The “Reading China” series focuses on introducing China's path, theory, system and practice to foreign readers, with the purpose of enabling the world to better understand China.
About Author
Chen Jian
He is a researcher at Central Institute of Party’s History and Literature. He has published more than 100 articles, including “The Development of the CPC's Democracy Outlook from the Party Congress Report in the New Period”, “The Ruling Party’s Intra-Party Democracy and the Building of a Harmonious Socialist Society”, “An Overview of Chinese Government Institutional Reform since the Reform and
Opening Up", "The Evolution of the Party Congress from the System of Annual Sessions to the System with a Fixed Term and its Pilot Model”, “The Formation and Development of the Party' s Mass Line”,
and “Self Revolution of the Communist Party of China and the Reform and Opening Up”. He is also the author of more than ten books, including The Future of China's Democracy, Democratic Supervision: The CPC's Theory and Practice, The Mass Line and Intra-Party Educational Activities, People First, Mao Zedong's 1949, Contemporary Chinese Politics, and Self Revolution of the Communist Party of China: The Political Key to the Success of China’s Reform and Opening Up.
Preface
Democracy is the fruit of human political civilization, and is the universal pursuit of all peoples around the world. n
There are two typical democratic systems in the world today. One is the separation of powers represented by the West, and the other is the people’s democracy represented by China. China’s democratic system suits her national conditions since it is internally generated, not imposed by external forces. n
In modern times, the Chinese people have carried out arduous struggles and explorations for democracy and independence, but only under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, they have truly obtained the right to be the masters of the country. The hard-won democracy is highly cherished and resolutely safeguarded by the Chinese people. Since the reform and opening-up in late 1970s, China has unswervingly developed and improved her democratic system, enriched the ways of realizing democracy, and ensured that the people fully enjoy the right to be the masters of the country, while accelerating economic development. Socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics continues to show vigor and vitality. n
Decades of practice have fully proved that by following the development path of democracy chosen by the people, the Chinese people have not only realized their aspiration to be masters of the country, but also gradually realized their common will of building the country into a modern and powerful socialist country.
