Great Banner of Socialism
Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects
Full Text Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China
October 16, 2022
Xi Jinping
PART – V
Ideological work is about forging the character of a country and the soul of a nation. We must ensure that the Party firmly exercises leadership over this work and that the responsibility system for it is fully implemented. We will cement and expand the mainstream thoughts and ideas that inspire hard work in the new era.
We will refine the working systems for arming Party members, educating the people, and guiding our practice with the Party’s new theories. We will make further progress in the project to study and develop Marxist theory. In philosophy and the social sciences, we will work faster to develop Chinese systems for fields of study, academia, and discourse, and we will cultivate a pool of talented philosophers and social scientists.
We will improve the systems for communications across all forms of media and create a new environment of mainstream public opinion. We will improve the system for conducting comprehensive cyberspace management and foster a healthy online environment.
2. Extensively applying the core socialist values
The core socialist values have immense power to rally the people’s support and pool their strength. We will carry forward the long line of inspiring principles for the Chinese Communists that originated with the great founding spirit of the Party; put resources related to the Party’s heritage to great use; conduct extensive public awareness activities to promote the core socialist values; enhance commitment to patriotism, collectivism, and socialism; and foster a new generation of young people to shoulder the mission of realizing national rejuvenation.
We will develop and institutionalize regular activities to foster ideals and convictions, and we will carry out public awareness initiatives on the history of the Party, the People’s Republic of China, reform and opening up, and the development of socialism, in order to foster love for the Party and the country. These efforts will help strengthen the people’s commitment to our common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Socialism
We will draw on the core socialist values to forge inner strength and inspire our people, improve the system of theoretical and political work, and integrate the political education curriculum across all levels, from elementary schools to universities.
We will uphold both the rule of law and the rule of virtue and see that the core socialist values are incorporated into efforts to advance the rule of law, into social development, and into the people’s daily lives.
3. Enhancing civility throughout society
We will continue the civic morality campaign, carry forward traditional Chinese virtues, foster stronger family ties, values, and traditions, and raise the intellectual and moral standards of minors. We will build public commitment to the greater good, public morality, and personal integrity. These efforts will help raise public moral standards and enhance public civility.
To promote cultural-ethical progress, we will take coordinated steps to raise awareness, apply principles, and develop initiatives and advance efforts in both urban and rural areas. We will foster an ethos of work, enterprise, dedication, creativity, and frugality throughout society and cultivate new trends and new customs for our times.
We will increase people’s knowledge of science and encourage everyone to read. The system and working mechanisms for volunteer services will be improved. We will promote integrity and credibility in society and work to perfect relevant long-term mechanisms.
We will see that Party and state awards and honors play a guiding and exemplary role and that a public atmosphere prevails in which people emulate paragons of virtue, look up to heroes, and strive to become pioneers.
4. Developing cultural programs and the cultural sector
We will encourage people-centered cultural creation and production of more outstanding works that inspire the people, and we will nurture a great number of writers and artists of both moral and artistic stature as well as a large contingent of talented personnel in culture and the arts.
We will make sure the cultural sector prioritizes social benefit while also producing economic returns, deepen reform of the cultural management system, and improve economic policy for the cultural sector.
We will implement a national cultural digitization strategy, improve the modern system of public cultural services, and launch new public-benefit cultural programs. We will improve the modern systems for cultural industries and markets and implement major cultural projects to spur the development of the sector.
We will put more effort into protecting cultural artifacts and heritage, better protect and preserve historical and cultural heritage in the course of urban and rural development, and build and make good use of national cultural parks. We will encourage positive interplay between culture and tourism and advance deeper integration of the two sectors.
We will launch extensive public fitness initiatives, improve physical education for our young people, promote all-around development of recreational and competitive sports, and move faster to build China into a country strong in sports.
5. Extending the reach and appeal of Chinese civilization
We will stay firmly rooted in Chinese culture. We will collect and refine the defining symbols and best elements of Chinese culture and showcase them to the world. We will accelerate the development of China’s discourse and narrative systems, better tell China’s stories, make China’s voice heard, and present a China that is credible, appealing, and respectable.
We will strengthen our international communications capabilities, make our communications more effective, and strive to strengthen China’s voice in international affairs so it is commensurate with our composite national strength and international status. We will deepen exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations and better present Chinese culture to the world.
IX. Improving the People’s Wellbeing and Raising Quality of Life
This country is its people; the people are the country. As the Communist Party of China has led the people in fighting to establish and develop the People’s Republic, it has really been fighting for their support. Bringing benefit to the people is the fundamental principle of governance. Working for the people’s wellbeing is an essential part of the Party’s commitment to serving the public good and exercising governance for the people. We must ensure and improve the people’s wellbeing in the course of pursuing development and encourage everyone to work hard together to meet the people’s aspirations for a better life.
We must strive to realize, safeguard, and advance the fundamental interests of all our people. To this end, we must do everything within our capacity to resolve the most practical problems that are of the greatest and most direct concern to the people. We will stay engaged with our people and their communities, adopt more measures that deliver real benefits to the people and win their approval, and work hard to resolve the pressing difficulties and problems that concern them most. We will improve the basic public services system to raise public service standards and make public services more balanced and accessible, so as to achieve solid progress in promoting common prosperity.
1. Improving the system of income distribution
The system of income distribution is the foundational system for promoting common prosperity. We will keep distribution according to work as the mainstay with multiple forms of distribution existing alongside it, and we will build an institutional framework under which primary, secondary, and tertiary distribution are well coordinated and mutually complementary. We will work to raise the share of personal income in the distribution of national income and give more weight to work remuneration in primary distribution.
We will ensure more pay for more work and encourage people to achieve prosperity through hard work. We will promote equality of opportunity, increase the incomes of low-income earners, and expand the size of the middle-income group.
We will improve the policy system for distribution based on factors of production, explore multiple avenues to enable the low- and middle-income groups to earn more from production factors, and increase the property income of urban and rural residents through more channels.
We will enhance the roles of taxation, social security, and transfer payments in regulating income distribution. We will improve the personal income tax system and keep income distribution and the means of accumulating wealth well-regulated. We will protect lawful income, adjust excessive income, and prohibit illicit income.
We will provide guidance and support for enterprises, social organizations, and individuals who have the desire and ability to actively participate in charitable and public-interest initiatives.
2. Implementing the employment-first strategy
Employment is the most basic component of the people’s wellbeing. We need to intensify efforts to implement the employment-?rst policy and improve related mechanisms to promote high-quality and full employment. We will refine the public services system for employment and the system of providing employment support for key groups and do more to help those in difficulty find employment and meet their basic needs.
We will integrate the urban and rural employment policy systems, remove institutional and policy barriers that impede the flow of labor and talent, and eliminate unjustified restrictions and discrimination that undermine equal employment. In this way, we will ensure that everyone has the opportunity to pursue a career through hard work.
We will improve the system of lifelong vocational training and tackle structural unemployment. We will improve the system for creating jobs by encouraging business startups and support and regulate the development of new forms of employment.
We will improve labor laws and regulations, the mechanisms for labor relation consultations and mediation, and the systems for safeguarding workers’ rights and interests, and we will do more to protect the rights and interests of those in flexible employment and new forms of employment.
3. Improving the social security system
The social security system provides a safety net for people’s livelihoods and helps ensure social stability. We will further improve the multi-tiered social security system that covers the entire population in urban and rural areas and see that it is fair, unified, reliable, well-regulated, and sustainable.
We will improve the unified national management system for basic old-age insurance funds and develop a multi-tiered and multi-pillar old-age insurance system. The statutory retirement age will be gradually raised. We will expand the coverage of social insurance programs, improve the mechanisms for financing and adjusting benefits for basic old-age insurance and basic medical insurance, and work toward provincial-level unified management of funds for basic medical insurance, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation.
We will promote the orderly linking up of medical insurance programs at different levels, improve major disease insurance and medical assistance schemes, and see that medical expenses are settled where they are incurred. We will institute an insurance system to support long-term care and vigorously develop commercial medical insurance.
We will move faster to improve the nationally uni?ed public platform for social insurance services. Improvements will be made to the system whereby social security funds are kept safe through supervision and their value is maintained and increased over time. The multi-tiered and categorized social assistance system will be improved.
We will remain committed to the fundamental national policy of gender equality and protect the lawful rights and interests of women and children. For people with disabilities, we will improve the social security and service systems and promote all-around development of related programs.
Adhering to the principle that housing is for living in and not for speculation, we will move faster to build a housing system featuring multiple suppliers and various channels of support that encourages both housing rentals and purchases.
4. Advancing the Healthy China Initiative
People’s health is a key indicator of a prosperous nation and a strong country. We must give strategic priority to ensuring the people’s health and improve policies on promoting public health.
We will improve the population development strategy, establish a policy system to boost birth rates, and bring down the costs of pregnancy and childbirth, child rearing, and schooling.
We will pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population aging, develop elderly care programs and services, and provide better services for elderly people who live alone. By doing so, we can ensure that basic elderly care is accessible to the entire elderly population.
We will further reform the medical and healthcare systems and promote coordinated development and regulation of medical insurance, medical services, and pharmaceuticals. We will expand the availability of quality medical resources and ensure they are better distributed among regions. Giving priority to prevention, we will strengthen health management for major chronic diseases and enhance the capacity for disease prevention and treatment as well as health management at the community level.
We will deepen reform of public hospitals to see that they truly serve the public interest and better regulate the development of private hospitals. We will build up the ranks of medical and healthcare personnel with an emphasis on rural areas and urban communities.
We will place importance on mental and psychological health. We will promote the preservation and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine.
We will develop new mechanisms for enhancing collaboration and integration between hospitals and institutions for disease prevention and control. We will also improve the public health system, improve our early warning system for major epidemics, and strengthen the systems for epidemic prevention, control, and treatment as well as our emergency response capacity so as to effectively contain major infectious diseases.
We will further advance the Healthy China Initiative and patriotic health campaigns and promote sound, healthy lifestyles.
X. Pursuing Green Development and Promoting Harmony
between Humanity and Nature
Nature provides the basic conditions for human survival and development. Respecting, adapting to, and protecting nature is essential for building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. We must uphold and act on the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and we must remember to maintain harmony between humanity and nature when planning our development.
We will advance the Beautiful China Initiative and take a holistic and systematic approach to the conservation and improvement of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts. We will carry out coordinated industrial restructuring, pollution control, ecological conservation, and climate response, and we will promote concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, expand green development, and pursue economic growth. We will prioritize ecological protection, conserve resources and use them efficiently, and pursue green and low-carbon development.
1. Socialism Accelerating the transition to a model of green development
A green and low-carbon economy and society are crucial to high-quality development. We must work faster to adjust and improve the industrial structure, the energy mix, and the composition of the transportation sector. We will implement a comprehensive conservation strategy, conserve resources of all types and use them efficiently, and move faster to put in place a system for recycling waste and used materials. Fiscal, taxation, financial, investment, and pricing policies and systems of standards will be improved to support green development. We will boost green and low-carbon industries and improve the system for market-based allocation of resources and environmental factors. We will accelerate the R&D, promotion, and application of advanced energy-saving and carbon emission reduction technologies, encourage green consumption, and promote green and low-carbon ways of production and life.
2. Intensifying pollution prevention and control
We will continue to control pollution in a lawful, targeted, and science-based way, and we will make further efforts to keep our skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean. Pollutants will be controlled in a better-coordinated way, and we will basically eliminate serious air pollution. We will make concerted efforts to improve aquatic environments, water resources, and aquatic ecosystems, strengthen ecological conservation of major rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, and generally eliminate black, malodorous water bodies in cities. We will strengthen prevention and control of soil contamination at the source and control new pollutants. The environmental infrastructure will be upgraded and living environments in both urban and rural areas will be improved. The pollutant discharge permit system will be implemented across the board, and more will be done to modernize the environmental governance system. We will rigorously prevent and control environmental risks and strengthen central government environmental inspections.
3. Enhancing diversity, stability, and sustainability in our ecosystems
Major projects for preserving and restoring key ecosystems will be carried out at a faster pace in priority areas, including key national ecosystem service zones, ecological conservation redlines, and nature reserves. We will develop the national park-based nature reserve system and carry out major biodiversity protection projects. Large-scale greening programs will be rolled out in a well-planned way, and reform of collective forest tenure will be deepened. We will promote the natural regeneration of grasslands, forests, rivers, lakes, and wetlands, enforce the 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River, and improve the system of fallowing and crop rotation.
We will establish mechanisms to realize the market value of ecosystem goods and services and improve the compensation system for ecological conservation. Biosafety and biosecurity management will be strengthened, and efforts will be made to prevent and treat harm caused by invasions of exotic species.
4. Working actively and prudently toward the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutralit
Reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality will mean a broad and profound systemic socio-economic transformation. Based on China’s energy and resource endowment, we will advance initiatives to reach peak carbon emissions in a well-planned and phased way in line with the principle of building the new before discarding the old. We will exercise better control over the amount and intensity of energy consumption, particularly of fossil fuels, and transition gradually toward controlling both the amount and intensity of carbon emissions.
We will promote clean, low-carbon, and high-efficiency energy use and push forward the clean and low-carbon transition in industry, construction, transportation, and other sectors. We will thoroughly advance the energy revolution. Coal will be used in a cleaner and more efficient way, and greater efforts will be made to explore and develop petroleum and natural gas, discover more untapped reserves, and increase production. We will speed up the planning and development of a system for new energy sources, properly balance hydropower development and ecological conservation, and develop nuclear power in an active, safe, and orderly manner. We will strengthen our systems for energy production, supply, storage, and marketing to ensure energy security. We will improve the statistics and accounting system and the cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions. The carbon absorption capacity of ecosystems will be boosted. We will get actively involved in global governance in response to climate change.
XI. Modernizing China’s National Security System and Capacity and
Safeguarding National Security and Social Stability
National security is the bedrock of national rejuvenation, and social stability is a prerequisite for building a strong and prosperous China. We must resolutely pursue a holistic approach to national security and promote national security in all areas and stages of the work of the Party and the country, so as to ensure national security and social stability.
We must take the people’s security as our ultimate goal, political security as our fundamental task, economic security as our foundation, military, technological, cultural, and social security as important pillars, and international security as a support. We will take coordinated steps to ensure external and internal security, homeland and public security, traditional and non-traditional security, and our own security and common security. We will both uphold national security and create the conditions for ensuring it. We will strengthen popular support for national security and social stability, improve the mechanisms for our participation in global security governance, and advance the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level. With this new security architecture, we will be able to better safeguard China’s new pattern of development.
1. Improving the national security system
We must uphold the Central Committee’s centralized, unified leadership over national security work and make sure that our leadership system for national security is high-performing and authoritative. The mechanisms for coordinating national security work will be strengthened. Improvements will be made in the legal, strategy, and policy systems for national security as well as the risk monitoring and early warning systems and the national emergency management system.
We will also improve the systems that safeguard security in key sectors and the coordination and command systems for major projects. We will strengthen the safeguards for ensuring economic, major infrastructure, financial, cyber, data, biological, resource, nuclear, space, and maritime security. Mechanisms for countering foreign sanctions, interference, and long-arm jurisdiction will be strengthened. We will improve the allocation of national security resources and create a coordinated, multi-dimensional, and highly effective system for protecting national security across all domains.
2. Strengthening our capacity for safeguarding national security
We will resolutely safeguard the security of China’s state power, systems, and ideology and build up security capacity in key areas. We will ensure the security of food, energy, and resources as well as key industrial and supply chains. We will strengthen our capacity to ensure overseas security and protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese citizens and legal entities overseas. We will safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests and resolutely defend our country’s sovereignty, security, and development interests. We will enhance our capacity to prevent and mitigate major risks and will remain on high alert against systemic security risks. We will crack down hard on infiltration, sabotage, subversion, and separatist activities by hostile forces. -Xinhua
(To be Continued)
