The Initiation and Goals of the Chinese Dream
The Chinese Dream is an important guideline and a significant concept of governance put forward after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. It was formally initiated on November 29, 2012 by President Xi Jinping, who defines it as “the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, and believes that it “will surely be actualized”.
The primary goal of the Chinese Dream can be summarized as the goal of “two hundred years”. That is to say that, by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in 2021 and by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 2049, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will be gradually and eventually realized smoothly. Its concrete manifestation can be expressed as the prosperity and strength of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation and the happiness of the people. The ways leading to its realization are to adhere to the road and the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, draw upon the spirit of the nation and unite the strength of the country.
On October 18, 2017, President Xi pointed out in his report to the Nineteenth National Congress that the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has been the greatest dream of the Chinese nation since modern times. Once the
Communist Party of China was founded, it has shouldered the historical mission of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation without hesitation, and united the people to carry out arduous struggles in order to write a magnificent epic. To realize the great Chinese Dream, great struggles shall be launched, great projects shall be constructed, and great undertakings shall be promoted.
Connotations of the Chinese Dream
Scholar’s Speculations Both at Home and Abroad
After its initiate announcement, the Chinese Dream has captured worldwide attention and there is widespread speculation as to what it really means. In the end of 2013, an academic conference with the theme of the Chinese Dream was held in Shanghai with experts from over 20 countries to discuss various aspects concerning the theme.
China Daily summarizes the connotations of the concept by telling about its initiation, development, and dimensions of its explanation, also with references to the original speech by the president. It arrives at a conclusion that the concept should be analyzed from five dimensions such as national, personal, historical, global and antithetical. The “personal Chinese Dream”, for instance, focuses on the well-being of individual citizens and thus modifies traditional notions of the primacy of the collective over the individual.
Internationally scholars have also made attempts to interpret the very concept of the Chinese Dream. It has been interpreted with references to the speech by the president. Expectations of its outcome have been made that the Chinese Dream will change the global landscape, which was shaped by Western countries in the past two centuries during industrialization; that it is a good thing for the Chinese Dream to integrate with the world; that it is a commitment to deeper reforms and the resolve to root out corruption; and that its ultimate goal is to transform China into a modernized and well-off society.
In a word, the Chinese Dream targets the great renovation of China, to be pursued with calm, strength, and determination. The goals of the Chinese Dream are clear: a prosperous country, national revival, and people’s well-being. When people become richer, they start to pursue goals beyond material needs, such as meaning, relationships and engagement. They want life with higher well-being. Importantly, well-being is broader than happiness, though both ideas correspond to the same Chinese word xingfu. A person with higher well-being also has higher engagement, accomplishments, meaning and relationships, which contribute to achievements, innovation, spirituality, and harmony.
Similar concepts are also expressed in the 12 core values of China today, which include prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity and friendliness. The first four stand for the value goals at the national level, the four in the middle for the value orientations at the social level and the last four for the value goals at the individual level. One of the basic fundamentals underlying all these values is to adhere to the principle of putting people in the first, respecting the dominant role of the masses, paying attention to people’s interests and value aspirations, and promoting the all-round development of the people.
Authoritative Interpretation
The “Chinese dream” has become a hot topic among the mainland media after a speech by General Secretary of the CPC when visiting the Road towards Rejuvenation exhibition at the National Museum in Beijing on December 29 of 2012. On this occasion the President explained, “Everybody has their own ideal, pursuit and dream. Today everybody is talking about the Chinese dream. I firmly believe that, by the time the CPC celebrates its 100th anniversary, we will no doubt have achieved the goal of completely building a well-off (xiaokang) society, and by the time the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 100th anniversary, we will become a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious socialist modernized country on its way to the ultimate great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation in modern history.”
Meeting with US President Barack Obama in California on June 8 of 2013, President Xi Jinping condensed the main points of the Chinese Dream, stating that “By the Chinese dream, we seek to achieve economic prosperity, national renewal and people’s well-being. The Chinese dream is about cooperation, development, peace and win-win, and it is connected to the American dream and the beautiful dreams people in other countries may have.”
The path leading to the realization of this dream is one of “comprehensive and deepening reform and opening-up”. To realize the Chinese dream, China will strategically implement comprehensive and deepening reform and opening-up under socialism with Chinese characteristics. China Daily (2014) outlines seven of the major policies introduced by the nation’s leadership to build a better, fairer and cleaner China, including anti-corruption, environmental protection, urbanization, and one- child policy changed.
