In the corner of Ordos "Forest Park", ravines are criss-crossed, and farmhouses and malnourished pines and cypresses are scattered. Photo by Zhao Xiang

He is nearly 2 meters tall and weighs 300 Jin-this was the deepest impression left by Hao Zhangang, a rich businessman in Ordos, to a person who met him for the first time.

On August 20, 2021, Baotou City Public Security Bureau issued a notice saying that the "5.15 Task Force" set up by the Municipal Anti-vice Office destroyed the suspected criminal gang headed by Hao Zhangang in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia for many years and arrested 12 criminals. On August 18th, Hao Zhangang was arrested by Baotou City Procuratorate according to law.

Hao Zhangang data map

According to the notice of Baotou Public Security Bureau, Hao Zhangang gang obtained the land use right from the government in the name of a first-class land development enterprise, and then illegally transferred and resold the land use right to real estate developers at a high price, seeking illegal interests in the process of illegally transferring and reselling the land. It is suspected of illegal transfer and reselling of land use rights and other illegal and criminal acts, and the areas involved mainly include Ordos, Bayannaoer, Tongliao and Hohhot.

In Ordos, Hao Zhangang is a well-known real estate businessman. China News Weekly visited Ordos and learned that the arrest of Hao Zhangang gang was directly related to the Ordos Forest Park project that had been unfinished for many years. In 2006, Dongsheng District Government of Erdos signed an agreement on Forest Park Development with Wan Yu Jiaye Investment Management Co., Ltd. of Inner Mongolia (hereinafter referred to as "Wan Yu Jiaye") controlled by Hao Zhangang, and the company developed the forest park. In exchange, Wan Yu Jiaye got 8,000 mu of construction land. However, in the past 15 years, the forest park has not been completed, and Wan Yu Jiaye, which won the project, has transferred the construction land to dozens of enterprises in the past few years, so that Hao Zhangang’s business is getting bigger and bigger, and even his "forest park model" has blossomed in many places across the country.

A real estate businessman without development qualification

Hao Zhangang, a native of Erdos, was born in an ordinary worker’s family in Wulan Town in 1962. After finishing high school in 1980, he joined the army and settled in the family building of Beijing Air Force Logistics College. Shortly after joining the army, Hao Zhangang was attached to the army to do business in the sea. One of his Hainan subordinates recalled that Hao Zhangang once talked about it at the wine table, and his "first bucket of gold" was earned by "speculating in uncompleted flats" in Hainan in the early 1990s. "Before the collapse of the Hainan property market, he got the news and got away after changing hands, and he even laughed and said that the person who took his project was the" taker ".

Around 2006, Hao Zhangang saw the huge opportunities in his hometown Ordos real estate and returned to Ordos as a "Beijing boss". At that time, Ordos, with coal as its pillar industry, had a rapid urbanization momentum, and local departments were also actively investing in attracting investment. Wu Tian, then head of the land acquisition unit of Dongsheng District Land Bureau in Erdos, told China Newsweek that when Hao Zhangang came to discuss cooperation with the government, he revealed that he had invested 1 billion yuan in Dongsheng District. "At that time, there was also a discussion within the government, saying that Hao Zhangang was worthy of being a big boss from Beijing."

On August 8, 2006, Hao Zhangang registered and established Wan Yu Jiaye in Ordos with a registered capital of 70 million yuan. On November 7th, 2006, Wanyu Jiaye signed the Forest Park Development Agreement with Dongsheng District Government of Ordos City, and Dongsheng District Government handed over the plots located in Dongsheng District, north of South Ring Road, east of Santaichuan, south of Textile Street and west of Tongchuan Road, with a total area of 17.9 square kilometers and nearly 27,000 mu, to Wan Yu Jiaye for development. According to the agreement, Wanyu Jiaye will complete the construction of the forest park within five years, and bear the land acquisition compensation, resettlement fees and other expenses during the construction period, and undertake the construction of infrastructure and six roads in the forest park, with an investment of not less than 80 yuan per square meter. Based on the above conditions, Wanyu Jiaye can choose 5000 mu of construction land in the park.

Wu Tian introduced that this business of exchanging infrastructure for construction land is not an isolated case in Ordos. Take Wanzheng Real Estate, the largest real estate company in Dongsheng District, as an example. The infrastructure and old renovation in Tiexi area of Dongsheng District are operated by Wanzheng Real Estate, and the government uses the construction land to "pay the cost".

As Wanyu Jiaye does not have the qualification of real estate development, in 2008, Hao Zhangang introduced Nanjing Golden Eagle International Group Co., Ltd. with 30% shares of Wan Yu Jiaye. On May 8, 2008, Golden Eagle International, as the major shareholder, led the establishment of Inner Mongolia Golden Eagle Wanjia Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Golden Eagle Wanjia"). In the same month, it signed a tripartite agreement with Dongsheng District Government and Wan Yu Jiaye again, stipulating that some of the development and old renovation projects in the previous agreement would be handed over to Golden Eagle Wanjia with real estate qualifications.

After signing the Forest Park Development Agreement, as of July 8, 2010, Dongsheng District Government and Wanyu Jiaye have successively signed nine supplementary agreements to improve the forest park project. Through nine supplementary agreements, Wan Yu Jiaye obtained the construction land of Forest Park from 5,000 mu to 8,000 mu.

Dongsheng Forest Park is marked on a map of Dongsheng District in Ordos.

The two sides also agreed that the Dongsheng District Government must let Wan Yu Jiaye (or designated enterprise) transfer the land at the cost price, and the transfer fee will be returned to Wanyu Jiaye within one month as land acquisition, park construction and other related expenses and advance income; Dongsheng District Government agrees that Wan Yu Jiaye will participate in the transformation of the old city and enjoy the same policies as the return of land transfer fees in the development of forest parks; Wan Yu Jiaye must participate in the bidding, auction and hanging of every land in the area organized by Dongsheng District. If no competitor bids and auctions the land at a higher price, Wan Yu Jiaye must transfer the land at the reserve price, and the auction money will be returned according to the above agreement; Dongsheng District Government shall not approve any unit or individual to acquire land and build within the planning scope of Forest Park, and resolutely stop any new construction project from appearing in Wanyu Jiaye Forest Park and the old city reconstruction area.

According to the documents, it was Han Guangyuan, the deputy head of Dongsheng District who was in charge of land at that time who signed and sealed the aforementioned development agreement and supplementary agreement. China News Weekly learned that in 2012, the Ministry of Land and Resources reported that Han Guangyuan had been severely punished by the discipline inspection and supervision organs of Ordos City because of his involvement in the illegal land acquisition by Dongsheng District Government. Soon after, Han Guangyuan left the post of deputy district head and worked as the dean and party secretary of a vocational and technical college. Now he has retired. On October 8, Han Guangyuan told China Newsweek that it was not up to him to decide whether to sign or seal the supplementary agreement. All decisions of the supplementary agreement were discussed at the relevant meeting of Dongsheng District Government, and he only implemented them.

The degree of freedom given by the Dongsheng District Government at the agreement level has facilitated what Hao Zhangang will do next.

There are frequent chaos in reselling land

In July 2019, a real estate company from Fujian (hereinafter referred to as "Company F") filed an arbitration with the Ordos Arbitration Commission because the other party failed to submit the land as agreed after purchasing it from Wan Yu Jiaye. The legal document of this arbitration event opened the corner of Hao Zhangang’s land reselling business.

In January 2010, the two parties signed an agreement that Wanyu Jiaye sold 650 mu of construction land in the Forest Park to Company F at a price of 1.5 million yuan per mu, totaling about 1 billion yuan, in the name of the first-class land development enterprise entrusted by the Ordos government, and ensured that Company F could divide the project into several plots according to the plan, and each piece of land could independently apply for a land use certificate; Company F won the land use right of the project plot with a "land payment" of no more than 1.5 million yuan per mu, including a land transfer fee of 350,000 yuan per mu handed over to the land management department, and the rest was paid to Wan Yu Jiaye at a price of 1.15 million yuan per mu.

After the signing of the agreement, Company F paid Wan Yu Jiaye the "land deposit" at the price of 1.15 million yuan per mu, and Wanyu Jiaye also promised that if the land transfer fee exceeded 350,000 yuan per mu in the bidding, auction and auction, Wanyu Jiaye would refund the excess.

Under the arrangement of Wanyu Jiaye, Company F participated in the land bidding, auction and hanging organized by Dongsheng District Natural Resources Bureau, and paid the land transfer fee at the price of 350,000 yuan per mu as agreed in the agreement.

However, Wanyu Jiaye was unable to provide land afterwards. The agreement between the two parties originally stipulated that Wan Yu Jiaye was responsible for land acquisition compensation, demolition and resettlement, three links and one leveling, and delivered the net land to Company F on August 1, 2010. However, Wanyu Jiaye failed to provide net land on time. The purchase of land cost 1 billion yuan, which led to the lack of funds for F company to carry out three links and one leveling, and the project was put on hold.

In the arbitration, Company F held that Wan Yu Jiaye illegally sold the right to use state-owned land, and the contract was invalid. Wanyu Jiaye advocates that the two parties are legally contracted. On October 23rd, 2020, the Ordos Arbitration Commission made an award and supported Wan Yu Jiaye’s claim. On October 9th, the person in charge of Company F told China Newsweek that the problem has not been solved so far and the company has withdrawn from Ordos market.

A person familiar with the local situation told China Newsweek that Ordos is a typical human society, just as financing in business is usually private lending among acquaintances. In the forest park project, disputes arise, and it is rare for F Company to choose judicial channels to solve them.

Before Hao Zhangang was arrested, Ordos Wanye Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wanye Company") had been expecting that the dispute between it and Wan Yu Jiaye could be settled through coordination.

On June 11th, 2008, Wanye Company signed the Land Transfer Agreement with Wan Yu Jiaye, and Wanyu Jiaye transferred 74.46 mu of gross land located in the north of Textile Street in Dongsheng District, that is, the D-2 plot of Forest Park Project to Wanye Company, with a price of 500,000 yuan per mu, ensuring that the land use certificate and other related procedures will be handled to Wanye Company.

Shen Shan, the relevant person in charge of Wanye Company, told China Newsweek that the price of 500,000 yuan per mu was actually the lowered price after cooperation. At the beginning of the cooperation, Wan Yu Jiaye promised to transfer the land "three links and one leveling" to Wanye Company at a price of 3 million yuan per mu, and Wanye Company paid a deposit of 80 million yuan. Later, due to difficulties in demolition, Wan Yu Jiaye could not deliver the net land, and Wanyu Jiaye re-signed an agreement with Wanye Company to lower the land price to 500,000 yuan per mu.

Wanyu Jiaye’s land demolition is always not smooth. According to Shen Shan, the main reason is that the asking price of relocated households is getting higher and higher, and "enterprises can’t afford land acquisition compensation". Wu Tian, a retired official of the Land Acquisition Unit of Dongsheng District Land Bureau, also told China Newsweek that with the passage of time, the demolition of the forest park became more and more difficult, and about 1,000 mu of land was finally demolished, which only accounted for about 3% of the total area of the whole project.

In cooperation with Wanyu Jiaye, Shen Shan also found that on August 28th, 2008, Wan Yu Jiaye obtained the land certificate of plot D-2, and on the same day, Golden Eagle Wanjia also obtained a land certificate of plot D-2. Shen Shan recalled that after years of mediation by Jiaye and the government in Wan Yu, the D-2 plot was finally owned by Wanye Company, which spent about 200 million yuan on the project and finally started construction in 2020. Although construction started, there was another problem in the floor area ratio. Shen Shan introduced that when Wanyu Jiaye sold the land to Wanye Company, it agreed that the plot ratio was 4. Now the government department thinks that this is not in compliance with the regulations, and Wanye Company needs to pay about 30 million yuan to the government department for this purpose.

"Hao Zhangang told us that he could help us coordinate the floor area ratio problem. Now that he has been arrested, there is nothing we can do." Shen Shan said.

The bus stop sign of "Forest Park" in Ordos. Photo by Zhao Xiang

The "rich man" created by the forest park project

Wanye Company and F Company are not the only companies that buy forest park land from Wan Yu Jiaye. According to Shen Shan, about 20 companies have bought land from Wan Yu Jiaye, which makes Hao Zhangang’s business bigger and bigger.

On May 18th, 2010, Wan Yu Jiaye Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd., actually controlled by Hao Zhangang, was established with a registered capital of 150 million yuan, with Hao Zhangang holding 95% of the shares and Zhang Zhicheng, the vice president, holding 5% of the shares. According to a publicity material, in 2011, the real estate development area of the Group was about 730,000 square meters, with 300,000 square meters completed and 1.4 billion yuan returned. This publicity material also mentions a "three-year plan": it is planned to develop an area of 1.5 million square meters by 2013 and increase the sales income to 7.5 billion yuan, "to build the company into a first-class real estate company in Inner Mongolia and even the whole country."

An employee of Golden Eagle Wanjia recalled that Wanyu Jiaye originally worked on the 10th floor of Tianyou Building in Dongsheng District, and around 2010, another Wan Yu Jiaye Building was built on Tuanjie Road in Dongsheng District as the group headquarters. A business owner who has been to Jiaye Building in Wan Yu told China Newsweek that what impressed him the most was the lobby on the first floor, with a high ceiling and golden decoration, which looked very luxurious. In Wan Yu Jiaye Building, the access to the office area of Wanjia Group upstairs is an independent elevator. If outsiders want to take the elevator to enter the office area, they need to be remotely controlled by the security personnel upstairs.

With the expansion of business, Hao Zhangang’s ambition is no longer satisfied with the corner of Ordos. Wan Yu Jiaye Urban Construction Investment Group is composed of six branches in Inner Mongolia, with a land reserve of 20,000 mu. Its industries are all over Wuhai, Bayannaoer and Hohhot, among which there are many large-scale projects such as five-star resort hotels, high-grade villas and high-rise residential quarters. An official from Erdos once visited the project of Wan Yu Jiaye in Linhe District of Bayannaoer City. He still remembers a bridge built by Wanyu Jiaye for Linhe District. "We were very surprised when we saw it. The bridge was so beautiful."

The official told China Newsweek that, like the forest park project in Erdos, this bridge in Bayannaoer City is also an infrastructure investment made by Hao Zhangang to win the corresponding construction land. "Hao Zhangang has never been stingy with urban construction in order to get the construction land smoothly." The official said.

Established in February 2001, Beijing Guoyao Wanwei Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Guoyao") is represented by Shi Baowei, nephew of Hao Zhangang, whose wife Meng Caixia holds 74% of the shares and the Institute of Remote Sensing Application of Chinese Academy of Sciences holds 11%. Chen Kai (pseudonym), who was the general manager of Beijing Guoyao from 2011 to 2013, told China Newsweek that Beijing Guoyao’s main business was remote sensing surveying and mapping. In those years, he often followed Hao Zhangang on business trips to Inner Mongolia and other central and western regions to talk about cooperation with local governments. As a technician, on the one hand, he was a "platform" for Hao Zhangang; On the other hand, we can also get land surveying and mapping projects from local governments.

Chen Kai said that because Hao Zhangang did not understand remote sensing technology, Beijing Guoyao was more like a real estate company. "But Hao Zhangang had a soft spot for science and technology. At that time, Hao Zhangang said that real estate had no future and should engage in science and technology."

Hao Zhangang’s "New Story of Science and Technology"

Probably since 2014, Hao Zhangang began to enter the technology industry in a big way.

The 2020 annual financial report of Shenyang Xinsong Robot Automation Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shenyang Xinsong") shows that Xinsong Robot Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Robot Investment Company") was established on April 17, 2014 by Shenyang Xinsong, Beijing Wan Yu Jiaye Real Estate Investment Co., Ltd. and Huacheng Xinlian (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 100 million yuan, of which Shenyang Xinsong agreed to contribute 37 million yuan.

Hao Zhangang is the president of robot investment company, and Qu Daokui, founder and president of Shenyang Xinsong, is the chairman of robot investment company. Robot investment company claims to be "excellent intelligent industry investment operator", and has raced around the country in the name of Shenyang Xinsong to build Xinsong robot industrial park.

Zhang Hai, an employee of Robot Investment Company, told China Newsweek that when robot investment companies ask for land from local governments, most of them are negotiated by Hao Zhangang. At present, the company has six industrial parks, which are located in Fuyang, Anhui, Xinxiang, Hunan, Xiangtan, Zhangjiajie, Yangzhou, Jiangsu and Shenyang, Liaoning. Because most of them are located in the suburbs of third-tier cities, the investment situation is not very satisfactory. Zhang Hai said that Hao Zhangang won the construction land through industrial park projects in various places and then resold it to others, such as the "blooming everywhere" model of Ordos Forest Park.

The net profit of robot investment company is very high. Shenyang Xinsong’s 2020 annual financial report shows that as of the end of the reporting period, the total assets of robot investment companies were about 1.72 billion yuan and the net profit was about 230 million yuan, an increase of about 103% compared with the same period of the previous year.

While working in a robot investment company, Zhang Hai said that he had never heard Hao Zhangang mention his past in Inner Mongolia, and his impression of Hao Zhangang was hard work. "We often say privately that his boss is still working so hard. If we had so much money, we would have gone to play." Zhang Hai said.

Hao Zhangang has a bed in the office of the robot investment company in Beijing. He basically doesn’t go home at ordinary times, and he eats and lives in the company. Zhang Hai recalled that even for the New Year, Hao Zhangang was in the office. "He doesn’t smoke or drink, which is not good for women. He lives frugally and eats in the canteen." Zhang Hai said.

The "victim boss" once complained everywhere.

On October 11th, China Newsweek learned from a person close to the police that the case of Hao Zhangang has entered the stage of review and prosecution. Among the 12 gang members arrested by the police, some of them have been released from criminal compulsory measures due to insufficient evidence. At present, the police are supplementing evidence in Beijing and Inner Mongolia.

According to Shen Shan, the person in charge of Wanye Company, the main reason why Hao Zhangang was arrested was the forest park project. In his view, the frequent rights protection of the "victim" boss who bought land in the project is the most direct reason why Hao Zhangang was arrested. In the process of cooperation with Hao Zhangang, many bosses encountered the situation that they could not be demolished and delivered. "Every time this happened, Hao Zhangang always said that he would help find a way. He dragged on for too long until we had nowhere to go and complained everywhere."

Shen Shan recalled that as early as the end of 2020, the audit department entrusted the audit firm to its company to understand the situation of the forest park project and collect evidence of Hao Zhangang’s illegal reselling of land. Dongsheng District Natural Resources Management Bureau cooperated very much and handed over all the documents of the Forest Park Project to the audit department. Shen Shan described that the papers piled up like hills. "At that time, they took away a lot of boxes." In the first half of 2021, investigators from Baotou Public Security Bureau asked him about the situation. "They lived in Ordos for a long time and found many victims to understand."

China News Weekly learned that Hao Zhangang’s arrest was not unrelated to the anti-corruption storm in Inner Mongolia in recent years. Chen Kai, who once worked in Beijing Guoyao, told China Newsweek that Wen Jianhua, the former deputy inspector of the Inner Mongolia Department of Land and Resources, who was investigated in 2018 on suspicion of corruption, bribery, bribery and illegal transfer of land use rights, had close contacts with Hao Zhangang. Wen Jianhua used to be the director of the Bureau of Land and Resources of Ordos City. During his tenure in the land department of Hohhot, he also had many contacts with Beijing Guoyao. "Wen Jianhua usually comes to Beijing, and Hao Zhangang receives it at the five-star hotel. I accompany him and the dining level is very high." Chen Kai recalled.

However, behind the arrest of Hao Zhangang, the beautiful blueprint of Ordos Forest Park project has remained on "paper". A planning document made by Dongsheng District Planning Bureau in September 2007 shows that the planning direction of Forest Park is to build an eco-garden city landmark attraction consisting of high-end residential areas, wildlife parks and grasslands in Inner Mongolia, which is considered to be the "ecological green lung" of Ordos.

On October 2nd, China Newsweek visited the Forest Park. It is located in the southeast of Ordos city, next to the urban area, and its north side is the bustling area of Dongsheng District. The reporter saw at the scene that several unknown roads surrounded the forest park. Most of the dense pines and cypresses on the ground of the park were less than one person high because of malnutrition. Some scattered farmers made a living by opening farmhouses, and some unfinished buildings stood alone in the cold wind. A faded "Forest Park" bus stop sign on the roadside seems to tell people that this project once existed.

(The original title is: 15 years of unfinished Ordos Forest Park: a wealthy businessman’s land business)

　　Core reading

　　The people of China, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), have spent decades completing the industrialization process that developed countries have gone through for hundreds of years, creating a development miracle that attracts worldwide attention. The successful practice of Chinese-style modernization shows that the western modernization road is not the only way for mankind to modernize. The Chinese-style modernization road expands the way for developing countries to modernize and provides new choices for countries and nations in the world who want to accelerate their development and maintain their independence.

　　The establishment of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1921 was an epoch-making event. In the 100 years since the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the people of China have been united and led to make remarkable achievements in promoting China’s socialist modernization through arduous exploration and continuous struggle. Today, our Party has led the people of China to embark on a new journey of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way.

　　The Communist Party of China (CPC) started China’s modernization journey at the time of national crisis.

　　China is an ancient civilization with a long history and splendid culture. It has been at the forefront of the world for a long time in history, and the hardworking, brave and intelligent people of China have made outstanding contributions to the progress of human civilization. After modern times, due to various reasons, China was trapped in poverty and weakness, and the Chinese nation was facing the crisis of national subjugation and extinction, which also made the people of China clearly aware of the backward situation in China, and thus began to seek reform, self-improvement and modernization.

　　In that era of aggression by western powers, incessant wars, social unrest and people’s displacement, in order to save the nation from peril and realize national rejuvenation, the people of China and countless people with lofty ideals made arduous explorations and epic struggles. Before the Revolution of 1911, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Westernization Movement, the Reform Movement of 1898, the Boxer Rebellion and the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty failed. Although the Revolution of 1911 ended the autocratic monarchy that ruled China for thousands of years, it failed to change the semi-colonial and semi-feudal social nature of China and the tragic fate of the people of China. After the Revolution of 1911, China tried various forms such as constitutional monarchy, parliamentary system, multi-party system and presidential system, and various political forces and their representatives appeared in succession, but failed to find the correct answer. The people of China still lived in misery and humiliation. Facts have proved that the self-improvement movement that does not touch the old social foundation, reformism in various names, the old peasant war, the democratic revolution led by the bourgeois revolutionaries, and various schemes that copy the western political system model can not complete the historical tasks of the Chinese nation to save the nation from extinction and resist imperialism and feudalism, nor can they stabilize the political situation and society in China, nor can they provide institutional guarantee for China to achieve national prosperity and people’s happiness.

　　During the period of poverty and weakness in China, various ideologies and thoughts were tried, but the capitalist road failed, and other "ideologies" failed to solve the future and destiny of China, let alone provide scientific theoretical guidance for China’s modernization. The October Revolution brought Marxism–Leninism to China and pointed out the direction for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the modernization of China.

　　The Communist Party of China (CPC) stepped onto the historical stage at a critical moment when the Chinese nation was facing life and death. Since its establishment, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has been guided by Marxist scientific theory, taking communism as the highest ideal and ultimate goal, taking the happiness of the people of China and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as the initial heart and mission, and unswervingly striving for "China that pursues my ideal", leading the people of China to advance wave after wave and shed blood and sacrifice for national independence, people’s liberation, national prosperity and people’s happiness. Finally, the three mountains of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism were overthrown, and a new China was established, where the people were the masters of the country, which fundamentally changed the future and destiny of the people of China and the Chinese nation, irreversibly ended the tragic fate of China’s domestic troubles and foreign invasion after modern times, and started the great journey of China’s modernization.

　　Chinese modernization was formed in the process of continuous exploration by the Communist Party of China (CPC) people.

　　Different countries will choose different modernization paths because of their different historical culture, basic national conditions and historical missions. After the founding of New China, the Communist Party of China (CPC) led the people of China to continuously explore the road of Chinese modernization, made great achievements that attracted worldwide attention, created the miracle of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, and expanded the ways for developing countries to modernize.

　　Before the founding of New China, at the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Comrade Mao Zedong proposed to the whole party the historical task of "steadily transforming China from an agricultural country into an industrial country and building China into a great socialist country". Since the founding of New China, our Party has made arduous explorations in socialist modernization. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that our task "is to settle down so that we can build our country’s modern industry, modern agriculture, modern science and culture and modern national defense".

　　After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, China’s socialist modernization entered a new historical period. Comrade Deng Xiaoping emphasized that whether modernization can be realized "determines the destiny of our country and nation" and "the modernization we are engaged in is Chinese-style modernization. The socialism we are building is socialism with China characteristics ". Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), we have successfully embarked on the road of Chinese modernization. Based on China and facing the world, this modernization road insists on taking Marxism as the guidance, the Communist Party of China (CPC) as the highest political leading force, Socialism with Chinese characteristics road and people-centered, striving to build a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modernization power, realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, strive to achieve common prosperity for all people, promote all-round development of people, and strive to promote world peace and development, which has distinctive characteristics of the times and China. This road to modernization not only conforms to the reality of China and embodies the laws of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s construction, but also follows the trend of the times and embodies the laws of world modernization and the development of human society.

　　China’s modernization process is not smooth sailing, but under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the joint efforts of several generations of China people, China has gone from "lagging behind the times" to "catching up with the times" and then "leading the times", and the road of Chinese modernization has become wider and wider. China has moved from poverty to prosperity, becoming the second largest economy in the world, and its economic strength, scientific and technological strength and comprehensive national strength have greatly jumped; The people’s life in China has moved from insufficient food and clothing to a well-off society in an all-round way, and the happiness index has been continuously improved; China has developed from a traditional agricultural country to an industrial country, and its degree of industrialization is getting higher and higher, making it the largest manufacturing country; China has moved from closed and semi-closed to all-round opening, deeply participated in economic globalization and made more and more contributions to human civilization; China is getting closer to the center of the world stage, and its international influence has increased significantly.

　　The people of China, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), have spent decades completing the industrialization process that developed countries have gone through for hundreds of years, creating a development miracle that attracts worldwide attention. The successful practice of Chinese-style modernization shows that the western modernization road is not the only way for mankind to modernize. The Chinese-style modernization road expands the way for developing countries to modernize and provides new choices for countries and nations in the world who want to accelerate their development and maintain their independence.

　　To build a socialist modern country in an all-round way, we must uphold and strengthen the overall leadership of the party.

　　The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made a strategic arrangement to advance the goal of the second century in two stages, that is, to basically realize socialist modernization by 2035 and to build China into a strong, prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modernization country by the middle of this century. Based on the reality of the new development stage, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee put forward the long-term goal of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035. To build a socialist modern country in an all-round way, we must uphold and strengthen the overall leadership of the party.

　　The modernization to be realized in China is the modernization with a huge population, the common prosperity of all the people, the coordination of material civilization and spiritual civilization, the harmonious coexistence of man and nature and the modernization of peaceful development. Realizing such modernization is the common aspiration of all Chinese people, and it is also the ideal and pursuit, responsibility and responsibility of the Communist Party of China (CPC) people. To realize such modernization, we must have a "backbone" and a strong leadership core. In contemporary China, this core can only be the Communist Party of China (CPC) as the highest political leading force. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed: "History has proved and will continue to prove that without the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership, national rejuvenation must be a pipe dream." Therefore, to build a socialist modern country in an all-round way, we must uphold and strengthen the overall leadership of the Party, strengthen the "four consciousnesses", strengthen the "four self-confidences" and achieve the "two maintenance".

　　To uphold and strengthen the overall leadership of the party, we must comprehensively promote the new great project of party building. At present and in the future, China’s development is still in an important period of strategic opportunities, but there are new developments and changes in both opportunities and challenges, and the domestic and international environment facing China is undergoing extensive and profound changes. Although China has unique political advantages, institutional advantages, development advantages and opportunity advantages, and there are many favorable conditions for building a socialist modern country in an all-round way, the problem of insufficient development imbalance is still outstanding, the historical task to be completed in promoting modernization is still very arduous, and the contradictions, difficulties and risks faced in reform, development and stability are still very complicated, which puts new demands on the party’s ruling ability and leadership level. At present, party building is still facing a series of new situations, new problems and new challenges. It is more arduous and urgent than ever to implement the task of managing the party in an all-round way. To ensure that the Party is always in the forefront of the times in the historical process of profound changes in the world situation, always the backbone of the people of the whole country in the historical process of coping with various risks and tests at home and abroad, and always the core of strong leadership in the historical process of upholding and developing Socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must strengthen Party building with the spirit of self-revolution, and constantly enhance the Party’s ability of self-purification, self-improvement, self-innovation and self-improvement.

　　On the occasion of celebrating the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), we need to take into account the overall situation of the great rejuvenation strategy of the Chinese nation and the unprecedented changes in the world in the past century, conscientiously sum up the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s valuable experience in leading Chinese modernization, raise it to a theoretical height, and constantly enrich the treasure house of Marxist modernization theory; Unswervingly promote modernization, promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese modernization, constantly make new and greater contributions to mankind, and fully demonstrate the characteristics and advantages of Chinese modernization. Standing at the key node of the historical intersection of the goals of "two hundred years", we should constantly improve our political judgment, political understanding and political execution, and constantly improve our political ability, strategic vision and professional level to grasp the new development stage, implement the new development concept and build a new development pattern, so as to ensure that socialist modernization will be basically realized by 2035 and China will be built into a strong, prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modernization country by the middle of this century.

　　(The author is a professor at the School of Marxism, Renmin University of China)