The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) points out that problems are the voice of the times and answering the problems and guiding the solutions are the fundamental tasks of theory. To continue to promote theoretical innovation on the basis of practice and to write a new chapter in the modernization of Marxism in China, we should adhere to the problem orientation. Therefore, it is an inevitable requirement for the implementation of the spirit of the 20 National Congress of the CPC to engage in intellectual enquiry with respect to meta-jurisprudence, on the basis of which to build an academic system of legal science with Chinese characteristics. The problems of metajurisprudence mainly include two categories: one concerns ideological resources, ie. what are the ideological resources that shape the orientation, foresight and preference of legal scholars; the other involves the analytic framework, ie. how to distinguish the types of legal issues, complete the system construction, determine the methods of argumentation, and put forward valid arguments. Only by starting from the problems of meta-jurisprudence and adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, by combining China's specific rule of law practice with its traditional legal culture, and by learning from international experience, can the mission of building an academic system of legal science with Chinese characteristics be successfully completed.

Over the past ten years in the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we have experienced three major events of great and profound significance, secured historic achievements and seen historic changes. The great achievements of the new era have come from the collective dedication and hard work of the Party and the people, with the most fundamental reasons being the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Through great changes over the past ten years in the new era, we have accumulated valuable experience, which is a milestone in the history of the Party, the history of new China, the history of reform and openingup, the history of socialist development, and the history of the development of the Chinese nation.

To understand the profound connotation of “the right path of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times”, we should first acknowledge Marxism as a scientific system of thought that equips us with a scientific worldview and methodology, which constitutes the theoretical foundation of “the right path of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times”. It is a reasonable innovation based on “upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground”. Marxism that has been adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times is a theoretical innovation of Marxism based on the concept of “spacetime”, and the development of its historical social practices is the realistic foundation that explains why “adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times” is “the right path”. The reason why “adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our times” works is inseparable from the “competence” of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The leadership of the CPC is the fundamental reason why Marxism is able to be adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times, and it is also the main force that drives the social development. Only by relying on the leadership of the CPC can Marxism that has been adapted to the Chinese context and the needs of our times fully demonstrate its theoretical energy of “explaining the world” and “changing the world”.

Since the reform and openingup, China has seized the “opportunity of the times” and achieved leapfrog development in the positive interactions between its own modernization and the world modernization, which has realized a huge leap forward along the course of its socialist modernization and made historic contributions to the world modernization. The great role of world modernization in promoting the Chinese modernization is shown in the following aspects: boosting the growth of China's total values of imports and exports; enhancing the adaptive capacity of its economy to the market economy; promoting the upgrading of its industrial structure; and facilitating the cultivation of human capital which is needed in the course of modernization. The takeoff of the Chinese modernization has also made significant contributions to the world modernization: being the most important engine for world economic development; contributing to the modernization of developing countries; strengthening the resilience of the international community to cope with common social risks; and making significant contributions to world peace. Whilst not always smoothsailing, the positive interactions between the Chinese modernization and the world modernization are affected adversely by unfavorable international factors. To deal with these challenges, a robust solution for China should be to run our own affairs well and move toward greater modernization.

The theories of Ping Xin and Zhang Wentian are the original contribution of Chinese scholars to the study of historical materialism after Mao Zedong. By analyzing the internal contradictions of productive forces and production relations, they deepen their understanding of the principles of historical materialism from two different perspectives. Ping Xin points out that the contradiction between the material and technical attributes and the social attributes of the productive forces is the driving force for their selfdevelopment; the development of the productive forces can only be promoted if the production relations are compatible with the development laws of the productive forces. Zhang Wentian distinguishes between the general and special relations of production relations, and believes that the contradiction between the productive forces and the relations of production must be transformed into the contradiction within the relations of production. The thoughts of Ping Xin and Zhang Wentian are highly complementary and can be incorporated into a more comprehensive theoretical framework to explain the institutional changes in contemporary China including the reform and openingup.

the Communist Party of China; the concept of the “people”; historical politics

The social members‘ identification of the advantages of the socialism with Chinese characteristics is a dynamic process of affirming the efficiency of state governance. The material, spiritual, digital, behavioral and comparative forms of state governance efficiency constitute the realistic basis for the identification of institutional advantages. On the basis of the objective existence of state governance efficiency, the identification of institutional advantages requires the sustainability, ie. the stable maintenance, of the efficiency of state governance in a considerable period of time. During this period, the historical inevitability of state governance efficiency gradually emerges；members of society are convinced of the real existence of state governance efficiency, and then recognize the institutional advantages. To construct the identity of the advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we should take state governance efficiency as a foothold, guide members of society to give due attention to the sustainability of state governance efficiency, integrate the logic of historical inevitability into the narrative of state governance efficiency, and enhance social members’ rational identification of state governance efficiency. 

Class interest education is an important part of ideological and political education delivered to the proletariat and the broad masses of the people from Marx and Engelss perspectives. In the era of capitalism, interests have gradually become the premise of social principles and human ties, as outlined in the classic writings of Marx and Engels. With much elaboration, they explained the general opposition of interests in the society, and consequently, the struggles and conflicts between classes it leads to. They revealed how the proletariat should realize the fundamental interests of itself and the masses of the people and extensively and comprehensively be engaged in class interest education. Through investigating and sorting out these arguments, we can systematically and deeply grasp the historical premise, core essence and functional significance of class interest education as perceived by Marx and Engels, which facilitates the further analyses of the interest relations and the education of the masses to understand, grasp and seek their own fundamental interests in the light of the development of the times on a Marxist textual and theoretical basis.

General Secretary Xi Jinping made the remarks during a visit to Renmin University of China that “the essence of ideological and political education is to bring out the facts and reasons”, which has profound implications. The essence of ideological and political courses is to bring out the facts and reasons, which reflects the Party’s deep grasp of the nature of ideological and political education, its high confidence in the content of ideological and political education, and its full trust in teachers and young students in ideological and political courses, and also points out the fundamental direction of promoting the reform and innovation of ideological and political education in the new era. To promote the inclusive and highquality development of ideological and political education in the new era, we should focus on enhancing the quality of the instructional material system, consolidating academic research, integrating social practices, and innovating teaching methods. We should explain the Chinese approach, the Chinese governance, the basis of China‘s strength,the principles that China follows, and the Chinese dream accurately, profoundly, thoroughly, and vigorously. We should scientifically answer the questions about China, the world, the people, the times, and the youth. We should educate and guide young students to strengthen their self-confidence, identify their comparative advantages, adhere to “putting the people first”, cultivate their theoretical thinking, and strive to be newcomers of the times.

As the labor process theory (LPT) has emphasized, control, consent and resistance during laborcapital games have always been very closely associated with the capitalist labor process. In the era of digital capitalism, digitized, networked and intellectualized production has given rise to dramatic changes in the labor process. Algorithmic control driven by big data has become a new form of capitalist labor control. Laborers have submerged in the selfexploitation of “I am the boss”, which has been acted as a new mechanism of capitalist “consent manufacturing”. The spatiotemporal fix of the digital labor has invented new ways of reshaping the subjectivity of labor and organizing labor resistance to capital in the digital era. We should deepen the understanding of regularity of the labor process of digital capitalism and scientifically investigate the new characteristics and trends of changes in contemporary capitalist laborcapital relations, which provide practical implications for promoting the sound development of China‘s digital economy and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of laborers in new forms of employment.

Mao Zedong’s theory of “Three Worlds” is a scientific conceptual contribution put forward in the context of the profound changes in the international pattern at that time, which has strongly promoted the evolution of the international pattern and the development of China’s international strategic concepts and practices. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has offered a profound insight into the changes in the world pattern and made an important conclusion that “the world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century” based on the overall strategy of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, which inherited and developed the theory of “Three Worlds”. An in-depth interpretation of the value of the theory of “Three Worlds” faced with the complex situation that involves global major changes can provide important practical implications: China‘s diplomacy in the new era should be conducted to further develop global partnerships, act out the winwin strategy that calls for cooperation and mutual benefit and promote an international united front for peace and development, provide more international public goods with the Belt and Road Initiative as the starting point, and work with the international community to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Henri Lefebvre regarded the urban society as an advanced form of human society after the agricultural society and industrial society. In the process of criticizing the modernization of capitalist cities, he constructed a three-dimensional theory of urban society: economically, abandoning the logic of capital and forming a space of difference; politically, safeguarding urban rights and seeking spatial justice; and culturally, overcoming the alienation of individuals and moving towards the“totaler Menschen”. On the new journey towards building a socialist modernized country in an all-round way, China faces the issues of how to advance the construction of urban modernization and how to promote the development of urban society, for which Lefebvre’s theory of urban society provides important implications. We should explore development paths of urban space diversification with differentiated spaces, guarantee the demands of urban residents in all aspects with spatial justice, realize the all-round development of people that cultivates the “totaler Menschen”, and improve the level of urban modernization through digital empowerment.

The internal relationship between space and capital has always been an important starting point for academics to explore Lefebvre’s and Marx‘s theories of space. Previous studies have focused too much on the homogeneity between Lefebvre‘s and Marx’s theories of space, while to a certain extent ignoring their heterogeneity. From the perspective of heterogeneity, this paper reveals the generating logic of Lefebvre‘s and Marx‘s theories of space, and then explores their ideological contexts and theoretical prospects. It is not difficult to find that the Marxist ideological system contains and develops rich and solid modern space theories. However, to analyze the homogeneity and heterogeneity between the two, we must return to the premise and elaborate the specific connotation of Lefebvre’s theory of production of space, and then clarify the boundary between Lefebvre’s theory and Marx‘s account of space. Therefore, based on the specific connotation of the theory of production of space, this paper reveals that there is obvious heterogeneity between the two at least in three aspects:the narrative form, construction form and power structure of space, thereby presenting a heterogeneous space discourse different from that derived from the homogeneous approach.