The Value System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: Evolution and Structure

China’s growing role as a global leader, achieved as a result of the policy of reform and openness, actualizes the study of the internal value foundations of its success. The central place in this context is occupied by the concept of “Asian values”, which was proposed as a culturally sound alternative to the Western model of development. The purpose of the work is to analyze the structural components and evolution of the value system of Chinese society in the era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The implementation of the research objectives was achieved based on the analysis of a representative sample of sources, including program documents of the CPC congresses, as well as scientific publications by leading Russian and Chinese authors. The methodological potential includes the historical and genetic method (to study the stages of the evolution of the value system), structural and functional analysis (to identify its key components), comparative method (in the context of comparative analysis of the concept of values of Chinese culture with other value systems), as well as content analysis of scientific texts. The article analyzes the essence of the structural components of the value system of Chinese society in the modern period, reveals the historical dynamics of the development of values, the starting point for which was the doctrine of “reform and openness” in 1978. The analysis suggests that China’s value system is a complex phenomenon that includes both traditional virtues (collectivism, thrift, respect for hierarchy) and the attitudes of the official socialist doctrine of the ruling authorities. It has been established that this model, rather than a simple borrowing of Western standards, has become one of the key factors for the sustainable development of the country in question.