How does the Chinese Communist Party govern the country?

Chapter 45

More than 60 years ago, the first generation of Chinese Communists represented by Mao Zedong solemnly declared in the face of historical questions: "We are not only good at destroying an old world, but we are also good at building a new world."They did. Today, more than 60 years later, the new generation of Chinese communists is facing another historical question: can we build a stable, orderly, fair, just, happy and peaceful society while building the second largest economy in the world? ?Facing this new historical question, how will the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government answer it?Can it deliver a governance answer sheet that satisfies the people?
The spring of 2003 gave people the impression not of the scent of green grass and flowers, but of the smell of white masks and disinfectant.A sudden "SARS" epidemic hit more than half of China, and 26 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) across the country had outbreaks one after another, and the number of infected people continued to increase.In just over half a year, a total of 5327 cases were reported, 349 people died, and the direct economic loss exceeded 100 billion yuan. The indirect economic loss and impact on many aspects of society are even more immeasurable.

The serious lack of hospitals for infectious diseases in some areas has exposed the lag in the construction of China's public health system, which in turn exposed the imbalance in China's economic and social development during the transition period.In dealing with new risks and insecurity factors such as SARS, issues such as social construction, coordinated development, and social management have been emphatically raised.

On November 2003, 11, Premier Wen Jiabao, who just took office, accepted an interview with the Washington Post in Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai. He said frankly: "Our new leadership has gained a lot from the fight against SARS." An important revelation is to pay attention to coordinated development. Unbalanced urban and rural development, and unbalanced economic and social development are like a person who has one leg long and the other short, and he will definitely stumble."

At that time, the "short legs" of social construction had become a grim reality for China.Objectively speaking, while China has maintained rapid economic growth, it has also made considerable progress in social undertakings.

However, due to the long-term influence of factors such as urban-rural dual structure, development concepts, management concepts, and various institutional mechanisms, the development level of social undertakings is still relatively low on the whole, and it is still far from coordinated with the rapid economic growth.With the continuous deepening of reform, opening up and modernization, the contradictions between population, resources and environment have further intensified, debts in education, culture and health have increased, farmers' income has grown slowly, and problems such as employment and re-employment pressure have gradually emerged. out of the water.The 2005 Human Development Report issued by the United Nations Development Program pointed out: "There are worrying signs that China's social development is beginning to lag behind economic growth." The report reminds: translate its impressive income growth into Sustainable growth in non-income human development is the main challenge China is currently facing.Facing new challenges, the Chinese government began to change its thinking, adjust its strategy, explore new development paths, and establish new social development goals.

Only a few months after the "SARS" epidemic, the enlightenment of "SARS" has reached a consensus at the top of the central government and crystallized in the documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. In October 2003, the Third Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly pointed out: "Economic and social development must be coordinated with each other. One leg should not be long and the other should be short. Reforms in the social field must be properly deepened to provide institutional guarantees for accelerating social development."

In September 2004, the theme report of the 9th Plenary Session of the [-]th CPC Central Committee made a clear summary for the first time of the ongoing construction work in adjusting social structure, developing social undertakings, and safeguarding social order. For "social construction". The introduction of the new concept of "social construction" reflects the deepening of the Chinese Communist Party's understanding of the laws of socialist modernization.

In February 2005, Hu Jintao incorporated social construction into the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics at the special seminar for leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He pointed out: "With the continuous development of China's economy and society, the The overall layout of the socialist cause has more clearly developed from the trinity of socialist economic construction, political construction, and cultural construction to the four-in-one integration of socialist economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, and social construction.”

For quite a long period after the founding of New China, China's socialist construction was mainly divided into three aspects: politics, economy, and culture. Social construction was not regarded as a relatively independent field of development. The overall layout of "Four in One" puts social construction and economy, politics, and culture in an equally important position.

In October 2007, the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China listed social construction issues in a separate section for systematic discussion, emphasizing that "social construction is connected with the vital interests of the people and must be placed in a more prominent position", and clarified education, employment, income distribution, social The task of social construction in the six major areas of security, medical and health care, and social management has proposed the development of "five haves" social undertakings of "learning to teach, earning income, getting medical treatment for illness, getting old age care, and living and living". Target.So far, the content of social construction has been further specified, and the thought of social construction has become more complete.

In 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao solemnly declared on behalf of the Chinese government: "Everything we do is to make the people's lives happier and more dignified, and the society more just and harmonious." This declaration expresses the core of China's social construction concept and value pursuit.China's social construction is people-oriented, "adhering to development for the people, relying on the people for development, and sharing the fruits of development by the people", "focusing on solving the most direct and practical interests of the people"; China's social construction It is a social construction that pursues social fairness and justice. The socialist society that China wants to build is a society of democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice, honesty and friendship, full of vitality, stability and order, and harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

The idea of ​​social construction and the initial formation of the social construction system have improved the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is a major change in the thinking of the Communist Party of China in governing the country.This transformation has attracted the attention and praise of the international community.Bangladeshi Ambassador to China Munshi Fayaz Ahmed said: "The Communist Party of China pays attention to making the achievements of reform and opening up benefit everyone, so that the quality of life of every Chinese has been improved."Chen Kaixi, secretary-general of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, said that the various policies and measures introduced by the Communist Party of China are based on the spirit of "people-oriented" and give priority to solving "people"-related issues.

This is beyond the reach of many countries in the world.

From "three-in-one" to "four-in-one", from focusing on the pursuit of economic growth to promoting all-round development of economy, society and people, this is a major progress in China's development concept.Since then, China has entered a new stage of all-round development in which social reform drives overall reform and social construction drives overall construction.

(End of this chapter)