A Multi-Dimensional Examination of the Construction of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

The Communist Party of China, leading the Chinese people on the basis of China’s specific national conditions, inheriting its historical lineage, and carrying out independent exploration through long-term practice, has initiated and expanded Chinese-path modernization, found the necessary path for building a strong country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and created a new form of human civilization. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has continuously deepened its theoretical understanding of the Chinese characteristics, essential requirements, and major principles of Chinese-path modernization, “initially constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization, making Chinese-path modernization clearer, more scientific, and more tangible and feasible.” [1]1 This quotation is from the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC (October 2022). The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, [2]2 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024. based on a new historical starting point and central tasks, made an important decision to further deepen reform comprehensively and advance Chinese-path modernization, outlined a grand blueprint for achieving socialist modernization through further comprehensive deepening of reform, and deepened the understanding of the laws governing modernization. To more deeply promote further comprehensive deepening of reform and advance the process of Chinese-path modernization, it is necessary to systematically construct and innovate the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization from the multi-dimensional perspectives of history and reality, theory and practice, and China and the world. This is a theoretical requirement for summarizing the CPC’s experience in leading China’s socialist modernization, a practical need for pioneering and innovating the path of Chinese-path modernization, and an academic mission that Chinese philosophy and social science workers must undertake in developing world modernization theory.

中国共产党带领中国人民基于中国具体国情，承续历史文脉，进行独立自主的探索，历经长期实践，开创并拓展了中国式现代化，找到了强国建设与民族复兴伟业的必由之路，创造了人类文明新形态。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央不断深化对中国式现代化的中国特色、本质要求和重大原则的理论认知，“初步构建中国式现代化的理论体系，使中国式现代化更加清晰、更加科学、更加可感可行”。党的二十届三中全会立足新的历史起点和中心任务作出了进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的重要决定，擘画了通过进一步全面深化改革实现社会主义现代化的宏伟蓝图，深化了对现代化建设规律的认识。为更深入地推动进一步全面深化改革，推进中国式现代化进程，需要从历史与现实、理论与实践、中国与世界的多维视域，系统构建并创新中国式现代化理论体系。这是总结中国共产党领导中国的社会主义现代化建设经验的理论要求，是推进中国式现代化道路拓新的实践需要，也是中国哲学社会科学工作者发展世界现代化理论必须承担的学术使命。

I. The Theoretical Support and Thinking Paradigm of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

一、中国式现代化理论体系的学理支撑与思维范式

Clarifying the theoretical support and thinking paradigm of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is the foundational project for constructing this theoretical system. The construction of any theoretical system must first descend into the depths of the mode of thinking embedded within that theory, use the unique premise-reflective function of philosophy to clarify the “thought terrain” associated with it, and thereby manifest its own theoretical structure. The construction of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is no exception. It needs to unfold its own theoretical imagination in the critical reflection on Western modernization theory and its historical limitations, and, amid the collision among the virtue thought of Chinese philosophy, the rational spirit of Western philosophy, and the practical character of Marxist philosophy, pour the philosophical foundation of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization with an independent and self-reliant academic posture, achieving a transcendence of the Western modernization theoretical paradigm through a qualitative transformation in the mode of thinking.

明晰中国式现代化理论体系的学理支撑与思维范式，是构建中国式现代化理论体系的基础工程。一种理论体系的构建需要首先下沉到该理论所内嵌的思维方式深处，以哲学所独具的前提性反思功能廓清与之关联的“思想地形”，进而彰显其自身的学理结构。中国式现代化理论体系的构建亦不例外，需要在批判反思西方现代化理论及其历史局限性中绽放自己的理论想象，在中国哲学的德性思想、西方哲学的理性精神和马克思主义哲学的实践品格三者的碰撞中，以自主自立的学术姿态，浇筑中国式现代化理论体系的哲学地基，在思维方式的质性转变中实现对西方现代化理论范式的超越。

(A) Critical Reflection on Western Modernization Theory

（一）批判反思西方现代化理论

The formation of Western modernization theory was not accidental. It took the rational spirit advocated by the Enlightenment as its ideological source, the industrial and political revolutions in Britain and France as its secular foundation, was gradually nurtured, and flourished in the specific social and historical context after World War II. In this process, the United States, riding the wave of the Second Industrial Revolution, quickly became the leader of capitalist countries after World War II. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, played an important role in the international communist movement, promoting the birth of a number of new socialist countries. Facing the vigorous development of the world socialist movement, the United States used economic aid to showcase the charm of capitalism with its first-mover advantage, and attempted, under the auspices of global economic institutions such as the World Bank, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (later the World Trade Organization), and the International Monetary Fund, to promote Western-style liberal democracy and market economy as the political systems and economic systems that all humanity should universally pursue, turning the Western path of modernization into a template that many developing countries had to learn from to achieve their own modernization.

西方现代化理论的形成并非偶然，它以启蒙运动倡导的理性精神为思想原力，以英国、法国的工业革命和政治革命为世俗基础，逐步被孕育出来，并在第二次世界大战后的特定社会历史情境中蔚为大观。在此进程中，搭乘第二次工业革命顺风车的美国在第二次世界大战后迅速成为资本主义国家的领袖。苏联则在国际共产主义运动中发挥了重要作用，推动了一批崭新的社会主义国家的诞生。面对世界社会主义运动的蓬勃发展，美国曾以经济援助的方式，以先发优势展现资本主义魅力，并企图在世界银行、关税与贸易总协定（即后来的世界贸易组织）、国际货币基金组织等全球经济机构的庇护下，把西式的自由民主和市场经济作为全人类应普遍追求的政治制度和经济体制加以推广，将西方现代化道路打造成许多发展中国家实现自身现代化不得不学习的模板。

But in essence, Western modernization theory is an ideological apparatus serving the post-World War II Western capitalist political and economic framework. First, Western modernization theory sets its theoretical agenda within the binary opposition of tradition and modernity. However, “tradition” and “modernity” in a broad sense are simple abstractions lacking specific spatiotemporal orientation and historical content. When used to address the modernization problems of different countries and nations, they inevitably fall into the predicament of historical nihilism due to their either/or nature and ahistoricity. [3]3 Historical nihilism (历史虚无主义) is a term used in CPC discourse to criticize approaches that deny the progressive, revolutionary character of Chinese history under CPC leadership, often by focusing on negative episodes or questioning official narratives. Second, Western modernization theory adheres to a “unilinear evolution” model within the myth of “modernization = Westernization.” Western modernization theory attempts to generalize the particular path of Western modernization into a universal one, fictionalizing Western modernization as a model that all countries should emulate. Finally, Western modernization theory overemphasizes endogenous factors, deliberately avoiding the basic historical fact that Western countries occupied a developmental head start, engaged in primitive accumulation, and carried out colonial expansion. Instead, it vigorously attributes the failure of developing countries to achieve modernization to traditional factors within their own societies.

但就其本质而言，西方现代化理论是服务于二战后西方资本主义政治经济框架体系的意识形态装置。首先，西方现代化理论在传统与现代的二元对立中设置理论议程。但是，宽泛意义上的传统和现代是缺乏具体时空指向和历史内容的简单抽象，当它被用以解决不同国家和民族的现代化问题时，必然会因为非此即彼和超历史性而不可避免地陷入历史虚无主义困境。其次，西方现代化理论在“现代化=西方化”的迷思中坚持“单线进化”模式。西方现代化理论试图将西方实现现代化的特殊道路一般化，把西方现代化虚构为一切国家都应效仿的范例。最后，西方现代化理论过度强调内源性因素，对西方国家占据发展先机、进行原始积累和殖民扩张这一基本历史事实避而不谈，而是极力把发展中国家未能实现现代化归咎于其社会内部的传统因素。

Western modernization gradually alienates people into slaves of instrumental rationality, leading to “the nothingness of existence,” “the loss of value,” “the forfeiture of freedom,” and “the decline of democracy.” These drawbacks have triggered profound reflection and fierce criticism of Western modernization theory from the Frankfurt School, Western Marxism, dependency theory, world-systems theory, and postmodernism. In the process of constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization, reflection on and criticism of the ideological biases of Western modernization theory should be deepened, and vigilance and precaution against the various discursive traps embedded within it should be further strengthened.

西方现代化使人逐渐异化为工具理性的奴隶，导致“存在的虚无”“价值的迷失”“自由的沦丧”和“民主的式微”。这些弊端引发了法兰克福学派、西方马克思主义、依附理论、世界体系理论和后现代主义等对西方现代化理论的深刻反思和激烈批判。在构建中国式现代化理论体系的过程中，应加深对西方现代化理论意识形态偏见的反思和批判，进一步加强对其中内嵌的各种话语陷阱的警觉和提防。

(B) The Philosophical Foundation of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

（二）中国式现代化理论体系的哲学基础

The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization focuses on the core questions of what Chinese-path modernization is, why it should be realized, and how to realize it. It takes dialectical materialism and historical materialism as its philosophical foundation, critically absorbs the virtue thought from excellent traditional Chinese culture and the rational spirit from Western culture, actively constructs a narrative framework for 21st-century Chinese Marxist philosophy, and continuously consolidates the philosophical foundation of the theoretical system.

中国式现代化理论体系聚焦何谓中国式现代化、为何要实现中国式现代化以及如何实现中国式现代化这几个核心问题，以辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义为哲学基础，批判地吸收中华优秀传统文化中的德性思想和西方文化中的理性精神，积极构建21世纪中国马克思主义哲学叙事框架，不断夯实理论体系的哲学根基。

First, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization takes dialectical materialism and historical materialism as its philosophical foundation. To transcend Western modernization theory, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization must forge a philosophical foundation with a high degree of principle. The original vitality of Chinese-path modernization lies in its Chinese characteristics; therefore, the central task of its theory is to extract “the Chineseness of modernization” from within “the globality of modernization.” Dialectical materialism endows the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization with an academic perspective that unifies connection and development, the universal and the particular, enabling it to explore the unique logic of emergence, driving forces, and inherent characteristics of Chinese-path modernization within the holistic perspective of changes unseen in a century and in relational contexts such as East and West, socialism and capitalism. Historical materialism, with its scientific attitude and method, and its historical dialectics of the unity and diversity, progress and twists of social development, enables it to enter the depths of the history of Chinese-path modernization with thorough historical rationality.

首先，中国式现代化理论体系以辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义为哲学基础。中国式现代化理论体系要实现对西方现代化理论的超越，必须打造具有原则性高度的哲学基础形态。中国式现代化的源发性生命力在于其中国特色，因此，其理论的中心任务是在“现代化的世界性”中剥离出“现代化的中国性”。辩证唯物主义赋予了中国式现代化理论体系联系与发展、普遍与特殊等辩证统一的学术视野，使后者能够在世界百年未有之大变局的整体性视域中以及东方和西方、社会主义和资本主义等关联性情境中，探寻中国式现代化的独特发生逻辑、动力源泉、内在特质；而历史唯物主义蕴含的科学态度和方法，社会发展的统一性与多样性、前进性与曲折性等历史辩证法，使其能够以彻底的历史理性走入中国式现代化的历史深处。

Second, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization critically draws on the virtue thought from excellent traditional Chinese culture. Unlike the Western philosophical tradition that emphasizes human transcendence and independence, traditional Chinese philosophy emphasizes “the person” (人), highlighting human relationality, ethics, and virtue. “The particularly strong moral atmosphere is a major characteristic of Chinese culture.” [4]4 This is a paraphrase of a well-known observation by the Chinese scholar Liang Shuming (1893–1988) in his work *The Cultures of East and West and Their Philosophies*. This “philosophy of the person” has two sides. On the one hand, from the perspective of the development of practical capacity, because it adheres not to the subject-object dichotomy but to the unity of subject and object, in reality it will lead to a neglect of scientific activity, thereby weakening the subject’s practical capacity, such as in transforming nature. On the other hand, in terms of the goal orientation of ethical norms, it pursues harmony in life and perfection of personality under the concept of the unity of heaven and humanity (天人合一), emphasizing the activation of people’s creative capacity and life spirit. This virtue ethics, while neglecting human rationality, is nonetheless consistent with the Marxist view of practice. In the construction of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization, we should use Marxist practical philosophy to transform traditional Chinese virtue philosophy, allowing traditional Chinese virtue philosophy to play a constructive role in the practice of Chinese-path modernization.

其次，中国式现代化理论体系批判地汲取中华优秀传统文化中的德性思想。不同于强调人的超拔性、独立性的西方哲学传统，中国传统哲学强调“人”，突出人的关系性、伦理性和德性，“道德气氛特重为中国文化之一大特征”。这种“人的哲学”具有两面性：一方面，从实践能力的发展角度看，由于它坚守的不是主客二分而是主客合一，所以在现实中将引致对科学活动的轻视，由此造成改造自然等主体实践能力的弱化；另一方面，就伦理规范的目标指向而言，它在天人合一观念下追求生活和谐、人格完美，强调激活人的创造能力和生命精神，这种德性伦理在忽视人的理性的同时却又合乎马克思主义实践观。在中国式现代化理论体系的建构中，我们应以马克思主义实践哲学思维改造中国传统德性哲学，让中国传统德性哲学在中国式现代化实践中发挥建设性作用。

Finally, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization critically draws on the rationalism within the Western cultural tradition. Rationalism is the dominant tone of traditional Western philosophy. Unlike the Chinese philosophical tradition of dialectical reason, which concerns itself with “the human” and “the mind” and takes the “Way” (道) and “righteousness” (义) as its content, Western philosophy also emphasizes the human, but it highlights human autonomy and selfhood. Western philosophy has a dual character: on the one hand, the subject-object dichotomy became the cultural root of the development of science and the cultural code through which the West’s capacity to transform nature continuously achieved breakthroughs. Chinese-path modernization requires the strong support of science and technology, and thus needs scientific innovation, which in turn requires the deep rooting of the scientific spirit until it becomes a link in the chain of Chinese cultural genes. On the other hand, the combination of subjectivity with cognitive reason and absolute reason, especially the excessive promotion of instrumental reason in modern times, easily leads down the anti-human byways of anthropocentrism and technological determinism. For this reason, we must both draw on the attitude and methods of Western philosophy that esteem reason and science, and, more importantly, use Marxist practical philosophy to rescue and reconstruct them, injecting new civilizational genes into Chinese-path modernization that promotes the harmonious development of humanity and nature.

最后，中国式现代化理论体系批判地借鉴西方文化传统中的理性主义。理性主义是西方传统哲学的主色调。不同于中国哲学关涉“人”“心”，以“道”“义”等为内容的辩证理性传统，西方哲学也强调人，但它凸显的是人的自主性、自我性。西方哲学也具有两面性：一方面，主客二分的结构成为科学发展的文化根源，也是西方改造自然的能力不断获得突破的文化密码。中国式现代化需要科技的强有力支撑，从而也就需要科学创新，而这又需要科学精神的深深扎根直至变成中国文化基因链上的一环。另一方面，主体性与认知理性、绝对理性的结合，特别是近代以来工具理性的过度张扬，很容易走到人类中心主义、技术决定论等反人类的歧路上去。为此，我们既要借鉴西方哲学崇尚理性和科学的态度与方法，更要以马克思主义实践哲学对其进行拯救和重构，为推进人与自然和谐发展的中国式现代化输入新的文明基因。

(3) The Thinking Paradigm of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

（三）中国式现代化理论体系的思维范式

The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization transcends the formal binary oppositions and the content-based rational speculation of Western modernization theory. It achieves a qualitative transformation of traditional modernization thinking through symbiotic thinking, perspective-taking thinking, holistic thinking, and developmental thinking. While expanding the space for thought in the modernization development of countries around the world, it continuously breaks through the original defects and structural limitations of Western modernization theory, providing a new reference for late-developing countries represented by China to realize their developmental aspirations.

中国式现代化理论体系超越西方现代化理论形式上的二元对立和内容上的理性思辨，以共生思维、换位思维、整体思维和发展思维实现了对传统现代化思维方式的质性转变，在为世界各国现代化发展拓展思想空间的同时，不断突破西方现代化理论的原始缺陷和结构性局限，为以中国为代表的后发国家实现发展诉求提供了新的参考。

First, symbiotic thinking replaces zero-sum thinking. The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization advocates co-existence, co-growth, and co-presence, but it does not deny the antagonistic nature of various forces and relations in the process of modernization. The existence of confrontational relations is natural; we cannot completely eliminate such relations in practical activity. The starting point of symbiotic thinking lies in breaking through the absoluteness, one-sidedness, and static nature of binary opposition and “either-or” thinking. Within the thinking of seeking common ground while reserving differences and of mutual restraint and mutual generation, it re-affirms the non-zero-sum concept of the subject in species-life, and, in promoting the modernization transformation of humanity’s mode of thinking and mode of practice, reshapes the profound concern that modern society ought to possess.

第一，共生思维取代零和思维。中国式现代化理论体系提倡共在、共生、共存，但并不否认现代化进程中各种力量和关系的斗争性。对抗性关系的存在是天然的，我们无法在现实活动中完全消除这种关系。共生思维的出发点在于冲破二元对立、非此即彼的绝对性、单向化、静态化思维，在求同存异、相克相生的思维中，重新确认主体在类生活中的非零和观念，在推进人类思维方式和实践模式的现代化变革中，重塑现代社会应有的深切关怀。

Second, perspective-taking thinking replaces self-centered thinking. The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization advocates perspective-taking thinking, attempting to weaken and dissolve the subject-object binary logic behind self-centered thinking and to establish a mode of thinking characterized by roundedness and integration that is suited to modernization development. Self-centered thinking goes beyond exploring objective existence itself to inquire into “the being of beings,” confining itself to the instrumental reason of “being what it is” while ignoring the value ideal of “being what it ought to be.” When it regards the subject endowed with mastery and possession as a unified totality, it obliterates the rationality of the existence of the other, marked by significant difference. Perspective-taking thinking, in contrast, strives to shatter the preconceptions and the ingrained habit of “the world for me” in self-centered thinking, providing a new direction for thought and ethical guidance for promoting a substantive shift in the path of human thinking in the process of modernization.

第二，换位思维取代本位思维。中国式现代化理论体系倡导换位思维，尝试弱化和消解本位主义思维背后的主客二元对立逻辑，确立适配于现代化发展的圆融性思维方式。本位思维超越对客观存在本身的探索而追问“存在之存在”，囿于“是其所是”的工具理性而无视“是其应是”的价值理想，在把具有主宰性和占有性的主体看做统一的总体时，抹杀了带有显著差异的他者存在的合理性。换位思维则力图打碎本位思维中的先入为主和“世界为我”的惯习，为在现代化进程中推进人类思维进路的实质性转换提供了新的思考方向和伦理指引。

Third, holistic thinking replaces one-sided thinking. The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization adheres to holistic thinking, dialectically grasping the universal connections among various elements in modernization construction, and ameliorating the consequences of one-dimensional development caused by one-sided thinking. One-sided thinking is concentratedly manifested in the Western modernization process as the extreme instrumentalization of reason that neglects value rationality. It takes the maximization of material wealth as its sole pursuit, concealing the alienation of “the human” within the explicit tension of “things.” In contrast, holistic thinking forges the “human” liberation pursued by modernization within the real environment of “things”; the determinacy of “things” transforms the determinacy of “the human” from possibility into reality.

第三，整体思维取代片面思维。中国式现代化理论体系坚持整体思维，辩证地把握现代化建设中各要素之间的普遍联系，改善片面思维导致的单向度发展后果。片面思维在西方现代化进程中集中表现为忽视价值理性的工具理性极端化，它把物质财富最大化作为唯一追求，在“物”的显性张力中掩饰“人”的异化。相反，整体思维把现代化追求的“人”的解放熔铸在“物”的现实环境中，“物”的规定性把“人”的规定性从可能转变为现实。

Fourth, developmental thinking replaces static thinking. Developmental thinking runs through the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization. In promoting the process of human society’s transition from tradition to modernity, it grasps the laws of world development and provides methodological requirements for implementing the innovation-driven development strategy in the process of modernization. The real achievements of world modernization construction fully prove that the greatest obstacle to modern social development is no longer limited to the adjustment and selection of target models, but has shifted to the fundamental clarification of the concept of modernization development. The metaphysical mode of thinking reflected by static thinking has never been able to provide useful reference for modernization construction in the way that the dialectical thinking inherent in developmental thinking can.

第四，发展思维取代静态思维。发展思维贯穿于中国式现代化理论体系中，在推动人类社会从传统向现代的变迁过程中，把握世界发展规律，为现代化进程中落实创新驱动发展战略提供方法论要求。世界现代化建设取得的现实成就充分证明，现代社会发展的最大障碍已经不再局限于目标模式的调整选择，而是转向对现代化发展理念的根本澄清。静态思维所反映的形而上学的思维方式，始终无法像发展思维所内蕴的辩证思维那样为现代化建设提供有益借鉴。

II. The Discursive Expression and Internal Logic of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

二、中国式现代化理论体系的话语表达与内在逻辑

Clarifying the discursive expression of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization and revealing its internal overarching logic are key links in constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization. As the form of presentation of modern thought, modern discourse is the result of the conscious construction by the subject of modernization, based on a certain theory, focusing on specific issues, and grounded in existing practice. Different modern discourses have different generative logics, theoretical aims, and systemic structures, and are presented in certain modes of expression. China’s modern discourse manifests the value orientation, principled requirements, and strategic deployment of Chinese-path modernization. According to the narrative mode of discourse, it is integrated into the discourse system of Chinese-path modernization. In the transformation and innovation of the discourse system, it breaks the monopoly of Western discourse, reveals the logical relations inherent in the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization, and transforms China’s developmental advantages into discursive advantages, helping to enhance international recognition of Chinese-path modernization.

阐明中国式现代化理论体系的话语表达，揭示其内在的总体性逻辑是构建中国式现代化理论体系的关键环节。现代性话语作为现代性思想的呈现形式，是现代化主体依据一定理论，聚焦具体问题，基于既有实践进行自觉构建的结果。不同的现代性话语具有不同的生成逻辑、理论旨趣和体系结构，并呈现为一定的表达方式。中国的现代性话语彰显了中国式现代化的价值指向、原则要求、战略部署，按照话语的叙事方式集成为中国式现代化的话语体系，在话语体系的转化创新中打破了西方话语的垄断，昭示了中国式现代化理论体系内蕴的逻辑关系，并将中国的发展优势转化为话语优势，有助于增强中国式现代化的国际认同。

(1) The Discursive Expression of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

（一）中国式现代化理论体系的话语表达

The category of “Chinese-path modernization” was formed in the process of the Chinese Communist Party leading the Chinese people in their exploration of modernization. Before the founding of New China, the Chinese Communist Party, from the perspective of industrialization, put forward the task of national modernization, clarifying that “the task of the Chinese working class is not only to struggle for the establishment of a New Democratic state, but also to struggle for China’s industrialization and the modernization of agriculture.” [5]5 Mao Zedong, “On Coalition Government” (1945). The original Chinese phrase is “农业近代化” (agricultural modernization in the modern sense), rendered here as “modernization of agriculture” to match the standard English translation of Mao’s text. After the founding of New China, the Chinese Communist Party, in the process of socialist revolution and construction, expanded its understanding of modernization, proposing “to build China into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense, and modern science and technology within a not-too-long historical period.” [6]6 Zhou Enlai, “Report on the Work of the Government” (1964), which first articulated the goal of the “four modernizations” (四个现代化) — agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology. Since reform and opening up, the Chinese Communist Party, in the process of initiating and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, has attached great importance to the nature of modernization, emphasizing that “the four modernizations we are engaged in are socialist four modernizations, not any other kind of modernization,” [7]7 Deng Xiaoping, “Uphold the Four Cardinal Principles” (1979). The “four modernizations” (四个现代化) were the policy goal of modernizing agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, first proposed in 1964 and revived after the Cultural Revolution. and put forward the concept of “Chinese-style modernization.” Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has profoundly summarized the basic experience of China’s modernization construction, clearly put forward the concept of “Chinese-path modernization,” and emphasized the need to “comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization”; the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC made an important decision to further deepen reform comprehensively and advance Chinese-path modernization. [8]8 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024. Its “Decision” on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese-path modernization is a major policy document. In summary, on the basis of concepts such as “national industrialization,” “the four modernizations,” “socialist modernization,” and “Chinese-style modernization,” the Chinese Communist Party formally put forward the concept of “Chinese-path modernization,” began to construct the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization, and continuously advanced the process of Chinese-path modernization.

“中国式现代化”这一范畴是中国共产党在领导中国人民进行现代化探索的过程中形成的。新中国成立前，中国共产党从工业化视角提出了国家的现代化任务，明确了“中国工人阶级的任务，不但是为着建立新民主主义的国家而斗争，而且是为着中国的工业化和农业近代化而斗争”。新中国成立后，中国共产党在社会主义革命和建设过程中拓展了对现代化的认识，提出“要在不太长的历史时期内，把我国建设成为一个具有现代农业、现代工业、现代国防和现代科学技术的社会主义强国”。改革开放以来，中国共产党在开创和发展中国特色社会主义的过程中，高度重视现代化的性质问题，强调“我们搞四个现代化，是搞社会主义的四个现代化，不是搞别的现代化”，提出了“中国式的现代化”的概念。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央深刻总结中国现代化建设的基本经验，明确提出“中国式现代化”的概念，并强调要“以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴”；党的二十届三中全会作出了进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的重要决定。综上所述，在“国家工业化”“四个现代化”“社会主义现代化”“中国式的现代化”等概念的基础上，中国共产党正式提出了“中国式现代化”这一概念，开始构建中国式现代化理论体系，不断推进中国式现代化进程。

The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is a major achievement of the Communist Party of China’s theoretical innovation in the New Era. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Chinese Communists, with Comrade Xi Jinping as their chief representative, have adhered to guiding modernization with contemporary Chinese Marxism, advancing China’s modernization cause through continuous reform, promoting “historic transformations, systematic restructuring, and holistic reconstruction in many fields,”[n] and, on the basis of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, have embarked on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects, moving China’s modernization cause to a new stage. This has laid a solid foundation for the formation of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization. On the basis of the experience and achievements of modernization, the CPC has turned to systematic theoretical reflection on Chinese-path modernization. In his report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping comprehensively summarized the connotations, characteristics, essence, and intent of Chinese-path modernization, forming its Chinese characteristics, essential requirements, and major principles, initially constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization, and realizing the transformation and development from the discursive category of modernization theory to a discursive system. Subsequently, at the opening ceremony of a study session on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC for newly elected members and alternate members of the Central Committee and leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial level, Xi Jinping further explored issues related to Chinese-path modernization, pointing out, within a broad theoretical perspective, its historical origins, unique creation, world significance, and development path. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC clarified the objectives, tasks, systematic deployment, strategic support, and important guarantees for further comprehensively deepening reform centered on advancing Chinese-path modernization, providing guidance for advancing theoretical innovation and practical creation in Chinese-path modernization at a new historical starting point, and further enriching the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization.

中国式现代化理论体系是新时代中国共产党理论创新的重大成果。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坚持以当代中国马克思主义指导现代化建设，通过不断改革推进中国的现代化事业蓬勃发展，推动“许多领域实现历史性变革、系统性重塑、整体性重构”，在全面建成小康社会基础上开启了社会主义现代化强国建设新征程，使中国的现代化事业迈向新阶段，这为中国式现代化理论体系的形成奠定了坚实基础。在现代化建设经验和成就的基础上，中国共产党转向了对中国式现代化的系统性理论思考。习近平在党的二十大报告中对中国式现代化的内涵、特性、本质、意旨等进行了全面总结，形成了中国式现代化的中国特色、本质要求和重大原则，初步构建起中国式现代化的理论体系，实现了从现代化理论的话语范畴到话语体系的转变和发展。此后，在新进中央委员会的委员、候补委员和省部级主要领导干部学习贯彻习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想和党的二十大精神研讨班开班式上，习近平进一步探讨了中国式现代化有关问题，在开阔的理论视野中指明了中国式现代化的历史由来、独特创造、世界意义和发展进路。党的二十届三中全会明确了紧紧围绕推进中国式现代化进一步全面深化改革的目标任务、系统部署、战略支撑和重要保障，为在新的历史起点上推进中国式现代化理论创新和实践创造提供了遵循，进一步丰富了中国式现代化理论体系。

The theoretical form of Chinese-path modernization is a complete discursive system. This discursive system is an organic combination of a series of emblematic categories addressing the themes, problems, and propositions of Chinese-path modernization. It is a logical system that comprehensively employs these emblematic categories to answer the basic questions of “why speak,” “what to speak,” and “how to speak.” The theme of Chinese-path modernization is what kind of modern socialist country to build in the New Era and how to build it; its emblematic categories are “modern socialist country” and “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” The theoretical discourse of Chinese-path modernization must comprehensively present the historic achievements of China’s modernization, break the Western discursive hegemony, and secure a favorable international discursive environment for advancing Chinese-path modernization. Regarding the basic questions of “what is Chinese-path modernization” and “how to do it,” its emblematic categories are “Chinese characteristics,” “essential requirements,” and “major principles.” The theoretical discourse of Chinese-path modernization primarily aims to clarify what kind of modernization it is, its features and advantages, and what it can bring to the world. Regarding the propositions of Chinese-path modernization, its emblematic categories include “leadership by the Communist Party of China,” “people-centered,” “a huge population,” “common prosperity for all,” “coordination between material and cultural-ethical progress,” “harmony between humanity and nature,” “peaceful development,” “high-quality development,” “whole-process people’s democracy,” “a community with a shared future for mankind,” and “a new form of human civilization.” These primarily answer specific questions such as the primary task, inherent requirements, and important guarantees of Chinese-path modernization. In summary, the theoretical discourse of Chinese-path modernization is ultimately constituted by these basic categories; articulating the theoretical discourse of Chinese-path modernization requires understanding and properly applying these categories. Marx pointed out: “Just as from the dialectical movement of simple categories a group emerges, so from the dialectical movement of groups a series emerges, and from the dialectical movement of series the entire system emerges.”[n] The above emblematic categories clarify the leading force, path direction, overall layout, development strategy, civilizational intent, and world significance of further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization, constituting a complete set of categories and a discursive system that systematically answers the theoretical discursive questions of Chinese-path modernization.

中国式现代化的理论形态是一个完整的话语体系。这一话语体系是针对中国式现代化的主题、问题、命题的系列标识性范畴的有机结合，是综合运用标识性范畴回答“为何说”“说什么”“怎么说”等基本问题的逻辑体系。中国式现代化的主题是新时代建设什么样的社会主义现代化强国，怎样建设社会主义现代化强国，其标识性范畴是“社会主义现代化强国”“中华民族伟大复兴”，中国式现代化的理论话语就是要全面呈现中国现代化建设取得的历史性成就，打破西方话语霸权，为中国式现代化的推进争取有利的国际话语环境。就中国式现代化“是什么”“怎么做”等基本问题而言，其标识性范畴是“中国特色”“本质要求”“重大原则”等，中国式现代化的理论话语主要是要将中国式现代化是怎样的现代化、有何特征和优势、能为世界带来什么等问题讲清楚。就中国式现代化的命题而言，其标识性范畴是“中国共产党领导”“以人民为中心”“人口规模巨大”“全体人民共同富裕”“物质文明和精神文明相协调”“人与自然和谐共生”“和平发展”“高质量发展”“全过程人民民主”“人类命运共同体”“人类文明新形态”等，主要回答中国式现代化的首要任务、内在要求、重要保障等具体问题。概言之，中国式现代化的理论话语归根到底是由这些基础范畴构成的，言说中国式现代化的理论话语必须理解并运用好这些范畴。马克思指出：“正如从简单范畴的辩证运动中产生出群一样，从群的辩证运动中产生出系列，从系列的辩证运动中又产生出整个体系。”以上这些标识性范畴明确了进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的领导力量、道路方向、总体布局、发展战略、文明旨趣、世界意义等，构成了一个完整的范畴集合和话语体系，系统回答了中国式现代化的理论话语问题。

(II) The Internal Logic of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

（二）中国式现代化理论体系的内在逻辑

Whether viewed from the coherence of connotations, characteristics, principles, and significance, or from the aggregation of concepts, judgments, and thoughts, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is an organic whole. Based on the theoretical elements of Chinese-path modernization, elucidating its academic foundation and cultural heritage, its spatiotemporal field and concrete expression, and its bright essence and value pursuit constitutes a profound revelation of the internal logic of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization.

无论是从内涵、特性、原则、意义的衔接性看，还是从概念、论断、思想的聚合性看，中国式现代化理论体系都是一个有机的整体。立足中国式现代化的理论要素，阐明中国式现代化理论体系的学理根基与文化底蕴、时空场域与现实表达、鲜亮底色与价值追求，是对中国式现代化理论体系内在逻辑的深刻揭示。

First, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is guided by the Two Integrations,[n] anchoring its academic foundation and cultural heritage in promoting the convergence of ideas. In a sense, the theoretical creation of Chinese-path modernization is a process of exploring the “Chinese principles” of modernization under the guidance of Marxism. Historical factors such as fine traditional Chinese culture are selectively incorporated into the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization through the theoretical innovation mechanism of the Two Integrations, becoming important elements of modernization theoretical innovation and its discursive generation. In this process, as the “soul,” Marxism consistently plays a dominant role, fundamentally defining the political stance, value orientation, theoretical essence, and spiritual quality of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization. As the “root” that transmits civilization, fine traditional Chinese culture embodies the civilizational genes, core characteristics, and spiritual temperament of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization.

第一，中国式现代化理论体系以“两个结合”为指导，在推进思想交汇中锚定中国式现代化理论体系的学理根基与文化底蕴。从某种意义上说，中国式现代化的理论创造就是以马克思主义指导探索现代化之“中国原理”的过程，中华优秀传统文化等历史因素也正是通过“两个结合”的理论创新机制被有选择性地吸纳到中国式现代化理论体系当中，成为现代化理论创新及其话语生成的重要元素。在此过程中，作为“魂脉”，马克思主义始终发挥着主导作用，从根本上规定了中国式现代化理论体系的政治立场、价值取向、理论底色和精神品质；作为传承文明的“根脉”，中华优秀传统文化体现了中国式现代化理论体系的文明基因、内核特质和精神气质。

Second, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization takes historical materialism as its general framework, embedding its spatiotemporal field and concrete expression in focusing on China’s problems. The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization both arises from China’s modernization process and is an important component of the global modernization process. Therefore, it demonstrates both the general requirements and universal laws of modernization and possesses its own reality and uniqueness. It is a theory of modernization bred and developed from China’s unique historical conditions, social environment, and humanistic traditions, a theory of modernization explored by the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC in the process of continuously solving China’s specific problems. The theoretical creation of Chinese-path modernization is essentially a process of transforming the global into the Chinese and elevating the Chinese to the global, focusing on China’s problems in the unity of looking at the world and taking root in China, and responding to the “question of the path” of building modernization in China. The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is precisely formed in the process of solving China’s specific modernization problems. Historical materialism, as the general coordinate of human modernization, reveals the uniqueness and progressiveness of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization.

第二，中国式现代化理论体系以唯物史观为总纲，在聚焦中国问题时内嵌中国式现代化理论体系的时空场域与现实表达。中国式现代化理论体系既生发于中国的现代化建设过程，也是世界现代化进程的重要组成部分，因此，既展示了现代化的一般要求和普遍规律，同时也具有自身的现实性和独特性，是中国独特的历史条件、社会环境、人文传统孕育和发展出的现代化理论，是中国共产党领导中国人民在不断解决中国具体问题中探索出的现代化理论。中国式现代化的理论创造本质上是化世界性为中国性，以中国性升华世界性，在放眼世界与立足中国的统一中聚焦中国问题，回应在中国建设现代化的“道路之问”。中国式现代化理论体系正是在解决中国现代化具体问题的过程中形成的，唯物史观作为人类现代化的总坐标，揭示了中国式现代化理论体系的独特性和进步性。

Third, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is driven by putting the people first, manifesting its bright essence and value pursuit in adhering to a people-centered approach. Different from Western modernization theories that prioritize capital, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization pursues the modernization of people within the requirement of adhering to a people-centered approach, demonstrating its inherent characteristics by transcending the modernization model that solely aims at capital accumulation. Specifically, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization fully implements the concept of putting people first, upholding the idea that “the essence of modernization is the modernization of people,” consistently regarding the people as the subject, driving force, and goal of Chinese-path modernization. Based on the mass historical view, it advocates fully unleashing the people’s subjective power in modernization construction, respecting the people’s creative spirit, treating people as the end rather than the means of modernization, and realizing people’s free and comprehensive development in the process of continuously meeting the people’s growing needs for a better life.

第三，中国式现代化理论体系以人民至上为牵引，在遵循以人为本中彰显中国式现代化理论体系的鲜亮底色与价值追求。区别于资本至上的西方现代化理论，中国式现代化理论体系在坚持以人民为中心的要求中追求人的现代化，在超越单纯以资本增殖为目标的现代化模式中展现自身的内在特质。具体而言，中国式现代化理论体系全面贯穿以人为本的理念，秉持“现代化的本质是人的现代化”的理念，始终把人民作为中国式现代化的主体、动力和目标，立足于群众史观，倡导充分发挥人民在现代化建设中的主体力量，尊重人民的创造精神，把人作为现代化的目的而非手段，在不断满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要过程中实现人的自由而全面的发展。

III. The Cultural Dimension and Civilizational Implications of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

三、中国式现代化理论体系的文化向度与文明意蕴

Revealing the cultural dimension of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization and the civilizational implications it contains is an inevitable requirement for constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization. Chinese-path modernization, which coordinates material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, absorbs the excellent parts of human culture and traditional Chinese culture, inherits the long and continuous Chinese civilization, and fully manifests the cultural subjectivity and civilizational independence of the Chinese nation. Therefore, fully clarifying the unique cultural connotations and civilizational implications contained in Chinese-path modernization becomes an essential part of constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization.

揭示中国式现代化理论体系的文化向度及其内含的文明意蕴，是构建中国式现代化理论体系的必然要求。物质文明和精神文明相协调的中国式现代化，吸收了人类文化和中华传统文化的优秀部分，传承着绵延悠长的中华文明，充分彰显着中华民族的文化主体性和文明自立性。因此，充分澄明中国式现代化蕴含的独特文化内涵和文明意蕴，就成为构建中国式现代化理论体系的应有之义。

(I) The Construction of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization Highlights Cultural Subjectivity

（一）中国式现代化理论体系的构建凸显文化主体性

The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization not only shapes its unique endowments in terms of discourse expression and theoretical paradigm, but also completes a deep-level self-confirmation through the cultural subjectivity it contains. Xi Jinping pointed out: "With cultural subjectivity, there is a firm self in the cultural sense, cultural confidence has a fundamental support, the Communist Party of China has a powerful cultural force to lead the times, the Chinese nation and the Chinese people have a solid cultural foundation for national identity, and Chinese civilization has a distinctive cultural characteristic for exchange and mutual learning with other civilizations in the world." [12]12 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development," June 2, 2023. In a certain sense, it is precisely through the construction of cultural subjectivity that the long-standing "ancient-modern, Chinese-Western debate" in the cultural field has been resolved, a brand-new cultural concept and cultural orientation have been demonstrated, and the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization has been endowed with profound connotations and a rich landscape in the cultural dimension. The construction of cultural subjectivity is realized in correctly grasping the dialectical unity of tradition and modernity, inheritance and innovation, and unity and diversity, manifesting prominent characteristics such as autonomy that transcends dependence, creativity that spans ancient and modern times, and openness that connects China and abroad.

中国式现代化理论体系不仅从话语表达和理论范式上塑造了自身的独特禀赋，还以其蕴含的文化主体性完成了深层次的自我确证。习近平指出：“有了文化主体性，就有了文化意义上坚定的自我，文化自信就有了根本依托，中国共产党就有了引领时代的强大文化力量，中华民族和中国人民就有了国家认同的坚实文化基础，中华文明就有了和世界其他文明交流互鉴的鲜明文化特性。”从一定意义上讲，正是通过建构文化主体性，破解了文化领域由来已久的“古今中西之争”，展示了一种全新的文化理念和文化取向，赋予了中国式现代化理论体系在文化向度上的深刻内涵和丰富图景。文化主体性建构是在正确把握传统与现代、传承与创新、一元与多元的辩证统一关系中实现的，展现出超越依附的自主性、跨越古今的创造性和贯通中外的开放性等突出表征。

First, in correctly grasping the dialectical relationship between tradition and modernity, cultural subjectivity manifests itself as breaking free from the "trap of imitation" and the "curse of dependence," shaping the internal logic of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization with a high degree of cultural consciousness. The Western developed countries that entered modernization earlier continuously demonstrated their strong advantages in economy, military, and other fields to late-developing countries, prompting some late-developing countries to set off a wave of learning, imitating, or even copying Western modernization, and even developing a mentality of dependence on Western developed countries. Since modern times, Western culture and Western modernization have also continuously shaken the Chinese people's confidence in traditional Chinese culture. Some Chinese people, in the collision between tradition and modernity, gradually lowered their posture, advocating the complete replacement of the "traditional" with the "modern," moving toward "modernization" by "removing tradition." Under the guidance of Marxism, the Communist Party of China broke the Chinese people's filter on Western modernization. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Since the Chinese learned Marxism-Leninism, the Chinese people have changed from being passive to active in spirit." [13]13 Mao Zedong, "The Bankruptcy of the Idealist Conception of History," Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 4. As a late-developing country, China's initial modernization was passive and unconscious modernization. However, as the Communist Party of China led the Chinese people to achieve national independence and insisted on taking its own path, China's modernization gradually transformed into active and conscious modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has advanced and expanded Chinese-path modernization on the profound foundation of excellent traditional Chinese culture, breaking the cognitive stereotype of "modernization = Westernization" and proving to the world the spiritual attribute of the independent development of Chinese-path modernization.

首先，在正确把握传统与现代的辩证关系中，文化主体性表现为跳出“模仿的陷阱”和“依附的魔咒”，以高度的文化自觉塑造中国式现代化理论体系的内在逻辑。较早迈入现代化的西方发达国家，不断向后发国家展示其在经济、军事等方面的强劲优势，促使一部分后发国家掀起了学习、模仿甚至照搬西方现代化的热潮，甚至产生了对西方发达国家的依附心态。近代以来，西方文化和西方现代化也不断撼动着国人对于中华传统文化的自信心态，一部分国人在传统与现代的碰撞中逐渐放低姿态，主张用“现代的”彻底取代“传统的”、在“去传统”中走向“现代化”。中国共产党在马克思主义指导下，打破了国人对西方现代化的滤镜。毛泽东指出：“自从中国人学会了马克思列宁主义以后，中国人在精神上就由被动转入主动。”作为后发国家，中国最初的现代化是被动的、不自觉的现代化，但随着中国共产党带领中国人民实现民族独立，坚持走自己的路，中国的现代化逐渐转变为主动的、自觉的现代化。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央在中华优秀传统文化的深厚底蕴上推进和拓展了中国式现代化，打破了“现代化=西方化”的认知窠臼，向世界证明了中国式现代化自主发展的精神属性。

Second, in correctly grasping the dialectical relationship between inheritance and innovation, cultural subjectivity endows the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization with a unique cultural identity through creativity that spans ancient and modern times. Xi Jinping emphasized: "Without the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, where would Chinese characteristics come from?" [14]14 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the Symposium on the Protection and Inheritance of Cultural Heritage," September 28, 2022. From the perspective of historical materialism, as the core component of the more than 5,000-year civilization of the Chinese nation, excellent traditional Chinese culture constitutes an important premise of the life of the Chinese people in the current era. As a processual reality, it influences people's social life and China's development path. How excellent traditional Chinese culture can achieve creative transformation and innovative development through inheritance and innovation, endowing Chinese-path modernization with a broad and profound historical vision and deep and broad cultural connotations, is an important task in the construction of cultural subjectivity. On the one hand, cultural inheritance is the premise of cultural innovation; inheritance provides basic resources for innovation. On the other hand, only through cultural innovation can cultural inheritance be truly realized; culture can gain continuity and new life through inheritance. The inheritance and innovation of excellent traditional Chinese culture enable Chinese culture to regain vitality in the process of modernization and in exchange and mutual learning with other cultures, both consolidating the cultural foundation of Chinese-path modernization and expanding its cultural space, laying an ontological premise for the construction of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization and the cultural resources, cultural structures, and cultural discourses presented within it.

其次，在正确把握传承与创新的辩证关系中，文化主体性以跨越古今的创造性赋予中国式现代化理论体系独一无二的文化标识。习近平强调：“如果没有中华五千年文明，哪里有什么中国特色？”从历史唯物主义视角看，作为中华民族5000多年文明的核心组成部分，中华优秀传统文化构成了当今时代中国人民生活的重要前提，它作为一种过程性实在影响着人们的社会生活和中国的发展道路。中华优秀传统文化如何在传承创新中实现创造性转化和创新性发展、赋予中国式现代化宏阔纵深的历史视界和深厚宽博的文化内涵，是文化主体性建构的重要任务。一方面，文化传承是文化创新的前提，传承为创新提供了基本的资源；另一方面，只有通过文化创新才能真正实现文化传承，文化在传承中才能获得延续和新生。中华优秀传统文化的传承与创新使中华文化在现代化进程中、在与其他文化的交流互鉴中重焕生机活力，既铸牢了中国式现代化的文化根基，也拓展了中国式现代化的文化空间，为中国式现代化理论体系构建以及呈现其中的文化资源、文化结构和文化话语奠定了本体论前提。

Finally, in correctly grasping the dialectical unity of unity and diversity, cultural subjectivity manifests the value concept of harmony in diversity within the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization through its openness that connects China and abroad. The subject is presented in positive interaction with the other. Cultural subjectivity is not the arbitrary extension and expansion of the self-will of a cultural form, but is established through mutual observation and collision with other cultures. In essence, cultural autonomy is the result of interaction between different cultural subjects formed through equal exchange and integrated development of a certain culture with other cultures in an open context; it is a presentation of intersubjective relations. Cultural diversity is precisely embodied through each cultural form with independent characteristics. Therefore, the Communist Party of China has always adhered to a stance of cultural diversity and openness under the premise of cultural autonomy, resolutely resisting cultural hegemony in the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization. Xi Jinping pointed out: "Differences in history, culture, and social systems among countries have existed since ancient times and are an inherent attribute of human civilization. Without diversity, there would be no human civilization. Diversity is an objective reality and will exist for a long time." [15]15 Xi Jinping, "Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind," speech at the United Nations Office at Geneva, January 18, 2017. Chinese culture and other cultures in the world differ only in characteristics and regions, not in superiority or inferiority. The cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation can only be fully manifested through exchange and mutual learning with other cultures and civilizations in the world. This harmony in diversity in the cultural field, along with the advancement of Chinese-path modernization, has been forged into the value concept of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization.

最后，在正确把握一元与多元的辩证统一关系中，文化主体性以贯通中外的开放性彰显了中国式现代化理论体系和而不同的价值理念。主体是在与他者的积极互动中呈现出来的。文化主体性不是文化形态自我意志的恣意外延和扩张，而是在与其他文化的互视和冲撞中确立起来的。从本质上看，文化自主性是某种文化在开放语境中通过与其他文化的平等交流、融合发展而形成的不同文化主体间的互动结果，是一种主体间性关系的呈现。文化多元性正是通过每种具有独立性特征的文化样态来体现的，因此，中国共产党始终秉持文化自主性前提下的文化多元性和开放性立场，在推进中国式现代化过程中坚决抵制文化霸权。习近平指出：“各国历史文化和社会制度差异自古就存在，是人类文明的内在属性。没有多样性，就没有人类文明。多样性是客观现实，将长期存在。”中华文化与世界上其他文化只有特色和地域上的区别，没有高低优劣之分，中华民族的文化主体性只有在与世界其他文化、文明的交流互鉴中才能充分显现。这种文化领域的和而不同也伴随着中国式现代化的推进，而被熔铸在了中国式现代化理论体系的价值理念中。

(II) Chinese-Path Modernization Creates a New Form of Human Civilization

（二）中国式现代化创造了人类文明新形态

The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization, with the cultural subjectivity it contains, provides spiritual strength for creating a new form of human civilization. Xi Jinping pointed out: "The best inheritance of history is to create new history, and the greatest respect for human civilization is to create a new form of human civilization." [16]16 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China," July 1, 2021.

中国式现代化理论体系以其蕴含的文化主体性为创造人类文明新形态提供了精神力量。习近平指出：“对历史最好的继承就是创造新的历史，对人类文明最大的礼敬就是创造人类文明新形态。”

On the one hand, the new form of human civilization created by the Communist Party of China leading the Chinese people in the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization covers multiple dimensions such as economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological civilization. Xi Jinping pointed out: "We uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, promote the coordinated development of material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization, creating a new path of Chinese-path modernization and creating a new form of human civilization." [17]17 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China," September 30, 2019. This important thesis demonstrates the specific presentation of the new form of human civilization in different fields. In the field of material civilization, developing new quality productive forces is an objective requirement for liberating and developing productive forces on the new journey and a major theoretical innovation for achieving high-quality development; in the field of political civilization, whole-process people's democracy, as the most extensive, most genuine, and most effective democracy, is a precise expression of the democratic form of a socialist modernized country; in the field of cultural-ethical progress, enriching the people's spiritual world, as an important content of the construction of socialist cultural-ethical progress, is an inherent requirement for realizing the modernization of people; in the field of social civilization, common prosperity for all the people, as a manifestation of the people sharing the fruits of development, is an essential requirement of socialism; in the field of ecological civilization, harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, as the core concept of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, is a basic stipulation of the ecological view of Chinese-path modernization.

一方面，中国共产党带领中国人民在推进中国式现代化进程中开创的人类文明新形态涵盖了经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明等多重维度。习近平指出：“我们坚持和发展中国特色社会主义，推动物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明协调发展，创造了中国式现代化新道路，创造了人类文明新形态。”这一重要论断展现了人类文明新形态在不同领域的具体呈现。在物质文明领域，发展新质生产力是新征程解放和发展生产力的客观要求，是实现高质量发展的重大理论创新；在政治文明领域，全过程人民民主作为最广泛、最真实和最管用的民主，是社会主义现代化国家民主形态的精准表达；在精神文明领域，丰富人民精神世界作为社会主义精神文明建设的重要内容，是实现人的现代化的内在要求；在社会文明领域，全体人民共同富裕作为人民共享发展成果的表现，是社会主义的本质要求；在生态文明领域，人与自然和谐共生作为习近平生态文明思想的核心理念，是中国式现代化生态观的基本规定。

On the other hand, Chinese-path modernization will inevitably promote the construction of a modern form of Chinese civilization. The cultural form of Chinese-path modernization, formed on the basis of properly handling the relationship between national character and global character, has created an entirely new form of human civilization. Creating a new cultural life-form and developing the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization are necessary requirements for advancing Chinese-path modernization. The cultural form of Chinese-path modernization is the expression of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization in the New Era, possessing unique modern attributes and cultural properties. Viewed from the historical process of world modernization, the advancement of national modernization is accompanied by the evolution and succession of human civilization; modern civilization is the inevitable result of modernization. The theoretical innovation and practical development of Chinese-path modernization have forged the theoretical foundation, material prerequisites, and spiritual basis for a new cultural life-form. Creating a new form of human civilization, as one of the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization, takes root in Chinese-path modernization while fully respecting the cultural subjectivity of each nation in the process of creating a new cultural life-form. It has become an important plan for actively exploring solutions to the modern predicament of humanity and realizing the common development of all humankind. It systematically answers the major epochal question of where humanity should go at the crossroads of changes unseen in a century. As the world's largest developing country, China has, through Chinese-path modernization, changed the global map of modernization, reversed the outdated model in which the East could only follow the West step by step in advancing modernization, and, in building the cultural form of Chinese-path modernization and creating a new form of human civilization, has participated in reshaping the world pattern with new concepts, new actions, and new contributions, producing an immeasurable and far-reaching impact on the development of human civilization.

另一方面，中国式现代化必将推动中华文明现代形态的建构，在处理好民族性与世界性关系基础上形成的中国式现代化的文化形态创造了全新的人类文明形态。造就新的文化生命体，发展中国式现代化的文化形态，是推进中国式现代化的必然要求。中国式现代化的文化形态是5000多年中华文明在新时代的表达，具有独特的现代属性和文化性质。从世界现代化历史进程看，国家现代化的推进同时伴随着人类文明的演化更迭，现代文明是现代化的必然结果。中国式现代化的理论创新和实践发展铸牢了新的文化生命体的理论根基、物质前提与精神基础。创造人类文明新形态作为中国式现代化的本质要求之一，在造就新的文化生命体的过程中，立足中国式现代化并充分尊重各民族的文化主体性，成为积极探索解决人类的现代性困境、实现全人类共同发展的重要方案，它系统回答了在世界百年未有之大变局的十字路口人类应向何处去这一重大时代课题。中国作为世界上最大的发展中国家，以中国式现代化改变了现代化的世界版图，扭转了东方只能对西方亦步亦趋推进现代化的陈旧模式，在建设中国式现代化的文化形态和开创人类文明新形态中以新理念、新作为、新贡献参与了世界格局的重塑，对人类文明发展产生了不可估量的深远影响。

IV. The Global Vision and World Narrative of the Theoretical System of Chinese-Path Modernization

四、中国式现代化理论体系的全球视野和世界叙事

Interpreting Chinese-path modernization from a global perspective and presenting it through a world narrative is an inevitable choice for constructing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization and gaining international recognition for it. The path of Chinese-path modernization, through its concrete practice, interprets the truth and appeal of scientific socialism, realizes the transformation from the abstract universality of modernization to the concrete universality of China's modernization, and in this process achieves a critique and transcendence of the Western path of modernization and the spirit of modernity, constructing a new form of modernization narrative with a broad global vision.

诠解中国式现代化的全球视域并对之做世界性叙事，是构建中国式现代化理论体系并使其获得国际认同的必然选择。中国式现代化道路以其具体实践诠释了科学社会主义的真理魅力，实现了现代化之抽象普遍性向现代化中国之具体普遍性的转化，并在这一转化过程中实现了对西方现代化道路和现代性精神的批判与超越，以宽阔的全球视野构建起现代化叙事的新形态。

(I) Deeply Depicting the Future Prospect of Modernization in the Interplay of Commonality and Individuality

（一）在共性与个性的交融中深描现代化的未来图景

The essence of Chinese-path modernization is to transform the universal proposition of modernization into a Chinese proposition, that is, to transform "building modernization in China" into "building China's modernization." Xi Jinping 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." [18]18 Xi Jinping, "Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects — Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China" (October 16, 2022). From the perspective of the Marxist exposition on the relationship between the universality and particularity of contradictions, Chinese-path modernization includes both the mutual penetration of commonality and individuality and their mutual transformation. In this penetration and transformation, it breaks the myth that "modernization equals Westernization" and profoundly depicts the future prospect of modernization.

中国式现代化的实质是把现代化的普遍命题转换为中国命题，即将“在中国建设现代化”转化为“建设中国的现代化”。习近平指出：“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。”从马克思主义关于矛盾普遍性和特殊性关系的论述来看，中国式现代化既包含共性与个性的相互渗透，又包含共性与个性的相互转化，在渗透与转化中破除了“现代化=西方化”的迷思，深刻描画了现代化的未来图景。

Modernization is a global trend and possesses generality. Based on the general laws and common principles of modernization, and grounded in local practice, China has achieved a transformation from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization, from poverty and backwardness to prosperity and strength. This transformation reflects the penetration and transfer from commonality to individuality, the concretization and realization of abstract modernization theory in China's construction practice, and reflects the profound impact of modernization on China.

现代化是世界性潮流，具有一般性。中国基于现代化的一般规律和共性原则，基于本土实践实现了由农业文明向工业文明、由贫穷落后向富裕强盛的转变。这种转变反映的是由共性向个性的渗透与转移，是抽象的现代化理论在中国建设实践的具体化和现实化，反映了现代化对中国的深刻影响。

Modernization is concrete. Different nations and countries, based on their own national conditions or traditions, explore and generate different models of modernization, representing the diversity of modernization paths. Chinese-path modernization is a process in which the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, through the exploration of the modernization path, the condensation of experience, and the sublimation of theory, feed back into the history of world modernization, profoundly demonstrating the uniqueness of China's modernization. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical progress, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development. These not only constitute the core content of Chinese-path modernization but are also the concentrated expression of its Chinese characteristics. At the same time, in this process, the world significance of Chinese-path modernization is fully revealed. The vitality and superiority of Marxism and socialism are promoted through the success of Chinese-path modernization, and the concept of the diversity of paths for humanity to achieve modernization is fully demonstrated.

现代化是具体的，不同民族和国家依据自身的国情或传统，探索生成现代化的不同模式，表征着现代化道路的多样性。中国式现代化，是中国人民在中国共产党领导下，通过现代化道路的探索、经验的凝练、理论的升华等反哺世界现代化历史的过程，深刻昭示着中国现代化的独特性。中国式现代化是人口规模巨大的现代化，是全体人民共同富裕的现代化，是物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化，是人与自然和谐共生的现代化，是走和平发展道路的现代化，这些不仅构成中国式现代化的核心内容，更是其中国特色的集中表达。同时，在这一过程中，中国式现代化的世界意义也得以充分显现，马克思主义和社会主义的生命力与优越性借助中国式现代化的成功得以弘扬，人类通往现代化道路的多样性的理念得以充分展现。

(II) Innovating the Theory of Scientific Socialism in the Dialectical Combination of Upholding Fundamental Principles and Breaking New Ground

（二）在守正与创新的辩证结合中创新科学社会主义理论

Modernization reflects the development trend of human society, and scientific socialism contains the value purport of human liberation. The two converge in the process of world history. Chinese-path modernization embodies both inheritance and adherence, and even more so, innovation and transcendence. A very important reason why the path of Chinese-path modernization has become increasingly successful is that it insists on combining theoretical adherence to fundamental principles and innovation to guide the unity of practical adherence to fundamental principles and innovation, fully embodying the theoretical quality of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and becoming an important theoretical achievement of the Sinicization and modernization of scientific socialism.

现代化反映着人类社会的发展趋势，科学社会主义内蕴着人类解放的价值旨趣，二者在世界历史进程中殊途同归。中国式现代化既体现继承和坚守，更彰显创新和超越。中国式现代化道路之所以能够越走越成功，其中非常重要的一点，就是它坚持以理论的守正和创新相结合引领实践的守正和创新相统一，充分体现了马克思主义中国化时代化的理论品质，成为科学社会主义中国化时代化的重要理论成果。

Marxism takes promoting social development and human liberation as its main purpose. Marx and Engels, using dialectical materialism and historical materialism, critically reflected on capitalist society, profoundly revealing that the forces of modernity enveloped and constrained by capitalist society will inevitably burst forth with vast historical potential once this form is broken. The construction of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is based on the adherence to fundamental principles and innovation of Marxist modernization theory.

马克思主义以推动社会发展和人类解放为主旨，马克思、恩格斯以唯物辩证法和唯物史观批判反思资本主义社会，深刻揭示了被资本主义社会包裹和束缚的现代性力量必将随着这一形式的被打破而绽放出广阔的历史潜能。中国式现代化理论体系的构建就是基于马克思主义现代化理论的守正和创新。

On the one hand, upholding fundamental principles means preserving the origin, source, root, and soul of scientific socialist theory, firmly establishing the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization on scientific socialist principles such as productive forces as the foundation, science and technology as the support, and the free and comprehensive development of the individual as the ultimate goal. We shape the value principles and fundamental concepts of Chinese-path modernization with the general principles of scientific socialism, use historical materialism as the philosophical paradigm to anticipate the complex characteristics and profound changes of China's modernization, and use the dialectical wisdom of historical materialism regarding the unity and diversity of socio-historical development to reveal the uniqueness and specificity of the Chinese path of modernization.

一方面，守正，就是要守好科学社会主义理论的本和源、根和魂，把中国式现代化理论体系牢牢建立在生产力是基础、科技是支撑、人的自由全面发展是最终落脚点等科学社会主义原则之上。我们以科学社会主义的一般原理塑造中国式现代化的价值原则和根本理念，以历史唯物主义为哲学范式预判中国现代化的复杂特性和深刻变迁，以历史唯物主义关于社会历史发展的统一性和多样性的辩证智慧揭示中国式现代化道路的独特性与具体性。

On the other hand, breaking new ground means taking root in China's specific national conditions and development reality, discovering new theoretical propositions, creating new theoretical categories, and opening up new theoretical directions in the process of confronting, analyzing, and solving Chinese problems, enriching and expanding the theoretical treasury of scientific socialist modernization with China's modernization plan, Chinese wisdom, and Chinese achievements. The construction of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is an original undertaking. It concretizes the general requirement of the free and comprehensive development of the individual into the people-centered development thought, implements the general principle of the dictatorship of the proletariat as the comprehensive leadership of the Communist Party of China, implements the general requirement of public ownership of the means of production into the basic economic system with public ownership as the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership developing together as its main content, manifests the essential attribute of socialist democracy as the Chinese practice of whole-process people's democracy, and realizes the theory of continuous socialist reform as reform and opening up, the "crucial move" that determined the fate of contemporary China. The above theoretical creations are innovative applications and developments of the theory of scientific socialism, enabling scientific socialist theory to radiate vigorous vitality in 21st-century China.

另一方面，创新，就是扎根中国具体国情和发展实际，在面对、分析和解决中国问题的过程中发现新的理论命题、创造新的理论范畴、开辟新的理论方向，以现代化的中国方案、中国智慧和中国成果丰富拓新科学社会主义的现代化理论宝库。中国式现代化理论体系的构建是原创性事业，它将人的自由全面发展的一般要求具象化为以人民为中心的发展思想，将无产阶级专政的一般原则落实为中国共产党的全面领导，将生产资料公有制的一般要求落实为公有制为主体、多种所有制经济共同发展等为主要内容的基本经济制度，将社会主义民主的本质属性彰显为全过程人民民主的中国实践，将社会主义的不断改革论现实化为改革开放这一决定当代中国命运的“关键一招”。以上理论创造，是对科学社会主义理论的创新性运用和发展，使科学社会主义理论在21世纪的中国焕发出蓬勃生机。

(III) Promoting the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind in the Mutual Reflection of China and the World

（三）在中国与世界的彼此观照中推动构建人类命运共同体

Chinese-path modernization focuses on China's development while also possessing a global vision. The 20th National Congress of the CPC established promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind as one of the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC once again emphasized that Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of peaceful development, advocating for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and practicing the common values of all humanity. It can be said that using the practice of Chinese-path modernization as a link to connect China and the world, closely linking Chinese-path modernization with promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with the future and destiny of all humanity, is an inevitable requirement for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization.

中国式现代化既聚焦中国发展，又兼具世界情怀。党的二十大将推动构建人类命运共同体确立为中国式现代化的本质要求之一，党的二十届三中全会再次强调中国式现代化是走和平发展道路的现代化，主张推动构建人类命运共同体，践行全人类共同价值。可以说，以中国式现代化实践为纽带串联中国与世界，把中国式现代化同推动构建人类命运共同体、中华民族伟大复兴同全人类前途命运紧密联结，是进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的必然要求。

The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization provides new value elements for deepening the understanding of the destiny of humanity. Fine traditional Chinese culture has nurtured Chinese-path modernization. The concepts of harmony, valuing peace above all else, putting oneself in the place of others, universal harmony among all nations, and the Great Unity under Heaven are the common spiritual pursuits of the Chinese people. These profound wisdoms have long been integrated into the bloodline and genes of the Chinese people, forging the unique spiritual character of the Chinese nation, and also laying a solid foundation for friendly exchanges between China and other countries of the world. Chinese-path modernization is a modernization dedicated to the peaceful development and mutual benefit and win-win cooperation of all countries. This pursuit of modernization not only conforms to the interests of the Chinese people but is also highly compatible with the long-term interests of human society. The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization inherently embodies the common values of all humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom—providing beneficial value elements for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and helping to advance the international community's joint efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind from an ideological and spiritual perspective.

中国式现代化理论体系为深化对人类命运的认识提供了新的价值元素。中华优秀传统文化涵养了中国式现代化。和合理念、以和为贵、推己及人、协和万邦、天下大同是中国人共同的精神追求，这些深邃的智慧早已融入中国人的血脉和基因，铸就了中华民族独特的精神风貌，也为中国与世界各国的友好交往奠定了坚实基础。中国式现代化是致力于各国和平发展、互利共赢的现代化，这种现代化追求，不仅符合中国人民的利益，更与人类社会的长远利益高度契合。中国式现代化理论体系内蕴着和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的全人类共同价值，为推动构建人类命运共同体提供了有益的价值元素，有助于从思想和精神上推进国际社会携手共建人类命运共同体。

The theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization injects more discursive resources into promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Chinese-path modernization provides a new path choice for humanity to realize modernization and opens broad prospects for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. This process has also driven the innovation of related discourse. From "common prosperity" for all to "promoting common prosperity for all countries," the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization provides new discourse on development and prosperity for building a community with a shared future for mankind; from "coordinating material and cultural-ethical progress" to building an "open and inclusive world," the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization contributes more new discourse on world order to building a community with a shared future for mankind; from pursuing "harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature" to building a "clean and beautiful world," the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization injects more new discourse on ecological civilization construction into building a community with a shared future for mankind; from the "path of peaceful development" to building a "world of universal security," the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization establishes more discursive platforms for exchange and communication for building a community with a shared future for mankind. In short, the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization is the fruit of the Chinese people's vivid practice of building a socialist modernization, responding to the common concerns of all humanity regarding respect for diversity and the elimination of conflict. It will inevitably contribute more and better Chinese wisdom to the joint efforts of all countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind that is characterized by lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, and a clean and beautiful environment.

中国式现代化理论体系为推动构建人类命运共同体注入了更多的话语资源。中国式现代化为人类实现现代化提供了新的路径选择，为推动构建人类命运共同体开辟了广阔前景，这一过程也带动了相关话语的创新。从全民“共同富裕”到“促进各国共同繁荣”，中国式现代化理论体系为构建人类命运共同体提供了有关发展和繁荣的新话语；从“物质文明和精神文明协调”到建设“开放包容的世界”，中国式现代化理论体系为构建人类命运共同体贡献了更多有关世界秩序的新话语；从追求“人与自然和谐共生”到建设“清洁美丽的世界”，中国式现代化理论体系为构建人类命运共同体注入了更多生态文明建设的新话语；从“和平发展道路”到建设“普遍安全的世界”，中国式现代化理论体系为构建人类命运共同体搭建了更多交流互通的话语平台。总之，中国式现代化理论体系是中国人民建设社会主义现代化生动实践的成果，回应着全人类对于尊重多样、消弭冲突的共同关切，必将为世界各国携手构建持久和平、普遍安全、共同繁荣、开放包容、清洁美丽的人类命运共同体贡献更多、更优的中国智慧。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗