II. The CPC Led the People to Become Masters of the State     

The CPC's leading status was established gradually in the protracted struggle and practice of the Chinese people in pursuingnational independence, prosperity and a happy life. It was a choice made by history and by the people. The Chinese revolution, construction and reform have demonstrated to the world that it wasthe CPC that led the Chinese people to find the correct road to win national independence and liberation. It was the CPC that led the Chinese people to find the correct road to build China into a prosperous, democratic and civilized modern country. It is precisely because of this historical reason that the CPC's leadingstatus is clearly described in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China.

Today, the CPC's leadership and rule in China is an objective requirement of the country's development and progress.

-- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for promoting socialist modernization and realizing great national rejuvenation.It has been the aspiration and dream for the Chinese people to ridtheir country of its poor and backward outlook, and realize modernization and national rejuvenation over the past 100 years. Under the leadership of the CPC, after making a range of explorations and efforts over the past 56 years since the foundingof New China, China has cast off its former state of abject poverty. Productivity has grown rapidly, overall national strengthhas increased greatly and people's life has improved markedly. China's international status has been elevated, and its international influence is increasing day by day. Especially in the 26 years since the initiation of the reform and opening-up policies, China has created an economic miracle -- its GDP has been increasing at an average annual rate of 9.4 percent, and the general living standard of the 1.3 billion Chinese people has, in general, reached the moderately well-off level. It is the unswerving choice of the Chinese people to march toward the goal of prosperous, democratic, civilized socialist modernization underthe leadership of the CPC.

-- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for safeguarding China's unification and keeping Chinese society harmonious and stable. History has proved time and again that, without the unification of the country and social stability, there will be no prosperity for the country, and the people will not be able to live and work in peace and contentment. Foreign invasions, warlordrampages and political turmoil brought disaster after disaster to contemporary China. That period of history left an indelible impression on the memory of the Chinese people. The unification and stability of China is a blessing for the Chinese people. It isalso in keeping with the interests of the people of all other countries in the world. To safeguard the country's unification andsocial stability has always been a matter of paramount importance at which the people of all ethnic groups in China are most concerned. The CPC is the faithful representative of the fundamental interests of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. Guided by scientific theories, with the support of nearly 3,500,000 Party organizations and 69,600,000 Party members and based on its rich experience in exercising state power and its capability in controlling the overall situation, the CPC has been planning as a whole social and economic development and making efforts to build a harmonious socialist society to safeguard the country's unification as well as social harmony and stability.

-- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for making the statepower stable. China is a vast country with a large population. There are great disparities in terms of development between urban and rural areas, and between different regions. It is of unusual significance for China to have a stable state power. Only then canChina concentrate on construction and development, and only then can the country's development strategy and goal of modernization be pursued for a long time and through to the end. Only then can all kinds of unnecessary and unwanted internal political strife beminimized, all positive factors be exploited to the full, and all resources, strength and wisdom be pooled to tackle major problems that have a bearing on the nation's economy and the people's livelihood, and to ensure sustainable social and economic development.

-- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for uniting hundredsof millions of people to work in concerted efforts in building a beautiful future. In Old China, the society was disunited, like a heap of loose sand. That was a painful experience for the Chinese people. In a big country like China, with such a large population and where things are complicated, if there had not been a strong political core and if there had not been a lofty goal that can unite the people of all ethnic groups in their common struggle, the country would have disintegrated easily, and it would have been impossible for China to develop and make progress. Experiencehas shown that, in China, it is the CPC that unites the Chinese people, gives full play to their enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, and has them engage, heart and soul, in the common struggle for their common interests, common cause, common ideal and a better future for China.

-- The CPC's leadership and rule is, in essence, to lead, support and ensure that the people are the masters of the state. All power in the PRC belongs to the people. This is a fundamental principle for building political democracy in China. It is also anessential requirement of the CPC's leadership and exercise of state power. In China, the CPC leads and supports the people to bethe masters of the state and ensures its realization. This provides an institutional and legal guarantee that the fundamentalprinciple, that is, all power in the PRC belongs to the people, isfully and thoroughly implemented and embodied in every aspect of national and social activities. The CPC has led the people to formulate the Constitution and laws. It takes the lead in observing and safeguarding the Constitution and laws, and combats resolutely all activities that violate the Constitution and laws.

The following specific forms explain how the CPC leads and supports the people to be the masters of the state, and ensures its realization: First, it provides leadership to the people in wielding state power through the people's congress system. In thisway, it ensures that the laws, guiding principles and policies formulated by the state reflect the common will of the people and protect their fundamental interests, and guarantees that the people become the masters of the state. Second, it leads the people to manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakingsand social affairs by abiding by the Constitution and the provisions of the laws and through various channels and in different forms, so as to ensure that the development of all undertakings of the state is in line with the people's wishes, interests and demands. Third, it leads the people to practice grassroots democracy and manage their own affairs in accordance with the law, so as to enable them to exercise self-management, self-education and self-service through democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision. Fourth, it leads the people to strictly observe the principle that all citizens are equal before the law, so as to enable the citizens to enjoy widespread freedom and rights as prescribed in the law as well as in practice, respect and protect human rights, and safeguard fairness and justice. These institutional and legal guarantees ensure that the people are the masters of the country, and they can use their own public rights and all rights of citizenship to safeguard and realize their own interests.