New Approaches of Beijing to the Historiography of People’s Republic of China and Communist Party of China: ‘Rectification of Names’ during Xi Jinping Era

Abstract

The article analyzes the trends in China’s political discourse on the eve of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (autumn 2022) regarding the official historiography of the last hundred years. The conclusion is made that to strengthen Xi Jinping’s position as a national leader, (which includes the legitimacy of extending his mandate for more than two five-year terms), the period of “Reforms and Opening Policy (1980–2010s)” had been thoroughly reconsidered. At the same time, the official rhetoric reinforces nationalist motives, devalues the positive impact of foreign assistance in previous decades, emphasizes the unprecedented challenges China is currently facing and the efficiency with which the current leadership led by Xi Jinping is coping with them. The key document that captured these trends was the so-called “historic resolution” of the 6th plenum of the 19th CPC Central Committee (November 2021), the analysis of which is central to the article. The authors argue the historiographic assessments put forward in the document will determine China's perception of Party history for at least the coming decade. Given the new approaches to recent history, the entire period, which commenced in 2012 should be now called “Xi Jinping Era” or the “New Era,” (xin shidai), which will thus be distinguished from the preceding “Period of Reforms and Opening”.