By studying history, we gain clarity; by studying history, we build confidence; by studying history, we cultivate virtue; and by studying history, we put our knowledge into practice. Standing at the historical juncture of the “Two Centenaries,” we look back on the arduous journey we’ve traveled and gaze forward toward the path of vigorous advancement ahead.

Tongfang Law Firm provides all its lawyers with learning opportunities in the form of micro-party classes, thereby enhancing their ideological and political awareness as well as their spirit of learning and inquiry. By establishing a long-term educational mechanism, the firm has created a new platform for self-education and self-improvement.

Xi Jinping’s thought on culture is a theoretical summation of the Party’s practical experience in leading cultural development in the new era. It enriches and develops Marxist cultural theory, forming the cultural component of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and serves as— At this new historical starting point, we continue to promote cultural prosperity, build a culturally strong nation, and construct a modern civilization of the Chinese nation—providing clear direction and fundamental guidance for our progress. This year... June, Xi At the symposium on the inheritance and development of culture, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly articulated “fourteen key emphases” regarding cultural development. One of these emphasizes that Chinese-style modernization is a modernization characterized by the coordinated advancement of material and spiritual civilization, which can foster shared prosperity in the spiritual lives of all people and promote the all-round development of individuals. This is an important component of Xi Jinping’s thought on culture. We must deeply understand and grasp it, and thoroughly implement it in our work.

Chinese-style modernization is a modernization that coordinates material civilization and spiritual civilization.

The civilizational achievements created by humanity encompass both material civilization and spiritual civilization. How we properly view and handle the relationship between these two forms of civilization is a major issue in the course of human modernization. From the perspective of historical materialism, Marx pointed out that in different economic and social contexts, people produce different ideas and cultures. The development of ideological and cultural construction is determined by the economic base, yet it also exerts a reciprocal effect on that economic base. This insight holds significant guiding value for us in properly managing the relationship between material civilization and spiritual civilization.

Our Party has always attached great importance to the coordinated development of material civilization and spiritual civilization. Since the founding of New China, and especially since the reform and opening-up policy was launched, our Party has consistently pursued both material and spiritual civilization in parallel. While promoting rapid economic growth, we have also fostered the flourishing development of advanced socialist culture. Entering a new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important remarks on properly handling the relationship between material and spiritual civilization, pointing out: “Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a socialism characterized by the comprehensive development of both material and spiritual civilization.” “We must adhere to the principle of ‘grasping both hands firmly,’ adopting a dialectical, comprehensive, and balanced perspective to properly manage the relationship between material and spiritual civilization, and integrate spiritual civilization building into the entire process of reform and opening-up and modernization, permeating all aspects of social life.” These remarks provide us with a clear direction for promoting the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilization.

To promote the coordinated development of material civilization and spiritual civilization, it is essential that both thrive together. Civilization is an integrated whole; material civilization and spiritual civilization are two sides of the same coin, each indispensable to the other. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is a development process in which material and spiritual civilizations soar side by side. We must not only become strong materially but also strong spiritually, delivering outstanding achievements in both the construction of material civilization and spiritual civilization. To promote the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations, the two must mutually reinforce each other. The development of material civilization provides material conditions and practical experience for the building of spiritual civilization, while the construction of spiritual civilization offers spiritual impetus and intellectual support for the development of material civilization, as well as powerful ideological guarantees to ensure that material civilization progresses in the right direction. At the same time, the development of material civilization and spiritual civilization continually raise higher demands on each other, thus fostering their joint advancement. To promote the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations, we need to maintain a dynamic balance between them. As material civilization reaches a certain stage of development, the importance of spiritual civilization becomes even more prominent, calling for it to play an even greater role. In the new era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed cultural development in a key position in the overall work, regarding culture as an important component of the coordinated promotion of the “Five-in-One” overall layout and the coordinated implementation of the “Four Comprehensive” strategic layout. It views culture as a vital fulcrum for driving high-quality development, as a crucial factor in meeting the people’s growing needs for a better life, and as an important source of strength for overcoming various risks and challenges on the path forward. The Party continues to strengthen the building of socialist spiritual civilization, providing firm ideological guarantees, powerful spiritual strength, rich moral nourishment, and favorable cultural conditions for the continuous progress of all ethnic groups across the country.

At present, we have embarked on a new journey to comprehensively advance the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization. Chinese-style modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China. Material prosperity and spiritual richness are the fundamental requirements of socialist modernization. Only when both material and spiritual civilization are well developed—when both the nation’s material and spiritual strengths are enhanced and the material and spiritual lives of all ethnic groups across the country are improved—can the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics move forward smoothly, and can Chinese-style modernization achieve both an enormous abundance of material wealth and an equally abundant enrichment of spiritual wealth.

Promote the common prosperity of the spiritual lives of all people by coordinating the "two civilizations."

Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism with Chinese characteristics and a key feature of Chinese-style modernization. Since the advent of the new era, our Party has consistently taken realizing the people’s aspiration for a better life as both the starting point and the ultimate goal of modernization. We have promoted coordinated regional development, adopted strong measures to safeguard and improve people’s livelihoods, won the battle against poverty, and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects—creating favorable conditions for fostering common prosperity. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that common prosperity “means that the people enjoy both material and spiritual affluence,” and explicitly called for “promoting common prosperity in the spiritual lives of the people.” By achieving common prosperity in spiritual life, the diverse, multi-level, and multifaceted spiritual and cultural needs of the people will be better met, their inner worlds will become richer, the nation’s scientific and cultural level will continue to rise, and cultural life will become ever more vibrant and colorful.

Promoting the coordinated development of “two civilizations” has laid the foundation and created the conditions for fostering common prosperity in the spiritual lives of all people. Without building a material civilization based on high-quality development, it would be impossible to talk about promoting common prosperity in the spiritual lives of all people; and without a spiritual civilization characterized by the flourishing and revitalization of Chinese culture, efforts to achieve common prosperity in the spiritual lives of all people would be like trying to draw water from a dry well. Since the advent of the new era, under the leadership of the Party, the people have written a new chapter marked by two remarkable achievements: rapid economic growth and long-term social stability, thereby laying a more solid material foundation for Chinese-style modernization. At the same time, by establishing and upholding the fundamental system of Marxism’s guiding role in the ideological sphere, we have ensured that the Party’s innovative theories of the new era take root deeply among the people, that socialist core values are widely disseminated, and that China’s outstanding traditional culture has undergone creative transformation and innovative development. As a result, cultural undertakings have flourished steadily, the situation in the ideological sphere has undergone a comprehensive and fundamental transformation, and the public’s sense of cultural gain has continued to grow. It is precisely by simultaneously pursuing both material and spiritual civilization with equal emphasis and strength—promoting their mutual coordination and reinforcement—that the entire Party and all ethnic groups across the country have seen a significant enhancement in cultural confidence and a more vigorous and uplifting spiritual outlook, providing even stronger spiritual impetus for Chinese-style modernization.

At the same time, we must recognize that common prosperity is a long-term historical process. Not everyone will become prosperous at the same time, nor will all regions reach the same level of prosperity simultaneously. Different groups of people will not only achieve varying degrees of prosperity but will also do so at different times; moreover, there will inevitably be certain disparities in the level of prosperity among different regions. Similarly, promoting the common prosperity of the spiritual lives of all people is also a dynamic, ongoing process of continuous improvement—it is impossible for everyone to advance at the same pace. We must continually strengthen the guiding role of socialist core values, intensify education in patriotism, collectivism, and socialism, develop public cultural undertakings, improve the public cultural service system, and create an environment in which everyone participates in development, thereby continuously enhancing the civility of individuals and the overall level of social civilization. In particular, we must keep advancing the integrated construction of urban and rural public cultural service systems, promote the digitalization of public culture, innovatively implement projects that bring cultural benefits to the people, raise the standardization and equalization of basic public cultural services, and better safeguard the fundamental cultural rights and interests of the people.

Promote the all-round development of individuals by coordinating the “two civilizations.”

The essence of modernization lies in the modernization of people, and promoting the all-round development of individuals is the fundamental value orientation of Marxism. Marxism scientifically reveals the inevitable trend of human society ultimately moving toward communism, firmly believing that the future society “will be a community in which the free development of each individual is the condition for the free development of all.” From the Marxist perspective, the development of material civilization and the development of spiritual civilization should be mutually integrated; the modernization of people and their free, all-round development are also mutually integrated and complement each other.

Even during his time working in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must clearly recognize the ultimate purpose of both material and spiritual civilization building. While GDP, fiscal revenue, and residents’ income are important indicators, they are not the ultimate goal themselves. The ultimate goal is to promote the all-round development of human beings—improving people’s material living standards, enriching their spiritual lives, enhancing their quality of life, and raising their ideological, moral, scientific, and cultural qualities.” “Culture is ‘humanization’; cultural undertakings are those that nurture people’s aspirations and cultivate their sentiments. Human beings, at their very essence, are cultural beings—not ‘objectified’ ones. They are active, well-rounded individuals, not rigid, ‘one-dimensional’ ones.” Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: “The ultimate goal of modernization is to achieve the free and comprehensive development of human beings. Whether the path of modernization can be successfully pursued and remain stable ultimately hinges on whether we adhere to a people-centered approach. Modernization should not be judged merely by the figures and data on paper; more importantly, it should be measured by the happiness and well-being of the people.” “On the basis of continuing to promote development, we must focus on addressing the issues of unbalanced and inadequate development, vigorously enhance the quality and efficiency of development, better meet the growing needs of the people in economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological spheres, and further advance the all-round development of individuals and the overall progress of society.” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important remarks provide us with a scientific guide for advancing Chinese-style modernization and promoting the all-round development of human beings. Chinese-style modernization not only pursues the comprehensive enrichment of material goods but also strives for the all-round development of human beings. Unlike Western modernization, which is capital-centered and focuses on objects while neglecting people, Chinese-style modernization adheres to a development philosophy centered on the people, highlighting the people-oriented nature of modernization. It continuously ensures that development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people—placing greater emphasis on people than on objects—and continues to make new strides toward achieving common prosperity for all the people.

Promoting common prosperity and fostering the all-round development of individuals are highly unified. Only by advancing the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations and enabling the people to share the fruits of this coordinated progress can we truly promote both the comprehensive enrichment of material conditions and the all-round development of human beings. We must not only anchor ourselves firmly in the primary task of high-quality development, continuously driving the economy toward effective qualitative improvements and reasonable quantitative growth, thereby laying a solid material foundation and strengthening material conditions for the all-round development of individuals; but also persistently and consistently strengthen the building of socialist spiritual civilization, constantly improving and innovating our efforts in this area, consolidating the common ideological foundation for the unity and concerted efforts of the entire Party and all ethnic groups across the country, and bolstering the spiritual strength needed to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We must respond to the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people, build a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and guiding power, intensify education on ideals and convictions as well as publicity and education on the “Four Histories,” cultivate and promote core socialist values, vigorously develop advanced socialist culture, vigorously carry forward revolutionary culture, promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s outstanding traditional culture, produce more outstanding literary and artistic works, build a powerful socialist cultural nation, continually enrich the spiritual world of the people, enhance their spiritual strength, raise the overall level of societal civility, and foster the all-round development of individuals.