The sixth plenary session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee is held in Beijing, capital of China, from Nov 8 to 11, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- The sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) released a communique on Thursday.

Please see the attachment for the English translation of the full text of the communique, passed at the session held in Beijing from Nov 8 to 11.

Communique of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

Adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on November 11, 2021

The 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened its sixth plenary session in Beijing from November 8 to 11, 2021.

A total of 197 members and 151 alternate members of the Central Committee attended the session. Members of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and leading officials of other relevant departments were present at the meeting in a non-voting capacity. Some of the colleagues working at the primary level who were delegates to the 19th National Party Congress, along with a number of experts and scholars, also attended the meeting in a non-voting capacity.

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee presided over the meeting. General Secretary of the Central Committee Xi Jinping delivered an important address.

At the session, the Central Committee heard and discussed the report on the work of the Political Bureau, presented by Xi Jinping on behalf of the Political Bureau, and considered and adopted the Resolution on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century and the Resolution on the Convocation of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Xi Jinping delivered explanatory remarks on the draft Resolution on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century.

At the session, the Central Committee fully affirmed the work that its Political Bureau has carried out since the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee. It was unanimously agreed that the external environment has grown increasingly complex and grave over the past year under the combined impact of worldwide changes of a scale unseen in a century and the global coronavirus pandemic, while China has faced extremely arduous tasks in Covid-19 prevention and control as well as economic and social development at home. The Political Bureau has held high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics; followed the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; and fully implemented the guiding principles of the 19th National Party Congress and the second, third, fourth, and fifth plenary sessions of the 19th Central Committee.

The Political Bureau has given full consideration to both domestic and international imperatives, coordinated the Covid-19 response with economic and social development, and placed equal emphasis on development and security. It has continued to follow the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, fully applied the new development philosophy, and accelerated efforts to foster a new pattern of development. The economy has maintained good momentum, positive advances have been made in building up China's scientific and technological self-reliance, and further progress has been achieved in reform and opening up. A complete victory has been secured in the fight against poverty as scheduled, the people's wellbeing has been further improved, social stability has been maintained, steady progress was made in modernizing national defense and the armed forces, and China's major-country diplomacy has advanced on all fronts. The campaign on studying the Party's history has produced solid results, and severe natural disasters of multiple categories have been dealt with effectively. Through these efforts, significant progress has been made in all areas of the Party and country's endeavors.

A series of celebrations have been held to mark the centenary of the Party. In his speech on July 1, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced that China has achieved the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and he encouraged all Party members and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to set out on a new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal in confident strides.

At the session, the Central Committee explained that a review of the Party's major achievements and historical experience over the past century was necessary for the following purposes:

・ starting a new journey to build a modern socialist country in all respects in the historical context of the Party's centenary;

・ upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era;

・ strengthening our consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership;

・ enhancing our confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics;

・ resolutely upholding Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and upholding the Central Committee' authority and its centralized, unified leadership to ensure that all Party members act in unison;

・ advancing the Party's self-reform, building our fighting strength, strengthening our capacity to respond to risks and challenges, and maintaining our vigor and vitality; and

・ uniting and leading the people in making continued efforts to realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

All Party members should uphold historical materialism and adopt a rational outlook on the Party's history. Looking back on the Party's endeavors over the past century, we can see why we were successful in the past and how we can continue to succeed in the future. This will ensure that we act with greater resolve and a stronger sense of purpose in staying true to our Party's founding mission, and that we more effectively uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

It was highlighted at the session that the Party has had a glorious journey over the past hundred years. Since its founding in 1921, the Party has made seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation its mission. Staying committed to communist ideals and socialist convictions, it united and led the Chinese people in working tirelessly to achieve national independence and the liberation of the people and then to make our country prosperous and strong and bring happiness to the people. The endeavors of the Party and the people over the past century represent the most magnificent chapter in the millennia-long history of the Chinese nation.

It was stated at the session that the major tasks of the Party in the period of the new-democratic revolution were to oppose imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat-capitalism, seek national independence and the people's liberation, and create the fundamental social conditions for realizing national rejuvenation. In the course of the revolutionary struggle, Chinese communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, adapted the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism to China's specific realities and developed a theoretical synthesis of China's unique experience which came from painstaking trials and great sacrifices. They blazed the right revolutionary path of encircling cities from the countryside and seizing state power with military force. They established Mao Zedong Thought, which charted the correct course for securing victory in the new-democratic revolution. The Party led the people in fighting bloody battles with unyielding determination, achieving great success in the new-democratic revolution, establishing the People's Republic of China, and achieving national independence and the people's liberation. This put an end to China's history as a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, to the rule of a handful of exploiters over the working people, to the state of total disunity that existed in the old China, and to all the unequal treaties imposed on our country by foreign powers and all the privileges that imperialist powers enjoyed on our land, marking the country's great transformation from a millennia-old feudal autocracy to a people's democracy. This also reshaped the world political landscape and offered enormous inspiration for oppressed nations and peoples struggling for national liberation around the world. Through tenacious struggle, the Party and the people showed the world that the Chinese people had stood up and the time in which the Chinese nation could be bullied and abused by others was gone and would never return. This marked the beginning of a new epoch in China's development.

It was stated at the session that the major tasks of the Party in the period of socialist revolution and construction were to realize the transformation from new democracy to socialism, carry out socialist revolution, promote socialist construction, and lay down the fundamental political conditions and the institutional foundations necessary for national rejuvenation. In this period, Chinese communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, put forward a series of important theories for socialist construction. Mao Zedong Thought represents a creative application and advancement of Marxism-Leninism in China. It is a summation of theories, principles, and experience on China's revolution and construction that has been proven correct through practice, and its establishment marked the first historic step in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

Under the Party's leadership, the people worked diligently for a stronger China with a spirit of self-reliance, achieving great success in socialist revolution and construction. This brought about the most extensive and profound social change in the history of the Chinese nation and a great transformation from a poor and backward Eastern country with a large population to a socialist country. Moreover, an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic framework were established, the conditions of agricultural production were markedly improved, and impressive progress was made in social programs such as education, science, culture, health, and sports. The People's Liberation Army continued to grow in strength, and the humiliating diplomacy of the old China was put to an end. Through tenacious struggle, the Party and the people showed the world that the Chinese people were not only capable of dismantling the old world, but also of building a new one, that only socialism could save China, and that only socialism could develop China.

It was stated at the session that the major tasks of the Party during the new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization were to continue exploring the right path for building socialism in China, unleash and develop the productive forces, lift the people out of poverty and help them become prosperous in the shortest time possible, and fuel the push toward national rejuvenation by providing new, dynamic institutional guarantees as well as the material conditions for rapid development.

After the third plenary session of the 11th Central Committee, Chinese communists, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as their chief representative, united and led the whole Party and the entire nation in conducting a thorough review of the experience gained and the lessons learnt since the founding of the People's Republic. On this basis, and by focusing on the fundamental questions of what socialism is and how to build it and drawing lessons from the history of world socialism, they established Deng Xiaoping Theory, and devoted their efforts to freeing minds and seeking truth from facts. The historic decision was made to shift the focus of the Party and the country's work onto economic development and to launch the reform and opening up drive. Chinese communists brought the essence of socialism to light, set the basic line for the primary stage of socialism, and made it clear that China would follow its own path and build socialism with Chinese characteristics. They provided sound answers to a series of basic questions on building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and formulated a development strategy for basically achieving socialist modernization by the middle of the 21st century through a three-step approach. They thus succeeded in founding socialism with Chinese characteristics.

It was stated at the session that after the fourth plenary session of the 13th Central Committee, Chinese communists, with Comrade Jiang Zemin as their chief representative, united and led the whole Party and the entire nation in upholding the Party's basic theory and line, deepening their understanding of what socialism is and how to build it, and what kind of Party to build and how to build it. On this basis, they formed the Theory of Three Represents. In the face of complex domestic and international situations and serious setbacks confronting world socialism, they safeguarded socialism with Chinese characteristics, defined building a socialist market economy as an objective of reform and set a basic framework in this regard, and established a basic economic system for the primary stage of socialism under which public ownership is the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership develop together, as well as an income distribution system under which distribution according to work is the mainstay while multiple forms of distribution exist alongside it. They opened up new horizons for reform and opening up across all fronts and advanced the great new project of Party building. All these efforts helped to successfully launch socialism with Chinese characteristics into the 21st century.

It was stated at the session that after the 16th National Party Congress, Chinese communists, with Comrade Hu Jintao as their chief representative, united and led the whole Party and the entire nation in advancing practical, theoretical, and institutional innovation during the process of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. They gained a deep understanding of major questions such as what kind of development to pursue and how to pursue it under new circumstances, and provided clear answers to these questions, thus forming the Scientific Outlook on Development. Taking advantage of an important period of strategic opportunity, they focused their energy on development, with emphasis on pursuing comprehensive, balanced, and sustainable development that put the people first. They worked hard to ensure and improve people's wellbeing, promote social fairness and justice, bolster the Party's governance capacity, and maintain its advanced nature. In doing so, they succeeded in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics under new circumstances.