[Key to 19th Congress] Principal Contradiction of Chinese Society

Editor's note:

The 19th Communist Party of China National Congress convened in Beijing on Oct 18 in 2017. The congress is "greatly important" at a time the country is undergoing the decisive stage in finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects as well as the crucial period of the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Today, we talk about “Principal Contradiction of Chinese Society”.

Xi Jinping delivered a report to the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Oct. 18. In the report, Xi said that as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. "What we now face is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life," he said. Previously the principal contradiction was described as one between "the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and backward social production." In today’s China, the needs to be met for the people to live a better life 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. The evolution of the principal contradiction represents a "historic shift that affects the whole landscape and that creates many new demands for the work of the Party and the country," Xi said.