2023 is the 45th anniversary of reform and opening up and the 10th anniversary of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. The reform and opening up is not over. It is an ongoing history and has important practical significance for guiding the growth and development of youth.
As the founder, leader, participant and witness of reform and opening up of China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as "the Institute"), Chi Fulin, President of the Institute, has been committed to China's reform research for more than 30 years, led the continuous development of the Institute, and played a positive role in China's reform and opening up. A reporter from People's Weekly recently interviewed Chi Fulin.
Chi Fulin, President of China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute
Exploring the historical code of China's reform and opening up in the past 45 years
Reporter: Why does China take reform and opening up as its basic national policy?
Chi Fulin: China's reform was "forced" out. Why do farmers take risks to establish the household contract responsibility system? It was forced by not having enough to eat. Why can private economy grow from scratch, from weak to strong? It was a "break". It is precisely on the basis of a profound grasp of the future and destiny of the Party and the country, and on the basis of a profound summary of the socialist revolution and construction practice, that our Party made a historic decision to implement reform and opening up.
Why did China choose the market economy? Why take the socialist market economic system as the goal of economic restructuring? This is the most critical issue in the reform and opening up. Through the establishment and improvement of the socialist market economy system, China has greatly stimulated the vitality of the market and society, and realized the historical leap of economic modernization.
Reporter: From your own experience, please share the inevitability of China's choice of reform and opening up.
Chi Fulin: I was born in the 1950s and went through the whole process of the early reform and opening up. In 1984, I was admitted to the Central Party School and began to devote myself to reform research. In 1987, I went to Hainan Special Administrative Region and founded the Chinese reform think tank - the Central Reform Institute in 1991... It can be said that my life choice is closely linked to reform and opening up.
I set up my outlook on life in middle school. Article 1: "There is one advantage, there is one disadvantage" - it is impossible to only benefit without sacrificing; Second, believe in yourself - it's no big deal when you encounter difficulties, as long as you don't defeat yourself.
As a soldier with 20 years of military service, my decision will not change easily. In December 1987, I was transferred from the central authority to Hainan. Although I was very reluctant to wear the military uniform for 20 years, I was very determined because I knew that Hainan would be an open area in the future, where I could get more training. It is particularly important for young people to dare and go boldly when their goals are set.
Our generation has deep feelings of family and country. What is the purpose of the reform? It means liberating and developing the productive forces. People who came out of our age have a deep feeling of poverty in their family and country, and never relax in their determination to reform and open up. Therefore, up to now, I am still working on the front line of reform research, and I always have enthusiasm, passion and emotion for reform.
Only by understanding history can we understand the original intention
Reporter: How can today's youth understand the history of reform and opening up?
Chi Fulin: Many young people today do not know much about the history of reform and opening up. This year, I went to several universities in Beijing and Hubei to give lectures on the history of reform and opening up. When people in our time ate moldy peanuts, some students were surprised: Why eat moldy peanuts? Only one student said that under the highly mandatory planned economy, the planting of agricultural and sideline products such as peanuts was strictly restricted. I was surprised that many young people did not understand the history of past reforms.
Today's comprehensive deepening of reform should answer the questions of the youth age. Today, the reform is facing a new youth subject. The contemporary youth are growing up in the era of reform and opening up. They have new coordinates and new expectations, and their expectations for reform are also rising. How to face the new youth subject in reform is the question of today's era of comprehensively deepening reform and opening up.
It is the responsibility of a generation to objectively introduce the history of reform and opening up. This year, I launched the book "Experiencing Reform: Talking about Reform and Opening up with Youth". The purpose is to tell youth about the history of reform and opening up based on my own experience, so that young people can more consciously grasp the future of reform and opening up. I think this is an important historical responsibility of our generation.
Reporter: April 13, 2023 is the 35th anniversary of Hainan's establishment as a special economic zone. How can you advise on the construction and development of Hainan since you first came to Hainan?
Chi Fulin: By the end of December this year, I have been in Hainan for 36 years. Now I have deeply loved Shanghai and integrated into Hainan. Hainan complex is very deep.
The reform experiment in Hainan reflects the history of China's reform and opening up to a certain extent. How to make full use of, make good use of, and activate the high-level opening policy, make it effective, and form a prominent advantage in the construction of a free trade port? First, take the implementation of policies related to the construction of "two headquarters bases" as a starting point to achieve an important breakthrough in the free trade between Hainan Free Trade Port and ASEAN; Secondly, we should focus on the implementation of policies to strengthen industrial cooperation, and achieve an important breakthrough in the development of Hainan Free Trade Port and Guangdong; Thirdly, we will focus on the policy of financial cooperation to achieve an important breakthrough in the connection between Hainan Free Trade Port and Hong Kong's international market.
Only reform and opening up can win the future
Reporter: Why is it said that reform and opening up are only ongoing, but not completed?
Chi Fulin: Good days don't fall from the sky. The cause of reform and opening up has been going on for nearly half a century. The practice of the past 45 years has proved that reform and opening up is the source of China's sustainable economic and social development. Facing the profound and complex changes in the current internal and external development environment, comprehensively deepening reform and opening up stands at a new historical node. For example, how to adhere to the direction of market-oriented reform, improve the socialist market economic system, firmly adhere to the "two unswerving", promote structural transformation through structural reform, and promote high-level institutional opening, etc. Facing a series of major issues that need to be solved, only reform and opening up can win the future in the great changes.
Reporter: What inspiration does the story and spirit of reform and opening up have for young people in the new era?
Chi Fulin: Let me give you an example. In 1988, when Hainan was established as a provincial special zone, there was a grand occasion of "100000 talents coming to Hainan". Although the food and accommodation conditions were quite poor at that time, everyone was enthusiastic and came singing... I suggested to Xu Shijie, the then secretary of Hainan Provincial Party Committee, that we should try to arrange our lives well. Why are you so enthusiastic about Hainan? At that time, Hainan was about to establish a provincial special zone. The signal to everyone was that the special zone was more "special" than other special zones. It had more space and faster development than Shenzhen, so there would be many opportunities for everyone.
What enlightenment does this give us? How to stimulate young people's reform motivation and spirit? For example, in the past, Shekou, Shenzhen, was the "test tube" of China's reform and opening up. Today, Shekou, Shenzhen, has become a fertile land for China's science and technology enterprises and innovative enterprises. It has become a gathering place for young people to innovate and start their own businesses. They are robots, games, smart medicine, design and research. Young people are the most innovative subjects, and the key is to provide conditions for reform and innovation, Give youth more freedom of innovation and create an institutionalized and legalized institutional environment.
Reporter: In the spirit of reform and opening up, how can we help contemporary youth strengthen their ideals and beliefs and find the right direction for struggle?
Chi Fulin: I think there are three important sentences. First, where there is an ideal, there will be a pursuit; Second, there are ideals, there will be responsibilities; Third, where there are ideals, there will be perseverance.
Each generation has its own mission. In the new era of reform and opening up, a group of people need to shoulder their social responsibilities and consciously take the promotion and service of reform as their responsibilities.
(People's Weekly, Issue 23, 2023)
