CHINA

President Xi Hails Former Leader Deng as Architect of Socialist Reform

Published: Aug. 23, 2024 7:37 p.m. GMT+8

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A billboard showing Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen in 2021. Photo: VCG

What’s new: President Xi Jinping has hailed efforts to study and apply ideologies put forward by Deng Xiaoping in a pursuit of advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics.

China’s top leader made the remarks at a symposium held in Beijing Thursday to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of former leader Deng, who spearheaded the country’s economic reform and opening up more than four decades ago. Deng died in 1997 at the age of 92.

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President Xi Jinping commended efforts to study Deng Xiaoping’s ideologies to advance socialism with Chinese characteristics during a symposium marking Deng’s 120th birth anniversary.
Xi acknowledged Deng as the chief architect of China's economic reforms and modernization which began in the late 1970s.
Deng Xiaoping Theory, adapted from Marxism-Leninism, shifted China from a planned economy to a socialist market economy and is integral to the Communist Party of China's guiding thoughts.

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What Happened When

Late 1970s：: Major changes guided by the Deng Xiaoping Theory began, shifting away from class struggle and a planned economy in favor of a socialist market economy.

1997：: Deng Xiaoping died at the age of 92.

1997：: The Deng Xiaoping Theory was formally recognized as one of the guiding thoughts of the Communist Party of China.

Two years after 1997：: The Deng Xiaoping Theory was written into the Chinese constitution.

Thursday, August 22, 2024：: President Xi Jinping made remarks at a symposium in Beijing to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Deng Xiaoping.

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