Theory of Three Represents
Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee of the CPC, which was held in Beijing, June 23-24, 1989, Chinese Communists, with Jiang Zemin as their chief representative, had accumulated new, valuable experience in running the Party and the state in the course of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. They acquired a deeper understanding of what socialism is and how to build it, as well as what kind of Party to build and how to build it.
Jiang Zemin spoke of the requirements of “three represents” of Party members when inspecting Guangdong Province in February 2000, which aroused strong response from Party members and the general public at home and abroad. He elaborated on the basic contents of the Theory of Three Represents at the meeting celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in July 2001. The 16th CPC National Congress held in November 2002 established the Theory of Three Represents, together with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, as the guiding thought that the CPC must follow for a long time to come.
The essence of the Theory of Three Represents is that the CPC must always represent the development trend of China’s advanced productive forces, the orientation of China’s advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.
“三个代表”重要思想
中共十三届四中全会（1989年6月23日至24日在北京召开）以来，以江泽民同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，在建设中国特色社会主义的实践中，加深了对什么是社会主义、怎样建设社会主义和建设什么样的党、怎样建设党的认识，积累了治党治国新的宝贵经验。2000年2月，江泽民在广东考察期间提出“三个代表”要求，在党内外、国内外引起强烈反响。2001年7月，江泽民代表党中央在庆祝建党80周年大会上发表重要讲话，系统阐述“三个代表”重要思想的科学内涵和基本内容。2002年11月党的十六大把“三个代表”重要思想同马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想、邓小平理论一道确立为党必须长期坚持的指导思想。“三个代表”重要思想的核心内容是：中国共产党必须始终代表中国先进生产力的发展要求，代表中国先进文化的前进方向，代表中国最广大人民的根本利益。
