Grasping the Epochal Value of Chinese-path Modernization from the Depth of World History

Realizing modernization is the historical trend of world development and the common aspiration of people of all countries. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Realizing modernization is the inalienable right of all countries" and "For a country to move toward modernization, it must not only follow the general laws of modernization but also conform to its own actual conditions and have its own characteristics." In today's world, changes unseen in a century[1]1 "Changes unseen in a century" (bainian weiyou zhi dabianju) is a key judgment by the CPC, referring to the profound and complex shifts in the international order and power structure in the current era. are accelerating, and the international balance of power is undergoing profound adjustment. The limitations and drawbacks of the Western modernization model are becoming increasingly prominent, and the world urgently calls for a new path of modernization. As a completely new model of modernization, Chinese-path modernization has broken the myth that "modernization equals Westernization" and provided a new solution for world modernization. A deep understanding of the historical process of world modernization and the global significance of Chinese-path modernization helps us grasp the epochal value of Chinese-path modernization from the depth of world history and advance and expand Chinese-path modernization with greater consciousness and confidence.

实现现代化是世界发展的历史潮流，是各国人民的共同向往。习近平总书记指出：“实现现代化是世界各国不可剥夺的权利”“一个国家走向现代化，既要遵循现代化的一般规律，更要符合本国实际、具有本国特色”。当今世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，国际力量对比深刻调整。西方现代化模式的局限与弊端日益凸显，世界迫切呼唤新的现代化路径。作为一种全新的现代化模式，中国式现代化打破了“现代化=西方化”的迷思，为世界现代化提供了新方案。深刻认识世界现代化的历史进程和中国式现代化的世界意义，有助于我们从世界历史纵深把握中国式现代化的时代价值，更加自觉、更加自信地推进和拓展中国式现代化。

The process of world modernization has been jointly explored and promoted by all of humanity.

世界现代化进程是全人类共同探索和推动的

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "All civilizations created by human society shine with brilliant light, accumulating profound heritage and endowing distinctive characteristics for the modernization of various countries, and transcending time and space, crossing national boundaries, together making important contributions to the process of human social modernization." The process of world modernization began with Western capitalist countries, and the developed countries in today's world are mainly European and American countries and capitalist countries deeply influenced by Western civilization. However, it must be deeply understood that many civilizations from all over the world have made important contributions to nurturing and promoting the process of world modernization.

习近平总书记指出：“人类社会创造的各种文明，都闪烁着璀璨光芒，为各国现代化积蓄了厚重底蕴、赋予了鲜明特质，并跨越时空、超越国界，共同为人类社会现代化进程作出了重要贡献。”世界现代化进程是从西方资本主义国家开始的，当今世界的发达国家也主要是欧美国家和深受西方文明影响的资本主义国家。然而必须深刻认识到，全球各地众多文明对孕育和推动世界现代化进程都作出了重要贡献。

Marx made a profound insight into the universal laws of human social development, pointing out that Eastern society "could possibly avoid the 'Caudine Forks'[2]2 The "Caudine Forks" (Kafuding xiagu) is a metaphor from ancient Roman history, referring to a humiliating defeat, which Marx used to suggest the possibility of bypassing the capitalist stage of development. of the capitalist system and take over all the positive achievements created by the capitalist system" to accelerate the historical process. At the same time, he resolutely opposed the rigid view that "all nations, regardless of their historical environment, are destined to take this road," emphasizing that "correct theory must be elucidated and developed in accordance with specific conditions and existing circumstances." This shows that the path of modernization is not limited to a single model. The diversity of development paths is what the world should look like. So far, most countries that have achieved modernization are Western capitalist countries, leading some people to form the illusion that "modernization equals Westernization," but they overlook the fact that world modernization is a process jointly explored and promoted by all of humanity.

马克思对人类社会发展普遍规律进行深刻洞察，指出东方社会“有可能不通过资本主义制度的卡夫丁峡谷，而占有资本主义制度所创造的一切积极的成果”，从而加速历史进程。与此同时，他坚决反对“一切民族，不管它们所处的历史环境如何，都注定要走这条道路”的僵化观点，强调“正确的理论必须结合具体情况并根据现存条件加以阐明和发挥”。这表明，现代化道路并不会局限于单一模式。发展道路多元多样，才是世界应有的样子。迄今为止，实现现代化的国家大都是西方资本主义国家，一些人因此形成了“现代化=西方化”的错觉，却忽略了世界现代化是全人类共同探索和推动的过程。

On the one hand, Western modernization was not an endogenous evolution completed in isolation in a vacuum, but deeply rooted in the exchange network of global civilizations. Over a long historical period, many wisdom achievements from other civilizations were continuously introduced to Europe and widely applied. For example, China's papermaking and printing broke the monopoly of the church over knowledge and culture; the compass promoted the great geographical discoveries; and gunpowder shook the feudal rule of Europe. As Marx pointed out: "Gunpowder, the compass, and printing—these are the three great inventions that heralded the arrival of bourgeois society." These achievements were not merely simple technological progress but effectively became catalysts for ideological emancipation and the development of productive forces, indispensable social and historical conditions for the initiation and advancement of the Western modernization process.

一方面，西方的现代化不是在真空中孤立完成的内生演进，而是深深植根于全球文明的交流网络。在漫长的历史时期，其他文明体系的诸多智慧成果持续传入欧洲并得到广泛应用。比如，中国的造纸术与印刷术打破了教会对知识和文化的垄断，指南针推动了地理大发现，火药则动摇了欧洲的封建统治。正如马克思所指出的：“火药、指南针、印刷术——这是预告资产阶级社会到来的三大发明。”这些成果并非简单的技术进步，而是切实成为思想解放与生产力发展的催化剂，成为西方现代化进程得以启动和推进不可或缺的社会历史条件。

On the other hand, the process of world modernization was not a unidirectional diffusion of "Eurocentrism." Before the outward expansion of Western capitalist forces, people from different regions had long participated in and profoundly shaped the early "reservoir" of world modernization in their own ways through ancient trade networks. The outbreak of the Industrial Revolution quickly connected the world market, greatly promoting the flow and reallocation of factors of production such as capital, technology, labor, and raw materials on a global scale. Marx and Engels did not spare praise for the improvement of capitalist productive forces and their role in promoting the formation of the world market. At the same time, it must be noted that in this process, non-Western worlds such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America were not merely passive recipients, but with their huge markets and abundant resources became an important part of the global division of labor, irreversibly drawn into and integrated into the magnificent tide of world modernization.

另一方面，世界现代化进程也不是单向的“欧洲中心论”式的扩散。在西方资本主义力量向外拓展之前，不同地域的人群早已通过古老的贸易网络，以各自的方式参与并深刻塑造了世界现代化的早期“蓄水池”。工业革命的爆发迅速将世界市场联结在一起，极大促进了资本、技术、劳动力及原材料等生产要素在全球范围的流动与重新配置。马克思、恩格斯毫不吝啬地盛赞资本主义生产力水平的提升及其推动世界市场形成的作用。同时要看到，在这一进程中，亚非拉等非西方世界并非单纯的被动接受者，而是以庞大的市场、丰富的资源成为全球分工体系的重要一环，不可逆转地被卷入并融入了波澜壮阔的世界现代化大潮之中。

Historically, Western modernization is only one mode of world modernization, rooted in specific conditions. Institutionally, Western modernization is modernization under the capitalist system, whose core driving force is the infinite multiplication and expansion of capital. While this mode released enormous productive forces at a specific historical stage, it inevitably brought about the alienation of human beings and the tearing apart of society. The logic of capital treats people as tools and means for the multiplication of capital, not as the purpose of social development, so that labor is no longer a creative activity but a forced drudgery for survival. This alienation leads to widespread spiritual emptiness, loss of meaning, and the expansion of materialism, running counter to the goal of modernization, which is the free and comprehensive development of human beings. The instinct of capital to maximize profit, if not effectively regulated and constrained, inevitably leads to severe polarization between rich and poor, erodes social fairness and justice, and further causes consequences such as the solidification of social classes and the proliferation of populism. Ethically, the history of Western modernization is full of bloody crimes such as war, slave trading, colonization, and plunder. This determines the unjust and non-inclusive nature of its modernization path, plunging the people of colonies and semi-colonies into misery. As the American scholar Wallerstein pointed out, the core, semi-periphery, and periphery regions of the capitalist world economic system are assigned different economic roles. The ruling groups in the core and semi-periphery regions, in order to maintain their own production and employment levels, sacrifice the periphery regions. It can be said that Western modernization was largely advanced at the cost of the long-term underdevelopment of regions outside the West, bringing deep suffering to the vast number of developing countries.

历史地看，西方现代化只是世界现代化的一种方式，根植于特定条件。从制度上看，西方现代化是资本主义制度下的现代化，核心驱动力是资本的无限增殖与扩张。这种方式尽管在特定历史阶段释放了巨大生产力，但也不可避免带来人的异化和社会的撕裂。资本逻辑把人当作资本增殖的工具和手段而非社会发展的目的，使得劳动不再是创造性活动而是劳动者被迫谋生的苦役，这种异化导致了普遍的精神空虚、意义丧失和物质主义膨胀，与人的自由全面发展这一现代化的目标背道而驰。资本追求利润最大化的本能，如果得不到有效规范和约束，必然导致严重的贫富分化，侵蚀社会公平正义，进一步引发社会阶层固化、民粹主义泛滥等后果。从伦理上看，西方现代化的历史充满战争、贩奴、殖民、掠夺等血腥罪恶。这决定了其现代化路径的非正义性与非普惠性，也使殖民地和半殖民地的国家和人民陷入悲惨境地。正如美国学者沃勒斯坦所指出的，资本主义世界经济体系的中心、半边缘和边缘地区分别被指派承担不同的经济角色，处于中心地区和半边缘地区的统治集团为了维持他们自己的生产和就业水平，将会以牺牲边缘地区为代价。可以说，西方现代化在很大程度上是以西方以外的国家和地区的长期欠发达为代价而得以推进的，这给广大发展中国家带来了深重苦难。

Chinese-path modernization has achieved a major transcendence over Western modernization theory and practice.

中国式现代化实现了对西方现代化理论和实践的重大超越

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Chinese-path modernization not only has the common characteristics of modernization in all countries but also has distinctive features based on its own national conditions." Modernization is not the "patent product" of a few countries, nor is it a "single-choice question" of either this or that; it cannot be simply a matter of uniformity or "copy and paste." History fully demonstrates that there is no template for achieving modernization that can be mechanically applied. For a country to move toward modernization, it must not only follow the general laws of modernization but also base itself on its own national conditions and have its own characteristics.

习近平总书记指出：“中国式现代化既有各国现代化的共同特征，更有基于自己国情的鲜明特色。”现代化不是少数国家的“专利品”，也不是非此即彼的“单选题”，不能搞简单的千篇一律、“复制粘贴”。历史充分表明，实现现代化没有模板可以套用。一个国家走向现代化，既要遵循现代化的一般规律，更要立足本国国情、具有本国特色。

The successful advancement and expansion of Chinese-path modernization has its inherent determinacy, rooted in deep historical soil. After the Opium War, China attempted to transplant Western technology, institutions, and even culture, but none succeeded. Instead, it fell into a state of national fragmentation and dire suffering. The heavy task of exploring the path of modernization historically fell on the Communist Party of China. Taking Marxism as its guiding ideology, supported by the spirit of independent exploration and the confidence and determination to take its own path, our Party continuously pushed China's modernization forward. After the founding of New China, our Party led the people to complete the industrialization process that took Western developed countries hundreds of years in just a few decades, successfully advancing and expanding Chinese-path modernization and creating a new form of human civilization. Chinese-path modernization demonstrates a broad historical depth and civilizational height, benefited from the nourishment of the excellent traditional Chinese culture of over 5,000 years. For example, the value pursuit of "the world is for all" (tian xia wei gong)[3]3 "The world is for all" (tian xia wei gong) is a Confucian ideal from the Book of Rites, advocating that the world belongs to all people and should be governed for the common good. drives Chinese-path modernization to avoid the pitfalls of polarization and extreme disparity between rich and poor. For another example, the cosmological view of "unity of heaven and man" (tian ren he yi)[4]4 "Unity of heaven and man" (tian ren he yi) is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept emphasizing the harmony and integration between nature and humanity. and the ecological concept of "Tao follows nature" (dao fa zi ran)[5]5 "Tao follows nature" (dao fa zi ran) is a principle from Daoism, meaning that the way of the universe is to follow its natural course. drive Chinese-path modernization to respect, adapt to, and protect nature, highlighting the distinctive feature of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

中国式现代化的成功推进和拓展有其内在规定性，植根于深厚的历史土壤。鸦片战争后，中国曾尝试移植西方的技术、制度乃至文化，但均未成功，反而陷入了家国破碎、水深火热的境地，探索现代化道路的重任历史地落到了中国共产党身上。我们党以马克思主义为指导思想，在独立自主的探索精神、坚持走自己的路的信心决心支撑下，不断把中国的现代化推向前进。新中国成立后，我们党带领人民用几十年时间走完了西方发达国家几百年走过的工业化历程，成功推进和拓展了中国式现代化，创造了人类文明新形态。中国式现代化展现出宏阔的历史纵深与文明高度，得益于中华民族5000多年优秀传统文化的滋养。比如，“天下为公”的价值追求，推动中国式现代化规避两极分化、贫富悬殊的陷阱；又如，“天人合一”的宇宙观和“道法自然”的生态理念，推动中国式现代化尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然，彰显人与自然和谐共生的鲜明特点。

Currently, more and more countries no longer blindly follow the Western modernization model but actively explore development paths that suit their own national conditions and conform to the laws of human social development. Chinese-path modernization contains a unique worldview, value system, view of history, view of civilization, view of democracy, view of ecology, etc., and has achieved remarkable results. It is regarded as a model for a latecomer country to catch up and successfully open up a new path of modernization, achieving a major transcendence over Western modernization theory and practice. Here we list a few aspects.

当前，越来越多的国家不再盲目追随西方现代化模式，而是积极探索符合本国国情、符合人类社会发展规律的发展道路。中国式现代化蕴含独特世界观、价值观、历史观、文明观、民主观、生态观等，已经取得显著成就，被视为一个后发国家奋力追赶并成功开辟现代化新道路的典范，实现了对西方现代化理论和实践的重大超越，这里列举几个方面。

People-centeredness transcends capital-centeredness. Western modernization is centered on capital. Under the dominance of the logic of capital, Western modernization promotes instrumental rationality, and the subjective value of human beings is constantly dissolved or even emptied, which also inevitably leads to multiple dilemmas such as social tearing and governance failure. Chinese-path modernization respects the subjectivity of human beings, highlights the value of human beings, regards people as the fundamental purpose of development, adheres to the people-centered development thought, strives to develop and improve people's livelihood in development, solves the urgent and difficult problems of the people, and guides capital to serve socialist modernization and the all-round development of human beings, so that the fruits of modernization benefit all the people more and more fairly.

以人民至上超越资本至上。西方现代化以资本为中心。在资本逻辑主导下，西方现代化推崇工具理性，人的主体价值被不断消解甚至抽空，这也使西方现代化不可避免地陷入社会撕裂、治理失灵等多重困境。中国式现代化尊重人的主体性、彰显人的价值，将人视为发展的根本目的，坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，着力在发展中保障和改善民生，解决人民群众急难愁盼问题，并引导资本服务于社会主义现代化建设和人的全面发展，让现代化建设成果更多更公平地惠及全体人民。

Harmonious coexistence and symbiosis transcend harming others for self-interest. Western modernization is embedded with binary opposition thinking and is keen on zero-sum games. From plunder based on violent conquest to harvesting based on the hegemonic system, from unbridled extraction of natural resources to destructive exploitation of the ecological environment, Western modernization is permeated with various tangible and intangible plunders, bringing the interests of a few countries overriding those of the majority, widening the global gap between rich and poor, and also triggering an imbalance between material and spiritual aspects, the opposition between humanity and nature, and widespread social disorder. Chinese-path modernization promotes mutual assistance, harmonious coexistence and symbiosis (he he gong sheng)[6]6 "Harmonious coexistence and symbiosis" (he he gong sheng) is a concept in Chinese culture promoting peace, harmony, and mutual benefit among different parties., emphasizes sustainable development, adheres to the civilized development path of production development, affluent life, and sound ecology, and continuously expands the breadth and depth of peaceful development and win-win cooperation.

以和合共生超越损人利己。西方现代化内嵌二元对立思维，热衷零和博弈。从基于暴力征服的劫掠到基于霸权体系的收割，从对自然资源的无节制索取到对生态环境的破坏性开发，西方现代化贯穿着种种有形和无形的掠夺，带来的是少数国家的利益凌驾于多数国家之上、全球贫富差距拉大，同时也引发了物质与精神的失衡、人与自然的对立以及广泛的社会失序。中国式现代化推崇和衷共济、和合共生，注重可持续发展，坚持走生产发展、生活富裕、生态良好的文明发展道路，不断拓展和平发展、合作共赢的广度和深度。

Openness and inclusiveness transcend systemic monopoly. To maintain the pattern of monopoly for its own interests, Western modernization has created and promoted a dependent, closed monopoly system in practice, attempting to fix and even perpetuate this interest-monopoly structure. Chinese-path modernization, on the other hand, views the world with an open, inclusive, and shared future sentiment, and works together with all countries, including developing countries, to achieve modernization. For example, China takes the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative as an important platform, focuses on promoting an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and promotes mutually beneficial cooperation and common development among countries.

以开放包容超越系统垄断。为了维护自身利益垄断的格局，西方现代化在实践中塑造并推广了一个依附、封闭的垄断系统，企图将这种利益垄断结构固定化乃至永久化。中国式现代化则以开放包容、命运与共的天下情怀观照世界，同包括广大发展中国家在内的世界各国一道实现现代化。比如，中国以高质量共建“一带一路”为重要平台，着眼推进平等有序的世界多极化、普惠包容的经济全球化，促进各国互利合作、实现共同发展。

Chinese-path modernization has a profound impact on the process of world modernization.

中国式现代化对世界现代化进程产生深远影响

The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation unfolds in the tide of world modernization, pursuing not only the prosperity and strength of the country itself but also the development and progress of human civilization. The new form of human civilization created by Chinese-path modernization not only realizes the continuation, iteration, and innovation of its own civilization form but also explores the universal laws of the rejuvenation of human civilization, especially the civilization of developing countries and late-developing modernization countries, in multiple dimensions, carrying broad and profound world significance.

中华民族伟大复兴是在世界现代化大潮中展开的，追求的不仅是本国的繁荣富强，更是人类文明的发展进步。中国式现代化开创的人类文明新形态，不仅实现了自身文明形态的延续、迭代与创新，也在多个维度上探寻人类文明尤其是发展中国家和后发现代化国家文明复兴的普遍规律，具有广泛而深远的世界意义。

It has broken the myth of the Western modernization model and confirmed the diversity of modernization paths. For a long time, the Western world, by continuously imposing its so-called "civilization and enlightenment" on the non-Western world, has firmly controlled the power of interpretation, measurement, and discourse over "civilization." Western modernization theory is often based on the presupposition of Eurocentrism, leading to systematic cognitive biases and practical errors. How different regions, nations, countries, and civilizations achieve development and evolution under their specific conditions is a nonlinear, non-equilibrium specific historical process. The successful practice of Chinese-path modernization declares the bankruptcy of the unilinear view of history that all countries will eventually converge on the Western institutional model. In this sense, Chinese-path modernization has not only profoundly changed China itself but also rewritten the modernization narrative long dominated by the West, proving that true modernization is not a self-centered myth but a manifestation of the diversity of development; not a forced export of a single model but an independent choice of multiple paths; not the so-called "end of history" but the common progress of human civilization facing the future.

打破了西方现代化模式的神话，证实了现代化道路的多样性。长期以来，西方世界通过持续向非西方世界施加其所谓的“文明开化”，牢牢控制对“文明”的解释权、裁量权和话语权，西方现代化理论往往基于西方中心主义的预设，从而导向了系统性的认知偏见和实践误差。不同的区域、民族、国家和文明如何在自身所处的特定条件下实现发展和演进，是一个非线性、非均衡的具体历史过程。中国式现代化的成功实践，宣告了那种认为世界各国终将归于西方制度模式的单线式历史观的破产。从这个意义上看，中国式现代化不仅深刻改变了中国自身，也改写了长期以来由西方主导的现代化叙事，证明了真正的现代化不是唯我独尊式的神话，而是发展多样性的彰显；不是单一模式的强行输出，而是多元道路的自主选择；不是所谓的“历史终结”，而是人类文明面向未来的共同进步。

It provides a development philosophy and governance approach different from Western modernization. For many nations, under the current international environment, obtaining a reasonable position in the world system through imitation of Western modernization faces heavy oppression and obstacles. The new path of modernization taken by Chinese-path modernization can precisely provide a useful way to break through. Chinese-path modernization adheres to the independent development path, relying on a strong political core to ensure the long-term stability and consistent implementation of the national development strategy, firmly grasping the initiative in development. Chinese-path modernization has achieved continuous correction of development goals, from the comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty[7]7 The "battle against poverty" (tuopin gongjian zhan) refers to the CPC-led campaign to eliminate absolute poverty in China, declared victorious in 2021. to solidly advancing common prosperity in high-quality development, reflecting the people-centered development thought. Chinese-path modernization provides a richer governance approach, such as the socialist market economy system promoting better integration of an effective market and a competent government, breaking the binary opposition between "market fundamentalism" and "government intervention theory" and the mindset of "either market or government."

提供了不同于西方现代化的发展哲学和治理思路。对于许多民族而言，在当前国际环境下，通过模仿西方现代化获取在世界体系中的合理位置，面临重重压迫和阻碍。中国式现代化走出的现代化新路，恰恰能够提供有益的破解之道。中国式现代化坚持走独立自主的发展道路，凭借强有力的政治核心，确保了国家发展战略的长期稳定与连贯执行，牢牢掌握发展的主动权。中国式现代化实现了对发展目标的持续校正，从脱贫攻坚战取得全面胜利到在高质量发展中扎实推进共同富裕，体现了坚持以人民为中心的发展思想。中国式现代化提供了更为丰富的治理思路，比如，社会主义市场经济体制推动有效市场和有为政府更好结合，打破了“市场原教旨主义”与“政府干预理论”二元对立和“市场与政府非此即彼”的思维定式。

It reshapes the world modernization pattern and advances the process of human modernization. On the one hand, Chinese-path modernization will greatly change the world map of modernization. The entire population of over 1.4 billion entering modernization can profoundly change the balance of power and pattern of world modernization, effectively breaking the world map of modernization framed by some Western countries with a Eurocentric worldview, and is of great significance for solving the difficult problems of human social development and advancing the process of human modernization. On the other hand, the continuous advancement of Chinese-path modernization, in the process of contributing momentum and opportunities to global development, expands the development space of world modernization. China deepens exchanges and cooperation with countries around the world, promotes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, creates conditions for countries to board China's express train of development and share development opportunities, provides important opportunities for Global South[8]8 "Global South" generally refers to developing countries and regions, primarily in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, often with a history of colonialism and underdevelopment. countries to break through development bottlenecks and enhance their voice in global affairs, and will push all countries to move forward hand in hand in the process of world modernization, reaching a new height of human civilization.

重塑世界现代化格局，推进人类现代化进程。一方面，中国式现代化将极大改变现代化的世界版图。14亿多人口整体迈入现代化，能够深刻改变世界现代化的力量对比和格局，将有效破除一些西方国家试图以西方中心主义的世界观框定的现代化世界版图，对破解人类社会发展难题、推进人类现代化进程具有重要意义。另一方面，中国式现代化的接续推进，在为全球发展贡献动能和机遇的过程中拓展了世界现代化的发展空间。中国与世界各国深化交流合作，推动构建人类命运共同体，为各国搭乘中国发展快车、共享发展机遇创造了条件，为全球南方国家突破发展瓶颈、增强在全球事务中的话语权提供了重要机遇，将推动各国在世界现代化进程中携手共进，达到人类文明的新高度。

(The author is the Dean of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Chinese-path Modernization)

（作者为中国社会科学院中国式现代化研究院院长）