From a historical standpoint, this new stage will see our Party lead the people in completing the historic transformation from standing up and becoming prosperous to growing strong. After its founding in 1921, the CPC united with and led the people through a bitter, 28 year-long struggle to establish the People's Republic of China and make the historic transition from new-democratic revolution to socialist revolution. After the founding of the PRC in 1949, our Party led the people in creatively carrying out a socialist transformation by establishing socialism as China's basic system and promoting socialist economic and cultural progress on a large scale. The Chinese people not only stood up, but stood firmly on their own feet and completed the historic transition from socialist revolution to socialist development. On entering a new historical period, it led the people in launching the great new revolution of reform and opening up, which sparked tremendous enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity among all of our people and opened up the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. As China made large strides in catching up with the times, it took yet another huge leap forward along the course of socialist modernization and embraced the bright prospects of national rejuvenation. Building on the development of the past, we are now writing the new chapter of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects.

In terms of the present reality, we now possess a solid material foundation for embarking on a new journey toward an even higher goal. Thanks to the tireless efforts made since the PRC's founding, and especially in the past 40-odd years since the adoption of the reform and opening up policy, China reached new levels in economic strength, scientific and technological capability, composite national strength, and living standards by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). China is now the world's second largest economy, the largest industrial nation, the largest trader of goods, and the largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. China's GDP has exceeded RMB100 trillion yuan and stands at over US$10,000 in per capita terms. Permanent urban residents account for over 60% of the population, and the middle-income group has grown to over 400 million. Particularly noteworthy are our historic achievements of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eliminating absolute poverty – a problem which has plagued our nation for thousands of years. These are significant milestones in our process of socialist modernization, and lay a solid foundation for marching toward the Second Centenary Goal during the new stage of development.

Shortly after the founding of the PRC, our Party put forward the goal of building a modern socialist country. Over the course of 13 five-year plans, we have laid a solid foundation for achieving this goal. The next 30 years make up the development stage in which we will finally complete this great ambition. We have worked out the roadmap and timetable for our development going forward. By 2035, or within three five-year plan periods, we will basically achieve socialist modernization. Then, by the middle of this century, after completing another three five-year plans, China will become a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.

The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Recently, the world situation could be best described by the word "chaos," and it appears that this trend will continue for quite some time. The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the leadership capacities and strengths of the social systems of all countries. The fact that time and momentum are on our side gives us self-assurance, resolve, and confidence.

That said, we must fully recognize that although China remains in an important period of strategic opportunity for development, and will remain so for some time to come, the opportunities and challenges we face are changing. Though both are unprecedented in their extent, the opportunities generally outweigh the challenges. An ancient Chinese sage once said that we should handle the easy and small things cautiously so as to avoid difficulties and disasters. All of us in the Party must remain modest, prudent, and committed to hard work; we must mobilize all positive factors, unite with all forces that can be united with, and focus on running our own affairs well, as we work unswervingly toward our objectives.

Our task is to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects. Of course, the modernization we are pursuing has distinctive Chinese features and is tailored to the realities of China. At the Fifth Plenary Session, I underscored five characteristics in particular. China's modernization must cover a massive population, lead to common prosperity, deliver both material and cultural-ethical progress, promote harmony between humanity and nature, and proceed along a path of peaceful development. This is the direction modernization in China must follow. It must be embodied in our principles, policies, strategies, measures, and work plans to enable the Party and the Chinese people to work together toward this end.

The new stage of development is an important part of socialist development in our country. In 1992, Deng Xiaoping stated that "We have been building socialism for only a few decades and are still in the primary stage. It will take a very long historical period to consolidate and develop the socialist system, and it will require persistent struggle by several generations, a dozen or even several dozens. We can never rest on our oars." In my opinion, Deng made this remark from a political point of view. He was pointing out that it would take a fairly long period of hard work to turn China into a modern country based on the weak economic foundation of the time. But he was also stressing that we must persist with China's socialist system from one generation to the next, even after modernization is achieved. We must work continuously to find ways to consolidate and develop socialism, for no solution can last forever once developed. Mao Zedong once said that "All things have their boundaries. The way things develop is that one stage leads to another, advancing without interruption. But each and every stage has a ‘boundary.' To deny the ‘boundary' is to deny qualitative changes or partial qualitative changes." The primary stage of socialism is not a static, cast-iron, or stagnant period, nor is it a spontaneous and passive stage that can easily and naturally be passed through. Rather, it is a stage of dynamism, action, and promise, one that should always brim with vitality. It develops gradually but ceaselessly, moving from quantitative increases to qualitative leaps. Fully building a modern socialist China and basically realizing socialist modernization are essential for China's development in the primary stage of socialism, and essential for China to advance from the primary stage to a higher stage of socialism.