Inheritance: The Long March of the New Era

BEIJING, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- An interview from China.org.cn with Wang Xiaohui and David Ferguson on the Long March:

Wang Xiaohui:

The Long March went on for two years. The Red Army trekked 25,000 li across some of China's harshest terrain, but they kept their heads high, seeking hope amid despair and marching towards light through unending darkness. Do you think the Long March has ended? Why are people still talking about it 90 years later?

David Ferguson:

China's history records that the reunion of the three main forces of the Red Army at Huining and Jiangtaibu brought an end to the Long March. If you see the Long March purely as a military campaign, then yes, it did end there. But if you see the Long March as a spirit, then it has never truly come to an end.

We often speak of the "new Long March" today. What began as a simple metaphor has grown into a faithful portrait of how Long March spirit echoes through every facet of contemporary China. Here I have some stories to illustrate this.

"If we can make this work, I believe the Party will judge us based on facts." On a chilly night in 1978, Yan Hongchang, deputy head of the Xiaogang Village production team, said this to his fellow villagers. That night, Yan and 17 other farmers huddled inside an earth farmhouse and pressed their fingerprints on a secret contract to divide collective farmland among individual households. At that time, the act carried immense risks, and no one could foresee the consequences it would bring. The following year, they each harvested enough to sustain a household for five years, ending more than two decades of reliance on reliefs. The household contract responsibility system proved a resounding success. The spark ignited in Xiaogang Village soon blazed into a nationwide rural reform campaign. In 1982, the CPC Central Committee issued the first "No. 1 Central Document" on rural work, clarifying that the household contract responsibility system was a legitimate system under socialist collective economy, a framework that endures to this day.

Around the same time as Xiaogang's bold experiment, a blast broke ground at Shekou, Shenzhen — the construction of the China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone kicked off, sounding the opening salvo of China's reform and opening up drive. Yuan Geng, the zone's director who was already in his sixties, erected a sign bearing the slogan "Time is money, efficiency is life," which sparked heated controversy at the time. Yet the sign was never replaced, standing witness to countless bold, once-unimaginable reforms taking shape. Shenzhen grew into a pioneer of experimental reforms, and the special economic zones delivered miracles of economic take-off.

China has developed rapidly in the decades since reform and opening up. Rural residents had enough to eat and keep warm, and the countryside became a rock-solid guarantee for the whole country's food security, while agricultural modernization advanced by leaps and bounds. Supported by robust agricultural development, China completed an industrialization journey in mere decades that took Western developed countries centuries, yielding universally recognized social and economic achievements.

A secret pact and a groundbreaking blast wrote the opening chapter of China's modern development. Tracing back to their spiritual roots, every milestone along this magnificent journey rests on the same truth-seeking spirit forged by the CPC during the Long March.

On June 23, 2020, the serenity over Xichang in southwestern China's Sichuan Province was shattered by a thunderous roar. A Long March-3B carrier rocket soared aloft in blazing flames, lifting the 55th and final satellite of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System into orbit.

All of China's carrier rockets bear the unified name "Long March." Decades ago, Red Army soldiers wearing straw sandals crossed snow-capped mountains and marshlands on a life-or-death journey that shaped the fate of the Chinese nation. Today, China's aerospace trailblazers carry the "Long March" banner into the boundless cosmos, embarking on another expedition. The core spirit of confronting hardships head-on and refusing to surrender has resonated from earth to space.

The BeiDou Navigation System secured China its own place on the world's navigation map; Chang'e-6 has extended humanity's reach to the far side of the Moon; the C919, China's homegrown large passenger aircraft, soars into the skies; breakthroughs keep emerging in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology. On this new Long March, China surmounts obstacles and new frontiers of innovation — just as the Red Army once pressed forward unflinchingly against overwhelming odds to claim victory on the Long March.

Having blazed its own unique path of development, China also shares the development wisdom and spiritual strength forged on the Long March with the wider world.

Outcomes under the Global Development Initiative bear tangible fruit: From civilian water wells and cross-border railways across Africa to Luban Workshops that provide vocational training in many countries around the world, China adheres to the philosophy of "teaching others how to fish," letting the partner nations take the initiative to independently pursue growth paths suited to their national realities.

Taking lead in acting on the Global Security Initiative, China is the largest contributor of UN peacekeeping personnel among all permanent members of the UN Security Council, protecting civilians in the conflict zones worldwide.

The Global Civilization Initiative dismantles the biased "clash of civilizations" rhetoric, encouraging civilizations to nourish one another through communication and mutual learning.

The Global Governance Initiative advocates a simple yet important principle: Global affairs should be discussed and handled through broad consultation. Standing firmly on the right side of history, China has worked to steer global governance towards a fairer and more equitable order.

These four global initiatives are vivid practice of the Communist Party of China's vision of building a shared future with the world, and a contemporary extension of the Long March spirit. China never imposes its own development models on others; it only upholds down-to-earth exploration tailored to local realities. China rejects zero-sum calculations in favor of cooperation based on goodwill and shared progress. Through its own development, the country brings benefits to the rest of the world, honoring its founding aspiration to advance human progress and build a better future for all.

David Ferguson:

These stories make me think.

In a socialist country like China, how do you develop a market economy? How do you achieve reform and opening up? In a country as vast and complex as China, how do you raise every single individual out of absolute poverty? In the face of technological pain points and the challenges of development, how do you find a way forward? On a global scale, how do we confront the challenges facing all of humanity?

In a way, these questions are no different to the questions faced by the Red Army on the Long March. There were no ready-made answers then and there are no ready-made answers now.

Under the leadership of the CPC, China is in the process of finding its answers to these questions. And in so doing, it has embarked on a new Long March for a new era.

Wang Xiaohui:

This new Long March was never a journey taken in isolation. As China carved out its own development path, the faith and fortitude tempered amid snow peaks and marshlands have crossed national borders, delivering Chinese insights into coping with the shared challenges facing humanity.

Only those who embrace the world can truly go the distance. Born from a trek of 25,000 li, the spirit of the Long March is no longer merely China's spiritual treasure — it also speaks to a universal pursuit — humanity's courage to seek truth, overcome adversity, and advance together in solidarity.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm 

Inheritance: The Long March of the New Era
http://www.china.org.cn/2026-10/21/content_118743527.shtml 

SOURCE China.org.cn