Category: Socialism

China’s bridges to a socialist future

The article below, written by Paweł Wargan for the Morning Star, reflects on China’s extraordinary advances in infrastructure construction, and how these contribute to – and are a product of – China’s unique socialist development model.

Paweł notes of the vast city of Chongqing: “Until the 1980s, boats ferried people across the rivers that snaked through the city; no bridges had yet been built across them. Today, Chongqing has some 14,000 bridges.” The city’s skyline is “so dazzling that it sometimes felt imagined”.

Such comparisons with a few decades ago can be made throughout the country, albeit Chongqing is a particularly striking example. China’s program of modernisation has included the construction of hundreds of thousands of bridges, tunnels, roads, railways, airports and ports, as well as the world’s largest high-speed rail network, transforming the physical contours of the country.

In China, bridges have accelerated the pace at which the burdens of the past could be overcome: underdevelopment, poverty, hunger, dependency, and disparities between the rural and the urban, the coastal and the inland. They reflect the stability, confidence and strength with which the project of socialist construction advances.

Paweł concludes:

At each stage, China has worked to bridge its past with its future, carrying forward the traditions inherited by one of the world’s oldest civilisations, while building a socialism fit for the present day. This is the essence of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Paweł Wargan is an activist, researcher and organiser. He serves as Political Coordinator at the Progressive International, an international coalition of over 100 popular movements, political parties, and unions. He contributed to our conference marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In 1993, Deng Xiaoping walked across the newly opened 8,354-metre bridge connecting the Yangpu District to the Pudong New Area over Shanghai’s Huangpu River. On each pylon, a handwritten inscription from the elder statesman bore the bridge’s name: Yangpu Daqiao, or Yangpu Bridge.

Deng had navigated the People’s Republic of China through a remarkable process of transformation. He declared that socialism could not be built from poverty and set out to build the foundations for what he called the “moderate prosperity” of the Chinese people — then among the world’s poorest.

Now, at the age of 89, he surveyed the results of his efforts. “How wonderful that the road we have walked outperformed all the books we have read,” he said.

I recalled this story on a trip to the sprawling city of Chongqing. From its Qiansimen Bridge — one of the Twin River Bridges across the Yuzhong peninsula — I looked out at the meeting point of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers.

The water reflected a skyline so dazzling that it sometimes felt imagined. To the right, the opera house — a mute olive by day — glowed bright red. To the left, a strip of light dashed across the next bridge over the river, its reflection carried through the water like a bolt of lightning in slow motion. The skyline danced with light.

It was here that, decades earlier, peddlers working in the riverbanks invented the Chongqing hot pot, a hearty dish of spiced stock in which they dipped vegetables and meats — tripe, liver, stomach, lotus, needle mushrooms and leafy greens — to stay warm in the frigid winters.

Until the 1980s, boats ferried people across the rivers that snaked through the city; no bridges had yet been built across them. Today, Chongqing has some 14,000 bridges, and the hot pot is served by restaurants high above the wharves to people who have long forgotten that biting cold. What would Deng make of this sight?

There is a metaphor often used to describe the non-linear road towards socialism in China: “Crossing the river by feeling the stones.” It speaks to the uncertainties inherent in navigating a path with no precedent.

Continue reading China’s bridges to a socialist future

Podcast: Celebrating the achievements of Chinese socialism and opposing the New Cold War

We embed below the latest episode of CommieCast, the podcast of the Communist Party of Britain, in which Roger McKenzie (International Editor of the Morning Star), Georgina Andrews (General Secretary of the Young Communist League of Britain) and Carlos Martinez (co-editor of Friends of Socialist China) discuss a range of topics related to China, including their recent visits to the People’s Republic, the achievements of Chinese socialism, the nature of the US-led New Cold War, and the crucial importance of building solidarity with China in the face of imperialist aggression.

The next episode, to be recorded in the coming weeks, will take a deeper dive into the escalating campaign of containment and encirclement of China.

China takes forward the legacy of the October Revolution

On Saturday October 26, the Newport and Gwent Valleys [South Wales] branch of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB) organized a very successful fund-raising social to celebrate the anniversary of the 1917 October Socialist Revolution. It was attended by members and supporters of the CPB, the Young Communist League and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), along with other friends from the labour, trade union and progressive movements. The more formal part of the afternoon was chaired and introduced by CPB General Secretary Robert Griffiths. Short videos were shown of the 1945 victory parade in Moscow marking the triumph over Nazi fascism and of the famed African-American artist and revolutionary Paul Robeson singing the Soviet national anthem. Following this, Robert introduced the guest speaker, Keith Bennett from Friends of Socialist China.

We publish below the main body of Keith’s talk.

The October Revolution was a truly great event in world history – one that remains worthy of celebration. The account given by the US communist journalist John Reed has a highly apposite title – ‘Ten Days that Shook the World’.

Indeed, this was a revolution that not only shook but changed the world forever. Even though the Soviet Union itself tragically no longer exists, after the October Revolution nothing was ever the same again or could ever be the same again.

The Soviet Union represented the first sustained attempt by working people to hold and maintain power. Throughout its lifetime there were both great achievements as well as some significant mistakes.

But whatever the mistakes or shortcomings, the Soviet Union was the first country to legislate for the equality of women and men. The first to guarantee universal and free education and health care. The first to ensure full employment and the right to paid annual holidays for all workers and farmers.

Entire nationalities were provided with a written script for the first time. Visiting Soviet Uzbekistan in the 1980s, I learned how that vast republic went from some two percent literacy to universal literacy in barely a couple of decades.

Above all, the Soviet Union bore the brunt of the World Anti-Fascist War in Europe, sacrificing the lives of 27 million of its citizens to defeat Nazism.

Support from the Soviet Union played a vital role in the dismantling of the old colonial empires and the victory of the national liberation movements.

And the threat of the Soviet example played a significant role in forcing the ruling class in this and other major capitalist countries to make concessions to the working class in the form of the ‘welfare state’.

Some years ago, when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister, the Tories, who, of course had bitterly opposed the creation of the NHS, took to deriding it as “Stalinist”. On first consideration, this might seem to be a risible and ridiculous claim. Nevertheless, it expresses a certain truth that such gains for working people did indeed flow in no small measure from the fear of the ruling class that their populations might follow the Soviet road.

That mistakes were made, and even crimes committed, in the course of building socialism in the USSR is undeniable. But, whilst detailed assessment of these is not possible today, what we really must do is place them in a context where the imperialist ruling class was never reconciled to the existence of the Soviet Union and the threat it posed. Not the military threat claimed by the cold warriors, but the threat of a good example. In that sense, it is reasonable to conclude that, throughout its entire history, the Soviet Union never enjoyed even a single day of true peace.

We were, however, told that, with the collapse of the Soviet Union there would at last be a ‘peace dividend’. No more wars.

Instead, we got the exact opposite. No peace dividend but rather austerity and the rolling back of the welfare state. And above all, we entered a period of constant and endless wars. In former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere. Through to today’s appalling genocide in Palestine, and the spiraling conflict throughout the region, as well as NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine.

And this brings me to the question of China.

The October Revolution was by no means a simple national phenomenon. Rather it inaugurated an entirely new period of world history – that of the long transition (with all its victories and setbacks) from capitalism to socialism on a worldwide scale.

In his last published article, ‘Better Fewer But Better’, Lenin turned to consideration as to whether the Soviet state could survive – a matter about which he was never sanguine. But he concluded on a note of revolutionary optimism that:

“In the last analysis, the outcome of the struggle will be determined by the fact that Russia, India, China, etc., account for the overwhelming majority of the population of the globe. And during the past few years it is this majority that has been drawn into the struggle for emancipation with extraordinary rapidity, so that in this respect there cannot be the slightest doubt what the final outcome of the world struggle will be. In this sense, the complete victory of socialism is fully and absolutely assured.”

In a very real sense, therefore, the liberation of China, and the founding of the People’s Republic, whose 75th anniversary we have just celebrated, arose from the October Revolution. In his 1949 article, ‘On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship’, Mao Zedong explained:

Continue reading China takes forward the legacy of the October Revolution

Andrew Murray: China’s poverty alleviation is not just an achievement, it is a socialist achievement

We are pleased to reprint below the speech delivered by Andrew Murray to our September 28 conference celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In his remarks, Andrew refers to Xi Jinping’s observation that without China socialism might have become marginal to world development.

He notes that China has been central to two major reconceptualisations of socialism – on the role of the peasantry in the revolution and regarding the close association of socialism with national liberation and the struggle against imperialism.

He explains that two key aspects of socialist development are the transformation of social relations and the development of the productive forces and explains how the PRC has adjusted the relative weight given to each in the periods before and after 1978.

He also stresses the continuity in the Chinese position regarding the protracted nature of the transition to socialism.

Andrew Murray is the political correspondent of the Morning Star. He has served as the Chair of the Stop the War Coalition, Chief of Staff at Unite the union, and as an adviser to Jeremy Corbyn MP when he was Leader of the Labour Party. He has written many books including ‘The Fall and Rise of the British Left’ and ‘Is Socialism Possible in Britain?’

First let me congratulate the Chinese comrades on the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).  It is an event which reveals new layers of significance today, when other landmarks of the twentieth century have faded.

It is significant of course for world politics and for the Chinese people themselves.  But here I want to discuss its significance for socialism.  As Xi Jinping has said, without China socialism might have become marginal to world development.  There are of course other socialist countries, but none have the size and international importance of the PRC.

Some deny the socialist character of China.  I recall discussing with the eminent Marxist political economist David Harvey his views. He said that when he visited a location in China – he has been many times – he might see a landscape of paddy fields and then come back a few years later and see a city with factories, a high-speed railway and so on in the same spot.  I asked him how this could be done, when such a pace of development would be quite impossible in Britain.  He replied, “no private property rights to get in the way”.  That might not be a scientific definition of the dictatorship of the proletariat, but it is certainly an aspect!

Socialism is not an invariant concept.  It was developed in nineteenth century Europe and could not possibly remain the same as it spreads across the world and new experience from various countries accumulates.  Socialism has already been reconceptualised, and China has been at the centre of two major such developments.  First, it recentred socialism upon the peasantry in the Chinese revolution, and to a certain extent decentred its reliance on the industrial working class of developed capitalist countries.  And secondly, it associated socialism closely with national liberation and the struggle against imperialism, building on the analysis of Lenin and the Communist International.  This has relocated the nexus of socialism to what we now call the Global South.

Of course, socialism cannot be reduced to simply being whatever one chooses to call it.  It has real content.  Two aspects of the development of socialism are the transformation of social relations and the development of the productive forces. Both are essential, and China has laid the emphasis first on one and then the other since 1949.  Until 1978 transforming social relations took pride of place, although there was of course significant advance in the productive forces through that period.  But the focus was on class struggle, sometimes practised in counter-productive ways.  Since 1978 the emphasis has been on the development of the economy and the productive forces.  This has been accompanied by a concern to maintain social stability, but it is certain that the class struggle, which the Communist Party of China (CPC) acknowledges may be decisive in some circumstances, will need to be reasserted if the full achievement of socialism is to be reached.  The two aims are linked dialectically.

Continue reading Andrew Murray: China’s poverty alleviation is not just an achievement, it is a socialist achievement

Paweł Wargan: China’s peaceful rise points to the promise of a socialist future

The following text and video are from a pre-recorded contribution by Paweł Wargan at the London conference organised by Friends of Socialist China to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Paweł’s contribution was very moving, coming from a Polish organiser who is well versed in the history of that country. Being able to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the PRC “feels miraculous to me, because I come from a country that abandoned its socialist path. Knowing what was lost in Poland — in Eastern Europe as a whole — sharpens the appreciation for what has persisted in China.”

Paweł observes that when Poland abandoned the socialist path, “we sold off our public institutions, we joined NATO, and we helped destroy Iraq”. Socialist Poland had built a foreign policy based on solidarity and internationalism, but after 1989, “we lost our solidarity, and we lost a sizeable chunk of our humanity”.

Addressing the standard critique of China as having turned its back on socialism, Paweł poses the question of what China would really look like today if it truly had abandoned the socialist project:

Without socialism, would China build the world’s largest network of high-speed rail? Would China lift 850 million people out of poverty? Would China achieve its climate targets six years ahead of schedule? Without socialism, would China come to lead the global green transition, dramatically cutting the costs of renewable energy for everyone? Would China export its development expertise to countries that for centuries had been denied the right to modernise on their own terms? Would China remain peaceful? 

The speech concludes by urging listeners to take inspiration from China’s continuing successes:

China’s peaceful rise points to the promise of a socialist future on our horizon… In a period in history dominated by the merciless violence we see committed daily against the Palestinian and now Lebanese people by what is a relic of the past — a European colonial project that had no right to survive the era of decolonisation — we can take great hope from the knowledge that there exists somewhere a project of the future.

Paweł Wargan is an activist, researcher and organiser. He serves as Political Coordinator at the Progressive International, an international coalition of over 100 popular movements, political parties, and unions.

In some ways, it feels miraculous to be celebrating the continuation of a socialist project in 2024. And I think that we have to insist on these words: celebration, socialism. Even in the ranks of the left, too many dismiss the seriousness of China’s socialist process, and the idea that there is anything left to celebrate.

This celebration feels miraculous to me, because I come from a country that abandoned its socialist path. Knowing what was lost in Poland — in Eastern Europe as a whole — sharpens the appreciation for what has persisted in China. 

Just last week, on 24 September, an anniversary passed by that is scarcely remembered in my country. 65 years ago, before the rubble from the Second World War had been fully cleared, Władyslaw Gomułka, the leader of the socialist Polish People’s Republic, announced that Poland would build 1,000 schools — one for every year of our country’s existence. 

The war had devastated Poland’s social infrastructure. In 1961, there were 74 children for every classroom, and 700,000 children were born every year between 1949 and 1959. By the end of the 1000 Schools for the Millennium program, the state had built over 1,400 schools and 6,349 homes for Polish teachers — an achievement that it would never repeat in its history. We still go to these schools today.

The experiences gained in our post-war reconstruction were not confined to Poland. Polish architects and builders travelled around the world, helping countries emerging from the ravages of colonialism build their own schools, houses, concert halls, universities, and other public buildings. One of the companies involved in this process, Budimex, helped design a master plan for the city of Baghdad in Iraq, which charted a path for its development until the year 2000.

Then our socialist project collapsed, we sold off our public institutions, we joined NATO, we helped destroy Iraq, and just a couple of years ago Budimex finished work a border wall to stop the victims of US wars in West Asia from crossing into the European Union through Belarus. This is what the collapse of socialism has meant for Poland’s role in the world. We lost our ambition, we lost our solidarity, and we lost a sizeable chunk of our humanity. 

When some on the left expect China to conjure up — as if out of thin air — the socialism imagined in the bedrooms or university halls of Britain or the United States, they ignore not only the continuing achievements of Chinese socialism, won through the arduous effort and tremendous creativity of the Chinese people and the leadership of the Communist Party of China. They also ignore the counterfactual. What would have been lost had China abandoned the path of socialist construction? 

Without socialism, would China build the world’s largest network of high-speed rail? Would China lift 850 million people out of poverty? Would China achieve its climate targets six years ahead of schedule? Without socialism, would China come to lead the global green transition, dramatically cutting the costs of renewable energy for everyone? Would China export its development expertise to countries that for centuries had been denied the right to modernize on their own terms? Would China remain peaceful? 

We find the answers to these questions in the many tragedies that have gripped the former socialist bloc in Eastern Europe. Fraternal nations have been torn apart by the scourge of ethno-nationism — carefully cultivated by the Atlanticist bloc — and entire regions were consumed by war. The social safety net was pulled from under people’s feet, and seven million died early deaths as a result. The very horizon of the future has disappeared.  

That is why we now celebrate the People’s Republic. 

In China, we have proof that the socialist era is not behind us — that we have not, as too many of us insist, been defeated. To the contrary, China’s peaceful rise points to the promise of a socialist future on our horizon. China built on the legacies of the October Revolution, found ways to navigate the contradictions of a global economy captured by imperialism, and has set itself the goal of building an advanced socialist society within our lifetimes. 

In a period in history dominated by the merciless violence we see committed daily against the Palestinian and now Lebanese people by what is a relic of the past — a European colonial project that had no right to survive the era of decolonization — we can take great hope from the knowledge that there exists somewhere a project of the future. 

Assessing Chinese socialism 75 years after its revolution

The following article by Andrew Murray explores the enduring significance of the People’s Republic of China, 75 years after its founding.

Andrew writes that this significance proceeds along three axes:

First is the developmental axis – China’s “transformation from the mutilated prey of sundry imperialisms and a laggard in world standards of social development, into a mighty power in sight of having the world’s largest national economy”.

Second is the democratic, anti-imperialist axis – China’s impact on the ongoing eastward and southward shift of the world’s economic and political centre of gravity.

Third is the socialist axis – “by maintaining a socialist orientation after other developments in that direction have faltered it both keeps open the possibility of plural systemic options in the world, defeating Washington’s dreams of ideological unipolarity, and prevents socialism itself from being pushed into the shadows of history”.

Andrew, a longstanding and prominent anti-war campaigner, notes in relation to China’s foreign policy:

The alternative world order promoted by the Chinese government offers co-operation and development for all and eschews militarism and interference. It prioritises adherence to international law and peaceful resolution of disputes. This is not the world order of imperialism — pressure, threats, looting and diktat.

On the nature of China’s political system, Andrew urges the reader not to try and “squeeze the experience of Chinese socialism into the straitjacket of European experience” and to instead study it on its own terms. In spite of undeniable problems and contradictions, “the future of socialism in the world depends very heavily on developments in China and on the leadership of its Communist Party”. And furthermore, “the complete elimination of absolute poverty, a recent achievement of the CPC, is not just a staggering achievement, it is a socialist one”.

The article concludes:

After 75 years, the People’s Republic of China stands at the very heart of an alternative to the world of the Washington Consensus, neoliberal centrism, the militarised “New World Order” and economic crisis and chaos. The alternative itself is unfinished and perhaps unfinishable, but China is holding the door open to possibilities beyond the status quo, to a menu of other options for humanity. That is most likely the most profound global significance of the PRC on its 75th birthday.

This article was written for the Friends of Socialist China special anniversary supplement published by the Morning Star on September 28, to coincide with London conference celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It is extracted from Andrew’s contribution to the book People’s China at 75 – The Flag Stays Red, available now from Praxis Press.

The PDF of the supplement can be downloaded here.

There is a story, possibly apocryphal, regarding a parliamentary by-election in St Pancras, north London, in 1949. The Communist Party stood a candidate and, amidst a deteriorating Cold War atmosphere, polled fairly dismally.

Johnnie Campbell, a laconic Scotsman central to the CPGB’s leadership for decades, was dispatched to the locality to rally the troops in the aftermath. Surveying his dispirited comrades, he supposedly declared: “Well, things aren’t going our way in St Pancras right now…but we’ve won in China!”

To many, that was the immediate significance of the Chinese revolution. For millions of Communists and sympathisers around the world, as well as oppressed masses in the colonies and semi-colonies, the victory of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the party-led People’s Liberation Army was a huge advance – really the greatest conceivable – in a worldwide process of socialist revolution.

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Those that stand for socialism and peace should build solidarity with China

At the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez attended the 14th World Socialism Forum, held in Beijing from 9-10 September 2024.

The theme of this year’s forum was Current changes in the world and our times, and addressed the possibilities for furthering the cause of socialism around the world. There were over 200 delegates from China, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Britain, Cameroon, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Nepal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Uruguay, Vietnam and Zambia. Keynote speakers included Zhen Zhanmin (Vice President of CASS), Cheng Enfu (Former President of the Academy of Marxism) and Zhang Weiwei (Dean of the China Institute at Fudan University).

Carlos spoke in one of the parallel sessions, introducing the book The East is Still Red – Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century and explaining the rationale for writing it. We reproduce his contribution below.

A write-up of the forum can be found on China Daily.

The East is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century was published in English by Praxis Press last year and will soon be available in Chinese through Jiuzhou Press, having been translated by comrade Zhuo Mingliang from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Many books have been written by Westerners about China. Did the world really need another one?

Looking at the US and UK best-selling book lists, you can find titles such as:

  • How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise
  • China’s New Tyranny
  • How China Took Over While America’s Elite Slept
  • How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World

And so on.

There are dozens, even hundreds, of books describing China as authoritarian, dystopian, aggressive, repressive and reactionary.

These are not serious works of politics, economics and history; they are part of an increasingly wide-ranging propaganda campaign aimed at building public support for an anti-China New Cold War.

One of the key reasons for the book to help build a movement against that New Cold War.

In the West, the most disgraceful slanders are being hurled at China: that it’s committing human rights abuses against Uyghur people in Xinjiang Province; that it’s suppressing religious freedoms; that it’s preventing the use of minority languages; that it’s engaged in predatory policies in its trade and investment relations with the countries of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and the Pacific; that it’s an aggressive, expansionist power seeking to violate the sovereignty of other countries in the region; that it’s cracking down on basic democratic rights; and so on.

This is ultimately propaganda in favour of the West’s anti-China foreign policy, and in support of the US’s mission to maintain its hegemony, to hold on to its global economic and strategic advantages, and to pursue a Project for a New American Century.

Continue reading Those that stand for socialism and peace should build solidarity with China

Xi: Deng Xiaoping was a great Marxist, strategist, diplomat, and long-tested communist fighter

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a symposium on the morning of August 22 at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to commemorate the 120th birth anniversary of Comrade Deng Xiaoping. Chinese President Xi Jinping made an important speech there.

Xi emphasised that Comrade Deng Xiaoping is recognised by the entire Party, the military, and the people of all ethnic groups across the country as an outstanding leader with high prestige, a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, military strategist, diplomat, and a long-tested communist fighter. Deng was the core of the second generation of the Party’s central collective leadership, the chief architect of China’s socialist reform, opening up and modernisation, the trailblazer of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the principal creator of Deng Xiaoping Theory. He made significant contributions to world peace and development as a great internationalist. And he made outstanding contributions to the Party, the people, the country, the nation, and the world.

Xi further noted that Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s life was a glorious, fighting and extraordinary one. Deng made outstanding contributions to the Party-led causes of national independence and people’s liberation, and to the founding of the People’s Republic of China. He carried out highly effective work in establishing the socialist system and advancing socialist construction. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, as the core of the second generation of the Party’s central collective leadership, Deng led the Party and the people in achieving a historic shift, drove a new leap forward in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, broke new ground in socialist modernisation, set a right path for realising China’s complete reunification, firmly upheld the splendid banner of socialism, and successfully initiated socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Xi emphasised that Deng’s historical achievements are comprehensive and groundbreaking, with profound and lasting impact on both China and the world. Deng’s lifelong journey of struggle fully demonstrated his unwavering commitment to the lofty ideals of communism and the belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics, his deep love for the people, his adherence to the principle of seeking truth from facts, his political courage in continuous innovation, his far-sighted strategic thinking, and his broad-mindedness and selflessness.

Referring to Deng’s early life, Xi said that in the face of the profound national disasters of feudal rule and corruption, the invasion of Western powers, and the starvation and cold of the people, the young Deng Xiaoping actively participated in the mass struggle in his hometown, and later went to Europe to work and study, firmly chose Marxism, and joined the Communist Party of China.

An important section of Xi’s speech dealt with the events of 1989:

“Comrade Deng Xiaoping firmly defended the glorious banner of socialism. In the process of reform and opening up, he always took a clear-cut stand against bourgeois liberalisation. Against the backdrop of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, a serious political turmoil occurred in China at the turn of the spring and summer of 1989. At the critical moment, Comrade Deng Xiaoping led the party and the people to take a clear-cut stand against turmoil and resolutely defend the socialist state power, so that the party and the country withstood the severe test of dangerous winds and waves. After that, he profoundly summed up the lessons in the process of reform and opening up, and stressed the need to concentrate on party building, strengthen ideological and political work and education in fine traditions, improve the party’s leadership level and ruling ability, and ensure the stability of the red country. He admonished the people with a deafening voice: ‘Socialism in China cannot be changed. China will certainly follow the socialist road it has chosen to the end. No one can crush us.'”

Xi continued: “Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s historical exploits are all-round and groundbreaking, and their impact on China and the world is profound and long-term. In the course of his life’s struggle, he fully demonstrated his lofty character of incomparably firm belief in the lofty ideals of communism and socialism with Chinese characteristics, his great feelings of incomparable love for the people, the theoretical quality of always seeking truth from facts, the political courage to constantly blaze new trails, his far-sighted strategic thinking, and his frank and selfless broad-mindedness. His great historical exploits will always be remembered. His noble revolutionary demeanour will always be admired by us!”

He added: “Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, everything we have done is to fulfil the original mission of the party, to complete the unfinished business of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and other revolutionaries of the older generation, and to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics under the conditions of the new era. The times are constantly advancing, the cause is constantly developing, and theoretical and practical innovation cannot be stopped for a moment. Comrade Deng Xiaoping said: ‘China should have something new every year, and something new every day.’ It is the solemn historical responsibility of the contemporary Chinese Communists to constantly open up a new realm of Sinicisation and modernisation of Marxism. In the new era and new journey, we must adhere to integrity and innovation, never forget our ancestors, always take the right path, be good at breaking new paths, make the tree of theory evergreen and the tree of our cause evergreen, and constantly comfort the older generation of revolutionaries with new deeds and new achievements.”

Towards the end of his speech, he stated: “At this moment, I am reminded of two remarks made by Comrade Deng Xiaoping: First, ‘by the next century and 50 years, if we basically achieve modernisation, we can further assert the success of socialism.’ The second is that ‘by the middle of the next century, it will be able to approach the level of the developed countries in the world, and that will be the big change. At that time, the weight and role of Socialist China will be different, and we will be able to make greater contributions to humanity.'”

Deng’s remark here about making greater contributions to humanity is derived from Mao Zedong’s 1956 article commemorating the 90th birthday of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen:

“Things are always progressing. It is only forty-five years since the Revolution of 1911, but the face of China has entirely changed. In another forty-five years, that is, by the year 2001, at the beginning of the 21st century, China will have undergone an even greater change. It will have become a powerful industrial socialist country. And that is as it should be. China is a land with an area of 9,600,000 square kilometres and a population of 600 million, and it ought to make a greater contribution to humanity. But for a long time in the past its contribution was far too small. For this we are regretful.”

We reproduce below a report on the symposium that was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency. We also carry the full text of the important speech of Xi Jinping. This was issued by Xinhua and published in Chinese in People’s Daily. It has been machine translated and lightly edited by us.

Xi urges advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics at symposium held to mark Deng Xiaoping’s 120th birth anniversary

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a symposium on the morning of Aug. 22 at the Great Hall of the People to commemorate the 120th birth anniversary of Comrade Deng Xiaoping. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), delivered an important speech. Xi emphasized that Comrade Deng Xiaoping is recognized by the entire Party, the military, and the people of all ethnic groups across the country as an outstanding leader with high prestige, a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, military strategist, diplomat, and a long-tested communist fighter. Deng was the core of the second generation of the Party’s central collective leadership, the chief architect of China’s socialist reform, opening up and modernization, the trailblazer of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the principal creator of Deng Xiaoping Theory. He made significant contributions to world peace and development as a great internationalist. Deng made outstanding contributions to the Party, the people, the country, the nation, and the world. Deng’s achievements have been immortalized in history and will always inspire future generations.

The symposium was attended by members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Ding Xuexiang, and Li Xi, as well as Vice President Han Zheng. The symposium was presided over by Cai Qi, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

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Remy Herrera: the foundations of China’s economy clearly distinguish it from capitalism

The following text is the English translation of an interview with Rémy Herrera, a research analyst at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Sorbonne in Paris. The interview was carried out by Tang Xiaofu for the Observers’ Network, Beijing, and was recently posted in Workers World. While covering similar ground to the interview we published in June 2024, it contains a number of additional insights and is well worth reading in full.

In the interview, Herrera firmly rejects the characterisation of China by David Harvey and others of “a neoliberalism with Chinese characteristics”, and points to the foundations that clearly distinguish China’s system from capitalism:

1) The persistence of powerful and modernized planning; 2) a form of political democracy, obviously perfectible, but making collective choices possible; 3) extensive public services, conditioning political, social and economic citizenship; 4) ownership of land and natural resources that remains in the public domain; 5) diversified forms of ownership, adequate to the socialization of productive forces and boosting economic activity; 6) a general policy which consists of increasing labor remuneration more quickly compared to other types of income; 7) a desire for social justice displayed by public authorities in the face of rising social inequalities since 1978; 8) the priority given to the preservation of the environment, the protection of nature being now considered inseparable from social progress; 9) a conception of economic relations between States based on a win-win principle; and 10) political relations between States based on the search for peace and more balanced exchanges between peoples.

Herrera goes on to discuss the unique role of the state-owned enterprises in China’s economy, in particular that “the compass that guides them is not the enrichment of private shareholders, but the priorities given to productive investment and the service provided to their customers”.

The public sector “still represents a large part of industrial assets (in construction, steelmaking, basic materials, semi-finished products, etc.) and almost all of them in strategic areas for the country’s, like infrastructure in energy, transport, telecommunications, and of course armaments — in addition to the banking and financial sectors.” As such, public ownership sits at the heart of – and is able to guide – China’s development strategy.

The planning system “is the place where collective choices are developed and decided, as expressions of a general will. It is the authentic space where a nation chooses a common destiny and the means for a sovereign people to become its own master, in all areas of its existence: way of life, ways of consuming, housing and occupying or developing the national territory, precise definition of the relationships maintained by human beings with their environment and nature.”

Herrera also addresses the US’s trade war, launched by Trump and continued by Biden, assessing that the “problem” from the US’s point of view is that the unequal relationship between the US (an imperialist country) and China (a developing country) is becoming less unequal – “there is an erosion of the advantage of the United States in the exchange”. The trade war “was an attempt by the administration led by President Trump to curb the slow, continuous erosion of the advantage of the United States, observed for decades in trade with its emerging rival, China.”

The interview concludes with an appeal to move beyond a moribund imperialism. “We must dismantle the logic of crisis and war driven by high finance by imposing democratic control on it, and therefore think about alternatives to capitalism. The defense of peace and the reactivation of the socialist project are today’s priorities. In this context, China has a fundamental role to play in these transformations.”

I. How the West interprets China

Tang Xiaofu: 1) You have visited China multiple times, but now many scholars are trying to distort Socialism with Chinese Characteristics into State Capitalism. What’s your view towards State Capitalism? And what’s the difference between State Capitalism and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics?

Rémy Herrera: The speeches of many current leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) suggest that China would still be in the “first phase of socialism,” that is to say, in a stage considered essential for developing the productive forces and which would take a long time to reach its goal. According to them, the historical goal sought would indeed remain that of developed socialism — even if, it is true, the contours of the latter are far from being clearly and precisely defined. However, in Western countries, many researchers claim that these official political declarations claiming the persistence of socialism in China are only a facade, or the cover-up of a hidden form of capitalism, and that socialism is really dead and buried in China. I do not share the opinion of these Western researchers. On the contrary, I think that these statements by Chinese leaders deserve to be taken seriously.

Moreover, even within the debates among Western Marxists, a clear majority of them affirm that the Chinese economy would henceforth be purely and simply capitalist. This is the case of certain well-known Marxists, such as David Harvey, who believes he has seen, since the 1978 reforms, “a neoliberalism with Chinese characteristics” where a particular type of capitalist market economy has incorporated more and more neoliberal devices operated in the framework of very authoritarian centralized control. This is also the case of Leo Panitch, for example, who analyzes the contemporary integration of China into the circuits of the world economy as the duplication by China of the role of “capitalist complement” formerly held by Japan, as a support that China would provide to the United States through capital flows allowing the latter to maintain its global hegemony, and as the trend towards the liberalization of financial markets in China leading to the dismantling of instruments of control of capital movements and undermining at the same time the bases of the power of the CPC. I do not agree with these researchers either. I defend the idea that today, the Chinese system still contains key elements of socialism, and the interpretation I give of its nature is compatible with socialism.

Thus, I read the Chinese political-economic system as a market socialism, or socialism with a market, based on some pillars which still distinguish it quite clearly from capitalism. I will cite, among these foundations: 1) the persistence of powerful and modernized planning; 2) a form of political democracy, obviously perfectible, but making collective choices possible; 3) extensive public services, conditioning political, social and economic citizenship; 4) ownership of land and natural resources that remains in the public domain; 5) diversified forms of ownership, adequate to the socialization of productive forces and boosting economic activity; 6) a general policy which consists of increasing labor remuneration more quickly compared to other types of income; 7) a desire for social justice displayed by public authorities in the face of rising social inequalities since 1978; 8) the priority given to the preservation of the environment, the protection of nature being now considered inseparable from social progress; 9) a conception of economic relations between States based on a win-win principle; and 10) political relations between States based on the search for peace and more balanced exchanges between peoples. Socialism “with Chinese characteristics” is not very far from this reading grid.

Continue reading Remy Herrera: the foundations of China’s economy clearly distinguish it from capitalism

Class character of People’s China: interview with research economist

The following text is the English translation of an interview with Rémy Herrera, a research analyst at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Sorbonne in Paris. The interview was first published in the magazine Harici (Istanbul, Türkiye), and the newspaper Cumhuriyet (Istanbul) in May 2024. The original French has been translated by John Catalinotto for Workers World.

Herrera, who has co-authored a book by Long Zhiming called Dynamics of China’s Economy: Growth, Cycles and Crises from 1949 to the Present Day, makes several important points about the nature, history and trajectory of China’s socialist market economy. First, contrary to Western neoclassical economists who see China’s emergence as a function exclusively of its adoption of market mechanisms and its integration into the global capitalist economy, Herrera argues that “accelerated growth was made possible only by the efforts and achievements of the Maoist period.” When opening up was introduced, it was “firmly and continuously controlled by the Chinese authorities, and it is under this condition that it can be considered as having contributed to the country’s indisputable economic successes”.

China has engaged with the process of globalisation, but the crucial condition for the success of this experiment has been subjecting it “to the constraints of satisfying internal objectives and domestic needs, … fully integrated within a coherent development strategy”. Engaging with the global economy is not by itself a solution to all problems; after all, “for more than a century before the victory of the Revolution in October 1949, ‘opening up’ had meant above all submission, devastation, exploitation, humiliation, decadence and chaos for the Chinese people”.

Herrera also discusses the nature of China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). These “are not managed in the same way as Western transnational corporations”; their primary goal is not the pursuit of shareholder profit at all costs. Rather, they are duty bound “to stimulate the rest of the domestic economy, and go beyond a vision of immediate profitability when higher strategic, long-term or national interests so dictate”.

On the underlying socialist basis of China’s economic system, Herrera makes the fundamental point that, in China, “the state controls capitalism, not the other way around”. For example, China’s authorities have “successfully confronted the power of the financial markets”, building a “great monetary wall” to defend the national currency. “Powerful strategic planning, whose techniques have been relaxed, modernized and adapted to today’s requirements — which is what makes it so effective — is a distinctive feature of a socialist approach. State control of the currency and all the major banks is an absolute requirement, as is close monitoring of the activities of financial institutions and the behavior of foreign firms operating on national territory.”

He continues:

The coexistence of public and private activities, stimulated by each other within a mixed, hybrid system, is the means chosen to develop the country’s productive forces to the maximum − including by attracting foreign capital and importing advanced technologies − and thus raising its level of development, with the stated aim of improving the population’s living conditions, and doing this not by abandoning socialism, but by deepening the socialist transition process that began in 1949.

Herrera also addresses the ongoing crisis of neoliberalism and its manifestation in an increasingly aggressive New Cold War on China. “All the conditions are in place for the system’s contradictions to become even more pronounced, especially as few reforms have been carried out since the 2008 crisis”. All progressive and peace-loving forces must unite in opposition to the US and its allies’ escalations. “The defence of peace is the priority”.

Q: Let’s begin with your books on China. Based on your research and observations during your visits to China, how do you interpret the Chinese miracle that everyone is discussing?

RH: Many commentators on the very high rate of growth in China’s gross domestic product (GDP), which has been observed for several decades now, use the term “miracle” to describe this phenomenon. I, for one, believe that this is no miracle, but rather the result of a development strategy that has been patiently conceived and effectively implemented by the country’s leaders and senior officials in successive governments, under the authority of the Communist Party.

We read and hear everywhere, in academic circles and the mainstream media, that the “take-off” of the Chinese economy is due solely to its “openness” to globalization. In my view, it’s necessary to add that such accelerated growth was made possible only by the efforts and achievements of the Maoist period. This opening up was firmly and continuously controlled by the Chinese authorities, and it is under this condition that it can be considered as having contributed to the country’s indisputable economic successes. It is because it has been subject to the constraints of satisfying internal objectives and domestic needs, and fully integrated within a coherent development strategy, that this opening up to globalization has been able to produce such positive long-term effects for China.

Let’s be clear: without the elaboration of such a development strategy, which is clearly the work of the Chinese Communist Party — let’s not forget that — and without the energy deployed by the Chinese people to implement it during the revolutionary process, the country’s insertion into the capitalist world system would inevitably have led to the destructuring of the national economy, or even its destruction altogether, as is happening in so many other countries in the South, or in the East. One fundamental point must be borne in mind: for more than a century before the victory of the Revolution in October 1949, “opening up” had meant above all submission, devastation, exploitation, humiliation, decadence and chaos for the Chinese people.

Q: How does China’s success differ from Western development models?

RH: The success of the Chinese government’s development strategy and the many benefits it has brought to the country’s people contrast sharply with the failure of neoliberal economic policy measures applied in Western countries, which have had catastrophic consequences for workers in the North, whether in economic, social, or even moral and cultural terms.

Let me give you a specific example. One explanation for the strength of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is that they are not managed in the same way as Western transnational corporations. The Western ones — listed on the stock exchange and oriented towards the logic of shareholder value which demands the maximization of dividends paid to their private owners, shareholder value and rapid returns on investment — operate by squeezing a chain of subcontractors, whether local or relocated abroad. Chinese state-owned groups don’t behave like this. If they were to behave in such a rapacious manner, they would be acting to the detriment of local small and medium-sized enterprises and, more broadly, of the entire national industrial fabric. But this is clearly not the case. 

Most of China’s large state-owned enterprises are (or have become) profitable again because their guiding compass is not the enrichment of private shareholders, but the priority given to productive investment and customer service. In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter if their profits turn out to be lower than those of their Western competitors as long as they serve, at least in part, to stimulate the rest of the domestic economy, and go beyond a vision of immediate profitability when higher strategic, long-term or national interests so dictate.

Q: Can this model be defined in terms of the neo-classical or neo-Marxist model?

RH: First of all, I don’t think the Chinese see their development strategy as a “model.” Nor do they seek to impose or export it. They simply believe that certain lessons can be learned by the peoples of the world, but that it is up to them to define the objectives and means of their own development in their own specific historical, social and cultural conditions. This also differs markedly from the Western vision, which would like its “model” to be followed by every country in the world.

Neoclassical models have no application in China. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to add that neoclassical economics, which today constitutes the hegemonic or mainstream current in economics, basically serves no other purpose than to attempt to provide a theoretical and supposedly scientific justification for neoliberal political practices whose ideology is situated at the opposite end of the spectrum from measures for social justice and the development of public services. In reality, neoclassical economics is not a science, but science fiction or, as I put it in a recent book (“Confronting Mainstream Economics for Overcoming Capitalism,” Palgrave Macmillan), an ideology with scientific pretensions.

I am convinced, on the other hand, that Marxism has not yet been scientifically overtaken. Today, it has no serious competitor. It remains relevant, not least because we still live in a world where the capitalist system remains dominant on a global scale, even if its changes have been substantial, and need to be carefully accounted for. Despite the many attacks on Marxism since its foundation, and the repeated announcements of its death, it is enduring, resilient, “indestructible” dare I say, and the indispensable theoretical benchmark for anyone thinking about the ways and conditions of a better world. 

Despite the demise of the USSR and the Soviet bloc, within which it had all too often become dogmatized and sometimes turned against itself, Marxism remains indispensable today, an irreplaceable point of reference for those fighting for socialism. So it’s hardly surprising that it is still an important theoretical reference for China. 

Continue reading Class character of People’s China: interview with research economist

Engaging with the People’s Republic

A high-level delegation from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, headed by its Chair, Dr. Heinz Bierbaum, visited China in March. The foundation is closely associated with Germany’s Die Linke (Left Party).

The following article, which we reproduce from the foundation’s website, details the background to the delegation, reports its visits and meetings in Beijing, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and outlines the key themes for its future work with China. Giving an overall context, the article notes:

“Over the span of two generations, the People’s Republic of China has gone from one of the poorest countries in the world to its second-largest economy and a rising global power, and did so while maintaining its own, distinct developmental model. Its state-directed market economy has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, and garnered the attention of other developing countries looking to extract themselves from the middle-income trap.”

It adds that the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is working to reinvigorate ties between China and progressive parties and movements in Germany, in the spirit of fostering a global debate on the nature of socialism in the twenty-first century.

Moving forward, the work of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s Beijing Office will focus on exchanges between European and Chinese Marxists, translating Chinese debates into Western contexts and vice-versa.

Dr. Jan Turowski, office director since 2017, argues that different historical contexts must always be taken into account when evaluating debates on Marxism and socialism:

“In China, and particularly in the Communist Party, socialism is treated less as a state of affairs than a goal-oriented strategic process… As a theoretical debate in constant interplay with practical developments, conflicts of interest, and policy demands, it changes, experiments, conforms, and yet continues to structure the political process, giving it direction over the longer term… In contrast, the debate in the West as to whether China is socialist or not often focuses — rather unproductively — on a state of affairs and set of binary categories: either a society is socialist or it is not. Many Western leftists discuss China’s contradictions as good or bad, right or wrong, rather than confronting them as an integral part of the socialist experiment. Nevertheless, bringing Chinese and Western debates on socialism together in an open-minded and interested way, without denying the many differences, might well spark some creative ideas.”

The observation is as banal as it is true: China’s economic and geopolitical rise over the past four decades has transformed both the country and the world around it, and will continue to do so for decades to come. Over the span of two generations, the People’s Republic of China has gone from one of the poorest countries in the world to its second-largest economy and a rising global power, and did so while maintaining its own, distinct developmental model. Its state-directed market economy has lifted over 800 million people out of poverty, and garnered the attention of other developing countries looking to extract themselves from the middle-income trap.

It was thus only natural for the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation to begin supporting projects in China in 2002, and open one of its first international offices there in 2008. Since then, our Beijing branch has grown from a modest outpost to a fully-fledged regional office, organizing high-level exchanges and joint conferences and publications with a number of universities, research institutions, and even the Communist Party of China. Against a backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions, the foundation’s work seeks to maintain and expand corridors for debate and exchange, and learn from each other’s experiences in the interest of mutual understanding. The many differences between China, Germany, and Europe notwithstanding, we are convinced that only through dialogue can conflicts be resolved in a constructive manner.

As the COVID pandemic draws to a close and travel restrictions ease, the office has intensified its activity by hosting several international delegations and organizing a series of seminars and workshops in China and Germany. Together with the launch of a new bilingual website, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is working to reinvigorate ties between China and progressive parties and movements in Germany, in the spirit of fostering a global debate on the nature of socialism in the twenty-first century. Chinese scholars often emphasize that their experience is unique and cannot be seen as a blueprint for movements and parties in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, any discussion of socialism’s prospects today cannot afford to ignore the experience of 1.4 billion people living under a system that describes itself as “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

Friends from Afar

A recent sign of the office’s renewed activity was a high-level delegation to China in late March, hosted by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and led by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s chair, Dr. Heinz Bierbaum. Together with representatives from the foundation’s Executive and Academic Advisory Board, Bierbaum visited Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, and met with representatives of municipal administrations, cultural institutions, and the Communist Party.

The delegation began its trip with a visit to the Central Party School in Beijing, where Vice President Li Yi discussed China’s socialist modernization with participants and emphasized the need for mutual cooperation in international relations. Later in the day, delegates were received by CPAFFC President Yang Wanming, who emphasized the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s longstanding role in strengthening person-to-person exchanges between China and Germany, and expressed optimism that relations between the two countries would continue to develop positively. Further meetings with representatives of the International Department of the Central Committee and the National People’s Congress underlined the depth of cooperation the foundation has developed in China over the past two decades.

The country’s high-speed rail network has helped to transform China’s transportation system, and demonstrates what kind of green infrastructural development is possible under the right conditions.

After taking in the sights of Beijing, the delegation travelled south to Hangzhou, capital of the eastern coastal province Zhejiang. Here, participants visited the nearby model village of Xiaogucheng, where the local Party leadership has instituted a number of effective anti-poverty strategies and pioneered new structures of community governance. Hangzhou has also broken ground in its attempts to integrate high-tech development with environmentally sustainable urban planning, as the delegation learned in Dream Town, a major tech hub along the city’s historic waterfront that seeks to integrate, rather than replace, the existing ecological and urban space.

The delegation’s visit concluded in Shanghai, China’s largest and wealthiest city, where participants met with Chen Jing, President of the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and learned about the city’s unprecedented growth within the framework of the state-led market economy. The Shanghai Master Plan, which runs from 2017 to 2035, seeks to turn Shanghai into a “modern socialist international metropolis” seamlessly integrating life, work, and the surrounding environment. It stands as an exemplary case of China’s approach to development, whereby the fundamental parameters of economic growth are laid out in a series of five-year plans, leaving ample room for experimentation and creativity at the local and regional levels.

Perhaps most remarkable for delegation participants was the substantial progress the People’s Republic has made in terms of what in China is referred to as “ecological civilization”. Electric vehicles were to be seen in every city the delegation visited, marked by their silent engines and green license plates that set them apart from the rest of the fleet. Indeed, in Shanghai, over half of new vehicle registrations are electric. The country’s high-speed rail network, which consists of 45,000 kilometres of track and encompasses two-thirds of all high-speed rail in the world, has helped to transform China’s transportation system, and demonstrates what kind of green infrastructural development is possible under the right conditions. Summing up his impressions, Dr. Bierbaum remarked that he was “deeply impressed by the level of economic and technical development achieved, above all by the fact that a high degree of qualitative and, in particular, ecological aspects have been taken into account.”

Continue reading Engaging with the People’s Republic

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

Date Sunday 16 June
Time4pm Britain / 11am US Eastern / 8am US Pacific
Register on Eventbrite

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.

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

China’s modernisation is a historic contribution to the global socialist project

What follows is a presentation by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez for a webinar on China’s modernisation organised by the International Department of the Communist Party USA.

Carlos discusses the meaning and importance of modernisation, going on to describe China’s process of modernising over the course of 75 years and its proposal for “basically realising socialist modernisation by 2035”.

Carlos continues by describing the modernisation process in the advanced capitalist countries – in particular its reliance on colonialism, domination, hegemony, slavery and plunder – and compares that with China’s modernisation trajectory. While China doesn’t have the ‘advantage’ of dominating other countries, it does have the advantage of a socialist system which “enables us to pool resources in a major mission”, as Xi Jinping has put it. China’s modernisation will therefore differ enormously from Western modernisation in that it will not be based on hegemony; it will be a modernisation of common prosperity; and it will be sustainable – the modernisation of harmony between humanity and nature.

The presentation concludes:

China’s modernisation will be a historic contribution to the global socialist project, to the struggle against imperialism, and to humanity’s shared goal of a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future.

The other presentations submitted to the webinar (by members of the CPUSA and the Communist Party of Australia) can be found on the CPUSA International Department’s Youtube channel: @idcpusa

Today’s webinar is all about modernisation, which is something that’s talked about a great deal in China today, but which is not a concept that’s discussed very much in the West.

Is it something that’s worth talking about? Is it something that’s worth pursuing?

For China and for other developing countries, what modernisation means is higher living standards for the masses of the people.

Modernised industry, greater productivity, modern communication methods, transport systems, energy systems, healthcare strategies and so on add up to the possibility of providing a healthy, meaningful and dignified life to every human being.

That means every single person having reliable access to nutritious food, to good quality housing, guaranteed education and healthcare, modern energy, clean water, and to a vibrant cultural, social, intellectual and working life. So when we talk about modernisation, we’re essentially talking about attending to people’s basic human rights.

It’s called modernisation because it involves leveraging developments in science and technology; it means adapting to the latest, the most advanced ideas and techniques for meeting humanity’s material and cultural needs.

We can broadly think of it as transitioning from ‘developing country’ status to ‘developed country’ status; from a predominantly rural society to a predominantly urban society; from a technologically backward society to a technologically advanced society.

Continue reading China’s modernisation is a historic contribution to the global socialist project

Keith Bennett: Understanding Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

The Brighton Morning Star Readers and Supporters organised a meeting on the theme, China and the Struggle for Peace on March 24.

The invited speakers were our co-editors Carlos Martinez and Keith Bennett.

In his presentation, Carlos explained the thinking behind China’s foreign policy, showing how it is based on the principles of peace, development and win-win cooperation, and explained how this approach is rooted in China’s history and ideology, and is consistent with the country’s overall strategic goals. 

The text of Carlos’s presentation can be read here.  

Following this, Keith presented a broad overview of China’s socialist development, contextualising it in the overall history of the exercise of state power by the working class and its allies and the original road taken by the Chinese communists led by Mao Zedong, which represents a major contribution to the theory and practice of revolution. 

He prefaced his contribution by noting that the Morning Star carries the words, “For Peace and Socialism” on its masthead every day, highlighting the fact that the struggles for peace and for socialism are inextricably intertwined. 

A lively discussion and Q&A followed the presentations, which was continued informally in one of Brighton’s excellent local pubs.

We reprint below the text of Keith’s remarks.

The Communist Manifesto, the foundational text of scientific socialism, is still considerably short of 200 years old.

The working class and its allies have now held state power, and engaged in a serious project of socialist nation building, somewhere continuously for just under 107 years.

The Chinese working class, together with the peasantry and representatives of all patriotic sections of Chinese society, have held state power for just coming up to 75 years, with some two decades of running revolutionary base areas before that.

Since the October Revolution of 1917, serious attempts, with varying degrees of success, have been made to establish and build socialism in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, South America and Africa.

Therefore, on the one hand we can say that humanity has acquired a certain degree of experience and lessons, both positive and negative, regarding the struggle to establish and build socialism.

But more fundamentally, we can say that, in the long course of human history, socialism remains a very new and fledgling system.

This is not to say that there is nothing to learn and draw from. Xi Jinping’s point that socialism with Chinese characteristics offers a new reference point and option for those countries that wish to rapidly develop their economies while maintaining their independence acquires ever greater validity practically with each passing day.

And communists everywhere still draw on the historical experience of the USSR, its monumental achievements, as well as its mistakes, that contributed to its ultimate demise, as well as the experience of every historical and contemporary attempt to build socialism.

But despite the fact that we do not start from a completely blank page, the most fundamental lesson we can draw so far from the historical and ongoing attempts to build socialism, I would argue, is that there is no ready-made blueprint or master plan, no straight road, and certainly no ‘one size fits all’ formula that can be downloaded and implemented at any time and in any place.

Moreover, for most of their political lives (arguably less so towards the end) Marx and Engels envisaged socialism replacing highly developed and advanced capitalism.

So far, this has not happened anywhere.

One could of course argue, like some ultra leftists and dogmatists, that this somehow invalidates the whole experience of actually existing socialism.

Or one can appreciate that this conditions the context in which countries and peoples move towards socialism, that every country will approach socialism in its own way, and that, not least, the character and duration of the transition period may vary enormously.

What’s highly relevant to those countries in which socialism has actually triumphed, theorised by Lenin as ‘breaking the chain at its weakest link’, is the fact that attempts to build socialism have all occurred in a world that is still largely dominated by capitalism and imperialism.

Moreover, every preceding class that rose to political power did so in the wake of and in the context of their rising economic power. In the case of the proletariat, it is almost the exact opposite.

All this helps explain why Stalin, in his Foundations of Leninism, explains that, even after it has taken power, for a time, the proletariat remains weaker than the bourgeoisie.

This is some of the context in which we must start to look at the trajectory of the Chinese revolution.

Although China has the world’s longest continuous civilisation and was the world’s biggest economy for most of the last two millennia, since the British launched the first Opium War in 1839, the country was reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society. Not for nothing is the ensuing period known by the Chinese as the ‘century of humiliation’, marked by unequal treaties, foreign aggression, most devastatingly that by Japan in the 1930s and 1940s, and by wars of aggression and resistance, civil wars and ultimately a victorious revolution.

Whether when the Communist Party of China was founded in 1921, or the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, China was one of the poorest and most wretched societies on earth. Illiteracy was as high as life expectancy was low.

So, how did the Chinese revolution succeed?

Continue reading Keith Bennett: Understanding Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Xi Jinping extends May Day greetings to China’s working people

As China celebrated the May Day holiday, marking International Workers’ Day, Chinese leader Xi Jinping extended his greetings and best wishes to the country’s working people.

In his message, Xi called on working people to actively participate in advancing Chinese modernisation with high-quality development and work tirelessly to promote the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts. He also asked party committees and government bodies at all levels to earnestly realise, safeguard and develop the legitimate rights and interests of workers.

Also, in a significant development, President Xi replied to a letter from Serbian workers at the HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant. Xi said that during his previous state visit to Serbia in 2016, he met with the workers there face-to-face and deeply felt their support for the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Serbia, and their high expectations for a bright future of the steel plant.

He continued:

“It is a great pleasure to learn that the steel plant has turned losses into gains quickly after the investment of a Chinese-funded enterprise, with the jobs of more than 5,000 employees guaranteed and thousands of families enjoying a peaceful and happy life.

“The development of the plant cannot be achieved without the dedication and hard work of the workers, who have been working diligently for the quick growth of the steel plant and have written a new chapter for the iron-clad friendship between China and Serbia. I give you ‘the thumbs up.’”

Thirty representatives of the HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant workers wrote a letter to Xi, expounding on the latest development of the plant and its important contribution to improving local people’s wellbeing. They also thanked him for showing care for and facilitating the project. In a recent interview with the CGTN Leaders Talk series, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić also recalled Xi’s 2016 visit to the steel plant and his care for the project.

Xi’s reply was dated April 29 but released on May Day. The Chinese President is scheduled to make another state visit to Serbia next week, as the second leg of a European visit that will also take him to France and Hungary. His visit to Serbia will coincide with the 25th anniversary of US-led NATO’s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, which claimed the lives of three Chinese citizens and wounded others.

Also on May 1st, an article by Xi Jinping on mobilising China’s hundreds of millions of workers to vigorously take part in the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation was published in this year’s ninth issue of Qiushi, the main theoretical journal of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

According to the article, since the 18th CPC National Congress, the working class has been playing a backbone role in the development of the cause of the Party and the country under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee. The Chinese workers’ movement has made historic achievements, and the work of trade unions has made comprehensive progress.

The article says Chinese workers have taken on significant challenges and shouldered responsibilities in such major work as economic development, scientific and technological innovation, poverty alleviation, rural revitalisation, epidemic prevention and control, and disaster relief.

Trade unions should earnestly safeguard the rights of workers and strive to solve practical problems concerning their vital interests, in particular for workers in new forms of employment.

Besides, Party committees at all levels should strengthen leadership over trade unions and their work, and government bodies at all levels should help trade unions solve workers’ difficulties and problems.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency and on the www.cpcnews.cn website. The latter, which is the full text of the Qiushi article, comprising the main part of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech on October 23, 2023, when he spoke with the members of the new leadership team of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), was published in Chinese and has been machine translated.

Xi extends greetings to working people nationwide ahead of Int’l Workers’ Day

BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday extended festive greetings and best wishes to the country’s working people ahead of International Workers’ Day, which falls on May 1.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, sent the greetings on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and a crucial year to fulfill the goals and tasks set in the 14th Five-Year Plan, Xi said, praising the important contributions made by the working people to the cause of the Party and the country.

Xi called on working people to actively participate in advancing Chinese modernization with high-quality development, and work tirelessly to promote the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.

Xi asked Party committees and governments at all levels to earnestly realize, safeguard and develop the legitimate rights and interests of workers, and encourage working people to realize dreams through their work. 

Xi replies to letter from Serbian steelworkers

BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has replied to a letter from Serbian workers in HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant.

In a letter dated Monday, Xi encouraged them to make new contributions to the China-Serbia friendship.

Xi said that during his state visit to Serbia in 2016, he met with the workers face-to-face at the Smederevo Steel Plant and deeply felt their support for the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Serbia, and their high expectations for a bright future of the steel plant.

From their letter, Xi said he learned that with the joint efforts of the management teams of both sides and the workers themselves, the steel plant has taken on a new look, providing strong support for the development of Smederevo City.

It is a great pleasure to learn that the steel plant has turned losses into gains quickly after the investment of a Chinese-funded enterprise, with the jobs of more than 5,000 employees guaranteed, and thousands of families enjoying a peaceful and happy life, said the Chinese president.

The development of the plant, he said, cannot be achieved without the dedication and hard work of the workers, who have been working diligently for the quick growth of the steel plant and have written a new chapter for the iron-clad friendship between China and Serbia.

I give you “the thumbs up,” Xi said.

The sound development of the plant is a striking epitome of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia as well as a paradigm of their mutually beneficial cooperation, he said, adding that the steelworkers are participants, witnesses, contributors to and beneficiaries of China-Serbia friendly cooperation.

“I hope you will continue to do your own jobs wholeheartedly and dedicate yourself enthusiastically to the operation and development of the plant, so as to make new and greater contributions to the socio-economic development of Serbia and the consolidation of the China-Serbia friendship,” Xi said.

Thirty representatives of Serbian workers in HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant wrote a letter to Xi, expounding on the latest development of the plant and its important contribution to improving local people’s wellbeing. They also thanked Xi for showing care for and facilitating the project.

Xi’s article on mobilizing workers to participate in building a strong country, national rejuvenation to be published

BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua) — An article by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on mobilizing the country’s hundreds of millions of workers to vigorously take part in the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation will be published on Wednesday.

The article by Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will be published in this year’s ninth issue of the Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the working class has been playing a backbone role in the development of the cause of the Party and the country under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee. The Chinese workers’ movement has made historic achievements, and the work of trade unions has made comprehensive progress, according to the article.

The article says Chinese workers have taken on significant challenges and shouldered responsibilities in major work such as economic development, scientific and technological innovation, poverty alleviation, rural revitalization, epidemic prevention and control, and disaster relief.

On the work of trade unions, the article stresses the importance of adhering to the overall leadership of the Party over trade unions, and not wavering or deviating from it at any time or under any circumstances.

Efforts must be made to encourage workers to actively take part in the great cause of building China into a strong country and national rejuvenation on all fronts, the article says, noting that it is necessary to promote the spirit of model workers, the working spirit and craftsmanship.

Trade unions should earnestly safeguard the rights of workers and strive to solve practical problems concerning their vital interests, in particular for workers in new forms of employment, according to the article.

Besides, Party committees at all levels should strengthen leadership over trade unions and their work, and governments at all levels should help trade unions solve workers’ difficulties and problems, the article says.

Organize and mobilize hundreds of millions of workers to actively participate in the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation

Xi Jinping

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, China’s working class has played a major role in the development of the cause of the Party and the country. In the past five years, the broad masses of workers have worked with the party and struggled with the party, and have shown the style of the times in major work such as economic construction, scientific and technological innovation, poverty alleviation, rural revitalization, epidemic prevention and control, emergency rescue and disaster relief.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions and trade unions at all levels have strengthened the ideological and political guidance of employees, promoted the construction and reform of the ranks of industrial workers, protected the rights and interests of workers, maintained political security in the labor field, deepened the reform of the trade union system, and continuously enhanced the political, advanced and mass nature. The CPC Central Committee has fully affirmed the major contributions made by the working class and the new achievements made in the work of the trade unions.

With regard to the work of trade unions in the coming period, the congress made arrangements. Here, I would like to emphasize a few more points.

First, uphold the party’s overall leadership over trade unions. China’s labor movement has developed under the leadership of the party, and trade unions are mass organizations of the working class under the leadership of the party. We must uphold the party’s overall leadership over trade unions, and we must not waver or deviate from them at any time and under any circumstances. Upholding the party’s leadership is not abstract and vague, and cannot be reduced to a mere formality, but must be comprehensively and effectively implemented in the entire process and in all aspects of trade union work. In particular, in establishing trade unions in new economic organizations, new social organizations, and new employment groups, it is necessary to take a clear-cut stand and uphold the party’s leadership from the very beginning. It is necessary to resolutely safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership, always maintain a high degree of unity with the Party Central Committee in ideology, politics, and action, and ensure the correct direction of trade union work. It is necessary to unremittingly use the ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era to forge the soul, continue to promote the theoretical arming to go deeper and more practical, and constantly enhance the ideological consciousness and action consciousness of learning and practicing the party’s innovative theories. It is necessary to keep in mind the “great power of the country”, find out the combination point, entry point and focus point of the trade union work and the central task of the party, promote the implementation of the decisions and arrangements of the party Central Committee in the trade union system, and better play the role of trade unions. It is necessary to strengthen ideological and political guidance, do a good job in the ideological and political work of the workers, educate and guide the broad masses of workers to unswervingly listen to the party and follow the party, and ensure that the working class is always the most solid and reliable class foundation of our party.

Second, organize and mobilize hundreds of millions of workers to forge ahead on a new journey and make contributions to a new era. There are thousands of points in the work of trade unions, and the most fundamental one is to unite the broad masses of workers and workers closely around the party and unite and struggle for the realization of the party’s central tasks. It is necessary to adhere to the fundamental principle of wholeheartedly relying on the working class, fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the broad masses of workers and workers, and actively plunge into the great cause of comprehensively promoting the building of a strong country and the rejuvenation of the nation. It is necessary to focus on implementing the new development concept, building a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development, carry out various forms of labor and skill competitions extensively and in-depth, stimulate the labor enthusiasm and creative potential of the majority of employees, and give full play to the role of the main force in all walks of life and fields. It is necessary to vigorously carry forward the spirit of model workers, the spirit of labor and the spirit of craftsmen, give full play to the exemplary and leading role of model workers and craftsmen, and encourage the majority of employees to achieve their dreams in hard work, honest work and creative labor. It is necessary to focus on the in-depth implementation of the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country with talents, and the strategy of innovation-driven development, deepen the reform of the construction of the contingent of industrial workers, accelerate the construction of an army of knowledge-based, skilled, and innovative industrial workers, and train and bring up more craftsmen and high-skilled personnel of major countries.

Third, do a good job of rights protection services with heart and affection. Chinese modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all people. The working class and the broad masses of laborers are the main creators of social wealth, and the more obvious and substantive progress in promoting the common prosperity of all the people should first be embodied in the hundreds of millions of laborers. As representatives and defenders of the interests of workers, trade unions should conscientiously perform their basic duties of rights protection services, strive to solve practical problems related to the vital interests of the masses of workers, and pay special attention to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment. It is necessary to strengthen the democratic management of enterprises and institutions, smooth the channels for the expression of employees’ demands, guide employees to express their interests in a rational and orderly manner in accordance with the law, protect their own rights and interests, and promote the construction of harmonious labor relations.

Trade unions are the homes of workers, and trade union cadres are the “mother’s family” of workers. It is necessary to continue to deepen the reform and construction of trade unions, firmly establish a clear orientation of grasping the grassroots in a big way, consolidate the foundation of the grassroots level, stimulate the vitality of the grassroots level, and continuously enhance the leadership, organization, and service capacity of the grassroots trade unions. It is necessary to improve the existing organizational foundation, continue to promote the establishment and membership of new economic organizations, new social organizations, and new employment groups, and expand the coverage of trade union organizations. It is necessary to innovate the way of working and strive to provide accurate and intimate services for the masses of workers. Trade union cadres should practice the party’s mass line, conduct in-depth investigation and research, keep abreast of what employees are thinking, thinking and expecting, constantly enhance their ability to serve employees, and sincerely speak and do things for employees. As the leading organ of trade unions at all levels, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions should take the lead in strengthening self-building, be a benchmark and set an example, and become a model political organ that reassures the party and satisfies the people.

Party committees (leading party groups) at all levels should strengthen their leadership over trade unions and trade union work, properly select and strengthen trade union leadership groups, show warm concern for and set strict demands on trade union cadres, and attach importance to the training and use of trade union cadres. It is necessary to pay attention to giving play to the role of trade union organizations, promptly study the important problems encountered by the masses of workers and trade unions, and support trade unions in carrying out their work in a creative manner. Governments at all levels should give full play to the role of the joint conference between the government and the trade unions, and actively help the trade unions resolve the practical difficulties and problems of the masses of workers.

This is the main part of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech on October 23, 2023, when he spoke with the members of the new leadership team of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

China’s ‘12345’ government service hotline – serving the people

The first exclusive Friends of Socialist China delegation took place from 14 to 24 April 2024. The delegation’s first site visit was to the was to the Beijing headquarters of the ‘12345’ government service hotline, where 1,500 employees – mostly CPC members – work in shifts over 24 hours 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, older people not receiving food deliveries. In the article below, Morning Star international editor Roger McKenzie – one of the delegates – notes that some people even called the hotline “because they were concerned about the unequal distribution of bamboo shoots to the world-famous pandas at the zoo.”

Roger writes: “All calls are answered within 15 seconds and a guarantee is given that your concern, question or complaint, will be addressed within seven days. Calls are passed on to local authorities as appropriate to deal with the issue. Anyone who calls will get a call back to tell them what has been done and be given the opportunity to confirm whether the issues have been resolved to their satisfaction.”

The 12345 service, which has been rolled out across China, is tremendously popular with its users. Its efficiency connecting problems to solutions is aided by extensive use of artificial intelligence.

The article compares the 12345 hotline with the near-impossibility of contacting public services in Britain. “Sometimes we just need a bit of advice but get the runaround and passed to people whose main job appears to be not to add unnecessarily to their already hefty workload. A workload increasing by the year as they do the job that used to be done by two or three others before the cutbacks.”

The 12345 hotline is a great example of the Chinese government’s commitment to serving the people and demonstrates the practical application of the CPC’s founding ethos in a modern setting.

This article was first published in the Morning Star on 23 April 2024.

Public service cuts are sweeping across Britain. Essential services are being cut to the bone and, in many areas, have disappeared altogether.

A number of councils, including the largest, Birmingham, have even had to declare bankruptcy.

In Britain, if there is no budget to meet the people’s needs then the services have to go.

Meanwhile, in China, responding to the needs of the people rather than the needs of the budget is the priority.

Some people will read what I have just said and shout: “That it’s just Chinese propaganda!” Not so. Unlike many of those quick to disparage “socialism with Chinese characteristics” as some kind of sloganising nonsense, I have bothered to go and see it for myself.

As many of you will know, I worked for many years in the leadership of the country’s largest public services union. Even though I left the organisation, I am still interested in how public services are delivered, and make a point on any working visit to investigate this for myself.

One thing that I have always been interested in is how public service organisations respond to requests or complaints about their services.

Many of us have been hanging on the telephone for a public service either waiting for someone to answer or left in that hell-hole of canned, plastic, easy-listening music otherwise known as “the queue.” We are often left frustrated and wondering whether to complain about the service or lack thereof.

Sometimes we just need a bit of advice but get the runaround and passed to people whose main job appears to be not to add unnecessarily to their already hefty workload. A workload increasing by the year as they do the job that used to be done by two or three others before the cutbacks.

The Chinese dealt with all of these problems by setting up the 12345 helpline in 1987. The helpline is a phone and online system that anyone in China, including visitors, can use to ask questions or make complaints.

Businesses can also use the helpline to get advice on things such as relocation, name changes, etc. In fact it seems to me you can use the hotline to ask about pretty much anything.

At the 12345 centre, one of our Friends of Socialist China delegation was asked to call the number and ask a question.

Francisco Dominguez said he was at our hotel and needed to get a taxi to take him into central Beijing.

The operator patiently advised him what to do. The call was logged and went into a system that would follow any trends.

Dominguez said: “The response was very quick although they were surprised by the request.

“They spoke in English which was helpful. Within seconds they got back with a number and an alternative to call.”

He added: “It was a very efficient service.”

It was clear that most calls were about far more serious things than the need for a taxi.

Calls covered issues ranging from rubbish collection, getting a lift fitted or repaired and enquiries about official papers.

Some people did call in because they were concerned about the unequal distribution of bamboo shoots to the world-famous pandas at the zoo.

All calls are answered within 15 seconds and a guarantee is given that your concern, question or complaint, will be addressed within seven days. Calls are passed on to local authorities as appropriate to deal with the issue.

Anyone who calls will get a call back to tell them what has been done and be given the opportunity to confirm whether the issues have been resolved to their satisfaction.

Around 1,500 staff work in shifts over 24 hours. The numbers on duty can be varied to take into account predicted hotspots such as major sporting events.

All members of staff are part of the nearly 100 million members of the Communist Party of China — putting the party at the service of the people in a very practical way. Each call is recorded and keywords are used to help identify trends which are fed through to national and local authorities to address.

Delegation member Russel Harland is a public service worker in Surrey. He said: “When I saw the hotline in action I was overwhelmed because I’ve worked in a similar job for a number of years to give advice on social care among other issues but also as someone who has worked for the Alzheimer’s society as a dementia adviser.

“We saw something in action which was about resolving issues by getting to the crux of the problems that people were having.

“The intention was to solve these issues rather than avoid them but also to carry out an evaluation so the issues don’t happen again.”

Harland said public service workers in Britain were overwhelmed by endless budget cuts and said he couldn’t help thinking as a public servant, “How can we get our politicians and planners to start looking more closely at schemes like this?”

Rashida Islam, a delegation member from Halifax, said: “I was particularly struck by 12345’s dedication to serving people and was also very interested by how this platform is used to shape some of the nation’s policies.”

Co-founder of the Black Liberation Alliance Fiona Sim said: “I was really impressed with how the people are being connected with the government and the Communist Party.

“I just had to think about all the elderly people, disabled people people who are vulnerable and might not have been able to reach out for help or reach out for support in any other ways.

“So I feel the 12345 hotline really provides a crucial lifeline to the world not just for material needs but also for emotional and psychological wellbeing.”

There is little doubt that this nationwide service available to the 1.4 billion population and anyone who visits is about being people-centred rather than budget-centred.

It is also about making sure that the CPC does not lose sight of its mission to put itself at the service of the people.

This fits entirely with the view of Chinese revolutionary Qu Qubai who said in 1927 that the theory of revolution can never be divorced from the practice of revolution and that the “work of applying Marxism to China’s national conditions cannot be delayed for a day.”

Applied today this must mean making sure that the people have the best possible services in place to enable them to get by every day. The 12345 hotline is an important and very popular part of building the Chinese revolution.

Developing Whole-Process People’s Democracy and ensuring the people run the country

The following article, which we reprint from the English language July/August 2023 edition of Qiushi, the theoretical journal of the Communist Party of China (CPC), outlines how, since the CPC’s 18th National Congress in 2012, President Xi Jinping has put forward a key concept of whole-process people’s democracy. This concept has further enriched Marxist democratic theory and represents a historic achievement and landmark in the development of democracy in China in the new era.

This, the article states, has not only advanced China’s socialist democracy, but also offered Chinese insights and solutions for other countries as they explore and develop paths of democracy suited to their own conditions.

The article notes that: “President Xi has also creatively put forward a framework for judging whether a country is democratic or not: ‘The key factor in deciding whether a country is democratic or not is whether the people truly run the country. We must evaluate whether the people have the right to vote, and more importantly, the right to participate; what promises they are given during elections, and more importantly, how many of these promises are delivered after elections; what kind of political procedures and rules are set through state systems and laws, and more importantly, whether these systems and laws are truly enforced; and whether the rules and procedures for the exercise of power are democratic, and more importantly, whether the exercise of power is genuinely subject to public oversight and checks.’”

It further explains that:

President Xi has summarised the CPC’s adherence to and development of people’s democracy in five basic points.

First, people’s democracy is the life of socialism; without democracy, there would be no socialism, socialist modernisation, or national rejuvenation.

Second, the running of the country by the people is the essence and heart of socialist democracy. The very purpose of developing socialist democracy is to give full expression to the will of the people, protect their rights and interests, spark their creativity, and provide a system of institutions to ensure that it is they who run the country.

Third, the Chinese socialist path of political advancement is the right path, as it conforms to China’s national conditions and guarantees the position of the people as the masters of the country. It is the logical outcome of history, theory, and practice based on the endeavours of the Chinese people in modern times. It is a requisite for maintaining the nature of the Party and fulfilling its fundamental purpose.

Fourth, China’s socialist democracy takes two important forms: one in which the people exercise their rights by means of elections and voting, and another in which people from all walks of life are consulted extensively in order to reach the widest possible consensus on matters of common concern before major decisions are made. Together these make up the institutional features and strengths of China’s socialist democracy.

Fifth, the key to developing China’s socialist democracy is to fully leverage its features and strengths. As we continue to advance socialist democracy with well-defined institutions, standards, and procedures, we can provide better institutional safeguards for our Party and country’s prosperity and long-term stability.

These five basic points systematically encapsulate the essence of socialist democracy. They enrich and expand the political, theoretical, and practical significance of socialist democracy and set the goals, direction, and approach for developing whole-process people’s democracy.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held in 2012, President Xi Jinping has comprehensively reviewed achievements and experiences in building China’s socialist democracy, deepened understanding of the laws governing the development of democracy, and put forward a key concept of whole-process people’s democracy. This concept has further enriched Marxist democratic theory and represents a historic achievement and landmark in the development of democracy in China in the new era.

I. President Xi Jinping’s original theoretical achievement in the area of socialist democracy

Whole-process people’s democracy is a new form of political advancement developed by the people under the leadership of the Party. Its essence is the principle of the people running the country. In November 2019, during his visit to Hongqiao Subdistrict in Shanghai, President Xi first proposed that “people’s democracy is whole-process democracy.” In July 2021, at the ceremony marking the CPC’s centenary, he declared that the Party would “practice a people-centered philosophy of development and promote whole-process people’s democracy.” In October 2021, at a central conference on work related to people’s congresses, President Xi provided a comprehensive and systematic elucidation of whole-process people’s democracy. In November 2021, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted the third resolution concerning the Party’s history, which listed “developing whole-process people’s democracy” as an important element of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. At its 20th National Congress in October 2022, the Party set forth overarching plans for “developing whole-process people’s democracy and ensuring the people run the country.”

The efforts to propose, implement, and develop whole-process people’s democracy have clearly illustrated the CPC’s firm commitment to the position of people’s democracy and the principle of the people running the country and provided sound guidance for promoting socialist political advancement in the new era. Furthermore, they have offered Chinese insights and solutions for other countries as they explore and develop paths of democracy suited to their own conditions.

President Xi has repeatedly emphasized that there are eight criteria to evaluate whether a country’s political system is democratic and effective, specifically, “We must observe whether the succession of its leaders is orderly and law-based, whether the people can participate in the management of state, social, economic, and cultural affairs in accordance with the law, whether the public can express their needs through open channels, whether all sectors of society can effectively participate in the country’s political affairs, whether the country’s decision-making can be conducted in a rational and democratic manner, whether people of all fields can join state leadership and administrative systems by way of fair competition, whether the governing party can lead state affairs in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and whether the exercise of power is subject to effective checks and oversight.”

President Xi has also creatively put forward a framework for judging whether a country is democratic or not: “The key factor in deciding whether a country is democratic or not is whether the people truly run the country. We must evaluate whether the people have the right to vote, and more importantly, the right to participate; what promises they are given during elections, and more importantly, how many of these promises are delivered after elections; what kind of political procedures and rules are set through state systems and laws, and more importantly, whether these systems and laws are truly enforced; and whether the rules and procedures for the exercise of power are democratic, and more importantly, whether the exercise of power is genuinely subject to public oversight and checks.”

Continue reading Developing Whole-Process People’s Democracy and ensuring the people run the country

Further consolidation of comradely relations between China and Vietnam

In a further consolidation of the comradely relations between China and its socialist neighbour, Vietnam, following his annual meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Minister Liu Jianchao of the Communist Party of China’s International Department (IDCPC), held in Jilin, north-east China on March 18, Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Chairman of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, continued his working visit with high-level meetings in Beijing.

On March 22, he met separately with Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee as well as of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, who is also Foreign Minister.

Cai said that China stands ready to work with Vietnam to implement the important results of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vietnam in December 2023, maintain high-level exchanges, and strengthen mutual learning in state governance theories and experience.

China is also ready to work with Vietnam to promote the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Two Corridors and One Economic Circle strategy, consolidate the friendship between the two peoples, strengthen international and regional coordination and cooperation, and boost the modernisation of the two countries, he added.

He affirmed that China supports Vietnam in playing a bigger role in the region and on the international stage, raising the voice of developing countries in addressing international issues.

Le Hoai Trung said that Vietnam will adhere to the consensus reached by the two leaders, commit firmly to building a strategically significant Vietnam-China community with a shared future, and push forward exchanges and cooperation between the two parties and two countries to continuously achieve important results.

He expressed to the Chinese leaders that the two sides should continue increasing high-level meetings and exchanges, especially among the top leaders; and step-up exchanges between departments of their Party Central Committees and local Party committees, while also boosting coordination in economy, trade, and transport connectivity, and coordinating efforts to reinforce a solid social foundation for the bilateral ties.

Wang Yi said that China is ready to intensify high-level exchanges with Vietnam, deepen exchanges and mutual learning on theories and experiences of party and state governance, effectively advance exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and jointly advance the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future.

Underlining the cooperative relationship between the two socialist countries, the Vietnamese newspaper Nhân Dân also reported that on the same day, border guards stationed in Vietnam’s northern province of Ha Giang coordinated with their counterparts in China’s Yunnan province to hold a joint patrol along the two provinces’ shared border, aimingto detect violations of border regulations, resolve any and protect security and safety.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency, the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Nhân Dân.

Senior CPC official meets CPV delegation

BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) — Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Cai Qi met with a delegation led by Le Hoai Trung, secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and chairman of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, in Beijing on Friday.

Cai, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said that General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Vietnam in December last year and, together with General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, announced the construction of a strategically significant China-Vietnam community with a shared future — an epoch-making milestone in the history of bilateral relations.

Continue reading Further consolidation of comradely relations between China and Vietnam

Ken Hammond: Through 45 years of reform, the CPC has remained committed to the original goals of the revolution

In this article for Global Times, China expert and Friends of Socialist China advisory group member Professor Ken Hammond reflects on the 45th anniversary of China’s Reform and Opening Up, initiated in December 1978.

Ken observes that the material basis for reform was China’s prevailing relative poverty and underdevelopment: “Slow but steady growth in the economy had modestly exceeded population growth, so that while there had been significant improvements in life expectancy and public health, housing provision, education, and other social services, in 1978 China remained a poor country.” In order to build a socialist society that was “abundant enough to meet not only basic needs but to allow all people to pursue their self-development, to fulfill their potential as human beings and members of society”, China’s leaders introduced policies “to revise the organization and operation of Chinese enterprises and to open the country to foreign capital in order to drive a process of development which would give China the capacity to produce goods and services in much greater volume and at much lower costs.”

There is a near-consensus in China that the reform process has been hugely successful, in that the vast majority of people live better lives than they used to, and China is far stronger than it was. “China has become a world leader in innovation and creativity, and is at the forefront of the fight to save the planet from the menace of climate change through the development of alternative energy and the building of an ecological civilization. China is playing a central role in improving the lives of people in developing countries around the world through its Belt and Road Initiative and other efforts to support the flourishing of a multipolar world with a future of shared prosperity.”

Nonetheless there have inevitably been problems and contradictions associated with market reforms, including inequality and environmental degradation. Ken writes that the Chinese leadership always understood these contradictions, and calculated that they could be overcome and managed over time as long as the guiding role of the Communist Party of China was maintained (this can be usefully contrasted with Gorbachev’s perestroika, which was accompanied with a sidelining of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and a hollowing out of the institutions of working class power).

Ken points out that, particularly over the last decade, “the CPC has managed the complexities of policy and practice, guiding the processes of development and the intricate dialectic between the socialist core and the private sector, remaining committed to the original goals of the revolution, and navigating China’s re-emergence as a significant participant in global affairs.” He concludes that, “guided by the insights of Marxist theory and the deep historical experience of China’s ancient civilization, and with the ongoing leadership of the CPC, the road ahead is one of hope.”

In December 1978 the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made a momentous decision to open a new program of economic development. Over the first three decades of the People’s Republic of  China, a foundation for a modern socialist system had been built, but this had been an arduous process, with advances and retreats, successes and failures, and much contention about how best to pursue the goals of enhancing production in industry and agriculture and of improving the material conditions and the livelihoods of the Chinese people. 

Slow but steady growth in the economy had modestly exceeded population growth, so that while there had been significant improvements in life expectancy and public health, housing provision, education, and other social services, in 1978 China remained a poor country. China had achieved a kind of egalitarianism of poverty, but this was not the goal of the revolution. Socialism is a society of shared prosperity, based upon the equitable distribution of the wealth produced by social labor, wealth which should be abundant enough to meet not only basic needs but to allow all people to pursue their self-development, to fulfill their potential as human beings and members of society. To achieve this, China’s leaders understood that this required bold new measures and a radical will to experiment.

Deng Xiaoping and others formulated new policies designed to utilize the mechanisms of the market to develop the productive economy. Marxists have long recognized the historical role of markets in the rise of the capitalist system, including the massive expansion and enhancement if productive capacities. The aim of the new policies, which came to be labeled as reform and opening-up, was to revise the organization and operation of Chinese enterprises and to open the country to foreign capital in order to drive a process of development which would give China the capacity to produce goods and services in much greater volume and at much lower costs. This would not happen overnight, and it would entail certain risks and challenges.

Markets can generate growth and development, but they also generate contradictions. The Chinese leadership understood this, and recognized that the key to success, the key to survival and flourishing of the socialist project, would be the guiding role of the CPC. They anticipated that rapid development using market mechanisms could create contradictions involving inequality, corruption, environmental stresses, as well as other problems. If the markets and foreign capital were simply allowed to run unregulated these could overwhelm the country and lead to the end of the socialist venture and the abandonment of the goals of the revolution. They understood that all of this would take time, that, as Deng Xiaoping famously said, some people would get rich first, and make accommodations with the global capitalist system in order to acquire the capital, technology and other resources needed to advance along the path of development.

As China marks the 45th anniversary of the reform era, we can see that much has been achieved. China has reached the primary stage of socialism, a society of modest prosperity, in which more than 800 million people have been lifted out of absolute poverty, in which health, education and social services have been dramatically improved. China has become a world leader in innovation and creativity, and is at the forefront of the fight to save the planet from the menace of climate change through the development of alternative energy and the building of an ecological civilization. China is playing a central role in improving the lives of people in developing countries around the world through its Belt and Road Initiative and other efforts to support the flourishing of a multipolar world with a future of shared prosperity.

All of this has been possible because of the leadership of the CPC. Over the past decade under General Secretary Xi Jinping, the CPC has managed the complexities of policy and practice, guiding the processes of development and the intricate dialectic between the socialist core and the private sector, remaining committed to the original goals of the revolution, and navigating China’s re-emergence as a significant participant in global affairs. There is much work to be done. The contradictions of development remain as factors which must be carefully attended to, and the tensions in global geopolitics as the world goes through an era of structural transformation and some long-established powers find it difficult to embrace the newly emerging realities pose serious challenges. 

It is time to celebrate what has been accomplished, and to reaffirm commitment to the tasks which lie ahead. Guided by the insights of Marxist theory and the deep historical experience of China’s ancient civilization, and with the ongoing leadership of the CPC, the road ahead is one of hope.