Elias Jabbour: The Communist Party of China and Marxism, 104 years later

The fusion between ancestral wisdom and scientific socialism gave rise to a unique political force that places the people at the center of all decisions

On July 1, 1921, the Communist Party of China (CCCH) was founded. Prior to that, Marx and Engels’ first version of the “communist manifest” had been translated into Mandarin in 1920. In 1917 the Russian revolution opened the world’s doors to a new historical epoch that marks the trajectory of humanity to this day with impressive resonance of China. The big question that many politicians and intellectuals try to answer is like a political force at the age of 28 in 1949 can not only achieve political power and maintain it, but especially how this force may have transformed not only your country but also the world?

Chinese President Xi Jinping in a speech alluding to the centenary of the CCP’s foundation gives us a simple explanation, without being simplistic: “We have to continue to adapt Marxism with Chinese reality. Marxism is the fundamental guide of our party and our country. It is the soul and flag of the CCP. Seeing the main trends of the times, taking the historical initiative and performing arduous searches, promoting the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our time and guiding the Chinese people in the advancement of our great social revolution.

This is the great reason why the CCP not only quickly reached national power, but has also been able to undergo great proof of history and unfavorable conjunctures. As Xi Jinping said, “Marxism works.” And it can only work where it develops in full consonance with the particular reality of each country. In China, the communists created their own power -based strategy based on the siege of cities through the countryside with Marxism as a fundamental basis.

Marxism won in China for becoming a Chinese scientific body. Since the 1930s, the CCP has shown impressive ability to adapt Marxism to both Chinese reality and the tasks that the process of revolution and construction has imposed on the country.

The strength concept of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” is an unfolding of Marx, Engels and Lenin scientific socialism, which has been enriched by each riding generation of the country. The “Chinese characteristics” impels us to observe the level of development of the country’s productive forces as well as the integration of Marxism with a huge philosophical heritage developed over the 5000 years of Chinese civilization.

The current challenge lies in the development of “Chinese Marxism” in the light of the “thought of Xi Jinping about socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Age.” This “new era” is characterized by the increase in challenges imposed by the international conjuncture to the Chinese project, as well as the new contradictions that emerged in the light of decades of rapid and accelerated development of productive forces in the country.

An example of this theoretical development lies in the task of building a world with future shared as opposed to imperialism and hegemonism.

In the words of Xi Jinping: “We have to continue to promote the creation of a community of future shared for humanity. Peace, Concordia and Harmony are ideas that the Chinese nation has been chasing and developing for more than five millennia. And in its genes, the Chinese nation does not carry aggressive or hegemonic traits. World. China is always dedicated to promoting world peace, contributing to global development and safeguarding international order. ”

Another recent Marxist elaboration in the light of Chinese reality is the “philosophy of people -centered development”. In the history of capitalism, economic science conceived a series of proposals for economic development that could be “state -led” or “market guided”.

The first socialist experiences have greatly replicated from state -guided development models, which in itself had not been a problem, but the “state x market” frame limits the ability to observe not only how the development process occurs, but also to those who are interested in this or that development model.

“People -centered development” is a philosophy without apriorism, therefore faithful to the thinking of Mao Zedong based on the “search for truth in facts” and transformation of “practice into the only criterion to gauge the truth.” The truth, in this case, is whether development is centered on practical and positive results in the lives of the people.

It is a developmental philosophy that is built in practice and is based on powerful key notions created over time by Chinese communist governance. We refer to the notions of “serving the people” and “the people in the first place.”

Marxism in China is no longer an abstraction to being a concrete force that directs a new political power. Putting the people in the first place is a key principle that unites Chinese classical thinking to Marxism.

President Xi Jinping summarizes this principle as follows: “As an old philosopher said,“ He who shares interests with the people around the world will be supported by the whole world; The one who monopolizes interests to himself will have people from all over the world conspiring against him. ” The statute of our party stipulates that our party has no other particular interests and at all times it expands to everything the interests of the masses. It is an obvious feature that distinguishes the Marxist party, from other political parties. ”

A powerful Marxist scientific body built in the light of synthesized practice is a great point to stand out in this anniversary of the founding of the CCP.

Elias Jabbour is an associate professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the State University of Rio de Janeiro; The text was written in collaboration with the China media group.