China first proposed the goal of "realizing the four modernizations" at the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CPC in 1978. The meeting determined the principles and policies of comprehensive reform and opening up, and proposed the goal of achieving the four modernizations. The four modernizations refer to agricultural modernization, industrial modernization, national defense modernization, and scientific and technological modernization. The proposal of this goal marks China's entry into a new era of reform and opening up, laying the foundation for China's modernization construction.
In 1978, China proposed for the first time to achieve the four modernizations, but with a changed key factor. This fictional historical story explores an alternate reality where the Chinese government pursued a path of democratic reforms alongside the modernizations. The story follows the events from 1978 to 2025, predicting the possible future developments based on this altered course of history.