[Article] The only way to get out of the dilemma of social transformation is to deepen reforms

“The only solution to worries is reform”

Author: Zhou Ruijin, former deputy editor-in-chief of People’s Daily and vice president of the National Productivity Society

Twenty years ago, at an important historical juncture where China's reform, opening up, and modernization were headed, Comrade Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reform, opening up, and modernization, visited Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shanghai and other places from January 18 to February 21, 1992. He delivered important speeches, summarizing the party's basic practices and experience since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, and answered many major cognitive questions that have long troubled and bound people's minds.

Comrade Xiaoping's Southern Speech was a new ideological emancipation, which freed people from the shackles of "everything must be about society and capital", aroused great enthusiasm among cadres and the people for reform, opening up and modernization, and quickly turned into a new huge material force.

Its ideological liberating effect can only be imagined by those who have experienced it personally. Over the past 20 years, China's reform, opening up, and modernization have made brilliant achievements, which are exactly the great achievements of this ideological emancipation movement.

Xiaoping's Southern Talks, laying the foundation for China's reform

Comrade Xiaoping's Southern Speech in 1992 is a manifesto for the Communist Party of China to further emancipate the mind and promote reform and opening up. It is a marching order to mobilize the whole party and the people to break through the ideological cage of "surname society and capital", boldly learn from the achievements of human civilization, and promote market-oriented reforms. It is the foundation of the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

A year before Comrade Xiaoping's talk in the south, I presided over the work of the Liberation Daily. From February to April 1991, I organized Ling He, Shi Zhihong and other comrades to co-write and publish the "Huangfu Ping" series of commentaries that conveyed the spirit of Comrade Xiaoping's talk on further promoting reform and opening up.

The opening article, "Being the "Leading Sheep" of Reform and Opening Up," analyzed the domestic and international situations faced at the time, and clearly stated: "The only way to solve problems is reform." These four comments aroused strong responses at home and abroad, but were criticized by some theorists for a year. This also became an important historical background for Comrade Xiaoping's inspection of the South in the spring of 1992. Today, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Comrade Xiaoping’s Southern Speech, we review history and grasp the reality, and we will surely further understand the great and far-reaching historical and practical significance of the Southern Speech.

The late 1980s and early 1990s were troubled times for socialism. In 1989, the "June 4th Incident" occurred in China, followed by drastic changes in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe in 1990. The first was the fall of the Berlin Wall, then the resignation of the old Polish President Jaruzelski, and the Gdansk shipyard worker and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa became the democratically elected president of Poland. Subsequently, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria also "changed the royal flag at the top of the city." The most thrilling scene was that at the end of the year, the Romanian army and police turned against each other, the communist regime collapsed overnight, and former President Ceausescu and his wife were shot dead.

At the same time, complex changes also occurred in the former Soviet Union. First, Gorbachev encountered a sudden coup. After Yeltsin stepped in to solve the coup, Gorbachev dissolved the Communist Party of the former Soviet Union in 1991, and later announced the disintegration of the alliance. The Soviet Union, the world's first socialist country created by Lenin, suddenly disintegrated and changed its banner 74 years after its birth, shocking the world.

Faced with the complex domestic and international situations at that time, some people summed up the lessons of "Su Dongbo" and said that reform and opening up led to the collapse of socialism. Some people also pointed out that the "June 4th Incident", like "Su Dongpo", was also the result of the peaceful evolution of imperialism. Therefore, education and struggle against peaceful evolution should be strengthened.

They claimed that: special economic zones are hotbeds of peaceful evolution; the joint-production contract responsibility system disintegrates the public-owned economy; joint-stock reform pilots are privatization hidden; and the introduction of foreign capital is a vassal of the international bourgeoisie. They proposed that in addition to economic construction as the center, there should be another one centered on counter-peaceful evolution.

They advocated abandoning the basic point of reform and opening up that can easily lead to peaceful evolution. This is actually to turn one center in the party's basic line into two centers, and turn two basic points into one basic point. They said that the most serious and dangerous aspects of peaceful evolution are in the economic field. We should ask whether the reform and opening up measures in the economic field are socialist or capitalist. Originally, 1991 was supposed to be the year of reform and opening up, but it turned out to be a year of ideological confrontation about reform and opening up.

During the 1991 confrontation surrounding the "Huangfu Ping" series of commentaries, there was a popular saying in Beijing: "Old man from Kyoto, sit back and watch the storm rise." Regardless of whether the legend is true or not, I believe that Comrade Xiaoping should have been very calmly observing and thinking about this ideological confrontation that took place in China.

In 1992, the central government began to prepare the theme of the 14th National Congress and the composition of the leadership team. This is a critical moment related to the future development of the party and the country. Comrade Xiaoping was already 88 years old at this time, but he still used great theoretical and political courage to inspect the south and deliver speeches at the perfect time. He is worthy of being a far-sighted politician.

From January 18 to February 21, 1992, Comrade Xiaoping lectured on reform and opening up from Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai to Shanghai and other places. He repeatedly emphasized that reform is to build a socialist market economy and that the party's basic line must be maintained for 100 years and cannot be shaken. He said that not adhering to socialism, not reforming and opening up, not developing the economy, and not improving people's lives can only lead to a dead end.

Comrade Xiaoping grasped the crux of the ideological debate and confrontation in 1991 and pointedly pointed out: "Reform and opening up cannot make progress, and we dare not make breakthroughs. All in all, we are afraid that there will be too many capitalist things and we will take the capitalist road. The key is the question of whether we are surnamed 'capital' or 'social'. The criterion for judgment should mainly be whether it is conducive to developing the productive forces of socialist society, whether it is conducive to enhancing the comprehensive national strength of the socialist country, and whether it is conducive to improving the people's living standards."

Comrade Xiaoping used concise and vivid language such as "development is the last word" to encourage people to "seize the opportunity and develop yourself. The key is to develop the economy." "For a big developing country like ours, if the economy wants to develop faster, it cannot always be so calm and steady. We must pay attention to stable and coordinated economic development, but stability and coordination are also relative, not absolute."

In response to the problems exposed in the ideological confrontation in 1991, Comrade Xiaoping pointedly pointed out: Now, there are right things affecting us, and there are also "left" things affecting us, but the "left" things are still deep-rooted. "Left" has a revolutionary overtone, and it seems that the more "left" the more revolutionary it is. "Left" things are terrible in the history of our party! A good thing was destroyed by him all of a sudden. The right can ruin socialism, and the "left" can also ruin socialism. China must be wary of the right, but the main thing is to prevent "left".

Comrade Xiaoping's talks in the South are truly a voice of hope that clears away the darkness! Only those who have personally experienced the ups and downs of that year can truly feel the shock and excitement of the storm of emancipation ideas brought about by Comrade Xiaoping's southern talk! The Southern Talk made sufficient ideological and theoretical preparations for the convening of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. It not only played a very important guiding role in the reform and construction at that time and the success of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, but also had great and far-reaching significance in promoting China's comprehensive reform and opening up and the entire socialist modernization drive.

Comrade Xiaoping's Southern Speech in 1992 was a manifesto for the Communist Party of China to further emancipate the mind and promote reform and opening up. It was a marching order to mobilize the whole party and the people to break through the ideological cage of "surname society and capital", boldly learn from the achievements of human civilization, and promote market-oriented reforms. It was the foundation of the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Therefore, Comrade Xiaoping's Southern Speech in 1992, like the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1978 and the Zunyi Conference in 1935, played a great historical role in saving the party and the country.

Social and economic transformation, accumulation of contradictions become more prominent

Reform and opening up has promoted China to achieve three major socio-economic transformations and embark on the development track of modernization, marketization, urbanization and globalization. The period of social and economic transformation is also a period of prominent contradictions, and market-oriented reforms have also accumulated many problems, causing China's current development to face some difficulties.

In the 20 years since Comrade Xiaoping delivered his Southern Speech, China has vigorously promoted market-oriented reforms, expanded opening up, joined the World Trade Organization, fully integrated into the world economy and politics, made miraculous achievements in economic development, and achieved a socio-economic transformation of far-reaching historical significance. The country has undergone major changes.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) has continued to grow at an average annual rate of 9.7% for more than 30 years, and has maintained rapid growth especially during the international financial crisis. China's total GDP soared from more than 364.5 billion yuan in 1978 to 40.1513 trillion yuan in 2010, an increase of 110 times. China's per capita GDP increased from 381 yuan in 1978 to over 30,000 yuan in 2010, an increase of nearly 80 times, and an increase of 30 times even in comparable U.S. dollar terms. In 2011, China's GDP is expected to grow by more than 9% and exceed 43 trillion yuan.

China's total GDP surpassed Japan in 2010 and became the world's second largest economy, accounting for 9.27% ​​of the world's total economic output. Comrade Xiaoping originally predicted that the per capita target of US,000 would be reached by the middle of the 21st century. It was reached in 2010, 40 years ahead of schedule. This is something no one expected.

It is worth mentioning that steel production. In 2006, China's steel production reached 417.5 million tons, exceeding the steel production of 28 countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. The United States, Canada, and Mexico produce 133.5 million tons of steel, and the United Kingdom and the EU 25 produce 198.9 million tons of steel. Their combined total is only 332.4 million tons. Think about it: In 1958, we mobilized 90 million people to make steel using local methods to produce 10.7 million tons of steel. The result was 4 million tons of iron lumps. What was even more serious was that we let the harvested grain rot in the ground, causing the subsequent Great Famine, in which more than 30 million people starved to death. One is a command economy and the other is a market economy. What a stark contrast between the two!

Reform and opening up has promoted China to achieve three major social and economic transformations, namely, from a closed and semi-closed society to an open society, from an agricultural society to an industrial society, and from a highly centralized planned economic system to a dynamic socialist market economic system, and embarked on a development track of modernization, marketization, urbanization, and globalization. The economic system, political system, cultural system and social system have undergone profound changes accordingly.

From the perspective of world history, Columbus discovered the New World of America in 1492. Transnational maritime trade transformed European countries from a closed society to an open society, and from a theocratic society to a human rights society. During this period, many wars and revolutions were caused, which were full of bloodshed and plunder. The Industrial Revolution from the 19th to the 20th century, when European and American countries transformed from agricultural societies to industrial societies, also caused great social turmoil. As for Russia and Eastern European countries, the transition from planned economy to market economy has been a violent shock for 89 years, with inflation reaching over 1,000%.

In contrast, China has carried out three major social and economic system transformations simultaneously within 30 years. 50 million workers have been laid off and re-employed, 60 million farmers have lost their land, and 120 million migrant workers have moved between cities and rural areas. However, it has been able to maintain basic stability across the country.

In recent years, China has continued to encounter the impact of various crises and disasters at home and abroad, such as the 1997 East Asian financial crisis, the 1998 flood, the 2003 SARS crisis, the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the 2009 world financial crisis, the 2010 Yushu earthquake, the 2011 severe drought in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, etc., etc., but they have not caused major nationwide turmoil. This is very rare.

However, the period of social and economic transformation is also a period of prominent contradictions, and market-oriented reforms have also accumulated many problems, causing China's current development to face some difficulties.

First, the troubles of the rise of great powers.

As the largest developing country, its rise will inevitably encounter new problems. In recent years, China has continued to have frictions with world powers and neighboring countries around disputes over exchange rates, maritime rights, territory, military, peripheral relations, and ideological fields. The disputes in the South China Sea, the joint maritime exercises between the United States and Vietnam, the Sino-Japanese Diaoyu Islands collision, and the rise of anti-China sentiment among Japanese people, Yanping The frequent and escalating military exercises brought about by the shelling of the island, and the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize triggered a new round of overseas pressure on China's democracy and human rights, etc., etc., have highlighted the severe challenges facing China's diplomacy, and also revealed the doubts, concerns, and even hostility of the outside world towards China's rise.

When it comes to China's internal affairs such as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Taiwan, some overseas forces continue to cause trouble. In terms of diplomatic response, China sometimes falls into a passive situation, with insufficient response options and inflexible methods.

Second, there is the confusion about social and economic transformation.

The three major social and economic transformations have brought about four major problems: First, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened, and a dangerous trend of polarization has emerged. Data released by the World Bank shows that 1% of China’s population controls 41.4% of the wealth, and the concentration of wealth is extremely high. China Merchants Bank and Bain Management Consulting released the "2009 China Private Wealth Report". Mainland China's high-net-worth individuals (referring to individuals with investable assets of more than 10 million yuan) held more than 9 trillion yuan in investable assets in 2009, equivalent to 0.2‰ of China's total population, and held nearly half of the 20 trillion yuan in deposit balances of urban and rural residents nationwide. In addition, the number of employees in the electric power, telecommunications, petroleum, petrochemical, finance, insurance, tobacco and other industries accounts for less than 8% of the country's total employees, but the total salary and welfare income is equivalent to 55% of the country's total employee wages.

Second, the development of social undertakings has seriously lagged behind, and people's livelihood problems have become prominent. In particular, the social security system inevitably required by a market economy has not yet been established. Issues such as difficulty in finding a job, difficulty in going to school, expensive medical treatment, expensive housing, and public security problems are related to people's livelihood. People complain a lot, and even call education, medical care, and housing the "three new mountains."

Third, the development method is extensive, the ecology is destroyed, and the environment is polluted. In particular, water resources are seriously polluted. All seven major water systems in the country are polluted, and food hygiene problems are even more serious. High investment and high consumption will lead to serious waste of energy, materials and resources, which will eat into the lives of our ancestors and the next few generations.

Fourth, power and social corruption are serious. First of all, in some places or departments, the selling of officials and the buying of officials are prevalent, and official governance is corrupt, which corrupts the party, political, and social conduct, and has a bad influence. Some leading cadres at all levels are involved in the case. Some are greedy, with amounts worth hundreds of millions, and some are greedy for sex and have many mistresses and mistresses. The masses are deeply disgusted with this.

Secondly, corruption has gradually spread to some courts and procuratorates. From the central to local courts and procuratorates, some judges and prosecutors have committed crimes. In some places, they are even "one-pot", causing extremely bad effects. Courts and procuratorates are important institutions that uphold social justice and are the main force in safeguarding social justice. Their corruption damages the platform for social justice.

The third is the corruption of public opinion. The media is originally a powerful tool for supervising public power. However, some media have not only lost their function of public opinion supervision, but have also been severely corrupted by capital, resulting in corruption.

Governmental corruption, judicial corruption, and public opinion corruption are all more serious than corruption in the economic field. This is systemic corruption and deserves serious attention.

Third, the anxiety of market competition.

It cannot be avoided that in the process of China's market-oriented reform, there has been a collusion between certain power elites and capital elites, forming special interest groups and blocking the people's upward path. This creates anxiety about market competition. The society is filled with impetuousness and dissatisfaction, the sense of happiness has weakened, the sense of loss has increased, and some educational and academic fields have also suffered various erosions.

Judging from the Internet, the most inspirational joke in 2011 was "If you are young and don't work hard, you will spend your life in the mainland"; the "most helpless" joke was "It is better to fight for your father than to work hard" and "It is better to have a good father than to learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well". Some people jokingly call this an era of "fighting for dad". From the education world, the workplace to the entertainment industry, the "fighting for dad" game is constantly escalating, which is both absurd and vulgar.

After the numerous school bus accidents in 2011, jokes like this appeared on the Internet: American school buses are strong because no one knows which school bus will contain the future President of the United States; Chinese school buses are fragile because many people do not take the children of the general public seriously. Some members of the public habitually release their "intergenerational inheritance" dissatisfaction with wealth and wealth into emergencies and accidents. Even if the government does something, society will be filled with a certain kind of distrust.

Regarding any decision or reform measure introduced by the government, if you look at Weibo, forums or netizen message boards, there will be a lot of "I don't believe it" feedback, and even some extreme comments. There is a feeling of "2012 complex" among some netizens - the so-called doomsday in Mayan legends. The grassroots people are unable to change social injustice and are helpless, creating a "collective anxiety" of everyone being destroyed. This can easily lead to the rise of populist thoughts, and hatred of officials, hatred of the rich, and hatred of the police is vented everywhere.

At the same time, the pursuit of materialism, consumerism, and hedonism has increasingly become a common social phenomenon. The concept of money supremacy has spread, the humanistic spirit has been lost, and the materialization of human nature has caused some people to be nervous, anxious, and have a mental breakdown. The spiritual pursuit and mental health of the Chinese people are worrying.

The direct consequences of the above-mentioned problems in China are the loss of control of grassroots power and the increase in social group incidents. Conflicts mainly focus on rural land acquisition and urban house demolition, as well as resource development and environmental protection. But looking at these social group incidents, almost none of them are against the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist system, and none of them are against the central government. The vast majority of them strive for profit rather than power. Only the Xinjiang and Tibet issues are more complicated because of external interference.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Comrade Xiaoping's Southern Conversation, we have some overall judgments on the situation facing China's reform: 1. The economy maintains rapid development; 2. Politics is basically stable; 3. Social contradictions are prominent.

We can also reach five points of consensus: 1. The modern market economic system is the best choice for economic development; 2. A democratic and rule-of-law country is the political system choice for long-term stability; 3. Civil society is the most dynamic social choice for social governance; 4. Modern science and technology is the main choice for developing advanced productive forces; 5. People-oriented, free thought, diversified development, and harmonious integration are the best humanistic spirits for economic and social development.

The only way to get out of the transformation dilemma is to deepen reforms

It is necessary to deepen the reform and construction of the four-in-one economic system, political system, cultural system, and social system with the reform of the political system as the center. China's reform should be divided into three steps: economic system, social system and political system (cultural system reform is integrated into it). China is currently at a stage focusing on social system reform.

Starting from the judgment of China's overall situation and the five-point consensus, in order to get out of the current predicament of social and economic transformation and resolve problems in the development process, we still need to use a sentence from 20 years ago: "The only way to solve problems is reform."

At present, we should deepen the reform and construction of the four-in-one economic system, political system, cultural system, and social system with the reform of the political system as the center. This has entered the critical stage of reform.

Why should we focus on political system reform? Because after the establishment of the socialist market economic system framework, the deepening of economic system reform will inevitably involve the improvement of the legal system, the reform of the land system and state-owned monopoly enterprises, the reform of the fiscal and financial system, etc., which all involve the content of the political system reform.

Social system reform involves the reform of the government administrative system. From a totalitarian government to a public service-oriented government, it is necessary to develop civil society, implement grassroots autonomy, and strengthen social management innovation. This also involves the content of political system reform.

As for the reform of the cultural system, it also involves the reform of the media, embodying freedom of speech and diversity of thought, relaxing the control of public opinion, developing new media, and stimulating innovation in the cultural industry. This also involves the reform of the political system. It can be seen that the four-in-one reform involves the reform of the political system, so deepening the reform must focus on the reform of the political system.

In view of China's current situation, the four-in-one reform centered on political system reform should be implemented step by step. In the early 1980s, Comrade Xiaoping proposed a "three-step" development strategy to basically realize the modernization of the country. China's overall comprehensive reform also requires a "three-step" road map. China's reform should be divided into three steps: economic system, social system, and political system (with cultural system reform integrated into it). China is currently at a stage where social system reform is the focus.

From 1978 to 2004, we spent about 25 years focusing on the reform of the economic system, focusing on establishing a socialist market economic system, and realizing the transformation from a highly centralized planned economy to a dynamic socialist market economic system.

In 2004, the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted the "Decision on Further Improving the Socialist Market Economic System" as a symbol, announcing that the framework of China's socialist market economic system has been basically established. It will take some time to deepen and improve, and the first stage of reform goals have basically been achieved. At this plenary session, the Central Committee proposed the Scientific Outlook on Development, emphasizing people-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, indicating that reform and opening up has entered the second stage focusing on social system reform and social construction.

This new stage may take us about 15 to 20 years. If we count from the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", it will take about two more five-year plans, and it can basically be completed by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party in 2021. Therefore, the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period is a critical stage for launching social system reform. The outline of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" has been announced. Transforming the economic development model, adjusting the distribution of national income, establishing a social security system, developing social undertakings, accelerating the pace of industrialization and urbanization, and effectively solving people's livelihood problems are the key contents of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan". This is also the main requirement for social system reform and construction.

Therefore, promoting the reform of the social system is a "social progress movement" in China to solve a series of social problems accumulated since the reform and opening up. From this perspective, social system reform plays a connecting role, not only undertaking the task of deepening and improving the economic system reform, but also creating a better social environment and conditions for the reform of the political system.

Social system reform and construction mainly solve three tasks:

First, establish an effective social security system to solve six major people's livelihood problems from the institutional level, that is, establish a complete modern national education system; establish a social security system covering urban and rural residents to ensure people's basic life; implement a development strategy to expand employment, promote entrepreneurship to drive employment, and strive to form a reasonable and fair distribution pattern; establish a basic medical and health system to ensure that everyone enjoys basic medical and health services; establish an urban and rural housing construction system to ensure that everyone has a house to live in, but not everyone has property rights housing, and low-income people can solve the problem through low-rent housing; establish a good living environment to ensure fresh air, especially clean water sources and food hygiene.

Second, build a reasonable and stable social structure. The main purpose is to promote urbanization, transfer the agricultural surplus population, and strengthen the middle class. Achieve the proportion of non-agricultural output value accounting for more than 85%, the urban population accounting for more than 60% of the total population (currently about 50% in China, increasing by 1% a year, reaching the 60% target in about ten years, and more than 80% in developed countries), and non-agricultural employees rising to more than 70%. In this way, the number of middle-income people with an annual income of 60,000 to 180,000 yuan (average monthly income of 5,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan), that is, the middle class, can increase to account for 40% to 60% of the total population (currently about 20% in China). This forms an "olive-shaped" social structure, which is the basis for political and social stability. The middle class is not only the main body that promotes domestic demand and consumption, but also the main body that carries modern culture. Enlarging the middle class can greatly alleviate the problem of wealth disparity.

Third, cultivate a mature civil society with a “three-dimensional structure”. First of all, the government's public power must be returned to its original position, and all economic and social affairs must be taken over by totalitarianism. The goal of the reform is to establish a limited government and a public service-oriented government. The government's main affairs are regulating the economy, supervising the market, social management and public services.

Second is the development of social organizations to ensure the autonomy rights of the grassroots. Achieve rural autonomy and community autonomy, let social issues be managed by the public, and form a social autonomy system for citizens to manage themselves, serve themselves, educate themselves, and supervise themselves. The central government has repeatedly emphasized social management innovation, which means changing the focus on social organizations from regulating them to cultivating and encouraging them, extensively involving social organizations in the formulation of public policies, encouraging them to undertake more public services, and striving to create a social governance pattern in which the government and the people co-govern.

In addition, the market unit, which is dominated by public-owned enterprises, non-public-owned enterprises, and individual industrial and commercial households, must fully guarantee their rights to resource allocation, minimize direct government intervention in enterprises, and truly realize the separation of government and enterprise, separation of political affairs, separation of government capital, and separation of government and intermediaries. Prevent interference in the micro-economy in the name of macro-control, and allow market entities that create wealth to play a greater and better role. Taking the government's public power as the leading role, we should implement the rights of social autonomy and market resource allocation, so that the three-dimensional social structure can be used in its proper place, cooperate and coordinate with each other, and form a harmonious civil society.

The tasks to be accomplished in the current reform stage are complex and arduous. It has encountered many contradictions and resistance, and it is very necessary for the whole party to unify its understanding and unify it in the spirit of Comrade Xiaoping's Southern Talk. Looking back at the Southern Conversation today, we can still strongly feel its outstanding practical significance in advancing the current reform:

1. The Southern Talk spoke highly of China's reform and opening up as a great revolution that liberated productive forces, making it unwavering to adhere to reform and opening up and become a firm and unified value of the ruling party. "Revolution liberates productive forces, and reform also liberates productive forces." "After the basic socialist system is established, we must fundamentally change the economic system that restrains productive forces, establish a socialist economic system full of vitality and vitality, and promote the development of productive forces. This is reform." Therefore, reform is the second revolution.

Comrade Xiaoping put forward the idea of ​​​​reforming the economic system based on the market economy, liberating people from the old concept that the market economy is equal to capitalism, and forming a complete set of reform concepts, policies, measures and practices. Comrade Xiaoping has repeatedly pointed out that the problems accumulated through reform must be solved by continuing to deepen reform. Anyone who wants to change the party's basic line will be defeated. This predictably solves the problem of sustainable development of the reform.

2. The Southern Talk made it clear that reformers must have the courage to try and break out boldly, and must have a bit of the spirit of intrusion and "risk-taking". "If you don't have energy and energy, you can't find a good path, and if you don't find a new path, you can't start a new career." How wonderful this is!

The intruder is brave. The kind of people who are not afraid of hardships and move forward courageously are praised as adventurers. Comrade Xiaoping emphasized: "To carry out revolution and construction, we must have a group of pioneers who are brave enough to think, explore, and innovate." Entering the stage of reform, we need to be brave enough to break through the constraints of all traditional concepts and systems, dare to try boldly, bravely break into, have the energy and courage to break into a new world of reform.

"Risk" means creation. Only those who dare to take risks and be the first in the world can be creative. When entering the deep-water zone of reform, someone must be the first to take the first step in order to open up new paths and create new careers. No reform can be 100% correct or foolproof. We should always "sum up experience, persist in what is right, change what is wrong quickly, and solve new problems as soon as they arise" in the process of exploration. In order to boldly experiment with reforms and break through ideological constraints, Comrade Xiaoping put forward the "three favorable" judgment criteria. This is the richest political legacy left by Comrade Xiaoping to future generations.

Although the historical position of China today has undergone tremendous changes, there are still fierce disputes over whether reform should be carried out and where it should go. Relatively speaking, the ideological color of the dispute has faded, while the game of interest relations has become more acute. To solve the new contradictions and problems after development, we also need the same spirit and energy that Comrade Xiaoping advocated to dare to venture, dare to try, and dare to "take risks". We cannot be afraid of this or that, and be hesitant to move forward due to worries.

3. The Southern Talk established an open mind that reform must boldly absorb and learn from all the achievements of civilization created by human society. Comrade Xiaoping pointed out: “If socialism wants to gain advantages compared with capitalism, it must boldly absorb and learn from all the civilizational achievements created by human society, as well as all advanced business methods and management methods that reflect the laws of modern socialized production in countries around the world, including capitalist developed countries.” This was a ground-breaking thought at the time.

In the past 20 years, it is in accordance with this ideological perspective that we have boldly promoted market-oriented reforms, established a socialist market economy framework, successfully joined the World Trade Organization, integrated with international rules, fully integrated into economic globalization, and achieved great economic and social development in China. If we say that "absorbing and learning" back then was mainly applied to the reform of the economic system, now we have no reason to say that reforming the political system, social system, cultural system and other aspects cannot "absorb and learn from" the civilizational achievements of the common development of mankind, including all advanced political, social and cultural achievements of developed countries.

4. The Southern Talk soberly pointed out the main obstacles facing China's reform, "We must be wary of the right, but the main thing is to prevent the left." In response to the problems exposed in the ideological confrontation in 1991, Comrade Xiaoping pointedly pointed out that now, there are right things affecting us, and there are also "left" things affecting us, but the "left" things are still deep-rooted. Comrade Xiaoping proposed that "leftism" was the main resistance to reform, which gave the ultra-leftists a heads-up. Now, we still need to correctly handle the ideological tendencies encountered in deepening reforms in accordance with the important idea of ​​"be wary of the right and mainly prevent the left".

Twenty years ago, Comrade Xiaoping's Southern Speech regrouped domestic reform forces, integrated and leveraged favorable international factors, and restarted the great wheel of reform and opening up in China. It ended the debate within and outside the party since the 1980s about "surname society and capital." From then on, the establishment of a market economic system and the promotion of political civilization and the construction of a rule-of-law society were regarded as the unswerving goals of China's reform and will no longer waver or retreat.

Today, we should review Comrade Xiaoping’s Southern Speech, build consensus on reform, revitalize the courage to reform, and create new impetus for reform.

Promote systemic reform and never give up halfway

People earnestly expect the central government to resolutely deepen reforms, never give up halfway, and effectively advance the "four-in-one" reform of the economic system, political system, social system, and cultural system in a step-by-step manner.

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held this year, which is of great concern at home and abroad. Since last year, the ideological and theoretical circles have been very active, with various viewpoints appearing. Judging from the current social trends of thought, there are diversified and different voices from multiple perspectives.

Although various interest demands and value orientations have surfaced one by one, refusing to give in to each other, and sparks of collision sometimes burst out, it is worth noting that the core issues of each faction's views are relatively close: How to solve the social injustice that all sectors of society are extremely dissatisfied with? How to find the social “greatest common denominator” of solutions?

Putting aside those emotional expressions, China is currently facing some urgent "problems after development":

——The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, and a fair distribution system has not been formed;

——Social undertakings lag behind and fail to establish a social security system that benefits the entire population;

——The public's sense of happiness has declined and the most basic people's livelihood problems have not been solved;

——Environmental pollution is intensifying, high-investment and high-polluting industries are emerging one after another, food, water, and air are polluted, and sharp conflicts between development and environmental protection are about to break out, leading to a series of mass incidents;

——Social corruption is developing in depth. Corruption not only occurs in the economic field, but also extends to administrative corruption, judicial corruption and public opinion corruption. These three types of corruption are directly related to institutional defects.

These issues intertwined and overlapped, creating a social background similar to that of the past: the reform consensus that had been formed by integrating the forces of all parties was facing severe new challenges.

What is different from that time is that the focus of the debate is no longer a purely ideological dispute between "socialist" and "capitalist", but a large proportion of the competition for the interests of different interest groups that gradually formed during the reform process.

Today's international situation is even more complicated. Europe and the United States are in financial crisis and the European debt crisis. Capitalism is facing profound challenges. China's surrounding areas are also beset by crises. Some distant and close neighbors have doubts about China...

History has destined that China's reform today will no longer be a "pleasant outing". Even if the proposal of social management innovation is reasonable at this stage, there are some "hidden reefs" that cannot be bypassed.

For example: how to restrict the unlimited expansion of public power and limit the formation and growth of special interest groups; how to control capital through scientific systems and limit the formation and growth of crony capitalism; how to transform administrative finance into people's livelihood finance, learn from the European system of promoting universal welfare, and embody social fairness and justice in distribution as much as possible; how to curb social collapse in deepening reforms. Although China's economic system reform has the framework of a socialist market economy, it lacks scientific and rational operational details. We are currently stagnating at a crossroads, either moving towards a socialist market economy under the rule of law during reforms, or being kidnapped by interest groups and heading towards crony capitalism.

Based on the above analysis, China's reform has once again reached its most urgent moment. At present, China urgently needs to re-gather consensus on reform and strengthen the centripetal force and cohesion of society. As Liu Yunshan, head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, required, "strengthen mainstream public opinion and build ideological consensus."

Strengthening intra-party democracy is indispensable. The election of the 18th National Congress is an opportunity worth cherishing. We might as well start with township differential elections and proceed step by step. It is commendable that the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has made efforts in this regard.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Comrade Xiaoping’s Southern Conversation and the political year of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The central government proposed to "pay more attention to top-level design and overall planning", "vigorously promote the reform of the economic system, and actively and steadily promote the reform of the political system", indicating the central government's determination to promote systematic reform of the economic system and political system.

People earnestly expect the central government to resolutely deepen reforms, never give up halfway, and effectively advance the "four-in-one" reform of the economic system, political system, social system, and cultural system in a step-by-step manner. We must not waver or make empty talk, but make real efforts to establish a sound legal market economic system that achieves social justice and common prosperity. We must never let China embark on the path of crony capitalism, promote the transformation from an authoritarian development model to a democratic development model, and strive continuously to build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way.

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"Huangfu Ping" Four Discussions on Reform

In 1991, China's reform and opening up entered a critical moment. The previous political turmoil and the governance rectification that lasted for more than two years have caused Chinese society to avoid talking about reform.

However, "reform", which has been widely supported by the whole society since 1978 and the whole party has made concerted efforts, has become difficult to become a key word in governance. Various signs indicate that reform and opening up has truly entered a moment of decision. Once it stagnates, the reform trend may fall apart.

At this historical moment, from February 15 to April 12 of that year, "Liberation Daily" published four commentaries signed by "Huangfu Ping", advocating reform and opening up, criticizing some people's conservative and sluggish thinking, bringing a breath of fresh air to Chinese society, and at the same time triggering a fierce ideological confrontation and debate.

Ultimately, this great debate ended with Deng Xiaoping delivering a speech in support of deepening and strengthening reform and opening up during his southern tour in the spring of 1992. Since then, China has re-corrected the course of reform and opening up, ushering in a new historical stage with the reform of the socialist market economic system as its main goal.

The first commentary signed by Huangfuping was published on February 15, 1991, the first day of the first lunar month. Because it happens to be the Spring Festival of the Year of the Sheep, the article is titled "Being the "Leading Sheep" in Reform and Opening Up." The article begins with a review of the last Year of the Sheep, which was 1979, when reform and opening up just began, and then points out that China's current reform and opening up is at a "meaningful historical transition point." The author clearly pointed out, "Reform and opening up is the only way to strengthen the country and enrich the people. Without reform and opening up, there would be no better today and a better tomorrow for the Chinese people."

Not long after, the second article "New Ideas for Reform and Opening Up" was published on March 2, 1991. The article pointed out that the new idea of ​​reform in the 1990s was to develop a market economy. At the same time, the article also quoted the spirit of Deng Xiaoping’s speech during his inspection of Shanghai, making it clear that planning and market are not the hallmarks that distinguish socialism and capitalism. The article emphasizes that the development of the socialist market should not be equated with capitalism, nor should the use of foreign capital be opposed to self-reliance.

The third article was published on March 22, titled "There needs to be a stronger awareness of expanding opening-up." The article further elaborates on Deng Xiaoping’s thoughts such as “Opening up will not work unless we are determined.” Regarding the concerns of some people at that time about whether opening up would damage national industry, the article stated that in order to enhance the awareness of opening up, we must further emancipate our minds and abandon any conservative, rigid and closed concepts. If we are still limited by the question of "surname society or capital", we will miss the opportunity.

The fourth article, entitled "Reform and opening up requires a large number of cadres with both ability and political integrity," was published in the newspaper on April 12. This article emphasizes that reform and opening up requires more pioneers who are brave enough to think, explore, and innovate, and it is necessary to make an exception and promote people who are recognized by the people as adhering to the reform and opening up line and having political achievements. This publicly expressed Deng Xiaoping's idea to ensure the advancement of reform and opening up in terms of organization and personnel.

Our reporter Zang Bo compiled the information based on public information.

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China 20 years: 10th to 2nd place

According to data from the International Monetary Fund, starting from 1990, China took 20 years to complete the leap from the tenth to the second largest economy in the world.

In 1990, China's gross domestic product (GDP) was US0.278 billion, ranking tenth in the world. In 1995, China's total GDP surpassed Spain, Canada and Brazil, and its global ranking rose to seventh. That year, China's total GDP was US7.946 billion.

Five more years later, in 2000, China's economic scale exceeded US trillion for the first time, reaching US.198 trillion, making China's economic strength surpass Italy's and rising to sixth place in the world.

In 2003, China was overtaken by Italy, and its global GDP ranking once again fell to seventh place. After that, China's economy entered a stage of take-off.

In 2004, China's total GDP reached US.931 trillion, surpassing Italy again and ranking sixth in the world.

In 2005, China's economic scale reached US.26 trillion, surpassing France and the United Kingdom to rank fourth in the world.

In 2007, China's total GDP was US.49 trillion, surpassing Germany's US.32 trillion, becoming the world's third largest economy.

In 2010, China's economic scale reached US.8786 trillion, surpassing Japan and becoming the world's second largest economy after the United States.