Friends of Socialist China, Author at Friends of Socialist China

Wang Yi holds intensive round of bilateral meetings in Manila

During his recent visit to the Philippines’ capital Manila, to attend the China-ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations] Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held meetings between July 21-23 with a broad range of his counterparts who were also in Manila for a series of meetings with the ASEAN countries.

On July 21, Wang met with the Secretary-General of ASEAN as well as with his counterparts from Malaysia, Canada and Australia.

Meeting with Secretary-General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn, Wang Yi noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). China was the first major country to accede to the TAC, which encouraged other major countries to follow suit and significantly enhanced ASEAN’s international standing. China will continue to support ASEAN community building and ASEAN’s efforts in seeking strength through unity.

He added that the South China Sea is the common home of regional countries, and the South China Sea issue should not become an obstacle in China-ASEAN relations. Certain elements within the Philippine military and police forces have made deliberate provocations and created maritime incidents, serving the interests of external forces and undermining the improvement of China-Philippines relations as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea. Regional countries must remain on high alert against this.

Kao Kim Hourn recalled that the two sides have established 65 cooperation mechanisms. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area has been upgraded, and bilateral trade exceeded one trillion US dollars last year. He added that next year marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). ASEAN supports the dual-track approach and is committed to accelerating consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, so as to make the South China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. ASEAN is ready to work with China to jointly maintain regional peace and stability and make important contributions to the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.

Meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, Wang Yi noted that last year, President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to Malaysia, during which the two sides announced the building of a high-level strategic China-Malaysia community with a shared future, ushering in a new ‘Golden 50 Years’ of bilateral relations. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN and the fifth anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership. ASEAN is an important component of the multipolar landscape and a key force of the Global South. China expects Malaysia to play its role well as the Country Coordinator for China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations, safeguard the common interests of China and ASEAN, and uphold peace and stability in East Asia. China is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Malaysia, so as to keep China-ASEAN relations at the forefront of the times and set an example for Global South countries in pursuing strength through unity.

Mohamad Hasan stated that China is a trusted friend and partner of Malaysia and also Malaysia’s largest trading partner. Malaysia cherishes the traditional friendship between the two countries, firmly adheres to the one-China policy, and is ready to deepen practical cooperation with China in areas such as digital technology and artificial intelligence. Some countries outside the region have nothing to do with the South China Sea, yet they always want to flex military muscles there. Malaysia looks forward to the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and to jointly maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Wang Yi noted that since the beginning of this year, China-Canada relations have continued to improve, with increasingly close exchanges at all levels and fruitful cooperation across various fields. In the first half of this year, bilateral trade volume grew by 16 percent year-on-year, with Canadian exports to China increasing by 23.3 percent. Facts have proven that the improvement and growth of China-Canada relations serve the common interests of both countries, are welcomed by the two peoples, and represent the right choice in line with the trend of history.

Why the Western left misreads China: capitalism, imperialism, and the socialist difference

In the following article, Karim Pourhamzavi – an Iranian lecturer specialising in global political economy and West Asian and North African politics at Beijing Foreign Studies University – takes aim at a strand of Western left thinking that treats Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and US capitalism as equivalent. Drawing on the history of capitalism, imperialism and uneven development, he argues that there is no equivalence in power between imperialism and its victims, even when the victim is a rising power like China.

Because the commanding heights of China’s economy remain in public ownership and its socialist state answers to the people rather than to the market, he contends, China is structurally incapable of the imperialism that has defined the West for five centuries – which is why, for the Global South, China’s rise represents the most constructive development since the birth of capitalism.

I recently attended a conference on the critique of global capitalism and possible global reordering in a renowned European city. My paper focused on critiquing imperialism and its expansion in West Asia. However, several presentations from European and North American scholars were unnecessarily and inaccurately Sinophobic in sentiment. Their thesis was astonishingly simplistic: capitalism is just capitalism, whether practiced by the United States or China. Therefore, they believed both are equally exploitative and destructive. This thesis suffers from both epistemological and empirical flaws. Such Sinophobic interpretations, coming from significant sections of the Western left, appear to abandon their emancipatory methodologies aimed at “changing” the world for the better, instead losing themselves in a positivist interpretation of the world. Yet there is no equivalence in power relations – or even sameness – between imperialism and its victims, even when the victim is a rising power like China.

Capitalism is not a universal condition

The aforementioned claims came from scholars in a city whose infrastructure is at least fifty years behind that of Beijing, where I live. These scholars have often never visited China, nor do they intend to, and they possess an ahistorical understanding of the Chinese political economy. Understanding socialism with Chinese characteristics requires revisiting the very term “capitalism.” Capitalism strictly refers to a political-economic system that emerged in Western Europe and expanded by imperial means to the Americas – precisely from 1492 onward. By the early 20th century, some 85 percent of the world’s land surface was under the colonial or semi-colonial domination of the Western powers and Japan. Therefore, China, like the rest of what we now understand as the Global South, was forcibly incorporated into global capitalism – compelled to cope with the enforced uneven development resulting from this historical process and to clean up the mess it left behind, a legacy that persists to this day.

Therefore, China’s modern history is not one experienced by the developed capitalist nations. Nor, at the philosophical and developmental planning levels, does revolutionary China share similarities with the core of capitalism or with those unevenly developed states that unsuccessfully tried to copy them as a way out of their underdevelopment. The first three hundred years of capitalist plundering in the world were based on a mercantilist political economy. This system sought to take everything from conquered nations and leave them nothing, while maintaining a balance of power among European rivals. It was centuries of plundering that enabled the Industrial Revolution – first in England, and then across the rest of Western Europe.

The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation is tailor-made for the Global South

The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference was held from July 17-20 in Shanghai, featuring a keynote speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping and the formation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO), a new intergovernmental body headquartered in the city, with 29 founding members.

Between July 16-18, President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held bilateral meetings with high level guests attending the conference along with the concurrent High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance.

On the afternoon of July 16, President Xi Jinping met with the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

President Xi noted that, in a world undergoing profound and complex changes unseen in a century, the China-Kazakhstan relationship has stood the test of time and grown ever stronger. The permanent comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained excellent development and demonstrated huge cooperation potential and broad prospects. He emphasised that steadily advancing bilateral cooperation across the board serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples. China will work with Kazakhstan to implement the four global initiatives and enhance coordination and collaboration in multilateral mechanisms including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the China-Central Asia mechanism to jointly uphold international fairness and justice.

President Tokayev extended warm congratulations on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and commended China for its remarkable development achievements under the wise leadership of President Xi. Kazakhstan views its relations with China as a top foreign policy priority and is committed to continuously strengthening the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership with China. Kazakhstan is in complete agreement with President Xi’s important observations on the bilateral relations and will make vigorous efforts with China to translate them into action.

The next day Xi met with Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Manet.

President Xi stated that having stood in solidarity and supported each other throughout the years, China and Cambodia have forged an ironclad friendship that has stood the test of time and weathered storms. History has proven that the China-Cambodia friendship is not built on any single occasion or particular issue. Rather, it is rooted in a consensus that transcends the evolving international landscape and has been passed down through generations. It is a precious asset shared by both sides. He emphasised that in the great endeavours of governing and strengthening the Party, the Communist Party of China has formed the thought on party building for the new era, which will continue to galvanise the mighty force driving Chinese modernisation. As this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Cambodian People’s Party, China stands ready to strengthen experience sharing with the Cambodian side on party building and state governance.

China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Manila

The China-ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations] Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in the Philippines’ capital Manila on July 22, as part of a series of bilateral and regional dialogues hosted by the 11-member grouping.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired the meeting with Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, with Malaysia serving as the Country Coordinator for China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations.

Wang Yi noted that this year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Under the joint strategic guidance of leaders of the two sides, China-ASEAN cooperation has been at the forefront, moved forward steadily and rapidly, and yielded fruitful outcomes, benefiting more than two billion people on both sides. The foundation for building an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future has become more solid.

China is ready to work with ASEAN to uphold the principles of peace, development and win-win cooperation, bring more benefits to people of regional countries through closer cooperation, and respond to emerging challenges and uncertainties with stronger solidarity.

Wang put forward four suggestions:

To uphold an environment of peace and development in the region. The two sides should promote the Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, resolutely oppose unreasonable external interference, reject the formation of exclusive ‘small circles’, resist attempts to incite bloc confrontation, and never allow the revival of militarism.

To make regional development more resilient. The two sides should uphold open cooperation and deepen the integration of development, develop the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, pursue high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and strengthen regional food security, energy security and supply chain stability.

To pursue innovation-driven and green development. The two sides need to expand cooperation in such areas as climate change response, clean energy, green agriculture and the blue economy.

To uphold a people-centred approach. The two sides should promote inclusive and universally beneficial development, so that the outcomes of China-ASEAN cooperation can be tangible and accessible and better benefit the people of all countries. China is ready to enhance exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN in such areas as poverty reduction, public health, education, youth, think tanks, tourism, media and culture.

Wang Yi also expounded on China’s principled position on the South China Sea issue and said that the South China Sea is our shared home. China and ASEAN countries have the wisdom and capability to continue handling the South China Sea issue properly and make peace, stability, cooperation and friendship the mainstream narrative of the South China Sea. Regional countries should reject attempts by external forces to fan the flames, oppose certain countries’ moves to stir up trouble by taking advantage of maritime issues, and keep the initiative over peace and stability in the South China Sea firmly in our own hands.

All sides expressed their expectation for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea within this year, so as to jointly maintain peace and stability. They also expressed readiness to work with China to uphold multilateralism, address global challenges, and make ASEAN-China relations a stabilising force for regional peace and development and a model for dialogue partnerships.

Wang Yi also briefed participants on the fruitful cooperation outcomes of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership over the past five years:

Progress in building a neighbourhood community with a shared future has deepened and solidified. China has reached important consensus with eight ASEAN member states on jointly building bilateral shared communities.

Trade volume has maintained steady growth. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0 Upgrade Protocol has been formally signed. China and ASEAN have remained each other’s largest trading partners for six consecutive years.

China and ASEAN have pulled together to tide over difficulties. When Myanmar was hit by a powerful earthquake and an earthquake struck Mindanao of the Philippines, China rushed to provide assistance without delay, embodying the fine tradition of mutual support between China and ASEAN countries.

People-to-people exchanges have become more vibrant. China has specially introduced the ‘ASEAN Visa’ scheme to facilitate and boost cross-border people flows, making the people-to-people bonds linking both sides ever closer.

Wang Yi also held numerous bilateral meetings with his counterparts from various parts of the world during his stay in Manila.

Wang Yi meets counterparts in Kyrgyzstan

During his recent visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he attended the foreign ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also met with the country’s president as well as his counterparts from various other SCO member states.

Wang Yi met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on July 24, who asked him to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping and extended warm congratulations on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). He stated that under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have made remarkable achievements in socialist modernisation, which the Kyrgyz side sincerely admires. A good neighbour is more valuable than gold. Developing relations with China remains a priority of Kyrgyzstan’s foreign policy. Kyrgyzstan and China are fellow travellers in pursuing development and prosperity as well as natural partners. The Kyrgyz side cherishes the strategic partnership featuring mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and good-neighbourliness, and is ready to learn from China’s experience in governance, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, investment, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges, vigorously advance key projects including the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, provide a sound business environment for Chinese enterprises operating in Kyrgyzstan, and safeguard their lawful rights and interests. Kyrgyzstan has joined the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation and the International Organisation for Mediation, demonstrating through concrete actions its support for the four major global initiatives proposed by China.

Wang Yi said that China is ready to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Kyrgyzstan, translate the important consensus reached by the two heads of state into more tangible outcomes, elevate mutually beneficial cooperation, expand people-to-people exchanges, and consolidate the foundation of the China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future. China congratulates Kyrgyzstan on its election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council by a large majority and looks forward to strengthening coordination and cooperation with Kyrgyzstan on UN affairs. China will support Kyrgyzstan in successfully hosting the Bishkek Summit of the SCO [to be held August 31-September 1] and making greater contributions to promoting world peace, development and prosperity.

The next day, Wang held talks with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev during which he congratulated Kyrgyzstan on successfully hosting the Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States, saying it had laid a solid foundation for the Bishkek Summit of the SCO. China, he said, will always be a trustworthy good neighbour to Kyrgyzstan. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Sadyr Japarov, China and Kyrgyzstan have established a comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era in the spirit of solidarity and mutual benefit and are working together to build a China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future featuring good-neighbourliness, friendship, and shared prosperity. The two heads of state met three times last year, charting the course for the development of bilateral relations and injecting strong momentum into deepening all-round mutually beneficial cooperation.

He added that the two countries enjoy broad prospects for aligning their development strategies and jointly pursuing development and revitalisation. At the next stage, the two sides should make good preparations for high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust and carry forward their traditional friendship. Both sides should implement the medium- and long-term program for trade and economic cooperation, advance the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, accelerate the construction and upgrading of cross-border ports, deepen cooperation in such areas as agriculture, energy and mineral resources, and foster new growth drivers in cooperation including artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

Jeenbek Kulubaev stated that Kyrgyzstan thanks China for its strong support for the country’s economic and social development and is willing to work with China to pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, accelerate the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, deepen cooperation in trade, investment, finance and energy, and welcomes Chinese companies to invest and operate in Kyrgyzstan and is willing to provide a sound business environment. Kyrgyzstan looks forward to China’s continued support for its SCO presidency and for jointly hosting a successful Bishkek Summit.

Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 24. He said that China wishes Russia success in its State Duma elections to be held in September, and firmly supports the choice independently made by the Russian people. He further noted that the current international situation is complex and turbulent. In the face of the question of the times regarding the future of the world, China and Russia have a firm and clear answer. China and Russia should strengthen strategic coordination, uphold the outcomes of World War II, and never allow Japan to rearm.

Sergey Lavrov stated that head-of-state diplomacy serves as an important driving force for Russia-China relations. President Vladimir Putin’s successful visit to China this year and the more than 50 meetings between the two heads of state have continuously elevated bilateral relations to new heights. The Russian side congratulated China on successfully hosting the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, and Russia has joined the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation and looks forward to deepening bilateral cooperation in innovation and in science and technology through this platform. Over the past 25 years since its founding, and driven by Russia and China, the SCO has developed into a regional organisation full of potential, attracting an increasing number of like-minded countries to join. Russia remains highly vigilant against and firmly opposes Japan’s accelerated remilitarisation and pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. The two sides can further strengthen strategic coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, APEC, the G20, BRICS and East Asia cooperation, and jointly promote a more democratic and equitable multipolar world.

The previous evening, Wang Yi met with Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov and noted that China and Belarus are trustworthy good partners. In recent years, under the strategic planning and personal attention of President Xi Jinping and President Aleksandr Lukashenko, the China-Belarus all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership has continued to operate at a high level, with gratifying results achieved in cooperation across various fields. Not long ago, the two heads of state met again in Beijing, making new plans for the future growth of bilateral relations. [Lukashenko paid a working visit to China, June 28-29, the first stop on a regional tour that also took him to Indonesia and Myanmar.]

Wang Yi said that mutual support is an inherent feature of the China-Belarus all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership. China will, as always, support Belarus in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, and opposing any external interference in Belarus’ internal affairs under any pretext. China appreciates Belarus’ longstanding and unwavering solidarity with China on issues concerning China’s core interests. China congratulates Belarus on becoming a founding member of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation.

Maxim Ryzhenkov noted that the heads of state of Belarus and China have maintained high-level and frequent communication, bringing bilateral relations to an unprecedented level and fostering ironclad brotherly mutual trust. Belarus thanks China for its long-term and strong support and assistance, and will firmly develop relations with China, advance all-round cooperation, and draw on China’s successful experience.

The same evening, Wang Yi also met with Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov and stated that the development strategies of China and Uzbekistan are complementary. As fellow travellers on the journey toward modernisation, the two countries can achieve common development and each other’s success and jointly draw up a new ‘golden decade’. China is ready to work with Uzbekistan to fully tap into and unleash cooperation potential, advance high-quality construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway and create more flagship projects in the field of new industrialisation.

Bakhtiyor Saidov noted that Uzbekistan cherishes the brotherly friendship with China, and developing relations with China is a priority in Uzbekistan’s foreign policy. He extended warm congratulations on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The CPC set the aim of serving the people wholeheartedly at its founding and has led the Chinese people to great achievements. Uzbekistan is ready to learn from China’s experience in governance, promote alignment between its “Uzbekistan-2030” strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative, and accelerate its own development and revitalisation.

On July 24, Wang met with Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin and noted that in May this year, President Emomali Rahmon paid a successful state visit to China, during which President Xi Jinping and he made new strategic plans for the development of China-Tajikistan relations. The most important outcome of the visit was the signing of the China-Tajikistan Treaty on Permanent Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which set a precedent in Central Asia.

He also met on the same day with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and noted that the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region has recently experienced renewed tensions and escalation, which is a matter of deep concern to China. The MoU signed more than a month ago was a valuable outcome of mediation efforts by multiple parties and reflected the aspirations of the Iranian people and other peoples in the region for peace and stability. The progress achieved through dialogue should not be abandoned. The door to negotiations, once opened, should not be closed, and as long as there is hope for peace, it should not be given up.

Wang added that as a comprehensive strategic partner of Iran, China firmly supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and national dignity. China will continue to act in line with President Xi Jinping’s four-point proposal on maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, support mediation efforts by Pakistan and other parties, facilitate the early resumption of dialogue and negotiations, properly address issues related to the Strait of Hormuz, improve relations among neighbouring countries, advance collective security among Gulf states, and help restore peace and stability in the Middle East at an early date.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi briefed Wang Yi on the latest developments in the Middle East and the Gulf region, stating that the United States’ violation of the MoU reached by both parties has led to heightened tensions. Iran’s willingness to negotiate remains unchanged and Iran does not wish to see the conflict continue. It is crucial for Iran and China, as comprehensive strategic partners, to strengthen communication and coordination at the current critical moment. Iran thanks China for consistently maintaining an objective and impartial position, promoting peace and urging an end to hostilities, and expresses hope that China will continue to play an important role in helping ease regional tensions.

Wang Yi also met on July 24 with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, telling him that China highly appreciates Pakistan’s key role in facilitating the memorandum of understanding reached between the United States and Iran. China will continue to firmly support Pakistan in its efforts to mediate, promote the return of all parties to dialogue and negotiations, and achieve a lasting ceasefire. China is ready to strengthen coordination with Pakistan in multilateral platforms such as the SCO and the United Nations to safeguard the common interests of the two countries and the legitimate rights and interests of the Global South.

Dar stated that Pakistan is willing to continue its efforts in peace mediation and appreciates China’s consistent support and assistance. Pakistan is ready to strengthen coordination with China under multilateral frameworks such as the SCO and the China-Pakistan-Bangladesh trilateral cooperation and make due contributions to safeguarding regional peace, stability and development.

This was the second meeting between the two ministers in just a week. They also met on July 16 in Shanghai in the margins of the 2026 World AI Conference, where they exchanged views on the situation in Iran and coordinated their positions.

The two sides expressed concern over the deteriorating situation and called on the parties concerned to immediately cease hostilities, overcome difficulties, remove disruptions, restart contacts, resume dialogue, and strive to reach a comprehensive peace agreement through negotiations. The international community should also continue to provide support to this end.

Wang Yi stressed that the first-phase memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Iran is hard-won. All parties should honour their commitments and abide by the provisions of the memorandum. China will, as always, support Pakistan’s mediation efforts and continue to play a constructive role in its own way in promoting the de-escalation of the situation.

Mohammad Ishaq Dar briefed Wang Yi on Pakistan’s recent efforts, thanked China for its understanding and support, and said that Pakistan will rise to the challenges and continue to actively promote peace and facilitate talks.

Is China still socialist?

On 23 July 2026, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez spoke to the Croydon Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group at Ruskin House on the question of whether China is still socialist. Below we reprint the Croydon Communists’ report of the meeting, followed by a video Carlos recorded on the basis of his notes for the talk.

This report was originally published by Croydon Communists on 24 July.

The Croydon Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group were privileged to hear Carlos Martinez last night (23 July) give a masterclass on Chinese Socialism.

For those of us who looked to the former USSR to help build socialism globally only for our hopes to be dashed on the collapse following Gorbachev’s rash and badly implemented Glasnost and Perestroika, the strategy adopted by the Communist Party of China (CPC) can seem over-cautious. As Carlos described, it is slowly and systematically building socialism with Chinese Characteristics, testing policies and rejecting those that do not work. As a result, there have been huge economic advances unmatched anywhere in the developing world. The state continues to serve the interests of the working class and its allies, defending it from the inevitable attacks from capital and slowly and systematically building a better life for its people. Through more than four decades of reform and opening up, the CPC retains its commitment to Marxism. There has been no capitulation to capitalism; and socialists and communists should unequivocally support and defend Chinese socialism. The achievements to date have been huge and there will be more to come. The state of “market socialism” currently arrived at is not the end of the trajectory. Communism, as envisaged by Karl Marx in Capital, is still on the agenda.

Carlos Martinez’s book The East is Still Red – Chinese Communism in the 21st Century (Praxis Press, 2023, £20 – order it from your local bookshop) sets out in much more detail these arguments and the evidence on which they are based. Highly recommended!

To receive advance notice of future public meetings at Ruskin House organised by the Croydon Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group, register your interest at croydonmorningstarrsg@gmail.com.

Should China “lessen the role of the state”?

In the latest of the Financial Times’ periodic lectures to Beijing on how to run its economy, the Brookings Institution’s Eswar Prasad urges China to reduce its reliance on public investment, move away from manufacturing and – above all – “lessen the role of the state”. In the following article, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez takes the prescriptions in turn.

He finds them to be not a serious diagnosis but an invitation to dismantle the socialist foundations of the most successful economic development in human history, in favour of a model that is visibly failing the countries that practise it.

Every so often the Financial Times publishes its periodic instruction to China on how to run its economy. The latest comes from Eswar Prasad of the Brookings Institution, and it follows the established template: concede the achievements in a subordinate clause, then explain that catastrophe looms unless Beijing adopts the policy mix of the countries currently growing at a third of its rate.

China, we learn, is “in serious trouble” – while growing at about 4.3 percent, a figure no G7 economy has come close to in years, and roughly double the US rate. Inflation has turned positive after a deflationary spell; industrial profits are rebounding. In any other country this would be reported as a soft landing. For China it is presented as calm concealing catastrophe.

Let us take the prescriptions in turn.

First, China must “reduce reliance on public investment and exports”.

But since around 78 percent of China’s growth derives from capital inputs, cutting investment means cutting growth. This is simply the United States inviting China to engage in economic self-harm. Public investment is the key mechanism through which China has built its infrastructure, energy, transport and industrial base. It is also the mechanism through which it has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. And it is the mechanism through which it has built a high-tech economy that now competes with, and even out strips, the West across the board.

As the Marxist economist Michael Roberts has repeatedly shown, it is high levels of productive investment, not the debt-fuelled consumption favoured in the West, that drive sustained growth and rising living standards over time – exactly the relationship mainstream commentary is determined to invert.

On exports, trade accounted for about 20 percent of China’s growth in 2025; the rest came from domestic consumption and investment. Household consumption, meanwhile, grew at 4.4 percent, in line with GDP. The claim that China free-rides on foreign demand is simply not what the data shows.

China’s open-weight AI exposes the fiction behind Wall Street’s boom

The following article by Gary Wilson, an editor of the US socialist newspaper Struggle – La Lucha, offers a sharp Marxist reading of the summer’s turmoil in AI stocks – and of why the release of powerful open-weight models by Chinese firms has sent such a shock through Wall Street.

In July, the arrival of Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 and DeepSeek’s V4 – open-weight models matching the strongest systems from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google – triggered the worst week for US chip stocks in over a year and briefly cost Nvidia its crown as the world’s most valuable company. Wilson argues that the panic exposed the hollowness of the whole AI boom, which rests not on profits already earned but on the promise that a handful of US corporations will exercise a monopoly over the technology and charge the world a toll for every use.

Drawing on Marx’s concept of fictitious capital, he shows how a thin layer of real income has been made to support a towering mass of debt and inflated valuations – with AI-linked firms now accounting for around 40 percent of the value of the S&P 500. Open-weight models threaten to make the assumed monopoly impossible, which is why Washington is turning from market competition to coercion, deploying export controls and national-security pretexts to defend a monopoly that competition has in reality already broken.

Against this, the article counterposes the vision set out by Xi Jinping in Shanghai – of AI developed openly as a shared asset of humanity – and the material foundation, created by the 1949 Revolution, that allows China to direct investment towards public use rather than private rent.

Las reformas económicas de Cuba y las perspectivas de la renovación socialista

We are pleased to republish below the Spanish translation, by the progressive Chilean journal El Ciudadano, of Carlos Martinez’s recent article, Cuba’s economic reforms and the prospects for socialist renewal.

El siguiente artículo analiza las transformaciones más profundas del modelo económico cubano en más de seis décadas: un programa compuesto por 23 ejes estratégicos y 176 medidas, aprobado por unanimidad este mes por la Asamblea Nacional.

Buena parte de la prensa occidental, así como un sector importante de la izquierda en Occidente, se ha apresurado a presentar estas reformas como el momento en que el bloqueo finalmente consiguió quebrar a la Revolución. Carlos sostiene exactamente lo contrario. A su juicio, las reformas deben entenderse como una estrategia de defensa del socialismo bajo condiciones de asedio, inspirada en la lógica que ha guiado a China desde 1978: el empleo regulado de los mecanismos de mercado y de la inversión extranjera para desarrollar las fuerzas productivas, mientras el Partido Comunista conserva el poder político y la propiedad pública de los sectores estratégicos de la economía. Como señala el especialista en Cuba Isaac Saney, estas medidas, «lejos de representar un retroceso», constituyen «un esfuerzo estratégico por preservar y profundizar las conquistas sociales de la Revolución».

El artículo sitúa las reformas en el contexto de un cerco sin precedentes impuesto por Estados Unidos: 64 años de bloqueo, recrudecido bajo Trump y Rubio, con el suministro de combustible prácticamente estrangulado y apagones de hasta veinte horas diarias. Asimismo, recorre las dos últimas décadas de reformas graduales emprendidas por Cuba, desde los Lineamientos impulsados por Raúl Castro hasta la Zona Especial de Desarrollo Mariel, concebida deliberadamente siguiendo las experiencias de China y Vietnam. La cuestión decisiva, sostiene Carlos, es la misma que distinguió las reformas de Beijing de la perestroika de Gorbachov: ¿quién conserva el poder político? Cuba, argumenta, está recorriendo la senda de la reforma y apertura china, no la vía soviética de la perestroika; y la solidaridad de China —expresada en la cooperación energética, alimentaria y en las relaciones entre ambos partidos comunistas— puede resultar determinante.

En palabras del presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel: «No hay soberanía con un plato vacío». Y también: «No nos vamos a reunir solamente para resistir. Nos vamos a reunir para crear. Para producir. Para decidir. Para controlar. Para prosperar y para transformar».

Chinese People’s Volunteers remembered

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) marked the 73rd anniversary of victory in the Fatherland Liberation War on July 27, the day in 1953 when US imperialism was forced to sign the armistice agreement after three years of genocidal war, with a wide range of celebrations and commemorative events.

Among them, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports that, on July 26, DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un visited the Cemetery of the Fallen Soldiers of the Chinese People’s Volunteers in Hoechang County of South Phyongan Province and paid high tribute to them.

Following the main commemoration, he visited the grave of Mao Anying, placed a flower there and paid homage. Mao Anying was the son of Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

KCNA commented that: “The ennobling soul and self-sacrificing spirit of the brave CPV soldiers, who shed their blood to assist the DPRK people in the war of justice in the most difficult and fateful years, are clearly associated with the victory won by the DPRK people and they are shining as the foundation for the DPRK-China friendship with socialism as its core.

“The DPRK people will never forget the merits and heroic feats of the excellent sons and daughters of the Chinese people who unsparingly dedicated their hot blood and precious lives, fighting shoulder to shoulder with our army and people in the same trench of the unprecedented death-defying struggle for repelling the imperialists’ invasion.”

The following day, Kim Jong Un attended an art performance to mark the anniversary together with war veterans and persons of wartime merits, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee and other senior officials of the Party, government and armed forces organs, officials of the WPK Central Committee, leading officials of ministries and national agencies, service personnel of the People’s Army, officials and lecturers engaged in the administration of revolutionary relics associated with the victorious war, Pyongyang citizens including descendants of war heroes, students of revolutionary schools and other youth and students, as well as diplomats from the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation.

KCNA reported that: “The audience were deeply touched by videos showing the matchless self-sacrificing spirit, heroism and brilliant feats of excellent sons and daughters of the Chinese people who shared life and death, fighting shoulder to shoulder with our people in the same trench of the struggle of repelling the invasion of the imperialists, and Chinese songs such as ‘Battle Song of Chinese People’s Volunteers’.

“The performers artistically and superbly depicted the DPRK people’s eternal thanks to the brave fighters of the Chinese People’s Volunteers, who assisted our people in their sacred and righteous war under the uplifted banner of resisting America and aiding Korea even in the difficult days of building the country and made an important contribution to the war victory and the defence of global peace and security, and the truth that the DPRK-China friendship based on the shared ideal and militant fraternity will be immortal along with the history of the great war victory.”

Wang Yi attends meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation foreign ministers

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States, held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan on July 24.

Addressing the meeting, Wang Yi stated that the SCO Tianjin Summit, held in August-September 2025, mapped out a strategic blueprint for the organisation’s development over the next decade and opened a new stage of high-quality development. Seven cooperation platforms in green industry, digital economy, scientific and technological innovation, energy, higher education, vocational and technical education, and artificial intelligence have been launched, generating more than 160 projects. Nearly three-quarters of the planned 10 GW solar PV and wind power projects have been implemented, while over two-thirds of the 100 ‘small and beautiful’ livelihood programs have been approved.

Wang Yi noted that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the SCO. From the early days when six countries enhanced military trust in border areas and combated terrorism, separatism and extremism, to the present when 27 countries, representing nearly half of the world’s population, are engaged in cooperation across more than 50 fields, the SCO has consistently upheld the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations, and pursuit of common development, continuously expanding the path of a new type of international relations and multilateral cooperation. Currently, profound changes unseen in a century are accelerating, and the world is experiencing tremendous turbulence and transformation. The international community expects the SCO to promote regional security and development and to resolve global governance challenges. The development strategy for the next decade makes clear that member states will deepen cooperation and make greater contributions to building a more democratic and just multipolar world.

Wang Yi put forward four proposals:

The SCO should continue to uphold the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ as its fundamental guiding principle in handling internal affairs and conducting external exchanges, strengthen strategic mutual trust, maintain solidarity and coordination, firmly support one another, and remain open and inclusive.

The SCO should strengthen the firewall for peace and stability by consistently advocating dialogue to settle disputes, consultation to resolve differences and cooperation to safeguard peace.

The SCO should inject stronger momentum into win-win development by strengthening synergy between national development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives.

The SCO should build a model zone for global governance by safeguarding the authority and role of the United Nations, upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, and working together with nearly 160 participants in the Global Governance Initiative and over 120 UN member states who support deeper cooperation with the SCO to explore an effective global governance model with broad participation. The SCO should also improve its own operational mechanisms and welcome more countries to join the organisation.

The SCO foreign ministers adopted a joint statement, in which they reaffirmed their commitment to multilateral cooperation, regional security and a more representative and inclusive multipolar world.

The member states reiterated the SCO’s commitment to the principles of not targeting other states and organisations, mutual respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, and non-use of force or threats of using force in international relations.

The statement said the world today is entering a new period of rapid development and profound transformation. The role of Global South countries continues to grow, emerging economic and political centres are playing an increasingly prominent role, countries are becoming increasingly intertwined and interconnected, and the process of informatisation and digitalisation is constantly accelerating.

Amid rising global and regional security threats, the ministers expressed deep concern over the developments in the Middle East and around Iran. They reaffirmed the principled position regarding the condemnation of military strikes against Iran as outlined in the Tianjin Declaration adopted at the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO on September 1, 2025, holding that such acts of aggression constitute a grave violation of the UN Charter and the principles and norms of international law.

The ministers once again expressed their sincere condolences over the tragic death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and extended their sympathies to the Iranian government and people as well as his family.

Meanwhile, the council reaffirmed that Central Asia is the core region of the SCO, supports the efforts of Central Asian countries to maintain peace and security in their own countries and the region, and advocates that the SCO play an active role in further consolidating stability and promoting economic and social development there.

The member states regarded unilateral coercive measures, including economic sanctions, that violate the UN Charter and other norms of international law as unacceptable, saying such measures impede international cooperation and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The member states also advocated further expanding mutual trade among SCO countries to create more opportunities for businesses.

The next SCO Summit, marking its 25th anniversary, will be held in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek from August 31-September 1.

China–Ethiopia AI cooperation delivers life-saving weather forecasting

Two days after the Financial Times warned darkly of China’s “AI diplomacy” in the Global South, here is what that supposedly sinister campaign consists of in practice.

The Xinhua News Agency reports on China–Ethiopia cooperation in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, centred on something relatively unglamorous yet genuinely life-saving: weather forecasting. The Ethiopian Meteorological Institute has been working closely with the China Meteorological Administration, and most of the institute’s experts have now been trained at Chinese institutions – short courses and full academic programmes covering satellite data analysis, climate forecasting models, atmospheric research and disaster risk management.

The centrepiece is the deployment of MAZU, China’s AI-powered multi-hazard early warning platform, which combines machine learning with physical forecasting models and meteorological satellite data. Ethiopian scientists, trained by visiting Chinese colleagues, now operate it themselves to issue real-time alerts for droughts and flash floods. This has profound significance for a country on the front line of a climate crisis it did nothing to create: accurate early warning of drought and flooding is the difference between a managed emergency and a humanitarian catastrophe.

Ethiopia is the first country in Africa to receive the system, and the institute’s deputy director general says it intends to become a regional knowledge hub, sharing its expertise with meteorological services across the continent – technology transferred, then transferred onward, on African terms.

Ethiopia also became one of the 29 founding members of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO) in Shanghai on 16 July, a body whose stated purpose is to ensure that AI development is “beneficial, safe, and fair”.

China and Brazil pledge mutual support

Chinese President Xi Jinping took a phone call from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on July 27.

President Xi noted that in recent years, China and Brazil have made good progress in building a community with a shared future and synergising development strategies. This has played an important role in promoting respective national development and the wellbeing of the two peoples and provided much-needed stability for the turbulent world.

Xi stressed that facing new circumstances and new challenges, China and Brazil, as important members of the Global South, should firmly stand on the right side of history and the progress of human civilisation, and play a more constructive role in reforming and improving the global governance system and upholding international fairness and justice. The two sides should jointly advance the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation, steer it in the right direction, maintain BRICS solidarity, produce more outcomes, and write a new chapter of uniting for strength within the Global South. China values Brazil’s international standing and important influence, supports its efforts in safeguarding sovereignty and independence, opposing external interference, and maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world.

President Lula said that the building of a Brazil-China community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet has made sound progress, cooperation across various areas has enjoyed fast development, bilateral trade has reached a record high, and activities under the Brazil-China Year of Culture have solidified the foundation of popular support for friendship between the two countries.

Brazil is ready to step up multilateral coordination with China, uphold the authority of the UN, strengthen BRICS solidarity and cooperation, firmly safeguard multilateralism and oppose power politics, and stay committed to resolving hotspots through dialogue and consultation so as to jointly safeguard international fairness and justice and world peace and stability.

The call between the two heads of state was preceded by a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers on July 22. Wang Yi and his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira met in the Philippines’ capital Manila in the margins of meetings convened by ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations.

Wang Yi noted that under the strategic guidance of the two presidents, China and Brazil have made positive progress in jointly building a community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet. The two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership has always been at the forefront of the world, and it is necessary for both sides to maintain strategic communication, strengthen strategic coordination and deepen strategic cooperation. Brazil is an emerging economy with global influence and a representative force of the Global South. China is pleased to see Brazil playing a greater role in international affairs and appreciates Brazil’s efforts in speaking up for justice and upholding fairness for developing countries. China will continue to support Brazil in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and believes that Brazil will, as always, respect and support China in upholding its core interests.

Mauro Vieira stated that Brazil looks forward to working with China to further deepen cooperation in such fields as finance and trade and to strengthen coordination on multilateral platforms including the United Nations and BRICS. Brazil is very pleased to join the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization initiated by China and looks forward to taking this as an opportunity to advance cooperation on scientific and technological innovation.

These diplomatic moves come against a backdrop of increased US pressure and threats against Brazil. Reporting on the foreign ministers’ meeting, the South China Morning Post noted that:

“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Brazil that Beijing would continue to support its sovereignty, security, and development interests hours after a 25 per cent US tariff on Brazilian goods took effect.”

It added: “The US has imposed tariffs tied in part to the prosecution of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, and this month designated the First Capital Command and the Red Command as foreign terrorist organisations”, [which can provide a pretext for hostile acts on the part of the United States up to and including military intervention]…

“Brazilian Development, Industry and Trade Minister Marcio Elias Rosa said US officials argued during the talks [that preceded the US imposition of tariffs] that critical minerals exploration should be denied to entities that do not operate on market terms, a reference to Beijing.

“Rare earths and critical minerals ‘belong to the Brazilian people’, he said, adding that his team rejected the proposal.”

Then, on July 25, it was reported that Brazil had rejected visa applications from two US Department of State officials over concerns that their visit could support groups questioning Brazil’s electoral system.

Riley M. Barnes, assistant secretary from the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and Samuel Samson, deputy assistant secretary from the same bureau, had submitted their visa applications to the Brazilian government on July 20, planning to meet with far-right presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro and other right-wing figures.

Brazil will hold the first round of its presidential election on October 4, with a potential runoff scheduled for October 25.

Wang Yi meets Britain’s new foreign secretary Ed Miliband

Following his appointment on July 20 as Britain’s foreign secretary by new prime minister Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband attended meetings around the ASEAN Regional Forum, held this year in the Philippines’ capital Manila, later in the week.

Among Miliband’s bilateral meetings was that with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, held on the morning of July 23.

Wang Yi congratulated Ed Miliband on assuming his new post and noted that as major countries in the world and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and the UK have a relationship that goes beyond the bilateral scope and carries global significance. He further expressed the hope that the UK will abide by the one-China principle, safeguard the political foundation of bilateral relations, provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises in the UK, and avoid securitising economic and trade issues.

Wang added that the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the four major global initiatives put forward by President Xi Jinping address the deficits in peace, development, security and governance facing the international community, articulate the vision and goals of China’s diplomacy, and provide important public goods for the world. China and the UK need to work together to transcend differences, jointly uphold multilateralism, support the revitalisation of the core role of the United Nations, oppose unilateral bullying and protectionism, and make greater contributions to world peace and development.

Ed Miliband stated that the new UK government attaches great importance to its relations with China. As major countries with significant influence in the world, the UK and China should continue to strengthen cooperation on global security, health and development issues. The UK is ready to strengthen exchanges at all levels with China, expand cooperation in areas such as climate change, and enhance multilateral communication and coordination.

As indicated in Wang’s above remarks, China is adopting a positive attitude towards relations with the new British government. However, Burnham’s government will need to responsibly address a serious problem it has inherited from the previous administration of Keir Starmer, namely the expropriation of the Scunthorpe steel plant hitherto owned by China’s Jingye company. The importance China places on this can be discerned from the headline given by the Xinhua News Agency to its report on the meeting, ‘Chinese FM urges Britain to avoid imposing security implications on economic, trade issues’.

Speaking at a reception held at his embassy that evening to mark the 99th anniversary of the founding of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Chinese ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang described his foreign minister’s meeting with Miliband earlier in the day as having been “very productive”.

On his X social media account, Miliband wrote: “Our relationship with China matters – for security, the economy and climate.

“Glad to discuss Ukraine and the Middle East with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

“We are taking a consistent, long term and strategic approach to relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests.”

Miliband last visited China in March 2025 as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

On July 20, Chinese Premier Li Qiang had congratulated Andy Burnham on his assuming office as British prime minister.

Li said China and Britain are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and major global economies. Stronger dialogue and cooperation will not only advance the development of both countries but also contribute to greater stability and global peace.

Li further expressed his readiness to work with Burnham to strengthen engagement, deepen mutual trust, expand exchanges and cooperation, and advance the long-term and stable comprehensive strategic partnership, bringing greater benefits to both countries and their peoples.

Andy Burnham previously led a trade mission to China in September 2018 as Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Celebrating a different form of modernisation

The following article by Sara Flounders marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, reflecting on China’s distinctive path to modernisation – one achieved “without colonialism, without enslavement, without wars of conquest” – and on what the CPC’s record means for the countries of the Global South.

Sara is a member of the Friends of Socialist China US committee and a longtime anti-imperialist organiser with the International Action Center.

This article first appeared in Workers World.

The 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 90th anniversary of the victory of China’s Long March on July 1 were barely noted in the U.S. media. However, there were big celebrations in hundreds of Chinese cities. The focus was on reinforcing the “socialist direction of China in building Socialist Modernization in all aspects.”

The anniversary was celebrated as a confident assertion of the way forward. Events were organized to focus on the strong vitality of Marxism and socialist planning and as a preparation for and warning of future global upheavals.

President Xi Jinping’s major address on July 1 underscored the importance of meeting the goal to fully realize socialist modernization by the middle of the 21st century. President Xi cautioned: “We must be prepared to withstand major tests involving high winds and rough waves, or even stormy seas.”

The CPC has grown from a small group of just over 50 founding members — meeting secretly in 1921 in Shanghai, China — into the world’s largest governing party, a workers’ party with 101 million members that has tremendous global influence.

In 1921, China was fragmented and impoverished. It was reeling from the collapse of the feudal Qing Dynasty, carved apart by foreign imperialist exploitation into zones of colonial control and weakened by the British and U.S.-imposed Opium Wars to enforce the sale of opium. China was confronted with the chaos of contending factions of oppressive warlordism.

China was overwhelmingly a peasant country in 1921, 85% to 90% rural, with millions of landless, impoverished and illiterate peasants living in undeveloped areas and relying on subsistence farming.

From its founding the CPC declared that its goal was to overthrow imperialist domination and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat — the organization of society by workers and peasants.

Wang Quanying, last surviving female Long March veteran, dies at 105

Wang Quanying, who has died at the age of 105, was the last surviving woman to have taken part in the Long March – the epic fighting retreat of 1934–36 that saved the Chinese Red Army and laid the deepest foundations of modern China.

Born Wang Guixiang in 1921 – the very same year the Communist Party of China was founded – into a poor Tibetan family in Jinchuan county, Sichuan, she was orphaned as an infant and sent to labour for a local landlord. In 1935, aged just fourteen, she joined the Fourth Front Army’s Women’s Independent Regiment, serving as a battlefield medical orderly: guiding troops, carrying grain, cooking, and nursing the wounded with the herbal remedies she knew.

Separated from her unit in fierce fighting near Danba in 1936, she crossed the snow-capped mountains on foot, surviving on wild plants and losing a toe to frostbite, before settling anonymously in Wenchuan county, where she lived quietly for decades. Her service was only officially recognised in the 1980s.

After the founding of the People’s Republic she changed her name to Quanying, to express her conviction that “all Red Army soldiers across the nation are heroes”. She died just months before the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, which falls later this year.

DPRK’s solidarity with China and Cuba has socialism as the core

The following is the text of a speech given by Keith Bennett to a recent public meeting on the theme of ‘The Importance of Solidarity with the DPRK and its People in Today’s Global Situation’.

Keith concentrates his remarks on two aspects of this question. First, the recent developments in the comradely relations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the People’s Republic of China, which Kim Jong Un stresses have socialism as their core, as illustrated by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit to the DPRK in June 2026 and subsequently by Kim Jong Un’s greetings on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Second, Keith analyses a 1968 article written by DPRK founding leader Kim Il Sung marking the first anniversary of the death of Che Guevara, noting in particular its continuing relevance to understanding the vital need to defend the Cuban revolution and its relationship to the situation in Latin America as a whole.

Amy Yang: Paying tribute to the red flag of the hammer and sickle by learning from the Long March

The following essay by the writer Amy Yang, who publishes on China and socialism on Substack, was written to mark the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Taking the red flag of the hammer and sickle – its yellow standing for the faith of workers and peasants in a communist future, its red honouring the more than 3.7 million martyrs who died between 1921 and 1949 – as her starting point, Yang argues that the party is best understood through the enduring lessons of the Long March.

She highlights two of these lessons. The first is that Marxism is a scientific method rather than a fixed dogma, and that no single development path suits every country: the early communist movement failed when the Comintern imposed Soviet, city-first strategies on a society that was overwhelmingly based in the countryside. It was Mao Zedong’s strategy – restored at the Zunyi Conference of 1935 – that corrected the error.

The second is that popular support decides victory: the poorly armed Red Army prevailed because it treated ordinary people, and especially China’s ethnic minorities, with discipline and respect.

Yang carries both lessons forward – to China’s reform and opening up, and to its insistence on non-interference and the people’s well-being as the measure of global governance. Each generation, she concludes, faces its own Long March.

A reply to Greg Godels on China’s road to socialism

Greg Godels has published a thoughtful response in ML Today to Carlos Martinez’s recent reply to Jacobin on China and exploitation. Godels argues that the exploitation of the many by the few remains a central driving force of the Chinese economy, and questions whether China’s market reforms and its billionaire class can be squared with a socialist trajectory.

In the article below, Carlos argues that the decisive Marxist question is not simply whether wage labour and surplus value exist, but which class holds state power and in whose interest the economic surplus is directed. On that test – the class nature of the state – China’s billionaires answer to the state rather than command it; its reforms were a conscious strategy to develop the productive forces and build the material basis for a more advanced socialism; and China provably does not participate in imperialist super-exploitation.

Greg Godels has written a considered response in ML Today to my recent reply to Jacobin on China and exploitation. Unlike much of what passes for left commentary on China, Godels writes as a comrade, not a Cold Warrior. He admires the Chinese revolution, insists that China’s fate must be decided by the Chinese people, and closes by affirming that, whatever its difficulties, “it is China’s road”. On all of that we agree. Where we part company is over a question that Godels, for all his fidelity to the classics of Marxism, never quite poses: which class holds state power?

State and revolution

Godels’s central charge is that the debate over China too rarely invokes “the exploitation of the many by the few”, and that when I ask for exploitation to be “contextualised”, I am really relativising and rationalising it. He is right that exploitation belongs at the centre of any Marxist analysis. But there is a second important category that is missing from his account entirely: the class nature of the state.

For Marx and Lenin alike, the question of whether a society is advancing towards socialism was never settled simply by cataloguing the presence or absence of wage labour and surplus value at the point of production. It was settled principally by asking which class holds power, and in whose interest the state directs the economic surplus. This is the whole point of the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and of Lenin’s insistence, throughout the period of the New Economic Policy, that market mechanisms within a workers’ state are something categorically different from capitalism under a bourgeois state.

Under the NEP in the Soviet state, private capital, wage labour, rich peasants and market relations all flourished. Lenin did not conclude that the October Revolution had thereby been cancelled. He concluded that the proletarian state would make use of capitalist forms, on its own terms and under its own control, in order to build the material foundations of socialism.

Wang Huning visits DPRK to mark treaty anniversary

A party and government delegation of the People’s Republic of China led by Wang Huning, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), paid an official goodwill visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on July 15-17 at the invitation of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and the government of the DPRK and attended the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the conclusion of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. The visit was reciprocal to the July 10-12 China visit by a DPRK party and government delegation led by Pak Thae Song, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, vice-president of the DPRK State Affairs Commission and premier of the DPRK Cabinet. The exchange of high-level delegations to mark the treaty anniversary was confirmed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping along with his DPRK counterpart Kim Jong Un during the former’s state visit to the DPRK, June 8-9.

Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the WPK and President of the State Affairs of the DPRK, met with Wang Huning and his delegation on July 16.

Noting that the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, an inter-state treaty which defines the strategic character of the bilateral relations and advances its strategic direction, has played an important role in defending the basic interests of the two countries and ensuring regional and global peace and security, Kim Jong Un said that it is the steadfast policy of the WPK and the DPRK government to more vigorously develop the traditional friendly and cooperative relations with socialism as the core in several fields on the basis of the spirit of the treaty and in line with the requirement of the changing times and the aspiration and desire of the two peoples.

He further affirmed that the WPK and the DPRK government would as ever support the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics in the new era led by Comrade General Secretary Xi Jinping, sincerely hoping that the Chinese people, who significantly celebrated the 105th anniversary of the foundation of the CPC, would make greater achievements in the historic course of comprehensively building a modern socialist power and achieving the great prosperity of the Chinese nation under the leadership of the CPC.

On the same day, a reception was given at the Yanggakdo International Hotel to mark the 65th anniversary of the conclusion of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance.

Pak Thae Song made a welcoming speech. He said that the DPRK-China friendship has entered a new stage of development in various fields under the direct guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, expressing the steadfast stand of the WPK and the DPRK government to steadily develop the friendly and cooperative relations with socialism as the core.

He further expressed the will to firmly join hands with the Chinese comrades as ever in the course of actively promoting the coprosperity and new development of friendship of the two countries, opposing hegemonism and victoriously advancing the socialist cause.

For his part, Wang Huning said it is a vivid feature of the relations between China and the DPRK that they support and cooperate with each other, share destiny and protect and help each other, adding that Comrade General Secretary Xi Jinping and Comrade General Secretary Kim Jong Un met seven times to lead the traditional China-DPRK friendship to open a new chapter of history.

He added that the firm stand of the Chinese party and government placing great importance on China-DPRK friendship will remain unchanged and the firm support for the cause of Korean socialism led by Comrade General Secretary Kim Jong Un will never be changed, adding that the Chinese side will, together with the DPRK side, hold aloft the banner of socialism and ensure that the baton of China-DPRK friendship is handed down through generations.

On the previous day, Wang held talks with Jo Yong Won, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK.

Jo Yong Won said that the ever-changing present international political situation has required the two countries to further strengthen the militant unity, support and solidarity and steadily intensify and develop the friendly and cooperative relations for the victorious advance of the common cause of socialism in conformity with the basic spirit of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. And he expressed the stand to expand and develop the bilateral relations in a many-sided way while maintaining close strategic communications and tactical cooperation between the two parties and two countries.

Wang Huning said that the conclusion of the treaty between China and the DPRK laid a legal foundation to consolidate the militant friendship formed at the cost of blood, stressing that it is an important common understanding of the top leaders of the two parties and two countries to splendidly mark the 65th anniversary of the conclusion of the treaty.

On the same day, Wang paid tribute to the martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army at Pyongyang’s Friendship Tower and wrote in the visitor’s book, “Let Us Glorify the Traditional Friendship by Inheriting the Intention of Martyrs”.

The next day he also visited the Chinese People’s Volunteers cemetery in the Sunan district of Pyongyang municipality.

He also visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to pay high respects to former DPRK leaders President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il as well as visiting the WPK’s Central Cadre Training School.

On July 17, accompanied by Jo Yong Won, Wang Huning visited the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourism area.

Commenting on the resort, which was officially opened on July 1, 2025, Wang Huning said it amazed him that the DPRK built in a short span of time the tourist area where the splendid structures harmonise with the natural landscape in a unique way and which has been landscaped on a high level, adding that such wonderful facilities for the people are the embodiment and manifestation of the people-first principle of the WPK.

Concluding their visit, Wang Huning and his delegation departed for home from the Wonsan Kalma Airport.