On the morning of August 17, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and the Central Military Commission held a grand gathering at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Marxist, proletarian revolutionary, politician, military strategist, diplomat, and outstanding leader of the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Comrade Jiang Zemin. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the country, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the conference and delivered an important speech.
The following is the full text of the speech. It was published in Chinese by the Xinhua News Agency and has been machine translated and then sub-edited by us.
Comrades and friends,
Today, we gather solemnly to commemorate the centenary of Comrade Jiang Zemin’s birth, deeply commemorate his great achievements, deeply study his noble character, and inspire the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups across the country to continuously advance the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Comrade Jiang Zemin is an outstanding leader recognised by the entire Party, the military, and people of all ethnic groups nationwide, enjoying high prestige and outstanding leadership, a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, politician, military strategist, diplomat, a long-tested communist fighter, an outstanding leader in the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the core of the Party’s third generation central leadership collective, and the main founder of the important thinking of the ‘Three Represents’.
A hundred years ago today, Comrade Jiang Zemin was born into a patriotic intellectual family in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. From his youth, he was determined to pursue truth and actively participated in patriotic and progressive student movements. In April 1946, he joined the Communist Party of China, dedicating his life to the cause of the Party and the people.
After the founding of New China, Comrade Jiang Zemin worked successively in enterprises, research institutes, and national ministries, fulfilling his duties and working diligently in every position, dedicating his passionate years to the cause of socialist revolution and construction. In the early days of reform and opening up, Comrade Jiang Zemin served as Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the State Administration of Import and Export and the State Foreign Investment Administration Commission, and later as First Vice Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Electronics Industry, making extensive pioneering work in reform and opening up. At the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee.
In 1985, Comrade Jiang Zemin was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Mayor. In 1987, at the First Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee, he was elected as a member of the Central Political Bureau and served as Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. During this period, Comrade Jiang Zemin led the broad masses of cadres and people in Shanghai to boost morale and courageously explore, led the formulation of Shanghai’s economic development and urban construction plans, promoted Pudong’s development and opening up, and made outstanding contributions to advancing Shanghai’s reform, opening up, and socialist modernisation. At the turn of spring and summer in 1989, China experienced serious political turmoil. Comrade Jiang Zemin resolutely supported and implemented the correct decisions of the Party Central Committee, effectively maintaining stability in Shanghai.
In June 1989, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee, Jiang Zemin was elected as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and General Secretary of the Central Committee. In November of the same year, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee decided to make him Chairman of the Central Military Commission, forming the third generation of the Party’s central leadership with Jiang Zemin at its core.
From the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, over 13 years, the international situation was complex, and the process of reform, opening up, and socialist modernisation in China was magnificent and extraordinary. Comrade Jiang Zemin led the Party’s central leadership collective, held high the great banner of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and Deng Xiaoping Theory, unwaveringly adhered to the Party’s basic line, relied closely on the entire Party, the entire army, and people of all ethnic groups across the country, unswervingly upheld and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics, and opened up a new chapter in China’s reform, opening up, and socialist modernisation.
During the preparation for the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party, Comrade Jiang Zemin proactively proposed no longer holding central leadership positions, and in 2004 voluntarily requested to resign from his position as Chairman of the Party and the State Central Military Commission. After stepping down from his leadership position, Comrade Jiang Zemin resolutely supported and backed the work of the Party Central Committee, cared about the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and firmly supported Party conduct and clean government construction and the fight against corruption.
Comrades and friends!
Comrade Jiang Zemin’s life was a glorious and fighting life; he devoted himself and fought throughout his life, striving for national independence, people’s liberation, national prosperity, and the happiness of the people. He led and promoted the construction of socialist material, political, and spiritual civilisation, as well as Party building, achieving remarkable new progress that has attracted worldwide attention. He has made indelible contributions to safeguarding the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, opening up a new situation of comprehensive reform and opening up, achieving a moderately prosperous life for the people, and successfully advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics into the 21st century. He has won the heartfelt love of the entire Party, the military, and people of all ethnic groups across the country, as well as widespread praise from the international community!
Comrades and friends!
In his more than 70 years’ revolutionary career, especially in the great practice of promoting great achievements in the Party and the country’s cause after the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee, Comrade Jiang Zemin fully demonstrated the talent, key role, and leadership art of a Marxist politician, establishing a noble style that is always worth learning from and inspires us to move forward.
We must learn from Comrade Jiang Zemin’s unwavering political faith. Comrade Jiang Zemin was unwavering in his commitment to the ideal of communism, infinitely loyal to the Party and the people, and unwaveringly committed to the cause of the Party and the people. He said: “The fundamental political beliefs of us Communists are socialism and communism, and our worldview is Marxist dialectical materialism and historical materialism, which can never be shaken at any time.” When he was entrusted with the main leadership position of the Party and the military, he stated that regarding the line and basic policies since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, “two things must be said very clearly: one, be firm and unwavering; two, implement them comprehensively and consistently.” “For the cause of the Party and the people, I will devote myself wholeheartedly, even unto death.” Facing the major tests of the late 1980s and early 1990s amidst the turbulent international landscape and serious domestic political turmoil, he unwaveringly upheld economic development as the central task, clearly upheld the Four Cardinal Principles, persisted in reform and opening up, carried out governance and rectification, engaged in diplomatic struggles, and resolutely safeguarded the country’s independence, dignity, security, and stability. He deeply summarised domestic and international experiences and lessons, emphasising that governing the country must first mean governing the Party, and that governance must be strict. The more reform, opening up, and economic development there is, the more we must strengthen Party leadership and ensure Party building. He stated that our Party has always been the vanguard of the Chinese working class, as well as the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. He emphasised that leading cadres must value learning, politics, and integrity, promote efforts to address the two historic tasks of improving leadership and governance standards, and enhance the ability to resist corruption and degeneration, as well as to withstand risks. He maintained the Party’s advanced nature and purity and steadily advanced the new great project of Party building.
On the new journey, we must stay true to our original aspiration and keep our mission firmly in mind, firmly believe in Marxism, have conviction in communism, and confidence in socialism with Chinese characteristics, uphold the Party’s basic theory, basic line, and basic strategy, consciously strengthen the ‘Four Consciousnesses’, firmly uphold the ‘Four Confidences’, and achieve the ‘Two Upholds’. We must uphold the Party’s overall leadership and the centralised, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, persistently advance comprehensive and strict Party governance, and ensure that the Party always remains the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
We must learn from Comrade Jiang Zemin’s sincere and profound dedication to serving the people. Comrade Jiang Zemin always stood on the side of people, cared about their well-being and their hardships, and made arrangements and promotions based on the fundamental interests of the broadest masses. He emphasised: “Serving the people wholeheartedly, building the Party for the public good, and governing for the people are the fundamental differences between our Party and all exploiting class parties.” “At all times and under any circumstances, sharing the same breath and the fate of the people must not change; the purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people must not be forgotten; and the historical materialist view that the masses are the true heroes must not be abandoned.” He profoundly pointed out that the fundamental purpose of economic development is to improve the living standards and quality of life for people nationwide, emphasising the comprehensive construction of a higher-level moderately prosperous society that benefits over a billion people. He called on Party members and cadres to always cherish a heart of love for the people, uphold their responsibilities for the people, skilfully devise strategies to enrich the people, do more things that benefit the people, realise, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people, and guide, protect, and fully utilise the enthusiasm of the masses. He led the implementation of the Western Development Strategy and the national 8-7 Poverty Alleviation Plan, introduced policies to increase farmers’ incomes and care for the lives and reemployment of laid-off workers in state-owned enterprises, and strongly promoted the historic leap of people’s living standards in the new era from insufficient subsistence to overall moderate prosperity and toward comprehensive prosperity.
On the new journey, we must remember that the country is the people, and the people are the country, adhere to the people-centred development philosophy, establish and practice the correct view of achievements, stand firmly on the people’s position, strengthen the sense of being public servants, follow the Party’s mass line in the new era, rely on the people to create historic achievements, and take solid steps to promote the comprehensive development of the person and common prosperity for all.
We must learn from Comrade Jiang Zemin’s innovative spirit of keeping pace with the times. Comrade Jiang Zemin adhered to emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping pace with the times, adapting to the demands of the times and the development of practice, and continuously advancing innovation in theory, system, technology, culture, and other areas. He emphasised: “Innovation is the soul of a nation’s progress, the inexhaustible driving force for a country’s prosperity, and the source of a party’s eternal vitality.” “We must focus on the practical issues of China’s reform, opening up, and modernisation, and the work we are currently doing, focusing on the application of Marxist theory, theoretical reflection on real problems, and new practices and new developments.” He proposed that all the Party’s theories and work should reflect the spirit of the times, grasp the laws of development, and be creative, concentrating the wisdom of the whole Party to establish the important thinking of the ‘Three Represents’, emphasising that our Party always represents the development requirements of China’s advanced productive forces, the forward direction of China’s advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the Chinese people. He further answered the questions of what socialism is and how to build it and creatively answered the questions of what kind of Party to build and how to build it. This deepened our understanding of the laws governing the advancement of socialism with Chinese characteristics and strengthening Party building under new era conditions. He led us to establish the Party’s basic program for the primary stage of socialism, set the reform goals and basic framework for the socialist market economy system, set up a basic economic system with public ownership as the mainstay and the joint development of multiple forms of ownership, and a distribution system with distribution according to work as the mainstay and multiple distribution methods coexisting, promoting reforms in economic, political, and cultural systems. He proposed adhering to the combination of “bringing in” and “going out,” promoting reform and development through openness, leading us to successfully join the World Trade Organisation and forming a new pattern of opening up.
On the new journey, we must persist in integrating the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with China’s outstanding traditional culture, scientifically answering questions about China, the world, the people, and the times, continuously opening up new realms of Marxism in Sinicisation and modernisation, and in always maintaining the vigorous vitality and energy of Marxism. We must further deepen reform and opening up, advance the modernisation of the national governance system and governance capacity, stimulate the creative vitality of the whole Party and society, and inject continuous momentum into economic and social development.
We must learn from Comrade Jiang Zemin’s far-sighted strategic thinking. Comrade Jiang Zemin had far-sightedness and assessed the situation and was skilled at observing and thinking from the perspective of China’s and the world’s development trends and the overall work of the Party and the country, promoting the development of the Party and the country’s cause through a series of major decisions and important measures aimed at the world and the future. He emphasised: “All Party comrades must observe the world with the broad vision of Marxism.” A broad vision means having a profound historical perspective and a global perspective. “We must correctly understand the major changes occurring in our society and the world today, correctly recognise the significant changes in the working and living conditions and social environment of the broad masses of Party members, cadres, and the masses, correctly recognise the new tasks, new issues, and new challenges these changes pose for the development of our Party and the country’s cause, and strengthen research on major theoretical and practical issues that are overall, strategic, and forward-looking.” Starting from the major judgment that the first 20 years of the 21st century are a crucial strategic opportunity period that China must firmly seize and in which great things could be achieved, he made forward-looking plans for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving the third strategic goal. He proposed the basic guidelines of seizing opportunities, deepening reform, expanding openness, promoting development, and maintaining stability, and comprehensively explained the correct handling of the twelve major relationships in socialist modernisation; Insisted on making development the Party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country, guiding the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups nationwide to focus on construction and wholeheartedly seek development; Led us to actively develop socialist democratic politics, implement the basic strategy of governing the country according to law, and to develop advanced socialist culture; Presided over the formulation of military strategic guidelines for the new era, promoted military reform with Chinese characteristics, and strengthened the revolutionisation, modernisation, and regularisation of the People’s Army; Led the smooth return of Hong Kong and Macao, promoted the “1992 Consensus” embodying the One-China principle on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and vigorously carried out major struggles against separatism and ‘Taiwan independence’. He proposed a series of diplomatic and international strategic ideas to promote world multipolarity and economic globalisation in the right direction.
On the new journey, we must coordinate the overall strategy for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with the unprecedented changes in the world, oversee the great struggles, great projects, great undertakings, and great dreams, coordinate the overall layout of the ‘Five-in-One’ and the ‘Four Comprehensives’ strategic layout, fully and accurately implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, and steadily promote high-quality development. We must adhere to the foreign policy goal of safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, advance the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilisation Initiative, and Global Governance Initiative, advance the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and inject more positive energy into world peace and development.
We must learn from Comrade Jiang Zemin’s extraordinary courage and determination. Comrade Jiang Zemin bravely made decisive decisions at major historical junctures and critical moments, calmly responded to risks and challenges, resolutely overcame difficulties and obstacles, and opened up broad space and created a favourable environment for modernisation. He pointed out: “To succeed in modernisation, we must have an iron will that fears no hardship and fights tenaciously, and a heroic spirit of perseverance and courage to win.” “For matters that align with the Party’s line, principles, policies, and central requirements, once they are clear, decisions must be made decisively and swiftly, without hesitation or delaying the opportunity.” With a strong sense of historical responsibility and immense political courage, he led us to properly handle major hidden dangers that threatened the stability of the country’s political situation, calmly responded to a series of international emergencies affecting China’s sovereignty and security, overcame difficulties and risks in political, economic, and natural spheres, especially successfully resisting the impact of the Asian financial crisis and seizing the comprehensive victory in the 1998 flood control and rescue struggle, withstanding repeated tests, eliminating various interferences, and maintaining overall social stability. It ensured that the ship of reform, opening up, and socialist modernisation would sail forward steadily and far.
On the new journey, we must strengthen our sense of crisis, establish bottom-line thinking, better coordinate development and security, and with a tenacious fighting spirit and superb fighting skills, actively face major tests of turbulent winds and even stormy seas, resolutely defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and continue to write a new chapter in the two miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.
Comrades and friends!
Comrade Jiang Zemin once confidently foresaw: “In the new century, the Chinese people will unswervingly continue to advance along the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The Chinese socialist system will be further consolidated and improved through continuous reforms. China’s development will achieve universal prosperity through joint progress in all regions. The Chinese nation will achieve great rejuvenation on the basis of completing national reunification and building a prosperous, democratic, and civilised socialist modern country!” “Today, we can say with immense pride that after long-term efforts, the Party and the country’s cause have flourished, the land of China is stable and peaceful, people’s lives have continuously improved, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has a bright prospect. The dreams that generations have fought for are gradually becoming reality.”
“After enduring all the heavens’ splendour, this scene is formed; all things in the world come from hardship.” This is Comrade Jiang Zemin’s bold interpretation of struggle through his bold verse. The entire Party, the military, and people of all ethnic groups across the country must unite even more closely around the Party Central Committee, hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, strengthen confidence, strive for progress, and strive unremittingly to comprehensively advance the construction of a strong nation and national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernisation, continuously create a better life for the Chinese people, and write an even more magnificent chapter for the Chinese nation!
