Adhere to the fundamental position of centering on the people

The masses are:

• the creators of material and spiritual wealth
• the decisive force for social change

Xi Jinping pointed out:

“We must always:

• take the people’s position as the fundamental position
• take the happiness of the people as the fundamental mission
• adhere to the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly
• implement the mass line
• respect the people’s dominant position and initiative
• always maintain flesh-and-blood ties with the people
• unite the majestic force of all wills
• unite and lead the people to jointly create a great historical cause

Xi Jinping

Section 1: Taking the people as the center is the essential embodiment of the materialist view of history

To uphold the fundamental stand of centering on the people, we must always persist in relying on the people to create great historical causes, persist in doing everything for the people, and persist in implementing the party’s mass line in all activities of governing the country.

1. Relying on the people to create great historical deeds

In the long history of the development of the Chinese nation, Chinese people have created splendid achievements in material and spiritual civilization and forged the great spirit of the Chinese nation through their own diligence and wisdom. Since modern times, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have won great victories in the new democratic revolution, established the People’s Republic of China, established the socialist system in which the people are masters of their own affairs, won great victories in reform and opening up, formed the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and ushered in the great leap of the Chinese nation from standing up, getting rich to becoming strong. Historical materialism emphasizes that the masses of the people are the creators and true heroes of history; the masses of the people themselves create their own history and are the main body of historical activities. Historical experience also fully shows that the fundamental strength for adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era lies with the people, and only by relying on the people can we create a great historical cause and continue to write a new chapter of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

To rely on the people to create great historical causes, we must firmly establish the idea of the people’s status as the main body. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that “the people, and only the people, are the driving force for creating world history,” 1 and he proclaimed with emotion the strongest voice in history, “Long live the people.” Comrade Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that the people are the creators of history and the people are the real heroes. Whether or not we respect the people’s status as the main body and whether we recognize the main role of the masses in creating history is the fundamental mark that distinguishes the materialist view of history from the idealistic view of history. The foundation of the Party lies in the people, its bloodline lies in the people, and its strength lies in the people. Only by unifying respect for the law of social development with respect for the people’s status as the main body of history can we unite the strong force for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. To rely on the people to create great historical deeds, we must go deep among the masses, conduct investigations and studies, learn from the people, and seek education from the people. “Those who know the house leak are in Uxia, and those who know the government are in the grass field. “The people know the actual situation best, find problems the most, have the most experience in solving problems, and are the most able to create solutions to problems.” Comrade Deng Xiaoping said: “Many things in the course of reform and opening up were put forward by the masses in practice…

It is the wisdom of the masses, the wisdom of the collective. “1 The great cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics is fundamentally the cause of the broad masses of the people themselves, and the experience created by the masses in practice reflects the objective law of the development of things and represents the direction of social progress. As Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out, “Every breakthrough and development in the understanding and practice of reform and opening up, the emergence and development of every new thing in reform and opening up, and the creation and accumulation of experience in every aspect of reform and opening up all come from the practice and wisdom of hundreds of millions of people.” 2 To sum up the experience of the CPC’s development and growth, it is very important to always regard the people as the source of wisdom and strength, and always deeply root the growth of political wisdom and the enhancement of ruling skills in the creative practice of the people. Comrade Xi Jinping warned the whole party to soberly realize: “In front of the people, we will always be primary school students, and we must consciously worship the people as teachers, seek advice from the able, and ask the wise for advice.“3 Only by deeply understanding the masses, understanding reality, promptly discovering and summing up the fresh experiences created by the masses of the people, elevating them to theories and policies, and mobilizing and guiding the people to carry out new practices can the cause of the party and the state always maintain its vitality.

To rely on the people to create great historical causes, we must take whether the masses of the people are satisfied or not as the first criterion for testing our work. The masses of the people can encourage what they support, do well what they expect, and correct what the masses oppose. The fundamental criterion for judging whether the party’s line, principles, and policies are correct can only be “whether the people agree or not, whether they are happy or not, whether they support it or not, and whether they approve or disapprove.” Whether the Communist Party of China can hand over qualified answers can only be judged by the people and tested by history.