Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee

Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee. It was a landmark meeting of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held in Beijing from December 18 to 22, 1978. This plenum is widely regarded as the decisive turning point that initiated the Reform and opening-up era, moving the country away from the ideological fervor of the Cultural Revolution. It marked the consolidation of power under Deng Xiaoping and set China on a new path of economic modernization and pragmatic governance.

Background and Context

The session convened in the complex aftermath of the Cultural Revolution and the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. The arrest of the Gang of Four had ended a period of radical leadership, but the political direction of China remained uncertain amidst a struggle between Hua Guofeng's "Two Whatevers" policy and reformers led by Deng Xiaoping. Prior to the plenum, the Democracy Wall movement in Beijing and seminal debates like the Truth criterion debate in the People's Daily had created intellectual momentum for change. The economic situation, still reeling from the policies of the Great Leap Forward, necessitated a fundamental re-evaluation of the Planned economy system, creating a pivotal moment for a major policy shift.

Key Decisions and Policies

The plenum formally abandoned the slogan "taking class struggle as the key link," a central tenet since the Eighth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, and re-centered the Party's work on Socialist modernization. It endorsed the experimental Household responsibility system in agriculture, which would dismantle the People's commune system. The meeting called for strengthening socialist democracy and the Legal system of China, and it rehabilitated numerous veteran party leaders purged during the Cultural Revolution, including Peng Dehuai and Tao Zhu. It also established the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to address party corruption and discipline.

Significance and Impact

The session's significance is monumental, as it effectively closed the Mao Zedong era and inaugurated the decades-long Deng Xiaoping Theory period. It provided the political mandate for sweeping economic reforms that would lead to the creation of Special Economic Zones like Shenzhen and the integration of China into the global economy through institutions like the World Trade Organization. The shift in focus unleashed unprecedented economic growth, transforming China's Gross domestic product and its role in international affairs, while setting the framework for subsequent policies under leaders like Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.

Attendees and Proceedings

Key attendees included Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, Hu Yaobang, and Ye Jianying, whose collective influence outweighed that of Hua Guofeng. The proceedings were carefully managed by the reformist faction, with critical preparatory work done at the Central Work Conference immediately preceding the plenum. Speeches by Deng Xiaoping, later published as "**Emancipate the Mind, Seek Truth from Facts, Unite as One in Looking to the Future**," set the ideological tone. The election of Chen Yun as a Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party member and the appointment of Hu Yaobang as Secretary-General of the Chinese Communist Party were crucial organizational outcomes that solidified the reformers' control.

Historical Legacy

The plenum is enshrined in official historiography as the beginning of the "new period" of reform, consistently celebrated by the Chinese Communist Party as its foundational moment. It established a precedent for legitimizing policy through Plenary session decisions, a model used for major initiatives like the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee. The meeting's legacy is inextricably linked to Deng Xiaoping's status as the "architect" of modern China and continues to be invoked to justify the Party's focus on economic development and stability, as seen in the policies of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Category:Chinese Communist Party plenary sessions Category:1978 in China Category:History of the People's Republic of China