7. Driving cultural advancement

Since the launch of reform and opening up, the Party has attached equal emphasis to material progress and cultural-ethical progress. As a result, socialist culture has thrived, the national spirit has been lifted, and national solidarity has grown stronger. At the same time, however, misguided ideas have often cropped up, such as money worship, hedonism, ultra-individualism, and historical nihilism, online discourse has been rife with disorder, and certain leading officials have demonstrated ambiguity in their political stance and a lack of fighting spirit. These phenomena all have a serious impact on people's thinking and the environment for public discourse.

The Party has maintained an accurate perspective on the trends of collisions taking place worldwide between different ideas and cultures, as well as of the profound changes in Chinese people's ways of thinking. It has stressed that ideological work shapes the collective mind of a country and forges the soul of a nation, and that confidence in one's culture, which is a broader, deeper, and more fundamental form of self-confidence, is the most essential, profound, and enduring source of strength for the development of a country and a nation. Without a thriving culture and firm confidence in it, the Chinese nation cannot achieve rejuvenation.

We must adhere to a people-centered approach in ideological work, uphold socialism with Chinese characteristics, rally public support, foster a new generation with sound values and ethics, develop Chinese culture, and build a better national image. We must have a firm hold on leadership in ideological work, develop socialist ideology that has the power to unite and inspire the people, and build China into a country with a strong socialist culture. We must ignite the cultural creativity of the whole nation, and bolster the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength in order to consolidate the common ideological foundation for the concerted efforts of all Party members and all Chinese people.

With a focus on addressing the issue of lax Party leadership in the ideological sphere, the Party has replaced faulty practices with effective ones in an effort to clear up muddy waters. It has made arrangements on a number of strategic issues of guiding significance in the ideological sphere, and established and upheld a fundamental system for ensuring the guiding role of Marxism in the ideological domain. By strengthening the responsibility system for ideological work, the Party has engaged all members in improving communication and outreach. Under this system, every Party member is charged to do their best to fulfill their duties, to be proactive in their work, and to take a clear stand against erroneous views.

In intensifying its efforts to improve communication and outreach, the Party has started with the most fundamental issues. It convened a national conference on communication and outreach, as well as forums on literature and art, the Party's press and public communications work, cybersecurity and IT application, philosophy and social sciences, and ideological and political work at institutions of higher learning. Through these events, it has clarified its principles and stance on a number of fundamental issues, distinguished right from wrong regarding theories, and kept its work on the right track. As a result, a healthy trend is gathering steam in the sphere of ideology and culture.

The Party endeavors to use its new theories to equip its members, educate the people, and guide practice. It has worked harder to study and develop Marxist theory, and made advances in constructing disciplinary, academic, and discourse systems for philosophy and social sciences with Chinese features.

The Party puts heavy emphasis on developing and creating new means of communication. It has promoted integrated development of media, and worked to strengthen the penetration and credibility of the media and its ability to guide and influence. The Central Committee has made it clear that failure in the cyberspace domain will spell disaster for the Party's long-term governance. The Party therefore attaches great importance to the Internet as the main arena, battleground, and frontline of the ideological struggle. It has improved the leadership and management systems for the Internet, regulated the cyberspace according to the law, and strived to foster a clean online environment.

The Party has guided cultural development with the core socialist values, and paid close attention to nourishing the roots and forging the soul of our nation with advanced socialist culture, revolutionary culture, and China's fine traditional culture. It has carried out extensive public awareness activities on socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Chinese Dream, promoted regular and institutionalized education on ideals and convictions, and improved the system of ideological and political work. We have established sound systems of Party and state awards and honors, instituted Martyrs' Day, carried out initiatives to raise the public's cultural-ethical standards, built centers for promoting cultural and ethical advancement in the new era, and nurtured a love of learning among our people.

The Party has encouraged the people to study the history of the Party, the People's Republic of China, reform and opening up, and the development of socialism, and built the Museum of the Communist Party of China. It has also organized events to celebrate the centenary of the Party, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army, and the 40th anniversary of the launch of reform and opening up; to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the global war against fascism; and to mark the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteers' departure for Korea to resist US aggression and aid Korea. These events vividly illustrated the solidarity of our Party and our people and the strength of our country and our military while championing China's underlying values and spreading positive energy throughout society.

Putting social benefits first while also stressing economic returns, the Party has advanced all-around development of cultural programs and industries. Art and literature are flourishing, and public cultural services have improved, providing people with richer cultural nourishment.

The Central Committee has stressed that China's fine traditional culture is a prominent strength of our nation that enables us to gain a firm footing amidst global cultural interaction. We must adapt to new conditions so that we can carry on our traditional culture in the new era. For this purpose, we have launched projects to pass on and develop our fine cultural traditions, promoted their creative transformation and development, raised public awareness of the importance of preserving our cultural heritage, and stepped up preservation efforts.

We have accelerated work to strengthen our international communication capacity, with the goal of telling well China's stories and the Party's stories, making China's voice heard, and promoting exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations. Our cultural soft power and the appeal of Chinese culture have increased significantly.

Since the 18th National Congress, we have seen a sweeping and fundamental shift in the ideological domain, a notable boost in confidence in our culture among all Party members and all Chinese people, and a major increase in cohesiveness throughout society. All of this has provided solid ideological guarantees and powerful inspiration for opening up new horizons for the cause of the Party and the country in the new era.