The seminar looks back on the CPC’s 100-year history. Photo: Chen Lian/CSST

SHANGHAI—Experts looked back on CPC’s history since its founding a century ago, at a seminar on June 12.

Since its founding in 1921, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people to win one victory after another, said Zeng Jun, vice president of the Party School of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee. One reason for this success is that the CPC excels at integrating the basic principles of Marxism with the people’s needs and the conditions of the times, constantly advancing innovation in practice, institutional innovation, and theoretical innovation.

On the centennial of the CPC’s founding, it is necessary to comprehensively reflect on why the CPC can bring socialism to life, how to adhere to the basic principles of scientific socialism while flexibly applying and enriching these principles, and also what contributions socialism with Chinese characteristics has made to the world, Zeng said.

It is important to sum up the Party’s successful experience in leading the people to reach great achievements in revolution, construction, and reform from three aspects: a comparative perspective, an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective, and the strong capacity of theoretical abstraction, Zeng noted.

The CPC’s 100-year history is one of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, with constant theoretical innovation. It is a history of struggle which upholds firm ideals and beliefs, a history of serving the people wholeheartedly, and also a revolutionary history of self-reform and self-purification, said Qin Shujuan, dean of the School of Marxism at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.

The success of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is closely related to the valuable characteristics of Chinese culture, said Sun Li, a professor from the School of Political Science at the National Defense University of the People’s Liberation Army. Chinese culture has formed distinctive characteristics over the course of history, enriching and developing itself in the continuous collision, fusion, and integration with different cultures. The intellectual system of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context is closely related to outstanding intellectuals who are deeply influenced by Chinese culture.

“The openness and inclusiveness of Chinese culture provides an important prerequisite for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context,” Sun said.

“When studying the Party’s history, we must focus on the overall situation, and look beyond the surface of history, to grasp the main theme and mainstream nature of historical development. As such, we can absorb wisdom and strength to move forward, and strive to achieve the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Qin said.

“In a special period of major changes unseen in a century, plus the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are facing unprecedented challenges,” said Quan Heng, full-time vice chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations.

To turn crises into opportunities, Quan said that it is necessary for the philosophy and social science community to thoroughly summarize the laws of history, gain experience, and carry out theoretical innovation, so as to provide solid and strong academic support for researching and resolving major problems in the real world.

Philosophy and the social science community must create theories based on the reality of China’s development, Quan said. In addition, it is necessary to tell China’s story well, and boost international communication.