Domestic Affairs

CPC's 90th birthday celebration and reflection

By Chen Xuefei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-30 11:21

In July 1921, a brand new party was established in Shanghai. Its name was Communist Party of China (CPC). Its goal was to establish a government ruled by the working class and finally realize communism. Over the past 90 years, CPC has achieved great achievements with constant reflections on its zigzagging way forward.

With unremitting efforts, plenty of bloodshed and the well-known 25,000 li - or 12,500 kilometer - "Long March," CPC was like a red star shining on China. It conducted land reform to mobilize farmers and gained great support from both farmers and workers in China. With its great spirit of putting people's interest in the center to establish a people's republic, CPC won support from the people after 28 years of struggle.

CPC won victory during the democratic revolution, but could they stand the test of time during the socialist construction?

In 1949, just before the formal establishment of New China, CPC leader Mao Zedong pointed out at the party congress that facing the victory in the whole country, CPC must keep on being sober-minded. When the CPC became the ruling party, it must stand the test of ruling, thus, all Party members must continue to be modest, prudent but not arrogant, all comrades must continue to keep a hard-working and simple lifestyle.

This was the reflection and warning based on many farmers uprisings in history and the CPC's own history.

CPC keeps itself as the vanguard of the working class. It keeps on learning, reforming, renovating and revitalizing itself and keeps itself innovative and vital over the past 90 years despite many mistakes. Each time it draws lessons to correct its ways and get stronger and lead people to go forward.

CPC not only succeeded in establishing a new People's Republic, but also in leading the people to conduct economic construction and constantly improve people's living standards.

Why is CPC so special? How can CPC win the support of the people? There are many reasons, since it is relying on the basic theories of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theories, Three represents and scientific development concept, which are the summaries of experiences and wisdom of the CPC and the whole Chinese people.

The key for its success is to put all the theories into practice and apply the theories according to Chinese reality, to avoid extreme leftist or extreme rightist ideologies. That is also called socialism with Chinese characteristics, because its main goal is to benefit all the people in China by taking measures to let different groups of people share the benefit at different times but reach the overall goal by 2050, which is to improve people's living standard to the medium level of developed countries.

CPC is pragmatic and realistic. CPC always tries its best to investigate the truth, the reality, putting the people's need on top of the agenda as its working goal. Thus it can find the right solutions to problems. For example, land reform during the revolution period and land reform after 1978, which all greatly mobilized farmers’ enthusiasm and won the support of farmers because that was in accordance with their interests. It also mobilized the enthusiasm of intellectuals and others in China during the recent decade.

CPC's working style is to connect the masses. During the revolutionary period, the people supported the CPC because they realized that this is a party that aims to help them forever. Any time the Party became arrogant or turned away from the people, it would win the back of the people. For example, when the left was in power, China was facing extreme poverty because they were too ideological and not really working for the people.