On the historical experience of the Communist Party of China.

Speech delivered to a symposium held by the Chinese Embassy in the UK entitled “The Communist Party of China and the World”.

6 July 2026.

Your Excellency Ambassador Zheng Zeguang, friends and comrades,

Thank you for your invitation to myself and to my colleagues from Friends of Socialist China to take part in this important and timely exchange and for your enlightening presentations.

To pay close attention to the experience of the Communist Party of China, and the lessons drawn therefrom, on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of its founding is not simply a matter of formality – of the kind of spirit excoriated by Mao Zedong as, “so long as one is a monk one must go on tolling the bell.”

Rather today, not only the future and wellbeing of the Chinese people but also the destiny and fate of world socialism and the very future of humanity depend to a huge extent on everything going well with the Communist Party of China and on its leadership.

As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his important anniversary speech this July 1st:

“One hundred and five years of unremitting struggle have profoundly shaped the course of world history. Our Party has always stood on the right side of history and on the side of human progress… Today, as the Party leads the people in advancing Chinese modernisation, it has created a new form of human civilisation and broadened the paths by which developing countries can achieve modernisation.”

This thesis, first put forward by Xi Jinping, at the nineteenth party congress in October 2017, that socialism with Chinese characteristics offers a new path and new option for countries that wish to rapidly develop their economies while maintaining their independence, now occupies an increasingly important place in the international practice based on Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building. A fine example is the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Tanzania, which brings the CPC together with the six main liberation movement parties of South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania.

In our view, Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building, as an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, is the latest application and development of the Marxist theory of political party building. As China is the most advanced socialist country, the CPC is a huge Marxist ruling party in a large country with a big population, and further plays a major role in world affairs, including effectively shouldering the primary responsibility for the destiny of world socialism at the present time, this has enormous significance both for China and the world.

The Thought inherits and embodies the original aspiration and intention of Marxist party building, as set out by Marx and Engels in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, that the communists, “have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole”.

They, “therefore, are on the one hand practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the lines of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement.”

How to carry this forward through succeeding generations, how to inherit the red gene, amidst once in a century changes unfolding at an accelerating pace, is a crucial question that Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building addresses.

Both Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping pointed out, in their respective distinctive fashions, that if the socialist cause in China were to meet a serious challenge, it would likely come from within the party itself. The profound if tragic proof of this can be seen in the fate of the Soviet Union and the former socialist countries of eastern and central Europe.

As the CPC has often stressed, historical experience merits attention. Comrade Xi Jinping explained in November 2021:

“Our Party has such a long history, such a large scale, and has been in power for so long, how can we break free from the historical cycle of order and chaos, of rise and fall? Comrade Mao Zedong gave the first answer in a cave dwelling in Yan’an, namely, ‘Only by letting the people supervise the government will the government not dare to slacken’. Through a century of struggle, and especially through the new practice since the 18th Party Congress, our Party has given a second answer: self-revolution.”

Therefore, it clearly follows that among the most important aspects of Xi Jinping Thought on this question is his insistence that upholding the leadership of the Party is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He has also stressed this point in his interaction with the party leaders of fraternal socialist countries such as Vietnam and it may be said to embody and sum up the entire history of proletarian party building by the international communist movement and of actually existing socialism. His thought also entails, among other crucial features, upholding the centralised and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee; strict and comprehensive self-governance of the Party; never forgetting the original aspiration and keeping the mission firmly in mind; and the integrated development of an environment in which officials dare not, cannot, and do not wish to be corrupt.

In terms of the relations between parties, I consider that Xi Jinping Thought includes, among other things, the following key elements:

Whether a party is big or small the CPC is genuinely interested in exchanging views and in mutual learning.

It makes its experiences and the lessons it has drawn available to others for their reference but does not seek to impose its views or insist on unanimity. Rather, the emphasis is on finding common ground while reserving differences.

Party-to-party relations have always been a key part of China’s diplomacy alongside state-to-state and people-to-people relations. Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building has refined and developed this so that party-to-party relations can also complement, assist and enhance state relations. And the Political Party Plus mechanism can further facilitate party diplomacy’s role in strengthening people-to-people ties, including at subnational and regional levels and in academic and cultural exchange as well as in economic affairs.

The relations between communist parties, including the ruling parties in the socialist countries, have a special character in that, whilst differences of opinion can and do exist, they share a common basis in dialectical and historical materialism along with shared aims, goals and ideals. Close similarities in aspirations, views and policies can also often be found with other socialist, national liberation, national and revolutionary democratic, and other progressive parties and movements.

However, even when sharp ideological and political differences exist, there is still value in maintaining links, exchanging views and engaging in dialogue to enhance mutual understanding, lower tensions and possibly identify areas for cooperation, including in instances where governmental channels may be blocked or hindered for whatever reason.

The significance of this therefore goes well beyond China’s borders, not least coming as it does at a time when the western bourgeois political party system is in a profound and deepening crisis that is increasingly eroding traditional parties of both right and left and also spawning such dangerous phenomena as far right and even neo-fascist parties and trends gaining in popularity and influence and contending for power 80 plus years since the victory in the world anti-fascist war. As the great Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci aptly put it:

“The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”

Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building therefore provides valuable reference and inspiration for us, in the communist and workers movements in the capitalist heartlands, too, as we seek to address and reverse such morbidity and give birth to the new.

Thank you for your attention.