The living soul of Mao Zedong Thought is the standpoint, perspective and methods that thread the process and include three basic aspects: seeking truth from facts, mass line or from the people and for the people, and independence. The three aspects are of great value and guide our work even today.

Seeking truth from facts has become the basic method of the Party's work and leadership. Reality is the base of all our work that demands a close link with theories, and the truth has to be examined and developed in practice.

Seeking truth from facts requires our clear understanding that China is and will be in the primary stage of socialism for a long time; this is the greatest fact we should always bear in mind and make decisions accordingly.

Seeking truth from facts ensures that we selflessly, fearlessly and honestly correct our faults, and improve our work style and efficiency according to the objective laws of the times to better serve the people.

Seeking truth from facts requires us to make theoretical innovation from continuous practice to further develop Marxism according to China's national conditions, which can help us solve various foreseeable and unpredictable challenges and risks in deepening reforms.

The mass line is the Party's lifeline and fundamental route of work. It is a legacy of the founding fathers and the secret to maintaining the Party's vitality and combat capabilities. The CPC has always been and will always be obligated to do everything in the interests of the masses and rely on the masses for its strength.

Adherence to the mass line is to confirm that people are the ultimate force in deciding the future and fate of the Party and the nation, and to arouse people's enthusiasm and initiative by any means. Just as Mao said, with the country's destiny placed in the hands of people, China will emerge like a rising sun in the east and shine on every corner of the world.

Adherence to the mass line is to follow the tenet of serving the people wholeheartedly, and this is the starting point in all our Party's work. Whether a move will bring real benefits to the people, improve people's livelihood and safeguard people's rights and interests remain supreme criteria for testing all our work.

Mao once compared Party members to seeds and the people to the soil. Wherever we go, we must unite with the people to take roots and blossom. Adherence to the mass line is to forge a Party-people relationship that is as close as flesh and blood, to empower the people to supervise the Party's work.

The Party's governance levels and effectiveness can never be subject to only self-assessment. It should be left to the supreme and ultimate judgment of the people.

An inevitable conclusion drawn from China's modern history is that we must uphold the principle of independence, and based on the country's realities, we must rely on the combined strength of the Party and the people in the cause of the revolution, nation building and reform.

The development of the Chinese nation has always rested and should always rest on the foundation of our own strength.

Independence is a tradition of the Chinese nation, an essential principle in the founding of the Party and New China. Chinese realities and the historical mission of advancing the cause of socialist revolution and construction in an Eastern country with a large population and a backward economy and culture determine that China must follow its own path, and follow it with a sense of dignity and self-confidence.

Adherence to independence means Chinese people becoming their own masters and managing the country's affairs. A ready development model that can be applied universally does not exist nor is there any development path that remains unchanged. Historical realities and development stages of different countries vary greatly, which determines that the development paths of different countries are different.

Adherence to independence is to unswervingly take the socialist road with Chinese characteristics, rejecting both the old and rigid path, and not abandoning socialism and not taking an erroneous path.

We must be politically more determined and confident of the country's development path, theories and institutions.

We must, in response to the changes in situations and missions, comprehensively deepen reform to constantly develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, constantly enrich the theoretical realm of Chinese characteristics and constantly improve the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.

We should not hesitate to draw on the achievements of other civilizations, but that does not mean we can forget our ancestry, succumb to external pressure and follow foreign models.

(China Daily 12/28/2013 page5)