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Yuanyue Dang

The release of a new set of stamps and a book serialisation in a Communist Party newspaper are two of the early signs that China is preparing to mark the 120th anniversary of the birth of late leader Deng Xiaoping.
The anniversary falls on August 22 but Beijing has yet to announce details of the leadership’s plans for the event.
However, just as he did a decade ago, President Xi Jinping is expected to give a speech to honour the late paramount leader known as the chief architect of reform and opening up.
Deng died in 1997 aged 92, and China holds a major event every 10 years to commemorate his birth.


The State Post Bureau said on Monday that it would issue two new commemorative stamps, and last week Jiefang Daily, the official newspaper of the party’s Shanghai branch, began serialising a book about Deng’s experience during the Cultural Revolution.
The book, first published in 2014, describes the latter part of the decade of political turmoil from 1966 when Deng rose again after being demoted and sidelined by political enemies. The party often uses this period of ups and downs in Deng’s career to highlight his resilience and strong faith in serving the country.
Other publishers have also been at work on Deng-themed releases timed for the anniversary.
The Institute of Party History and Literature, which publishes material for party leaders, launched a book last month called Deng Xiaoping’s Reform Ideas and their Practical Significance.
The institute said the book was to “help party members and cadres understand the historical process of reform and opening up, and comprehensively deepen reforms on the new journey”.
Also last month, two publishers in the eastern province of Jiangxi announced the publication of a non-fiction book about Deng and his time in exile there during the Cultural Revolution. The book was written by Zhu Hong, a former vice-governor of Jiangxi.
Producers of a 2022 film based on a similar theme said on Saturday that they hoped to re-release the production.


The anniversary preparations come at a difficult time for Beijing, with the country facing multiple challenges, including a weak domestic economic recovery and growing competition with the United States.
At the third plenum, a key party meeting last month to set the country’s midterm economic direction, the top leadership announced more than 300 reform measures to boost China’s struggling economy.
To mark the start of the gathering, state news agency Xinhua published a lengthy opinion piece hailing Xi as a great “reformer” on a par with Deng.
Deng has long been regarded as the pioneer of China’s rapid economic growth. He broke the constraints of a tightly controlled planned economy after the end of the Cultural Revolution, which emphasised class struggle, and transformed China into a potential superpower.
The commemorations for Deng – and other leaders such as Mao Zedong – are a chance for today’s leaders to reflect on the legacy of their predecessors and to consider the way forward.
In his 2014 speech, Xi hailed Deng’s contributions to the party and the people as “historic and worldwide” and insisted that China would follow its own path.
“We should learn with an open mind what is useful and good in other countries. But we should not copy everything from abroad, let alone accept what is bad,” Xi said.


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Late Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping is known as the country’s chief architect of reform and opening up. Photo: Simon Song

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Xi Jinping is being hailed in state media as a “true reformer” on par with Deng Xiaoping. Photo: EPA-EFE

Deng Xiaoping is widely seen as the father of the greatest economic reform programme in modern history. Photo: Getty Images

Xi pictured with a visiting American delegation including business representatives earlier this year. Photo: Xinhua

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Deng Xiaoping’s daughter Deng Nan points out the sights of Shenzhen’s  Splendid China Folk Village theme park to her father during his 1992 Southern Tour. Photo: AP

Daughter Nan points out the sights to Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen during his famous, “Imperial Tour” of the south. 1992. Photo: Associated Press

Deng Xiaoping’s daughter Deng Nan points out the sights of Shenzhen’s  Splendid China Folk Village theme park to her father, China’s leader at the time, during his 1992 Southern Tour. Photo: AP

An aerial view of Shenzhen in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Deng with his daughter Deng Rong (to his right), grandson (to his left) and wife (second left) during his 1992 visit to Shenzhen. Photo: Xinhua

A portrait of Deng Xiaoping, in Shenzhen, circa 1996. Photo: Getty Images

A Shenzhen factory produces Cabbage Patch Kids dolls for the US market in 1983. Photo: Getty Images

A painting of Deng Xiaoping planting a tree with children hangs in Shenzhen City Hall for the 15th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, on August 22, 1995. Photo: Tony Aw

A poster of Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen in 1993. Photo: Getty Images

The cover of The Southern Tour, by Jonathan Chatwin. Photo: Bloomsbury Publishing

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Deng Xiaoping is remembered as the architect of China’s opening up policy. Photo: Sam Tsang

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News

China

Politics

Beijing has not said how leaders will mark the anniversary but it will be a chance for them to think about the past and a way forward


Beijing has not said how leaders will mark the anniversary but it will be a chance for them to think about the past and a way forward.


Deng Xiaoping