CHINA'S REFORM AND CONSTRUCTION

China's choice of social system and development path, the domestic and foreign policies it pursues, and the goals it has identified for the next century are based on both reality and history. They are consistent not only with the historical and current development of humanity but also reflect the characteristics of the Chinese nation. They favor not only the fundamental interests of the Chinese people but also the peace, stability, prosperity, and progress of the world. This is the key to understanding China today and its future. Jiang Zemin. Written from speeches, REFORM AND CONSTRUCTION OF CHINA, by Jiang Zemin—General Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee, President of the People's Republic, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission of China—exposes the history of the founding of the People's Republic, the reform and modernization China underwent, and some of its proposals for the economic, social, and military spheres. Zemin's trajectory begins with Jiang Shixi, his grandfather, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. With his death, Zemin's father assumed responsibility for the family. But caring for everyone was a nearly impossible task, and as a child, Jiang Zemin was adopted by his uncle Jiang Shangqing, a member of the Communist Party. In 1931, the September 18 Incident occurred, a major event both in China and around the world, in which Japanese imperialist armed forces occupied the three provinces of Northeast China. After the full outbreak of the Japanese war of aggression against China in 1937, Jiang Shangqing organized a traveling propaganda team to combat Japanese aggression, dedicating himself to promoting the Chinese Communist Party's agenda. This was the environment in which Zemin grew up and took his first steps toward a career in public life. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin served successively as the first deputy chief of the Shanghai Yimin No. 1 Foodstuffs Factory, the first deputy chief of the Shanghai Soap Factory, and the head of the Electrical Appliance Section of the Shanghai No. 2 Design Sub-Department under the First Ministry of Mechanical Industry. After 1980, Jiang Zemin held the positions of deputy director and secretary-general of the State Commission for Import and Export Administration and the State Commission for Foreign Investment Administration, respectively. He participated in the formulation of policies related to the expansion of foreign trade, the introduction of advanced foreign technology and equipment, and the introduction and utilization of foreign investment, while also being responsible for the concrete work of implementing the special policies and flexible measures adopted by the state. When Jiang Zemin assumed the top leadership positions of the Communist Party and the People's Republic of China, the country faced a complex situation, with external pressures and internal difficulties. He then organized the elaboration of a series of measures designed to stabilize the situation and promote reform and development.