u/KimochiiiNe - originally from r/GenZhou
POLITICAL TRENDS

According to Xi Jinping and the current party consensus, there are four broad political trends in China today:

1. “Ultra-left”, which upholds the Mao era and Mao Zedong Thought but rejects the Deng Xiaoping era and the theoredical framework of Socialism with Chinese characteristics. This position must be “profoundly re-examined”.
2. “Left”, which upholds both the Mao and Deng eras, Mao Zedong Thought and SWCC. This position must be "strongly promoted".
3. “Right”, which rejects Mao and Mao Zedong Thought but upholds Deng Xiaoping and SWCC. This position must also be "profoundly re-examined".
4. “Ultra-right”, which rejects both the Mao and Deng eras, Mao Zedong Thought and SWCC. This position must be "firmly opposed".

Both Mao and Deng comitted leftist and rightist errors respectively. However, their overall contribution to Chinese socialism is immense and should be embraced. In line with this reality, critical tolerance must given to the Ultra-Leftist and the Rightist positions described above. But Ultra-Righists, seeking to “change allegiance” (capitalist restoration) are completely unnaceptable.

This position has been put into practice in party schools, common education, and party discipline. An example of this can be seen in the testimony of expelled former liberal-minded party members in this article of the Sydney Morning Herald:

Someone always loses in any political upheaval. In the rise of Xi, it’s the second-generation elite such as Cai and their families who have been either forced into silence, hiding or exile, leaving Xi unchallenged at the top of the CCP pyramid.

“These are people who have gone to Harvard or Yale, who speak excellent English, and they don’t like Xi.”

He says the combination of the Party as an ideological commitment and as a vehicle for professional promotion had left this group of potential Chinese leaders sidelined.

“These people are seeing their purpose torn up,” he says. “Xi Jinping doesn’t like that group of members, he likes true believers because he’s a true believer."

Essentially, Xi Jinping has focused on eliminating previously widespread graft and corruption as well as completely dismantling CIA networks within the party and state. He has also taken it upon himself to cleanse the party of liberalism, resumé hunters, historical nihilism towards party history, and western idolization; all of which were unfortunate conditions that developed during the Deng era, methastisyzing during the Jiang Zemin (and his Shanghai Clique), Hu Jintao administrations.

Nevertheless, in 2017 at the 19th CPC Congress, a third era in Chinese socialism was declared in accordance with the “Left” position presented above. The primary goals of this era are to assert party authority within the economy in order to carry out the technological, social, cultural and economic tasks necessary to completely lift China from a middle-income low complexity manufacturing export-dependent economy to a high-income, innovative and self-reliant/autarkik economy during the 2021-2035 period. In other words, China wants to be more like Germany or Japan with their large high-quality, high-tech and high-complexity manufacturing output instead of deindustrializing, financializing and outsourcing like the United States and Britain.

With China likely reaching the human development and gdp per capita levels of some southern european countries by 2035, and very possibly matching western/northern european countries in those terms by 2049, it has been confirmed that China will have thus completed the Primary Stage of Socialism and will ascend to the intermediate stage by 2049:

From the primary stage of socialism to the intermediate, and then the advanced stage, China is following a development process of constant evolution and constant strengthening. Currently in the “second half” of the primary stage of socialism, China has already developed important economic features that are usually found in an advanced economic entity, for example, innovation-driven growth, post-industrialization, green manufacturing and green energy; while also facing the challenges of an aging population and sub-replacement fertility. Furthermore, it has achieved modernization of the service industry, and informatization and digitization. These features reflect a situation in which development factors are becoming increasingly dominant, as underdevelopment factors decline.

as well as:

It now appears that we will achieve our goal to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2021, the year the Communist Party of China celebrates its centenary. By the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the PRC [2049], we will have achieved our goal of building China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.

After 2050, China will enter the intermediate stage of socialist development. The development theme will change from “common prosperity” to “common development,” with two main historical missions: (1) to turn China into a highly developed great modern socialist country (i.e. the third centenary goal) by 2078, the centenary of China’s reform and opening up; and (2) to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by the end of the century.

China’s third centenary goal can be described as a shift from “achieving common development” to “becoming highly developed.” The overarching objective is to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful in all respects, so as to lay a solid foundation with higher standards to enable the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

STAGES OF SOCIALISM

The best way to summarize the stages according to the current theoredical line of the CPC and the interpretation of Professor Cheng Enfu:

0th Stage or Socialist Construction Period

• Founding of the PRC (1949) to the end of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and the Boluan Fanzheng period (1977)
• Bloc of Four Classes, New Democracy
• People’s Democratic Dictatorship with Proletarian Leadership
• Basic institutions of the PRC built
• Basic Industrialization, urbanization, and infrastructure development
• Eradication of severe deprivation, doubling of life expetancy and other achievements
• Officially, this period is part of the primary stage but it’s generally talked about as being a separate era.

Primary Stage of Socialism

• Beginning of Reform and Opening Up (1978) until the 100th year of the founding of the PRC (2049)
  • Split into two sub-stages
    • 1978-2020 (Moderately Prosperous Society, eradication of absolute poverty)
    • 2021-2049 (Modern Prosperity, eradication of relative poverty and underdevelopment)
• Socialist Market Economy
  • Public Ownership in various forms primary; private ownership secondary.
  • Market-based distribution according to labor primary; according to capital secondary.
  • State-dominated Market Economy

Intermediate Stage of Socialism

• 100th year anniversary of the PRC until the ‘end of the century’.
  • Split into two-sub-stages
    • 2050-2078 (Highly Developed, centenary of Reform and Opening Up)
    • 2079-2100* (Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation by the ‘end of the century’)
• Socialist Market Economy 2.0 (no official name yet)
  • Multiple forms of social ownership (state, coop, joint-stock); no private ownership
  • Multiple types of commodity distribution according to labor (similar to Stalin’s elaboration)
  • State-dominated planned economy with secondary market adjustments
  • Although theorists have suggested leaping over the ‘intermediate’ stage and instead having a longer ‘advanced stage’ (theoredical developments are only set in stone once they have been voted on and approved in congresses and/or added to the party constitution)

Advanced/Final Stage of Socialism before Communism

• 2100*-???
  • No official speculation about the exact year but before the end of this century
• Fully Socialist Economy
  • Single Public Ownership by entire society
  • Product-based distribution according to labor (overcoming/abolition of the commodity form)
  • Completely Planned Economy

Communism

• Single public ownership by entire society
• Product-based distribution accoriding to need primary (distributon according to labor for new products in shorter supply)
• Completely Planned Economy

Hope this post helps clear up any doubts in regards to the current positions and theoredical discussions of the CPC.