Ensuring Both Development and Security: Evolutionary Logic and Contemporary Values

China has always placed great importance on the relationship between development and security. Since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, China has been modifying its approach to security and development to keep pace with domestic and international changes. It has gone through three periods in terms of its approach to development and security—prioritizing security before the launch of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, prioritizing development between 1978 and the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC), and gradually enhancing both these two imperatives after the 18th CPC National Congress. Currently, with the once-in-a-century global changes and the increase in traditional and non-traditional security threats, China is confronted with unprecedented external challenges. However, its capability to preserve national security still needs improvement. Based on a clear understanding of the situation, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has proposed a holistic approach to national security, highlighting “ensuring both development and security” as a guideline for China’s socio-economic development and a major principle underlying the CPC’s governance. Thus, it provides guidance, both in theory and in practice, for pursuing the path of national security with Chinese characteristics.

Ensuring Both Development and Security:Theoretical Construction and Practical Achievements

The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC)stressed that,to further deepen reform,we must adhere to systematic thinking and properly handle the relationship between development and security;furthermore,we must achieve positive interplay between high-quality development and high-level security to effectively ensure China's long-term stability.Ensuring both development and security is a major principle underlying the CPC's governance.This principle has been gradually established and enriched in the CPC's struggle to promote socio-economic development and safeguard national security.It is an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,encapsulating the worldview and methodology of the CPC's innovative theories in the new era and realizing the dialectical unity of political security and economic security,a people-centered development philosophy and a people-oriented security philosophy,the fundamental approaches to development and the fundamental requirements of security,high-quality development and high-level security,and maintaining the initiative for development and enhancing security preparedness.Since the 18th CPC National Congress,the principle of ensuring both development and security has demonstrated great strength in guiding our thinking and promoting practical creativity,showing that the CPC's understanding of the dialectical relationship between development and security and its capacity to enhance security through development and ensure development through security have reached new heights.