A delegation of the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recently visited London, and on 1 September, a meeting was held between the delegation and the Secretary of the Institute’s Xi Jinping Study Group.

A delegation of the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, led by its President, Professor Xin Xiangyang, visited London on 29 August to September 2024. In the course of this visit, a meeting was held between the delegation and the Secretary of the Institute’s Xi Jinping Study Group, Hugh Goodacre. The meeting was arranged and facilitated by the delegation’s organiser, Dr Li Zixu.

In the course of this meeting, Professor Xin stressed the need for  Xi Jinping Thought to be studied in a systematic manner, focusing on its fundamental underlying principles. For President Xi’s writings comprise around 20 million words of published material, and cover an extremely wide range of issues, including economics, diplomacy and cultural affairs, to name just a few. Without this initial focus on the fundamental principles underlying these writings, it will be difficult to move on to address the wide-ranging theoretical, practical and empirical aspects of his thought. Undertaking this task is therefore a pivotal issue, on which Chinese and international scholars can work together in the interest of furthering mutual understanding.

In the course of his talk, Professor Xin drew attention to the fact that the past month had the 120th anniversary of the birth of Deng Xiaoping on 22 August 1904, and that the study of Deng Xiaoping Thought is likewise fundamental in addressing the theoretical and practical issues faced by the building of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.

In response, Hugh Goodacre warmly thanked Professor Xin and his delegation for devoting some of their valuable time in the course of the busy schedule of their short visit for this discussion of the Institute and its  Xi Jinping Thought Study Group.

He explained that the Institute for Independence Studies, whose Patron is Keith Bennett, exists to promote research and study of ideologies of social and national emancipation and their application to conditions within imperialist society. It holds that it is the socialist countries which constitute the collective leadership of the international working class and progressive movements of the world, and Xi Jinping Thought is, in terms of scale and impact on global affairs, the most influential ideology emanating from within those countries today.

He further explained that the Study Group’s work aims to establish three interlinked points:

First, Xi Jinping Thought, the guiding ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics, epitomises the outstanding features of socialism in the world today.

Secondly, Xi Jinping Thought is deeply grounded in the scientific socialist tradition, standing in direct continuity with the work of its founders, and is indeed the Marxism of today.

Thirdly, Xi Jinping Thought provides the basis for substantial steps forward in our work in this country to forge a socialist ideology and political line on the basis of which to build a socialist movement in this, the oldest imperialist country.

Further contributions to the discussion were made by other members of the visiting delegation:

Professor Yu Bin, an internationally-published author and researcher at the Academy of Marxism, called for joint study to further channel method and fundamental principles of Marx’s Capital into discussion of the theoretical and practical issues confronted by Marxists today.

Professor Wang Xuedong, an Associate Researcher at the Academy of Marxism, strongly urged continuing contact and exchange of information on specific currents of scholarship where cooperation could be developed between scholars in our two countries.

In the light of all these discussions, the meeting discussed plans for further collaboration between the Academy and the Institute’s Study Group in the coming period.

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Other events took place in the course of the delegation’s visit.

On Saturday 30 August, meetings and discussions took place with historians of Marxist thought based at universities in England. The emphasis was on the life and activities of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

On Sunday 31 August, a Seminar took place, convened by the International Manifesto Group and Friends of Socialist China. It was hosted at the London School of Economics by Professor Radhika Desai, and chaired by Keith Bennett. A keynote address was delivered by Delegation leader Professor Xin Xiang, in which he issued a powerful call for urgent work to be undertaken on the theoretical front to address the wide-ranging practical issues of the day, as illustrated by the Communiqué of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted on 18 July 2024. The Institute aims to produce a report on this important Seminar, in consultation with its organisers and participants.