The Concept of Social Construction

Continuously establish and improve various structures and mechanisms that can reasonably allocate resources in the social field, and accordingly form various organizations and forces that can benignly regulate social relations. According to the new manifestations, new characteristics and new trends of social contradictions, social problems and social risks, create new mechanisms, new entities and new subjects that correctly handle social contradictions, social problems and social risks, better resolve contradictions, bridge differences, and control conflicts, reduce risks, increase security, increase unity, and improve people’s livelihood. The scope of social construction is very wide, and its main contents include developing social undertakings, optimizing social structure, improving social service functions and promoting the development of social organizations.

Social undertakings mainly include education, science and technology, cultural undertakings, medical and health, sports, employment, social security, community construction, tourism, population and family planning, etc. The most important characteristics are public, publicity, public welfare and non-profit.The core task of social construction is to adjust and optimize the social structure and establish a social structure compatible with China’s economic structure. Through deepening reforms and adjusting policies, change the dual structure of urban and rural areas; through coordinated regional development, form a regional industrial structure with reasonable division of labor, distinctive features, and complementary advantages; and through the gradual expansion of the proportion of middle-income earners, form a reasonable social class structure. The main body of social construction is mainly to give play to the role of the government, public institutions, social organizations and the people under the unified leadership of the Party. The value principle is fairness and justice; the goal is to achieve social harmony and improve the quality of life of the people; the means is social management, ensuring social order through coordination, guidance, leadership, etc.; the mechanism is to establish an effective activity mode that coordinates the participation of all classes, various social forces, and people in social construction through policies, systems and organizations, etc. In 2007, the 17th CPC National Congress developed the three-in-one overall layout of the socialist economic construction, political construction, and cultural construction into a four-in-one overall layout of socialist economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, and social construction, and emphasized the acceleration of social construction with the improvement of people’s livelihood as the focus.

This is the new understanding and new summary of the Communist Party of China on the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which embodies the essence of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the requirements for thoroughly implementing the “Scientific Outlook on Development”, building a socialist harmonious society and building a well-off society in an all-around way. In 2012, the 18th CPC National Congress proposed that the current focus of China’s social construction is to protect and improve people’s livelihood. By advancing the reform of the social system, expand public services, improve social management, promote social fairness and justice, and in practical life, seek more benefits and solve concerns for the people’s livelihood, solve the most immediate and practical interest issues that the people are most concerned about, continue to make new progress in learning and educating, gaining income from work, getting medical care for illness, providing support for the elderly, and housing, and strive to make people live a better life.