Late leader’s role in progress hailed alongside president’s commitment to make further advances

President Xi Jinping’s remarks on the 120th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth highlighted the late leader’s most important intellectual legacy and how Deng Xiaoping Theory continues to mold China’s identity and development path, analysts said.

In a speech delivered at a meeting on Aug 22 to mark the anniversary, Xi called for thoroughly studying and applying the theory to address real-world problems. He said the best way to honor Deng is “to continue advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics that he initiated”.

Maarij Farooq, deputy editor-in-chief of Pakistan Economic Net and the Daily Ittehad Media Group, said Xi’s remarks are “a powerful testament to the enduring significance of Deng’s contributions”.

“This acknowledgment from President Xi not only honors Deng’s legacy but also reinforces the importance of his ideas in shaping China’s identity and its position on the global stage,” Farooq told China Daily.

Deng was the chief architect of China’s reform and opening-up policy that began in 1978. The policy has been widely hailed for helping to lift 800 million people out of poverty. Farooq said Deng had “a pragmatic approach to governance” and had advocated for a “unique blend of socialism and market principles”.

Korn Dabbaransi, former deputy prime minister of Thailand, recalled meeting Deng in April 1975 when Korn was part of the first official Thai delegation that visited China. He said Deng was “very smart and held a charm of resoluteness”.

Korn said the reform and opening-up policy had a crucial role in China’s economic surge and in closer bonds with the rest of the world, including Thailand. He said the friendship and trade between China and Thailand have grown in the past few years, with the two countries joining hands for a strategic partnership.

“Now, China is moving forward and promoting win-win cooperation with many countries under the Belt and Road Initiative. With its growing power and influence, China is now showing its broad vision in pursuing a peaceful development road for a shared future for humankind,” Korn said.

Ukeru Magosaki, co-representative of the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, a Japanese civic group dedicated to upholding the 1995 statement that admits Japan’s wartime mistakes, said Deng’s “greatness lies in his ability to pave the way for a new era of socialist modernization”.

He said that in the 1960s, there was discussion in the former Soviet Union about the nature of the socialist economy, with the introduction of the market becoming essential. However, authorities failed to incorporate the market into socialism, Magosaki said.

“The question of how much of a market economy to incorporate was not an easy one in both theoretical and practical terms, but Deng demonstrated the political courage to innovate and explore, and through his lifetime struggle, created Chinese-style modernization by utilizing the market,” Magosaki said.

However, the introduction of a market economy carries the inherent risk of creating a society with significant disparities. Magosaki said that under Xi’s leadership, the emphasis has been on putting people first, protecting their livelihoods, and promoting the common prosperity of all people. This shaped Deng’s path into “a more enriched socialist model”, he said.

Xi said in his speech that after the “cultural revolution” (1966-76), Deng had led the Party and the people in achieving China’s historic transformation. He said Deng pushed China to achieve a new breakthrough in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, break new ground in socialist modernization, and set a correct path for the country’s complete reunification.

Satoshi Tomisaka, a professor at the Institute of World Studies at Japan’s Takushoku University, said one of the keys to the Communist Party of China’s success is that it was able to adapt Marxism to China.

“Mao Zedong successfully transformed the Russian urban revolution into a rural-centered revolution in China. Deng Xiaoping introduced Deng Xiaoping Theory to adapt socialism to China’s national conditions,” Tomisaka said.

He said China focused on development and improving people’s lives, helping the nation reduce poverty and rise to become the world’s second-largest economy. Tomisaka said the reforms adapted to national conditions and circumstances were continued by the succeeding generations, and under Xi’s leadership, the reforms “have been elevated to Chinese-style modernization”.

Karori Singh, former director and emeritus fellow of the South Asia Studies Centre at the University of Rajasthan in India, said China has made remarkable progress in the past 75 years.

Chinese leaders have continuously made contributions in leading China to modernization, the Indian scholar and academic said.

“Chairman Mao Zedong consolidated unity while Deng set the road to economic growth and progress. President Xi further advances and synergizes Marxist ideology, Mao’s thoughts, and Deng’s theory in socialism with Chinese characteristics and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Singh said.

Xi has enunciated the Chinese worldview and global vision through the initiatives of Global Development, Global Security, and Global Civilization, by advancing the flagship Belt and Road Initiative for realizing the Chinese ideal of world order inspired by Deng Xiaoping Theory, Singh added.

Tom Harper, a lecturer and researcher specializing in China’s international relations at the University of East London, said Xi’s remarks are “symbolic in several key aspects”.

They confirm that “China is still following the path that Deng had set China on”, and in this sense, the policies adopted after Deng have been the logical step in advancing the goals, Harper said, adding it is worth noting how the Chinese leadership adapted to the context they find themselves in to achieve modernization in the economic and technological spheres.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a former Pakistani prime minister, said the reform and opening-up policy initiated by Deng “has led to prosperity and progress for China, and greatly impacted China’s relationship with its neighbors and trading partners”.

In Pakistan, Deng is revered as a leader who helped “foster and expand relations with Pakistan during the 1980s”, he said. “This relationship has continued to grow over the last four decades with collaboration in trade, investment, and infrastructure.”

He said that under President Xi’s leadership, the “Iron Brothers” of China and Pakistan have seen exponential growth in their relationship, with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as part of the BRI.

“The people of Pakistan look forward to strengthening the special relationship between China and Pakistan,” Abbasi said.

Dennis Munene, executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute, said: “The African Renaissance dream is being realized as China remains Africa’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years.”

The reforms initiated by Deng and currently being amplified under the leadership of President Xi, who is committed to making greater contributions to the world by building a community with a shared future for mankind, continue to empower Africa to seek an independent path to modernization, Munene said.

Booker Ngesa Omole, organizing secretary of the Communist Party of Kenya, said there is hardly any literature on China’s economic advancement without referring to Deng.

“A towering figure in Chinese history, Deng formed part of Chinese politics from the day the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed,” Omole said.

Poverty affects different segments of Africa’s population in comparative terms and Africa’s economic policies should address this reality, he said, noting that China’s policies are tailored to its own reality.

Wang Mingjie in London and Otiato Opali in Nairobi contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at prime@chinadailyapac.com