For 105 years the Communist Party of China (CPC) has led the Chinese nation through deep reforms and, with a consistent planned economy, has turned it into the most successful nation in modern history. The goal of Common Prosperity has lifted 800 million people out of poverty without war and without military conflict, solely through the energy, intelligence and discipline of the Chinese people under the firm leadership of the Party.  

What few truly grasp: This is only the beginning. 

China has more than 5,000 years of history. The 105 years since the founding of the CPC, however, are only the start of a new chapter. The current planned economy is deliberately directed toward 2049.  

What a planned economy really means in practice becomes especially clear when looking at strategic parts of the supply chain, such as the processing centers for rare earth elements. Deng Xiaoping said in 1992: “The Middle East has oil, China has rare earths.” Today the world is building massive numbers of lithium batteries, robotics systems and chips while importing around 90 percent of its processed rare earths. Any country in the West that wants to replicate these processing capabilities and build their own production facilities will need up to 20 years to do so. In a four-year election cycle, such long-term projects are almost impossible to implement. The CPC has always planned and executed strategic technologies over decades and delivers results, while elsewhere short-sightedness and bureaucracy cause even small infrastructure projects to fail. 

Of course China’s path was never easy. There was war in the revolution and the revolutionary construction of a socialist system built by the strength of the working people. There were many contradictions, many practical experiments and paths that failed. Only through the Party could these attempts be coordinated and carried out systematically. Practice, accumulated experience, lessons learned and clear discipline and self-reflection have moved China forward and continue to drive the reforms. 

The reforms build on the traditions of the past and carry them forward consistently. In doing so the CPC has never treated Marxism-Leninism as a rigid dogma. It has always connected it with China’s concrete conditions and developed it further. 

These historical achievements are being obscured, distorted and attacked by Western propaganda. Its methods seize on isolated failures in order to claim the supposed failure of the entire nation. For decades narrative seeds have been planted in the emotional psyche that reach deep into perception and replace factual reality with felt realities. On this distorted level every fact is judged according to its own standards, making it impossible to see other realities. Many therefore feel that communism is failing, even though the facts show the opposite. Yet these crude methods have no effect on those who witness China’s growth every day. 

The CPC has always pursued the same fundamental goals. It is about the common good of the nation and the mass line, not liberal individual sensitivities. Patriotism, love for the people, clear discipline and self-criticism, anti-corruption activities, long-term planning and the unchallenged leadership of the Party are not weaknesses but essential conditions for success. This success is visible across the economy. The state remained the central shareholder in key enterprises, thereby maintaining clear socialist oversight and ensuring that results served the people. This is how China became a model of dynamic economic growth while preserving political and social stability. 

Today further patriotic key elements are being put in place in the building of the nation. These include the Two Integrations of combining Marxism with China’s concrete conditions and with the traditions of Chinese culture. In this way the CPC has shown what is possible when ideology is treated as a practical tool for improving material living conditions rather than an end in itself. Today Marxism is living method adapted to permanent reality. 

Through this, the socialist culture becomes an active force in the superstructure that supports economic construction, unites the people around long-term goals and secures the path to 2049. Patriotism is thereby an integral part of love for the nation and the collective will to build a better country for everyone. 

The author is a promoter of China-Germany exchange in the fields of business, academia and politics. He is pursuing a Ph.D. at Peking University’s New Media Research Institute  

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

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