Innovation the watchword as Party forges ahead

Creative thinking helps the nation adapt to changing times

With the Communist Party of China marking its 100th anniversary on July 1, many people have asked how it has developed from a small, unremarkable body with a few dozen members into a political party with more than 95 million members. Innovation is one of the answers to this question. Zhao Tiesuo, a researcher of Marxism at Nankai University in Tianjin, said the Party actively explores innovation in theories and practices, which is "a process of constant learning, innovating, verification, adjustment and practicing".

He added that before the Party was founded, there was no tested path or set of rules to follow to build socialism in a country such as China.

The Party's history has seen it working together with the Chinese people and striving for the independence of the nation, and for the people's liberation and happiness, he said.

In the process the Party has been innovating as it combines the basic theories of Marxism with the realities of the country, to explore the paths of China's revolutions and construction.

Innovation is also the keyword as the country constantly modernizes and localizes Marxism and creates new theories, he added.

The word "innovation" has been a Party requisite for decades. In the 1990s, the Party's guidelines pointed out that a nation that is incapable of innovating cannot survive, and that the act of innovating should not be limited to the fields of science and technology.

The Party needs to widen innovation, according to the guidelines, including improving its theories and reforming its institutions.

After the 18th National Congress of the CPC in November 2012, the CPC Central Committee, with General Secretary Xi Jinping at its core, proposed an innovation-driven development strategy.

The fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, held in October, recognized the core status of "innovation" in China's modernization construction.

It urged authorities at all levels to unswervingly implement a new vision of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and to regard reform and innovation as basic driving force.

Looking back at the Party's history as it marks its centenary, it has used the word "innovation" from the early stages.

The Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army issued an instruction in November 1934, pointing out that the army should "overcome difficulties and pursue innovation".

The instruction said, "Innovation means being creative and trying to create new situations, a new revolutionary base, and new tactics and strategies."