President Xi Jinping is visiting Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan to improve ties with Central and Eastern Europe. (Photo : Getty Images)
President Xi Jinping, who also stands as the Communist Party chief, highlights the benefit of Marxism in the progress of China and the development of communist orthodoxy in a Beijing seminar on May 17.
The seminar was graced by the country's leading scholars in the fields of social sciences and philosophy. Chiefs of party propaganda also attended the seminar.
In front of some of the brightest minds of the nation, Xi expressed his desire to see further improvement in the theory of Marxism in line with the country's progress.
Furthermore, Xi believes that there is a need to develop a system of social sciences and philosophy that emphasizes Chinese characteristics which can be applied to the social practices of China. He said that the social changes that are happening across mainland China would pave the way for the advancement of social sciences and philosophy.
"Marxism . . . does not end the truth, but opens the door and paves the way to reach the truth," said Xi, who believes that scientific development of the Marxist theory must be further enriched.
His aspiration for the academics to create a new system as an upgrade to Marxism continues as he described it as "modern Chinese Marxism."
Xi also stated that the system should exhibit a balance between the classic concepts of Marxism and the present-day conditions China is facing.
On the other hand, political analysts criticized Xi's recurring attempt to encourage Marxist orthodoxy in the mainland. They believe that Xi truly wants to foster his own political ideologies and uses Marxism to form his legacy, instead of a simple facade to go back to Marxism convention.
South China Morning Post reported that Xi strongly promotes Marxism more than what the previous Communist Party chiefs did. After being declared as president, Xi led three Politburo sessions and other round tables in order to uphold the Marxist ideology.
