Xi invokes Jiang Zemin’s legacy to chart China’s ‘new journey’

(Edited and refined by Candice Chan, with the assistance of AI translation.)

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke highly of the historical contributions made by former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Jiang Zemin at a session marking Jiang’s birth centenary on 17 August. Xi affirmed the establishment of the market economy system, the expansion of opening up and China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) under Jiang, and placed these reforms within a political framework centred on upholding CCP leadership, linking Jiang’s legacy with the governance imperatives of the Xi era by repeatedly calling it a “new journey”.

The session was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday morning, with current and former CCP leaders in attendance, including former Premier Wen Jiabao and former Vice-President Zeng Qinghong. Jiang’s elder son Jiang Mianheng, younger son Jiang Miankang and other family members were also present. Former CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao, however, did not attend the event.

Jiang’s legacy

At the start of his speech, Xi highlighted Jiang’s firm political conviction. On Jiang assuming the CCP’s top leadership position in 1989, Xi specifically quoted Jiang’s remarks on the direction and basic policies adopted since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CCP Central Committee: “Two things must be stated very clearly: first, we must remain steadfast and unwavering; second, we must implement them comprehensively and consistently.”

Xi added that in the face of major tests posed by changes in the international situation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as the “serious political turmoil” within China, Jiang continued to take economic development as the central task, as he “unequivocally upheld the Four Cardinal Principles and remained committed to reform and opening up”.

He also noted that Jiang had stressed that “to govern the country, one must first govern the party, and the party must be governed strictly”, and that “the more we pursue reform and opening up, and develop the economy, the more we must strengthen the party’s leadership and improve party building”. Xi then said that on the new journey, China must uphold the CCP’s overall leadership and the centralised, unified leadership of the CCP Central Committee, while persevering in efforts to exercise full and rigorous party self-governance.

The speech also made particular mention of Jiang voluntarily relinquishing his top leadership positions. Xi said that while preparations were under way for the CCP’s 16th National Congress, Jiang “took the initiative to propose that he no longer hold a central leadership position”, and in 2004 voluntarily stepped down as chairman of the Central Military Commission. After his retirement, Jiang “firmly endorsed and supported the work of the CCP Central Committee” and “staunchly supported efforts to improve party conduct and integrity and combat corruption”.

On the economy and reform, Xi credited the Jiang era with “establishing the reform objectives and basic framework of the socialist market economy”, putting in place a basic economic system in which public ownership was the mainstay alongside developing diverse forms of ownership. It proposed a combination of bringing in foreign investments and going global, drew on opening up to promote reform and development, and led China into the WTO. Xi also stressed that on the new journey, China must “further deepen reform and opening up across the board”.

Different eras, different phases

Hung Yao-nan, deputy director of Tamkang University’s Institute of China Studies, told Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB) that Xi was using the speech to retrace the development of the CCP through its different stages. During the Deng Xiaoping era, China was defined as being in the “primary stage of socialism”; under Jiang, reform, opening up and market-oriented development were advanced within this framework. In the Xi era, the emphasis of the discourse has shifted further towards advancing socialist modernisation through Chinese modernisation.

Hung said Xi had “incorporated Jiang Zemin’s reform legacy into the next stage of development as defined by Xi himself, thereby establishing policy continuity”.

The Jiang-era approach to governance, which prioritised development, was also spoken well of. Xi said Jiang had judged the first 20 years of the 21st century to be an “important period of strategic opportunity that China must seize firmly and in which much could be accomplished”, and had “insisted on making development the Party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country”, leading the nation to “concentrate its efforts on development and devote itself wholeheartedly to pursuing development”.

Xi also cited Jiang’s handling of crises to highlight his “extraordinary courage marked by fortitude and decisiveness”, saying that Jiang had led the CCP in “successfully withstanding the impact of the Asian financial crisis” and achieving a comprehensive victory in the fight against the catastrophic floods of 1998, among other challenges. Through repeated tests, Xi said, Jiang maintained social stability and ensured that reform, opening up and modernisation continued.

Commenting on Xi’s linking of Jiang’s experience in responding to domestic and external crises with the current situation, Tzeng Wei-feng, an associate research fellow and Coordinator for International Collaboration at National Chengchi University, told LHZB that Beijing’s assessment of the international environment in recent years had gradually shifted from the relatively favourable notion of a “period of strategic opportunity” towards greater emphasis on uncertainty and instability.

He said: “This is why Xi is once again speaking of ‘high winds and rough seas’ and even ‘perilous, stormy waters’. His purpose is in fact to reinforce preparing for worst-case scenarios, and the need to coordinate development and security.”

Xi quoted in full Jiang’s vision for China in the new century, stressing that the Chinese nation would achieve its great rejuvenation on the basis of “completing national reunification” and building a socialist modernised country. Academics interviewed said this clearly indicates that reunification has been incorporated into the broader goal of national rejuvenation.

Reviewing Jiang’s achievements in office, Xi said Jiang had overseen the smooth return of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese sovereignty, promoted the achievement of the “1992 Consensus”, which embodies the one-China principle, and carried out struggles against separatism and “Taiwan independence”.

Taiwan’s return to the fold?

At the end of his speech, Xi also quoted Jiang as saying that the Chinese nation would realise its “great rejuvenation on the basis of completing national reunification and building a prosperous, strong, democratic and culturally advanced socialist modernised country”.

Xi has on numerous occasions linked reunification with national rejuvenation. In his report to the 19th CCP National Congress in 2017, he stated that “realising the complete reunification of the motherland is an inevitable requirement for achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. And at the closing session of the National People’s Congress in 2023, he again described complete reunification as “an integral part of national rejuvenation”.

Bao Chengke, a researcher at the Shanghai Cross-Strait Research Association, told LHZB that Beijing’s current narrative is that the Hong Kong and Macau issues have already been resolved, while the Taiwan issue is “being advanced step by step” and has entered a process that is moving closer to “complete reunification”.

He said “completing national reunification” can be regarded as a necessary condition for national rejuvenation, but that it would be inappropriate to infer a specific target year.

Tzeng of the National Chengchi University had a different view, arguing that Beijing’s Taiwan-related discourse over the years has gradually positioned the achievement of the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049 as the “ultimate timetable” for resolving the Taiwan issue. In other words, although no interim deadlines have been publicly announced, Beijing has effectively outlined a goal of completing reunification before national rejuvenation is achieved.

Xi first introduced the concept of the “Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” in 2012. That vision is tied to the CCP’s “Two Centenaries”, referring to goals for the centenary of the founding of the CCP in 1921, and the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 2049. The latter envisages that by 2049, China will have become a great modern socialist country and achieved the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “习近平肯定江泽民改革遗产 以“新征程”衔接当前治理” and “习近平重申统一与民族复兴相连 2049时间表再受关注”.

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