The Two Centenaries () is a political slogan that refers to two 100-year anniversaries and a stated set of economic and political goals advanced by

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

following the 18th National Congress of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

(CCP) held in 2012. The Chinese government describes the Two Centenaries as the basic foundation for achieving the "

Chinese Dream The Chinese Dream () is a term closely associated with Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and China's paramount leader. Xi began promoting the phrase as a slogan during a high-profile tour of an exhibit at th ...

Background

The "centenaries" refer to two 100-year anniversaries: # The

centenary {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

of the founding of the CCP in 1921. According to official CCP discourse, a ''Xiaokang'' society will have been achieved at the conclusion of this centenary. While "Xiaokang" – roughly meaning "moderately well-off" – is an abstract theory rooted in

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

and socialist ideology, the party has outlined it in terms of doubling of the 2010 per capita income figures. # The centenary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2049, at which point, China will have become a "strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and modern socialist country" according to the ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...

''.人民日報-兩個一百年

History of the slogan

The concept was first articulated at the 15th Party Congress held in 1997 during the term of then General Secretary

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

. Apart from occasional pronouncements in party publications, this concept was not widely discussed again until Xi assumed the party leadership in 2012. Since then, it has become a major part of party slogans, recited in news reports, at conferences, and training sessions for party officials. According to academic Ding Lu, the "so-called Two Centenary Goals underwrite all China’s long-term economic planning programs and contemporary macroeconomic policy agendas."

Celebratory events

100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (2021)

A ceremony which marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CCP (), or the Centennial of the Chinese Communist Party (Chinese: 中国共产党成立一百周年), took place on 1 July 2021. CCP general secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech in which he specifically announced the realization of the first goal of the Two Centenaries. "The Great Journey," an art performance, was also held in prior in the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on 28 June. It was later broadcast by

China Media Group China Media Group (Chinese: 中央广播电视总台; lit. Central Radio-Television General Station) also known as Voice of China, is the predominant state media company by means of radio and television broadcasting in the People's Republic ...

on the evening of 1 July 2021.

100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (2049)

The 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (), or the Centennial of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国成立一百周年) is expected to fall on 1 October 2049, the National Day of the People's Republic of China.

Responses

A columnist for ''

The Diplomat ''The Diplomat'' is an international online news magazine covering politics, society, and culture in the Indo-Pacific region. It is based in Washington, D.C. It was originally an Australian bi-monthly print magazine, founded by Minh Bui Jones ...

'' suggested that Xi's emphasis on these goals gives objective evaluation criteria for the performance of the CCP and that achieving these goals will be a major test to the legitimacy of CCP rule in the country.

References

{{Xi Jinping 2012 in China 2021 in China Anniversaries Regional centennial anniversaries Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party People's Republic of China Xi Jinping