Beijing wants to fund Marxist studies, publications and research institutes to fill the current ideological vacuum. It dreams of becoming the beacon of Marxism in the world.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – China's Communist Party leaders have pledged "unlimited" funds for reviving Marxism on the mainland. Plans are expected to include some 100-200 yuan (10-20 million euros) earmarked for the publication of up to 150 textbooks on Marxism. Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao himself said at a politburo meeting in November of last year that Marxism was still good for the People's Republic of China.

According to Hong Kong's influential South China Morning Pos, the plan is to revitalise the party and turn China into the beacon for Marxist studies, this despite more than two decades of capitalist market reforms. Indeed, the country's Communist leaders always defined such reforms as "socialism Chinese-style" and have never given up on considering their regime as Communist. They continue to reject Western-style democracy and want to preserve the Communist Party's hold on society.

In the meantime however, Communist ideals have taken a serious beating and party members themselves suffer from an ideological vacuum. For many, the party has become a tool for personal gratifications and social welfare, whilst graft and corruption are spreading throughout the party's hierarchy.

Under these circumstances, the politburo decided to strengthen its Marxist foundations through research. Some 3,000 top Marxist theorists and academics from across the country are expected to take part in drafting 100 to 150 texts on Marxism, each one with contributions from 20 to 30 scholars at an expected cost of a million yuan (100,000 euros) per text.

The project should include massive investment of human and financial resources into research institutes, training more theorists and producing more academic papers.

Li Changchun, a member of the Politburo's Standing Committee and the party's chief official in charge of ideology, told a meeting of propaganda officials and theorists on Monday that the leadership saw the project as instrumental to solving various issues facing the country.

But this attempt to breathe new life into Marxism began already last year with the launching of the 'Marxism Theory Research and Construction Project'.

It also includes another multi-million yuan programme that would see a group of leading scholars brought together to produce about 100 works of global influence and translate them into several foreign languages.

There are also plans to produce new translations of foreign Marxist literature destined for the mainland.

To promote academic exchanges, the government has also approved funding for academic institutions to host several international seminars on Marxism in China itself. And the Academy of Marxism at Shanghai's Finance and Economics University has already begun; it will host an international seminar in the city on April 1. The newly established Academy of Marxism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a top central government think-tank, will host another event next year.

In China all university students are required to attend Marxism classes, including students registered at Catholic seminaries. Secondary school graduates are also required to pass a national examination on Marxism before university enrolment.

• china
• marxism
• revitalisation
• communist
• party
• ideological
• vacuum
• studies
• public
• funding