THE Communist Party of China (CPC) has completed 105 years, a period in which it has successfully transformed its society, politics, economy and environment and has entered a new phase of growth defined by modernization, digitalization, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and green development, making China the world’s second-largest economic powerhouse. Throughout this long journey of struggle, trust, respect, cooperation and resolve, the CPC has consistently upheld transparency, accountability and impartiality, remaining people-centered while overcoming all internal and external hurdles to safeguard social harmony, ethnic diversity and the provision of basic human rights and necessities of life.
Thus, it has remained a magnetic force of unity, productivity and participation and last but not least, a vision to achieve the unachievable: lifting 850 million people out of extreme poverty, generating new jobs, sustaining economic development (averaging roughly 10 percent GDP growth for many decades), expanding exports, building manufacturing capacity, pursuing quality development and nurturing multiculturalism, social justice, women’s empowerment, economic equality and balanced rural-urban development. This has been a success story of political expression, social transformation, economic stability, sustainability and industrial innovation, overseeing all policies, plans and projects that have changed the lives of ordinary people, communities and enterprises alike. It has thus become the largest political party in the world, surpassing the golden benchmark of 101 million members, vividly reflecting its grassroots consultative democratic orientation.
Remarkably, the concept of the “Two Integrations” integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with its fine traditional culture has become a defining feature of the CPC’s understanding of its own historical development. Its philosophical readjustment of Marxism, beginning from the socio-economic strength of rural development, farmers and communities, enabled it to lay the right foundation to achieve the desired goals of socio-economic prosperity in the country. The CPC’s history, therefore, is not only a record of struggle, sacrifice, revolution, state-building and reform, but also a history of continuous theoretical, social and political adaptation. Its leadership has refused to treat Marxism as a rigid doctrine. Instead, it has sought to reinterpret its principles in light of China’s evolving national conditions, drawing on the country’s own intellectual and cultural traditions.
On July 1, 2026, the world witnesses not just the longevity of a political organization, but the unfolding of a remarkable civilizational project. The CPC has truly been the “Architect of Rejuvenation,” a driving force that has not only governed but fundamentally redesigned the destiny of a nation, day by day and generation by generation turning crises into opportunities, fragmented communities into futuristic cities, slums into smart production hubs and poverty into widespread prosperity across the entire country throughout this journey. Analytically, the CPC’s most distinguished role is that of a master planner. In 1921, it inherited a civilization in fragments the “sick man of Asia,” humiliated, impoverished and on the brink of social disintegration. The CPC’s mission from its inception was national salvation, which evolved into socialist construction and ultimately, into a comprehensive national rejuvenation.
While addressing a gathering in celebration of the 105th founding anniversary of the CPC, the President Xi Jinping called on the whole Party to draw strength from its history while forging ahead on the new journey of Chinese modernization. He also reviewed the Party’s achievements, explained the sources of its enduring vitality and outlined the priorities for fulfilling its missions in the new era and dubbed it as magnificent epic. Comparative studies reveal that the first 28 years were the foundation digging, removing the debris of feudalism and foreign occupation to establish the People’s Republic in 1949. Afterwards, despite trials and errors, laid the industrial and agricultural bedrock and introduced reforms and opening-up.
Evidently, it was not a blind adoption of foreign models, but a calibrated architectural innovation introducing market mechanisms within a socialist framework, unleashing the greatest poverty alleviation program in human history, lifting over 850 million people out of deprivation. By its 105th year, the structure of a modern socialist China stands firm on several key pillars. The Party’s legitimacy and resilience stem from its self-defined contract with the people. “Serving the people wholeheartedly” is not mere rhetoric; it is the successful operating system of delivery, development, transparency and people’s centric mechanism. Additionally, the CPC successfully demonstrated it in the targeted poverty elimination campaign, the universal response to the COVID-19 pandemic prioritizing life over profit and the relentless pursuit of common prosperity. The Party posits that its success is measured not in GDP alone, but in life expectancy, literacy and the shrinking gap between coastal and inland, urban and rural.
Furthermore, the CPC has systematically engineered the world’s most complete industrial supply chain. From caves to high-speed rail networks that connect a continent-sized nation together to 5G stations dotting remote villages, it treats modernization as a scientific endeavor. Now the “new quality productive forces” emerging in 2026 artificial intelligence, biomedicine, commercial aerospace and green energy are the latest modern variables and sustainable modules being lifted into place, all coordinated by a state that sees technology as a primary productive force.
In summary, now the CPC’s architectural vision extends beyond borders. The Belt and Road Initiative is its grandest external design a transcontinental infrastructure and connectivity blueprint. More than that, the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative proposed in this era reflect an attempt to redesign global governance, offering an alternative to the “Thucydides Trap” and zero-sum geopolitics. The Party frames its rise not as a new tower dominating a global city, but as a sturdy wing added to a shared dwelling for humanity. To conclude, the goal of fully building a great modern socialist country is on the near horizon. Definitely, it a steward of a 5,000-year civilization, constructing a modernity that is distinctly Chinese.
—The writer is President, the Centre for Knowledge and Public Policy, Regional Expert: China, CPEC, BRI & World Affairs.
