Three Represents

The Three Represents or the important thought of Three Represents is a guiding socio-political theory credited to Jiang Zemin, which was ratified by the Communist Party of China at the Sixteenth Party Congress in 2002.The Three Represents defines the role of the Chinese Communist Party, and stresses that the Party must always represent the requirements for developing China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.[1][2] Jiang Zemin first introduced his theory on 25 February 2000 while on an inspection tour in Maoming, Guangdong province.

This experience and the historical experiences gained by the Party since its founding can be summarized as follows: Our Party must always represent the requirements for developing China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. These are the inexorable requirements for maintaining and developing socialism, and the logical conclusion our Party has reached through hard exploration and great praxis.[3]

A slogan in Futu, Hubei, which reads: "Practice the Thought of Three Represents, advance the reform on rural tax system", with the word "reform" (改革) blocked by a billboard.

The three constituent parts mentioned in the quote above are as follows:

  1. "advanced productive forces" meaning economic production
  2. "progressive course of China's advanced culture" meaning cultural development
  3. "the fundamental interests of the majority" meaning political consensus


The Three Represents, is Jiang Zemin's contribution to the party's ideology, was adopted by the party at the 16th National Congress. Certain segments within the CPC criticized the Three Represents as being un-Marxist and a betrayal of basic Marxist values. Supporters viewed it as a further development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.[4] Jiang disagreed with the assertion that his theories were not Marxist, and concluded that attaining the communist mode of production, as formulated by earlier communists, was more complex than had been realized, and that it was useless to try to force a change in the mode of production, as it had to develop naturally, by following the economic laws of history.[5] The theory is most notable for allowing capitalists, officially referred to as the "new social strata", to join the party on the grounds that they engaged in "honest labor and work" and through their labour contributed "to build[ing] socialism with Chinese characteristics."[6]

One of the main goals of the Three Represents is to change the Communist Party of China into a governmental and more democratic party. This opens up the Party to "the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people", as well as businessmen and managers. This makes for a party that is much more attractive for a greater number of people. The Theory of the Three Represents is another expansion to what the government of China would define as "allies". Over the years, the number of people that could in fact still be defined as "class enemies" kept reducing, seeing how the number of people that belonged to the "wavering middle" (people that were not allies, but could in fact not threaten the Party's regime) increased.

References
  1. Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Eng. ed., FLP, Beijing, 2013, Vol. III, p. 519.
  2. Chan 2003, p. 201.
  3. Selected Works of Jiang Zemin, Eng. ed., FLP, Beijing, 2013, Vol. III, p. 519.
  4. Kuhn 2011, pp. 108–109.
  5. Kuhn 2011, pp. 107–108.
  6. Kuhn 2011, p. 110.

Further reading
  • Kuhn, Robert Lawrence (2011). How China's Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China's Past, Current and Future Leaders. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1118104255.
  • On the “Three Represents”, a collection of speeches by Jiang Zemin
  • Lewis, John W.; Xue Litai (2003). "Social Change and Political Reform in China: Meeting the Challenge of Success" (PDF). The China Quarterly. 176 (176): 926–942. doi:10.1017/S0305741003000559. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2005.
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