The “Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening-up: New Situation & New Tasks” – Symposium Commemorating the 45th Anniversary of China’s Reform and Opening-up & the 10th Anniversary of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, organized by China Institute for Reform and Development (CIDR) and Xinhuanet’s Thinker, has recently been held in Haikou, Hainan, and Liu Xinghua, a distinguished professor of Tongji University’s School of Economics and Management (Tongji SEM), attended the symposium and delivered a speech. According to Liu, reform and opening-up has been able to spark endless development momentum and social vitality in China because it is the broadest consensus and it complies with popular demands, pools their wisdom and gathers their strength. A thorough and in-depth analysis of history is intended to help us understand the present more rationally and accurately so that we can build a brighter future. In the future, market-oriented reform will still be a crucial move to maintain China’s economic growth at a moderate rate and achieve high-quality development. It is vital to seek momentum from reform and resolve conflicts and difficulties in development by comprehensively deepening reform.

Liu said that he avoided the tourist throngs during the National Day holiday this year. While he didn’t do much to encourage consumption, he did carefully read a number of great books, such as Experience Reform, a recently published book by Chi Fulin, President of CIRD, which describes, based on the author’s own experience, the remarkable 45-year history of China’s reform and opening-up. This book caused Liu to reflect deeply on the following question: what have we learned from reform and opening-up over the past 45 years? He mentioned the following points at the symposium.

Reflecting on the past to embrace a brighter future

Reform and opening-up that started 45 years ago is China’s second revolution, a revolutionary step that helped shape the country into what it is today and a vital means for China to keep up with the times. China today is unlike anything that could have been imagined 45 years ago, even by the most creative mind.

Liu stated that 46 years ago, in the golden autumn of 1977, millions of young and middle-aged Chinese citizens were preparing to take the college entrance exam which had been postponed for 10 years.

Two months later, in the winter of 1977, when they stepped into the examination rooms with dreams after setting down their sickles, hoes, wrenches, iron hammers and guns and leaving the fields, factory workshops and barracks, they certainly could not imagine the profound changes that would occur throughout the country over the next 40 years. On the other hand, a new age of appreciating skill and knowledge was unlocked by the examinees’ pen in the silent examination rooms.

The resumption of the college entrance examination system sounded the prelude to the era of China’s reform and opening-up. Newspapers and radio broadcasts spread the word about the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee one year later, not only in China but also globally.

A new chapter in China’s development history was initiated with the reform and opening-up, which fundamentally altered everyone’s fate and made an epoch-making adjustment to the development direction of China’s economy and society. Reform and opening-up has enabled China to exert important influences on the world since modern times and participate in shaping a new global development pattern through its leapfrog development.

Because of this, reform and opening-up has emerged as the most important collective memory of a generation of Chinese and as a crucial portal for understanding China for the rest of the world.

The ancient Greek historian Polybius said, “If all historical occurrences can be linked to their origins, this will make us especially aware of what lies ahead.” A thorough and in-depth analysis of history is intended to help us understand the present more rationally and accurately so that we can create a brighter future.

People’s creativity and activity are the key to a country’s development and its appeal

Young people today have never used coupons for food, clothing, cotton or soap; they have never used kerosene lamps or sewing machines; they have never experienced the social pains brought on by the dual-track price system, price unification and price barrier crashing; nor have they personally experienced the stark contrast between the scarcity of goods in the past and the abundance of goods in the present, and many people are also unaware of how China’s society was revitalized and how the historical context evolved to the present.

While “tightening their belts” allowed the Chinese people to achieve significant achievements during the period of a highly planned economy, the country’s level of economic development, scientific and technological advancement, and education lagged well behind that of developed nations, and their gaps in terms of production pattern and lifestyle were widening. These gaps can be summarized as “shortage and scarcity” and “humbleness and backwardness”. Modernization is never possible in a society full of “coupons” if production factors are not allocated freely or optimally.

Sages of the past proposed “being able and willing to accept change or new ideas”, “varying as changes indicate” and “although Zhou is an old country, it is newly commissioned by Heaven”. These are not only philosophies and historical accounts but also the keys to a country’s or a nation’s long-term growth and prosperity. China has already lost out on the chance to take advantage of two industrial revolutions and start the modernization process. China faces the threat of being “kicked out of the planet” and being incapable of modernizing if it persists in living in poverty, regression, and isolation. Especially in the late 1970s, when the global economy was growing rapidly and science and technology were advancing dramatically, many developed countries were readjusting their industrial structures, and the Chinese people had to make the crucial choice of whether to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime chance to hasten the development of their country’s economy.

Whether a country can develop smoothly is closely related to its ability to accurately identify and understand the principal contradiction facing Chinese society in response to changes in both internal and external environmental conditions and, on this basis, develop correct development strategies and associated tactics.

In October 1978, almost 30 years after the People’s Republic of China was founded, Deng Xiaoping led a Chinese delegation on its first visit to Japan as a Chinese head of state. On October 26, Deng Xiaoping traveled from Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen. In a clever way, Deng answered the Japanese companion’s question on his feelings about the train by saying, “It feels fast, almost felt like we are urged to run. Right now, we really need this form of mobility.” The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, which took place soon after Deng returned to China, marked the formal beginning of China’s reform and opening-up.

However, in 1998, the 20th anniversary of reform and opening-up, China’s per capita GDP was only 2.6% of Japan’s, while today, China’s per capita GDP has reached 37% of Japan’s, and China’s Fuxing has outperformed Japan’s Shinkansen.

This is reform and opening-up launched because of the country’s backwardness and gaps with developed countries, and its secret and charm lie in the activity and innovation of the people!

Every generation is accountable for writing its own history

Throughout history, an individual’s beliefs, decisions, tenacity, and endeavors shape their life course; similarly, a generation’s aspirations, comprehension, and determination frequently steer or even decide the destiny of a country or a nation. For hundreds of millions of Chinese people, the political decision made by the CPC Central Committee to enact reform and opening-up 45 years ago gave them new options in life and aspirational objectives.

Liu stated that the symposium took place in Haikou, and 31 years ago, in the winter of 1992, he had his first opportunity to visit Hainan on a business trip. Back then, the urban area of Haikou became a “large construction site” of roads and buildings, while Sanya was largely undeveloped, a “vast wasteland” in sight. But 15 years later, on his second business trip to Hainan in the winter of 2007, Haikou had developed into a stunning provincial capital and Sanya had become an enchanting international tourist city. In recent years, thanks to the building of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the province has been at the vanguard of China’s reform and opening-up, and expressways and high-speed railways have made Hainan Island “smaller”. Local Chinese may feel as though they are in another country when they are in the duty-free shops at the airports of Haikou and Sanya.

Earth-shaking changes have taken place not just in Hainan but also in the whole of China over the past 45 years, which embodies the wisdom, effort, sweat and tears of countless people.

Life is a big book. Liu believes that since the beginning of reform and opening-up in our society, numerous people have thrown themselves into the forefront of the waves of the times and experienced decades of ups and downs, and when they recall their past and reflect on their mental processes, it can turn into a book – a very thick and big one.

Each generation has historical obligations of its own. The younger generation is now tasked with carrying out the historic mission of fully deepening reform and opening-up.

Building consensus across society is essential to fostering growth vigor

Over the past 45 years, the giant and historic leap brought about by reform and opening-up, thanks to the pioneering, gradual and meticulous efforts, has not been easy. Why?

Liu stated that looking back, from adopting opening-up as a fundamental national policy to the current comprehensive deepening of reform and opening-up, the success of every major reform initiative has come from listening to the people and winning their hearts.

Reform and opening-up is best summarized by saying that its goal is to “invigorate” the whole society. Reform and opening-up has been able to arouse infinite development momentum and social vitality in China because it is the largest consensus and it responds to the wishes of the people, pools their wisdom and gathers their strength.

Over the past 45 years, reform and opening-up has made it possible for every individual, family, city, village and industry in China to experience real development and accomplishments. In the face of the current domestic and international surroundings of opening-up, reform cannot be accomplished in a single action or done once and for all. For the reform and opening-up, determination is more important than understanding, responsibility-taking is more critical than determination and wisdom is more vital than responsibility-taking. Determination, responsibility-taking and wisdom stem from all people’s enthusiasm, initiative and creativity. All of these require building a new consensus on comprehensively deepening reform and opening-up.

In this regard, Liu proposed the establishment of a “China Reform and Opening-up Exhibition Center”, not just for thinking back on the past but also for fully comprehending the past and being more prepared for the future. According to Liu, in order to build this exhibition center, work can now be started to collect physical data, audio-visual records, family stories and personal experiences related to reform and opening-up from all corners of society, especially widely soliciting policy suggestions for comprehensive deepening of reform and opening-up. This work can build and expand maximum consensus, draw on ideas and wisdom in various aspects and further inspire the strength of all people.

Reform and opening-up is always an ongoing process

Liu stated that while praising reform and opening-up, we also have to recognize that people are limited by their circumstances, regardless of the time period. In a century, two centuries, or three centuries from now, future generations may view this period of history differently than we do, just as our perception of the past differs from that of people who lived in the past. However, Liu believes that based on the context of the times, future generations will give such an evaluation that the 45 years since the launch of reform and opening-up had been an exceptionally rare golden period in the recorded history of the Chinese nation.

We face new challenges and risks after enduring countless hardships and perils throughout the past 45 years of reform and opening up. In particular, the reform today has entered a critical phase fraught with tough challenges and is standing at a turning point in history when any hesitation, pause or retreat could lead to historic retrogression.

China’s GDP had already ranked second in the world 13 years ago in 2010, but by the previous year, China’s per capita GDP had just exceeded USD 12,700, only the world average. China still has big gaps with developed countries and its task of achieving modernization remains formidable. Liu stated that we should have a positive outlook on the future while keeping clear-headed; we should not only continue to be diligent and agile tactically but also maintain profound and far-sighted insights strategically; in particular, we should identify and seize the global trends.

According to Liu, if the founding of the People’s Republic of China “organized” the Chinese people and the 45-year-old reform and opening-up “invigorated” all people, then the comprehensive deepening of reform and opening-up today aims to further invigorate the economy and society while genuinely standardizing them. Therefore, it calls for strengthening the methodical, comprehensive, synergistic and forward-looking nature of reform and opening-up and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and capacity.

The modernization of the national governance system and capacity is key to the realization of Chinese modernization. Throughout world history, each country has pursued modernization in their own unique ways, with no universally accepted framework. However, under the opening-up conditions and environment, modernization may be characterized by the great expression of the creativity and free flow of the ingenuity and expertise of talents in every field, the obtainment of sense of security, fairness, gain and happiness by the entire population and the maintenance of the enthusiasm for entrepreneurship, innovation and striving among all practitioners through continuously reforming and improving the governance system and methods, effectively enhancing the country’s governance capacity and bringing into play the market’s decisive role in resource allocation, thereby maximizing the release and development of the productive forces.

After a comparative analysis of world civilizations, English historian Arnold Toynbee came to the conclusion that more than 20 forms of civilization appeared in the 6,000-year history of human civilization; nevertheless, only the Chinese civilization system endures to this day without interruption and continues to thrive. Chinese civilization has persisted not just due to its inherent drive for development but also to its remarkable capacity for keeping pace with the times and assimilating all the great achievements of human civilization.

China, a country home to over 1.4 billion people, has to thoroughly deepen reform and opening-up in the modern period in order to modernize and revitalize Chinese civilization. As Mr. Chi Fulin stated in his book, “Reform and opening-up has only a progressive tense, no perfect tense.”

On the new journey of the new era, reform and opening-up faces a new situation and new pattern and shoulders a new historical mission, which requires us to make unremitting progress and move forward together by more actively taking historic responsibilities and keeping innovating!

Original article published in Xinghuanet’s Thinker on November 3, 2023