The Political Declaration That Launched China’s Modernization Journey – Rereading Mao Zedong’s Report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC

In his report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping proposed advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization, thereby endowing modernization with a completely new great mission. This prompts us to re-examine the process of China’s modernization led by the Communist Party of China. There is no doubt that the series of plans drawn up around the founding of the state in the period before and after 1949 constitute a resplendent chapter in the vast historical canvas of China’s realization of modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. From the convening of the Seventh National Congress of the CPC in April 1945 to the convening of the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC in March 1949, the War of Liberation achieved continuous victories. The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee was an important meeting convened at a critical moment when the People’s Army led by the Communist Party of China had secured victory in the War of Liberation and the founding of New China was imminent. The main agenda of the meeting was for Mao Zedong to deliver a theme report and for the report to be deliberated and adopted. Therefore, Mao Zedong’s report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC is undoubtedly one of the most important documents of the Communist Party of China on the eve of the founding of New China. When we reread this report from the entirely new perspective of Chinese-path modernization, it is not difficult to discover that it is clearly a political declaration that launched the journey of China’s socialist modernization.

在党的二十大报告中，习近平提出以中国式现代化推进中华民族伟大复兴，从而赋予现代化建设以全新的伟大使命。这提示我们重新检视中国共产党领导进行的中国现代化建设进程。毫无疑问，1949年前后围绕建国大业的一系列擘画，在中国实现现代化和中华民族伟大复兴的历史巨幅画卷中构成浓墨重彩的篇章。从1945年4月党的七大召开到1949年3月党的七届二中全会召开，解放战争不断胜利。党的七届二中全会是中国共产党领导的人民军队在解放战争中胜局已定、新中国即将成立的关键时刻召开的一次重要会议，会议主要议程就是由毛泽东做主题报告并审议通过该报告。因此，毛泽东在党的七届二中全会上的报告无疑是新中国成立前夕中国共产党最重要的文献之一。当我们以中国式现代化的全新视角重温这份报告时，不难发现，它分明就是一篇开启中国社会主义现代化建设征程的政治宣言。

I. The Emergence of Mao Zedong’s Theoretical Reflections on Modernization

一、毛泽东关于现代化理论思考的萌生

Specialized research on modernization theory began to take shape after the end of the Second World War, formed and reached its climax in the 1960s. Every theory is a sublimation of thought based on observing and summarizing practical activities. In fact, modernization is an objective historical process that began to take shape around the 16th century, before the formation of modernization theory, and entered the stage of industrial development in the 1760s. Some thinkers observed and summarized this process and put forward certain theoretical ideas about modernization. For example, Marx and Engels in the *Communist Manifesto* repeatedly used the word “modern” to refer to the objects of Marxist reflection, including “modern industry,” “the modern bourgeoisie,” “the modern working class,” and so on. “Modern” is a noun; when observed from the perspective of the development and change of things, the verb “modernize” emerges.

现代化理论的专门研究是在第二次世界大战结束后开始酝酿，在20世纪60年代形成并进入高潮。任何理论都是在观察总结实践活动基础上展开的思想升华。事实上，现代化是客观历史进程，在16世纪左右即现代化理论形成之前就已开始酝酿，并在18世纪60年代进入工业化发展阶段。部分思想家观察和总结这一进程，提出了一些关于现代化的思想理论。例如，马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中多次使用“现代”一词来指称马克思主义的思考对象，其中包括“现代工业”“现代资产阶级”“现代工人阶级”等。“现代”是一个名词，当从事物的发展变化加以观察时，就产生了作为动词的“现代化”。

Mao Zedong was a statesman who grew up on the land of China, and his vision was by no means lacking in theoretical ideas about modernization. Mao Zedong had long possessed the theoretical cultivation of Marxism-Leninism, and the drastic changes in Chinese society since the 1840s further stimulated his profound reflections on the modernization transformation of Eastern countries. In April 1945, as the World Anti-Fascist War was about to be won, Mao Zedong delivered a political report titled *On Coalition Government* at the Seventh National Congress of the CPC, which contained the following passage: “The criterion for judging the good or bad, the right or wrong, of the policies and practices of all political parties in China, and their effect on the people, ultimately depends on whether they help or hinder the development of the productive forces of the Chinese people, and whether they fetter or liberate them. To eliminate the Japanese aggressors, carry out land reform, liberate the peasants, develop modern industry, and build a new China that is independent, free, democratic, unified, and prosperous and strong – only all this can liberate the social productive forces of China and is what the Chinese people welcome.” From the perspective of modernization theory, this passage contains four levels of thought on modernization: first, liberating and developing the productive forces is the core of modernization, the prerequisite of which is “liberating the peasants,” i.e., changing the relations of production and social relations to activate the practical power of the vast Chinese working people; second, developing modern industry is the central content of economic development, i.e., industrialization is the center of modernization; third, whether the development of productive forces has been promoted and whether more advanced relations of production have been established is the primary criterion for judging the progressiveness of things (or political parties); fourth, building a new China that is independent, free, democratic, unified, and prosperous and strong is both a condition for moving toward modernization and a goal of China’s modernization, and a marker of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Of course, we must also note that *On Coalition Government* proposed the need to establish a strong coalition government after the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, which was a prerequisite for carrying out China’s modernization. On this, Mao Zedong emphasized: “Taken as a whole, without an independent, free, democratic, and unified China, it is impossible to develop industry.” Limited by the theme of the report, Mao Zedong did not elaborate on the issue of China’s modernization. Therefore, *On Coalition Government* can be regarded as the work in which Mao Zedong’s theory of modernization first emerged.

毛泽东是在中华大地上成长起来的政治家，他的视野里并不乏现代化的理论思想。毛泽东早就具备了马克思列宁主义理论素养，并且1840年代以来中国社会的剧烈变化更激发了他对东方国家现代化转变的深刻思考。1945年4月，在世界反法西斯战争即将取得胜利之时，毛泽东在党的七大上做了题为《论联合政府》的政治报告，其中有这样一段论述：“中国一切政党的政策及其实践在中国人民中所表现的作用的好坏、大小，归根到底，看它对于中国人民的生产力的发展是否有帮助及其帮助之大小，看它是束缚生产力的，还是解放生产力的。消灭日本侵略者，实行土地改革，解放农民，发展现代工业，建立独立、自由、民主、统一和富强的新中国，只有这一切，才能使中国社会生产力获得解放，才是中国人民所欢迎的。”从现代化理论角度看，这段论述包含4个层次的现代化思想：第一，解放和发展生产力是现代化的核心，其前提是“解放农民”，即改变生产关系和社会关系以激活广大中国劳动者的实践伟力；第二，发展现代工业是经济发展的中心内容，即工业化是现代化的中心；第三，是否促进了生产力发展、是否建立了更先进的生产关系，这是判断事物（政党）先进与否的首要标准；第四，建立独立、自由、民主、统一和富强的新中国既是走向现代化的条件，又是中国现代化的目标，是实现中华民族伟大复兴的标志。当然，我们也要注意到，《论联合政府》提出世界反法西斯战争胜利后需要建立一个强有力的联合政府，这是开展中国现代化建设的前提条件。对此，毛泽东强调：“就整个来说，没有一个独立、自由、民主和统一的中国，不可能发展工业。”限于报告主题，毛泽东并没有展开论述中国的现代化建设问题，因此，《论联合政府》可看作毛泽东现代化理论的萌生之作。

In the four years from April 1945 to March 1949, the Chinese people not only achieved victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan but also, under the unity and leadership of the Communist Party of China, won a series of key and decisive victories in the War of Liberation. After the victorious conclusion of the Liaoshen Campaign and the Huaihai Campaign, on January 31, 1949, the People’s Liberation Army entered Beiping amid the cheers of the broad masses and took over the city, marking another victory for the People’s Liberation Army in the Pingjin Campaign. [1]1 The Liaoshen, Huaihai, and Pingjin Campaigns (September 1948 – January 1949) were the three decisive military campaigns of the Chinese Civil War, in which the People’s Liberation Army defeated the main forces of the Kuomintang in Northeast, East, and North China respectively. Following the Three Great Campaigns, the main forces of the Kuomintang army had been eliminated, and the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries on the Chinese mainland had collapsed. Thus, counting from 1927, after 22 years of arduous and extraordinary armed struggle, the People’s Army led by the Communist Party of China was about to usher in a great and glorious moment, and the Chinese people were also about to enter a brand-new historical period.

从1945年4月到1949年3月的4年时间里，中国人民既取得了抗日战争的胜利，也在中国共产党的团结带领下取得了解放战争一系列关键重大胜利。辽沈战役和淮海战役胜利结束后，1949年1月31日，中国人民解放军在广大群众的欢呼声中进入北平，对城市进行接管，这标志着中国人民解放军又取得了平津战役的胜利。经过三大战役，国民党军的主力部队已被消灭，国民党反动派在中国大陆的统治已土崩瓦解。这样，从1927年算起，在经历了长达22年艰苦卓绝的武装斗争后，中国共产党领导的人民军队即将迎来伟大光荣的时刻，中国人民也正在迎来一个崭新的历史时期。

On the very same day the People’s Liberation Army entered Beiping, the Party Central Committee’s location at Xibaipo welcomed a special Soviet guest. [2]2 Xibaipo was the location of the CPC Central Committee from May 1948 to March 1949, from which the final stages of the Civil War were directed. The Soviet guest was Anastas Mikoyan, a Politburo member sent by Stalin to meet Mao Zedong. The Chinese revolution had always been linked to the socialist revolution and construction of the Soviet Union. The Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Communist International provided enormous assistance at the time of the founding of the Communist Party of China. The CPC maintained close ties with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for a long time, and the CPSU also closely followed the CPC’s revolutionary activities, continuously offering suggestions and providing material aid. In June 1928, due to the Kuomintang’s White Terror rule, the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in the village of Wuyi on the outskirts of Moscow. [3]3 The Sixth National Congress of the CPC was held in Moscow in 1928 because the Kuomintang’s White Terror made a safe venue inside China impossible. In the mid-1930s, when the Soviet Union achieved industrialization and became Europe’s leading industrial power, the CPC’s situation was still extremely difficult, facing not only encirclement and suppression by the Kuomintang but also the continuous invasion of Japanese imperialism. In 1947, after winning the War of Resistance Against Japan through arduous struggle and with the Kuomintang reactionaries already in decline, Mao Zedong conceived the idea of visiting Moscow to meet Stalin, even drawing up in advance a list of questions to discuss with Stalin – among which was “the question of restoring and building China’s industry.” [4]4 Mao Zedong’s planned visit to Stalin in 1947 did not take place; he eventually visited Moscow in December 1949 – February 1950. By this time, the issue of modernization had become deeply rooted in Mao Zedong’s ideological consciousness.

就在中国人民解放军进入北平城的同一天，党中央所在地西柏坡迎来了一位特殊的苏联客人。中国革命一直与苏联的社会主义革命和建设联系在一起。俄共（布）、共产国际在中国共产党成立时给予了巨大帮助。中国共产党长期与苏联共产党保持密切联系，苏联共产党也一直密切关注中国共产党的革命活动并不断提出建议，给予物质援助。1928年6月，由于国民党的白色恐怖统治，中国共产党第六次代表大会到莫斯科近郊的五一村召开。20世纪30年代中期，苏联实现工业化而成为欧洲第一工业强国时，中国共产党处境还十分艰难，不仅要面对国民党的围堵打压，还要面对日本帝国主义不断入侵。1947年，在经过艰苦斗争赢得抗日战争胜利且国民党反动派大势已去之时，毛泽东产生了到莫斯科会见斯大林的想法，甚至事先列出要和斯大林讨论的问题——其中就包括“关于恢复和建立中国工业的问题”。此时，现代化问题在毛泽东思想意识中已根深蒂固。

In January 1949, Mikoyan, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, secretly visited Xibaipo on Stalin’s orders. Mao Zedong held several rounds of talks with Mikoyan. Mao generally thanked the Soviet Communist Party for its assistance to the Chinese Communist Party’s revolutionary struggle, stating that “without Soviet aid, it would be very difficult for us to achieve our present victory.” [5]5 Mikoyan: Anastas Mikoyan, a senior Soviet politician and Politburo member, visited the CPC’s headquarters at Xibaipo in early 1949 to discuss post-war cooperation. In the talks on February 4, Mao specifically proposed: “The Chinese Communist Party needs assistance from the CPSU in various areas; it needs two advisors: one in the economic field and the other in the financial field.” [6]6 Source: The quotation is from Mao Zedong’s talks with Mikoyan, as recorded in Chinese historical archives. This shows how highly Mao Zedong valued the economic construction of a future new China’s modernization. Mao Zedong was well aware of the great significance of railway transportation for modernization. At the end of 1948, the Soviet Union had sent a team of experts led by General Kovalyov, a former Minister of Transport, to the Northeast to assist and guide transport work. Subsequently, on January 8, 1949, Mao Zedong sent a special telegram to Stalin, both to express gratitude and to hope that the Soviet Union would continue to guide and assist China in developing its transportation industry. In the telegram, Mao said: “We are very grateful to you for sending Comrade Kovalyov to help us restore railways and other economic work. … To complete this plan, a series of materials are urgently needed, including locomotives, automobiles, tools, oil, and other supplies for restoring railways in North China. We can solve some of these ourselves. In addition, we need your country’s emergency assistance, that is, we hope you will provide the majority of these materials. Only then can we begin the work of restoring the railways.” [7]7 Kovalyov: Ivan Kovalyov, a Soviet railway expert and former Minister of Transport, led a team to assist in restoring railways in China’s Northeast in late 1948. Mao Zedong not only regarded industrial development as a matter for the industrial sector itself but also saw it as a lever for developing the entire national economy, with a major impact on agriculture, “because if industry does not develop, it cannot meet the needs of the peasants, cannot complete the socialist transformation of agriculture, and may even lose leadership over the peasants.” [8]8 Source: The quotation is from Mao Zedong’s remarks during the talks with Mikoyan, as documented in Party historical materials. It is evident that Mao Zedong had already seen the major impact of industrial development at this time and recognized that industrial development was the core of modernization.

1949年1月，苏共中央政治局委员米高扬奉斯大林之命秘密访问西柏坡。毛泽东与米高扬进行了多轮会谈。毛泽东从总体上感谢了苏联共产党对中国共产党革命斗争的援助，表示“如果没有苏联的援助，我们很难取得目前的胜利”。在2月4日会谈中，毛泽东专门提出：“中国共产党需要联共（布）各方面的援助，需两位顾问：一位是经济方面的，另一位是金融方面的。”由此可见，毛泽东对未来新中国现代化经济建设重视程度多高。毛泽东深知铁路交通对现代化建设的重大意义。1948年底，苏联就派曾担任交通部部长的科瓦廖夫将军带领的专家小组到东北援助指导交通工作，之后，毛泽东在1949年1月8日专门给斯大林发电报，一来表示感谢，二来希望苏联继续指导和援助我国发展交通运输业。毛泽东在电报中说：“我们非常感谢你们派科瓦廖夫同志前来帮助我们恢复铁路和其他经济工作。……为了完成这一计划，急需一系列物资，以及机车、汽车、工具、油及其它用于恢复华北铁路的物资。我们可自己解决一些。此外，我们需要贵国的紧急援助，即希望贵国提供这些物资的大部分。届时，我们才能开始恢复铁路的工作。”毛泽东不仅把工业发展作为工业领域自身的事情，而且把它看成发展整个国民经济的抓手，对农业有重大影响，“因为工业发展不起来，就不能满足农民的需求，就不能完成农业的社会主义改造，甚至可能失去对农民的领导”。可见，毛泽东此时已看到工业发展的重大影响，认识到工业发展是现代化建设的核心。

After the talks with Mikoyan, the thinking of the Chinese Communist Party leaders became clearer. After Mikoyan left Xibaipo, the Chinese Communist Party intensively prepared to convene a plenary session of the Central Committee – this was also the only plenary session of the Central Committee held during the War of Liberation. On February 11, 1949, the Central Committee of the CPC issued a “Notice on Convening the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee” to comrades responsible for the work of the various central bureaus and front committees, requiring that all full and alternate members of the Central Committee working in the central bureaus, central sub-bureaus, and front committees, except for those who must remain to preside over work, should attend the meeting on time. On March 5, 1949, the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was successfully opened in Xibaipo. The session first had Zhou Enlai announce the agenda, followed by Mao Zedong declaring the session open. The main agenda items were Mao Zedong’s report and the plenary session’s discussion of the report.

与米高扬会谈后，中国共产党领导人思路更加明确。米高扬离开西柏坡后，中国共产党紧锣密鼓地准备召开中央全会——这也是解放战争时期召开的唯一一次中央全会。1949年2月11日，中共中央向各中央局和各前委工作的负责同志发出《关于召开七届二中全会的通知》，要求各中央局、中央分局、各前委工作的中央委员及候补中央委员，除留下必要的人主持工作外，均应按时参加会议。1949年3月5日，中国共产党第七届中央委员会第二次全体会议在西柏坡顺利开幕。会议首先由周恩来宣布日程，之后由毛泽东宣布开幕，主要议程就是由毛泽东做报告以及全会对报告进行讨论。

II. The Earliest Document on the Modernization of New China

二、新中国现代化建设的最初文献

Mao Zedong’s report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Party was divided into ten parts, with the main content being to propose a blueprint for building a new China. The report put forward the policy for promoting the swift nationwide victory of the revolution; it indicated the shift in the focus of work, namely that after the nationwide victory of the revolution, the focus of the Party’s work must shift from the countryside to the cities, and urban work must center on production and construction; it proposed the basic policies and principles of the Party in the political, economic, and diplomatic fields after the nationwide victory. The report placed heavy emphasis on economic issues, analyzing in detail the conditions of various economic sectors in China, and particularly pointed out the economic policies for China’s transformation from an agricultural country into an industrial country and from a new-democratic society into a socialist society.

毛泽东在党的七届二中全会上的报告共分十个部分，主要内容是提出建设新中国的蓝图。该报告提出了促进革命迅速取得全国胜利的方针；指明了工作重心的转移问题，即在全国革命胜利后党的工作重心须由乡村转移到城市，并且城市工作须以生产建设为中心；提出了党在全国胜利以后在政治、经济、外交等方面的基本方针和政策。该报告在经济问题上浓墨重彩，详细分析了中国各种经济成分的状况，特别指出了中国由农业国转变为工业国、由新民主主义转变为社会主义社会的经济方针。

Among the ten parts of the report, the sixth part, which focuses on economic issues, received the most ink. What is striking is that Mao Zedong explicitly used the term “modernization” here. We must understand that modernization theory as a field of study had not yet emerged at this time, yet in this part of the report, Mao Zedong not only used the term “modernity” four times but also used the term “modernization” twice. This is sufficient to prove that in Mao Zedong’s ideological consciousness, the issue of modernization already occupied a very important position. Mao Zedong used “modernity” four times, all as an adjective for “industry,” for example: “China already has about ten percent of modern industrial economy; this is progressive, and this is different from ancient times.” [9]9 Source: This is a direct quotation from Mao Zedong’s report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, March 5, 1949. This explains most clearly that, in Mao Zedong’s intellectual horizon, the attribute of industrial economy is modernity, and the core of modernization is industrialization – a fact that has been verified by the process of human modernization.

报告十部分中着墨最多的是第六部分，也就是重点讨论经济问题的部分。令人眼前一亮的是，毛泽东在此明确使用了“现代化”一词。我们要知道，作为研究范畴的现代化理论这时还没有产生，但毛泽东在报告这一部分不仅4次使用“现代性”一词，而且2次使用“现代化”一词。这就足以证明，在毛泽东思想意识中，现代化问题已占据十分重要的地位。毛泽东4次使用“现代性”，均将其作为“工业”的形容词，如“中国已经有大约百分之十左右的现代性的工业经济，这是进步的，这是和古代不同的”。这再清晰不过地说明，在毛泽东的思想视域里，工业经济属性是现代性的，现代化核心是工业化，而这已被人类现代化的进程所验证。

In the sixth part of the report, Mao Zedong used the term “modernization” twice, expressed respectively as follows: “China still has about ninety percent of scattered, individual agricultural and handicraft economies; this is backward, and this is not much different from ancient times. We still have about ninety percent of our economic life remaining in ancient times. In ancient times there was feudal land ownership, which we have now abolished or are about to abolish. In this respect, we have already or are about to become different from ancient times, and have obtained or are about to obtain the possibility of gradually developing our agriculture and handicrafts toward modernization” [10]10 Source: Ibid.; “The scattered, individual agricultural and handicraft economies, which account for ninety percent of the total value of the national economy, can and must be guided cautiously, step by step, yet actively, toward modernization and collectivization; the view of letting them drift is wrong.” [11]11 Source: Ibid. Here, Mao Zedong clearly expressed multiple levels of his modernization theory: First, there is a distinction between “ancient” and “modern,” which is also the core connotation of later modernization theory, namely the dichotomy of “tradition” and “modernity”; second, the scattered, individual agricultural and handicraft economies are ancient and backward, and they must be developed into modern and advanced ones; third, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, China has obtained the possibility of developing this backward economy toward modernization; only by adhering to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party can the scattered individual economy be developed in the direction of collectivization; fourth, solely in terms of economic transformation, modernization equals industrialization. Mao Zedong’s second use of the term “modernization” was from a methodological perspective, that is, to “guide cautiously, step by step, yet actively” the traditional backward economy, leading it toward modernization and collectivization. Apart from sharing the common features of world modernization, Mao Zedong’s exposition also includes content such as the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and collectivization, which centrally embodies the socialist nature and national characteristics of China’s modernization. It should be said that the above content constitutes Mao Zedong’s original contribution to the theory of Chinese modernization.

在报告第六部分，毛泽东2次使用“现代化”一词，分别是这样表述的，“中国还有大约百分之九十左右的分散的个体的农业经济和手工业经济，这是落后的，这是和古代没有多大区别的，我们还有百分之九十左右的经济生活停留在古代。古代有封建的土地所有制，现在被我们废除了，或者即将被废除，在这点上，我们已经或者即将区别于古代，取得了或者即将取得使我们的农业和手工业逐步地向着现代化发展的可能性”“占国民经济总产值百分之九十的分散的个体的农业经济和手工业经济，是可能和必须谨慎地、逐步地而又积极地引导它们向着现代化和集体化的方向发展的，任其自流的观点是错误的”。在这里，毛泽东清晰地表达了其现代化理论的多个层次：第一，存在“古代”和“现代”的区别，这也是后来现代化理论的核心内涵即“传统”与“现代”的二分；第二，分散的个体的农业经济和手工业经济是古代的、落后的，必须使它们发展为现代的、先进的；第三，在中国共产党的领导下，中国有了使这种落后经济向现代化发展的可能性，只有坚持中国共产党的领导才能使分散的个体经济向集体化方向发展；第四，单就经济变革来说，现代化等于工业化。毛泽东第二次使用“现代化”一词，是从方法论角度出发，即对传统落后的经济进行“谨慎地、逐步地而又积极地引导”，使其走向现代化和集体化。毛泽东的论述除了有世界现代化的共同特征，也有中国共产党的领导、集体化等内容，这集中体现了中国现代化的社会主义性质和本国特色。应该说，上述内容就是毛泽东对中国现代化理论的原创性贡献。

In fact, Mao Zedong’s use of the term “modernization” and his creation of China’s modernization theory occurred precisely at the time when modernization theory was brewing and emerging after the end of the Second World War. Mao Zedong’s modernization thought was conceived and formed almost simultaneously with, or even earlier than, the modernization theory that many Western social science theorists pride themselves on. This fully demonstrates that modernization theory emerged in response to the call of the times, and Mao Zedong’s report was the earliest theoretical document in which the Chinese Communist Party contemplated the modernization of new China. So, what kind of era gave rise to such a document?

事实上，毛泽东使用“现代化”语词和创造中国的现代化理论正是第二次世界大战结束后现代化理论酝酿兴起之际。毛泽东的现代化思想与西方众多社会科学理论家引以为傲的现代化理论几乎同时酝酿形成，甚至更早一些。这充分表明，现代化理论是适应时代呼唤而产生的，毛泽东的报告则是中国共产党最早思考新中国现代化建设的理论文献。那么，是一个什么样的时代酝酿形成了这样的文献呢？

By relying on being the first to take the industrialization path, the Western capitalist powers established a developmental advantage and engaged in fierce power struggles globally to compete for the position of “village head of the global village.” By the 1880s, the capitalist powers had completely carved up the entire world, with vast backward regions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America reduced to colonies or semi-colonies of the developed European and American countries, serving as commodity sales markets and sources of raw materials for their industrial production. At the same time, later-developing imperialist countries such as Germany and Japan scrambled to participate in the competition, desperately plundering “territory under the sun.” From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the frenzy of the imperialist powers to redivide the world intensified, ultimately leading to the two world wars of the 20th century. Throughout this process, the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America under colonial rule never ceased their resistance and successively achieved some victories, establishing a number of independent states. Especially after the end of the Second World War, with the rapid awakening of the peoples in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, a great wave of national liberation movements began to rise. Countries that had been invaded, occupied, and controlled by imperialist powers, after protracted struggles, finally achieved national liberation, with more than 100 countries gaining independence one after another. The reason these countries were able to obtain the right to independence and autonomy was, on the one hand, because they waged arduous and extraordinary long-term struggles, and on the other hand, because the strength of imperialism was severely weakened by the war, leaving it unable to continue colonial rule in the traditional way. What development path should these newly independent countries take? This urgent question formed the immediate background for the rise of modernization theory. For the Western capitalist countries led by the United States, modernization theory was more driven by considerations of global hegemony, especially controlling developing countries; for developing countries, modernization theory used the experience of developed industrialized countries as a reference to strengthen the exploration and reflection on their own development paths.

西方资本主义列强凭借率先走上工业化道路而建立起发展优势，在全球范围展开激烈的权力角逐以争夺“地球村村长”位置。到19世纪80年代，资本主义列强已将整个世界瓜分完毕，广大亚洲、非洲和拉丁美洲落后地区沦为发达欧美国家殖民地或半殖民地，充当其工业化生产的商品销售市场和原料产地。与此同时，后起的德国和日本等帝国主义国家争先恐后地参与争夺，拼命掠夺“阳光下的地盘”。19世纪末至20世纪初，帝国主义列强重新瓜分世界的狂潮愈演愈烈，终于导致20世纪两次世界大战。在这个过程中，遭受殖民统治的亚洲、非洲和拉丁美洲人民从未停止反抗并陆续获得了一些胜利，建立了一些独立国家。特别是第二次世界大战结束后，随着亚洲、非洲和拉丁美洲地区人民迅速觉醒，民族解放运动的巨大浪潮开始兴起。遭受帝国主义国家侵略、占领和控制的国家经过长期斗争，终于取得民族解放，先后有100多个国家获得独立。这些国家之所以能获得独立自主的权利，一方面是因为开展了艰苦卓绝的长期斗争，另一方面是因为帝国主义的实力被战争严重削弱，没有能力按传统方式继续推行殖民统治。新的独立国家应该走什么样的发展道路？这个迫切的问题就是现代化理论兴起的直接背景。对以美国为首的西方资本主义国家来说，现代化理论更多出于称霸全球尤其是控制发展中国家的利益考虑；对发展中国家来说，现代化理论是以发达工业化国家的经验为参照，加强对自身发展道路的探索和思考。

Modernization theory was incubated around the 1950s, formally took shape in the 1960s, and quickly entered a research climax. In the initial system of modernization theory, modernization was completely equated with Westernization. There is no doubt that this is a typical “Western-centric” thought, and its proponents mainly came from Western countries. In this regard, Luo Rongqu, a pioneer in the study of modernization theory in China, criticized: “Up to now, whether it is modernization theory or development theory, they are both derivatives of mainstream Western social sciences, yet their main research objects are the third-world developing countries (what we often call less-developed countries) in the midst of great transformation.” This means that in Western modernization theory, researchers who lack firsthand experience often become detached from their research subjects, forming a closed loop from theory to theory.

现代化理论酝酿于20世纪50年代前后，正式形成于20世纪60年代并迅速进入研究高潮。在最初现代化理论体系中，现代化完全等于西方化。毫无疑问，这是一种典型的“西方中心论”思想，其倡导者也主要来自西方国家。对此，我国现代化理论研究的开拓者罗荣渠批评道：“迄今为止，不论是现代化理论或发展理论，都是西方主流社会科学的派生物，而其研究的主要对象，却是处在大变革过程中的第三世界发展中国家（即我们常说的欠发达国家）。”这就是说，在西方现代化理论中，没有切身感受的研究者常会脱离他的研究对象，形成从理论到理论的闭路循环。

In fact, although it is generally believed that modernization theory formally took shape in the 1960s, from the perspective of its core issues, all research after the Second World War concerning the pursuit of national independence and the exploration of development issues after independence can be regarded as research on modernization issues. A relatively typical example in this regard is India, which gained independence from British colonial rule. In 1944, Nehru, who later became Prime Minister of India, wrote *The Discovery of India* while in prison, analyzing India’s past, present, and future. This is a classic work that deeply explores India’s modernization, particularly discussing the planning of India’s industrialization. The book has a special section discussing Sino-Indian relations: “Over more than a thousand years of interaction between China and India, each has learned a great deal from the other, not only in thought and philosophy but also in art and practical science. … China has learned many things from India, but because the Chinese have always had a strong character and self-confidence, they have been able to absorb what they learned in their own way and apply it to their own system of life.” Through Nehru’s praise of China, it can be foreseen that the Chinese people would soon create a completely new model of modernization different from the Western model. After India’s independence, guided by the thought of a “new type of socialism,” Nehru prioritized the development of heavy industry and basic industries, implementing an import substitution strategy; adopting a mixed economy model dominated by the state-owned sector, striving to rapidly achieve industrial modernization. Nehru presided over the introduction of the *Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948*, using planning measures to support the process of India’s industrialization. Considering India’s situation, many leaders of newly independent countries had begun to think about issues of modernization theory quite early, and a “new type of socialism” modernization policy and measures had already appeared before the formal introduction of modernization theory.

事实上，虽然一般认为现代化理论正式形成于20世纪60年代，但从现代化理论的核心议题看，第二次世界大战后所有关于追求民族独立和探讨民族独立后的发展问题的研究，都可看作现代化问题研究。这方面较为典型的是脱离英国殖民统治而获得独立的印度。1944年，日后成为印度总理的尼赫鲁在狱中写成《印度的发现》，对印度的过去、现状和未来进行分析。这是一部对印度现代化进行深度探讨的经典著作，特别谈及对印度工业化的规划问题。书中专有一节探讨中印关系：“在千年以上的中印两国的交往中，彼此相互地学习了不少知识，这不仅在思想上和哲学上，并且在艺术上和实用科学上。……中国曾向印度学到了许多东西，可是由于中国人经常有充分的坚强性格和自信心，能以自己的方式吸取所学，并把它运用到自己的生活体系中去”。通过尼赫鲁对中国的褒扬可以预见，中国人在不久的将来会创造出一种不同于西方现代化模式的全新现代化模式。印度独立后，尼赫鲁以“新型的社会主义”思想为指导，优先发展重工业与基础工业，实施进口替代战略；采取国营经济主导下的混合经济模式，力争快速实现工业现代化。尼赫鲁主持推出《1948年工业政策决议》以计划手段为配合推进印度工业化进程。结合印度的状况看，不少新独立国家领导人很早就开始思考现代化理论问题，并且一种“新型的社会主义”的现代化政策措施早在现代化理论正式出台前就已出现。

III. Mao Zedong’s Theory of Socialist Modernization

三、毛泽东的社会主义现代化理论

Compared to Nehru’s work, the modernization theory contained in Mao Zedong’s report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC is clearer.

相较于尼赫鲁的著作，毛泽东在党的七届二中全会上的报告所包含的现代化理论更为清晰。

When the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC was convened, the Kuomintang army had not yet been completely eliminated; therefore, the first and second parts of the report mainly dealt with the issue of eliminating the remaining Kuomintang forces. However, from the perspective of modernization theory, these two parts also contain modernization thought, involving two levels: First, establishing a unified, independent, and democratic modern state is a necessary prerequisite for carrying out modernization construction. Completely eliminating the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries, who were dependent on Western imperialism, would create the basic political conditions for the modernization construction of New China. Second, the People’s Liberation Army is both a combat force and a work force. The combat force refers to “within the historical period when classes have not been eliminated domestically and the imperialist system exists in the world, our army remains a combat force”; the work force refers to the fact that, in addition to armed struggle, the People’s Liberation Army also bears the responsibility of construction, “as fighting gradually decreases, the role of the work force increases. There is a possible situation, namely, that in not too long a time, the entire People’s Liberation Army will be transformed into a work force.” The People’s Liberation Army would be transformed into a work force, undertaking the great task of modernization construction.

党的七届二中全会召开时，国民党军队还未被完全消灭，因此报告第一、二部分主要是谈消灭国民党残余力量的问题。然而，从现代化理论角度看，这两部分也包含现代化思想，涉及两个层次：一是建立一个统一、独立、民主的现代国家，这是开展现代化建设的必要前提。彻底消灭依附于西方帝国主义的国民党反动派的统治，将为新中国现代化建设创造基本政治条件。二是中国人民解放军既是战斗队也是工作队。战斗队指“在国内没有消灭阶级和世界上存在着帝国主义制度的历史时期内，我们的军队还是一个战斗队”；工作队指除了武装斗争，中国人民解放军还承担着建设责任，“随着战斗的逐步地减少，工作队的作用就增加了。有一种可能的情况，即在不要很久的时间之内，将要使人民解放军全部地转化为工作队”。中国人民解放军将转化为工作队，承担起现代化建设的伟大任务。

The modernization theory proposed in the report of the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC contains four levels.

党的七届二中全会报告提出的现代化理论包含四个层次。

Mao Zedong had a clear understanding of the development stage China was in at that time. He pointed out the basic situation of China’s social economy before the War of Resistance Against Japan: modern industry accounted for about 10%, while agriculture and handicrafts accounted for about 90%. Mao Zedong specifically pointed out that industry is modern and progressive, while correspondingly, agriculture and handicrafts are “ancient” and “backward.” This thought aligns with the division between “tradition” and “modernity” in modernization theory. In fact, due to the destruction caused by prolonged warfare, compared with the highest historical levels, China’s total industrial output value in 1949 had decreased by half, grain production had fallen by about 25%, and cotton production had fallen by about 48%. From an economic perspective, China in 1949 exhibited the typical characteristics of a traditional agricultural society in modernization theory—it was precisely on this socio-economic foundation that the Chinese Communists would unite and lead the Chinese people to embark on socialist modernization construction.

毛泽东对中国当时所处的发展阶段有着清晰认识，他指出抗日战争以前中国社会经济的基本状况：现代性的工业约占10%左右，农业和手工业约占90%左右。毛泽东特别指出，工业是现代性的、进步的，与之对应，农业和手工业则是“古代”的、“落后”的，这一思想与现代化理论中“传统”与“现代”的划分相契合。实际上，由于长期战乱破坏，与历史上的最高水平相比，我国1949年工业总产值减少了一半，粮食减产了约25%，棉花减产了约48%。从经济状况看，1949年的中国具有现代化理论中传统农业社会的典型特征——正是在这样一个社会经济基础之上，中国共产党人将团结带领中国人民开启社会主义现代化建设。

If “from tradition to modernity” is the first level, then “from the countryside to the city” is the second level. China developed from a traditional agricultural society, with the vast majority of its population living in the countryside, while one important aspect of modernization is the shift from a traditional rural society to a modern urban society – this signals the heavy and arduous nature of China’s modernization construction tasks. Looking at the laws of industrial development, initial industrial production is generally concentrated in densely populated urban areas; therefore, one of the core manifestations of the modernization process is the shift of the center of gravity of social development from the countryside to the city. After discussing the war situation, Mao Zedong quickly turned to this issue in the third and fourth parts of the report. He acutely perceived that the moment for a historic shift in the work focus of the Communist Party of China had arrived: “From now on, the period of moving from the city to the countryside and of the city leading the countryside has begun. The Party’s work focus has shifted from the countryside to the city.” This was both a declaration of revolutionary victory and a declaration of the large-scale launch of modernization construction. If the Communist Party of China was to carry out modernization construction in China, it had first to emerge from the countryside, enter the cities, and carry out city-centered industrialization. Mao Zedong was soberly aware of this. The elaboration on the shift in the Party’s work focus precisely reflects, from one side, Mao Zedong’s theory of modernization.

如果说“从传统到现代”是第一个层次，那么“从农村到城市”就是第二个层次。中国从传统农业社会发展而来，绝大部分人口生活在农村，而现代化的一个重要方面是从传统乡村社会转向现代都市社会，这昭示着中国现代化建设任务的繁重艰巨。从工业发展规律来看，最初的工业生产一般都集中于人口密集的城市地区，因此，现代化过程核心表现之一就是社会发展重心从农村转向城市。在谈过战争形势之后，毛泽东在报告第三、四部分迅速转向这一问题。他敏锐意识到，中国共产党的工作重心发生历史性转变的时刻已经来了，“从现在起，开始了由城市到乡村并由城市领导乡村的时期。党的工作重心由乡村移到了城市”。这既是对革命胜利的宣誓，也是对接下来大规模开展现代化建设的宣誓。中国共产党要想在中国开展现代化建设，就必须首先从农村中走出来，进入城市，开展以城市为中心的工业化建设。毛泽东清醒地认识到这一点。关于党的工作重心转移的阐述，正从侧面集中体现着毛泽东的现代化理论。

Next, Mao Zedong concretely laid out urban work. First, given the overall situation at the time, the Communist Party of China had to stabilize its leadership over the cities and transform the relations of production and social relations that existed in reality and fettered the development of the productive forces – this was also the prerequisite for further modernization construction. To stabilize leadership over the cities in order to manage and build them, it was first necessary to confront the reactionary forces in the cities, including the Kuomintang reactionaries and the diehard bourgeois elements. These people would never voluntarily give up their vested interests in the cities; therefore, political, economic, and cultural struggles had to be waged against them. In addition, diplomatic struggles had to be waged against the imperialists. The report made very clear what forces should be relied upon in these various struggles: “We must wholeheartedly rely on the working class, unite with the other working masses, win over the intellectuals, and win over as many as possible of the national bourgeois elements and their representatives who can cooperate with us, so that they stand on our side or remain neutral, in order to wage a resolute struggle against the imperialists, the Kuomintang, and the bureaucratic bourgeoisie.” Having defeated the enemy with guns, it was also necessary to wage a long-term, hidden struggle against the enemy without guns; only thus could the proletarian regime be stabilized and the victory of the revolution be safeguarded. Next, Mao Zedong laid out a detailed plan for socialist modernization centered on urban construction; this can be regarded as the third level of Mao Zedong’s theoretical thought on modernization.

接下来，毛泽东具体布置了城市工作。首先，鉴于当时的总局势，中国共产党必须稳固对于城市的领导，改造现实中存在的束缚生产力发展的生产关系和社会关系，而这也是进一步开展现代化建设的前提。要稳固对城市的领导以管理和建设城市，首先就得面对城市中的反动势力，包括国民党反动派和资产阶级顽固分子。这些人绝不会自动放弃在城市中的既得利益，因此，要与他们展开政治、经济和文化层面的斗争。此外，还要与帝国主义者作外交方面的斗争。对于在各种斗争中应依靠什么力量，报告说得很清楚，“必须全心全意地依靠工人阶级，团结其他劳动群众，争取知识分子，争取尽可能多的能够同我们合作的民族资产阶级分子及其代表人物站在我们方面，或者使他们保持中立，以便向帝国主义者、国民党、官僚资产阶级作坚决的斗争”。战胜了拿枪的敌人，还要同不拿枪的敌人做长期的隐蔽斗争，唯此才能稳固无产阶级政权，捍卫革命的胜利。接下来，毛泽东展示了一套以城市建设为中心的社会主义现代化建设详尽方案，这可视为毛泽东的现代化理论思想第三层次。

From the moment of taking over the cities, restoring urban production and construction became the central task, and all other urban work had to revolve around this central task. Making the restoration of production and the development of the productive forces the central task was both a manifestation of dialectical materialism and a requirement of modernization construction. Mao Zedong concretely planned the order for managing and restoring production: first, the production of state-owned industry; second, the production of private industry; third, handicraft production. Placing state-owned industry first reflected two aspects of Mao Zedong’s thought on modernization construction: first, China was taking the path of socialist modernization construction that learned from the Soviet Union, not any kind of path, especially not the Western capitalist modernization path – this determined that, in the process of developing and restoring the economy, state-owned industry had to occupy a priority and dominant position; second, industrial production had to be placed first, and as the modernization process deepened, handicraft production, which had a transitional character, would inevitably be transformed by large-scale industrial production.

从接管城市起，恢复城市的生产建设就成为中心任务，其他城市工作都要围绕这个中心任务开展。把恢复生产、发展生产力作为中心任务，这既是辩证唯物主义思想的体现，也是现代化建设的要求。毛泽东具体规划了管理恢复生产的顺序：第一是国营工业的生产，第二是私营工业的生产，第三是手工业生产。把国营工业放在第一位，这体现了毛泽东两方面的现代化建设思想：一是中国走的是向苏联学习的社会主义现代化建设道路，而非任何一种特别是西方资本主义现代化建设道路，这就决定了，在发展和恢复经济过程中，国营工业须占优先、优势地位；二是必须把工业生产放在第一位，随着现代化进程深入，具有过渡性质的手工业生产必将受到大工业生产改造。

To accomplish the task of restoring and developing urban production, Mao Zedong called on Chinese Communists to make great efforts to learn production technology and methods of production management, and also to learn commercial work, banking work, and other work closely related to production. This was also a concrete manifestation of Mao Zedong’s implementation of systems theory thought in economic modernization construction. The modernization process of advanced countries shows that the production sphere, the commercial sphere, and the banking and financial sphere form an organic unity, requiring mutual coordination and coordinated development; otherwise, the sustained development of any single sphere alone is impossible. Therefore, to develop production, it was necessary to learn commercial work and banking work. Mao Zedong’s encouragement of Chinese Communists to learn production technology reflected his emphasis on the development of science and technology. As is well known, the revolutionary development of science and technology is the precursor of the modern industrial revolution; especially since the Second Industrial Revolution, scientific and technological inventions have been seamlessly linked to industrial development. It can be said that whichever country takes the lead in science and technology occupies the commanding heights in the competition of industrial economic development. Although China’s science and technology were not advanced at the time, Mao Zedong deeply understood that the main characteristic of modern society is the high development of science and technology. In 1937, in “On Practice,” Mao Zedong had already spoken of “ancient times when technology was undeveloped” and “modern times when technology is developed.” He clearly knew that China’s level of science and technology was very backward; therefore, he called on Communists to study and delve into technology, with the aim of advancing China’s science and technology and production development. In the fifth part of the report, based on long-term considerations, Mao Zedong emphasized the need to restore and develop cultural and educational undertakings while restoring and developing production. This fully shows the important position of cultural and educational undertakings in Mao Zedong’s mind. Mao Zedong also called on Chinese Communists to learn methods of managing production; this meant, on the one hand, indicating that the Communist Party had to assume the responsibility for managing production, and on the other hand, demanding the rapid development of urban production, because only with excellent managers could the rapid development of production be ensured.

为完成恢复和发展城市生产的任务，毛泽东号召中国共产党人用极大的努力去学习生产技术和管理生产方法，还要学习同生产有密切联系的商业工作、银行工作和其他工作。这也是毛泽东将系统论思想贯彻于经济现代化建设的具体体现。先进国家的现代化过程显示，生产领域与商业领域、银行金融领域是一个有机统一体，需要相互配合、协调发展，否则单独某一个领域的持续发展是不可能的。因此，要发展生产，就要学习商业工作和银行工作。毛泽东鼓励中国共产党人学习生产技术，体现了他对发展科学技术的重视。众所周知，科学技术的革命性发展是现代工业革命的先导，特别是自第二次工业革命以来，科学技术发明与工业发展无缝衔接，可以说哪个国家在科学技术上领先，哪个国家在工业经济发展竞赛中就占据了制高点。虽然当时中国的科学技术并不发达，但毛泽东深知现代社会的主要特征是科学技术高度发达。1937年，毛泽东于《实践论》中就谈到“技术不发达的古代”和“技术发达的现代”，他清楚地知道中国科学技术水平十分落后，因此，他号召共产党人去学习和钻研技术，目的是推进中国的科学技术与生产发展。在报告第五部分，毛泽东基于长远考虑，强调要在恢复和发展生产的同时恢复和发展文化教育事业。这足以看出，文化教育事业在毛泽东心目中的重要地位。毛泽东还号召中国共产党人去学习管理生产的方法，这一来是指明共产党要承担起管理生产的责任，二来则是要求迅速发展城市生产，因为只有拥有了优秀的管理者，才能确保生产迅速发展。

Calling on Chinese Communists to learn production technology and methods of production management constitutes the fourth level of Mao Zedong’s theory of modernization. The fourth level is based on the first three levels and, at the same time, stands above them, playing a commanding role. The commanders are the Chinese Communists who master technology and management methods; this embodies the most essential characteristic of China’s modernization – China’s modernization is a socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China.

号召中国共产党人学习生产技术和管理生产的方法，这是毛泽东现代化理论第四个层次。第四个层次以前三个层次为基础，又居于前三个层次之上，起着统领作用。统领者则是掌握技术和管理方法的中国共产党人，这就体现出中国现代化最本质特征——中国的现代化是中国共产党领导的社会主义现代化。

In the report, Mao Zedong also raised the purpose of production: “If we are ignorant in production work, cannot quickly learn production work, cannot restore and develop production undertakings as rapidly as possible and achieve solid results, first improve the lives of the workers and improve the lives of the common people generally, then we will not be able to maintain political power, we will not be able to stand on our feet, and we will fail.” At that time, the People’s Liberation Army was still engaged in fierce battles with the Kuomintang army, and the Communist Party of China had not yet gained national political power; therefore, Mao Zedong only discussed the purpose of production based on the short period of restoring and developing production. Even so, we can clearly see from this his clear understanding of this issue: the primary purpose of production is to improve the lives of the proletariat and the broad masses of working people; the stability of the proletarian regime is closely related to the improvement of the living standards of the working people, and the improvement of the living standards of the broad masses of working people is the foundation and guarantee for the continued stability of the Communist Party regime.

在报告中，毛泽东还提出了生产的目的：“如果我们在生产工作上无知，不能很快地学会生产工作，不能使生产事业尽可能迅速地恢复和发展，获得确实的成绩，首先使工人生活有所改善，并使一般人民的生活有所改善，那我们就不能维持政权，我们就会站不住脚，我们就会要失败。”当时，中国人民解放军还在与国民党军队激烈战斗，中国共产党尚未获得全国政权，因此，毛泽东只立足于恢复和发展生产的短时期来谈论生产目的。即便如此，我们从中也可清晰看到他对这个问题的明确认知：生产的首要目的就是改善无产阶级和广大劳动人民的生活；无产阶级政权的稳固与劳动人民生活水平的提高密切相关，广大劳动人民生活水平的提高，是共产党政权持续稳固的基础和保障。

IV. Preliminary Measures for the Communist Party of China to Lead Modernization Construction

四、中国共产党领导开展现代化建设的初步措施

The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasizes: “We must uphold the Party’s leadership over all areas and all aspects of Party and state endeavors, so that the Party always remains the most reliable backbone of the entire people in times of storm and stress, ensures the correct orientation of China’s socialist modernization, and guarantees the strong political cohesion and developmental confidence born of unity, gathering together a mighty force of millions united in heart and mind to overcome all difficulties.” [1]1 The Liaoshen, Huaihai, and Pingjin Campaigns (September 1948 – January 1949) were the three decisive military campaigns of the Chinese Civil War, in which the People’s Liberation Army defeated the main forces of the Kuomintang in Northeast, East, and North China respectively. That the Communist Party of China leads China’s socialist modernization was clearly expressed by Mao Zedong in his report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC and was established in the form of a plenary document; at the same time, it was determined that the state power of the people’s republic under the leadership of the working class must be continuously strengthened after the victory of the people’s democratic revolution. The people’s army led by the Communist Party of China first drove out the Japanese imperialist invaders, then fought a life-and-death struggle with the Kuomintang reactionaries and was about to achieve total victory; therefore, at the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC, the Communist Party of China could confidently proclaim its leading position. Mao Zedong, combining the fact that at that time China had about 10 percent modern industry and the proletariat and its party, emphatically pointed out: “The proletariat and its party, having been tempered by the oppression of several enemies, are qualified to lead the Chinese people in the revolution.” [2]2 Xibaipo was the location of the CPC Central Committee from May 1948 to March 1949, from which the final stages of the Civil War were directed. The Soviet guest was Anastas Mikoyan, a Politburo member sent by Stalin to meet Mao Zedong. This also determined that in the future modernization of New China, the Communist Party of China would play an unquestionably leading role. Precisely because of the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the upcoming Chinese modernization would acquire the basic attribute of being “Chinese-path.” Mao Zedong also laid out some specific tasks under Party leadership at that time: “Now, for the first time, a Political Consultative Conference under the leadership of our Party is about to be convened, a democratic coalition government is about to be established, and the revolution is about to achieve nationwide victory…” [3]3 The Sixth National Congress of the CPC was held in Moscow in 1928 because the Kuomintang’s White Terror made a safe venue inside China impossible. Combining the domestic policy of controlling capital and the foreign policy of controlling foreign trade, Mao Zedong pointed out that the state power led by the Communist Party of China must be continuously strengthened in handling the contradictions between the working class and the bourgeoisie at home and between China and the imperialist countries abroad; only then could the policy of controlling foreign trade be implemented, an independent industrial system be established domestically, and the transformation from a backward agricultural country to an advanced industrial country be achieved.

党的二十大报告强调：“把党的领导落实到党和国家事业各领域各方面各环节，使党始终成为风雨来袭时全体人民最可靠的主心骨，确保我国社会主义现代化建设正确方向，确保拥有团结奋斗的强大政治凝聚力、发展自信心，集聚起万众一心、共克时艰的磅礴力量。”中国共产党领导中国的社会主义现代化建设，这是毛泽东在党的七届二中全会报告中明确表达的，以全会文件的形式确定了下来；同时确定，工人阶级领导的人民共和国国家政权，在人民民主革命胜利后必须不断强化。中国共产党领导的人民军队先是赶走了日本帝国主义入侵，之后又与国民党反动派殊死搏斗并即将取得全面胜利，因此在党的七届二中上，中国共产党可以满怀信心地宣告自己的领导地位。毛泽东结合当时中国有10%左右的现代性工业和无产阶级及其政党这一事实，强调指出：“无产阶级及其政党，由于受到几重敌人的压迫，得到了锻炼，具有了领导中国人民革命的资格。”这也就确定了，在未来新中国的现代化建设中，中国共产党也起着当之无愧的领导作用。正因有中国共产党的领导，即将到来的中国现代化建设才具有了“中国式”基本属性。毛泽东还布置了党领导下当前一些具体工作：“现在中国第一次在我党领导之下的政治协商会议即将召开，民主联合政府即将成立，革命即将在全国胜利……”结合对内的节制资本和对外的统制贸易，毛泽东指出，中国共产党领导的国家政权，必须在处理国内工人阶级与资产阶级的矛盾、国外的中国和帝国主义国家的矛盾中不断强化，如此才能实现对外贸易中的统制政策，才能在国内建立独立工业体系，实现落后农业国向先进工业国转变。

Mao Zedong also elaborated on a series of specific economic policies. He pointed out that in the process of economic transformation, different policies should be adopted for different economic sectors. For large-scale industry, about 10 percent of modern large-scale industrial capital was highly concentrated in the hands of imperialism and the bureaucratic bourgeoisie; it was necessary to “confiscate this capital and turn it over to the people’s republic led by the proletariat, so that the people’s republic will control the economic lifelines of the country and make the state-owned economy the leading sector of the entire national economy. This part of the economy is socialist in nature.” [4]4 Mao Zedong’s planned visit to Stalin in 1947 did not take place; he eventually visited Moscow in December 1949 – February 1950. This kind of revolution at the level of ownership was also a necessary prerequisite for carrying out socialist modernization. Moreover, Mao Zedong determined that the state-owned economy of advanced large-scale industry was socialist in nature and was the leading sector of the entire national economy. This was not only a clear positioning of the state-owned economy but also a basic definition of the economic attribute of Chinese modernization – socialist nature and the leading position of the state-owned economy. China’s private capitalist industry had long been oppressed or restricted by imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism; for a considerable period after the victory of the revolution, its existence should be permitted and the initiative of urban and rural private capitalism should be utilized as much as possible. Developing the private capitalist economy could promote the development of the national economy to a certain extent, but it could not be allowed to grow freely; rather, it had to be restricted and guided, so that it would exist within the track of New China’s economic policies and economic plans, benefiting the construction of a socialist society and the interests of the broad working masses. “Controlling capital” and establishing socialist public ownership of the means of production – these are precisely the important distinctions between socialist modernization and capitalist modernization, and also the concentrated embodiment of Chinese-path modernization.

毛泽东还就一系列具体经济政策展开了说明。他指出，在经济变革过程中，对不同的经济成分应采取不同的政策。对大工业来说，10%左右现代性的大工业资本高度集中在帝国主义和官僚资产阶级手中，必须“没收这些资本归无产阶级领导的人民共和国所有，就使人民共和国掌握了国家的经济命脉，使国营经济成为整个国民经济的领导成分。这一部分经济，是社会主义性质的经济”。这种所有制层面的革命，也是开展社会主义现代化建设的必要前提。而且，毛泽东确定了先进大工业的国有经济具有社会主义性质，是整个国民经济的领导成分。这既是对国有经济的明确定位，也是对中国现代化经济属性的基本界定——社会主义性质和国有经济的领导地位。中国的私人资本主义工业长期受帝国主义、封建主义和官僚资本主义压迫或限制，在革命胜利后一个相当长时期内要允许其存在并尽可能地利用城乡私人资本主义的积极性。发展私人资本主义经济可以一定程度推动国民经济发展，但不能任由其自由生长，而是要进行限制和引导，使其在新中国经济政策和经济计划轨道内存在，有利于社会主义社会建设和广大劳动者的利益。“节制资本”，建立社会主义生产资料公有制，这正是社会主义现代化与资本主义现代化的重要区别，也是中国式现代化的集中体现。

The land issue is the most fundamental issue in an agricultural society. On this, Mao Zedong analyzed with a modernization perspective: the ancient-style feudal land ownership system had been or was being abolished, “On this point, we have already or are about to become different from ancient times, and have obtained or are about to obtain the possibility of gradually moving our agriculture and handicraft industry toward modernization.” [5]5 Mikoyan: Anastas Mikoyan, a senior Soviet politician and Politburo member, visited the CPC’s headquarters at Xibaipo in early 1949 to discuss post-war cooperation. Regarding the 90 percent or so of the agricultural and handicraft economy, Mao Zedong said: “It is possible and necessary to guide them cautiously, step by step, and yet actively toward the direction of modernization and collectivization; the view of letting them drift is erroneous.” [6]6 Source: The quotation is from Mao Zedong’s talks with Mikoyan, as recorded in Chinese historical archives. Specifically, various types of cooperatives – producers’, consumers’, and credit cooperatives – should be organized to guide them into the collective economy of cooperatives, gradually shifting from an individual economy to collectivization, that is, from a New Democratic economy to a socialist social economy.

土地问题是农业社会的最基本问题，对此，毛泽东以现代化的思路分析，古代性质的封建土地所有制已经或者正在被废除，“在这点上，我们已经或者即将区别于古代，取得了或者即将取得使我们的农业和手工业逐步地向着现代化发展的可能性”。对于90%左右的农业和手工业经济，毛泽东说：“是可能和必须谨慎地、逐步地而又积极地引导它们向着现代化和集体化的方向发展的，任其自流的观点是错误的。”具体而言，组织生产的、消费的和信用的各种合作社，引导他们进入合作社的集体经济，由个体经济逐步向集体化转变，也就是由新民主主义经济向社会主义社会经济转变。

In foreign trade, New China implemented a policy of controlling foreign trade and did not refuse to do business with foreign countries – doing business first and foremost with socialist countries and people’s democratic countries as much as possible, but also doing business with capitalist countries. However, the prerequisite for doing business had to be mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit. The era when imperialism exercised political, economic, and cultural control over China was gone forever.

在对外贸易上，新中国实行统制对外贸易的政策，不拒绝与外国做生意——尽可能首先同社会主义国家和人民民主国家做生意，但也同资本主义国家做生意。但是，做生意的前提必须是相互尊重、平等互利。帝国主义对中国进行政治、经济、文化控制的时代一去不复返。

The Chinese revolutionary road that came from history and the path of Chinese modernization designed by Mao Zedong embody the socialist and Chinese-path characteristics and nature of modernization, different from Western capitalist modernization. The socialist modernization construction carried out according to the modernization plan designed by Mao Zedong in his report would bear abundant fruit in New China.

从历史中走来的中国革命道路和毛泽东设计的中国现代化建设道路，体现着不同于西方资本主义现代化的社会主义的、中国式的现代化特征和性质。按照毛泽东在报告中设计的现代化方案所开展的社会主义现代化建设，将在新中国结出累累硕果。

Mao Zedong was full of confidence in China’s modernization. He pointed out in his report: “After the victory of the revolution, we must rapidly restore and develop production, deal with foreign imperialism, and steadily transform China from an agricultural country into an industrial country, building China into a great socialist country.” [7]7 Kovalyov: Ivan Kovalyov, a Soviet railway expert and former Minister of Transport, led a team to assist in restoring railways in China’s Northeast in late 1948. “Rapidly restoring and developing production” was an urgent construction task that the newborn people’s political power had to undertake to meet the needs of the country and the people. Post-war modernization theory was formed under the topic of discussing the restoration and development of production in newborn countries. “Transforming from an agricultural country into an industrial country” grasped the essence of a country’s modernization, that is, industrialization is the core of modernization; building a great socialist country defined the nature of China’s modernization – not Western-style capitalist modernization, but Chinese-path socialist modernization. The soon-to-be-established New China existed in a context where “the entire imperialist system was greatly weakened after World War II, and the strength of the world anti-imperialist front led by the Soviet Union had grown unprecedentedly.” [8]8 Source: The quotation is from Mao Zedong’s remarks during the talks with Mikoyan, as documented in Party historical materials. Against this international background, New China would implement an independent foreign policy, stand on the side of the anti-imperialist camp, and eliminate all imperialist forces within the country. These were the diplomatic principles later called “leaning to one side” and “sweeping the house clean before inviting guests.” [9]9 Source: This is a direct quotation from Mao Zedong’s report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, March 5, 1949. On this basis, Mao Zedong proudly declared that the Chinese people had from then on “stood up!” [10]10 Source: Ibid. Following this historical trajectory, Xi Jinping, with the grand vision of realizing the great rejuvenation

对于中国的现代化建设，毛泽东满怀信心。他在报告中指出：“在革命胜利以后，迅速地恢复和发展生产，对付国外的帝国主义，使中国稳步地由农业国转变为工业国，把中国建设成一个伟大的社会主义国家。”“迅速地恢复和发展生产”是新生的人民政权为满足国家和人民的需要必须开展的急迫建设任务。战后现代化理论是在讨论新生国家恢复和发展生产话题下形成的。“由农业国转变为工业国”，抓住了一个国家现代化的根本，也就是工业化是现代化的核心；建设成伟大的社会主义国家则规定了中国现代化的性质，不是西方式的资本主义现代化，而是中国式的社会主义现代化。即将成立的新中国，在“整个帝国主义制度在第二次世界大战以后是大大地削弱了，以苏联为首的世界反帝国主义阵线的力量是空前地增长了”。在这一国际背景下，新中国将实行独立自主的外交政策，站在反对帝国主义阵营一边，清除国内的一切帝国主义势力。这就是后来称为“一边倒”“打扫干净屋子再请客”的外交方针。在此基础上，毛泽东自豪地宣布，中国人民从此“站立起来了”！循着这一历史足迹，习近平以实现中华民族伟大复兴的宏大视野提出了“站起来、富起来、强起来”系列思想，“以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴”，在党的二十大报告中被确定为中国共产党的中心任务。

The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC was a meeting of great significance in the history of the Communist Party of China. In his concluding remarks at this session, Mao Zedong pointed out: “This Second Plenary Session, by its nature, is a Party congress; however, this form of a plenary session of the Central Committee allows for more thorough discussion of issues and solves problems better than a congress of one or two thousand people.” [17]17 The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC was held in Xibaipo, Hebei Province, from March 5 to 13, 1949, on the eve of the nationwide victory of the Chinese Civil War. It set the Party’s policy for shifting the focus from rural to urban areas and from military struggle to economic construction. As late as 1953, Mao was still evaluating the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee: “Regarding the assessment of this session, the inspection of the Central Committee’s work achieved unanimous opinions and decided on issues; it was the first of its kind since the Seventh National Congress, a session of the nature of a representative congress.” [18]18 The Seventh National Congress of the CPC was held in Yan’an from April to June 1945, which established Mao Zedong Thought as the Party’s guiding ideology and elected a new Central Committee. The successful convening of the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee prepared the Party politically, ideologically, and theoretically for seizing nationwide victory at a critical historical juncture and for building a new China. Mao’s report determined the nature of China’s modernization, set the direction for the modernization of the new China, and served as a solemn declaration for launching China’s modernization, heralding the beginning of large-scale modernization in China. Therefore, it is entirely fair to say that Mao Zedong’s report to the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC was the political declaration that launched the journey of China’s modernization!

党的七届二中全会是中国共产党历史上一次意义重大的会议，毛泽东在本次会议上做总结时指出：“这次二中全会，按其性质来说就是一次党的代表会议，不过，这种中央全会的形式更可以充分讨论问题，较之一两千人的大会解决问题更好些。”直到1953年，毛泽东还在评价党的七届二中全会，“关于此次会议的估计，检查中央的工作，获得了一致的意见，决定了问题，七大以来的首次，是代表会议性质的会议”。党的七届二中全会的胜利召开，为党在历史重要关头夺取全国胜利和建设新中国做好了政治、思想和理论上的准备。毛泽东的报告确定了中国现代化的性质，确定了新中国现代化建设的方向，是一份开展中国现代化建设的郑重宣言，预示着中国大规模现代化建设的开端。因此，完全可以说，毛泽东在党的七届二中全会上的报告就是开启中国现代化建设征程的政治宣言！

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧