On the afternoon of May 19, Chen Liang, Secretary of the Party Committee, delivered a lecture on “Situation and Policy” to students from the 2025 cohort majoring in Data Science and Big Data Technology and Physics. The lecture was titled “Consolidating Foundations and Making All-round Efforts: Advancing Chinese Modernization Continuously by Seizing Opportunities”.

During the class, Chen Liang systematically reviewed the development trajectory spanning over 70 years from the First Five-Year Plan to the proposed 15th Five-Year Plan, covering three dimensions: the continuous advancement of socialist modernization through 14 Five-Year Plans, the distinctive features of formulating and implementing such plans, and this unique practice in the global history of modernization. Drawing on the urban red memories and practical stories of Shijiazhuang’s transformation carried by the Shijiazhuang Liberation Memorial Hall and the “Zhiyin 1953” cultural block, he walked students through the journey from laying the industrial foundation in the period of socialist revolution and construction, to achieving leapfrog growth in total economic output after reform and opening-up, and then to building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in the new era and embarking on the new journey toward the rejuvenation of a strong country. He clearly explained how Five-Year Plans have guided China’s great leap from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong. Chen Liang noted that under the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, China’s Five-Year Plans have evolved from the initial “National Economic Development Plan” to the current “National Economic and Social Development Plan”, with increasingly scientific positioning, richer content and more standardized procedures. This fully demonstrates the macro, strategic and guiding nature of planning under the socialist market economy, and represents a valuable experience and key political strength of the Party in governing the country.

Chen Liang stressed that the 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical stage for consolidating China’s development foundation and advancing Chinese modernization in an all-round way, as well as a prime time for young students to deepen their professional expertise, hone their capabilities and make contributions. He encouraged young students to grasp the historical, theoretical and practical logic embedded in the Five-Year Plans, anchor themselves to the overall trend of national development, clarify their life direction, integrate personal ideals into the broader picture of national development and national rejuvenation, and contribute youth, wisdom and strength to striving for the goals of the 15th Five-Year Plan and advancing Chinese modernization.

(Contributor: School of Marxism; Writer: Zhang Guofei)