It is an intensely changed China that we see today. Fifty years back it was a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country, divided and exploited by imperialism and local reactionary forces. Before the Communist Party of China was founded in 1921, many Chinese patriots had dreamt and fought for independence, unification and democracy for the Chinese people. All these attempts at unification of the people and defeating the imperialist aggression, however, did not succeed.

The October Socialist Revolution in 1917 brought about a fundamental change in Chinese history. The impact and influence of this Revolution set in a chain of events that was to culminate in the victory of the Chinese Revolution. As in India and some other places in the world, Marxism-Leninism was brought to China after the October Revolution. The October Revolution instilled in the Chinese people a great confidence in their struggle for liberation. They understood that the Russian proletariat had removed all obstacles to social progress like the Tsar, aristocrats, bureaucrats, militarism and capitalism and declared the inevitable doom of the imperialist world system. This victory provided a powerful stimulus to the Chinese people's will to fight.

THE VITAL ELEMENT

However, it was the emergence of the Communist Party, which was the key to changing the whole scenario. Formation of various communist groups in Shanghai, Peking, Canton and some other centres preceded the formation of the Communist Party in 1921. It had a membership of 57 when it held its First Congress in Shanghai in 1921. Amongst the twelve delegates participating in the Congress, was Mao Zedong. Though the ultimate aim of the Party was defined as the building of communism, no distinct path was laid down to achieve this. It was only at the Second Congress the following year, that a proper programme or manifesto was given shape to. The Manifesto declared:

"The Communist Party of China is the political party of the Chinese proletariat. Its aim is to organise the proletariat so as to achieve, by means of class struggle, a political dictatorship of the workers and peasants, to abolish the system of private property and gradually to bring about a communist society".

These were set out as the ultimate objectives before the Party.

The history of the CPC, characterised by glorious armed struggles, can be broadly classified into four periods:

* (1) the war of the Kuomintang-Communist Party United Front against the reactionary warlords (1924-27);

* (2) the war of the people's forces led by the Communist Party against the Kuomintang reaction (1927-36);

* (3) the patriotic war of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party forces against the Japanese aggression (1936-45), and

* (4) the war of the people's forces against the Kuomintang and American imperialism (1946-50).

KUOMINTANG V. CP

In the first stage, the Communist Party utilised the three principles enunciated by Sun Yat Sen, the leader of the Kuomintang: nationalism, democracy and people's welfare, to rally the Chinese people and forge an alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. After his death, however, the new leader of the Kuomintang, Chiang Kaishek, switched the approach, and now concentrated his attack against the communists. This constituted the second stage.

The forces of the Communist Party and the Kuomintang, however, were to come together again in the third stage to take on the Japanese aggressors. And in the last and decisive phase the Communist Party had to fight against both the Kuomintang and American imperialism, which ultimately culminated in the victory of the Chinese revolution and the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

The above brief anunciation of the phases through which the Party took the people, nevertheless graphically illustrates how successfully the Chinese Communist Party pursued the tactics of united front: uniting with the Kuomintang forces at one point of time to fight the local warlords, fighting the Kuomintang's reactionary policies at another, and once again uniting with it to fight imperialism, reveals the deep insight of the CPC leaders into the structure and positioning of the class forces and how they gave the contours of the situation at any one time, and the understanding of how to utilise them to further the ultimate objectives of the struggle.

ROLE OF MAO ZEDONG

Mao Zedong played a significant and crucial role in all these events, contributing ideologically, and providing the political leadership to the Chinese people. Under his leadership the CPC always made a profound study of the concrete situation prevailing in China, and based their slogans and stage of their struggle on this study. Even while at a nascent stage the CPC was confronted with Left and right deviations. The right deviation was represented by Chen Tu-hsiu which emphasised only on the cooperation with the Kuomintang. Lihi-san who represented the Left deviation, failed to distinguish between the working class movement and the peasant movement. He also held that only uprisings in major cities could bring about nationwide revolutionary upsurge.

It was Mao who fought against both these deviations and made a correct analysis of the role of different classes in the Chinese Revolution. It was this analysis provided by Mao which helped in strengthening the alliance with the Kuomintang, while at the same time maintaining its independent identity.

Mao's historic contribution was to combine the fundamental principles of Marxism with the reality of the Chinese Revolution. Under his leadership the CPC found the right road for the New Democratic Revolution,in opposition to imperialism and feudalism, bringing to an end the semi-colonial and semi-feudal exploitation.

The success of the Chinese Revolution gave a big impetus to national liberation struggles all over the world and provided tremendous inspiration to Communist and the working class movement, particularly in the Asian continent. There is no doubt that it had an enormous influence on Communists in India.

THE SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION

Immediately after the success of the Revolution and the founding of the People's Republic of China, the CPC took up the task of gradually realising the transition from New Democracy to socialism, rapidly reconstructing and building the country's economy and in the main accomplishing in most parts of the country, the socialist transformation from private ownership of the means of production. The Party was able during the period, to gradually chart a course for social transformation that suited the specific Chinese conditions.

In dealing with capitalist industry and agriculture, it devised a whole series of transitionary forms of state capitalism from lower to higher levels, such as the placing of state orders with private enterprises for the processing of raw materials or the manufacture of goods, state monopoly of the purchase and marketing of the products of private enterprises, the marketing of products of state-owned enterprises by private shops and joint state-private ownership of new enterprises and so on.

In the agricultural sector it devised transitional forms of cooperation, proceeding from temporary, through year-round mutual aid teams, elementary agriculture-producing cooperation of a semi-socialist nature, to advance agricultural producers' cooperatives of a fully socialist nature. Within the first two years or so 700 million mau of land was distributed among 300 million peasants. The agrarian reforms abolished the 2000-year feudal stranglehold over land, which had historically been the mainstay of the reactionary forces, and liberated the rural productive forces, paving the way for the industrialiation of the country. These policies saw China making tremendous progress by the year 1959.

WRONG-MISTAKEN SLOGANS

However, the period after the second plenum of the 8th National Congress of the CPC saw the Chinese Party passing through a difficult period. The CPC adopted a line which overlooked the objective economic laws. Mao himself committed serious mistakes and under his leadership the CPC came out with erroneous slogans such as "The Great Leap Forward", "People's Communes" and the even more damaging "Cultural Revolution". China found itself on the verge of counter-revolution led by the "Gang of Four", consisting of careerists like Lin Biao, Jiang Qing and others, when the CPC under Deng re-asserted itself.

Evaluating this period of distortions and deviations, later, the CPC in its Resolution on CPC History notes that:

• "Comrade Mao Zedong and many leading comrades, both at the centre and in the localities, had become smug about their success, were impatient for quick results and overestimated the role of man's subjective will and efforts. After the general line was formulated, the Great Leap Forward and the movement for rural people's communes were initiated without careful investigation and study and without proper experimentation".

The gravest mistake, however, was the Cultural Revolution. While initiating it in May 1966, Mao had said that representatives of the bourgeoisie and counter-revolutionaries had sneaked into the Party, government, the army and cultural circles. As these elements had to be purged, there was a need for a cultural revolution. The CPC resolution of 1981 states that:

"Mao Zedong's principal theses for initiating this revolution conformed neither to Marxism-Leninism nor to Chinese reality. They represented an entirely erroneous appraisal of the prevailing class relations and political situation in the Party and state."

The resolution notes that it was divorced both from the Party organisation and from the masses. The Cultural Revolution threw the whole Party and Chinese society into disorder.

The level of maturity that the CPC had reached by then is discernible from the fact that even while being unsparing in its criticism of Mao's mistakes, the resolution acknowledges in no uncertain terms his great contribution in leading the Chinese Revolution to success and in laying the foundations of the new China.

1978-TURNING POINT

The CPC's Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee held in 1978, marked a turning point in Chinese history. China's drive towards socialism entered a new period, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. It was under very difficult conditions that Comrade Deng assumed the leadership of the CPC. However, he has to be credited for first evaluating the historical role of Mao Zedong, and secondly providing answers on how to build and consolidate socialism in an economically and backward country like China.

Under him the Party stressed that China was still in the primary stage of socialism and that development of the productive forces was the key to economic advance. Opening up the economy and reforms became the new slogans of the Party. The other important aspect was enunciating the four cardinal principles --

• adherence to the socialist road;
• Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought;
• people's democratic dictatorship; and
• leadership of the Communist Party.

The CPC under Deng propelled a rural reform focussing on the household contract responsibility system linked to remuneration. Deng was the first to advocate that a socialist country could also introduce a market economy. Special coastal economic zones were established and many other reforms were introduced -- all aimed at developing the productive forces. The concept of "One Country, Two Systems" for the peaceful reunification of Hong Kong with China was put forward by Deng. It was in accordance with this concept that Hong Kong returned to become a part of China in July 1997. Macao will be doing so in December this year. The Chinese hope that the question of Taiwan will also eventually be solved in this manner.

DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENT

The two decades of reforms and opening up have unleashed productive forces to develop dramatically; the people's living standards have improved enormously. In 1949 while the per capital output of grain was merely 209 kg. the figure was 395 kg in 1998. While it was 4.3 kg for oil-bearing crops in 1949 it is 24.1 kg. in 1998. While less than three kg of pork, beef and mutton was produced per capita in 1949, the production now is 35.1 kg. In 1949 China only produced 327,000 tons of yarn and 1.89 billion meters of cloth. In 1998 the output of yarn, cloth and chemical fibres reached 5.42 million tonnes, 24.1 billion meters and 5.1 million tonnes respectively.

With the introduction of the household contract system in agriculture farmers have the right to use land independently. As a result of this reform during the period 1979 to 1984 the yearly average production has grown tremendously. In the early 1980s, the farmers were still chained in the small-scale peasant economy mindset. But with the development of national economic self-sufficiency, the attitude of farmers is gradually changing to a more open one, oriented to the market economy.

In the other sectors also due to the new policy, changes have taken place. Rapid development has taken place in all sectors of the economy -- a fact acknowledged even by its enemies. Inflation is under control and there is a constant improvement in the standard of living of the people.

The improvement of living standards is reflected in the articles of household consumption that an average Chinese possesses. In 1998 for every 100 urban households there were 105.4 colour TV sets, 90.6 washing machines and 76.1 refrigerators, while for every 100 rural families the figures were 96 TV sets, 23 washing machines and nine refrigerators. From a birth rate of 37 per thousand in 1949 it is now 16.03 per thousand, while the death rate has come down from 18 per thousand to 6.5 per thousand. And life expectancy which was only 35 years in 1949 is currently 70 years.

MISTAKES & LAGS

It would be wrong however, to say that the Chinese are free from problems. But as they themselves assert, experience is the best teacher. The changes that have been brought about, the reforms that have been initiated -- are all based on past experience.

It should also be noted that these magnificent achievements made by China have been arrived at in an adverse international situation where imperialism is on the offensive, trying to establish its hegemony world wide after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the East European socialist countries.

The CPC has declared that it will steadfastly combat and overcome the negative consequences that have emerged as a result of the reform process and in the period of rapid economic development. Learning from their past mistakes, the CPC has moved forward. And their success in overcoming the present lags and negative outcomes will determine the future course that China will take.

Fifty years of the socialist experience in China places before the world a new experience in developing a new system, while at the same time combatting capitalist-imperialist domination worldwide. Despite the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the events that unfolded in the early part of this decade, China steadfastly went ahead in building socialism in face of the massive international offensive by the enemies of socialism.

A long with this international context, it should also not be forgotten that China had to build socialism in a vast and backward country. As there is no fixed model for building socialism that can be followed at all times in all countries, every country has to build socialism working out its own model. Building socialism with Chinese characteristics is such an experiment. China relies on adapting to concrete realities and learning from experience.

This is what gives one confidence that the Chinese Revolution, while overcoming all difficulties and negative consequences, will continue forging ahead along a correct path. The great achievements of these past five decades, especially in improving the lives of the Chinese working people, validates the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism, which were the fundamental guide to action of the Chinese Party.