I. Making major judgments after scientific analysis of the historic position of contemporary China in the process of socialist modernization

　　Xi Jinping’s thought on economy has adapted the basic tenets of Marxism to China's specific realities, and made a series of major judgments after scientific analysis of the development stage of China's socialist modernization as well as the opportunities and challenges it is facing, clarifying the new starting point for socialist modernization.

　　First, the economic thought makes a scientific judgment that China has entered a new development stage. According to the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, after achieving the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China needs to immediately embark on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country and realizing the second centenary goal. It marks that China has entered a new development stage. As part of the primary stage of socialism, the new development stage marks a new starting point based on decades of development and has witnessed the Chinese nation's tremendous transformation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong achieved by the Chinese people led by the Party. Only with a deep understanding of the connotations of the new development stage can we accurately implement the major tasks during development and bolster confidence in overcoming difficulties to continuously advance socialist modernization in accordance with the stated goals while pursuing high-quality development.

　　Second, the economic thought thoroughly reveals the principal challenge facing Chinese society. According to the Report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the principal challenge facing Chinese society is the gap between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's growing expectation for a better life. On the one hand, people's expectation for a better life is growing. On the other hand, unbalanced and inadequate development has become a major constraint on satisfying people's growing needs for a better life. Thoroughly understanding the changes in the principal challenge facing Chinese society is the main task of clarifying the economic work in the new development stage, the awareness in action of implementing the people-centered development philosophy, and the logical starting point for facilitating major regional strategies and coordinated regional development strategies and advancing common prosperity.

　　Third, the economic thought comprehensively analyzes the changes in the connotations of strategic opportunities. The global financial crisis that broke out in 2008 has profoundly changed the economic growth trend and development pattern of the world. How to judge the development strategic opportunities is a major problem faced by China's modernization in the new era. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that both the opportunities and the challenges are unprecedentedly large after some new changes. On the one hand, great new opportunities for development have been brought by efforts to expedite optimization and upgrading of the economic structure, improve abilities of scientific and technological innovation, deepen reform and opening-up, speed up green development, and participate in the reform of the global economic governance system. On the other hand, unbalanced and inadequate development is still a prominent problem and the world is facing global changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century. It is necessary to accurately comprehend the changes in the connotations of strategic opportunities, foster new opportunities amidst crises, and open up new horizons on a shifting landscape. That is an important foundation for unswervingly pursuing a mutually beneficial opening-up strategy, continuing reforms to develop the socialist market economy and upholding basic socialist economic systems, comprehensively fostering new strengths through innovation-driven development, and ensuring both development and security.

　　II. Providing scientific answers to epochal questions of building a modern socialist country and cracking a series of development problems

　　Xi Jinping’s thought on economy has led China's socialist modernization with Marxism of the 21st century, offered scientific answers to the questions posed by China, by the world, by the people, and by the times, successfully solved a series of problems faced by modernization in the new era, and facilitated new solid steps on a Chinese path to modernization.

　　First, the leadership of the Party ensures that our socialist modernization advances along the right path. In the face of the changing world economic situation, complex and formidable development tasks at home, and unpredictable risks and challenges, the strong leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee for modernization to advance along the right path. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party's institutions and mechanisms for leading economic development have been improving, and Party leadership has been exercised in all fields, aspects and links of economic work. We keep translating our country's institutional strengths into effective governance, thus taking China on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country.

　　Second, the economic foundation of modernization is consolidated through high-quality development. In response to the profound changes in China's historic position, its development stage, the principal challenge facing Chinese society and the period of strategic opportunity for development, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has put forward a series of new ideas, new thinking, and new strategies, including promoting high-quality development, which have played an important leading role in socialist modernization. China's composite national strength has reached a new level, and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has moved on toward an unprecedented bright future.

　　Third, lasting driving forces of modernization are released through comprehensive and in-depth reform. The traditional driving forces lack sustainability while the traditional development model could no longer keep us moving forward. To solve these problems, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core insists on solving problems in the process of modernization through reform, continues reforms to develop the socialist market economy, gives full play to the market's decisive role in resource allocation and enables the government to better plays its role. With innovation-driven development, new industries, new business forms and new business models are constantly emerging, and socialist China full of vigor and vitality is striding toward modernization.

　　Fourth, China's contribution to modernization is demonstrated through higher-level opening-up. In the face of setbacks in economic globalization, we firmly pursue a mutually-beneficial opening-up strategy, implement the strategy of opening up wider at a higher level, put in place new systems for a higher-standard open economy, promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and set up pilot free trade zones and free trade ports with Chinese characteristics. China's modernization continuously makes positive contributions to the world economy.

　　III. Scientifically constructing the theoretical framework of Chinese modernization and making a series of innovative achievements

　　With the focus on the Party's centenary goal of realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Xi Jinping’s thought on economy has made innovative contributions to the strategic arrangements for different stages of China's socialist modernization, the distinctive characteristics of Chinese modernization, and the practical path of promoting modernization on the new journey, thus forming a theoretical framework of Chinese modernization.

　　First, a two-stage strategic arrangement has been put forward for the new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects. The 19th CPC National Congress made a two-stage strategic arrangement for achieving the second centenary goal. In the first stage, China is going to basically realize socialist modernization by 2035. In the second stage, China will be built into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful from 2035 through the middle of this century. This strategic arrangement has enriched and upgraded the theory of the primary stage of socialism, deepened understanding of the laws concerning the development of human society and socialist construction, and clarified the objectives and strategic tasks of fully building a modern socialist country after the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is completed.

　　Second, Xi Jinping’s thought on economy reveals the distinctive features in five aspects of Chinese modernization. At the second full assembly of the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that China's socialist modernization has many important characteristics. Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. As a major achievement made in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times, Chinese modernization has set the course for building a modern socialist country in all respects, expanded the path to modernization for developing countries, and provided feasible methods for these countries to explore a path to modernization that suits themselves.

　　Third, Xi Jinping’s thought on economy points out the inevitable path to socialist modernization. During the "Two Sessions" in 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping introduced the important understanding of the five paths we must take formed in the process of the Party's and the people's endeavor in the new era. The five paths we must take are of great guiding significance to the realization of socialist modernization. We must uphold the Party's overall leadership over modernization, maintain the Chinese characteristics and socialist nature of modernization, adhere to the reliance on the Chinese people striving in unity to create new great historic achievements in modernization, always guide the practice of modernization with the new development philosophy, and continue making good results on the new journey of modernization in accordance with the requirements of full and rigorous governance over the Party.

　　By Xi Jinping Thought on Economy Study Center