 Since the declaration of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949, the Chinese socialist project has evolved through three stages. (1) The period of “socialist revolution and reconstruction” from 1949 to 1978, led by Mao Zedong, was characterized by the consolidation of state power and the socialist transformation of agriculture and industry. (2) The period of “reform, opening, and socialist modernization” from 1978 to 2012, led by Deng Xiaoping, was characterized by an emphasis on productivity, the introduction of market strategies in state-owned enterprises, the expansion of space for private enterprise, and the expansion of foreign investment and foreign commerce, all developed under state direction in accordance with a long-term development plan. The Reform and Opening had enormous success in unleashing economic productivity. (3) The third stage, led by Xi Jinping, began with the 2012 National Congress of the Communist Party of China. It has focused on improving the development policy of the Reform and Opening and addressing its inherent negative consequences, such as inequality, poverty, environmental destruction, and corruption. During all three stages, the People’s Republic has implemented a process of people’s democracy, which includes a system of direct and indirect elections for positions in local and national governments, integrated with multiparty cooperation led by the Communist Party of China. Xi Jinping has been the paramount leader of China since 2012. He was born on June 15, 1953, with a political pedigree as the son of a communist veteran, Xi Zhongxun. However, his father was expelled from the Party and sent to work in a factory in 1963, when Xi Jinping was ten years of age. During the Cultural Revolution, Xi Jinping’s father was paraded before a crowd as an enemy of the revolution, and he was sent to prison in 1968. In 1969, at the age of sixteen, Xi Jinping relocated from Beijing to Liangjiahe Village in the impoverished rural zone of Yan'an. He subsequently worked for the Party in Liangjiahe, developing a strong rapport with the villagers and creating practical solutions to their problems. He was admitted to the Party in 1974, overcoming political persecution directed against his father, through the support of the local Party secretary. Xi Jinping studied chemical engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing from 1975 to 1979. Following graduation, he worked for three years in the Central Military Commission of the Party as one of three secretaries to the Minister of Defense. In 1982, Xi was named the deputy secretary of the Party for Zhengding County in Hebei. In that capacity, he was successful in persuading the central government to reduce burdensome requisitions on local small farmers, which resulted in the doubling of their income. He also initiated several local development projects. In 1984, his vision for the comprehensive development of Zhengding County was presented to the Central Organization Department of the Communist Party of China, which resulted in his assignment to the Standing Committee of the Party in Xiamen and his nomination by the Party to the position of vice-mayor of Xiamen. In said capacity, Xi drafted in 1985 the first comprehensive plan for the development of the city of Xiamen, and he oversaw various development projects. In 1988, Xi Jinping was assigned to the position of Party Secretary in the city of Ningde in the province of Fujian, whose economy at that time was worse than that of Xiamen. As Party secretary in Ningde, Xi led the local poverty-eradicating efforts and local building projects, presenting his experiences in a book, Getting Out of Poverty. In 1990, Xi was named Party Secretary of the Municipal Committee of Fuzhou City, the capital city of the province of Fujian. In 1999, he became Vice-Governor of Fujian, and Governor of the province in 2000. In that position, he oversaw the development of a master plan for economic growth as well as various development projects. In 2002, Xi left Fujian to assume the highest positions in the government and the Party in the neighboring province of Zhejiang. In that same year, he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, marking his ascension to the national stage. During his stewardship from 2002 to 2006, the province of Zhejiang experienced a rate of growth averaging 14% per year, marked by a transition away from heavy industry. And Xi attracted national media attention for his tough stance against corrupt officials. From February 2003 to March 2007, Xi Jinping wrote 232 commentaries to Party leaders and militants of the province of Zhejiang. They include guidelines with respect to the correct comportment of the Party cell leaders, spiced with citations of Confucius, poets of the Chinese empires, Mao, and Deng. And the commentaries formulate a theory of economic development rooted in the experiences of China, written on the basis of Xi’s extensive experience leading development projects in China, and written shortly prior to Xi’s ascent to the national and international stage. In today’s commentary, I endeavor to explain Xi’s theory of development, put forth by Xi during his exercise of political leadership in the period 2003 to 2007. I have used the Spanish-language edition published jointly in 2019 by Editorial de Ciencias Sociales in Havana and Editorial del Pueblo de Zhejiang, entitled Zhejiang, China: Una nueva visión sobre el desarrollo [Zhejiang, China: A new vision on development].  Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, cooks for aged people in a rest home of Pingdu Township of Qingyuan County in the Province of Zhejiang. Photo: Xinhua/JamiiForums In the initial commentaries, written from February 25 to July 21, 2003, Xi stresses the qualities that Party members ought to have, writing to the leaders of the local cells of the Party. He stresses that Party leaders ought to be realistic and pragmatic, establishing good relations with the workers, farmers, intellectuals, and personalities of the different social sectors. They ought to deepen analysis of the problems and know how to analyze existing contradictions, proposing viable solutions. They ought not aspire to higher posts, but should seek to defend the people through meritorious service. They should live an austere style of life, remembering Mao’s teaching that the Party leaders and militants cannot be separated from the masses. Our duty, Xi writes, is to govern the country for the good of the people, especially persons most in need. Our fundamental goal is to guarantee a minimum level of life to the urban and rural population. We ought to produce cultural products that approach reality and the daily life of the people, orienting the people toward the modernization of the economy and society. Therefore, the selection of Party cell leaders ought to be based on their moral qualities. We are stronger, Xi stresses, with unity. The maximum chiefs ought to be models of conduct, uniting the comrades to work together. We deepen our understanding and knowledge through working together. From November 11, 2003, to February 23, 2004, Xi wrote commentaries on the art of leadership. He wrote that the art of leadership involves being able to tolerate others and accept advice, sufficiently developing the internal democracy of the Party, and ensuring democratization and objectivity in the taking of decisions, seeking the unity of knowledge and action of the leading teams of the Party committees. The art of leadership involves understanding the essence of the problems and resolving them efficiently, taking precautions against possible disasters, neutralizing a crisis before it occurs, and harmonizing the different opinions with diplomacy. Party leaders ought to understand how to attain unity. To wit, acting honestly in order to arrive to understanding of others, deepening mutual knowledge in cooperation and collective work, and forming the leadership teams well. The Party and government, Xi wrote, ought to form an excellent duet. The maximum chiefs of the committees of the Party and the government are not normal persons, but the personification of their respective institutions. The relations among them are not simple personal relations, but to a considerable extent represent relations between the committees of the Party and the governments. The secretaries of the Party and the mayors of the local government are like brothers, and they should not be in conflict. The mayors ought to support the authority of the Party secretary and the development of a leading group of the Party in the government, asking instruction and informing the committee when confronting any serious problem. The maximum chiefs of the government and the Party ought to support and help each other, to complement each other, to row in the same direction, and to work together to form an excellent “duet” of government. If the cell leaders desire that their image and voice are permanent in the heart of the people, they ought to concentrate on their work and make contributions to the people, and avoid being ostentatious or looking for easy applause. Cell leaders ought to have a high devotion to the cause and an elevated sense of responsibility. Xi cautioned that if the small matters are not resolved in an efficient manner, it can affect the spirit and the productive life of the people. The trivial affairs that affect the people are important, because to the people, each one of the trivial affairs is large and real. On February 3, 2004, Xi put forth an implicit practical epistemology. He maintained that truth is found in objective reality through pragmatic governing, which enables improvement of the theoretical legacy and the attainment of the truth. He therefore exhorted Party members to be realistic and pragmatic, and to persist in taking concrete measures for the benefit of the people. Realism and pragmatism, he reiterated on February 23, ought to guide the road toward the modernization of the province. Xi’s first postings on economic development, emitted on August 11 and August 12, 2003, stressed the success of the Reform and Opening and the need to deepen its application. We ought to use private capital, he wrote, to increase investment in the infrastructure and the economy in the province, attracting funds to diversify investments. He cited as a good example the bridge over the bay of Hangzhou, which was constructed with 50.26% private capital. To stimulate economic growth, he wrote, we ought to make restrictions on investment more flexible, especially with respect to infrastructure projects. We ought to have greater opening to the world beyond China and to foreign capital and foreign technology. We ought to increase international integration and the degree of utilization of foreign capital, attracting international industries and establishing foreign companies in the province. At present, Xi noted on August 23, there is great enthusiasm in the province for accelerating development and producing great advances in the construction of cities, industrial parks, and infrastructure. However, Xi stressed on March 19, 2004, the province has reached a new stage of growth. Guaranteeing the minimum conditions of life for the people is no longer the primary goal, but the acceleration of an integral development that is in harmony with nature and the protection of the environment. This commentary was consistent with his earlier post of August 8, 2003, in which he stressed that protecting the environment not only means protecting the environment in the local territory, but must be based in the understanding that ecological problems do not have borders, that we have only one planet that is our common home. In commentaries of May 8 and May 11, 2004, Xi stressed that, although there have been gains in ecological consciousness in the province in recent years, China is far from complying with the laws of ecological consciousness. In a commentary posted on June 14, 2004, Xi declared that after twenty years of applying the policy of Reform and Opening, the province of Zhejiang has entered a new key period, in which it confronts difficulties in maintaining sustained development. Therefore, adjustments are necessary, deepening the reform and changing the modality of growth, elevating capacities with respect to scientific and technological development. In four commentaries posted from January 10 to January 13, 2005, Xi put forth a concept of coordinated rural-urban development. In the first phase of modern industrial development, he noted, agriculture supports industry. But when industrialization attains a certain level, industry must repay agriculture for the support it received; the city must support the countryside, making real a coordinated development between industry and agriculture. Urban support elevates the global productive capacity of agriculture and promotes an increase of agricultural efficiency, thus increasing the income and wealth of the farmers, so that they become not only the principal force in the modernization of the countryside, but they also become participants and beneficiaries of industrialization and urbanization. In this way, the countryside becomes a new community, in which the farmers live and work in peace. The foundation is laid for integral development of the farmers as persons, protecting and developing their material interests and their democratic rights, and strengthening continually their capacity for self-development. The coordination of the development of the rural and urban sectors, Xi maintained, is the base of the construction of a modern society, characterized by coordinated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors and the joint advance of the rural and urban zones. Therefore, the continuous increase in the productivity of agricultural work is a necessary condition for increasing the level of industrialization. Industry and the cities will be the driving force of development only if the people and the workforce of the countryside are incorporated in a continuous and ordered form in the cities and in the industrial and service sectors. The coordinated development of the city and the country is the basis for the revitalization of the “three rural pillars” of agriculture, the countryside, and the farmer. The Reform and Opening, Xi emphasizes, has been the fundamental driving force that has stimulated socialist modernization and has promoted the economic and social development of the countryside. The reform was initiated in the 1970s, he reminded, with the family contract with respect to production, liberating production and amply developing the productivity of the countryside. It stimulated the enthusiasm of the farming masses and promoted the reform of the entire economic system. However, macro-institutional reform has lagged behind micro-institutional reform, so that there has been a lack of coordination between the urban and rural reform, creating a dual structure and institutional arrangements that divide the city and the country, creating an obstacle for the development of the “three rural pillars.” So, the reform now enters a new stage in the province, involving an acceleration of industrialization and urbanization and at the same time the stimulation of agriculture by industry and the support by the city to the country. We have to eliminate rural-urban institutional obstacles and undo barriers between the city and the country. We have to complete the rights of property and equal opportunities of development for farmers. We have to respect completely the pioneering spirit of the rural masses, seeking the development of agriculture, the satisfaction of the farmers, and the reduction of the distance between the city and the country. We must promote the “three rural pillars” by undoing the dual structure of the city-country. On January 17, 2005, Xi put forth the concept of highly efficient ecological agriculture. Agricultural production in Zhejiang should be oriented toward the necessities of “green consumption” on the basis of the industrialization of agriculture and the ecological transition of the economy, centering on elevating the competitivity and sustainable development of the agricultural market. Highly efficient ecological agriculture is profitable and is an important means for elevating the income of the farmers and accelerating agricultural modernization. Highly efficient ecological agriculture is different from agriculture based in petroleum as well as from natural ecological agriculture, which emphasizes the protection of ecological equilibrium at the expense of the goals of high investment and production. From February 18, 2005, to March 23, 2005, Xi emitted eight commentaries maintaining that the Reform and Opening must continue, but it must not follow the old road; it must be an integral development that transforms the model of growth. The new model of development must be focused on persons as the ultimate objective. It must be a development that is coordinated between the city and the country and among the various regions. It must be a sustainable development. Xi observes that when problems are difficult to solve and become big problems, it becomes necessary to use the strong medicine of market macro-control. If we don’t put into practice a new form of development, we will never be able to disconnect ourselves from the strong medicine of the market. We will have a permanent state of the market economy. We need a new form of development that stimulates investment and consumption. The construction of a society that conserves resources, Xi maintains, is a social revolution of great importance for attaining human harmony with nature. In the slightly more than 300 years since the beginning of the industrial revolution, an enormous increase in the productive forces has stimulated the modernization of a few Western countries, becoming a threat for the survival of humanity and for life on the planet. Prior to that time, the material development of humanity was not very developed, and ecological systems did not suffer great damage, and human society was able to evolve for thousands of years. Xi points out that Western industrial civilization is based on the enrichment of a few countries and the impoverishment of the majority. The desire to live like the minority could produce the collapse of human civilization. It is not possible to attain industrialization in the Western style. We ought to find a road of sustainable development adequate for the times. It is urgent to construct a society that saves resources. Xi maintains that accelerating the development of the service sector is an objective demand for adapting to the laws of economic development and stimulating the transformation of the model of growth. We must respect economic laws and to progressively make the service sector grow, so that the services sector becomes the principle driving force of economic growth. In recent years, Xi notes, the service sector of the province of Zhejiang has shown a good growth tendency, but it is still relatively backward, in that its aggregate value is low and its internal structure is not sufficiently rational. We ought to stimulate the development of the service sector by reforming it, utilizing new information technologies and new forms of management of the circulation of merchandise and of promoting the modernization of the service sector. We ought to promote the development of modern services strictly tied to production, like logistical services, financial services, software and informatic services in order to serve the bases of production better. A developed services sector, Xi emphasizes, contributes to the elevation of the level of industrial manufacturing. A developed transportation industry contributes to the entrance and departure of factors of production. A capital market and complete financial services contribute to the organic interaction of productive, commercial, and financial capital. The development of educational services and scientific research contribute to the formation of qualified workers for the manufacturing industry and strengthen technological innovation. Tourist, cultural, sport, and health care services contribute to the elevation of the quality of life of the people. Xi stresses the importance of attracting foreign capital and business. In addition to persisting in supporting foreign investment by private companies and cooperation with Taiwan, the province ought to try to attract even companies on the list of the 500 most powerful in the world as well as projects of high technology, so that they invest in the province, promoting an active and secure opening beyond the borders of China to services in banking, insurance, tourism, education, health, etc. We ought to concentrate, Xi stresses, on the exploitation of capital resources and joint acquisitions outside China, carrying out all types of investment and establishing centers of research, networks of commercialization, production and processing in order to elevate the level of international management of China’s companies. Light or heavy industry, Xi maintains, ought to be promoted according to the circumstances. He notes that in the case of Zhejiang, our economic structure and environmental capacity do not permit the province to assume very heavy industry. We possess evident advantages of seaport resources, and we have conditions to develop deep processing of heavy industry tied to port activities. We ought to take advantage of our industrial structure. The industry of our province is based in traditional manufacturing and processing, and we ought to elevate its international competitiveness. Xi convokes the phrase, “Leave Zhejiang to develop Zhejiang”. The phrase refers to developing Zhejiang through investment outside the province by citizens of Zhejiang, a strategy that is unfolding in practice. We ought to stimulate this phenomenon in an ordered form, Xi maintains, investing in an orderly way in the companies of the province, thereby creating new spaces for development. In recent years, an important number of companies of the province have made investment in other parts of China. Nearly 90,000 companies of the province operate in the exterior with a total investment of 532 billion yuan, of which 80 billion are funds proceeding from Zhejiang. The funds are concentrated in the tertiary sector. With respect to the origin of said funds, between 50% and 70% are the fruit of business operations conducted outside the province by citizens of Zhejiang for years. The companies of Zhejiang outside the province have a strong relation with the economy of the province: more than 70% of their products are fabricated in Zhejiang. Keynesian theory, Xi notes, stresses investment, consumption, and exportation as the drivers of economic growth. However, practical experience has shown that importations play an indispensable role in increasing the supply. For many years, our province has tended to export much and to import little, which has generated a commercial surplus, which contributed to the entire country. But at the same time, this makes evident that we have not utilized fully the resources and factors of international production. We ought to strengthen the role of imports in supplying resources and promoting technological progress and the updating of industry, utilizing our abundant reserves of foreign currency, taking advantage of the reduction of customs duties on importations, which is going to be applied in the coming year on a national level (writing in 2005). We ought to organize the importation of raw materials and equipment and explore methods for reducing the costs of importation. On June 20, 2005, Xi wrote that the merchants of Zhejiang have “unique cultural genes” that have enabled them to overcome the system of centralized planning. They have a creative and innovative spirit and have attained the development of an important economy, going throughout the country persuading thousands of clients and overcoming many difficulties. The pioneering spirit of the popular masses supported them, as is made evident by the makeup of the previous provincial committees. Now, at the dawn of a new century, the economy of the province confronts difficulties, some due to congenital difficulties and others derived from growth. We need to update industry, optimize the structure, protect the environment, open greater space to the market, and radically transform the model of economic growth. We need to develop Zhejiang from Zhejiang and also to leave Zhejiang to develop Zhejiang, correctly managing the relation between leaving for the exterior and introducing from the exterior. We have available bridges to the exterior and also platforms for their return, the return of those who have attained success to their native land. On December 12, 2005, Xi noted that the experience of the developed countries indicates that, when consumption is driven by housing or displacement, consumption can become a potent driving force of global economic growth, generating a situation of prosperity during a relatively long period of time. China could take advantage of this phenomenon by increasing the consumption capacity of the countryside and the less developed regions, using such strategies as fiscal transfer payments and improving structures of consumer credit. Final considerations Westen political cultures are ethnocentric, rooted in a need to be blind to the contradiction between the need for colonial domination and imperialism to drive economic growth and the clear violation by colonial domination of the moral standards and principles that the West was leading the world in proclaiming and developing. Today, as imperialism is in decadence, Western public discourse falls into the superficial claim that emerging political-economic systems are authoritarian. In doing so, they fail to observe and to discern their advanced political and moral character. Originally published on charlesmckelvey.substack.com Author Charles McKelvey is influenced by black nationalism, the Catholic philosopher Lonergan, Marx, Wallerstein, anti-imperialism, and the Cuban Revolution. Since his retirement from college teaching in 2011, he has devoted himself to reading and writing on world affairs. Archives September 2025
1 Comment
Jon
9/23/2025 06:45:26 pm
"The communist party, which is run by billionaires, is also keeping the billionaires in check for the people. You have to be the enemy to know the enemy." - Xi, probably. Leave a Reply. |
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