in the “Resolution” that the integrated plan of China’s socialist modernization construction was that we should center on economic construction, stand firm in carrying out economic system reform and political system reform and strengthening spiritual civilization construction, and make these aspects cooperate with and promote each other. This marks the formal formation of the “three-sphere” integrated plan of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The 13th CPC National Congress established the basic line of the Party in the primary stage of socialism and emphasized that the primary stage of socialism in China is one when we establish and develop a vibrant socialist economic, political and cultural system through reform and exploration. The arrangements for construction and reform at the 15th and 16th CPC National Congress are laid out from such three aspects as the economy, politics and culture.

The report of the 16th CPC National Congress connected the economic, political and cultural construction with the material, political and spiritual civilization, which makes the “three-sphere” integrated plan clearer and deeper.

In February 2005, Hu Jintao put forward the complete concept of “the integrated plan of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics” for the first time at the special seminar on improving the ability of building a harmonious socialist society by leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels. He pointed out that with the continuous development of China’s economy and society, the integrated plan of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics had more clearly developed from the “three-sphere” one that includes the socialist economic, political and cultural construction to the “four-sphere” one that includes the socialist economic, political, cultural and social construction.

The 17th CPC National Congress put forward the construction of ecological civilization for the first time, and regarded it as the new requirement to realize the goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way.

In September 2008, Hu Jintao first proposed to comprehensively promote socialist economic, political , cultural, social and ecological civilization construction in his speech at the mobilization meeting of the whole Party’s in-depth study and practice of the scientific outlook on development and the special seminar of leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels, marking the initial formation of the “five-sphere” integrated plan of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The 18th CPC National Congress officially established the “five-sphere” integrated plan of socialism with Chinese characteristics, thus making the development layout of China’s socialist construction more perfect, the development purpose clearer, the development connotation more abundant, and the development path broader. In the “five-sphere” integrated plan of socialism with Chinese characteristics, economic construction is the center, political construction is the guarantee, cultural construction is the soul, social construction is the condition, and ecological civilization construction is the foundation. They interact, influence and support each other, and constitute an organic whole that is interrelated and promotes each other. This integrated plan can promote the coordination of all aspects of modernization and the coordination between production relations and productivity, and between superstructure and economic foundation, thus forming a development pattern of economic prosperity, political democracy, cultural prosperity, social equity and good ecology. It can also promote the comprehensive development and progress of contemporary China, and accelerate building China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious modern socialist country.

This integrated plan reflects a higher level of the CPC’s understanding of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC’s gradually deepening understanding of its ruling law, the law of socialist construction and the law of human social development, and the CPC’s theoretical consciousness of keeping pace with the times and the spirit of the times of constant innovation. It provides a general compliance for us to build a well-off society in an all-round way and realize socialist modernization.