Transformation of the Historical Positioning of the Reform and Opening-up Era in the CCP's Ideology under Xi Jinping

Abstract

The object of the research is the change in the image of the Reform and Opening-up Era in the historiography of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Xi Jinping. The goal is to trace the transformation of the historical positioning of the reform period in the context of Xi Jinping's announcement of a "New Era" in the history of the PRC and to identify aspects of continuity and break points between the two stages of the country's history. The most representative texts were selected as sources: speeches of party leaders on the occasion of the round anniversary of the start of the Policy of reforms and openness in 1998, 2008 and 2018 and the 2021 "Resolution of the CCP Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century". The research method is qualitative content analysis. The novelty of the work lies in the consideration of issues that have not yet received proper coverage either in domestic or foreign science. The studies currently available on the topic of the change in the CCP’s approaches to its own historiography after the adoption of the “historic resolution” in 2021 are mainly publicistic in nature. The author comes to the conclusion that the proclamation of a "New Era" means the end of the period of reforms and openness, which the PRC entered in 1978 following the results of the 3rd plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee. The related changes in party politics are indicated.