Theory of Three Represents

Following the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee in 1989, the Chinese Communists, with Jiang Zemin as their chief representative, had accumulated new, valuable experience in running the Party and the state in the course of building Chinese socialism. They acquired a deeper understanding of what socialism is and how to build it, as well as what kind of Party to build and how to build it, all of which were summarized as the Theory of Three Represents.

Given domestic conditions and the international situation in the new century and based on an accurate understanding of the Party's history and mission, Jiang Zemin spoke of the requirements of "three represents" for Party members when inspecting Guangdong Province in February 2000, which aroused a strong response from Party members, the general public and overseas Chinese. He elaborated on the basic contents of the Theory of Three Represents at the meeting celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in July 2001. The essence of the Theory of Three Represents is that the CPC must always represent the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, represent the orientation of China's advanced culture, and represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.

The Theory of Three Represents was established at the 16th CPC National Congress in November 2002, together with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and Deng Xiaoping Theory, as the guiding thought and guide to action that the CPC must follow, and was written into the Party Constitution. In 2004, the Second Session of the 10th NPC wrote this theory into the Chinese Constitution.

The Theory of Three Represents is a scientific system that covers the economy, politics, culture, military affairs, foreign affairs, and Party matters, and involves reform, development and stability, domestic and foreign affairs and national defense, and the running of the Party, the country and the military.

The CPC must always represent the development trend of China's advanced productive forces. This means that the Party's theory, guideline, program, principles, policies, and all its work must conform with the development needs of the productive forces, and build the productive forces in order to raise the people's living standards.

The CPC must always represent the orientation of China's advanced culture. This means that the Party's theory, guideline, program, principles, policies, and all its work must reflect the requirements for developing a socialist culture for our nation, a culture that is sound and people-oriented, and that embraces modernization, the world and the future, constantly raise the ideological and moral standards and the scientific and cultural levels of the whole nation, and provide moral and intellectual support for China's economic development and social progress.

The CPC must always represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. This means that the Party's theory, guideline, program, principles, policies and all its work must take the fundamental interests of the people as their starting and ending points; boost the people's enthusiasm, initiative and creativity; and enable them to enjoy tangible economic, political, and cultural benefits on the basis of continuous social progress.

The Theory of Three Represents includes the socialist market economy, the basic economic system dominated by public ownership with diverse forms of ownership developing side by side, the diverse methods of distributing economic fruits with distribution according to work as the principal, opening up to the outside world, coordinating socialist material, political and cultural and ethical progress, development being the Party's top priority for state governance and rejuvenation, balancing reform, development and stability, building a socialist country based on the rule of law, running the country by combining the rule of law with the rule of virtue, and having fewer but better troops, and consolidating the Party's class foundation and expanding its public support. 

The Theory of Three Represents offers answers to such questions as what kind of Party to build and how to build it. Integrating Party matters with Chinese socialism, it gives new interpretations to the Party's nature, mission, guiding thought and tasks in the current times. The theory is an update of the CPC's guiding thought, and a theoretical tool for strengthening and improving the Party and promoting self-improvement of socialism in China. It is an important component of the system of theory on Chinese socialism.

“三個代表”重要思想

1989年中共十三屆四中全會以后，以江澤民為主要代表的中國共產(chǎn)黨人，在建設(shè)中國特色社會主義的實踐中，加深了對什么是社會主義、怎樣建設(shè)社會主義和建設(shè)什么樣的黨、怎樣建設(shè)黨的認識，積累了治黨治國新的寶貴經(jīng)驗，形成了“三個代表”重要思想。

面對新世紀，基于對國內(nèi)外形勢、黨肩負的歷史任務(wù)、黨自身建設(shè)實際的清醒認識和準確把握，江澤民于2000年2月在廣東考察期間提出“三個代表”的要求，在黨內(nèi)外、國內(nèi)外引發(fā)強烈反響。2001年7月，江澤民在慶祝中國共產(chǎn)黨成立80周年大會上發(fā)表重要講話，系統(tǒng)闡述“三個代表”重要思想的科學(xué)內(nèi)涵和基本內(nèi)容，即中國共產(chǎn)黨必須始終代表中國先進生產(chǎn)力的發(fā)展要求，代表中國先進文化的前進方向，代表中國最廣大人民的根本利益。2002年11月，中共十六大把“三個代表”重要思想同馬克思列寧主義、毛澤東思想、鄧小平理論一道確立為中國共產(chǎn)黨必須長期堅持的指導(dǎo)思想和行動指南，并寫入黨章。2004年，十屆全國人大二次會議將“三個代表”重要思想載入中國憲法。

“三個代表”重要思想貫穿經(jīng)濟、政治、文化、軍事、外交、黨的建設(shè)等各個領(lǐng)域，涵蓋改革發(fā)展穩(wěn)定、內(nèi)政外交國防、治黨治國治軍等各個方面，是一個系統(tǒng)的科學(xué)理論。中國共產(chǎn)黨必須始終代表中國先進生產(chǎn)力的發(fā)展要求，就是黨的理論、路線、綱領(lǐng)、方針、政策和各項工作，必須努力符合生產(chǎn)力發(fā)展的規(guī)律，體現(xiàn)不斷推動社會生產(chǎn)力的解放和發(fā)展的要求，通過發(fā)展生產(chǎn)力不斷提高人民群眾的生活水平。中國共產(chǎn)黨必須始終代表中國先進文化的前進方向，就是黨的理論、路線、綱領(lǐng)、方針、政策和各項工作，必須努力體現(xiàn)面向現(xiàn)代化、面向世界、面向未來的，民族的科學(xué)的大眾的社會主義文化的發(fā)展要求，促進全民族思想道德素質(zhì)和科學(xué)文化素質(zhì)的不斷提高，為國家經(jīng)濟發(fā)展和社會進步提供精神動力和智力支持。中國共產(chǎn)黨必須始終代表中國最廣大人民的根本利益，就是黨的理論、路線、綱領(lǐng)、方針、政策和各項工作，必須堅持把人民的根本利益作為出發(fā)點和歸宿，充分發(fā)揮人民群眾的積極性、主動性、創(chuàng)造性，在社會不斷發(fā)展進步的基礎(chǔ)上，使人民群眾不斷獲得切實的經(jīng)濟、政治、文化利益。

“三個代表”重要思想提出了一系列緊密聯(lián)系、相互貫通的新思想、新觀點、新論斷，主要包括：關(guān)于建立社會主義市場經(jīng)濟體制的思想；關(guān)于公有制為主體、多種所有制經(jīng)濟共同發(fā)展是中國社會主義初級階段的基本經(jīng)濟制度的思想；關(guān)于按勞分配為主體、多種分配方式并存的思想；關(guān)于實行全方位對外開放戰(zhàn)略的思想；關(guān)于社會主義物質(zhì)文明、政治文明和精神文明協(xié)調(diào)發(fā)展的思想；關(guān)于發(fā)展是黨執(zhí)政興國的第一要務(wù)的思想；關(guān)于正確處理改革發(fā)展穩(wěn)定關(guān)系的思想；關(guān)于建設(shè)社會主義法治國家的思想；關(guān)于依法治國和以德治國相結(jié)合的思想；關(guān)于走中國特色的精兵之路的思想；關(guān)于鞏固黨的階級基礎(chǔ)和擴大黨的群眾基礎(chǔ)的思想等。這些思想、觀點和論斷構(gòu)成了“三個代表”重要思想的主要內(nèi)容。

“三個代表”重要思想創(chuàng)造性地回答了建設(shè)什么樣的黨、怎樣建設(shè)黨的問題，把黨的建設(shè)新的偉大工程同中國特色社會主義偉大事業(yè)緊密聯(lián)系起來，賦予黨的性質(zhì)、宗旨、指導(dǎo)思想和任務(wù)以豐富的時代內(nèi)容。“三個代表”重要思想是中國共產(chǎn)黨指導(dǎo)思想的又一次與時俱進，是加強和改進黨的建設(shè)、推進社會主義自我完善和發(fā)展的強大理論武器，是中國特色社會主義理論體系的重要組成部分。