Link between reform, development and stable society key for country

The Communist Party of China's (CPC) position and attitude, which deal with reform, development and stability, have contributed to its successful leadership of the country.

China's reform started in the economic field. With economic and social development, political reform followed.

The way to handle the relationship between reform, development and stability in the process was mentioned many times by Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China's reform and opening-up.

The CPC and the Chinese government adopted a gradual approach in the process of reform and development. The CPC put forward China's "three-step" economic development plan at the Party's 13th Congress in 1987:

Step one: GDP of 1990 to double that of 1980.

Step two: GDP of 2000 to quadruple that of 1980, with people enjoying fairly comfortable lives.

Step three: By the year 2049, the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, China's level of development is expected to be on par with mid-ranking developed countries.

In 1997, when the economic development of the second step was achieved three years ahead of time, the CPC redefined the targets and put forward a new "three-step" goal at the Party's 15th Congress:

New step one: GDP of 2010 to double that of 2000 with people's life becoming more comfortable and society becoming a relatively complete socialist market economic system.

New step two: In the year 2021, the 100 years' anniversary of the CPC, the national economy will be more developed and a better social system will be established.

New step three: In the year 2049, China will realize the modernization of society and become a prosperous, democratic and civilized socialist country.

This approach of breaking down large objectives into several smaller goals meets the current needs of the people and gives them a better vision for the future. Two stage development goals - a "well-off society" and "moderately developed countries" will link traditional Chinese ideals with modern international standards. This will be well accepted and recognized by the Chinese people.

Deng Xiaoping pointed out that two conditions are required to achieve the goals of these two stages: One is to keep a peaceful international environment and the other is domestic political stability and unity.

Stability is the prerequisite for reform and development. The "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) made the Party and people realize that if stability and unity are lost, it will be impossible to achieve democracy and economic development, and chaos will follow. Deng repeatedly stressed that it is in China's best interests to keep the country stable.

In the eyes of Deng and other CPC leaders, stability includes two aspects: Political stability and policy stability. Political stability is key for China to achieve the desired objectives of reform.

Policy stability is the guarantee to political stability. China's current policy should be maintained, whether it refers to domestic or foreign policies.

On Feb 25, 1989, then US president George Bush paid a 40-hour visit to China. In a conversation with Bush on Feb 26, Deng said China will always follow the principle of stability as a top priority. Without a stable environment, nothing can be done and even economic achievements will be lost. He pointed out that if China is to reform, it must have a stable political environment.

On October 1989, Deng met former US president Richard Nixon and reiterated that China has a large population and the economic condition is weak. If there is no political stability, unity and stable social order, nothing can be accomplished. Stability overrides everything else.

Over time, there has been a growing recognition by the CPC that reform forms the driving force, development provides the purpose, and stability is the precondition. Those three elements must be organically integrated.

"We should always handle carefully the relationship between and among reform, development and stability," said Jiang Zemin, then general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, at the conference to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC in 1978.

"Development is of overriding importance and China should rely on herself to develop. Reform is the driver of development and an unavoidable path to China's moderation. Stability is our overriding task. If there is no stability, then nothing can be achieved, and what achievements we have made will be lost."

The author is a scholar with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. This article is an excerpt from a book edited by Xie Chuntao, deputy dean of the Party History Research Center.