The People's Creative Practice Runs Through the Entire Process of Chinese-Path Modernization

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC[1]1 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, held in July 2024, focused on comprehensively deepening reform. emphasized, "Adhere to a people-centered approach, respect the principal position of the people and their pioneering spirit, respond to the people's calls with reforms, so that reforms are for the people, rely on the people, and the fruits of reform are shared by the people." The people are the creators of history, the most solid foundation and the deepest strength for advancing modernization. To promote Chinese-path modernization, we must firmly rely on the people, fully stimulate their enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity. Chinese-path modernization is the cause of all Chinese people; we must firmly rely on the people, pool the infinite wisdom and strength hidden in the people, and fully stimulate the historical initiative of all the people.

党的二十届三中全会强调，“坚持以人民为中心，尊重人民主体地位和首创精神，人民有所呼、改革有所应，做到改革为了人民、改革依靠人民、改革成果由人民共享”。人民是历史的创造者，是推进现代化最坚实的根基、最深厚的力量。推进中国式现代化，必须紧紧依靠人民，充分激发人民群众的积极性、主动性和创造性。中国式现代化是全体中国人民的事业，必须紧紧依靠人民，汇聚蕴藏在人民中的无穷智慧和力量，充分激发全体人民的历史主动精神。

The leadership of the Communist Party of China is a distinctive feature and fundamental guarantee of Chinese-path modernization. Upholding the Party's leadership is an essential requirement of Chinese-path modernization and the primary principle for advancing it. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "political parties should anchor themselves to the people's aspiration for a better life and respond to the people's desire for civilizational progress." Promote the coordinated development of material, political, cultural-ethical, social, and ecological civilization, create a path of Chinese-path modernization, and "let modernization better respond to the people's demands in all aspects and at multiple levels." The creative practice initiated by the CPC leading the people embodies the inherent laws of social development and has launched the process of Chinese-path modernization. Marx and Engels pointed out in the Communist Manifesto: "The proletarian movement is the independent movement of the immense majority, in the interests of the immense majority." Only the CPC consistently represents the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people, always for the people and relying on the people, without any special interests of its own. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "In 1921, the Communist Party of China was born as the times required[2]2 An idiom (应运而生) meaning "arise at the right time" or "come into being as the times require.". Since then, the Chinese people's struggle for national independence, people's liberation, national prosperity, and people's happiness has had its backbone[3]3 A metaphor (主心骨) meaning "backbone" or "mainstay," referring to the core supporting force., and the Chinese people have shifted from passivity to initiative in spirit." The achievements of the Party leading the people in revolution, construction, and reform have established the leadership position of the CPC, which has been formed through the choice of history and the people.

中国共产党的领导是中国式现代化的鲜明特征和根本保证。坚持党的领导是中国式现代化的本质要求，是推进中国式现代化的首要原则。习近平总书记强调，“政党要锚定人民对美好生活的向往，顺应人民对文明进步的渴望”。推动物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明协调发展，创造中国式现代化道路，“让现代化更好回应人民各方面诉求和多层次需要”。中国共产党带领人民开创的创造性实践体现了社会发展的内在规律要求，开启了中国式现代化进程。马克思恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中指出：“无产阶级的运动是绝大多数人的，为绝大多数人谋利益的独立的运动。”只有中国共产党始终代表最广大人民根本利益，始终为了人民、依靠人民，没有任何自己的特殊利益。习近平总书记指出：“一九二一年中国共产党应运而生。从此，中国人民谋求民族独立、人民解放和国家富强、人民幸福的斗争就有了主心骨，中国人民就从精神上由被动转为主动。”党带领人民进行革命、建设、改革实践取得的成果，确立了在历史和人民选择中形成的中国共产党的领导地位。

The people's creative practice runs through the entire process of Chinese-path modernization and is the source of its driving force. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The viewpoint of practice and the viewpoint of life are the basic viewpoints of Marxist epistemology; practicality is a distinctive feature that distinguishes Marxist theory from other theories." As the people's creative practice continues to expand, understanding will also deepen. The path of Chinese-path modernization has been formed and developed in the people's creative practice. To fully grasp Chinese-path modernization, we must base ourselves on the Party's century-long struggle and exploratory practice leading the people, and insist that the people are the fundamental force in creating history.

人民的创造性实践贯穿于中国式现代化进程始终，是中国式现代化的动力源泉。习近平总书记指出：“实践的观点、生活的观点是马克思主义认识论的基本观点，实践性是马克思主义理论区别于其他理论的显著特征。”人民的创造性实践不断拓展，认识也会不断深化，中国式现代化道路在人民的创造性实践中形成和发展。全面把握中国式现代化，就要立足党领导人民百余年来的奋斗历程和探索实践，坚持人民是创造历史的根本动力。

The people's creative practice has laid the practical foundation for Chinese-path modernization. The subject of Chinese-path modernization is the people, and the source of its strength comes from the people's creative practice. Engels pointed out: "Where history begins, the thought process must also begin, and the further development of the thought process is nothing but the reflection of the historical process in an abstract and theoretically consistent form." Historical activity is ultimately the practical activity of people. Through creative practice, the people fully understand the essence and laws of things, creating spiritual wealth and civilizational achievements such as literature, art, and science that suit the people's aesthetics, preferences, and styles. As creators of history, the people are not only creators of material wealth but also creators of spiritual wealth. The people's creative practice has initiated the process of Chinese-path modernization.

人民的创造性实践为中国式现代化奠定了实践基础。中国式现代化的主体是人民，力量源泉来自人民的创造性实践。恩格斯指出：“历史从哪里开始，思想进程也应当从哪里开始，而思想进程的进一步发展不过是历史过程在抽象的、理论上前后一贯的形式上的反映。”历史活动归根结底是人的实践活动，人民通过创造性实践，充分认识事物的本质及其规律，创造了契合人民审美、喜好和风格的文学、艺术、科学等精神财富与文明成果。人民作为历史的创造者，不仅是物质财富的创造者，也是精神财富的创造者。人民的创造性实践开启了中国式现代化的进程。

The people's creative practice has forged the main force for Chinese-path modernization. The people are both the subject of creative practice and the subject of Chinese-path modernization. Through creative practice, the people not only satisfy their own needs for existence and development but also fully enjoy the rights of political participation and management of state affairs, creating science and technology beneficial to their own development and the construction of a strong socialist modern country. Through creative practice, the people have mastered the thinking methods of analyzing the essence and laws of things, enabling them to elevate perceptual knowledge generated in practice into rational knowledge such as concepts, judgments, reasoning, hypotheses, and theories that are abstract, indirect, and reflect the essence of things. The people's creative practice is the endogenous driving force of Chinese-path modernization, forging and stimulating its process. It was by applying the basic positions, viewpoints, and methods of historical materialism that Marx and Engels fully affirmed the historical status and dynamic role of the masses in the development of human society.

人民的创造性实践锻造了中国式现代化建设的主体力量。人民既是创造性实践的主体，又是中国式现代化建设的主体。人民通过创造性实践既满足了自身的存在和发展需求，又充分享有政治参与、管理国家事务的权利，创造了有益于自身发展和社会主义现代化强国建设的科学和技术。通过创造性实践，人民掌握了分析事物本质和规律的思维方法，能够将实践中产生的感性认识上升为具有抽象性、间接性并反映事物本质的概念、判断、推理、假说和理论等理性认识。人民的创造性实践是中国式现代化的内生动力，锻造和激发了中国式现代化的进程。马克思、恩格斯正是运用历史唯物主义的基本立场观点方法，充分肯定了人民群众在人类社会发展中的历史地位和动力作用。

The people's creative practice embodies the fundamental direction of Chinese-path modernization. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC[4]4 The 20th National Congress of the CPC, held in October 2022, which outlined the Party's guiding principles for the next five years. pointed out: "All theories that are divorced from the people are pale and feeble, and all theories that do not benefit the people are lifeless." Affinity to the people is a distinctive character of Marxism. Looking back at the Party's century-long struggle, it runs through the entire process of the CPC leading the people in revolution, construction, and reform, and is condensed in the arduous exploration and unremitting struggle of several generations of Chinese Communists for modernization. Realizing the people's aspiration for a better life is the unremitting pursuit of Chinese-path modernization.

人民的创造性实践体现中国式现代化的根本方向。党的二十大报告指出：“一切脱离人民的理论都是苍白无力的，一切不为人民造福的理论都是没有生命力的。”人民性是马克思主义的鲜明品格，回顾党的百余年奋斗历程，它贯穿中国共产党领导人民进行革命、建设与改革始终，凝结于几代中国共产党人对现代化道路的艰辛探索与不懈奋斗之中。实现人民对美好生活的向往，是中国式现代化的不懈追求。

Whether a path of modernization can ultimately be taken smoothly and steadily depends on whether it adheres to a people-centered approach. The reason Marxism can transcend times and countries and fully demonstrate its scientific nature, vitality, and influence is that it is deeply rooted in the people and speaks for the people. We must adhere to the principal position of the people, take safeguarding, realizing, and developing the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people as the starting point and goal of all work, and let the fruits of modernization benefit all the people more and more fairly. To advance Chinese-path modernization, only by adhering to the supremacy of the people, starting from the people's creative practice, upholding the attitude of "attributing all achievements to the people," and deeply understanding the theoretical implications of the people-oriented nature of Chinese-path modernization, can we continuously turn the people's aspiration for a better life into reality and promote new development of Chinese-path modernization.

现代化道路最终能否走得通、行得稳，关键要看是否坚持以人民为中心。马克思主义之所以能够跨越时代和国度，充分彰显其科学性、生命力和影响力，就在于深深扎根于人民，为人民立言代言。必须坚持人民主体地位，把维护好、实现好、发展好最广大人民根本利益作为一切工作的出发点和落脚点，让现代化建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民。推进中国式现代化只有坚持人民至上，从人民创造性实践出发，秉持“一切成就归功于人民”的态度，深刻领悟中国式现代化人民性的理论意蕴，才能不断把人民对美好生活的向往变为现实，才能促进中国式现代化新的发展。

The ultimate goal of modernization is to achieve the free and comprehensive development of human beings. In his keynote speech at the High-level Dialogue between the Communist Party of China and World Political Parties, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must adhere to the concept of the supremacy of the people and highlight the people-oriented nature of the direction of modernization." This clearly reflects the fundamental value orientation of Chinese-path modernization and scientifically answers the fundamental question of 'for whom and relying on whom.' "We must improve the institutional system for the people to be the masters of the country, perfect the institutional mechanisms for maintaining social fairness and justice, focus on ensuring and improving people's livelihoods, follow the mass line in the New Era[5]5 The mass line in the New Era, i.e., the Party's fundamental working method of staying close to the people and responding to their needs since the 18th National Congress (2012)., always maintain a flesh-and-blood bond with the people, always accept the people's criticism and supervision, always breathe the same breath, share the same fate, and be heart-to-heart with the people, so that Chinese-path modernization has the most reliable, deepest, and most enduring source of strength." In the process of Chinese-path modernization, adhering to the supremacy of the people means taking the voices and needs of the masses as the focus of work, doing practical things for the masses, letting the masses benefit, and letting the fruits of development benefit all the people more and more fairly. Always placing the people in the highest position and taking the people's aspiration for a better life as the goal of struggle is one of the major principles that must be firmly grasped on the path of Chinese-path modernization. It is the development and sublimation of the Party's purpose from a new historical juncture, because "modernization should not only look at indicators and data on paper, but also at the happiness and well-being of the people."

现代化的最终目标是实现人的自由而全面的发展。习近平总书记在中国共产党与世界政党高层对话会上的主旨讲话中指出：“我们要坚守人民至上理念，突出现代化方向的人民性。”这鲜明体现了中国式现代化的根本价值取向，科学回答了“为了谁、依靠谁”的根本问题。“要健全人民当家作主的制度体系，完善维护社会公平正义的制度机制，着力保障和改善民生，走好新时代群众路线，始终保持同人民群众的血肉联系，始终接受人民批评和监督，始终同人民同呼吸、共命运、心连心，使中国式现代化拥有最可靠、最深厚、最持久的力量源泉。”中国式现代化建设进程中，坚持人民至上就要把群众的呼声和需求作为工作着力点，为群众办实事、让群众得到实惠、让发展成果更多更公平惠及全体人民。始终将人民放在最高位置，把人民对美好生活的向往作为奋斗目标，这是中国式现代化道路上必须牢牢把握的重大原则之一，是党站在新的历史方位上对党的宗旨的发展和升华，因为“现代化不仅要看纸面上的指标数据，更要看人民的幸福安康”。

The people's creative practice determines the path choice of Chinese-path modernization. The people's creative practice has been emerging continuously in the fields of science and technology, culture, and ecology, providing an inexhaustible driving force for China's modernization process. On the basis of the creative practice led by the Party, China has embarked on a new path of Chinese-path modernization. This path is guided by the people-centered development concept, adheres to the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan[6]6 The Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, the overall plan for advancing economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress., and contains practical requirements such as pursuing high-quality development, advancing whole-process people's democracy, enriching the people's spiritual world, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and building a community with a shared future for mankind. Marx believed that everything people strive for is related to their interests. The path of Chinese-path modernization should fully embody the principal position of the people, focus on improving the people's material and cultural living standards, and demonstrate the people's creativity and innovation. This path not only conforms to China's national conditions but also provides a useful reference for the modernization of countries around the world.

人民的创造性实践决定中国式现代化的道路选择。人民的创造性实践在科技、文化、生态各领域不断涌现，为我国现代化进程提供了不竭动力。在党领导人民进行创造性实践的基础上，我国走出了中国式现代化新道路。这条道路以人民为中心的发展理念为指导，坚持“五位一体”总体布局，蕴含追求高质量发展、推进全过程人民民主、丰富人民精神世界、实现全体人民共同富裕、促进人与自然和谐共生、构建人类命运共同体等实践要求。马克思认为，人们为之奋斗的一切，都同他们的利益有关。中国式现代化道路要充分体现人民的主体地位，着力提高人民物质文化生活水平，彰显人民的创造力和创新性。这条道路既符合我国国情，也为世界各国现代化提供了有益借鉴。

(The authors are researchers at the Base for the Study and Development of Marxist Theory and Engineering, Guangxi University.)

（作者系广西大学马克思主义理论研究和建设工程基地研究员）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧