Marxist Party That Learns, Innovates and Serves the People

The new goal of Party building put forward by the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 reflected on the essential requirements of the Marxist Party, and highlighted the vanguard nature, purpose consciousness and mass views of the Party, which is of great significance to make Party building more scientific in all respects and ensure that the Party is always the firm leadership core guiding the cause of Chinese socialism. The proposal of building the Party into a learning, service-oriented and innovative Marxist Party is the result of the gradual deepening of the Party's self-building since the Reform and Opening-up. After the Reform and Opening-up, Deng Xiaoping called for that “the whole Party must start learning again”. The 4th Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee proposed the task of “making efforts on building a learning Party” clearly. In October 2007, the 17th CPC National Congress further pointed out that we must improve the capability to analyze and solve practical problems by using scientific theories in accordance with the requirements of building a learning Party. In September 2009, the 4th Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee once again put forward the major strategic task of building a learning Marxism Party.

Xi Jinping pointed out at the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee in March 2013 that all Party comrades must learn well and always keep on learning. Since the Reform and Opening-up, the Party has continuously deepened its understanding of serving the people according to the actual situation. Deng Xiaoping stressed: “What is leadership? Leadership is service.” The 16th CPC’s National Congress emphasized that we must uphold the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, build the Party for public interest, and exercise governance for the people.

In October 2007, the 17th CPC National Congress further emphasized that serving the people wholeheartedly is the fundamental purpose of the Party, and all the work of the Party is for the benefit of the people. We must always make sure that the purpose and outcome of all the work of the Party and country are to realize, safeguard and expand the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. The 18th CPC National Congress inherited and developed the Chinese Communists' thought of serving the people and put forward the goal of building a service-oriented Marxist governing Party. Xi Jinping expressed the inherent requirement of building a service-oriented Party with the words "people’s yearning for a better life is our goal to strive forward". After the Reform and Opening-up, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that the world changes every day, and modern science and technology in particular develop rapidly. Anyone who fails to carry Marxism forward with new thinking and a new viewpoint is not a true Marxist.

The 16th CPC National Congress pointed out that theoretical innovation based on practice is the forerunner of social development and change. Bringing forth new ideas in all aspects through theoretical innovation and never becoming conceited and slackening are the ways of running the Party and country, which we should follow for a long time to come. The 17th CPC National Congress proposed to improve China's capacity for independent innovation and make China an innovative nation, which is the key to improve comprehensive national strength. The 18th CPC National Congress emphasized the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, the enhancement of innovation consciousness and the acceleration of national innovation system construction.

The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core stressed that innovation is the primary force guiding development. Xi Jinping pointed out that innovation is the key to driving overall social and economic development. A learning Party should form the idea of attaching importance to learning and being good at learning, establish the guarantee mechanism of continuous learning, develop learning methods meeting the requirements of the times, make learning an internal demand, actively apply the idea of learning to deal with and solve complex problems encountered in work, and promote innovation and cohesion with learning power to continuously enhance the vitality of the Party. A service-oriented Party should carry through the purpose of being people-oriented and governing for the people in the process of scientific, democratic and law-based governance, regard serving the people as the primary value and core task of governance, and always maintain flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the people.

An innovative Party should proceed from realities and promote cause development with reform and innovation under the guidance of Marxism, so that all of its theories and work conform to the times, follow the law of development and display great creativity, and it can always advance with the times and maintain promising. To be a learning Party, we must have full confidence in ideals and firm faith in communism, and establish our belief in Marxism and socialism and communism. In the new era of Reform and Opening-up, we must enhance confidence in the path, theories, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics through theoretical and practical study. At the same time, we must also learn all scientific knowledge that is conducive to realizing socialist modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, adhere to the combination of learning and application, and enhance creativity with learning ability. To build a service-oriented Party, we must clarify that prosperity for the people is the basic political position of the Party and the prominent feature distinguishing Marxist parties from other parties. We must also put the people above everything else and maintain flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the people, play the leading role of the Party in the process of serving the people, and take governing for the people as the highest standard for testing the Party's governance. To build an innovative Party, we must ensure that innovation is the primary force guiding development and the core of the new development concepts. Innovation must be put first in the new development concepts. Innovation is the development and the future. We must adhere to the basic principle of combining inheritance with innovation, emancipate our minds, seek truth from facts, keep pace with the times, be realistic and pragmatic, and promote practical innovation, theoretical innovation and institutional innovation in Party building.

Building a learning, service-oriented and innovative Marxist Party complements each other and is unified in the great practice of building a Marxist governing Party. Learning is the foundation and the prerequisite for service and innovation. Only through continuous and effective study can we align the ideological understanding of the whole Party with serving the people and reform and innovation. Service is the core and the fundamental purpose of learning and innovation. Leading and supporting the people to be the masters of the country is the governing purpose of the Party and the fundamental task of the service-oriented Party. Innovation is the driving force and a powerful guarantee for learning and service. Only by continuous reform and innovation can we explore new ideas and measures for the building of a learning and service-oriented Party. Building a learning, service-oriented and innovative Marxist Party embodies the Party’s consistent pursuit of self-purification, self-improvement, self-innovation and self-enhancement, embodies the nature and purpose of building the Party for public interest and governing for the people, and embodies the pioneering spirit for the Party's eternal vitality. Strengthening the Party's leadership in an all-round way is an important weapon for the victory of revolution, construction and reform. It is the basic experience of historic achievements since the 18th CPC National Congress, the inevitable choice for carrying out our great struggle, building our great program, advancing our great cause and realizing our great dream, and the fundamental guarantee for the Chinese nation to stand up and become prosperous and strong.