BEIJING — It is the solemn historic responsibility of today's Chinese Communists to continue opening new chapters in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, Xi Jinping said on Oct 16.
"Our experience has taught us that, at the fundamental level, we owe the success of our Party and socialism with Chinese characteristics to the fact that Marxism works, particularly when it is adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times," said Xi in a report at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
"Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which our Party and our country are founded and thrive," he said.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, with the courage to make theoretical explorations and innovations, the CPC has, from an entirely new perspective, deepened its understanding of the laws that underlie governance by a communist party, the development of socialism, and the evolution of human society, he said.
"It has achieved major theoretical innovations, which are encapsulated in the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," Xi said.
"The main elements of this theory are summarized in the 10 affirmations, the 14 commitments, and the 13 areas of achievement that were articulated at the 19th CPC National Congress and the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Party Central Committee, all of which we must adhere to over the long term and continue to enrich and develop," he said.
"To uphold and develop Marxism, we must integrate it with China's specific realities," the report said.
The CPC must base everything it does on actual conditions and focus on solving real problems arising in the reform, opening-up, and socialist modernization endeavors in the new era, it read.
The CPC must keep responding to the questions posed by China, by the world, by the people, and by the times; in doing so, the Party should find the right answers suited to the realities of China and the needs of the day, reach conclusions that are compatible with objective laws, and develop new theories that are in step with the times, so as to provide better guidance for China's practice, the report said.
"To uphold and develop Marxism, we must integrate it with China's fine traditional culture," the report said.
Only by taking root in the rich historical and cultural soil of the country and the nation can the truth of Marxism flourish here, it read.
The Chinese people must stay confident in their history and culture, make the past serve the present, and develop the new from the old, the report said.
The CPC must integrate the essence of Marxism with the best of fine traditional Chinese culture and with the common values that the people intuitively apply in their everyday lives, it said.
The Party should keep endowing Marxist theory with distinctive Chinese features and consolidating the historical basis and public support for adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. "With this, we will ensure that Marxism puts down deep roots in China," the report said.
To keep advancing theoretical innovation on the basis of practical experience, the Party must, first of all, gain a good command of the worldview and methodology of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and adhere to and make good use of its stances, viewpoints, and methods, Xi said.
"We must put the people first, maintain self-confidence and stand on our own feet, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, adopt a problem-oriented approach, apply systems thinking, and maintain a global vision," he said.
