A parterre for celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC at the West Lake Park in Fuzhou, Fujian Province Photo: XINHUA

Oct. 1 marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. Over the past 75 years, China has, under the leadership of the CPC, achieved leapfrog development, striving to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. To look back upon this magnificent journey, CSST recently interviewed Ash Narain Roy, director of the Institute of Social Sciences in India, and Rocco Lacorte, an Italian scholar and associate professor from the School of Marxism at Nankai University.

Historic milestone

1949 is a landmark year in Chinese history. After 28 years of struggle, the CPC led the Chinese people to secure victory in the New Democratic Revolution and establish the PRC, leaping forward from feudal autocracy to people’s democracy and ushering in a new era.

Regarding the founding of the PRC in 1949 as a great event in world history, Roy elaborated that it changed the face of China and the destiny of the Chinese people. “The influence of the Revolution on the international pattern and world geographical scale is undoubtedly far greater than most other revolutions. It also paved the way for China’s rise to global power.”

According to Lacorte, the newly established China represents, above all, the “moment” when the people, guided by the CPC, were able to throw off the shackles of feudalism, colonialism, illiteracy, and poverty, laying the foundational “bricks” for the emancipation of the entire Global South.

Adapting Marxism to Chinese context

In the early years following the PRC’s founding, socialist construction faced a great many difficulties. Despite these challenges, the CPC led the Chinese people to overcome one obstacle after another and opened up an independent development path. History has borne witness to the creation, development, and continuous refinement of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

“The situation after the founding of the new China was that of an extremely poor country,” Lacorte noted. “The national conditions of China, characterized by a large population, weak foundations, uneven development, and a large gap between national and international scientific and technological development, were the concrete basis for the construction of the Chinese socialist model.”

Lacorte pointed out that the most pressing need at the time was to transform China from a backward agricultural country to an advanced industrial nation in the shortest possible time. Under the direction of the CPC, significant progress was made in infrastructure development, and a relatively complete national economic and industrial system began to take shape. Science, technology and education also made substantial advancements during this time.

“To tackle new issues and new conditions emerging in Chinese society, the CPC has kept innovating itself,” Roy said. “Obstacles to development were successfully overcome by means of new policies and measures.”

In the past, China learnt from the West. But today, it is self-reliant in many respects, particularly in technological and economic sectors, Roy added. As Henry Kissinger said, the Chinese revolutionaries and leaders did not export ideas or attempt to convert other countries to its own values but rather let others come to seek them.

Lacorte believes that China’s incredible social, economic, technological, and scientific improvements, along with its rapid development, are the direct result of the balanced and gradual approach to reform and opening up adopted by the CPC since 1978. Central to this approach is the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which involves adapting and translating Marxism into the Chinese context. This localization, he argues, is the only way to keep these principles alive.

The CPC not only supported the basic principles of Marxism, but also liberated them from the yoke of misunderstandings derived from dogmatic postulates, translating them in relation to the different situations and making them practical and effective for this specific country, Lacorte explained.

Reform holds key

Over the past 75 years, China has made big strides in modernization, with the policy of reform and opening up marking a significant turning point. From initial reform to deepening reform comprehensively, on to further deepening reform comprehensively, China has translated various aspirations of its people into development outcomes, winning global acclaim for its modernization achievements.

Roy emphasized that for 75 years, China’s record-breaking progress has impressed the world. “Reform is an ongoing process. Whether it is economy or society, or other sectors of national development, reform keeps pace with the changing needs and aspirations of the people. With reform, Chinese modernization created miracles.”

Roy stressed that modernization is not a “one-size-fits-all” phenomenon. “Modernization is not Westernization. It is certainly not Americanization. There was a misconception in many quarters that without being Westernized, a country can’t modernize.”

“Today, 75 years after its foundation, China is no longer the poor nation it was in 1949. It has now become a major player in the global strategic landscape, and is playing a huge role in the international economy,” Lacorte said.

Lacorte is particularly impressed by China’s success in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, quoting Robert Zoelick, former president of the World Bank, as admitting that the feat represents “the greatest leap to overcome poverty in history.” Meanwhile, the number of middle-income citizens has been increased to more than 400 million people. “Something hard to believe outside, but true!”

“It is, indeed, an extraordinary accomplishment: nowadays, all Chinese people have secure access to housing, clothing, food, clean water, healthcare and education—something that the Western colonialists would have never allowed if China had not gained its own independence and sovereignty,” Lacorte added.

Citing the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, Roy said that it drew up a blueprint for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. “It was also a signal to the world that reform is still key to high-quality development and high standards of living.”