Socialism with Chinese characteristics

At the opening session of the 12th CPC National Congress in September 1982, Deng Xiaoping called on China to carve a path of our own and build socialism with Chinese characteristics by applying the universal truth of Marxism to China’s specific context. This was Deng’s answer to the question foremost on everyone’s mind regarding China’s path in the era of reform and opening up. It has since guided China’s reform and socialist modernization.

Meeting with a Japanese delegation attending the Second Sino-Japanese Non-governmental Conference in June 1984, Deng reaffirmed the CPC’s new evidence-based approach to developing socialism, pursued since the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee. He pointed out that the most important task during the primary stage of socialism was to tap society’s productive potential, that the objective of our modernization drive was at a minimum to build a moderately prosperous society by the turn of the 21st century, and that our march towards prosperity would not be possible without socialism. In essence, what Deng had in mind was what he called socialism with Chinese characteristics. This was Deng’s first systematic explanation of the most important policy and concept developed on the basis of the Party’s experience on the ground since that plenary.

The 13th CPC National Congress, convened in October 1987, outlined the concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics by systematically summarizing Deng’s main theoretical pronouncements, providing a framework for what would become Deng Xiaoping Theory. The first reference to Deng’s theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics was made at the 14th CPC National Congress in October 1992, laying the groundwork for organizing Deng’s thinking into a comprehensive theoretical system.

建設(shè)有中國(guó)特色的社會(huì)主義

1982年9月，中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨召開(kāi)第十二次全國(guó)代表大會(huì)。鄧小平在大會(huì)開(kāi)幕式中明確提出:，把馬克思主義的普遍真理同我國(guó)的具體實(shí)際結(jié)合起來(lái)，走自己的道路，建設(shè)有中國(guó)特色的社會(huì)主義”?！敖ㄔO(shè)有中國(guó)特色的社會(huì)主義”的提出，回答了進(jìn)入改革開(kāi)放新時(shí)期后中國(guó)走什么樣的道路這一人們最為關(guān)心的重大問(wèn)題，成為指引新時(shí)期改革開(kāi)放和社會(huì)主義現(xiàn)代化建設(shè)的偉大旗幟。

1984年6月，鄧小平會(huì)見(jiàn)前來(lái)參加第二次中日民間人士會(huì)議的日方委員會(huì)代表團(tuán)時(shí)指出，從黨的十一屆三中全會(huì)開(kāi)始，我們制定了實(shí)事求是的思想路線，決定堅(jiān)持走社會(huì)主義道路。社會(huì)主義初級(jí)階段的最根本任務(wù)就是發(fā)展生產(chǎn)力。我們提出的“四個(gè)現(xiàn)代化”的最低目標(biāo)，是到本世紀(jì)末達(dá)到小康水平。不堅(jiān)持社會(huì)主義，中國(guó)的小康社會(huì)形成不了?？偟膩?lái)說(shuō)，這條道路叫作建設(shè)有中國(guó)特色的社會(huì)主義的道路。這是鄧小平首次在談話中系統(tǒng)闡述十一屆三中全會(huì)以來(lái)中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨在實(shí)踐中形成的最重要的方針政策和理論觀點(diǎn)。

1987年10月召開(kāi)的黨的十三大第一次提出了“建設(shè)有中國(guó)特色的社會(huì)主義理論”這一概念，并系統(tǒng)地概括了其主要觀點(diǎn)，構(gòu)成了鄧小平理論的輪廓。1992年10月召開(kāi)的黨的十四大首次使用了“鄧小平同志建設(shè)有中國(guó)特色社會(huì)主義理論”這一提法，對(duì)鄧小平理論的主要內(nèi)容做了新的科學(xué)概括，使之形成比較完整的科學(xué)體系。