Principal contradiction facing Chinese society in a new era

As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, the Chinese people are leading a better life, their demands become higher and their dissatisfactions increasing. This is because the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved. What we now face is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life. China has seen the basic needs of over a billion people met, has basically made it possible for people to live decent lives, and will soon bring the building of a moderately prosperous society to a successful completion. The needs to be met for the people to live better lives are increasingly broad. Not only have their material and cultural needs grown, their demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice, security, and a better environment are increasing. At the same time, China's overall productive forces have significantly improved and in many areas our production capacity leads the world. The more prominent problem is that our development is unbalanced and inadequate. This has become the main constraining factor in meeting the people's increasing needs for a better life.

We must recognize that the evolution of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society represents a historic shift that affects the whole landscape and that creates many new demands for the work of the Party and the country. Building on continued efforts to sustain development, we must devote great energy to addressing development's imbalances and inadequacies, and push hard to improve the quality and effect of development. With this, we will be better placed to meet the ever-growing economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological needs of our people, and to promote well-rounded human development and all-round social progress.

We must recognize that the evolution of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society does not change our assessment of the present stage of socialism in China. The basic dimension of the Chinese context – that our country is still and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism – has not changed. China's international status as the world's largest developing country has not changed. The whole Party must be completely clear about this fundamental dimension of our national context, and must base our work on this most important reality – the primary stage of socialism. We must remain fully committed to the Party's basic line as the source that keeps the Party and the country going and that brings happiness to the people. We must lead and unite the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in fulfilling the central task of economic development. We must uphold the Four Cardinal Principles, continue to reform and open up, be self-reliant, hardworking, and enterprising, and strive to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.

新時代中國社會主要矛盾

中國特色社會主義進入新時代，大家普遍感到生活好了，情況變了，要求高了，不滿多了。歸根結底是社會主要矛盾變了，轉化為“人民日益增長的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的發展之間的矛盾”了。中國穩定解決了十幾億人的溫飽問題，總體上實現小康，不久將全面建成小康社會，人民美好生活需求日益廣泛，不僅對物質文化生活提出了更高要求，而且在民主、法治、公平、正義、安全、環境等方面的要求也日益增長。同時，中國社會生產力水平總體上顯著提高，社會生產能力在很多方面進入世界前列，發展不平衡不充分的問題更加突出，這已經成為滿足人民日益增長的美好生活需要的主要制約因素。

中國社會主要矛盾的變化是關系全局的歷史性變化，對黨和國家工作提出了許多新要求。特別是要在繼續推動發展的基礎上，著力解決好發展不平衡不充分問題，大力提升發展質量和效益，更好滿足人民在經濟、政治、文化、社會、生態等方面日益增長的需要，更好推動人的全面發展、社會全面進步。

中國社會主要矛盾的變化，沒有改變中國共產黨對中國社會主義所處歷史階段的判斷，中國仍處于并將長期處于社會主義初級階段的基本國情沒有變，中國是世界最大發展中國家的國際地位沒有變。中國共產黨要牢牢把握社會主義初級階段這個基本國情，牢牢立足社會主義初級階段這個最大實際，牢牢堅持黨的基本路線這個黨和國家的生命線、人民的幸福線，領導和團結全國各族人民，以經濟建設為中心，堅持四項基本原則，堅持改革開放，自力更生，艱苦創業，為把中國建設成為富強民主文明和諧美麗的社會主義現代化強國而奮斗。