Communist Party of China continues to progress with times

ver the past 90 years, the Communist Party has led the Chinese people to achieve national independence and liberation, solved food and clothing problems for more than 1 billion people, promoted China to become the world’s second largest economy and upheld and developed the socialist path with Chinese characteristics. The Party's 90-year great struggle, like a grand and epic painting, is inspiring and worth reflecting on.

What keeps the Party robust and dynamic after 90 years since its founding and 60 years of leading China? What has enabled the Party to always maintain its lead in progressing with the times during China’s revolution, construction and reform? What has made the Party always able to overcome tough historical obstacles and survive setbacks?

Human history shows that the roles and fate of any kind of political force are closely consistent with the trends, regularity and evolution of the times. Whether or not a party can always keep itself dynamic basically depends on the roles it plays in moving forward history and on the extent of the people's recognition of such a role.

Only when a party maintains its vanguard nature will it be entitled to represent the people, exercise state power and properly use the power for the people. The reason why the Party could liberate, enrich and strengthen China, follow the general trend at every critical moment and continue to initiate reforms amid social development lies in that it has always held to the basic principle of building a party committed to serving the interests of the people and exercising state power for the people.

It has always represented China's demand for the development of advanced productivity, the development direction of advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the majority of the people as well as always retained and developed the vanguard nature of a Marxist party.

The Party's vanguard nature is always historical and specific with distinctive characteristics of the times. The development of the times and practices constantly require new demand and gives new meaning to the Party's vanguard nature. During the period of the new-democratic revolution, the Communist Party of China proposed to take Party building as a "great project" to develop the Party's theory of Marxism, which has become an important and effective weapon to ensure the victory of the new-democratic revolution.

The Party focused on the issue of "what kind of party to build and how to build it," as well as on enhancing the Party's art of leadership and governance and the capacity of fighting corruption and guarding against degeneration under the historical conditions of reform and opening up. Party building has become a booster of the great cause of reform and opening up.

The Party’s exploration of governing rules achieved a new height in the new century, and the important thought of the "Three Represents" pointed out the direction for the Party to adhere to the times and maintain its vanguard nature. After the 16th CPC National Congress, the Party proposed a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable scientific outlook on development under the conditions of improving the socialist market economic system and developing the socialist democratic politics to further deepen the understanding toward the governing rules of the CPC and the rules of constructing socialist modernization.

The Party is always armed with developing Marxism in different times and different stages to maintain its eternal vitality in the process of continuously pushing forward China's modernization and has been ahead of the times when leading social progress.

The Party has maintained its vanguard nature over the past 90 years by firmly grasping the pulse of the times and actively responding to challenges. It has been clearly proven that the vanguard nature is the Communist Party of China's fundamental characteristic, and is the primary reason why it has successfully saved the Chinese nation and built an unassailable position in the fast-changing international and domestic environment. The world and the country are both changing rapidly, and the Party is facing four challenges from governance, reform and opening up, market economy and the external environment. It must draw on the 90 years of valuable experience and make greater efforts to strengthen Party building under new circumstances.

The vanguard nature of the Party was not achieved overnight and is not unchangeable. Being in a leading position in the past does not ensure a lead at present, and a lead at present does not ensure a lead in the future. However, the Party will always play a leading role in building socialism with Chinese characteristics as long as it keeps innovating and progressing.

By the commentator of People's Daily, translated by People’s Daily Online

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