Jiang Zemin's speech on Party's 80th anniversary (part IV)

Strengthening socialist ideological and ethical building constitutes the essential content of and a key link in developing China's advanced culture. We must be aware that people will lack common objective of struggle and reject the accepted code of conduct if we only stress material gains and money to the neglect of ideals and morality. We should combine the rule of law with the rule of virtue in order to build a lofty ideological and ethical foundation for maintaining a good public order and practice.

We should advocate the ideology of patriotism, collectivism and socialism among all people, combat and resist money worship, hedonism, ultra-egoism and other decadent ideas, enhance the Chinese people's national self-esteem, self-confidence, and the sense of pride, and stimulate them to make unremitting efforts for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The socialist culture has become dominant in China. Because of the past and present reasons, however, there still exist some backward cultures in society that have features of superstition, ignorance, decadence and vulgarity, and even exist some decadent cultures that corrode people's mental world and jeopardize the socialist cause. We should remold the backward cultures, prevent and resolutely resist the corrosion to people by decadent cultures and various erroneous ideological concepts, and gradually reduce and root out the soil on which they rely to breed, through improving our policy and system, strengthening education and management, and transforming social traditions.

In developing the socialist culture, we must carry on and develop all the fine cultures, fully reflect the spirit of the times and creativity, and have the world perspective in a bid to enhance our inspiring capacity. We should make positive efforts to inherit and develop the fine cultural traditions of the Chinese nation, the revolutionary cultural traditions formed among the Party and people since the May 4th Movement (1919), as well as all the advanced civilization achievements mankind has ever created. With regard to the rich cultural legacies left over from China's history of several thousand years, we should select the essence and discard the dross therefrom, and carry forward and develop them in line with the spirit of the times in order to make the past serve the present.

At the same time, we must, in line with new practices and requirements of the times and by taking account of the needs for cultural life of the people, promote cultural innovations, flourish the advanced culture and attract hundreds of millions of people to rally closely around the great banner of the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

To always represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people, our Party must, in all kinds of work including Party's theory, line, program, principle and policy, persevere in taking the fundamental interests of the people as the starting point and purpose, bring into full play people's enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, and enable the people to constantly obtain tangible economic, political and cultural benefits through continuous social development and progress.

The fundamental difference between our Party and all other political parties of exploiting classes lies in the fact that the former serves the people heart and soul, works for the public and assumes power for the people. At any time, we must continue to uphold the congruity between respecting the law of social development and respecting the people's status as the principal part in history, the agreement between striving for the lofty ideals and for the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, and the agreement between fulfilling the Party's various tasks and realizing the people's interests.

All the endeavors our Party has done over the past 80 years are, in the final analysis, aimed at the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. During the revolutionary wartime, our Party called on all its members to fight bravely and fear no sacrifice, and advance wave upon wave for the victory of revolution. After new China was founded, the Party exhorted all its members to remain modest and prudent, guard against conceit and impetuosity, and retain the revolutionary spirit of arduous struggle for good. In the new era, the Party demands that all its comrades be able to withstand the test of reform, opening-up and being in power, lead the people to work assiduously for the realization of socialist modernization. All this is aimed at continuously accomplishing, safeguarding and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people through always maintaining the Party's blood-and-flesh contacts with the people.

The general interests of the people are always composed of specific interests of different circles. All of our policies, measures and work should correctly reflect the relationships of various interests and help properly handle them, and we should take into consideration and look after the interests of the people from different social strata and circles. However, what is the most important is to give top priority to and satisfy the interests and demands of the overwhelming majority of the people.

This has always been vital to the overall interests of keeping the Party in power, the country's economic, political and cultural development, and the unity among the people of different ethnic groups and social stability. The interests of the overwhelming majority of the people are the vital and most decisive factor. This is a fundamental viewpoint of Marxism and leading organs and cadres at different levels must fully realize and earnestly practice it.

Our party has always adhered to the principle of putting the interests of the people above everything else. Apart from the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, the Party does not have any special interests of its own. All the Party's work must take the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the supreme criteria. All comrades in the Party should always uphold the basic viewpoint that they should do everything for the people and by relying on the people.

We should adhere to the mass line of the Party by going down to the people at the grass-roots level to hear their voices, reflect their will and pool their wisdom, so that make all policy decisions thus made and our work conform to the reality and the demands of the masses. All cadres who are Party members must properly assume and exercise the power truly on behalf of the people, and in no way should they be allowed to abuse power for personal gains or form any vested interest groups. In gradually realizing the common prosperity of the people across the country, cadres who are Party members must correctly handle the relationships between becoming well-off early and late, and between individual and common prosperity.

All leading Party cadres should be the first to concern about the country and the people and the last to enjoy life; be the first to bear hardships and the last to enjoy themselves; support and help others first instead of only thinking about how to get rich themselves, let alone seeking unlawful interests by abusing power. Leading cadres at all levels should always keep in mind the safety and well-being of the masses, show concern for the sufferings of the masses, and try hard to do useful and good things for the masses.

Leading organs and leading cadres at all levels should pay particular attention to those who have encountered temporary difficulties in their work and life, and make proper arrangements for their employment and life by listing their problems on the top of the agenda for special consideration and solution. Only by making substantial efforts to take care of and serve the masses well, can we maintain the blood-and-flesh links with the people and remain invincible.

Representing the requirements of the development trend of China 's advanced productive forces, representing the orientation of China's advanced culture and representing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people are interrelated and interact and constitute an integral whole. To develop advanced productive forces is a basic condition for developing advanced culture and realizing the fundamental interests of the people. The people are the main body to create advanced productive forces and culture as well as the fundamental force to realize their own interests.

To ceaselessly develop advanced productive forces and culture is, in the final analysis, aimed at meeting the growing material and cultural needs of the people and continuously realizing the fundamental interests of the people.

The requirements of the "Three Represent's" are the basic requirements for our Party to maintain its advanced nature and always remain the strong leading core in building socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is in conformity with the Party's upholding of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, adherence to its nature of being the vanguard of the working class, and its purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly. All comrades in the Party must unswervingly implement the requirements of the "Three Represent's" in all aspects of the Party building and in the entire process of the Party leading the people in the reform, opening-up and modernization drive.

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