Strive for Realizing the

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Strive for Realizing the "Chinese Dream" -- Achieve National Rejuvenation

By Lin Peixiong and Liu Guangming

Research Center, National Defense University

To achieve great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation in modern times. This is a profound interpretation of the "Chinese Dream", the era proposition, filled with both a heavy historical heritage and heroic self-confidence, pointing out the direction for unity and cohesion of the Chinese people to create a better future. The road of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the road of rejuvenation for the Chinese people and the Chinese nation to take, so we need to make unremitting efforts on the road, and constantly open up brighter prospects for national revival.

Requirements of the Times in the Decisive Phase to Fully Complete the Building of Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects

The "Chinese Dream" is to build China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious modern socialist country and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. To realize this dream, we need long-term unremitting efforts and advance forward by stages. At present, China has entered a decisive stage of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and to realize the "Chinese Dream" shows adaptation to the new requirements of this stage.

In terms of national strength, the "Chinese Dream" is to achieve further enhancement of overall national strength. The overall national strength reflects a country's level of development, decides its ability to meet national demand and solve domestic problems, and also fundamentally determines its international status and role. Reaching the height of comprehensive national strength determines the realization of the national dream. The first prerequisite for the "Chinese Dream" is to further increase comprehensive national strength. Since 2010, China's total economic aggregate has leapt to the second place in the world, but a large population, a weak economic foundation, and uneven development situation have not fundamentally changed, so its economy, science and technology will continue facing pressure of advantages of Western developed countries for a long time. In such a situation, the Government proposes the development goals by 2020: maintain sustained and healthy development of its economy, more than double the GDP and per capita income of urban and rural residents of 2010, sharply raise the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to economic growth, enter the ranks of innovation-oriented countries, expand significantly the people's democracy, obviously enhance the soft power of culture, and comprehensively improve the people's living standards, and make significant progress for the building of a resource-saving and environment-friendly society. These goals form the basic requirements to realize the "Chinese Dream" at this stage.

In terms of happiness index, the "Chinese Dream" is to further enhance people's happiness. Happiness index is the quantification of people's happiness, satisfaction-oriented evaluation made by people of their own state of life according to a certain standard. The CPC and the Chinese Government adhere to the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, and the fundamental purpose of the "Chinese Dream" is to achieve, maintain, and develop the fundamental interests of overwhelming majority of its people, thus, enhancing the happiness index of the whole society. Some studies indicate that people's happiness index grows with income growth. As the per capita GDP is over US$ 5000, and some non-material factors increasingly change people's happiness index, so enhancing the happiness index should be given overall and balanced consideration. In 2011, China's per capita GDP reached US$ 5,432, so to further enhance people's happiness index becomes a more complex systematic engineering. However, to double the per capita income of urban and rural residents of 2010 by 2020, maintain social fairness and justice, stick to the road of common prosperity, persist in promoting social harmony, protect and improve people's livelihood give the "Chinese Dream" a strong foundation.

In terms of civilization, the "Chinese Dream" is to achieve further evolution of the Chinese civilization. The Chinese civilization is the only continuous civilization up to date with several thousands years in the world and has made a great contribution to the development of human civilization. The Chinese civilization was in the feudal era for a long period, with main form of farming civilization. To realize the "Chinese Dream" is to get across the farming-centered civilization and to achieve a qualitative leap. At present, China has entered the middle phase of industrialization, initially completed the transition of the agricultural civilization to industrial civilization. To adhere to the new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, modernization of agriculture with Chinese characteristics, to promote the in-depth integration of informatization and industrialization, positive interaction of industrialization and urbanization, and coordination of urbanization and agricultural modernization, and to advance simultaneous development of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, agricultural modernization cover material civilization, political civilization and spiritual civilization, social civilization and ecological civilization. This "Chinese Dream" will shine the Chinese civilization more brilliantly.

In terms of pursuit of value, the "Chinese Dream" is to achieve the comprehensive development of each person. The "Chinese Dream" is not single propulsion for enhancing national strength only, but has multiple dimensions of national, ethnic, social, and personal development. In the course of realizing the "Chinese Dream", the CPC earnestly draws the positive and negative experiences of building up socialism, adheres to serving the public and governing for the people, advances further the people-oriented concept, respects the people’s principal position, and continuously promotes man’s comprehensive development. And the CPC new document stresses continuously making new progress in the course of achieving development results shared by the people and promoting man’s comprehensive development. This implies China’s socialism takes achieving man’s comprehensive development as the ultimate pursuit.

Promote National Rejuvenation with Pragmatic Spirit and Style

Today, we have made remarkable achievements, so people have the unprecedented self-confidence in the road, the self-confidence in the theory and the self-confidence in the system. However, it should be noted that to realize the "Chinese Dream" also needs to make painstaking efforts. Empty talk destroys a country, hard work revitalizes a country. Turning the "Chinese dream" into a reality, we must vigorously develop the pragmatic spirit and style, and continuously work hard and tenaciously.

Promoting national revival proceeds from the reality of primary stage of socialism. Adherence to the pragmatic and scientific spirit and style, the first is to proceed from reality. The CPC new document stresses that the basic national reality that China is and will still be in the primary stage of socialism for a long time has not changed, that the society's principal contradiction between people's growing material and cultural needs and the backward social production has not changed, and that China’s international status of the world's largest developing country has not changed. This requires us to firmly grasp the primary stage of socialism, the most fundamental national conditions, and to take the reality of the primary stage of socialism as the fundamental starting point, to get clear-cut understanding of policies, new expectations of the masses, and pros and cons of the reform and development, to ensure applying experiences and using advantages combined with the reality, to prevent development from making high targets beyond the practical ability and singing unrealistically high-profile slogans. Give full consideration to all aspects of the differences and different local conditions, and take a flexible approach and strategies to prevent taking "one size for all", and "one-pot for all" path.

Promoting national revival proceeds from following the law for building socialism with Chinese characteristics. The basic meaning and internal requirement of pragmatism and proceeding from reality are to explore and follow objective laws. Adhering to the pragmatic and scientific spirit and style, we must actively search for objective laws of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and consciously respect them. The CPC new document profoundly expounds and accurately summarizes the basic requirements to win the victory of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and makes a strategic plan for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, which fully embodies its new understanding of the laws of socialist construction. Governing the country in line with these laws, efficiency can be optimized and the results maximized in realizing the Chinese Dream. Laws for building socialism with Chinese characteristics include the general laws and specific laws. Explore and grasp the special laws on the basis mastering the general laws, and find the deep-seated fundamental laws to prevent from being confused by the complex superficial phenomena. As long as we push forward the reform and development in accordance with objective laws, we will be able to achieve practical results.

Promoting national revival proceeds from Carrying forward the pragmatic and solid style of work. A key for realizing a dream is in hard work. Sloganeering without an action, or half-heartedly actions, or sloppy moves, the "Chinese Dream" will be floating in the air forever. Adhering to the pragmatic and scientific spirit and style, we must overcome formalism and bureaucracy, overcome impulsive reckless tendencies, do solid work and advance in the teeth of difficulties, and take the initiative to go into the course of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Detail every goal, requirement, responsibility and measure specifically and make performance realistically, deeply, and considerately. Further improve the problem-finding, error-correcting and accountability mechanisms to detect and resolutely correct all inflating and deceptive practices, and guarantee the establishment of pragmatic and solid style by institutional mechanisms.