Abstract: Deng Xiaoping's modernization thought is a product of the combination of the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism and the modernization of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and is a valuable spiritual wealth of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Deng Xiaoping's modernization thought has systematically answered a series of basic questions such as “what kind of socialist modernization to build” and “how to build socialist modernization” for a country as economically and culturally backward as China. Since the reform and opening up, the study of Deng Xiaoping's modernization thought has been the focus and hotspot of China's theoretical circles, and fruitful results have been achieved. This paper finds that as of April 30, 2024, there are 308 papers on Deng Xiaoping's modernization ideology published in the China Academic Journals full-text Database and Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index, and 289 papers are excluded from the relevant useless literature after searching the CNKI database. In this paper, we use the visualization software citespace to measure and analyze the related papers, draw the keyword knowledge map draw the keyword knowledge map, and produces the research hotspots, evolution process and cutting-edge trend of Deng Xiaoping's modernization thought, vividly displaying the relevant research on Deng Xiaoping's modernization thought in domestic academic circles. These results can provide reference and example for further deepening the research on Deng Xiaoping's modernization thought.

Key words: Deng Xiaoping, modernization thought, research progress, trend, CiteSpace