3. Historic transformation

In the 19th National Congress, China stated that the main contradiction in our society is between:

• the people’s growing need for a better life
• unbalanced and inadequate development

This major political judgment embodies the dialectical unity of contradictory movements and social changes, is a profound reflection of historic achievements and historic changes, and is a major achievement of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Contradiction is the source and driving force of the development of things. Human society is constantly moving forward in the course of the movement of basic social contradictions.

Every era has major social contradictions corresponding to the nature and situation of basic social contradictions. The Communist Party of China attaches importance to the use of the Marxist theory of contradiction to analyze and judge the main contradictions in society, and to determine the party’s guiding principles, strategic objectives and policy measures accordingly, so as to promote the continuous development of Chinese society.

After the establishment of the basic socialist system, the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1956 clearly put forward and explained for the first time the main contradictions in our society:

“The main contradiction in our country is already the contradiction between the people’s demand for the establishment of an advanced industrial country and the reality of a backward agricultural country, and the contradiction between the people’s need for rapid economic and cultural development and the current situation in which the economy and culture cannot meet the people’s needs.”

After careful discussion and study in the early stage of reform and opening up, the “Resolution on Several Historical Issues Concerning the Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China” adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee further defined the main contradiction in our society: “After the socialist transformation is basically completed, the main contradiction to be resolved in our country is the contradiction between the people’s growing material and cultural needs and backward social production.”

This judgment, on the one hand, inherits the judgment of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and on the other ahand, it is more in line with China’s reality, and it is more concise and clear, and was confirmed at the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. From then until the 19th Party Congress, our Party has continued to use this judgment and expression.

Marxism tells us that the transformation of the main contradictions in society is closely related to the level of development of the social productive forces and is not subject to human will. From the perspective of social production, after more than 40 years of rapid development through reform and opening up, fundamental changes have taken place in the long-standing shortage economy and insufficient supply;

China has steadily solved the problem of food and clothing for more than one billion people; the people’s living standards have generally achieved moderate prosperity, and a moderately prosperous society will soon be built in an all-round way; China’s social development has taken on new phased characteristics; and generally speaking, “backward social production” no longer conforms to today’s reality.

From the perspective of social needs, with the significant improvement of people’s living standards, people’s needs are not only becoming more and more extensive and diversified, but also the level of demand has been significantly improved, and has been upgraded from the need for material culture to the need for a better life. People not only put forward higher requirements for material and cultural living standards, but also put forward more and higher requirements for democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security and the environment, and pursued all-round human development and social progress. Talking only about “growing material and cultural needs” can no longer truly reflect the changing needs of the masses.

After long-term efforts, the level of China’s social productive forces has been markedly improved on the whole, and the social productive capacity has entered the forefront of the world in many aspects.

Unbalanced development mainly refers to the lack of balance in all aspects of development in various regions and fields; insufficient development mainly refers to the problem of underdevelopment in some regions, some fields and some aspects, and the task of development is still arduous.

Unbalanced and inadequate development has become a major constraint to meeting people’s growing needs for a better life. Therefore, the previous expression of the main contradictions in domestic society can no longer reflect the changed objective reality, and it is necessary to make new judgments and expressions based on the historical orientation of China’s social development. The 19th CPC National Congress comprehensively analyzed various situations and clearly pointed out that “the contradiction between the people’s growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development” is the main contradiction in Chinese society in the new era, which is scientifically correct and very timely.

The entry of socialism with Chinese characteristics into a new era is precisely the phased presentation of the changes in the main contradictions in society.

The historical change of the main contradictions in society has not changed the basic national conditions of our country, which is still in the initial stage of socialism.

The new era still belongs to one stage of development of the primary stage of socialism, and not to other stages of development external to the primary stage of socialism.

In the new era, although profound changes have taken place in our development stage and development tasks, work objects and working conditions, China’s level of development is still relatively low on the whole compared with the developed countries in the world, and its per capita GDP still ranks seventy or eighty in the world. We must firmly adhere to the party’s basic theory, basic line, and basic strategy in the initial stage of socialism, firmly grasp the development of the party, the most important task of ruling and rejuvenating the country, and must always grasp the central task of economic construction without wavering; this is the fundamental stand that we must adhere to in grasping the main contradictions in domestic society in the new era.