First expositions of the important thought of Three Represents

Comrade Jiang Zemin first propounded the important thought of Three Represents during his inspection tour of Guangdong Province in February 2000.

He emphatically pointed out, "An important conclusion can be reached from reviewing our Party's history over the past 70-odd years; that is, the reason our Party enjoys the people's support is that throughout the historical periods of revolution, construction and reform, it has always represented the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. With the formulation of the correct line, principles and policies, the Party has untiringly worked for the fundamental interests of the country and the people. Under the new conditions of historic significance, how our Party can better translate the Three Represents into action constitutes a major issue that all Party members, especially senior officials, must ponder deeply ."

During his inspection tour of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces and Shanghai in May 2000, Comrade Jiang Zemin emphasized again that the steadfast implementation of the Three Represents constitutes the foundation of our Party, the cornerstone for its governance and the source of its strength.

At the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2000, General Secretary Jiang Zemin noted, "In all the work we do, we must fulfill the requirements of the Three Represents. We need to ensure that all our measures and work accord with these requirements. If they do, we shall unswervingly stay on our course; if they don't, we shall be realistic and boldly correct them."

At the meeting celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC on July 1, 2001, General Secretary Jiang Zemin, proceeding from the perspective of the law of historical development and the need to advance with the times, comprehensively and incisively elaborated the scientific meaning of the important thought of Three Represents.

He stated, "Saying our Party always represents the development trend of China's advanced productive forces means that the Party's theory, line, program, principles, policies and all its work must be in line with the laws governing the development of productive forces; embody the requisites for constantly furthering the release and development of productive forces, especially advanced productive forces; and steadily raise the people's standard of living by developing the productive forces."

He continued, "Saying our Party always represents the orientation of China's advanced culture means that its theory, line, program, principles, policies and all its work must embody the requisites for guiding the development of a national, scientific, and popular socialist culture geared to the needs of modernization, the world and the future in order to improve the ideological and ethical standards and scientific and cultural levels of the whole nation and to provide motivation and intellectual support for China's economic development and social progress."

He added, "Saying our Party always represents the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people means that in its theory, line, program, principles, policies and all its work, it must persevere in taking the fundamental interests of the people as its starting point and objective, give full expression to the people's enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, and enable the people to constantly obtain tangible economic, political and cultural benefits on the basis of social development and progress."

Following this speech on July 1, 2001, Comrade Jiang Zemin gave another important speech on May 31, 2002, at the graduation ceremony for provincial and ministerial officials who had taken a class at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC.

He said, "The Three Represents is imbued with the same spirit as Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, and it reflects new demands on the work of the Party and the state arising from developments and changes presently occurring in China and the world over. The Three Represents is a powerful theoretical tool for strengthening and improving Party building and promoting the self-improvement and development of China's socialist system." The basic requisites for implementing the Three Represents are, "in essence, to advance with the times, maintain the Party's advanced nature and administer the country in the interests of the people."

Specifically, the Party must adhere to the precept of the four musts: "The whole Party must always maintain the spirit of advancing with the times and constantly extend Marxist theory into new realms; it must give top priority to development in governing and invigorating the country and constantly break new ground and open up a new prospect in the modernization drive; it must fully mobilize all positive factors and constantly generate new strength for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; and it must improve its Party building in a spirit of reform and constantly inject new vitality into itself."

In the political report he delivered at the Sixteenth National Congress of the CPC in 2002, Comrade Jiang Zemin again made it clear that in order to enter a new phase in building socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC must hold high the great banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory and adhere to the important thought of Three Represents.

This thought is a continuation and development of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, and it reflects new demands on the work of the Party and the state arising from developments and changes presently occurring in China and the world over.

This thought is a powerful theoretical tool for strengthening and improving Party building and promoting the self-improvement and development of socialism in China.

It is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the entire Party and a guiding principle the Party must follow for many years to come. This thought was propounded on the basis of the scientific assessment of the Party's historical position.

It is a strategic conception made at the historic beginning of the new century by the Chinese Communists who scientifically analyzed and understood the domestic and international situation, the tasks the Party shoulders, and the realities of Party building from the viewpoint of the destiny of the Party and the country in the future. It is a scientific judgment made by the Party based on the stand, viewpoint and methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, a review of the experience of the world socialist movement since the Manifesto of the Communist Party was published more than 150 years ago, and an assimilation of the experience the Party has gained over the past 80 years since its founding.