In its 20th national congress, the Communist Party of China (CPC) pledged to redistribute wealth to reduce inequality, pursue full employment, promote gender equality, expand social security and health care, protect the environment, and fight the “cancer” of corruption.
The 20th national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing on October 16, 2022
The Communist Party of China (CPC) opened its 20th national congress on October 16. This meeting in Beijing brought together 2296 delegates from every province in the country in order to plan the next five years of policies.
The CPC said its goal is to “write an even more magnificent chapter for socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.”
Multipolarista editor Ben Norton discussed the importance of the party congress in a discussion below with Danny Haiphong of The Left Lens and Carlos Martinez of Friends of Socialist China.
In the 20th national congress, the CPC highlighted its commitments to Marxism, reducing inequality, peaceful reunification with Taiwan, its zero-covid policy, and especially the fight against the “cancer” of corruption.
On October 16, President Xi Jinping delivered a lengthy report on behalf of 19th CPC Central Committee, which had been established in the 19th party congress in 2017. His speech reflected on the accomplishments of the previous five years, and outlined Beijing’s goals from 2023 to 2027.
Xi said, “from this day forward, the central task of the CPC will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.”
A key part of the report presented by Xi called for “Improving the People’s Wellbeing and Raising Quality of Life.”
The CPC said its goals include redistributing wealth to reduce inequality, combatting unemployment, strengthening the health-care system, and improving social security, with an emphasis on gender equality and support for people with disabilities.
Pledging “to promote high-quality and full employment,” the report stressed the need to prioritize less developed rural areas in addition to developed urban ones.
“We will remain committed to the fundamental national policy of gender equality and protect the lawful rights and interests of women and children,” Xi said.
“For people with disabilities, we will improve the social security and service systems and promote all-around development of related programs,” the CPC report added.
Xi stated:
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.
To fight climate change, the CPC also dedicated a section of its report to the importance of “pursuing green development and promoting harmony between humanity and nature.”
“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,” Xi said.
“We will prioritize ecological protection, conserve resources and use them efficiently, and pursue green and low-carbon development,” the Chinese president added.
The following graphic from Dongsheng News shows the structure of the Communist Party of China:
The structure of the Communist Party of China (CPC) (Credit: Dongsheng News)
CPC’s 19th national congress prioritized fight against inequality and ‘unbalanced development’
Back in 2017, in its 19th national congress, the CPC declared that “socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era.”
The party changed its analysis of the central contradiction in Chinese society, which had previously emphasized the need to develop the productive forces and grow its economy, to now address “unbalanced development” and prioritize “equitable income distribution.”
The CPC wrote in its 19th national congress:
Through several decades of development, China has already maintained for a number of years the world’s second largest economy, the world’s largest manufacturer, the largest trading power, and the country with the biggest foreign exchange reserve. China ranks among the top of the world in economic, science and technology, military, and overall national strength.
Accordingly, the principal contradiction of the Chinese society has evolved.
In the past, the contradiction was between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and the backwardness of social production.
Now, the principal contradiction is between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life.
The needs to be met for the people to live a better life are increasingly broad. The Chinese people not only seek for their material and cultural needs, but also concern about their increasing demands for fairness and justice, rule of law, security, eco-environment, balanced urban and rural development, and equitable income distribution.
These changes in the principal contradiction means higher requirements for China’s domestic and foreign policies. It also means new historical mission for the CPC.
