The emancipation of minds path to glory
By Justin Yifu Lin (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-05 07:32

The year 2007 was one the Chinese nation should feel proud of.

China's economy and foreign trade made great progress making the past five years the fastest and stablest period of economic development since the reform and opening-up.

China has boosted its economic, social, cultural as well as political structures, and now plays an important role on the world stage.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) successfully held its 17th National Congress, where scientific development and building a socialist society with harmony were stressed. This will have a far-reaching influence on the development pattern of China and even the world.

2008 is a year full of expectations. China welcomes the 30th anniversary of the reform and opening up, on which the government, academic and public spotlights have been focusing, and it is a good opportunity for us to carefully study our experiences and draw lessons.

The Olympic Games will also be held in Beijing. China is destined to be a star that will attract worldwide attention in 2008. We are glad to see that the Chinese nation is reaching a new historical height.

In the past 30 years, as the largest developing and transitional country in the world, China had experienced many hardships and challenges and it was difficult to obtain the current benefits which all of us should cherish.

When looking back at the reform and opening up, I deeply feel that progress was achieved through the emancipation of minds. In the beginning of the report delivered to the 17th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Hu Jintao stressed that we should "continue to emancipate minds".

China has made progress by emancipating minds and this can also help the country make more progress in the future.

We can say that China's 30- year development miracle is a phenomena. It witnessed its largest expansion, duration and fastest structural change. Quickly changed practices need theoretical innovation that advances with the times. We must continue to point in the right direction for change.

Due to changing times, we must incessantly blaze new trails and keep emancipating our minds.

The biggest obstacle to mind emancipation is doctrinarism. China continues to break through the old binding forces of doctrinarism and has made progress in the past 30 years. Late leader Deng Xiaoping took the lead overcoming the resistance of "leftist" doctrinarism, kicking off the reform and opening up.

Meanwhile, China has also broken through restrictions and theoretical doctrinarism. The country has adopted a progressive dual-track reform, which differs from Western mainstream theories. However, its practical results have attracted the attention of world economists.

The past 30 years is also a process of excelling ourselves. Emancipated minds would threaten to become a new binding force if they could not be adjusted timely. Any type of effective structural plan is based on a certain historical period and certain restraints. Its growth and progress depends on timely adjustments.

Scientific development is the best example of the emancipation of minds. At the initial stage of the reform and opening up, we could not boldly advocate construction of a market economy; but today, the concept has been entrenched in the society.

However, we may risk falling behind if we abandon the role of the government in the economy and the building of a market structure. Therefore, today we still need the emancipation of minds to restudy the functions of the government, market and other organizations.

The author is director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University

(China Daily 03/05/2008 page9)