Socialism with Chinese characteristics is the right path

Editor’s note: Party General Secretary Hu Jintao addressed the opening session of a workshop for ministerial and provincial officials on July 23. The following is a People’s Daily commentary on the speech:

The cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a great cause, which has to be fulfilled. In the process of its advancement, the Party has endlessly explored its objectives and tasks and promoted their implementation, ceaselessly improving the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Hu Jintao’s remarks at the opening session of the workshop for ministerial and provincial officials on July 23 focused on the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and made a series of new and important arrangements for the country’s economic, political, cultural and social construction and civilization advancement.

Containing not only principled requirements, policy arrangements and measures but also strategic designs, macro schemes and concrete implementation measures, these important arrangements have offered guidelines for promoting China’s economic and social development in a rapid and sound manner. To honor the spirit of Hu’s remarks, we should fully grasp and push forward these significant arrangements for socialism with Chinese characteristics and promote their implementation by closely combining them with our daily work and practices.

The formation of the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the Party’s scientific summarization of historical and practical experiences of China’s socialist construction drive. To fully understand the important arrangements mapped out for socialism with Chinese characteristics, we should thoroughly grasp their significance for China’s modernization drive and efforts to realize national rejuvenation.

A series of policy and conceptual changes the Party has experienced — from its explicit conceptualization of economic, political and cultural construction to its emphasis on civilization advancement — unequivocally indicate the Party has continuously deepened its perception of the strategic task of China’s socialist modernization drive and continuously improved its perception of the development law of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

By implementing the significant arrangements mapped out by Hu for the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics, China will inevitably gain full development and progress, and the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics will show new vitality.

The overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics is an organic totality of various factors based on interconnection and mutual promotion. To fully understand and push forward its significant arrangements, we have to grasp the internal links among the country’s economic, political, cultural and social construction and its civilization advancement, as well as understand their importance for the socialist drive with Chinese characteristics.

We should also work according to the basic requirements to thoroughly implement the Scientific Outlook on Development for total economic, political, cultural and social construction as well as civilization advancement in a bid to promote mutual coordination among all aspects of the country’s modernization drive.

Advancing the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics is important for the future of the country, the destiny of the Chinese nation and the happiness of the people. The crux of grasping and pushing forward the significant arrangements for the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics lies in their full implementation in our concrete practices.

To promote cultural construction, we should cultivate a high degree of cultural consciousness and cultural confidence to push for the all-out development of socialist material civilization and spiritual civilization. As part of our efforts to boost social construction, we should try to solve the practical problems that are of great concern to people and try to give every Chinese access to the fruits of the country’s reforms and development.

As part of the advancement of our civilization, we should integrate its concepts, principles and objectives to the whole process of our economic, political, cultural and social construction and focus more on a green, cyclic and low-carbon development to create a good living environment for the people.

Rejuvenating the Chinese nation has been the dream of generations of Chinese, and socialism with Chinese characteristics remains the only road to fulfilling that ambitious cause. China will inevitably develop into a prosperous, democratic and advanced socialist nation if we proceed with our economic, political, cultural and social construction and civilization advancement in line with the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

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