Socialism with Chinese characteristics is socialism, not capitalism. You can tell from the fact that life continues to dramatically improve for the masses of the people. If the capitalist class was in charge, there would still be widespread hunger, homelessness and illiteracy.
Deng Xiaoping made this point very effectively:
Ours is an economically backward country with a population of one billion. If we took the capitalist road, a small number of people in certain areas would quickly grow rich, and a new bourgeoisie would emerge along with a number of millionaires — all of these people amounting to less than one per cent of the population — while the overwhelming majority of the people would remain in poverty, scarcely able to feed and clothe themselves. Only the socialist system can eradicate poverty
On 1 July 2021, the Communist Party of China celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding. Of all the CPC has accomplished in that period, the elimination of extreme poverty is unquestionably among its most impressive and historically significant achievements.
This webinar will explore how China has been able to carry out the most extensive poverty alleviation program in history, and what lessons there are for humanity.
Speakers
Senator Mushahid Hussain (Chairman, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and Pakistan-China Institute, Pakistan)
Li Jingjing (Reporter for CGTN, China)
Utsa Patnaik (Marxist economist, India)
Ovigwe Eguegu (Columnist for the China Africa Project, Nigeria)
Camila Escalante (Broadcast journalist, producer, presenter for Kawsachun News, Bolivia)
Roland Boer (Professor of Marxist philosophy in the School of Marxism at Dalian University of Technology, China)
Mick Dunford (Emeritus Professor, University of Sussex, Visiting Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
John Ross (Senior Fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China)
Qiao Collective (Collective of diaspora Chinese challenging US aggression on China)
Tings Chak (Lead Designer/Researcher at Tricontinental Institute and Dongsheng News)
Chair: Radhika Desai (Professor of Political Studies, University of Manitoba, Director, Geopolitical Economy Research Group)
About the organisers
Friends of Socialist China is a new platform based on supporting the People’s Republic of China and promoting understanding of Chinese socialism. Its website (edited by Danny Haiphong, Keith Bennett and Carlos Martinez) aims to consolidate the best articles and videos related to China and Chinese socialism, along with original analysis.
The Geopolitical Economy Research Group is a policy institute based at the University of Manitoba and run by Radhika Desai and Alan Freeman. It analyses and proposes policy alternatives for managing the interaction of national economies and states to promote human development and mutual benefit in today’s multipolar world.
