Building a Rational Policy System Must Adhere to "Putting People's Livelihood First"

General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed: “Chinese-path modernization, putting people's livelihood first.” [1]1 “Chinese-path modernization” (中国式现代化, Zhongguo shi xiandaihua) is the official formulation for China’s development path, distinguished from Western modernization by its emphasis on socialist characteristics, including common prosperity and harmony with nature.[2]2 “Putting people’s livelihood first” (民生为大, minsheng wei da) is a statement by Xi Jinping, stressing that improving the people’s living standards is the fundamental goal of Chinese-path modernization. One of the important components of Chinese-path modernization is comprehensively improving the people’s livelihood and well-being of the broad masses of the people. To achieve this, it is necessary both to vigorously develop the economy and to attach great importance to social policy, by optimizing social policy to perfect the system of livelihood security.

习近平总书记强调：“中国式现代化，民生为大。”中国式现代化的重要内容之一就是全面提升广大人民群众的民生福祉。要做到这一点，既要大力发展经济，也要高度重视社会政策，通过优化社会政策来完善民生保障体系。

Understanding the important significance of “putting people’s livelihood first” for the development of Chinese-path modernization from a positive conception of development. Starting from the positive development conception of Chinese-path modernization, the significance of “putting people’s livelihood first” can be understood on three levels.

以积极的发展观理解“民生为大”对中国式现代化发展的重要意义。从中国式现代化的积极发展观出发，可以从三个层面理解“民生为大”的重要意义。

First, “putting people’s livelihood first” is an inevitable requirement for realizing Chinese-path modernization. The people’s aspiration for a better life is the goal of struggle of the Chinese Communist Party; hence, realizing the people’s aspiration for a better life is also the starting point and ultimate goal of promoting Chinese-path modernization, and strengthening and optimizing social policy and perfecting the policy system for livelihood security is the necessary path to realizing the people’s aspiration for a better life. In contemporary society, labor creation under the market mechanism is still the basic path for the masses of the people to satisfy their various needs and achieve a better life. But under conditions of economic globalization and rapid technological development, relying solely on the market mechanism makes it difficult to resolve the problem of excessively large income gaps, difficult to cope with real risks such as unemployment and disease, and difficult to satisfy the masses’ needs in areas such as old-age care, childcare, and assistance for the disabled. Therefore, while adhering to the basic principles of the socialist market economy, Chinese-path modernization needs, through broadly formulating and implementing social policies and perfecting the policy system for livelihood security, to construct a complete, balanced, and high-quality system of basic livelihood security and basic public services for all Chinese people.

首先，“民生为大”是实现中国式现代化的必然要求。人民对美好生活的向往是中国共产党的奋斗目标，由此，实现人民对美好生活的向往也是推动中国式现代化的出发点和落脚点，而通过加强和优化社会政策、健全民生保障的政策制度体系是实现人民对美好生活向往的必由之路。在当代社会中，市场机制下的劳动创造仍是广大人民群众满足各方面需要、实现美好生活的基本路径。但在经济全球化和科技快速发展的情况下，仅靠市场机制很难解决收入差距过大的问题，很难应对失业、疾病等现实风险，也很难满足广大人民群众在养老、育幼和助残等方面的需要。因此，中国式现代化在坚持社会主义市场经济基本原则的同时，需要通过广泛制定和实施社会政策，健全民生保障的政策制度体系，为全体中国人建构完整、均衡和高质量的基本生活保障体系与基本公共服务体系。

Second, “putting people’s livelihood first” is an inevitable requirement for realizing common prosperity for all the people.[3]3 “Common prosperity” (共同富裕, gongtong fuyu) is a long-term goal of socialist modernization, referring to the general affluence of all the people, not merely the elimination of absolute poverty. Taking the path of common prosperity requires balancing development and equality, but under real conditions it is difficult to effectively overcome the tension between development and equality by relying solely on the market mechanism; especially, scientific and technological progress and economic transformation may further intensify this tension. Therefore, while perfecting and regulating the market mechanism, it is also necessary, through broadly formulating and implementing social policies and perfecting the policy system for livelihood security, to help realize common prosperity. At the present stage, efforts should be concentrated on building a basic income security system and a public service system that reach the conventional standard of living, so that the masses can achieve equal security at the conventional standard of living in daily consumption, family life, education, health, housing, old-age care, childcare, assistance for the disabled, etc., thereby achieving the phased objectives of common prosperity.

其次，“民生为大”是实现全体人民共同富裕的必然要求。走共同富裕道路要求兼顾发展与平等，但在现实条件下仅靠市场机制难以有效克服发展与平等的张力，尤其是科技进步与经济转型还可能进一步加剧发展与平等的张力。因此，在完善和规范市场机制的同时，还需要通过广泛制定和实施社会政策，健全民生保障的政策制度体系来助力实现共同富裕。在现阶段，应该着力建设达到社会常规生活水平的基本收入保障体系和公共服务体系，使人民群众在日常消费、家庭生活、教育、健康、住房、养老、育幼、助残等方面都能实现常规生活水平上的平等保障，从而实现共同富裕的阶段性目标。

Third, “putting people’s livelihood first” can effectively assist high-quality development. Currently, to solidly promote high-quality development, it is necessary to persist in taking science and technology as the guide and cultivate and develop new quality productive forces.[4]4 “New quality productive forces” (新质生产力, xin zhi shengchanli) refers to productivity driven by technological innovation, especially in high-tech industries, as a key concept for high-quality development in the New Era. This requires comprehensively raising the human capital of laborers. Especially given the future decline in the birth rate and the relative reduction in the labor force, the quality of the labor force becomes even more important for economic development. Through more proactive social policies, further strengthen the construction of the livelihood security system in education, training, health, childcare, assistance for the disabled, poverty relief, and other areas, more effectively enhance human capital, and lay a solid human capital foundation for high-quality development. At the same time, make efforts to expand livelihood expenditures and strengthen social protection in order to promote domestic consumption to improve quality and increase efficiency, and assist in constructing a new development pattern.

再次，“民生为大”能够有效助力高质量发展。当前，扎实推动高质量发展，必须坚持以科技为引领，培育发展新质生产力，这就需要全面提升劳动者的人力资本。尤其是在未来生育率下降和劳动力相对减少的情况下，劳动力的质量对经济发展就更加重要。通过更加积极的社会政策，进一步加强教育、培训、健康、育儿、助残、扶困等方面的民生保障体系建设，更有效地提升人力资本，为高质量发展奠定重要的人力资本基础。同时，着力扩大民生支出，加强社会保护，以促进国内消费提质增效，助力构建新发展格局。

Finally, “putting people’s livelihood first” helps create favorable social conditions for the stable development of Chinese-path modernization. Chinese-path modernization is promoted under complex domestic and international environments; there is considerable uncertainty on the road ahead, and it faces various risks. For this reason, it is necessary, through perfecting the policy system for livelihood security, to enable the people’s basic livelihood to withstand various risk shocks, and through more adequate and balanced public services and fairer distribution of public resources, to strengthen the broad masses’ sense of gain, happiness, and security, as well as their trust in the government and society, thereby achieving a more rational social structure, a more integrated social system, a more positive social mentality, more harmonious social relations, and more stable social order, and laying a good social foundation for Chinese-path modernization.

最后，“民生为大”有助于为中国式现代化的平稳发展创造良好的社会条件。中国式现代化是在复杂的内外环境中推进的，前进道路上存在较大不确定性且面临各种风险。为此，需要通过健全民生保障的政策制度体系使民众的基本生活能够应对各种风险冲击，并通过更加充分均衡的公共服务和更加公平的公共资源分配而增强广大人民群众的获得感、幸福感、安全感以及对政府与社会的信任感，从而实现更加合理的社会结构、更加整合的社会制度、更加积极的社会心态、更加和谐的社会关系和更加稳定的社会秩序，为中国式现代化奠定良好的社会基础。

Accurately understand the meaning and characteristics of universal, basic, and safety-net livelihood construction.[5]5 “Universal, basic, and safety-net livelihood” (普惠性、基础性、兜底性民生) are categories of social policy: universal (covering all citizens), basic (meeting essential needs), and safety-net (targeting the most vulnerable). To implement the requirement of “putting people’s livelihood first,” it is necessary not only to attach great importance to social policy and livelihood investment, but also to attach great importance to constructing a rational policy system. Universal, basic, and safety-net livelihood mainly refers to the specific modes and categories of livelihood security provision. The government’s provision of livelihood security and public services to the people should differentiate between different targets and different needs, using different modes and standards of provision, so that public resources can play a more precisely targeted and efficient role in livelihood security.

准确认识普惠性、基础性、兜底性民生建设的含义和特点。落实“民生为大”的要求，不仅要高度重视社会政策和民生投入，还要高度重视构建合理的政策制度体系。普惠性、基础性、兜底性民生主要指民生保障的具体提供方式及类别。政府向民众提供民生保障和公共服务要区分不同的对象、不同的需要而采用不同的提供方式和提供标准，以使公共资源在民生保障中更加精准高效地发挥作用。

The basic meaning of universal livelihood security is the security and services provided by the government to all members of the entire population or of a specific group, including universal social insurance, education services, health and hygiene services, etc. Universal livelihood security has the advantages of comprehensive target coverage, universal social benefits, and relatively simple management; therefore, it should serve as an important basic institutional model for basic livelihood security and be applied to livelihood security areas that satisfy the universal needs of the broad masses. In the process of providing universal livelihood, the government should play a leading role and provide basic resource guarantees, but it can also adopt a combination of government public resources with market resources and social resources so as to mobilize as many resources as possible.

普惠性民生保障的基本含义是政府面向全民或某类群体的所有成员提供的保障和服务，包括普惠性的社会保险、教育服务、卫生与健康服务等。普惠性民生保障具有对象覆盖面全、社会效益普遍、管理相对简便等优势，因此应该作为基本民生保障重要的基础性制度模式，应用到满足广大人民群众普遍性需要的民生保障领域。在普惠性民生提供过程中，政府应该发挥主导作用，提供基本的资源保障，但同时也可以采用政府公共资源与市场资源、社会资源相结合的方式，以调动尽可能多的资源。

Basic livelihood security is the basic income security and basic public services provided to meet the people’s basic needs in various aspects. The focus of the government’s provision of livelihood security and public services to the people is to solidify the basic livelihood security system and ensure that the people’s basic needs in all aspects are met. In livelihood security practice, the scope of basic livelihood security is quite broad, including basic old-age insurance, social assistance, basic health services (basic medical and health care), compulsory education, housing security, and basic services for old-age care, child protection, and services for the disabled, and welfare for persons with disabilities. Basic livelihood security reflects the primary and bottom-line responsibilities that the government assumes in livelihood security; governments at all levels must assume the basic functions of perfecting the basic livelihood security system and the basic public service system, ensuring the basic livelihood needs of the broad masses. On this basis, supplementary and developmental livelihood security projects can be added according to the conditions of public resources. One point that should be emphasized is that basic livelihood security does not mean low-level security; rather, it determines a reasonable level in accordance with the level of economic development, the people’s basic needs in various aspects, and the government’s financial capacity, adhering to the principle of doing one’s utmost and acting according to one’s capacity.

基础性民生保障是为了满足民众在各个方面的基本需要而提供的基本收入保障和基本公共服务。政府向民众提供民生保障和公共服务，重点是筑牢基础性民生保障体系，确保满足民众各方面的基本需要。在民生保障实践中，基础性民生保障范围相当宽广，包括基本养老保险、社会救助、基本的健康服务（基本医疗卫生）、义务教育、住房保障以及基础性的养老服务、儿童保护与服务和残疾人福利等。基础性民生保障反映的是政府在民生保障方面承担的首要责任和底线责任，各级政府必须承担健全基本民生保障制度体系和基本公共服务体系的基本职能，确保广大民众的基本民生需要。在此基础上，还可以根据公共资源条件而增加补充性和发展性的民生保障项目。应该强调的一点是，基础性民生保障并不意味着是低水平保障，而是根据经济发展水平、民众在各方面的基本需要以及政府财力情况，本着尽力而为、量力而行的原则确定合理的水平。

Safety-net livelihood security refers to livelihood security that is primarily the responsibility of the government and provides basic security to various special difficult groups, specifically including social assistance programs and social welfare services. The characteristic of safety-net livelihood security is that it concentrates necessary public resources to provide targeted security and services to needy disadvantaged groups, helping them overcome difficulties, return to a normal standard of living, and enhance their self-development capacity. Safety-net livelihood security has a stronger targeting accuracy for the needy masses, building a life safety net for the most disadvantaged in a relatively resource-conserving manner and ensuring their basic livelihood.

兜底性民生保障是指主要由政府负责，向各类特殊困难群体提供基本保障的民生保障，具体包括社会救助项目和社会福利服务。兜底性民生保障的特点是集中必要的公共资源向有需要的困难群体提供针对性较强的保障和服务，帮助其克服困难，回到正常生活水平，增强其自身发展能力。兜底性民生保障对困难群众的瞄准性较强，以相对节约资源的方式为最困难的群众建造生活安全网，确保其基本生活。

Deeply understand the importance of strengthening universal, basic, and safety-net livelihood construction at present. In recent years, China has made outstanding progress in universal, basic, and safety-net livelihood construction, but there are still certain shortcomings. First, in areas such as social insurance, services for the elderly, childcare, and services for the disabled, the supply of universal security and services is still insufficient. The level of basic public services in education, medical care, old-age care, childcare, and assistance for the disabled is not high enough and not balanced enough. Social assistance and social service programs for disadvantaged groups have a relatively narrow coverage, and their social benefits in terms of protecting the bottom line, raising living standards, and promoting development are still not high enough. Second, according to the conditions of economic and social development, rationally choose the structure and level of universal, basic, and safety-net livelihood security. From the perspective of future development trends, the universality of livelihood security should be gradually increased and the level of basic livelihood security should be gradually raised, but this process should develop step by step. At the present stage, according to factors such as the level of economic development, the actual needs of the people, and the supply capacity of public resources, and following conditions and requirements such as feasibility, effectiveness, and efficiency, rationally choose specific institutional models and levels in various livelihood security fields, so that the limited public resources in the livelihood field can produce greater practical benefits. Finally, attach great importance to the rational collocation and institutional articulation among various projects in the livelihood field, continuously improve the institutional integration and operational efficiency of the entire livelihood security system, avoid safety net gaps caused by poor institutional articulation or resource waste caused by institutional overlap.

深刻理解当前加强普惠性、基础性、兜底性民生建设的重要性。近年来，我国在普惠性、基础性、兜底性民生建设方面取得了突出进展，但还存在一定的不足。首先，在社会保险、老年人服务、儿童照料和残疾人服务等领域的普惠性保障与服务供给还不够充分。在教育、医疗、养老、育幼、助残等方面的基本公共服务水平还不够高、不够均衡。针对困难群众的社会救助和社会服务项目覆盖面较窄，在兜底线、提生活、促发展方面的社会效益还不够高。其次，根据经济社会发展条件，合理选择普惠性、基础性、兜底性民生保障的结构和水平。从未来的发展趋势来看，应逐渐增大民生保障的普惠性，并逐步提高基础性民生保障水平，但这一过程要循序渐进地发展。在现阶段，要根据经济发展水平、人民群众的实际需要和公共资源供给能力等因素，按照可行性、有效性、效率性等方面的条件和要求，合理选择民生保障各个领域的具体制度模式和水平，以便使民生领域有限的公共资源发挥更大的实际效益。最后，高度重视民生领域各类项目之间的合理搭配和制度衔接，不断提高整个民生保障体系的制度整合性和运行高效性，避免因制度衔接不畅而出现安全网漏洞或因制度重叠而导致资源浪费。

Further strengthen and optimize social policy and vigorously promote livelihood construction. First, strengthen the top-level design of social policy. In the past, China’s social policy development model was, to a considerable extent, problem-responsive, with insufficient overall design for future development. In line with the new requirements for advancing Chinese-path modernization, top-level design should be further strengthened. On the one hand, strengthen the institutional construction of social policy, including the overall institutional design of the subjects, objects, content, resources, mechanisms, etc., of social policy. On the other hand, rationally construct and periodically adjust the content system and national standards for nationwide basic livelihood security, further expand and refine national basic public service standards, and especially strengthen attention to quality standards for basic public services. At the same time, strengthen institutional design for risk responsiveness and problem prevention, enhance the flexibility of social policy, so as to adapt to the needs of long-term stable development in the future.

进一步加强和优化社会政策，大力推动民生建设。一是加强社会政策的顶层设计。过去我国的社会政策发展模式在较大程度上是问题应对式的，对未来发展的总体设计不足。顺应推进中国式现代化的新要求，要进一步加强顶层设计。一方面，加强社会政策的制度化构建，包括社会政策的主体、对象、内容、资源、机制等方面的总体制度设计。另一方面，合理构建并周期性地调整全国统一的基础性民生保障的内容体系及国家标准，进一步扩大和细化国家基本公共服务标准，尤其是注重加强对基本公共服务质量标准的要求。同时，加强风险应对性和问题预防性的制度设计，增强社会政策的弹性，以适应未来长期稳定发展的需要。

Second, enhance the operability of social policy and perfect the investment mechanism. To implement the requirement of “putting people’s livelihood first,” specific social policy design is needed to enhance feasibility on the operational level and obtain sufficient resource support. Based on factors such as economic development, livelihood needs, and government fiscal capacity, comprehensively design reasonable levels of service security and resource investment. Currently, budgeted expenditures by public finance in areas such as education, health and hygiene, social security and employment, housing security, and preventing a return to poverty account for nearly 10% of GDP; adding social insurance expenditures, the proportion is around 17% of GDP. However, in the face of livelihood shortcomings and growing livelihood needs, the current level of investment is still insufficient. For this reason, in implementing a more proactive fiscal policy in the coming period, a larger share should be reserved for livelihood investment, so as to both raise the level of livelihood security and effectively stimulate consumption and promote economic development.

二是增强社会政策的可操作性，完善投入机制。落实“民生为大”的要求，需要有具体的社会政策设计来增强操作层面上的可行性，并且获得足够的资源支撑。应根据经济发展、民生需要和政府财政能力等因素，综合设计合理的服务保障水平和资源投入水平。目前，公共财政在教育、卫生与健康、社会保障与就业、住房保障和防止返贫等领域的预算支出，占GDP的比例接近10%，加上社会保险支出，占GDP的比例为17%左右。但是，面对民生短板和日益增长的民生需要，目前的投入水平仍然不足。为此，在接下来实施更加积极的财政政策过程中，应该给民生投入留有更大的份额，以便起到既提高民生保障水平，又有效拉动消费和促进经济发展的效果。

Third, in the process of formulating and implementing social policies, pay attention to the fair distribution of resources and tilting toward disadvantaged groups. First, focus on strengthening the integrated design of social policy between urban and rural areas, promote the integration of livelihood security systems between urban and rural areas, and through fiscal tilting, raise the quality of education and health and hygiene services in rural areas, and perfect the service systems for old-age care, childcare, and assistance for the disabled in rural areas. Second, continue to optimize the arrangement of administrative powers and financial powers between the central government and local governments at all levels in the field of livelihood security; further strengthen transfer payments from central and provincial finances to financially disadvantaged areas in livelihood security. Third, continuously strengthen the institutional integration and adjustment of livelihood security and public services among different population groups, including raising the treatment of old-age insurance for urban and rural residents, increasing subsidies for basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents, so as to gradually narrow existing treatment gaps. Finally, increase the intensity of safety-net livelihood security for low-income groups, expand the coverage of social assistance, optimize social assistance and social welfare programs for various types of disadvantaged groups, perfect the tiered and classified social assistance system, and further expand service-oriented assistance for low-income groups.

三是在制定和实施社会政策过程中注重资源的公平分配和向困难群众的倾斜。首先，注重增强城乡之间社会政策的一体化设计，推动城乡之间民生保障制度整合，并通过财政倾斜提高农村地区教育及卫生与健康服务的质量，完善农村地区养老、育幼、助残的服务体系。其次，继续优化中央与地方各级政府之间在民生保障领域的事权财权制度安排，进一步加强中央和省级财政在民生保障方面对财政困难地区的转移支付。再次，不断加强不同人群之间民生保障与公共服务的制度整合与调节，包括提高城乡居民养老保险待遇，加大对城乡居民基本医疗保险投保的补贴，以逐步弥合现有的待遇差距。最后，加大对低收入群体的兜底性民生保障力度，扩大社会救助覆盖范围，优化针对各类困难群众的社会救助和社会福利项目，完善分层分类社会救助体系，并进一步扩大对低收入群体的服务型救助。

Fourth, the effective implementation of social policies requires further strengthening and optimization of management and service mechanisms in various fields of livelihood security. Focus on the targeting of livelihood security projects to the actual needs of the people and social pain points, so that public funds can more precisely target meeting the people’s actual needs and solving social problems. Strengthen social services in the field of livelihood and focus on quality improvement, raise the level of professionalization in the livelihood field, vigorously develop professional social work and other specialized service systems, and make up for the shortcomings of insufficient professionalization in areas such as community services, old-age care, assistance for the disabled, and childcare. Strengthen and integrate grassroots service systems, establish a service and management system combining professionalization and resident self-governance at the community/village level, to balance standardization and individuation in grassroots governance and services, and relatively save public resources on the basis of improving the quality of grassroots governance services. Establish professional and comprehensive grassroots public service systems at the township/street level, uniformly undertaking the basic public services provided by various government departments to the people, in order to maximize both service quality and efficiency.

四是有效执行社会政策需要进一步加强和优化民生保障各个领域的管理与服务机制。注重民生保障项目对民众实际需要和社会痛点问题的针对性，使公共资金能够更加精准地瞄准满足民众实际需要和解决社会问题。加强民生领域的社会服务并注重其质量提升，提高民生领域的专业化水平，大力发展专业社会工作和其他专业服务体系，弥补在社区服务、养老、助残、育幼等领域专业化水平不够高的短板。加强和整合基层服务体系，在社区／村建立职业化与居民自治相结合的服务与管理体系，以平衡基层治理与服务的规范化与个性化，在提升基层治理服务质量的基础上相对节约公共资源。在乡镇／街道一级建立专业化和综合性的基层公共服务体系，统一承接政府各个部门面向民众的基本公共服务，以求同时达到服务质量与效率的最大化。

(The author is Dean of the Institute for Social Construction and Management, Nankai University)

（作者系南开大学社会建设与管理研究院院长）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧