It was 30 years ago today that the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened in Beijing. A brand new epoch thus commenced with this great day, as this significant meeting was a great milestone either in the history of the CPC and the history of China or the history of the Chinese nation.
Then, the Communist Party and the Chinese government were at crossroads after a full decade of upheaval and turmoil between 1966 and 1976, and the five-day Plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee held from December 18 to 22 resolutely shifted the focus of the Party's work to socialist modernization drive and made a crucial choice of reform and opening up, effected a great turn of vital, far-reaching importance and ushered in a new historical era of socialist modernization construction.
With an extraordinary theoretical courage and political wisdom, the Chinese Communists, by abandoning fetishes and superstitions, setting things to the right and re-establishing the Marxist ideological line, emancipated the mind, sought truth from facts and kept pace with the time. All this signified the great wakening of the CPC under new historical conditions as well as the beginning of an endeavor for the Party to comply with the tide of the new historical period and people's aspirations and to courageously open a new path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The profound impact of the Plenum on the Party and the state has been or is being evidenced increasingly with the progress of social practice. Over the past three decades since the reform and opening up was initiated, China has kept firmly to economic development as the central theme, taken the reform and opening up as a powerful impetus and scored new, outstanding achievements in all undertakings of the Party and the state on the basis of successes already made ever since the founding of new China in 1949.
Through its strenuous, unremitting efforts taken in the past three decades, China has realized the first two strategic objectives of the “three-step forward” in its socialist construction for modernization and it is currently marching toward the third strategic goal. To date, 1.3 billion people on the Chinese mainland have kept up with the trend of the times, and socialist China stands firmly in the East of the world.
Taking the Third Plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee as the new starting point, the CPC began its introspection over such issues in the past three decades as what socialism is, how to build it, and what kind of Party to build and how to build it. Moreover, the CPC, with a trying effort to explore inexorable laws on building socialism, on the development of human society and on the Party's law enforcement, has pioneered the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and institute a theoretical setup of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Consequently, the outlook of the Chinese people, the outlook of Socialist China and the outlook of the CPC have all undergone historical changes.
Immortal feats often require hard, strenuous efforts for generations. Since the reform and opening up represents a great revolution, it cannot be a plain sailing or be materialized overnight. The reform, which has no parallel in history, is badly in need of up-comers. The revolutionaries of the older generation rose from predicament and forged a historical monument for national rejuvenation three decades ago, whereas today, 30 years later, the Chinese people meet with rare opportunities for development but they are also faced with tough, unprecedented challenges.
To commemorate the Third Plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee, we look back feats of the previous 30 unforgettable years. In so doing, we want precisely to acquire an ample understanding of the reform and opening up as well as their major significance and great achievements, draw great inspirations from them, and renew vis and vigor for further development.
At this very special historic moment, we should not only learn from the wisdom and courage of pioneers, but carry on the great cause and spirit with the new, historical target bearing. Let the whole Party and people throughout China rally closely around the CPC Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the General Secretary, continue to emancipate the mind, persevere in reform and opening up, advance the scientific development and promote social harmony, and strive to open up the splendid future of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
By People's Daily Online, and its author is PD subeditor Hai Ping
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