Sinicization of Marxism

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The Sinicization of Marxism is the idea that Marxist theory should be adapted to China’s conditions, culture, and history. It is a guiding concept of the Chinese Communist Party.

Mao Zedong first spoke about blending Marxism with China’s reality in 1938, arguing that China should follow its own path. He also described a class-struggle strategy of encircling cities from the countryside and seizing power, a method Marx never proposed.

After Deng Xiaoping began reform and opening in 1978, Sinicization came to mean applying Marxism to China’s socialist market economy and the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Deng said Marxism must be combined with Chinese realities to be the genuine Marxism China needs.

In 2004, the CCP launched a Marxist theory project, and in 2015 Peking University hosted the World Congress of Marxism, highlighting China as a center of contemporary Marxist study.

In 2021, the sixth plenary session of the 19th CCP Central Committee stated that Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era represents a new leap in the Sinicization of Marxism. Many Chinese university textbooks describe the history of the Chinese Communist Party as the history of Sinicizing Marxism.