Three Represents---CPC's New Thinking

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Three Represents---CPC's New Thinking

"The CPC represents the requirement to develop advanced productive forces"; "The Communist Party of China should represent the direction of advanced culture"; "The CPC should represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China".

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"The CPC represents the requirement to develop advanced productive forces"

The "Three Represents" is part of the ideological construction of the Communist Party of China, and also a guideline for the 16th National Congress. The three represents are -- the Communist Party of China should represent the requirement to develop advanced productive force, represent an orientation towards advanced culture and represents the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China.

But how do we judge whether the current productive forces are advanced or not? Professor Bian Lixin from the CPC Central Committee's Party School explains.

"The productive forces have changed with time and circumstances, and the decision of whether these forces are advanced or not should be made against the background of world development."

Professor Bian says China --- led by the CPC---first developed its economy on the basis of backward productive forces from the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and experienced setbacks in the first years after the People's Republic was founded in 1949. Thus, developing advanced productive forces always poses a difficult task for the CPC, which has taken on the responsibility of transforming a highly-centralize economy into a market economy.

But at a time when the world is undergoing rapid development and economic globalization, it is possible to achieve a giant leap in the advancement of productive forces. As China is stepping up efforts to seize this opportunity by deepening its economic reforms and furthering its opening-up, it's extremely important to reiterate the resolve to keep pace with the advancement of the productive forces. As Professor Bian puts it, opening also means learning from others. China's development can't be separated from that of the rest of the world.

"We can't develop our productive forces while ignoring the world trends. We should start from our own situation, and understand the world trend of advanced productive forces, and then draw up an appropriate development plan, so as to accelerate the change from a traditional agricultural country to a modern industrial society."

This is also the requirement of the people as any effort made must be conductive to the improvement of the national economy and people's well-being.

Professor Bian Lixin says human resources play an important role in this process. The working class continues to grow, as it now includes workers from the private sector and technology-oriented researchers. And rapid urbanization is bringing a large number of farmers into the urban work force. Low productivity is often a bottleneck.

Therefore, as the vanguard of the Chinese working class, the CPC stresses on the connection between the working class and modern mass production, and is a manifestation of the country's most advanced productive forces. Professor Bian says the first of the "Three Represents" �C that is, the Communist Party of China should represent the requirement to develop advanced productive force -- is just in conformity with practical need of the time. He says this will have profound significance in economic development and social progress, and in party construction.

"The Communist Party of China should represent the direction of advanced culture"

The important role culture plays in society is evident when you look at the development of human civilization. As well as economic development, culture is also a significant indicator of a nation's strength. It's widely acknowledged that because it guides people's behavior and brings about social consensus on many issues, an advanced culture is also the inner power that invigorates a nation.

Political analyst Zhang Shiyi from the CPC History Research Center says socialist culture is China's advanced culture.

"Socialist morality is a culture of the masses and the whole nation, which helps promote the scientific and ethical construction of the country and provides moral support for China's economic development."

However, the development of advanced culture in China faces challenges by changing circumstances. Professor Zhang Shiyi says China has a rich culture that has developed for thousands of years. Much of it has been inherited from feudal times. The rapid development of ties with the western world brings the influence of western cultures into play. What's more, when the country is in the transition from a centralized planned economy to a market-regulated one, public attitudes towards culture are changing. All this means the party is faced with new tasks.

Professor Zhang says China must retain the advantage of its traditional culture, such as the socialist moral ethics and collectivism, while learning from other cultures as it opens wider to the rest of the world.

"We are building a socialist morality with Chinese characteristics. An advanced culture must be rooted in and be developing from the practices of China's socialist construction."

Professor Zhang says to properly deal with the relations with other cultures while persisting with the guidance of socialist culture, the CPC should encourage the healthy development of various cultures. They should adopt their merits and reject decadent habits such as money-worship, and extreme individualism.

He says socialist culture represents the trend of advanced culture, and aims to find harmony between economic development and morals, individual achievements and the benefits of the whole society, as well as relations between man and nature.

"The CPC should represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China"

According to Professor Zhang Xixian, who is from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the fundamental interests refer to the wealth, happiness, stability, democracy and civilization of the people. Actually, representing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people was proposed as early as in the 1920s when the Communist Party of China was founded. But Professor Zhang says that reiterating this point is greatly significant in view of the complicated circumstances facing the world in the new century.

"After summarizing the 80 years' of experience of the party, developing correct guidelines that will better serve the fundamental interests of the majority is the most urgent task."

Professor Zhang says currently, CPC political work is directed by administrative guidelines proposed every five years at the CPC national congress and a detailed action guideline at the annual Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee. The two major guidelines also determine whether the fundamental interests of the majority can be achieved.

China is now going through massive reforms. The distribution of wealth, the labor market, as well as the country's social composition have all changed radically. So it's important to draw up proper guidelines in accordance with the changes and effectively carry out the plans. It's a new challenge for party members and leaders. That's why the policy-making ability of the CPC needs to be reinforced and anti-corruption efforts should be strengthened and continued.

In addition, Professor Zhang says that in dealing with issues concerning the fundamental interests of the majority, attention should be given to balancing them with the interests of the few.

"In the face of new historical circumstances, minority interests should be properly dealt with, or else it'll affect the fundamental interests of the majority. Currently, partial interests are challenged by the growing number of laid-off workers and people living in poverty."

Professor Zhang adds that during the first years of the proposal that the CPC should represent the fundamental interests of the majority, the major task facing the party was the independence and liberation of the country. Today, after 50 years of development, the current task of representing the fundamental interests of the majority involves uniting the people in the struggle for a better future by sharing the benefits of the reforms and opening-up through economic development and social construction.(CRI)

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