Page 4 - CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

the socialist modernization of our country from victory to victory.

Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Party Central
Committee and in the practice of building socialism with Chinese
characteristics, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Jiang Zemin as their

chief representative, have acquired a deeper understanding of what socialism
is, how to build it and what kind of a party to build and how to build it,

accumulated new valuable experience in running the Party and state and
formed the important thought of Three Represents. The important thought of
Three Represents is a continuation and development of Marxism-Leninism,

Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory; it reflects new requirements
for the work of the Party and state arising from the changes in China and other

parts of the world today; it serves as a powerful theoretical weapon for
strengthening and improving Party building and for promoting
self-improvement and development of socialism in China; and it is the

crystallized, collective wisdom of the Communist Party of China. It is a
guiding ideology that the Party must uphold for a long time to come. Persistent
implementation of the “Three Represents” is the foundation for building our

Party, the cornerstone for its governance and the source of its strength.
China is at the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for a long
period of time. This is a historical stage which cannot be skipped in socialist

modernization in China that is backward economically and culturally. It will
last for over a hundred years. In socialist construction we must proceed from

our specific conditions and take the path to socialism with Chinese
characteristics. At the present stage, the principal contradiction in Chinese
society is one between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the

people and the low level of production. Owing to both domestic circumstances
and foreign influences, class struggle will continue to exist within a certain

scope for a long time and may possibly grow acute under certain conditions,
but it is no longer the principal contradiction. In building socialism, our basic
task is to further release and develop the productive forces and achieve

socialist modernization step by step by carrying out reform in those aspects

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