Integration of Enriching the Country with Strengthening the Army

The Communist Party of China has consistently adhered to the strategic goal of high degree of unity of national security and development. It has continued to enrich and develop in different periods. Since the founding of New China, the Communist Party of China has continuously explored and opened up a development path combining building a rich country and a strong army. In 1956, Mao Zedong clearly pointed out in the “On the Ten Major Relations” that to correctly handle the relationship between national defense construction and economic construction, “we must strengthen national defense, but for this end, we must first strengthen economic construction.” “Only by accelerating economic construction can we make greater progress in national defense construction”. After entering the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping clearly pointed out that the era theme had shifted from war and revolution to peace and development, and that national defense construction must subject to and serve the overall situation of national economic construction. Only by basing on the country’s entire industrial and agricultural development can national defense modernization be possible; at the same time, it is necessary to improve weapons and equipment and accelerate the modernization of national defense on the basis of continuous economic development. In the 1990s, on the one hand, new challenges appeared with intertwined traditional security threats and non-traditional security threats; on the other hand, after reform, opening up, and modernization, China’s economic strength was significantly enhanced, laying a solid material foundation for accelerating national defense and army building. In the context of the new era, the third generation of the Party’s central leadership collective with Jiang Zemin as the core put forward that promoting economic development and building a strong national defense are two major strategic tasks for China’s modernization. "A mechanism for mutual promotion and coordinated development of economic construction and national defense construction must be formed.”

Entering the new stage of the 21st century, Hu Jintao made a new summary of the dialectical relationship between building a rich country and a strong army in the Report of the 17th CPC National Congress. National defense and army building play an important role in the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is required to stand at the height of the overall national security and development strategy, coordinate economic construction and national defense construction, and realize the unity of building a rich country and a strong army in the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way. To coordinate economic construction and national defense construction, it is crucial to adhere to the military-civilian integration. The 18th CPC National Congress further emphasized to adhere to the path of military-civilian integrated development with Chinese characteristics and the unity of building a rich country and a strong army.

The “Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” stipulates to promote the integrated development of economic construction and national defense construction. Adhere to considering both development and security, and the unity of building a rich country and a strong army, implement the military-civilian integrated development strategy, and form an in-depth military-civilian integrated development pattern involving all elements, multiple fields, and high benefits. The Report of the 19th CPC National Congress has written this national strategy into the basic strategy of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. The Communist Party of China emphasizes the dialectical unity of building a rich country and a strong army. On the one hand, building a rich country is the foundation for building a strong army.

A weak army is unable to defend the enemy, and a poor country is unable to finance troops. Economic construction is the foundation of national defense construction, and economic strength is a strong backing for national defense strength. Only when national economic strength is enhanced can national defense construction achieve substantial development. Only by unswervingly taking the road of building a rich country can we comprehensively enhance China's overall national strength and lay a solid foundation for building a strong army. On the other hand, building a strong army is the guarantee for building a rich country. Only by building a strong army commensurate with China's international status and compatible with national security and development interests can national security be effectively maintained. In the era of economic globalization, building a strong army shall not only safeguard the country’s territorial frontiers, airspace, and territorial waters, secure the country’s peaceful development, but also play an active role in maintaining world peace and regional stability.

The major strategic thinking of the unity of building a rich country and a strong army reflects the Party’s profound understanding of the law of coordinated development of national defense construction and economic construction, the enrichment and innovation of the military thinking of Marxism in China, and the road to scientific development of national defense and army building in the new stage of the new century.