The Historical Contributions of the Communist Party of China to Enriching and Developing Scientific Socialism

The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, in summarizing the great transformations of the New Era over the past decade, points out that “reform and opening up and socialist modernization have been advanced in depth, writing a new chapter in the two miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability” and that “scientific socialism is radiating new vitality in twenty-first-century China.” [1]1 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. The “two miracles” refer to rapid economic growth and long-term social stability. The Communist Party of China has become the mainstay of the international communist movement in the twenty-first century and the most outstanding Marxist political party in enriching and developing scientific socialism. Reviewing the course of socialist development, the transformation of socialism from utopian to scientific provided a scientific explanation of the laws governing the development of human society and offered the world’s proletariat a scientific theoretical guide in its quest for self-emancipation. Guided by scientific socialism and integrating it with their specific national conditions, Marxist political parties in various countries led their peoples in revolutionary movements, achieving successive victories from one country to many countries, and successful explorations from one model of socialist development to multiple models. In this process, the communist movements in various countries have also greatly enriched and developed the doctrine of scientific socialism. As a Marxist political party, the Communist Party of China, over more than a century, has adhered to integrating theory with practice, seeking truth from facts, and creatively applying Marxism. In the historical processes of revolution, construction, and reform, it has made many original historical contributions and achieved major historical accomplishments in enriching scientific socialist theory, advancing the scientific socialist movement, and innovating the scientific socialist system.

党的二十大报告在总结新时代十年伟大变革时指出，“改革开放和社会主义现代化建设深入推进，书写了经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹新篇章”“科学社会主义在二十一世纪的中国焕发出新的蓬勃生机”1。中国共产党已经成为21世纪国际共产主义运动的中流砥柱，成为丰富和发展科学社会主义最为卓越的马克思主义政党。回顾社会主义的发展历程，社会主义从空想到科学的转变，对人类社会历史的发展规律作出了科学的解释，给世界无产阶级寻求自身解放提供了科学理论指南。世界各国马克思主义政党以科学社会主义为指导，结合本国具体国情，领导本国人民开展革命运动，先后取得了从一国的胜利到多国的胜利，从社会主义发展的一种模式到多种模式的成功探索。在这一过程中，各国的共产主义运动也极大地丰富和发展了科学社会主义学说。中国共产党作为马克思主义政党，一百多年来，坚持理论联系实际，实事求是，创造性地运用马克思主义，在革命、建设和改革的历史进程中，在丰富科学社会主义理论、推进科学社会主义运动和创新科学社会主义制度等方面，都作出了许多原创性历史贡献，取得了重大历史成就。

The Main Historical Contributions of the Communist Party of China to the Theoretical Development of Scientific Socialism

中国共产党对科学社会主义理论发展的主要历史贡献

The fundamental reason why the Communist Party of China possesses strong vitality and has always maintained the true character of an advanced party lies in its ability both to adhere to the basic principles of scientific socialism and, in practice, to innovate scientific socialist theory in accordance with changes in the conditions of the times, so that scientific socialism always retains a vibrant vitality and strong appeal in China.

中国共产党之所以具有强大的生命力，并始终保持先进政党的本色，根本原因在于既能坚守科学社会主义基本原理，又能在实践中根据时代条件的变化，创新科学社会主义理论，使科学社会主义在中国始终具有鲜活的生命力和强大的吸引力。

First, on the path to seizing political power, it creatively put forward the theory of new-democratic revolution, enriching the theory of the path for the proletariat in semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries to strive for its own emancipation.

第一，在夺取政权道路上，创造性提出新民主主义革命理论，丰富了世界半殖民地半封建国家无产阶级争取自身解放的道路理论。

How to carry out a communist movement in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country? Marx and Engels provided no specific guidance. Although the victory of the October Revolution led by Lenin in Russia greatly inspired and enlightened China, could the Chinese revolution succeed simply by copying the path and experience of the October Revolution? On this question, there were indeed different understandings within the CPC in its early days. From a Marxist perspective, “copying” the revolutionary experience of another country could not possibly succeed. Engels once seriously pointed out: “Marx’s whole conception of the world is not a doctrine, but a method. It provides not ready-made dogmas, but points of departure for further research and the method for this research.” [2]2 This quotation is from Engels’s 1895 letter to Werner Sombart, often cited to emphasize the methodological rather than dogmatic character of Marxism. After a series of setbacks and ideological struggles, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, overcame the opportunism and dogmatism that existed within the Party, broke free from the constraints of the path and experience of the Russian October Revolution, and, based on China’s concrete reality, creatively proposed the revolutionary path of encircling the cities from the countryside and finally seizing political power by armed force, gradually forming the theory of new-democratic revolution.

如何在半殖民地半封建国家开展共产主义运动，马克思和恩格斯没有提供具体的指导，列宁领导的俄国十月革命胜利虽然给中国以巨大鼓舞和启示，但是，中国革命是不是照搬十月革命的道路和经验，就一定能够取得成功？对于这一问题，中共在成立初期的确有不同认识。依马克思主义观之，“照搬照抄”别国革命的经验是不可能成功的。恩格斯曾严肃地指出：“马克思的整个世界观不是教义，而是方法。它提供的不是现成的教条，而是进一步研究的出发点和供这种研究使用的方法。”2在经历一系列挫折和思想斗争之后，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人克服了党内存在的机会主义和教条主义，摆脱了俄国十月革命道路及经验的束缚，根据中国具体实际，创造性提出农村包围城市最后武装夺取全国政权的革命道路，并逐步形成了新民主主义革命理论。

The creativity of this revolutionary theory was not only manifested in guiding the Chinese revolution toward the countryside, but also in its creative discovery of the peasant class as a revolutionary motive force; that is, the Chinese revolution required not only the participation and leadership of a Marxist political party, but also the full mobilization of the broad masses of peasants. The CPC’s understanding of the revolutionary dynamism of the peasantry holds important innovative significance in the history of the international communist movement. In the era of Marx and Engels, due to the limitations of the times and national conditions, their understanding of the revolutionary nature of the peasant class had certain limitations. They believed that even if this class could be regarded as a class, it “is formed by simple addition of homologous magnitudes, much as potatoes in a sack form a sack of potatoes.” “They cannot represent themselves; they must be represented.” [3]3 This is a paraphrase of Marx’s famous description of the French peasantry in *The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte* (1852). Although Lenin had some new understanding of the revolutionary nature of the peasantry, the Russian October Revolution was still a revolution mainly composed of workers and soldiers. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, recognized that China was different from Russia. Although the nascent proletariat was the most revolutionary, it was small in number and limited in strength. China was a large agricultural country, and the vast majority of the population were peasants. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out in “The National Revolution and the Peasant Movement”: “The peasant problem is the central problem of the national revolution. If the peasants do not rise up and participate in and support the national revolution, the national revolution will not succeed; if the peasant movement is not carried out quickly, the peasant problem will not be solved; if the peasant problem is not properly resolved in the current revolutionary movement, the peasants will not support this revolution.” [4]4 Mao Zedong, “The National Revolution and the Peasant Movement” (1926), an early text in which Mao argues for the centrality of the peasantry to the Chinese revolution. Comrade Mao Zedong grasped the key to the Chinese revolution. He not only explored a successful path in the revolutionary road, but also gradually formed the theory of new-democratic revolution, which relied closely on the extensive participation of workers and peasants, and finally achieved the complete victory of the new-democratic revolution. This greatly enriched the Marxist theory of the path for the proletarian revolution in backward countries.

这一革命理论的创造性不仅表现在引领中国革命向农村进发，而且还表现在它对农民阶级这一革命动力的创造性的发现，即中国革命不仅要有马克思主义政党的参加和领导，而且还要充分动员广大农民参加。中国共产党对农民革命动力性的认识，在国际共产主义运动史上具有重要的创新意义。在马克思、恩格斯生活的时代，由于时代和国情的限制，他们对于农民阶级革命性的认识具有一定的局限性，认为这个阶级即使可以被当作一个阶级，他们也“是由一些同名数简单相加而形成的，就像一袋马铃薯是由袋中的一个个马铃薯汇集而成的那样。”“他们不能代表自己，一定要别人来代表他们。”虽然列宁对于农民的革命性曾有一些新的认识，但俄国十月革命仍是以工人和士兵为主体的革命。以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人认识到，中国与俄国不同，新兴的无产阶级虽然是最革命的，但是人数少，力量有限，中国是一个农业大国，占人口最大多数的是农民。毛泽东同志在《国民革命与农民运动》中指出：“农民问题乃国民革命的中心问题，农民不起来参加并拥护国民革命，国民革命不会成功；农民运动不赶速地做起来，农民问题不会解决；农民问题不在现在的革命运动中得到相当的解决，农民不会拥护这个革命。”毛泽东同志抓住了中国革命问题的关键，不仅在革命道路上探索出一条成功之路，而且逐渐形成了紧紧依靠工人和农民广泛参加的新民主主义革命理论，最后夺取了新民主主义革命的彻底胜利。大大丰富了马克思主义关于落后国家进行无产阶级革命的道路。

Second, in terms of the form of socialist development, it proposed the theory of building a new-democratic society, gradually transitioning to socialism, and establishing the primary stage of socialism, expanding the content of scientific socialism concerning the stages of social development.

第二，在社会主义发展形态上，提出建设新民主主义社会、逐步向社会主义过渡并确立社会主义初级阶段的理论，拓展了科学社会主义关于社会发展阶段的内容。

The theory of the form of socialist development is an important component of scientific socialism. Correctly understanding the historical stage in which socialist revolution and construction are situated is the basic prerequisite for formulating correct lines and policies. Due to the limitations of the times and social conditions, Marx and Engels only made some principled assumptions about the stages of socialist development. In the *Critique of the Gotha Programme*, Marx divided communism into two stages, namely the first stage and the higher stage of communist society, but did not describe in detail the development process of each stage. In *The State and Revolution*, Lenin explicitly called the “first stage of communist society” “socialist society” and divided the social development after the proletariat seizes political power into three stages: the transition from capitalism to communism, socialist society, and communist society. In addition, Lenin also used concepts such as “socialism in its primary form,” “developed socialism,” and “socialism in its complete form,” but he did not elaborate in detail on the issue of the stages of development of socialist society itself.

社会主义发展形态理论，是科学社会主义的重要内容。正确认识社会主义革命和建设所处的历史阶段，是制定正确的路线和政策的基本前提。由于时代和社会条件的限制，马克思、恩格斯对社会主义的发展阶段仅作了一些原则性的假设。在《哥达纲领批判》中，马克思将共产主义划分为两个阶段，即共产主义社会的第一阶段和高级阶段，但并未详细描述两个阶段各自的发展过程。列宁在《国家与革命》中明确把“共产主义社会第一阶段”称之为“社会主义社会”，并将无产阶级夺取政权后的社会发展划分为从资本主义向共产主义的过渡、社会主义社会、共产主义社会三个阶段。另外，列宁还使用过“初级形式的社会主义”“发达的社会主义”“完备形式的社会主义”等概念，但其对社会主义社会自身的发展阶段问题也未进行详细的阐释。

During the period of the democratic revolution, the Communist Party of China, based on the nature and characteristics of Chinese society and the Chinese revolution, put forward the “theory of new-democratic society,” holding that the first goal of the revolution was to establish a new-democratic society, and carried out preliminary explorations in the anti-Japanese base areas. From the end of 1939 to the beginning of 1940, Comrade Mao Zedong successively published important works such as “Introducing *The Communist*,” “The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party,” and “On New Democracy,” creatively putting forward the new-democratic theory. “The so-called new-democratic revolution is a revolution of the broad masses of the people under the leadership of the proletariat against imperialism and feudalism.” [5]5 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (1940), the foundational text of the new-democratic revolution theory. He elaborated in detail on the economic, political, and cultural programs of the new-democratic society, pointing out that the leadership of the proletariat was the fundamental sign distinguishing the new-democratic revolution from the old-democratic revolution, and that the future of the new-democratic society was necessarily socialist society, not capitalist society. The theory of the new-democratic society and its future greatly enriched Marx’s theoretical doctrine on scientific socialist revolution.

在民主革命时期，中国共产党根据中国社会和中国革命的性质和特征，提出“新民主主义社会论”，认为革命的第一目标是建立新民主主义社会，并在抗日根据地进行初步探索。1939年底至1940年初，毛泽东同志先后发表《〈共产党人〉发刊词》《中国革命和中国共产党》和《新民主主义论》等重要著作，创造性地提出新民主主义理论，“所谓新民主主义的革命，就是在无产阶级领导之下的人民大众的反帝反封建的革命”，详细阐述了新民主主义社会的经济、政治和文化纲领，指出无产阶级领导是新民主主义革命区别于旧民主主义革命的根本标志，新民主主义社会的前途必然是社会主义社会，而不是资本主义。新民主主义社会及其前途理论极大地丰富了马克思关于科学社会主义革命的理论学说。

After the founding of New China, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, based on the rapidly developing social reality after the founding of New China, promptly proposed the transition from a new-democratic society to a socialist society. Through socialist transformation, China established the socialist system. This theory and practice greatly developed the theory of scientific socialism concerning the stages of socialist development.

新中国成立后，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人根据新中国成立后迅速发展的社会实际，及时提出由新民主主义社会向社会主义社会过渡，经过社会主义改造，中国建立起社会主义制度。这一理论和实践大大发展了科学社会主义关于社会主义发展阶段的理论。

The establishment of the socialist system greatly inspired the enthusiasm and energy of the Chinese people in building a better society, and China’s socialist construction developed rapidly. However, due to the influence of the Soviet Union’s understanding of the socialist stage at that time and domestic “leftist” ideological influences, the subjective will to realize communism was excessively exaggerated, and the historical stage in which Chinese socialism was situated was blindly elevated, leading to serious consequences. After the “Cultural Revolution” ended, the Party profoundly summarized the historical experiences and lessons of socialist construction since the founding of New China, proceeded from the concrete realities of China’s socialist construction, and made the scientific judgment that “our socialist system is still in the primary stage,” while emphasizing that “our socialist system’s transition from relatively incomplete to relatively complete will inevitably require a long process.” [6]6 “Our socialist system is still in the primary stage” and “our socialist system’s transition from relatively incomplete to relatively complete will inevitably require a long process” are quotations from the “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China” adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC in 1981. The 13th National Congress of the CPC systematically elaborated the “theory of the primary stage of socialism” and formulated the “three-step” strategy for reaching the middle of the 21st century. This was a major breakthrough in previous theories of the stages of socialist development, enabling the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics to maintain rapid yet stable development. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Communist Party of China, based on changes in the principal contradiction in contemporary Chinese society, has clearly pointed out that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era. This major judgment further expanded the understanding of the basic characteristics of the primary stage of socialism, reflected the Communist Party of China’s profound grasp of the law of stepwise progressive development within the primary stage of socialism, and realized the innovative development of the scientific socialist theory of the stages of socialism.

社会主义制度的建立极大地鼓舞了中国人民建设美好社会的干劲和热情，中国社会主义建设快速发展。但由于受当时苏联对社会主义阶段的认识和国内“左”的思想影响，实现共产主义的主观意志被过分夸大，盲目拔高了中国社会主义所处的历史阶段，从而导致严重后果。“文革”结束后，党深刻总结新中国成立以来社会主义建设的历史经验和教训，从中国社会主义建设的具体实际出发，作出“我们的社会主义制度还是处于初级的阶段”的科学判断，而且强调“我们的社会主义制度由比较不完善到比较完善，必然要经历一个长久的过程”3。党的十三大系统阐述了“社会主义初级阶段理论”，并制定到21世纪中叶“三步走”战略，这是对以往社会主义发展阶段理论的重大突破，使中国特色社会主义建设始终保持快速而稳定的发展。党的十八大以来，中国共产党根据当代中国社会主要矛盾的变化，明确指出中国特色社会主义进入了新时代，这一重大判断进一步拓展了对社会主义初级阶段基本特征的认识，体现出中国共产党对社会主义初级阶段阶梯式递进发展规律的深刻认识，实现了对科学社会主义的社会主义阶段学说的创新发展。

Third, in the theory of the essence of socialism, it has greatly deepened Marx and Engels’ understanding of the essence of scientific socialism.

第三，在社会主义本质理论上，大大深化了马克思、恩格斯关于科学社会主义本质的认识。

“How to understand socialism” is a question that must be answered first in the practice of the contemporary international communist movement. The Communist Party of China’s answer to the essence of socialism has made a major contribution to the theory of scientific socialism.

“如何理解社会主义”是当代国际共产主义运动实践中必须首要回答的问题。中国共产党对社会主义本质的回答，对科学社会主义理论作出了重大贡献。

Although Marx and Engels never explicitly used the concept of the “essence of socialism,” it can be seen from their conception of the basic characteristics of “the first phase of communist society” that “the free and comprehensive development of the individual” is the ultimate value orientation of future society. At the same time, Marx and Engels’ discussions on developing productive forces, abolishing private ownership of the means of production, and eliminating class antagonisms and class distinctions also clarified the basic conditions for realizing “the first phase of communist society.” Lenin, in the practice of socialist construction in Russia, gradually developed a new understanding of socialism. However, because Lenin died prematurely, the socialism he conceived was never realized. Stalin one-sidedly regarded the basic features of socialism as the essence of socialism, leading the Soviet Union and many socialist countries, including China, to develop a mistaken understanding of socialism. For a long time, they failed to effectively distinguish between the features of socialism and the essence of socialism, and even formed the mistaken view that the “Stalin model” was equivalent to “socialism,” which seriously affected the innovation and practice of scientific socialism in socialist countries.

马克思、恩格斯虽然没有明确使用过“社会主义本质”的概念，但从他们对“共产主义社会的第一阶段”的基本特征提出的构想中可以看出，“实现人的自由全面发展”是未来社会的最终价值指向。同时，马克思、恩格斯关于发展生产力、消灭生产资料私有制、消灭阶级对立与阶级差别的论述，也阐明了实现“共产主义社会的第一阶段”的基本条件。列宁在俄国社会主义建设实践中，逐渐产生对社会主义新认识，然而，由于列宁过早去世，其构想的社会主义并未实现。斯大林片面地把社会主义的基本特征认作是社会主义的本质，导致苏联和包括中国在内的许多社会主义国家，对社会主义产生错误认识，长期没有将社会主义特征与社会主义本质有效地区别开来，甚至形成“斯大林模式”等同于“社会主义”的错误认识，严重影响了社会主义国家对科学社会主义的创新与实践。

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as their main representative, comprehensively summarized historical experiences and lessons and continuously deepened their thinking on socialism. In 1992, Comrade Deng Xiaoping clearly pointed out that the essence of socialism is “to liberate and develop productive forces, eliminate exploitation and polarization, and ultimately achieve common prosperity.” [7]7 This is a quotation from Deng Xiaoping’s “Excerpts from Talks in Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shanghai” (January 18–February 21, 1992), published in *Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping*, Vol. 3. This discussion greatly broke through the constraints of traditional socialist concepts and elevated the understanding of the theory of the essence of socialism to a new height. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as their main representative, have continued to uphold this view of the essence of socialism and emphasized that “the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China,” [8]8 This is a quotation from Xi Jinping’s report to the which has greatly deepened the understanding of the essence and features of socialism and further enriched people’s fundamental understanding of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

党的十一届三中全会后，以邓小平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人全面总结历史经验与教训，不断深化对社会主义的思考。1992年，邓小平同志明确指出，社会主义的本质就是“解放生产力，发展生产力，消灭剥削，消除两极分化，最终达到共同富裕。”4这一论述，大大突破了传统社会主义观念的束缚，把对社会主义本质理论认识推到了一个新高度。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人继续坚持这一社会主义本质观，并强调“中国特色社会主义最本质的特征是中国共产党领导”5，大大加深了对社会主义本质和特征的认识，进一步丰富了人们对于中国特色社会主义的根本认识。

Fourth, in the ultimate goal of realizing the free and comprehensive development of the individual, Chinese-path modernization has greatly expanded the developmental connotation of scientific socialism.

第四，在实现人的自由全面发展最终目标上，中国式现代化大大拓展了科学社会主义的发展内涵。

Chinese-path modernization is the product of combining the basic principles of scientific socialism with China’s national conditions, providing a completely new choice for the development of world modernization. The Communist Party of China’s theoretical and practical innovations in Chinese-path modernization are a unique contribution to scientific socialism.

中国式现代化是科学社会主义基本原则与中国国情相结合的产物，为世界现代化发展提供了一个全新的选择。中国共产党对中国式现代化的理论与实践创新，是对科学社会主义的独特贡献。

The modernization movement initially originated in the capitalist mode of production, and later gradually formed the “capitalist model” of modernization. Marx and Engels saw the inherent and insurmountable structural contradictions of capitalist modernization and believed that it would inevitably fail. After the establishment of the Soviet Union, it began to explore socialist modernization. However, due to ideological rigidity under Stalin’s leadership and a lack of scientific understanding and planning regarding the goals, paths, steps, and driving forces of modernization, serious problems emerged in modernization construction. These problems became deeply entrenched and difficult to reverse, ultimately leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of its modernization model.

现代化运动最初发端于资本主义生产方式，后逐渐形成了现代化的“资本主义模式”。马克思、恩格斯看到了资本主义现代化内在的无法克服的结构性矛盾，认为其必然会走向失败。苏联成立后开始探索社会主义现代化建设，但由于在斯大林领导下思想僵化，对现代化的目标、路径、步骤、动力等缺乏科学的认识和规划，现代化建设出现了严重问题，并且积重难返，最终导致苏联解体，其现代化模式也随之终结。

After New China completed socialist transformation, the Party began to lead the Chinese people on the path of exploring socialist modernization. Because the understanding of socialism was initially unclear, the Soviet model was imitated in practice, causing China’s modernization construction to achieve great successes while also encountering many problems. After the “Cultural Revolution” ended, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as their main representative, comprehensively summarized the experiences and lessons of past socialist construction. Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out: “Now, in carrying out construction, we must also suit China’s conditions and blaze a Chinese-style path of modernization”; “Chinese-style modernization must proceed from China’s characteristics.” [9]9 Engels, “Principles of Communism” (1847). The quotation is from Section 16, where Engels outlines the measures the proletariat will take after seizing power. Over more than forty years of reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people, on the basis of absorbing and drawing on the successful experiences of previous modernization development, to proceed from their own national realities, continuously engage in theoretical and practical innovation, and explore and form a completely new path of modernization. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC pointed out: “Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China. It contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context.” Its features are “modernization of a huge population,” “modernization of common prosperity for all,” “modernization of material and cultural-ethical progress in harmony,” “modernization of harmony between humanity and nature,” and “modernization of peaceful development.” Its essential requirements are: “upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China and socialism with Chinese characteristics, pursuing high-quality development, developing whole-process people’s democracy, enriching the people’s cultural life, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmony between humanity and nature, building a community with a shared future for mankind, and creating a new form of human advancement.” [10]10 Deng Xiaoping, “Remarks on the Reform of the Leadership System of the Party and the State” (August 18, 1980). This speech was a key document in the early reform era, criticizing the over-centralization of power inherited from the Soviet model.

新中国在完成社会主义改造后，党开始领导中国人民走上社会主义现代化建设探索之路。由于一开始对社会主义认识不清楚，在实践上模仿了苏联模式，使得我国的现代化建设在取得巨大成就的同时，也出现了很多问题。“文革”结束后，以邓小平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人全面总结过去社会主义建设的经验和教训。邓小平同志指出：“现在搞建设，也要适合中国情况，走出一条中国式的现代化道路”“中国式的现代化，必须从中国的特点出发。”6改革开放四十多年来，中国共产党领导中国人民在吸收借鉴既往现代化发展成功经验的基础上，立足本国实际，不断进行理论和实践创新，探索形成了一条崭新的现代化道路。党的二十大报告指出：“中国式现代化，是中国共产党领导的社会主义现代化，既有各国现代化的共同特征，更有基于自己国情的中国特色。”其特色就是“人口规模巨大的现代化”“全体人民共同富裕的现代化”“物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化”“人与自然和谐共生的现代化”“走和平发展道路的现代化”，其本质要求是：“坚持中国共产党领导，坚持中国特色社会主义，实现高质量发展，发展全过程人民民主，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，推动构建人类命运共同体，创造人类文明新形态。”7

Modernization is the common cause of all humanity, and the people of all countries have the right to choose their own path of modernization. The Communist Party of China’s exploration of the path of Chinese-path modernization has broken through the “axiom binding” long created by Western countries that “modernization equals Western modernization,” providing a successful case for the vast number of developing countries to break free from the shackles of Western modernity logic and independently explore their own paths of modernization. Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics. Its successful exploration in China has greatly activated the vitality and dynamism of the world socialist movement. It declares to the world that the so-called “end of history,” which claims that history will end with capitalism, has itself come to an end. The Communist Party of China’s theoretical and practical innovations in Chinese-path modernization have greatly expanded the connotation of scientific socialism regarding socialist development, and have further broadened the path forward in the pursuit of the goal of realizing the free and comprehensive development of every individual.

现代化是全人类的共同事业，世界各国人民有权利选择自己的现代化道路。中国共产党对中国式现代化道路的探索，冲破了西方国家长期以来制造的“现代化就是西方现代化”的“公理捆绑”，给广大发展中国家摆脱西方现代性逻辑的束缚，独立自主地探索现代化道路，提供了成功的案例。中国式现代化是中国特色的社会主义现代化，它在中国的成功探索大大激活了世界社会主义运动的生机和活力，它向世界宣告所谓的历史将终结于资本主义的“历史终结论”已经终结。中国共产党对中国式现代化的理论与实践的创新，大大拓展了科学社会主义关于社会主义发展的内涵，在追求实现每个人的自由而全面发展的目标上，进一步拓宽了前进道路。

In the ten years of the New Era, Chinese-path modernization has achieved continuous innovation and breakthroughs in both theory and practice. The practical exploration of national governance under socialism with Chinese characteristics has greatly promoted the transformation of the socialist state governance model from “traditional” to “modern,” demonstrating the powerful vitality of scientific socialism. At the same time, it has advanced the modernization development of the scientific socialist movement, enabling the practical movement of scientific socialism to reach a new realm and exhibit a more vibrant and dynamic developmental pattern.

新时代十年，中国式现代化在理论和实践上不断创新突破，中国特色社会主义国家治理的实践探索，大大推动了社会主义国家治理模式从“传统”向“现代”的转型，彰显了科学社会主义的强大生命力，同时也推进了科学社会主义运动的现代化发展，使科学社会主义实践运动迈向新境界，展现出更具生机与活力的发展样态。

The Main Historical Contributions of the Communist Party of China to Advancing the Practice of Scientific Socialism

中国共产党对推进科学社会主义实践的主要历史贡献

In the history of the international communist movement, the victory of the New Democratic Revolution led by the Communist Party of China was another great victory for the scientific socialist movement after the victory of the October Revolution in Russia. It opened a new stage for backward countries and regions that were colonies or semi-colonies to achieve national independence and transition to socialism, and fundamentally changed the balance of power between the world socialist and capitalist camps. After the founding of New China, the Communist Party of China adhered to the integration of the basic principles of scientific socialism with China’s specific realities, continuously carried out great practical explorations in socialist construction and reform, promoted the transformation and development of socialism from one model to multiple models and from “traditional” to “modern,” and greatly enriched and developed the practical movement of scientific socialism.

在国际共产主义运动史上，中国共产党领导的新民主主义革命胜利，是继俄国十月革命胜利后，科学社会主义运动的又一次巨大胜利。它开辟了世界殖民地半殖民地落后国家和地区实现民族独立和向社会主义过渡的新阶段，彻底改变了世界社会主义与资本主义阵营的力量对比。新中国成立后，中国共产党坚持科学社会主义基本原则与中国具体实际结合，不断进行社会主义建设和改革的伟大实践探索，推动社会主义由一种模式到多种模式、由“传统”到“现代”转型和发展，极大地丰富和发展了科学社会主义实践运动。

First, leading the New Democratic Revolution opened a new path for colonial and semi-colonial countries to move toward socialism.

第一，领导新民主主义革命，为殖民地半殖民地国家走向社会主义开辟新的道路。

From the very beginning of its founding, the Communist Party of China, in accordance with the theoretical principles of scientific socialism, established the goal of mobilizing workers and peasants to carry out revolution, changing the fate of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and achieving national salvation and survival. The Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, based on China’s specific national conditions as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society where “agriculture was the main economy and peasants constituted the overwhelming majority,” proposed the revolutionary path of “encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing state power by armed force.” In terms of revolutionary steps, they adopted a two-step strategy: first carrying out the “New Democratic Revolution,” then the “Socialist Revolution,” thus finding a correct path for the Chinese revolution. The path of the New Democratic Revolution differed from the proletarian revolutionary movement of the October Revolution in Russia, which was “centered on the urban workers’ movement.” Instead, under the leadership of the proletariat, it was a “united revolution” of various revolutionary classes, with workers, peasants, the petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie as the main body, centered on the peasant movement and peasant war in the countryside. This revolutionary path not only adhered to the revolutionary principles of scientific socialism but also conformed to the actual conditions of the Chinese revolution and followed the laws of its development. It represented another paradigm in the practical development of the scientific socialist movement after the October Revolution in Russia. The subsequent successes of revolutions in Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba within the international communist movement confirmed the scientific nature of this paradigm. Therefore, the path of the New Democratic Revolution opened up by the Communist Party of China not only achieved the independence and liberation of the Chinese nation but also greatly inspired the confidence of oppressed and colonized peoples in their national revolutionary struggles, provided important reference for colonial and semi-colonial countries moving toward socialism, and made an outstanding historical contribution to the practical movement of scientific socialism on a global scale.

中国共产党从建党开始就按照科学社会主义理论原则确立发动工人和农民进行革命，改变半殖民地半封建社会命运，实现救亡图存。以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，立足中国半殖民地半封建社会“农业为主要经济，农民占绝大多数”具体国情，在革命道路上提出了走“农村包围城市、武装夺取政权”的道路，在革命步骤上先进行“新民主主义革命”，再进行“社会主义革命”两步走战略，为中国革命找到了一条正确道路。新民主主义革命道路不同于俄国十月革命“以城市工人运动为中心”的无产阶级革命运动，而是在无产阶级领导下，以工人、农民、小资产阶级、民族资产阶级为主体，以农村的农民运动和农民战争为中心的各革命阶级“联合革命”。这一革命道路既坚持了科学社会主义的革命原则，又符合中国革命实际，顺应中国革命发展规律，是继俄国十月革命之后，科学社会主义运动在实践发展中的又一范式。后来国际共运中的越南、朝鲜、古巴革命的成功，印证了这一范式的科学性。因此，中国共产党开辟新民主主义革命道路，不单是实现了中华民族的独立与解放，同时也大大鼓舞了被压迫、受殖民的民族革命斗争的信心，为殖民地半殖民地国家走向社会主义提供了重要借鉴，对科学社会主义在世界范围内的实践运动作出了卓越的历史贡献。

Second, carrying out socialist transformation and construction, opening up the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, achieving the development of socialism from “one model” to “multiple models,” and enabling the practice of the international communist movement to rise up from its low ebb.

第二，进行社会主义改造和建设，开辟中国特色社会主义道路，社会主义实现从“一种模式”向“多种模式”发展，使国际共产主义运动实践在低潮中奋起。

On the question of how to smoothly carry out socialist transformation and achieve the transition to socialism, the Communist Party of China proposed to utilize the political advantage of the people having seized state power to carry out a peaceful transformation of capitalist private ownership. Regarding whether it was possible to abolish private ownership by peaceful means, Engels once believed that it was possible to gradually “concentrate more and more in the hands of the state all capital, all agriculture, all industry, all transport, and all exchange.” [9]9 Engels, “Principles of Communism” (1847). The quotation is from Section 16, where Engels outlines the measures the proletariat will take after seizing power. After the victory of the October Revolution, Lenin repeatedly proposed that the proletariat could adopt a method of buying out capitalist private ownership, but these attempts all failed due to the lack of cooperation from Russian capitalists. After the founding of New China, the Communist Party of China creatively used the power of the state to gradually realize the transformation of agriculture, handicrafts, and capitalist industry and commerce, established the socialist system, and opened a new stage of socialist construction.

在如何顺利进行社会主义改造，实现向社会主义过渡问题上，中国共产党提出要利用人民已掌握政权的政治优势，对资本主义私有制进行和平改造。对于能不能用和平的手段废除私有制这一问题，恩格斯曾认为可以一步一步地“把全部资本、全部农业、全部工业、全部运输业和全部交换都越来越多地集中在国家手里。”8十月革命胜利后，列宁曾多次提出无产阶级可以对资本主义私有制采取赎买的方法，但都因得不到俄国资本家的合作而失败。新中国成立后，中国共产党创造性地运用国家政权的力量，逐步实现对农业、手工业和资本主义工商业的改造，建立起社会主义制度，开启了社会主义建设新阶段。

Regarding the path of socialist construction, Marx and Engels had certain discussions on how to build socialism after the proletariat seized state power in capitalist countries, but they had little to say about how to build socialism in economically very backward countries. After the completion of socialist transformation, the drawbacks of the Soviet-style industrialization—imbalance between light and heavy industry and rigidity of the economic system—quickly emerged in China. Comrade Mao Zedong began to reflect on and summarize the Soviet model, proposing to “take the Soviet Union as a mirror” and independently explore a path of socialist construction suitable for China. Based on the lessons of the Soviet Union, such as “neglecting light industry and agriculture” and “overly centralized and rigid control,” in April 1956, Comrade Mao Zedong published “On the Ten Major Relationships,” proposing China’s own construction strategy. The Eighth National Congress of the CPC then established the general policy of “opposing conservatism and rash advance, and advancing steadily amidst comprehensive balance,” putting forward a series of construction guidelines in political, economic, and cultural aspects. During this period, China established a complete industrial system and national economic system, laying a solid material foundation for modernization after reform and opening up. The path of socialist construction opened up by the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, led China’s socialist construction to practically break through the Soviet model, laid the fundamental political prerequisite and material foundation for initiating socialism with Chinese characteristics, and made a good start for the transformation of the socialist practical movement from “one model” to “multiple models.”

关于社会主义建设道路，马克思、恩格斯对资本主义国家的无产阶级夺取政权后如何建设社会主义有一定论述，但对于在经济非常落后的国家如何建设社会主义论述不多。社会主义改造完成后，苏联式工业化轻、重工业失衡和经济体制僵化的弊端在中国迅速出现，毛泽东同志开始反思和总结苏联模式，提出要“以苏为鉴”，独立自主地探索一条适合中国的社会主义建设道路。基于苏联“忽视轻工业和农业”“高度集中，统得过死”等教训，1956年4月，毛泽东同志发表《论十大关系》，提出中国自己的建设方略，党的八大又确定了“反保守、反冒进，在综合平稳中稳步前进”总方针，在政治、经济、文化等方面提出一系列建设方针。这一时期，中国建立了完备的工业体系和国民经济体系，为改革开放后现代化建设奠定了坚实的物质基础。以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人所开辟的社会主义建设道路，引领了中国社会主义建设在实践上突破苏联模式，为开创中国特色社会主义奠定了根本政治前提和物质基础，为社会主义实践运动从“一种模式”向“多种模式”的转变开了一个好头。

During the decade of socialist construction, the Communist Party of China conducted valuable explorations of socialist construction and achieved great results. However, limited by the conditions of the time, the Party still lacked sufficient theoretical understanding of the questions “what is socialism and how to build socialism.” Therefore, in practical exploration, it still did not completely break away from the “Soviet model.” Comrade Deng Xiaoping analyzed and emphasized: “Overall, our country’s system, including the institutional structure, basically came from the Soviet Union… Many institutional issues need to be reconsidered. Generally speaking, our system is not suited to modernization.” [10]10 Deng Xiaoping, “Remarks on the Reform of the Leadership System of the Party and the State” (August 18, 1980). This speech was a key document in the early reform era, criticizing the over-centralization of power inherited from the Soviet model. Therefore, after reform and opening up, the initial breakthrough in reform by the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as their chief representative, was to break away from the Soviet-style highly planned economic system and blaze a path of socialist construction with Chinese characteristics.

十年社会主义建设时期，中国共产党对社会主义建设进行了可贵探索，取得巨大成绩，但限于当时条件，党对“什么是社会主义，怎样建设社会主义”问题仍缺乏充分的理论认识，因此，在实际探索中仍然没有完全跳出“苏联模式”。邓小平同志分析强调：“从总的状况来说，我们国家的体制，包括机构体制等，基本上是从苏联来的……有好多体制问题要重新考虑。总的来说，我们的体制不适应现代化。”9因此，改革开放后，以邓小平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人进行改革的最初突破，就是要摆脱苏联社会主义高度计划的经济体制，走出一条有中国特色的社会主义建设道路。

In the 1980s, China’s reform first implemented the “household contract responsibility system” in rural areas, then moved to “planned development of a commodity economy” in cities, gradually forming a comprehensive pattern of reform and opening up from rural to urban areas and from partial to overall. This greatly mobilized people’s enthusiasm for production and accumulated experience for further advancing reform and opening up. The 14th National Congress of the CPC established the goal of building a socialist market economic system, completely breaking the “Soviet model.” Entering the 21st century, Chinese Communists continued to adhere to the practical direction of socialist market economy reform. In the process of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, through several generations of Chinese Communists’ ideological emancipation and determined exploration, they successfully opened up the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Over more than four decades of reform and opening up, the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics has achieved tremendous successes. It has not only enabled scientific socialism to withstand various risks and tests but also risen up from its low ebb, making an outstanding historical contribution to the international communist movement.

20世纪80年代，中国的改革率先从农村实行“家庭联产承包责任制”，然后到城市“有计划的发展商品经济”，逐步形成了从农村到城市、从局部到整体全面改革开放的格局，极大地调动了人们的生产积极性，为进一步推进改革开放积累了经验。党的十四大确立建立社会主义市场经济体制的目标，彻底打破了“苏联模式”。进入21世纪，中国共产党人继续坚持社会主义市场经济改革实践方向，在全面建设小康社会的进程中，经过几代中国共产党人解放思想和锐意进取的探索，成功开辟了中国特色社会主义道路。改革开放四十多年来，中国特色社会主义建设取得了巨大成就，不仅使科学社会主义经受住了各种风险考验，而且在低潮中奋起，为国际共产主义运动作出突出的历史贡献。

Third, inaugurating the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, exploring the transformation of the socialist state governance model from “traditional” to “modern,” and enabling the practice of scientific socialism to radiate new vitality in 21st-century China.

第三，开创中国特色社会主义新时代，探索社会主义国家治理模式从“传统”向“现代”转型，使科学社会主义实践在21世纪的中国焕发出新的蓬勃生机。

Entering the New Era, as the external environment changes and the deep-seated contradictions facing domestic reform, development, and stability continue to accumulate, the traditional model of national governance has become increasingly unable to meet the needs of national governance. Proceeding from the world conditions and national conditions of the “two overall situations” [11]11 The “two overall situations” refers to the overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the overall situation of changes unseen in a century in the world., the Communist Party of China, taking upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics for the New Era as its fundamental guidance, centering on the main line of “governing the country and administering affairs,” taking problems as its orientation, comprehensively advancing the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and coordinating the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, continuously promotes the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, forming unique governance advantages and institutional advantages. This has made the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics more complete, significantly raised the level of modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and formed a set of scientific and law-based national governance models with “Party leadership at the core, comprehensive social participation, comprehensive governance content, and networked governance system.” The series of original new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies for governing the country and administering affairs put forward by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core not only answer the “China question” of socialism with Chinese characteristics for the New Era but also, against the backdrop of changes unseen in a century in the world, propose building a community with a shared future for mankind, profoundly answering the “world question” of “what is wrong with the world and what should be done,” providing a “Chinese solution” for global governance. The practice and experience of “China’s governance” provide important reference for countries around the world in their national governance, fully proving the advanced nature of the socialist model of national governance.

进入新时代，随着外部环境变化和国内改革发展稳定所面临的深层次矛盾不断叠加，传统的国家治理模式已经越来越不能适应国家治理的需要。中国共产党从“两个大局”的世情和国情出发，以坚持和发展新时代中国特色社会主义为根本指引，围绕“治国理政”主线，以问题为导向，统筹推进“五位一体”总体布局、协调推进“四个全面”战略布局，不断推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化，形成独特的治理优势和制度优势，使中国特色社会主义制度更加完善、国家治理体系和治理能力的现代化水平明显提高，形成了一套“以党的领导为核心，社会全面参与，治理内容全面化和治理体系网络化”的科学化、法治化的国家治理模式。以习近平同志为核心的党中央提出的一系列原创性治国理政新理念、新思想、新战略，不仅回答了新时代中国特色社会主义“中国之问”，而且还在世界百年未有之大变局背景下提出构建“人类命运共同体”，深刻回答“世界怎么了，应该怎么办”的“世界之问”，为全球治理提供“中国方案”。“中国之治”的实践与经验，为世界各国提供了国家治理的重要借鉴，充分证明了社会主义国家治理模式的先进性。

The Main Historical Contributions of the Communist Party of China to Innovating the System of Scientific Socialism

中国共产党对创新科学社会主义制度的主要历史贡献

In the practice of more than one hundred years of historical struggle, the Communist Party of China, adhering to the guidance of Marxism, has continuously enriched and innovated the socialist system. In the process of promoting the transformation of the theoretical form of scientific socialism into the theoretical form of socialism with Chinese characteristics, it has formed a series of fundamental systems, basic systems, and important systems that both fit China’s history and reality and possess distinct Chinese characteristics, making outstanding historical contributions to the innovation of the scientific socialist system.

在一百多年历史奋斗实践中，中国共产党坚持马克思主义指导，不断丰富和创新社会主义制度，在推动科学社会主义理论形态转化为中国特色社会主义理论形态的过程中，形成了既契合中国历史与现实，又独具中国特色的一系列根本制度、基本制度和重要制度等，为科学社会主义制度创新作出了卓越历史贡献。

First, it established the state system of the Chinese Soviet Republic, enriching and developing the content of the world Marxist parties’ system of partial governance.

其一，创立中华苏维埃共和国国家制度，丰富和发展了世界马克思主义政党局部执政制度内容。

The fundamental question of revolution is the question of political power. From the very beginning of its founding, the Communist Party of China inscribed on its banner the intention to “overthrow the bourgeoisie with a proletarian revolutionary army,” “adopt the dictatorship of the proletariat to achieve the goal of class struggle—the elimination of classes,” “unify China into a genuine democratic republic,” and “organize the proletariat, use the means of class struggle, and establish a political power of workers and peasants.” This indicates that from the moment of its founding, the Party clearly and unequivocally took socialism and communism as its goals of struggle, and also made opposing imperialism and feudalism, overthrowing the exploitative system, unifying China, establishing a democratic republic, and realizing the people as masters of the country its revolutionary goals for the current stage.

革命的根本问题是政权问题。中国共产党成立伊始，在自己的旗帜上就标明，要“以无产阶级革命军队推翻资产阶级”“采用无产阶级专政，以达到阶级斗争的目的——消灭阶级”，要“统一中国为真正的民主共和国”“组织无产阶级，用阶级斗争的手段，建立劳农专政的政治”。这表明，党从成立之时，就旗帜鲜明地把社会主义和共产主义作为自己的奋斗目标，而且还将反帝反封建、推翻剥削制度，统一中国，建立民主共和国，实现人民当家作主，作为自己现阶段的革命目标。

After the failure of the Great Revolution, the Communist Party of China began to independently explore the Chinese revolutionary path, establishing many red guerrilla zones in the south. In November 1931, the Communist Party of China convened the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviets in Ruijin, Jiangxi, electing the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic and announcing the establishment of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic to unify leadership over the Soviet areas. This was another state power established by a world proletarian party after the Paris Commune in France and the October Revolution in Russia. The “Constitutional Outline” adopted by the Congress stipulated: “What is to be built is a democratic dictatorship of the workers and peasants.” The Chinese Soviet Republic was the first nationwide worker-peasant democratic regime in Chinese history and an important attempt by the Communist Party of China to exercise power in partial areas. The Republic implemented the system of congresses of workers, peasants, and soldiers. Soviet governments at all levels extensively absorbed representatives of the worker and peasant masses to participate in the management of political power and exercise their rights as masters of the country, attached importance to clean governance and judicial construction, and successively promulgated more than 120 laws and decrees. The various systems explored and formulated by the Republic fully reflected the fundamental interests and demands of the broad masses of the people and greatly promoted the construction of politics, economy, culture, and education in the base areas. The establishment of the Soviet Republic’s political power and the systems formulated and promulgated were the Party’s preliminary exploratory achievements in the social system under conditions of partial governance, greatly enriching the content of the world Marxist parties’ system of partial governance.

大革命失败后，中国共产党开始独立探索中国革命道路，在南方相继建立许多红色游击区。1931年11月，中国共产党在江西瑞金召开中华苏维埃第一次全国代表大会，选举产生中华苏维埃共和国中央执行委员会，宣布成立中华苏维埃共和国临时中央政府，统一领导苏区工作。这是继法国巴黎公社、俄国十月革命后，世界无产阶级政党建立的又一个国家政权。大会通过《宪法大纲》规定：“建设的是工人和农民的民主专政的国家”。中华苏维埃共和国是中国历史上第一个全国性的工农民主政权，是中国共产党在局部地区执政的重要尝试。共和国实行工农兵代表大会制度，各级苏维埃政府广泛吸收工农群众代表参加政权管理，行使当家作主的权利，重视廉政和司法建设，先后颁布120多部法律、法令。共和国探索制定的各项制度，充分体现了广大人民群众的根本利益和要求，大大推动了各根据地的政治、经济、文化教育等方面的建设。苏维埃共和国政权的建立和制定颁布的各项制度，是党在局部执政条件下对社会制度的初步探索成果，大大丰富了世界马克思主义政党局部执政制度内容。

Second, it established the new democratic state system and proposed a gradual transition to socialism, enriching and developing the scientific socialist theory of the state.

其二，确立新民主主义国家制度并提出逐步向社会主义过渡，丰富和发展了科学社会主义国家学说。

In the early 1940s, Comrade Mao Zedong, in “On New Democracy,” proposed the revolutionary goal of establishing a new democratic society, pointing out that the purpose of the communists’ political, economic, and cultural revolutionary struggle was “to build a new society and a new state for the Chinese nation. In this new society and new state, there will be not only new politics and new economy but also new culture.” [12]12 Mao Zedong, “On New Democracy” (January 1940). It elaborated in detail on the political, economic, and cultural programs and systems of new democracy, and the construction of a new democratic society was initially explored and practiced in the various anti-Japanese base areas. Regarding the exploration of this society, Comrade Mao Zedong’s report “On Coalition Government” clearly stated: “To establish a state system of a democratic coalition based on the overwhelming majority of the entire nation and under the leadership of the working class, we call such a state system the new democratic state system.” [13]13 Mao Zedong, “On Coalition Government” (April 1945). It emphasized that “this is a state system truly suited to the demands of the vast majority of the Chinese population.” By the late 1940s, in articles such as “Report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China” and “On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship,” Comrade Mao Zedong further elaborated on how to establish a new democratic state and proposed a gradual transition to a socialist society when conditions matured.

20世纪40年代初，毛泽东同志在《新民主主义论》中提出建立新民主主义社会的革命目标，指出共产党人进行政治的、经济的和文化的革命奋斗，目的就“在于建设一个中华民族的新社会和新国家。在这个新社会和新国家中，不但有新政治、新经济，而且有新文化。”10其中详细阐述了新民主主义的政治、经济、文化纲领和制度，新民主主义社会建设在各抗日根据地进行了初步探索实践。对于这一社会的探索，毛泽东同志的《论联合政府》报告中明确指出，“建立一个以全国绝对大多数人民为基础而在工人阶级领导之下的统一战线的民主联盟的国家制度，我们把这样的国家制度称之为新民主主义的国家制度。”11强调“这是一个真正适合中国人口中最大多数的要求的国家制度”。到20世纪40年代末，毛泽东同志在《在中国共产党第七届中央委员会第二次全体会议上的报告》《论人民民主专政》等文章中，又详细论述了如何建立新民主主义国家，并提出等将来条件成熟再过渡到社会主义社会。

In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was established, founding a state power of the people’s democratic dictatorship. Until the completion of the socialist transformation, Chinese society during this period remained a new democratic new society and new state. After completing the tasks left over from the new democratic revolution and restoring the national economy, the Communist Party of China, proceeding from China’s historical reality and actual national conditions, formulated a general line for the transition to socialism, actively promoted large-scale, planned economic construction, and after the basic completion of the socialist transformation, formally established the socialist economic system. At the same time, with the leadership of the Party and the joint efforts of the people of all ethnic groups, it established the fundamental system of the People’s Congresses, as well as basic socialist systems such as the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the system of regional ethnic autonomy, realizing the broadest and most profound social system change in Chinese history and making beneficial explorations for the practical development of scientific socialism in a proletarian dictatorship state.

1949年，中华人民共和国成立，建立人民民主专政的国家政权，直到社会主义改造完成，这一时期的中国社会仍是新民主主义的新社会和新国家。在完成新民主主义革命遗留任务和国民经济恢复之后，中国共产党从中国历史实际和现实国情出发，制定了向社会主义过渡的总路线，积极推进大规模、有计划的经济建设，在社会主义改造基本完成后，正式建立起社会主义经济制度。与此同时，在党的领导和各族人民群众的共同努力下，确立人民代表大会根本制度以及中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度、民族区域自治制度等社会主义基本制度，实现了中华民族有史以来最广泛最深刻的社会制度变革，为科学社会主义在无产阶级专政国家的实践发展作出了有益探索。

Third, it initiated and perfected the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, enabling scientific socialism to radiate vitality and vigor in the present era.

其三，开创和完善中国特色社会主义制度，使科学社会主义在当今时代焕发生机和活力。

When Marx and Engels founded scientific socialism, they did not expect Marxist parties in various countries to adhere to it rigidly in practical application, let alone to copy it mechanically. On the contrary, insisting on proceeding from one’s own national conditions and independently exploring socialism suited to one’s own national conditions is the true essence of mastering the principles of this theory.

马克思、恩格斯创立科学社会主义，并非期望各国马克思主义政党在实际运用中一成不变地遵守，更不希望生搬硬套。相反，坚持从本国实际出发，独立自主地探索与本国国情相结合的社会主义，才是真正掌握这一理论原则的精髓所在。

Over the more than seventy years since the founding of New China, especially over the more than forty years of reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China has both adhered to the basic principles of scientific socialism and integrated them with China’s specific realities and historical and cultural traditions, endowing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics with distinct Chinese characteristics. This is the upholding and innovation of the socialist system. The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the institutional support for the Communist Party of China to lead the people in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The layout of various undertakings and institutional construction in China’s social development are all carried out closely around this system.

新中国成立七十多年来，特别是改革开放四十多年来，中国共产党既坚持科学社会主义基本原则，又结合中国具体实际和历史文化传统，赋予中国特色社会主义制度以鲜明的中国特色，这是对社会主义制度的守正创新。中国特色社会主义制度，是中国共产党领导人民实现中华民族伟大复兴的制度依托，中国社会发展的各项事业布局与制度建设都是紧紧围绕这一制度展开的。

The historical practice of more than forty years of reform and opening up has proven that it is precisely by adhering to the socialist system with Chinese characteristics that China has been able to achieve rapid economic development and long-term social stability, greatly enhance its comprehensive national strength and international influence, successfully explore the path of Chinese-path modernization, create a new form of human civilization, make increasing contributions to world peace and development and the progress of human civilization, and assume an increasingly prominent role as a major country.

改革开放四十多年的历史实践证明，正是坚持中国特色社会主义制度，中国才得以实现经济快速发展和社会长期稳定，综合国力和国际影响力极大提升，成功探索中国式现代化道路，开创人类文明新形态，为世界和平与发展和人类文明进步作出的贡献越来越多，担负的大国责任愈发显著。

The socialist system with Chinese characteristics has taken shape in the process of the Communist Party of China leading the people of all ethnic groups across the country in advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. It is both an innovative development of the scientific socialist system and a concentrated manifestation of the advantages and characteristics of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. The content structure and framework system of this system are concentrated and accumulated within the multi-layered dimensions of upholding and improving the fundamental systems, basic systems, and important systems that underpin socialism with Chinese characteristics, and are forged in the practice of Chinese-path modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It has contributed Chinese wisdom and a Chinese model to the enrichment and development of scientific socialism, effectively advanced the enrichment, improvement, and temporal evolution of scientific socialism from the level of institutional form, and constitutes an original historical contribution made by the Communist Party of China to the institutional innovation of scientific socialism.

中国特色社会主义制度形成于中国共产党领导全国各族人民推进国家治理体系和治理能力的现代化进程中，既是科学社会主义制度的创新发展，又是新时代中国特色社会主义优势特点的集中展现。这一制度的内容结构和框架体系，聚蕴于坚持和完善支撑中国特色社会主义制度的根本制度、基本制度和重要制度多层维域之中，熔铸在中国式现代化建设和中华民族伟大复兴实践之中，它为科学社会主义的丰富和发展贡献了中国智慧与中国范本，从制度形态层面有效推进了科学社会主义的丰富完善和时代演进，是中国共产党为科学社会主义制度创新作出的原创性历史贡献。

In summary, over the more than one hundred years since its founding, the Communist Party of China has combined the fundamental tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, continuously opening up new realms for scientific socialism in the historical process of revolution, construction, and reform. By persistently advancing the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, it has established Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, formed the important thought of the "Three Represents," the Scientific Outlook on Development, and established Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, along with a series of other original achievements, greatly promoting the development of scientific socialism.

综上所述，中国共产党成立一百多年来，把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，在革命、建设和改革的历史进程中，不断开辟科学社会主义新境界。坚持推进马克思主义中国化时代化，创立了毛泽东思想、邓小平理论，形成了“三个代表”重要思想、科学发展观，创立了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想等一系列原创性成果，极大地推动了科学社会主义的发展。

Online editor: Zhang Jian

网络编辑：张剑