Zheng Bijian

The 18th National Congress of the CPC has been in the spotlight of national attention and has also been followed closely by the international community. According to the report delivered at the Congress, we are to steadfastly forge ahead on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and endeavor to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively by emancipating the mind, carrying out reform and opening up, pooling strength, and tackling challenges and difficulties; we are to do so by holding high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and being guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of the Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development. 

In order to acquire a better understanding of the above underlying theme, or spirit, of the Congress, Wenhui Daily had an interview with Zheng Bijian, Chairman of China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy and former Executive Vice President of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. 

Zheng Bijian has participated in the drafting of a series of important documents of the CPC Central Committee, including “Resolution on Certain Historical Issues of the Party since the Founding of the P. R. C.”, “Decision on Reform of the Economic System”, “Decision on Reform of the Educational System”, and “Resolution on Building Socialist Spiritual Civilization”. He was one of the drafters of the report for the 12th National Congress of the CPC and continued to serve in this role for the reports of all subsequent national congresses. Mr. Gong Yuzhi, Vice-President of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee from 1993 to 1998, once said, “Of all the CPC theorists, I guess Zheng Bijian has been involved in the preparation of the largest number of reports for national congresses and documents for the Central Committee. 

Zheng Bijian pointed out that the report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC answers four fundamental questions regarding the overall work of the party and the country in the decisive stage of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively. These include what banner to hold, what path to follow, what mentality to have, and what goals to strive for. The report does so based on incisive analyses and assessment of the present domestic and international situations and the situation of the party as well as on a careful review and summary of the party and people’s practice over the years. It echoes the wishes and expectations of the people of all ethnic groups and is also a resounding declaration to the international community of the path China will traverse in the second decade of the 21st century and even a long period of time to come after that.  

Four Fundamental Questions Regarding the Overall Work of the Party and the Country

Wenhui Daily: The 18th National Congress of the CPC opened in Beijing on November 8, 2012. Under the theme of the Congress, we are to steadfastly forge ahead on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and endeavor to build a moderately prosperous society comprehensively by emancipating the mind, carrying out reform and opening up, pooling strength, and tackling challenges and difficulties; we are to do so under the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and being guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of the Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development. We identified two notable differences between this theme and that of the 17th National Congress of the CPC. For that Congress, we were to continue to implement the Scientific Outlook on Development under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of the Three Represents, and we were to build a moderately prosperous society comprehensively. What would these differences imply or suggest? 

Zheng Bijian: The report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC unequivocally expressed, at the outset, the theme of the Congress. It was the heart and soul of the Congress. Acquiring a profound understanding and firm grasp of the theme is the most crucial for carrying out the spirit of the Congress. By doing so, we will be able to have the overall situation in command and the goals and objectives firmly in mind so that we can act strategically in our efforts to achieve these in the first decade of the 21st century and thus push the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics to a new height.

When it comes to the importance of the theme, I think Comrade Xi Jinping made this crystal clear in his remarks when he met with Shanghai representatives to the Congress on the afternoon of November 8. He emphasized that the theme of the Congress was put forward based on a thorough analysis of the domestic and international situations and the situation of the party as well as on the new requirements for our country’s development and the people’s new expectations. It declared to our party, the nation, and the outside world what banner to hold, what path to follow, what mentality to have, and what goals to strive for on our way forward. These four fundamental questions concern the overall work of the party and the country. It is highly important that we proposed and established the theme as we unify and lead the people of all ethnic groups in moving forward on our journey. In doing so, we keep abreast of the times while building on past achievements. Understanding the theme accurately and deeply is critical for implementing the spirit of the Congress.

We will, holding high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, continue unswervingly to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively by carrying out reform and opening up. We will do so by emancipating our mind and pooling our strength. We will make determined, unremitting efforts in overcoming all difficulties and challenges that lie ahead.

“We are to hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and be guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of the Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development.” Thus the theme explicitly defines the banner we are to hold in the decisive stage of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively.

 “We are to steadfastly forge ahead on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Thus the theme explicitly defines the path we are to follow in the decisive stage of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively.

 “We are to carry out reform and opening up by emancipating the mind, pooling strength, and overcoming all difficulties and challenges.” Thus the theme explicitly defines the mentality we are to have in the decisive stage of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively.

“We are to strive to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively.” Thus the theme explicitly defines the ultimate goal the party is to accomplish in the next five to ten years.

The theme addresses these four fundamental questions based on incisive analyses and assessment of the present domestic and international situations and the situation of the party as well as on a careful review and summary of the party and people’s practice over the years. It echoes the wishes and expectations of the people of all ethnic groups and is also a resounding declaration to the international community of the path China will traverse in the second decade of the 21st century and even a long period of time to come after that.  

Completing the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively as scheduled by focusing our neigong, or “internal exercises”, in three areas 

Wenhui Daily: We also noted that the report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC referred to “important strategic opportunities” at four places. In reviewing the work over the past ten years, Comrade Hu Jintao pointed out, “We have seized and made the most of the important period of strategic opportunities for China's development, successfully met a series of major challenges, and hence advanced socialism with Chinese characteristics to a new level.” Elaborating on the continuous explorations in reform and opening up over the past thirty years and more, Comrade Hu Jintao said, “In this new stage in the new century, the Party Central Committee has seized this important period of strategic opportunities and promoted innovation in practice, theory, and institutional building in the course of building a moderately prosperous society comprehensively. We have emphasized the need to put people first and to pursue comprehensive, balanced, and sustainable development; we have called for building a harmonious socialist society and speeding up building of the ecological system, and we have adopted overall steps for advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We have strived to ensure and improve the people's wellbeing, promoted social equity and justice, worked to build a harmonious world, and strengthened both the governance capabilities and the advanced nature of the party. We have thus upheld and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics from a new historical starting point.” In putting forward the goals for completing the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively and for deepening reform and opening up comprehensively, Comrade Hu Jintao pointed out, “An examination of the present international and domestic environments shows that China continues to be in an important period of strategic opportunities for development, a period in which much can be accomplished. We need to have a correct understanding of the changing nature and conditions of this period, seize all opportunities, cope with challenges calmly, and gain initiative and advantages to win the future and meet the goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society comprehensively by 2020.”

The Central Committee emphasized that we are still in a period of significant strategic opportunities and wanted us to seize and make the most out of these opportunities. These words clearly bespeak the importance the Central Committee attaches to these opportunities and its eager expectation that we will make full use of them. How can we best put these strategic opportunities into perspective and fully understand them?

Zheng Bijian: In order to help us better understand the statement in the report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC that under the new historical situation China is still in an important period of strategic opportunities, in which much can be accomplished, I would like to make the following points. In doing so, I refer to the successful practice of the party and the country over the years.

A review of the first decade of the 21st century shows that almost every major strategic breakthrough during this period was achieved through the transformation of a crisis into opportunities for development. In 1997 China successfully coped with the Asian financial crisis, making itself an engine for East Asian economies. In 2001 China broke the deadlock and acceded to the World Trade Organization (WTO), embarking on fully integrating itself in the global market system. After the September 11 attacks, China and the United States started to build new convergences of strategic interests. In 2008 the rocky cross-Strait relations stabilized and the mainland and Taiwan entered a new era of peaceful development. After 2008 China successfully coped with the severe impacts of the global financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis, catapulting itself into the center of the international system and the global economy. The list could go on. As we can see, crises can indeed be translated into opportunities. For much of the time, if we can make the best of an unfavorable situation, we will be able to turn tough challenges into rare opportunities. This is a lesson we have learned from our history. 

Also, we need to take China’s future development into full consideration. While we assess our strategic opportunities based on a comprehensive grasp of the domestic and international situations, we need to be fully aware that China’s development is a more and more important factor influencing the international situation. That is, China is increasingly a heavyweight both in the global economy and in international relations. It performs a balancing act in global economic and political affairs. In the second decade of the 21st century and for a long period of time to come after that, we will be under increasing pressure both at home and abroad and will be faced with numerous difficulties, many of them unpredictable. However, China is developing rapidly and will continue to develop rapidly. This underlies the important strategic opportunities we will be blessed with in the second decade of the 21st century and for a long period of time beyond that.

In line with these strategic opportunities