The "centenaries" refer to two 100-year anniversaries:[1]
Thecentenary of the founding of the CCP in 1921. According to official CCP discourse,[3] aXiaokang society will have been achieved at the conclusion of this centenary.[4][5] While "Xiaokang" – roughly meaning "moderately well-off" – is an abstract theory rooted inConfucianism and socialist ideology, the party has outlined it in terms of doubling of the 2010 per capita income figures.[2]
The concept was first articulated at the15th Party Congress held in 1997 during the term of then General SecretaryJiang Zemin.[7][8] 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.[8][4]
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."[3]
A ceremony which marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CCP (Chinese:中国共产党成立100周年庆祝活动), 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.[9]
"The Great Journey," an art performance, was also held in prior in theBeijing National Stadium to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on 28 June. It was later broadcast byChina Media Group on the evening of 1 July 2021.[10]
100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (2049)
The 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (Chinese:中华人民共和国成立100周年), 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, theNational Day of the People's Republic of China.[6]
A columnist forThe Diplomat 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.[2]
