Delegations Archives - Friends of Socialist China

China’s technology infrastructure is blazing a trail for humanity

The following is the text of a speech given by Alessandro Zancan (a member of the Iskra Books editorial board and Friends of Socialist China Britain’s committee) at a China delegation report back meeting held in Brighton on 13 September 2025.

Ale reflects on China’s development over recent decades, arguing that its people-oriented use of technology is central to the country’s success in a number of fields. Platforms like WeChat and AliPay integrate public and private services efficiently and securely, while Huawei’s HarmonyOS NEXT exemplifies China’s push for seamless, cooperative, and non-exploitative tech ecosystems. This state-led coordination underpins achievements in pandemic control, renewable energy and poverty alleviation.

China’s poverty eradication, powered by data systems, digital infrastructure and rural electrification, is the fruit not of charity but of socialist planning and collective effort.

The article concludes that China’s dialectical approach to socialism — pragmatic, adaptive, and technologically advanced — offers lessons for Marxists worldwide: to study China’s experience, challenge Western narratives, and develop their own independent, cooperative platforms for knowledge building, dissemination and coordination.

Quick Rundown of Trip

At the end of May and through the beginning of June, delegates from various organisations, including Iskra Books, the Communist Party of Britain, the Young Communist League, Black Liberation Alliance, Qiao Collective, Freedom Road Socialist Organisation and Workers World Party went on a trip to China, as members of Friends of Socialist China’s Britain and US committees. We were graciously invited and hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE).

Shaanxi

Our first stop was in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, by way of a short layover in Shanghai. We saw the Terracotta Army in Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum and we visited the Xi’an City Wall.

We wandered a bit on our own, and experienced the city as tourists, before moving on to Yan’an – the main centre of the Chinese Revolution from the conclusion of the Long March in 1935 until the late 1940s – where we visited the Revolutionary Memorial Hall and the CPC base. We actually got to enter Mao Zedong’s, Zhou Enlai’s and Liu Shaoqi’s cave houses, along with the 7th National Congress Hall.

Gansu

In Dunhuang, Gansu province, we attended a number of meetings and conferences, headlined by the Fourth Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilisations, where we got to meet delegates from all over the world. We visited one of China’s biggest solar parks; we saw the stunning Mogao Caves; and attended the Dragon Boat Festival celebration in the Gobi Desert. It was truly breathtaking, and nothing else I have seen in my life can truly compare.

We then moved to Jiayuguan, where we visited a dairy farm and a number of museums; had a wine tasting from one of Asia’s largest wine producers; visited the JISCO Smart Grid and Localised New Energy Consumption Demonstration Project; and got to see the westernmost point of the Great Wall. Multiple projectors lined the walls, projecting animations of historical events, mapped to the structure of each fortress and individual wall.

Entrevista: Como China está construyendo el socialismo

We are pleased to republish below the Spanish translation of Freedom Road Socialist Organization Central Committee member Sydney Loving’s interview in FightBack News, in which she reflects on her experiences of the 2025 Friends of Socialist China delegation.

Nos complace republicar a continuación la traducción al español de la entrevista concedida por Sydney Loving, miembro del Comité Central de la Organización Socialista Freedom Road, a ¡Lucha y Resiste!, en la que reflexiona sobre sus experiencias con la delegación de Friends of Socialist China de 2025.

Noticiero ¡Lucha y Resiste! se sentó con Sydney Loving, participante de la delegación de Amigos de China Socialista, que recientemente regresó de una visita de diez días a cinco ciudades en China. De bases revolucionarios a ciudades de alta tecnología y desarrollo verde, la delegación presenció de primera mano el poder del socialismo a levantar las vidas de la gente. Loving es miembro del Comité Central de la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad.

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Cómo llegaste a China? ¿Cuál fue el propósito del viaje?

Sydney Loving: La delegación fue organizada por Amigos de China Socialista, un proyecto político dedicado a fortalecer la comprensión y apoyo para China según la solidaridad y la verdad. Yo representé la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad, y la delegación incluyó la gente de la Alianza Negra por la Paz, Mundo de Obreros, Internacional Progresista, Partido Comunista de Britania Liga de Comunistas Jóvenes, la Alianza de Liberación Negra, Libros Iskra, y otros.

Fuimos invitados por la Red China de ONG de Intercambios Internacionales, y durante 10 días visitamos Xi’an, Yan’an, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan y Shanghái.

Durante nuestro viaje a una variedad de lugares, tuvimos la oportunidad de descubrir cómo China está construyendo el socialismo, los avances increíbles que han hecho en 76 años de construcción socialista, y tuvimos diálogos maravillosos sobre cómo podemos rebatir mejor las narrativas negativas y las mentiras estilo Guerra Fría con las que estamos bombardeadas dentro del oeste. Al final, lo que encontramos fue un país encabezado por un partido político con una visión de futuro, con una meta que crea un mejor futuro para todos.

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Cómo describirías el camino de desarrollo de China?

Loving: Para entender verdaderamente lo extraordinario que es el desarrollo de China, hay que entender la historia y cómo fue la vida anterior para la mayoría de la gente. Antes de la revolución en 1949, China fue totalmente devastada por el imperialismo y la ocupación extranjera, feudalismo brutal, las hambrunas provocadas por el hombre, el caudillismo y más. La expectativa de vida en las áreas rurales era tan baja como 24 años. En Xi’an fuimos a unos sitios históricos antiguos, y los generales de terracota y las estatuas de mujeres nobles estaban rollizos – porque la hambruna masiva era una característica de la sociedad por siglos. Entonces, el socialismo tenía que superar todo esto.

Fuimos para Yan’an, que fue verdaderamente la cuna de la revolución de 1935 y 1947. El Ejército Rojo se reagrupó allá después de la Marcha Larga, y el PCCh [Partido Comunista de China] tuvo el 7mo Congreso Nacional, (16 largos años después del 6to Congreso, porque estaban luchando contra el imperialismo japonés y el KMT) en el cual el Pensamiento Mao Zedong fue cristalizado y adoptado. Ellos pelearon contra el dogmatismo y tomaron la decisión de ser el partido de las masas de la gente China. Cuando construyeron las estructuras políticas y eligieron representantes al Congreso, tenían un sistema de platos hondos y frijoles para las personas que no podían leer para votar por sus candidatos.

Ahora, 76 después, vimos un país que es la economía más grande del mundo medido por Paridad de Poder Adquisitivo. Incluso en las ciudades más pequeñas son tecnológicamente avanzadas y cada día más verde, la expectativa de vida es de más de 78 años, y claro donde más de 800 millones de personas han salido de la pobreza extrema – y no solo estamos hablando en términos de cantidades de dólares. Estamos hablando de alimentación, ropa, vivienda, electricidad y agua, atención médica y educación garantizadas.

El capitalismo no es capaz de cumplir esa clase de proyecto. Lo lograron con el planeo central y la movilización en masa. Cada ciudad que visitamos mostró cómo el Partido Comunista está guiando el desarrollo que prioriza a la gente primero.

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Cuáles diferencias notaste en la vida cotidiana?

Loving: Se siente sinceramente diferente a las ciudades en los EE. UU., incluso nuestras ciudades más grandes. Las calles están limpias, caminables, y bien ordenadas a pesar de lo pobladas que están. Hasta el punto de que las madres y sus hijos simplemente caminaban tras cada intersección, con confianza de que los carros tenían que pararse. Muchos vehículos y cosas son diseñados con consideración a las necesidades de los viejos, los niños y los obreros. Aun en uno de los hoteles, los trabajadores se reunían en la plaza para hacer baile/ejercicio por las mañanas. Fue verdaderamente tranquilo pero animado, con parques y jardines en todas partes, y muchas actividades gratuitas y acceso a la cultura y a sitios históricos.

En Xi’an y Dunhuang en particular vimos como miles de años de civilización están siendo preservados como parte de la identidad viva de la gente. Y ya que el turismo interno es tan importante, los museos y sitios estaban llenos de niños, ancianos y familias. Para mí, me quedó claro que mantener el pueblo como dueño de su historia y su cultura es parte fundamental del espíritu revolucionario.

Y no como las ciudades de los EE. UU., no vimos casi ninguna falta de vivienda. En diez días, viajando por cinco ciudades, solo vi a una persona pidiendo limosna en la calle con un código QR en el fondo de una olla. Compáralo con San Francisco o Nueva York, donde hay barrios enteros de campamentos.

Además de eso, la tecnología fue increíble. Desde pequeños robots que toman el elevador para entregar comida a tu cuarto de hotel a los aeropuertos donde solo te paras frente a una cámara y te muestra toda la información de tu puerta de embarque y vuelo. Nuestros anfitriones nos avisaron contra tomar el tren bala porque nosotros los occidentales somos muy lentos con tanto equipaje y seguro íbamos a llegar tarde, pero el tren normal también fue genial.

¡Lucha y Resiste!: Fuiste al noroeste, una región bastante pobre de China. ¿Qué fue lo que más notaste?

Loving: Si, fuimos a la provincia de Gansu, en el borde del desierto de Gobi, una de las partes más empobrecidas de China. Pero realmente nos impresionó lo que están haciendo allí.

En Jiayuguan, visitamos JISCO, una empresa siderúrgica estatal alrededor de la cual los obreros construyeron la ciudad entera en los años 1950s. Hoy tiene una cobertura verde de 42%, con estanques y parques — y recuerda que esto es el desierto Gobi. Es un testamento del nivel de desarrollo de las fuerzas productivas que ahora JISCO incluso tiene una granja lechera y una vinatera con la bodega de vino techada más grande de Asia (sí, probamos el vino — delicioso). También recorrimos la planta de poder solar de sal fundido de Dunhuang, que puede almacenar energía por la noche y un centro de control con IA para una red eléctrica inteligente que ayuda a reducir la producción de carbón en toda la providencia. Le preguntamos a un trabajador allí cuál es la diferencia tecnológica entre cómo funciona su red eléctrica y la de EE. UU., y modestamente nos dijo: “Bueno, nuestra red nunca se cae”. Desafortunadamente, eso me hizo reír – siendo de Texas.

Hay un gran énfasis en la modernización ecológica. Realmente están transformando el desierto en un lugar habitable y sostenible. Es un testamento de cómo van juntos el alivio de la pobreza y el ambientalismo bajo el socialismo.

China también está demostrando que la tecnología no es inherentemente anti-humana. En Shanghái fuimos a una fábrica de robótica en donde demostraron los avances en la cirugía e industria, y una fábrica de Lenovo donde mostraron cómo colaboran con el sistema escolar para llevar tecnología avanzada a escuelas rurales. La diferencia está en quién controla la tecnología, bajo qué sistema y para qué propósito.

Para China, un desarrollo que deja gente atrás simplemente significa un fracaso. Por eso se enfocan en equilibrar el desarrollo de las regiones, impulsando el occidente y el noroeste en lugar de permitir que la riqueza se concentre solo en las costas. Así, tras el éxito de los masivos proyectos de aliviar de la pobreza – que ni la ONU puede negar – la siguiente fase es la “prosperidad común”.

¡Lucha y Resiste!: ¿Cuál fue el papel del Partido Comunista en la vida cotidiana?

Loving: El Partido Comunista estuvo en todas partes. Digo acaban de celebrar haber alcanzado 100 millones de miembros. Aldeas, hospitales, escuelas y fábricas tienen ramas del Partido. En Jiayuguan pasamos por uno de los “Centros del Partido,” donde nuestros guías nos dijeron que las personas pueden ir a hacer preguntas o pedir ayuda de los cadres, hasta el cuidado de los niños.

Taking inspiration from Chinese socialism: British delegates report back from China

The following is a report back from the recent Friends of Socialist China delegation, written by Callum Norris and Twm Draper of the Young Communist League of Britain.

Callum and Twm note that delegates explored revolutionary history in Yan’an, where Mao and other leaders developed the core ideas of Mao Zedong Thought, and in Shanghai, at the site of the CPC’s first congress. These visits highlighted China’s transformation from one of the world’s poorest countries in 1949 into a modern socialist state that has eliminated extreme poverty.

At the Fourth Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilisations in Dunhuang, speakers from over 60 countries celebrated China’s role fostering cooperation and infrastructure development in the Global South. Concrete examples from Botswana, Laos, Nepal, and Egypt countered Western claims of “debt traps.”

The authors note China’s strong cultural preservation, accessible public spaces, and vibrant use of history, contrasting this with commodified cultural access in the West. They also commend China’s commitment to green development, evidenced by the Dunhuang Salt Tower solar plant and the extensive system of parks and green belts.

Discussions at Fudan University reflected growing confidence in the concept of Chinese socialism as a model with global relevance. Delegates also observed how technology is applied for social benefit, from AI-driven renewable energy management to robotics in industry.

Callum and Twm conclude that Chinese socialism offers valuable lessons in poverty eradication, ecological development, and international solidarity; and that British leftists should “take inspiration from Chinese socialism … but build socialism based on the conditions in Britain”.

Introduction

We were fortunate to be part of Friends of Socialist China’s delegation, including delegates from Britain and the US, involved in a range of organisations including the Young Communist League/Communist Party of Britain, Progressive International, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Workers World Party, Black Liberation Alliance and Qiao Collective. We were hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE).

We visited a number of cities in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, as well as Shanghai.

The themes of the trip were building people to people relations between China and the rest of the world, and China’s construction of n ecological civilisation.

History

In 1949, when the Communist Party of China (CPC) declared the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), it was one of the poorest countries in the world. Average life expectancy was below 35. Illiteracy was rife and disease was common. Imperialist aggression contributed to all this, as the world’s colonial powers sought to carve up China for their own interests, culminating in the Japanese invasion , which claimed the lives of tens of millions of people.

The delegates were able to witness this history first hand and see the success of 76 years of Chinese Socialism, with visits to important revolutionary and historical sites across the country. This began in Yan’an where, more than 90 years ago, the communist forces concluded the Long March, when tens of thousands of party members marched the length of China in a strategic retreat from the encroaching Nationalist Party (Kuomintang (KMT)). They arrived in Yan’an with greatly depleted numbers and held the 7^th National Congress, more than a decade later in 1945, during which the party adopted a number of important resolutions, including an endorsement of the guerrilla warfare strategy which contributed decisively to victories in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the ensuing Revolutionary Civil War.

Interview: China shows socialism is the future

Sydney Loving, a Central Committee member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, joined the 2025 Friends of Socialist China delegation on a ten-day visit to Xi’an, Yan’an, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, and Shanghai. The trip, hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, aimed to deepen solidarity, build understanding of the Global Civilisation Initiative, and counter Western Cold War lies about China.

In the interview below, originally published in FightBack News, Sydney emphasises that China’s achievements must be seen in the context of its pre-1949 poverty, war, and foreign domination. Visiting Yan’an, the cradle of the revolution, underscored how the Communist Party of China (CPC) grounded itself in the masses. Today, after 76 years of socialist construction, China has lifted hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty, raised life expectancy to over 79 years, and built a high-tech, increasingly green economy.

Daily life in China, Sydney observes, contrasts sharply with US cities: clean, walkable streets, safety for pedestrians, abundant public spaces, and virtually no homelessness. Historical and cultural heritage is actively preserved and made accessible. In poorer Gansu Province, projects like the JISCO steel complex, solar power plants, and ecological greening of desert areas illustrate the link between poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability.

Sydney stresses the CPC’s visible role in daily life, from free medical checkups to street sanitation, with leadership positions earned by serving the people rather than by spending money on marketing. She argues that socialism’s central planning and mass mobilisation achieve outcomes capitalism simply cannot.

For US revolutionaries, the lesson is twofold: socialism works, and the main obstacle to global peace and dignity is US imperialism. While China’s path cannot be copied directly, its example shows that a people-centred, revolutionary movement is possible.

Fight Back!: How did you go to China? What was the purpose of the trip?

Sydney Loving: The delegation was organized by Friends of Socialist China, a political project aiming to strengthen understanding and support for China on the basis of solidarity and truth. I repped Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the delegation included folks from Black Alliance for Peace, Workers World, Progressive International, Communist Party of Britain Young Communist League, Black Liberation Alliance, Qiao Collective, Iskra Books, and others.

We were invited by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, and over ten days we visited Xi’an, Yan’an, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, and Shanghai.

Traveling to a range of areas, we got to investigate how China is building socialism, the incredible advances they’ve made in 76 years of socialist construction, and we had awesome dialogues about how we can better counter the negative narratives and Cold War-type lies we’re bombarded with in the West. Ultimately what we found was a country led by a forward-thinking political party, with a purpose that’s carving out a better future for everybody.

Delegates from Britain and the US witness Socialist China’s remarkable progress

We are pleased to republish below a short report by Callum Norris of the 11-day Friends of Socialist China delegation in May-June 2025. As Callum notes, the visit focused on strengthening international people-to-people ties and learning about China’s efforts toward building an ecological civilisation.

A key event was the Fourth Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilisations in Dunhuang, where Vice-President Han Zheng and speakers from over 60 countries emphasised global cooperation, mutual respect and cultural exchange. At a parallel session, delegates from Britain and US youth organisations highlighted the grim realities young people face in the West—housing crises, job insecurity, and climate anxiety—and contrasted this with China’s continually-improving standards of living and its commitment to environmental protection.

The delegation also toured Dunhuang’s massive solar plant, as well as a smart energy grid in Jiayuguan. Delegates noted the extensive greenery across Chinese cities, witnessing firsthand China’s remarkable journey towards sustainability.

‘Red tourism’ in Yan’an and the site of the CPC’s first national congress in Shanghai underscored how far China has come. Callum writes:

In 1949, China was one of the poorest nations in the world, had a life expectancy in the 20s and 30s, had literacy rates barely above 10 per cent and suffered greatly under the boot of Western and Japanese colonialism.

As we saw during our delegation, China is today the world’s largest economic power; it has rid itself of its former subjugation, in the process laying the foundation of what a model country of the future looks like.

It is a country where every citizen is guaranteed the right to education and healthcare, where not one single person goes without a roof over their head, where humanity’s challenge against the threat of climate catastrophe is being solved. All this is only possible because of the success of the Chinese revolution and the continued commitment to constructing socialism.

Delegates left inspired, confident in the superiority of socialism, and ready to fight harder than ever for a better future at home.

This article first appeared in the Morning Star on 2 July 2025.

Delegates representing Friends of Socialist China from Britain and the US were invited by the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for an 11-day educational exchange on the topics of building people-to-people relations between China and the rest of the world and building an ecological civilisation.

Fourth dialogue on exchanges and mutual learning among civilisations

Visiting Dunhuang in Gansu Province, delegates took part in the Fourth Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilisations, an international conference which aimed at expanding China’s Global Civilisational Initiative, an organisation aiming to promote mutual respect among different civilisations.

The conference began with an opening address by Han Zheng, the Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, followed by addresses from representatives of Laos, Nepal, Botswana and others, before the delegates from over 60 countries took part in meetings and cultural events. The speakers highlighted the need to respect, share and learn from each other’s varied cultures, acknowledging that cultural exchange and not cultural isolation enhances cultural value.

Jiayuguan – the socialist future today

In the following article, which was originally published in the Morning Star under the title ‘China’s socialism succeeds where Eastern European failed’, Pawel Wargan, Political Coordinator at the Progressive International, writes movingly about his recent visit to Jiayuguan, a ‘steel city’ in western China’s Gansu province, contrasting this prosperous and civilised socialist community to the dystopian fate of similarly conceived projects in his native Poland and other formerly socialist countries.

Pawel writes that, “those of us who were born on the ruins of the socialist Eastern Bloc know how purpose-built, industrial ‘monotowns’ are meant to look. Rusting steel mills, cracked and potholed roads, weathered sheets of corrugated metal strewn about. Thick smog and poisoned soil. Drunks passed out on the train platform. Emaciated stray dogs. A lone child skipping down the muddy path of a panel-block neighbourhood silenced by demographic blight.”

All this, he notes, serves to “beat down the idea that socialism can produce anything but misery. And they have become so firmly embedded in the popular imagination that, for many, it is difficult to believe otherwise.”

Yet Poland’s Nowa Huta, the sprawling Krakow neighbourhood built around the Vladimir Lenin Steelworks; Russia’s Magnitogorsk, built around its eponymous Iron and Steel Works; or Germany’s Eisenhuttenstadt, established by the socialist German Democratic Republic around a major steel mill, also served as a template for the dignified life that communism envisioned for all working people. However, capitalist restoration shattered their ambitions.

Pawel continues: “How might these cities look today had the process of socialist construction continued uninterrupted? I found one possible answer in Jiayuguan, a remote desert city in China’s Gansu Province built from the ground up around a steel plant.”

The Jiuquan Iron and Steel Corporation (JISCO) was founded in 1958 as part of revolutionary China’s ambitious drive to establish the basis of a modern, industrialised economy. “It was a gruelling effort… Workers who came to the region dug the earth with their hands, trudged through waist-high mud, and carried heavy equipment on their backs. They faced the desert’s biting cold and punishing heat.”

But now, where once there was desert stands China’s fourteenth-largest steel producer. It has an annual capacity of over 11 million tons of crude steel – double the total steel-making capacity of Britain. And the state-owned enterprise has expanded its activities far beyond metals, to agricultural products and industrial manufacturing equipment, packaging and logistics, housing and healthcare, education and even wine, boasting the largest wine cellar in Asia. JISCO also manages the city’s power grid. Its Smart Grid and Localised New Energy Consumption Demonstration Project, powered almost entirely by artificial intelligence, automatically distributes energy, optimising for consumption patterns in real-time, thereby decoupling growth from energy use.

Therefore, he concludes: “Jiayuguan offered proof that the images of decay and despair that many have come to associate with industrial cities in Eastern Europe were not products of their socialist past, but symptoms of their capitalist present.”

Pawel visited Jiayuguan as part of an international delegation organised by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE) and Friends of Socialist China that visited China between 25 May and 5 June 2025.

Those of us who were born on the ruins of the socialist Eastern Bloc know how purpose-built, industrial “monotowns” are meant to look.

Rusting steel mills, cracked and potholed roads, weathered sheets of corrugated metal strewn about. Thick smog and poisoned soil. Drunks passed out on the train platform. Emaciated stray dogs. A lone child skipping down the muddy path of a panel-block neighbourhood silenced by demographic blight.

Report: Delegation to China, May-June 2025

As reported previously, between 25 May and 5 June 2025, an international delegation – organised by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE) and Friends of Socialist China – visited Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanghai to witness China’s ongoing socialist development.

Comprising activists from organisations including Friends of Socialist China, the Progressive International, Black Alliance for Peace, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Communist Party of Britain, the Black Liberation Alliance, Workers World Party and Bronx Anti-War, the group explored China’s revolutionary history, technological achievements, sustainable planning, and its commitment to peace and friendship among civilisations.

The trip affirmed for participants that China’s development model, rooted in socialist planning and common prosperity, has clearly become a powerful alternative to Western capitalism, and is a source of inspiration for global movements seeking a more just, peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.

The detailed report below, which originally appeared on Progressive International, was prepared collectively by the participating organisations.

Between 25 May and 5 June, the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), working in coordination with Friends of Socialist China, hosted an international delegation to three regions of China: Shaanxi province, Gansu province, and Shanghai.

The delegation included members of Friends of Socialist China, the Progressive International, the Black Alliance for Peace, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Communist Party of Britain, the Young Communist League – Britain, the Black Liberation Alliance, Workers World, Bronx Anti-War, and others.

Delegates attended the 4th Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilisations, and visited a range of historic revolutionary sites, museums, and state-owned firms to witness and deliberate the rapid development made possible by the enduring project of Chinese socialism.

This report was prepared collectively by the participating organizations.

Overview

The delegation’s 10-day journey through China traced a remarkable arc of transformation — from the humble beginnings of revolutionary struggle to the latest achievements of contemporary socialist construction. The visit followed the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) evolution from a group of thirteen participants meeting in a small Shanghai room in 1921 to a governing force that has fundamentally reshaped not only the world’s most populous nation — but also the world beyond it.

The trip began with a journey from Xi’an to Yan’an — a quick trip by express train that less than a century ago would have taken days of travel along dangerous and ragged mountain roads. Yan’an is a cradle of Chinese socialism. It is where the Red Army concluded its heroic Long March in 1936. Here, living in yaodong cave dwellings and equipped with rudimentary arms and thin cotton uniforms, the fighters of the CPC crafted their victory over Japan, while Mao Zedong penned some of his most notable theoretical works in a simple mud-brick house.

The wide rift between these austere conditions — all just one lifetime ago — and the achievements of Chinese modernization today remained a theme throughout the visit. This gap illustrated the profound scale of China’s revolutionary transformation. In Yan’an, the delegation saw where the building blocks of Chinese socialism were laid. Here, the modern CPC developed its ideological foundations, established institutions like the Party School, and developed the prototypes for the first institutions of the socialist state.

The thread connecting revolutionary struggle to China’s contemporary advancements became clear as the delegation visited Gansu province, a vast region — among China’s poorest — between Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. In Jiayuguan, a former desert outpost transformed into China’s fourteenth-largest steel producer, the delegation witnessed how strategic planning could reshape entire regions. The remote desert town, established in 1958 around around the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Corporation (JISCO), came to underpin a remarkable process of high-quality development that continues to this day. Delegates noted how the level of development in the city — with its clean streets, modern infrastructure, high-quality public housing, and abundant parks — easily surpassed that seen in most towns in the United States and United Kingdom.

In Gansu province, the delegation also witnessed the critical advancements in China’s green technology. The Dunhuang Molten Salt Tower plant, featuring 12,000 heliostats channeling desert sunlight into a groundbreaking technology that liquifies salt, enables solar power to continue generating electricity even at nighttime. The AI-powered Smart Grid and Localised New Energy Consumption Demonstration Project, developed by JISCO to manage energy distribution within Jiayuguan, has enabled decreasing energy consumption even as living standards and industrial outputs increased — an achievement of decoupling energy use from growth that many experts in the West have longed deemed impossible.

The delegation concluded its trip in Shanghai, where the CPC held its 1st National Congress. The contrast between the the modest room where thirteen revolutionaries held that first meeting and the sprawling metropolis outside it speaks to the scale of the transformation that China has seen in just a little over a century since the CPC was established. Delegates were impressed by the visible quality of that development — one that prioritizes the common good rather than individual profit, and builds cities that are green, affordable, walkable, and livable, in stark contrast to many of the cities that the delegation travelled from in their home countries. China offers a model of development that is attractive to people around the world, and demonstrates the continued vitality of socialist construction in the 21st century.

As a teacher from Jiayuguan told the delegation: “China not only learned from the experiences of the Soviet Union. China saved socialism. Looking at what has been achieved, I am satisfied, and I am proud.”

Dialogue with Fudan University’s China Institute: videos

As previously reported, on Monday 3 June 2025, the recent Friends of Socialist China delegation participated in a dialogue with the China Institute of Shanghai’s Fudan University, consisting of a panel discussion featuring Professor Zhang Weiwei, Professor Wu Xinwen, and Friends of Socialist China co-editors Carlos Martinez and Keith Bennett, followed by a wide-ranging discussion with the audience.

We have now posted the videos of the full event, plus introductory speeches, on our YouTube channel. These are embedded below.

Witnessing China’s socialist transformation

In the following report for Workers World, Ché Marino reflects on the recent delegation to China, organised by Friends of Socialist China and hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges. Travelling through Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanghai, the delegation explored China’s development, cultural heritage, and political system.

Ché contrasts the remarkable improvements in living standards and development level in China since his first visit in 2009 – from Shanghai’s modern infrastructure to expansive public amenities and smart technologies. Indeed, China’s development “stands in stark contrast to the crumbling infrastructure and growing inequality I see in New York City”.

Ché emphasises that these changes stem not from a capitalist approach but from China’s socialist model, where policies are shaped by the Communist Party to serve the public good. He cites the lifting of 800 million people from poverty, leadership in renewable energy, and peaceful diplomacy as evidence of socialism’s success. Detailed discussions with scholars such as Professor Zhang Weiwei reinforced the idea that Chinese socialism has global relevance, offering an alternative to imperialism and neoliberalism.

The article also highlights China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Global Civilisation Initiative as examples of international cooperation rooted in mutual benefit and respect, especially in China’s relations with Africa. Ché notes the Western media’s distortions about China, contrasting them with what he witnessed firsthand: a people-centred society focused on ecological sustainability and global solidarity.

Ché concludes that China’s socialist path offers vital lessons for the global left, particularly for youth disillusioned by Western capitalism.

In a world facing multiple crises, from climate change to growing inequality, China’s socialist path illuminates a way forward — not as a template to be mechanically copied but as a source of inspiration for all who seek a more just, peaceful and sustainable world.

In May 2025, I had the privilege of joining a delegation organized by Friends of Socialist China, a collective dedicated to fostering international solidarity and understanding of China’s socialist model. Our journey, hosted by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), took us across several regions, including Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanghai.

The purpose of our trip was to engage in dialogues on civilizational exchange, witness China’s remarkable socio-economic transformations and deepen our understanding of the principles underpinning its development. Through visits to historic revolutionary sites, discussions with local leaders and participation in cultural events, we aimed to explore the realities of Chinese socialism and its implications for global solidarity.

As I stepped off the plane in Shanghai in 2025, memories of my first visit in 2009 came flooding back. Sixteen years ago, I arrived as a college student seeking the cheapest study abroad option available. What I found then was unmistakably a developing nation: streets that flooded when it rained, large swaths of underdeveloped public infrastructure and transportation that consisted of hitching rides on motorcycles to reach the nearest train station.

The transformation I witnessed upon my return is nothing short of remarkable. Where once stood only the Oriental Pearl Tower on the Bund now rises a skyline of architectural marvels. The face-scanning technology that allows commuters to enter subway stations with just a glance would have seemed like science fiction during my first visit, when my university ID was merely a laminated photo.

This dramatic metamorphosis represents more than just economic growth; it embodies the success of China’s socialist project with Chinese characteristics. As I traveled through residential areas of Shanghai, I was struck by the quality of life afforded to ordinary citizens: beautiful parks, running tracks with specialized materials that protect joints and extensive bicycle paths. “We don’t have this in New York City,” I found myself repeatedly saying.

China provides a powerful counterexample to the moral rot and immiseration of the capitalist imperial core

The recent Friends of Socialist China delegation to China contributed to a parallel session of the Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilisations, organised by Schwarzman Scholars of Tsinghua University, on the theme of Youth power in dialogue among civilisations.

Creighton Ward, a member of Qiao Collective and of Friends of Socialist China’s US committee, gave the following brief presentation focused on the deteriorating economic, social and political conditions faced by young people in the US, and highlighting all that oppressed and working class communities in the West can learn from Socialist China.

Thank you to the hosts and organizers of this event, I am honored to join you as a representative of Friends of Socialist China and the Qiao Collective. Thank you for your interest in a youth perspective and for convening this dialogue.

The majority of youth in the US, including myself, face a variety of challenges even in the rich imperial core: crumbling infrastructure, the gutting of the administrative state, austerity, the evaporation of pandemic welfare programs and regressive health policies that openly embrace eugenics, skyrocketing rent and food prices, the deregulation of agencies tasked with monitoring food safety and infectious disease.

We are dealing with a social atmosphere of climate nihilism, social atomization to the highest degree, depoliticization, and counterinsurgency.

The imperialist reorganization underway in the second Trump administration has been accompanied by the rapid degradation in quality of life for workers, brazenly genocidal moves domestically and abroad, and a pivot away from the US’ proxy wars in Palestine and Ukraine in preparation for war with China. We should not underestimate the degree of ideological defeat instilled in the western left, or its problems of racial chauvinism and anticommunism.

Yet despite the bleak conditions that youth are confronted with, it is obvious that there have been significant shifts in the global balance of power against US hegemony. We are fortunate to live in a time when the second-largest political party in the world is an experienced and highly capable communist party, and I find myself thinking frequently about how much worse off we would all be if China had not taken the socialist path.

China provides a powerful counterexample to the moral rot and immiseration of the capitalist imperial core. We have much to learn from its antipoverty measures, commitment to building ecological civilization, and autonomous development. Its successes reflect the historical agency of labor in the world’s largest socialist state and the necessity of socialism to restore ecologically harmonious social and economic relations. The Chinese experience demystifies the fact that mass communist politics are the only thing capable of responding to the contradictions of our time.

In the introduction to The Long Transition Towards Socialism and the End of Capitalism, Danish communist Torkil Lauesen said,

“To see the struggle for socialism as a long process of global transformation since the mid-nineteenth century is also somehow comforting on a psychological level for an old man. The struggle and suffering of millions of communists and socialists for the past two hundred years have not been in vain…to be part of this process–a tiny cogwheel in the machinery of transformation–and give it a little push in the right direction seems to be ‘the meaning of life.’”

I hope that my generation and those to come find the necessary courage to accept our place in an intergenerational struggle for peace and ecological society.

Delegates from Britain and the US build friendship with China

The second Friends of Socialist China delegation to the People’s Republic of China took place from 26 May to 5 June 2025.

Invited by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), which works under the direction of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), 15 comrades (nine from Britain and six from the United States) visited Xi’an and Yan’an (Shaanxi province), Dunhuang and Jiayuguan (Gansu province) and Shanghai. The delegates attended the 4th Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilisations, as well as participating in discussions and visiting a range of historic revolutionary sites, museums, famous scenic spots, cooperatives, as well as demonstrations of cutting edge technology.

Celebrating revolutionary heritage

On 28 May, the delegation travelled by train from Xi’an to Yan’an, the quintessential ‘Red Tourism’ destination that was the centre of the Chinese Revolution between 1936 and 1948 – where the leadership and army were based, where the largest and most important pre-liberation revolutionary base area was set up, where much of the theoretical work of the revolution was done, and where Mao Zedong Thought was officially adopted by the party. Classic works of Mao Zedong such as On Practice, On Contradiction, On Protracted War, and On New Democracy were written there, based on extensive study and discussion, and synthesising the lessons of the movement’s experience up to that point with the existing theory of Marxism-Leninism.

We visited the caves where Mao, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi and others lived and worked for over a decade, and where legendary foreign friends such as Edgar Snow, Norman Bethune, Anna Louise Strong and Agnes Smedley visited. We also visited the building where the 7th National Congress of the CPC was held, from 23 April to 11 June 1945 – a crucial event setting out the strategy for the final phase of the struggle against Japanese occupation and for the pursuit of New Democracy.

We toured the beautiful Yan’an Revolutionary Memorial Hall, first opened in 1951, displaying 1,300 revolutionary cultural relics and telling the whole story of China’s struggle for liberation. The last agenda item for the day was an inspiring lecture and discussion with a representative of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the CPC.

Several days later, in Shanghai’s former French Concession, we were taken on a guided tour of the Site of the First National Congress of the CPC. The museum at the site includes powerful exhibits telling the story of why and how the CPC was established. Incidentally, last year’s delegation visited the Red Boat in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, where the First Congress moved to in order to avoid the attention of the French Concession police.

Red Tourism is hugely popular in China. Important sites connected with the history of the Chinese Revolution are extremely well preserved and managed, and they attract large volumes of visitors from around the country. This type of tourism plays an important role promoting an understanding of China’s revolutionary history and connecting younger people in particular to the generations that made extraordinary sacrifices in order that China could stand up, assert its sovereignty, build socialism and become a force for good in the world. This feeds in to a widespread confidence and belief in socialism, which unites the Chinese people and forms a line of defence against the imperialist powers’ pernicious anti-communist propaganda.

Promoting civilisational exchange

On 30 May, our delegation attended the opening session of the Fourth Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilisations, in Dunhuang, Gansu province. Moderated by Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), the session featured a keynote speech by Vice President Han Zheng, plus addresses from Dithapelo Keorapetse (Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Botswana), Ji Bingxuan (Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress), Sommad Pholsena (Vice President of the National Assembly of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic), Hu Changsheng (Secretary of the CPC Gansu Provincial Committee) and Bidya Devi Bhandari (former President of Nepal).

Dialogue with Fudan University’s China Institute: Is China really socialist?

The second Friends of Socialist China delegation to China took place from 26 May to 5 June 2025. The delegation, composed of 15 comrades from Britain and the US, visited Xi’an and Yan’an (Shaanxi), Dunhuang and Jiayuguan (Gansu) and Shanghai, visiting important historical sites, learning about China’s development, attending the 4th Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilisations, and engaging meeting with a range of organisations.

On Monday 3 June, the delegation participated in a dialogue with the China Institute of Shanghai’s Fudan University, consisting of a panel discussion featuring Professor Zhang Weiwei, Professor Wu Xinwen, and Friends of Socialist China co-editors Carlos Martinez and Keith Bennett, followed by a wide-ranging discussion with the audience.

We reproduce below a report of the event from the China Institute WeChat channel, which has been machine-translated. The full video can be found on the China Academy website, and is embedded below. We will also be publishing a delegation report in due course.

On the afternoon of June 3, Carlos Martinez, co-editor of the Friends of Socialist China website, and Keith Bennett, vice chairman of the British 48 Group Club, led a delegation of Friends of Socialist China to visit the China Institute of Fudan University. Professor Zhang Weiwei, director of the National High-end Think Tank Council and dean of the China Institute of Fudan University, and Professor Wu Xinwen, vice dean, had in-depth dialogues and interactive exchanges with Mr. Martinez, Mr. Bennett and other members of the delegation on Chinese socialism and its global significance.

In his speech, Professor Zhang Weiwei welcomed the Friends of Socialist China delegation and briefly introduced China’s exploration of socialism along the way and its impact on the outside world.

The Xinjiang I saw was a hub of diversity, not oppression

In this report back for the Morning Star, Roger McKenzie shares his reflections on a recent visit to Xinjiang, China, which took in five cities and towns in ten days.

What the delegation witnessed belies the Western media narrative about religious and cultural oppression in Xinjiang. Roger writes: “I lost count of the number of mosques that I saw during my recent trip. I visited a thriving Islamic Centre in the city of Urumqi — which has received millions in funding from the Chinese government for its development to teach its around 1,000 students… Celebrations of the Islamic culture were everywhere for anyone to see.”

Having visited multiple religious sites and spoken with religious figures and political leaders, as well as ordinary people, Roger comments drily: “I can honestly say that for a country that supposedly routinely oppresses ethnic minorities, China seems to spend an inordinate amount of time celebrating them”.

Given the yawning disparity between Western media portrayal of Xinjiang and the reality on the ground, Roger asks the key question: why is this propaganda war being waged? “The geographical position of the region provides the answer. As the centre of the Silk Road renaissance, the region will be the focal point of Chinese trade and its economic heartbeat.” The US, hell-bent on maintaining full-spectrum dominance, “will use any means necessary to maintain the pre-eminence of US capital”.

Thus slanders against China aim at damaging its economy, isolating it internationally, preventing the emergence of solidarity between China and the Western progressive movement, and fomenting discontent within China itself.

This article is the first in a series of three.

The Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang is at the geographical centre of Eurasia.

The region borders eight other countries which makes it a vital part of Chinese plans for the greater integration of Eurasia and the westward opening up of this nation of 1.4 billion people.

The Comprehensive Bonded Zone in the city of Kashi is central to co-ordinating the booming trade links that China has established with its immediate neighbours.

Xinjiang, one of the largest regions in China, is a gateway to Russia, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan.

It occupies around 643,000 square miles of China — a space larger than six Britains.

Its sparse population of approximately 25 million is mainly Muslim and made up of around 65 different ethnic groups including Chinese Han, Uighurs, Kazakhs and Hui, among others.

I lost count of the number of mosques that I saw during my recent trip.

I visited a thriving Islamic Centre in the city of Urumqi — which has received millions in funding from the Chinese government for its development to teach its around 1,000 students.

I had the honour of sitting in the mosque’s main hall attached to the centre alongside the imam and hearing him talk about the support the centre had received from the government.

I also visited the magnificent and extremely busy Id Kah Mosque in the city of Kashi.

Both times the imams took the time from their busy schedules to speak about how grateful they and worshippers at the mosque are for the support provided by the government.

They told me about how the right to worship any religion is considered a private matter in China and protected in law.

That’s why it provides funds to a wide range of religious bodies representing Muslims, Buddhists and Christians among others.

None of this is recognised in the West. Instead tall tales are told about supposed widespread religious persecution.

In particular Western politicians and their stenographers in the corporate media continue to spin untruths about the treatment of religious minorities.

To be crystal clear: at no time did I witness any attempt to block anyone from being able to worship according to the Islamic faith or, for that matter, any other religion.

I heard no criticism of the government over religious persecution from senior religious figures or anyone else I met during my visit.

I was never stopped from speaking with anyone in any of the large crowds of people that I found myself in across the region.

Having made the effort to actually visit five cities in 10 days in the region rather than pontificate from thousands of miles away, I can honestly say that for a country that supposedly routinely oppresses ethnic minorities China seems to spend an inordinate amount of time celebrating them.

By that, I don’t mean the half-arsed patronising so-called celebration of diversity that now appears customary across Britain.

Leading figures in Britain trip over themselves to take a knee and say how much black lives matter to them but continue to do nothing about racism in their organisations.

It doesn’t look to me like a Black History Month-type gig where a big show is made for a short tokenistic period and then ignored for the rest of the time.

Talking up the richness of the region’s cultural diversity wasn’t just an isolated thing in Xinjiang — it was everywhere. Celebrations of the Islamic culture were everywhere for anyone to see.

I can already hear some saying that either I wasn’t looking hard enough or I was having the wool pulled over my eyes. I did look hard and I don’t believe an elaborate hoax was being played on me.

I spoke with lots of people in private with no restrictions placed on me whatsoever. In fact, my dreadlocks, and I dare say, the colour of my skin, meant I was a target of curiosity, especially among the young, many of who wanted to come and chat and have a photo taken with me.

That was frankly the most uncomfortable thing about the trip!

What I saw was lots of people going about their business in much the same way as I have seen people trying to do in many parts of the world.

I met many Communist Party officials who were questioned over the allegations made against them and their country. All of them said the only way to counter the propaganda war being waged against them was for people to come and see for themselves.

They told me how hard they were working to open up the region to more tourism so that people could experience this beautiful area but also so more people could bear witness to the truth about them.

So why is this propaganda war being waged against China in general and in particular against Xinjiang?

The geographical position of the region provides the answer. As the centre of the Silk Road renaissance, the region will be the focal point of Chinese trade and its economic heartbeat.

It means the continuing economic growth of China is disproportionately linked to Xinjiang.

Its trade routes through its eight neighbours to its wider partners will be critical to sell Chinese-made goods as well as to buy the resources needed to continue to power the country’s economy.

The US is the world’s leading economy and wants to keep it that way. Its doctrine of Full Spectrum Dominance asserts that it will use any means necessary to maintain the pre-eminence of US capital.

I think we can take this to mean that the US will not hesitate to spread misinformation about China. After all, it’s not as if the US does not have form for this type of behaviour.

They have been doing it for years, particularly across Africa and Central America where they buy organisations to ferment internal dissent against governments deemed not to be compliant.

Sprinkled with an always unhealthy dose of sinophobia the move by the US to undermine the reputation of China has largely economic foundations and false allegations of mistreatment against ethnic minorities — particularly the Uighurs — are completely without foundation.

On the contrary, there seems to me to be far more evidence of the Chinese at a national and regional level actively celebrating cultural diversity as well as striving to put in place the economic prosperity that looks as though it is undermining attempts by terrorist groups — likely funded by the West — to sow discontent in Xinjiang.

I will talk about this and the allegations of forced labour in some detail in the second part of this three series about my visit to China. In the meantime, to anyone reading this article in disbelief and who believes that either I am lying or have been the victim of what would be a truly elaborate hoax my suggestion is: go and see for yourself.

It’s a long way away but I honestly believe you will be surprised by the wonderful vibrant people and cities that will greet you.

Videos: China proves that a new world is possible! Delegates report back from China

On 16 June 2024, we held a webinar reporting back on the first exclusive Friends of Socialist China delegation to the People’s Republic of China, which took place from 14 to 24 April 2024. At the webinar we heard back from the delegates about their experiences and observations of Chinese socialism. The speakers were:

Danny Haiphong (Broadcaster; Author, ‘American Exceptionalism and American Innocence’)
Fiona Sim (Black Liberation Alliance)
Roger McKenzie (International editor, Morning Star)
Margaret Kimberley (Editor-in-chief, Black Agenda Report)
Russel Harland (trade unionist and Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee member)
Sage Stanescu (researcher and Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee member)

Embedded below is the full livestream (unfortunately including, in the first few minutes, various interruptions by racist trolls attempting to sabotage the event) and the individual panel contributions (thankfully without interruptions!).

A comparison between the experiences of the Chinese and Iraqi Communist Parties

The video embedded below is of an Arabic-language seminar held on 31 May 2024: Lessons from the Chinese Experience and a Comparison between the Experiences of the Chinese and Iraqi Communist Parties

The main presentation is given by Dr Ali Al-Assam, Managing Director of the NewsSocial Cooperative and member of the Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee, about his recent visit to China and his observations there. He was joined by Hani Lazim in the final segment of the seminar. The seminar topics include:

The Essentials for the Success of the Chinese Communist Party in Their Own Words
The Scientific Method, Learning from Experiences, Trust in the People
Management of the Socialist State

Reaching China, Xi Jinping, and People: Reflections of a delegate’s journey

In the following article, Russel Harland (Deputy Branch Secretary and International Relations Officer, Surrey County UNISON, and a member of the Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee) provides a detailed and throught-provoking description of his experiences on our recent delegation to China.

Discussing the delegation’s field trip to the Beijing headquarters of the ‘12345’ service hotline, Russel observes that this is an example of “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in action, using all available resources to work for the common goal of serving the people while responding to reality in the process.” He contrasts this with his own experience working in service provision in Britain: “There were many occasions that I knew when giving vulnerable people advice, either in their homes or on the phone, that it was mostly theatre given the constraints on public services in Britain.”

Russel writes that “fundamental to our visit, unsurprisingly, is what you could call our red education”. Through the Chinese presentation of their own historical and ideological trajectory, it becomes clear that “the red gene flows through the life blood of everything that China is trying to do.” Reflecting on his experiences growing up in Belfast, Russel notes: “The battle for symbols is an important arena on the journey of any country’s rejuvenation, known only too well by those us from former colonies who have spent a lifetime walking past statues and symbols of our colonial oppression… After what our delegation experienced during our visit in China, the North of Ireland has some way to go in matching China’s cultural regeneration before it can truly unburden itself from the past.”

The article also explores the nature of China’s evolving Marxism, in particular Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Russel emphasises the importance of casting off New Cold War propaganda – and deep-rooted ‘yellow peril’ racism – in order to understand the reality of China today.

It is vitally important for anyone wishing to understand contemporary China, that we attempt to claw ourselves out of the ideological pit of ignorance whence we bathe in untruths, which are then nonchalantly echoed as informed opinion on Xi Jinping, and China in general. Centuries of constructed racism, which we Irish understand only too well, against China from the West, with the alleged threat of the “yellow peril” lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on our “freedoms,” distorts reality and the standing in which President Xi is held, both in China and the non-western world.

Russel concludes: “The Friends of Socialist China 2024 delegation to the People’ Republic of China has born witness to an inspiring alternative that truly puts the wellbeing of all its population first.”

Russel is among the speakers at our webinar on 16 June 2024, China proves that a new world is possible! Delegates report back from China.

A chance quip by a comrade during a discussion on Chinese food one evening stimulated my reflection on the world that had opened up to me before my participation in the 2024 Friends of Socialist China (FoSC) delegation had even been confirmed. For around five years I had been attending online events organised by groups such as No Cold War Britain, the International Manifesto Group, and Friends of Socialist China, where I took inspiration to begin researching Chinese revolutionary history, economics, and Marxist theory. As a child of “The Troubles” in the North of Ireland, as it’s euphemistically known, I was a latecomer to Marxism as a mature student at university in my late thirties. The subsequent new focus on China led me to embrace a world of possibilities that would sit much more comfortably with my working-class experience and global south allegiances.

Reading from many sources, old and new, from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping, I began to formulate a tentative overview of the historical and contemporary Chinese experience, particularly from the time of China’s defeat to the British in the first Opium War in 1840, which ushered in the ‘century of humiliation’. Around this time in Ireland, Britain’s bloody footprint continued to be stamped on the colonised population, as an Gorta Mór (The Great Hunger) was set to ravage the country with devastating consequences still felt to this day as the outcome. Back in China, the crumbling dynastic society was violently exploited and reduced to extreme poverty by foreign invaders, mainly from the industrialised countries of the West and Japan, which ultimately sowed the seeds for the Civil War from 1945-49, which saw the defeated nationalists of the Guomindang retreat from mainland China to Taiwan. Bear in mind that China’s average life expectancy pre 1949 was just 36 years. Thus, the ‘century of humiliation’ left a deep scar on the population’s psyche.

Yet, in all the darkness there shone a glimmering of hope as the embers of something new began to spark. The second half of the century of humiliation witnessed the introduction of Marxism into Chinese Society, spearheaded by ‍Li Dazhao, which then led to the formation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1921. Mao Zedong, famed for his ability to relay Marxism to the masses by writing in simple and accessible terms,wrote in 1937:

“We must use Marxism, which is positive in spirit, to overcome liberalism, which is negative. A Communist should have largeness of mind and he should be staunch and active, looking upon the interests of the revolution as his very life and subordinating his personal interests to those of the revolution; always and everywhere he should adhere to principle and wage a tireless struggle against all incorrect ideas and actions, so as to consolidate the collective life of the Party and strengthen the ties between the Party and masses…”

As a result, armed with Marxist theory, inspired by the Russian revolution, Mao Zedong built a revolutionary movement, and despite the odds and impoverished conditions secured victory. A new dawn had broken as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was declared on 1 October 1949 which set the country on the road to development based on scientific socialism.

We must remember though that China is much more than the last two centuries. In the formidable words of Victor Gao, China is a 5000-year-old civilisational fact. This bears contemporary relevance for those so-called human rights defenders engaging in scurrilous anti-China talking points emanating from destabilising sources in the West, as it reveals that China’s borders have remained largely the same during this long, sometimes turbulent history, with some differentiation in those alleged “disputed territories”, such as Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. According to Kishore Mahbubani, there are ‘some hard political realities that cannot be changed’ in China by any leader,and the territorial integrity of the country is one of them. Rather than regurgitating flippant and ignorant remarks about China, people in the West should be mindful that humanity needs engagement, not more estrangement during what appears the decaying stage of American Hegemony.

The contrast between the Chinese and Irish experiences of the 20^th century is stark. In Ireland, when an already dying James Connolly was carried on a stretcher, tied to a chair, and executed by the barbarous British for his heroic part in the Easter Uprising of 1916, it is said that Ireland’s chances of a Socialist Republic died too. Without Connolly’s Marxism and indomitable voice, an unfulfilled void was left in Ireland, which was soon to see an undemocratic partition in the north of the country which became the Protestant-dominated Northern Ireland. In the post 1949 years, Catholic Ireland in the south was to totally embrace the “red scare” of anti-communism. By the time Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening Up got underway in 1978, Northern Ireland was witnessing another bloody year of conflict, as the British government was found guilty by the European Court of Human Rights for ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ of innocent people snatched from their homes by the British army and interrogated in 1971. At this point, the Good Friday Agreement, which would give parity of rights to all citizens in the gerrymandered statelet, was still 20 years away.

This is some of the historical baggage that I was carrying prior to landing in Beijing on Sunday 14 April, although I tried to leave as much of it as I could back in London, in order to approach this delegation with a true open mind. The delegation was made up of 14 people of various ages, experiences, and backgrounds, coming from Ireland, Britain, and the US, but expanding more globally in their origins. For many of us this was our first time in China.

We were met at the airport by our three Chinese representatives from CNIE (China NGO Network for International Exchanges) Ma Jingjing, Xu Luning, and Liu Huihui, who, along with many other people during our stay, played an invaluable role in keeping us on schedule and in the right place during our 10 days in China. I think it is fair to say that by the time that our stay in China came to an end our three hosts had become comrades due to our mutual respect and shared values.

Webinar: China proves that a new world is possible! Delegates report back from China

Date	Sunday 16 June
Time	4pm Britain / 11am US Eastern / 8am US Pacific

The first exclusive Friends of Socialist China delegation to the People’s Republic of China took place from 14 to 24 April 2024. Fourteen comrades (11 from Britain, two from the US and one from Ireland) visited Beijing, Hangzhou and Jiaxing (Zhejiang province), and Changchun and Siping (Jilin province). The packed program featured visits to public service and community facilities, historic revolutionary sites and museums, political, scientific, cultural, industrial, and agricultural organisations, exhibition centres and cooperatives; as well as meetings with academics, publishers and officials.

At this webinar, we’ll hear back from the delegates about their experiences and observations of Chinese socialism.

Speakers

Margaret Kimberley (Editor-in-chief, Black Agenda Report)
Danny Haiphong (Youtuber; Author, ‘American Exceptionalism and American Innocence’)
Roger McKenzie (International editor, Morning Star)
Fiona Sim (Black Liberation Alliance)
Sage Stanescu (researcher and Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee member)
Russel Harland (trade unionist and Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee member)

Organisers

This webinar is jointly organised by Friends of Socialist China and the International Manifesto Group.

People, not profit, are at the centre of decision-making in China

We are pleased to republish below three short articles connected with the April 2024 Friends of Socialist China delegation to China, two written by Margaret Kimberley for Black Agenda Report, and one by Graham Harrington for Socialist Voice.

Margaret’s articles – written from China – contrast a confident, forward-looking socialist China with a decadent neoliberal United States. She writes: “The maturity and intelligence of the Chinese state are obvious to anyone who is a serious observer. The recklessness and amateurish nature of the US is also clear to anyone who pays attention.” Domestically, “China feeds its large population, launches satellites, expands a network of high-speed rail, and positions itself as a world leader while the US only knows how to obstruct and steal.” In terms of foreign policy, Margaret compares the US’s reckless devotion to the military-industrial complex with China’s commitment to peace and development. For example, while the US has just committed a further 61 billion dollars to its ill-fated proxy war in Ukraine, “China has offered its services in an effort to end the bloodshed ever since the proxy war began but it has been rebuffed at every turn.”

Margaret encourages people to reject the relentless lies and propaganda about China and instead to see it with their own eyes. “The same system which tries to convince its people that they have no alternative, that there exists nothing else in the world for them to contemplate, vilifies China and any nation which dares to be a good example.”

Graham Harrington’s article, meanwhile, focuses on the delegation’s field trips, including to the Beijing HQ of the 12345 hotline, the Zhejiang Red Boat, the Jiaxing Party-Masses Service Centre and the Siping Battle Memorial Hall. Countering the Western narrative of China as an environmental bad actor, Graham writes: “In all areas, especially Beijing, one could seen the fruits of what the CPC calls ‘Beautiful China’ in the green trees which are almost on every street. Far from the myth of a polluting superpower, China is leading the way in renewable energy. In Jilin province, delegates were told how the province had just developed a hydrogen-powered train, the very first in the world.”

Graham also describes the role of Marxism in Chinese society: “China, the CPC and Chinese people, take Marxism seriously, in the education system, in the state, as well as in public life. People are at the centre of decision-making, not profit. China puts the ‘social’ into socialism with its collective nature, encouraged at all levels.”

We will be hosting a report-back webinar for the delegation on Sunday 16 June. More information will be available soon.

Lessons from China

April 17 (Black Agenda Report) — Socialist China is a powerful economic and diplomatic rival to the United States. Its success must be studied so that liberation may be possible and to prevent the declining U.S. from doing even more damage to humanity.

On a daily basis the corporate media, members of Congress, and courtier pundits who refuse to do a basic internet search, make reference to the non-existent Chinese Communist Party and to a non-existent abbreviation, CCP. There has been a Communist Party of China (CPC) for more than 100 years. The repetition of easily provable misinformation is just one indication of the degree of manufactured hostility towards the People’s Republic of China and of the extraordinarily high levels of ignorance manufactured by the state in the U.S.

This columnist is currently participating in a delegation organized by Friends of Socialist China at the invitation of the China NGO Network of International Exchanges (CNIE) . In the short time that the delegation has been in Beijing, the maturity and intelligence of the Chinese state are obvious to anyone who is a serious observer. The recklessness and amateurish nature of the U.S. is also clear to anyone who pays attention.

While Congress joins with greedy corporate interests to steal TikTok under the false claim that the platform is under the control of the mythical CCP, Joe Biden calls President Xi Jinping to tell him not to work with Russia, its ally, and sends Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to request that China end its economic success with complaints about “over capacity” while the misnomer CCP is in regular use.

The Friends of Socialist China delegation has thus far met with CNIE officers, and visited the Red Building at Beijing University which showcases the history of that institution’s role in the development of the CPC, while also engaging with a publishing house seeking international works for its catalog. The most serious subject for discussion is socialism, its history in China, and the means to develop it around the world.

It is both eye-opening and sobering to leave the United States and visit nations in which socialists have attained state power. Especially in this moment, as a presidential election approaches, we are once again reminded that the U.S. political system will permit no requests for change. The most minimal proposals are rejected outright, while the people’s money is used to continue the failed Ukraine project and to support Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. The precarity experienced by millions of people is explained away as a figment of their collective imagination or the result of their own stupidity.

Socialism is a necessity as the U.S. faces crises of its own making. Ocean temperatures rise because of continued capitalist fossil fuel production, wages stagnate, and the cost of food and housing continue to rise as corporations price gouge the public. Imperialism continues endangering the world as the U.S. has created a region-wide catastrophe in the Middle East.

Delegates from Britain, Ireland and the US learn about the past, present and future of Socialist China

The first exclusive Friends of Socialist China delegation to the People’s Republic of China took place from 14 to 24 April 2024.

Invited by the China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), which works under the direction of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), 14 comrades (11 from Britain, two from the United States and one from Ireland) visited Beijing, Hangzhou and Jiaxing (Zhejiang province), and Changchun and Siping (Jilin province). The packed program featured visits to public service and community facilities, historic revolutionary sites and museums, political, scientific, cultural, industrial, and agricultural organisations, exhibition centres and cooperatives, and famous scenic spots among others.

Serving the people

Our first site visit, on 15 April, was to the Beijing headquarters of the ‘12345’ government service hotline, where 1,500 employees (mostly CPC members) work in shifts to provide a single point of access for any and all problems and queries – for example, rubbish being left on the street, heating not working, or older people not receiving food deliveries. The service aims to provide “a bridge connecting people, party and government”, and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, free of charge. We were told that the Beijing HQ typically receives 60,000 calls a day, and 90 percent of these are resolved to the user’s satisfaction. The service in some form has been operating for 30 years, with substantial improvements over that period, including most recently support for more languages allowing visiting tourists and international residents to utilise the hotline.

Thanking our hosts at the 12345 hotline HQ, head of delegation Keith Bennett observed that the service embodies three important characteristics of the Chinese Revolution. Firstly, it represents a modern implementation of the slogan ‘serve the people’. Secondly, it is consistent with the mass line: “take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action”. Lastly, the 12345 service is an example of using modern technology in order to carry out social investigation, “investigating the conditions of each social class in real life”. The use of big data allows the local government to notice trends in residents’ enquiries and proactively solve problems and improve services.

At the Beijing headquarters of the ‘12345’ government service hotline

The spirit of serving the people was also evident at the Party-masses Service Centre of Jiaxing, Zhejiang, which we visited on 19 April. Opened in 2021, it’s a hub for training, exhibitions, volunteer services, social organisation incubation, and provision of mental health services. Delegates were amazed to learn that people can register for counselling and get an appointment booked for the next day – free of charge. Also impressive were the meeting spaces and lecture halls that could be hired free of charge for use by the local community. The therapy is framed within a context of public health, and is based on the principle that “only with peace of mind can the people and the country be safe.”