“A High-Standard Socialist Market Economy System”: An Examination of the Concept’s Origins and Its Discursive Innovation

“A high-standard socialist market economy system” is an important concept of “new-type relations of production” generated in the period when China’s economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, adapting to new quality productive forces, and is an important goal of Chinese-path modernization. At present, academic circles have conducted scholarly discussions on the high-standard socialist market economy system, addressing issues such as the challenges it faces, its connotative characteristics, historical logic, core essence, construction path, world-historical significance, and key tasks. However, from the perspective of conceptual history, research on the origins of the concept of “a high-standard socialist market economy system” and the evolution of its discourse is somewhat insufficient. As a highly iconic conceptual expression within the reform discourse system of the Communist Party of China, the formation and development of the concept of “a high-standard socialist market economy system” has undergone a long historical process, reflecting the arduous journey, original aspiration and founding mission, and intellectual wisdom of the CPC in exploring the construction of an economic system. Systematically sorting out the formation process and semantic evolution of the concept of “a high-standard socialist market economy system” from the perspective of conceptual history can restore the process by which modern and contemporary Chinese people with lofty ideals, especially the CPC, came to understand the economic system, reveal the Party’s century-long mission-consciousness in exploring the Chinese path, and provide useful support for revealing the code of success of the Chinese path and deeply grasping China’s economic development model.

“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”是中国经济由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段中生成的与新质生产力相适应的一种重要“新型生产关系”概念，是中国式现代化的重要目标。当前，学界围绕高水平社会主义市场经济体制研究，对其面临挑战、内涵特征、历史逻辑、核心要义、建构路径、世界历史意义及重点任务等问题进行了学术探讨，从概念史视角对“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念源流考释、话语演变等方面的探究稍显不足。作为中国共产党改革话语体系极具标识性的概念表达，“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的形成与发展经过了一个较长的历史过程，体现了中国共产党探索经济体制建构的艰辛历程、初心使命和思想智慧。从概念史视角系统梳理“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的形成过程与语义演变，可还原近现代中国仁人志士特别是中国共产党人对经济体制的认识过程，揭示百年来党对中国道路探索的使命自觉，为揭示中国道路成功密码、深刻把握中国经济发展模式提供有益支撑。

I. The Discursive Origins of the Concept of “a High-Standard Socialist Market Economy System”

一、“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的话语渊源

The generation of a concept is conditioned by a specific context, characterized by the continuity of thought, and represented by discursive construction. The concept of “a high-standard socialist market economy system” mainly originates from the CPC’s unremitting exploration of the economic system, centered on the relationship between government and the market, adhering to the principle of the Two Integrations [1]1 The Two Integrations (两个结合) refers to the principle of integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.. Therefore, examining the origins of the concept of “a high-standard socialist market economy system” requires, on the one hand, investigating the context of the classical Marxist writers to clarify the theoretical foundation of the concept, and on the other hand, analyzing the contexts of the late Qing and early Republic periods and the early CPC period to reveal the intellectual sources of the relationship between government and the market.

概念的生成以具体语境为条件、以思想延续为特性、以话 语建构为表征。“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念主要源于中国共产党坚持“两个结合”原则对以政府与市场关系为主线的经济体制进行的不懈探索。因此，对“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的源流考释，一方面要考察马克思主义经典作家语境，厘清概念的理论基础，另一方面也要分析清末民初、中国共产党早期等语境，揭示政府与市场关系的思想来源。

(I) The Meaning of the Concept of “Economic System” in the Context of the Classical Marxist Writers

（一）马克思主义经典作家语境中“经济体制”概念的意涵

In the context of Marx and Engels, the capitalist economic system is the systemic root cause of economic crises, social imbalance, the gap between rich and poor, environmental pollution, and the suffering of the people. Only through a comprehensive and thorough critique of the capitalist economic system can a socialist economic system be constructed, based on principles of economic justice, institutional fairness, and social equity. Their description of the socialist economic system is essentially founded on public ownership of the means of production and the immense abundance of material goods, and it possesses distinct characteristics of planning. First, abolishing bourgeois ownership and establishing socialist public ownership is the institutional foundation for building a socialist economic system. In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx and Engels emphasized “to abolish bourgeois ownership.” [2]2 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The Communist Manifesto* (1848). Private ownership of the means of production provides the ownership support for the operation of the capitalist economic system, in which capital exploits surplus value, leading to the alienation of the social community. Therefore, only by abolishing bourgeois ownership and re-establishing individual ownership can the evolution of the social community be advanced from the alienation of labor to the restoration of human essence, and can the social system be advanced from backwardness to maturity, social order from disorder to order, and social identity from weakening to strengthening. Second, the immense abundance of material goods and the high development of productive forces provide the material basis for establishing a socialist economic system. Marx pointed out: “The development of the productive forces of society will proceed so rapidly that, although production will aim at the enrichment of all, the free time available to all will increase.” [3]3 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse* (1857–1858). Under a socialist economic system, people will achieve prosperity in a common sense, and free time will become the measure of wealth. Third, the socialist economic system is a planned economy. Marx and Engels pointed out that it is necessary to “increase the number of national factories and production tools according to a common plan, to bring wasteland and improve the soil.” [4]4 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The Communist Manifesto*. Planned production can control the production efficiency and production proportions of various production departments according to the needs of national development and the actual economic conditions of different regions, thereby avoiding the outbreak of periodic economic crises through the effective functioning of the government.

在马克思恩格斯语境中，资本主义经济体制是导致经济危机、社会失衡、贫富分化、环境污染、人民困苦等的体制性根源，只有全面彻底批判资本主义经济体制，才能构建具有经济正义、制度公正、社会公平等原则的社会主义经济体制。其对社会主义经济体制的描述实质上是建立在生产资料公有制和物质资料极大丰富的基础上，具有鲜明的计划性特征。其一，废除资产阶级所有制、构建社会主义公有制是建立社会主义经济体制的制度根基。在《共产党宣言》中马克思恩格斯强调“要废除资产阶级的所有制”。生产资料私有制为资本剥削剩余价值的资本主义经济体制运行提供所有制支撑，导致社会共同体的异化，因而只有废除资产阶级所有制并重建个人所有制，才能推进社会共同体的演进从劳动异化到人本复归，推进社会制度从落后到成熟、社会秩序从无序到有序、社会认同从弱化到强化。其二，物质资料极大丰富和生产力高度发达为建立社会主义经济体制提供物质基础。马克思指出：“社会生产力的发展将如此迅速，以致尽管生产将以所有的人富裕为目的，所有的人可以自由支配的时间还是会增加。”在社会主义经济体制下，人们将实现共同意义上的富裕，自由支配的时间成为财富衡量的尺度。其三，社会主义经济体制是一种计划经济。马克思恩格斯指出要“按照共同的计划增加国家工厂和生产工具，开垦荒地和改良土壤”。计划生产可依据国家发展需要和各地经济发展实际控制各生产部门的生产效能和生产比例，进而通过政府有效作用发挥避免周期性经济危机的爆发。

After World War I, the Soviet economy recovered slowly and was frequently plagued by grain crises. To restore the economy, stabilize production, and consolidate political power, Lenin adopted the New Economic Policy, a “retreat in order to advance.” In Lenin’s context, the idea of a socialist economic system involving an appropriate “retreat” was reflected in reducing government intervention and expanding market measures in agriculture, industry, commerce, and other fields. In agriculture, the surplus grain appropriation system, originally intended to defend the Soviet regime, led to excessive plundering of the peasants, resulting in agricultural collapse, rural depression, and peasant famine. This became an important breakthrough point for Lenin’s thinking on economic system reform. Lenin pointed out: “Replace the surplus grain appropriation system with a tax in kind.” [5]5 V. I. Lenin, “On the Tax in Kind” (1921). Only after peasants had a grain surplus could they sustain their own lives, production, and livelihoods, thereby stimulating the momentum for the development of the rural market and promoting the exchange of rural agricultural products and urban industrial products through the development of cooperatives. In industry, Lenin insisted on the government delegating power and ceding profits, which was conducive to enhancing the autonomy and initiative of local enterprises in development and moving away from a highly centralized planned economic system. Lenin proposed: “Expand the degree of independence and initiative of each large enterprise in disposing of funds and materials.” [6]6 V. I. Lenin, “Instructions of the Council of People’s Commissars on the Implementation of the New Economic Policy” (1921). The expansion of “independence and initiative” meant improved enterprise efficiency, enhanced technological innovation capacity, and increased worker productivity, which was conducive to maintaining the Soviet regime economically. In commerce, Lenin advocated for free trade in commodities, moving away from the policy of abolishing “private merchants” and trade controls. Lenin pointed out: “To master commerce, to guide commerce, to keep it within certain limits—this is something the state power of the proletariat is capable of doing.” [7]7 V. I. Lenin, “On the Role and Tasks of the Trade Unions under the New Economic Policy” (1921). Lenin regarded commerce as a link between the small peasant economy and socialist large-scale industry, supported the development of economic factors such as cooperatives, land rent, currency, and foreign capital, and encouraged the development of various economic forms, including state-owned economy, private economy, and state capitalism, thereby making a roundabout transition to socialism.

一战后苏俄经济复苏缓慢且时常爆发粮食危机，列宁为恢复经济、稳定生产、巩固政权而采取“以退为进”的新经济政策。在列宁的语境中，适当“退却”的社会主义经济体制思想体现在农业、工业、商业等领域减少政府干预、扩大市场措施。在农业领域，以保卫苏俄政权为初衷的余粮收集制对农民的过度掠夺导致农业崩溃、农村萧条和农民饥荒，这成为列宁思考经济体制改革的重要突破口。列宁指出：“把余粮收集制改为实物税。”农民有了粮食剩余后，才能维护自身生命、生产和生活，激发农村市场发展的动力，通过发展合作社推进农村农业产品和城市工业产品的交换。在工业领域，坚持政府放权让利，有利于地方企业提高发展的自主性和积极性，从高度集中的计划经济体制中走出来。列宁提出：“扩大每个大企业在支配资金和物资方面的独立程度和首创精神。”“独立程度和首创精神”的扩大意味着企业效益改善、技术创新能力提升、工人效率增加，有利于从经济上维护苏维埃政权。在商业领域，列宁主张商品自由贸易，从取消“私商”和贸易管制的政策中走出来。列宁指出：“掌握商业，引导商业，把它控制在一定的范围内，这是无产阶级国家政权能够做到的。”列宁将商业视为小农与社会主义大工业联系的纽带，支持合作社、地租、货币、外资等经济因素发展，鼓励发展国有经济、私营经济、国家资本主义等多种经济形式，从而迂回过渡到社会主义。

(II) Reflections on the “Economic System” in the Context of the Late Qing and Early Republic Periods

（二）清末民初语境中对“经济体制”的思考

In the late Qing and early Republican periods, terms such as “group” (群), “commercial war” (商战), “socialism” (社会主义), “economy” (经济), and “system” (制度) were transmitted to China via Europe, the United States, and Japan, gradually advancing the formation of a conception of an economic system that correctly handles the relationship between government and the market. After the Opium War, influenced by Western “mercantilist” thought, advanced elements such as Wang Tao and Zheng Guanying abandoned the traditional concept of “suppressing commerce” (抑商), accepted Western market economy concepts, and put forward ideas such as “commercial war,” “establishing the nation through commerce” (以商立国), “facilitating trade” (通商), and “protecting commerce” (保商). They encouraged scientific and technological innovation to raise labor productivity and advocated using government power to promote the development of industry and commerce. With the abolition of the imperial examination system in the late Qing, an important social system for the transmission of the gentry class exited the historical stage, and the transformation from “gentry public space” to “gentry-merchant public space” gradually disintegrated the original political order and conceptual system of feudal society. At the same time, social trends advocating concepts of freedom and equality and criticizing the role of the Qing government gradually emerged. Because advanced intellectuals had not yet formed a scientific understanding of socialism, they only interpreted socialism from the perspective of translation and introduction, making it difficult to truly grasp the significance of socialism’s abolition of private property. Liang Qichao believed that “socialism is a special product of the world in the past hundred years. To summarize its most essential meaning, it is nothing more than land belonging to the public and capital belonging to the public, with labor alone as the source of the value of all things,” and that “the ancient well-field system (井田制度) of China stands on exactly the same footing as modern socialism.” [8]8 The well-field system (井田制度) was a land tenure system in ancient China, described in classical texts, in which land was divided into a grid of nine squares, with the central plot farmed collectively for the lord and the surrounding eight plots farmed by individual families. It was often invoked in later debates as a model of public or communal land ownership. Liang Qichao emphasized that public ownership of land was the foothold for developing socialism, but in practice he did not support the Chinese government adopting public ownership of land. Sun Yat-sen advocated developing a state-owned economy, promoting the livelihood principle (民生主义) of developing the economy, improving people’s livelihoods, and regulating capital, while opposing China’s adoption of a Soviet system centered on the abolition of private property. In terms of land, regulating capital meant that the premium on land rights in the course of development would mainly be enjoyed by the state, in order to overcome the problem of polarization between rich and poor arising from imperialist capital exports to China. Sun Yat-sen believed that “Moreover, if China implements the livelihood principle today, it will always be much easier than in Europe and America.” As a pioneer of the democratic revolution, Sun Yat-sen advocated both giving play to the government’s role of active intervention in the market and giving play to the effective role of the market, so as to effectively promote the development of the national capitalist economy. Compared with Yan Fu’s idea of non-intervention by the government and Sun Yat-sen’s idea of active government intervention, Zhang Jian advocated maintaining a balance between government intervention and market regulation. Zhang Jian’s economic thought originated from the practical exploration of China’s modernization and provided a relatively scientific understanding of the interactive relationship between government and the market.

在清末民初，“群”“商战”“社会主义”“经济”“制度”等术语经欧美和日本传译到中国，逐渐推进如何正确处理政府和市场关系经济体制观念的形成。鸦片战争后，受西方“重商”思潮影响，王韬、郑观应等先进分子摒弃了“抑商”的传统观念，接受西方市场经济观念，提出“商战”“以商立国”“通商”“保商”等思想，鼓励科技创新以提升劳动生产率，主张借助政府力量推进工商业发展。随着清末科举制的废除，绅士群体传续的重要社会制度退出历史舞台，“绅士公共空间”向“绅商公共空间”的转变使封建社会原有的政治秩序和观念系统逐渐趋于瓦解。与此同时，推崇自由平等观念、批判清政府作用的社会思潮逐渐兴起。先进知识分子由于对社会主义尚未形成科学认识，仅从译介角度阐释社会主义，难以真正理解社会主义对私有制废除的重要意义。梁启超认为，“社会主义者，近百年来世界之特产物也。概括其最要之义，不过曰土地归公，资本归公，专以劳力为百物价值之源泉”，“中国古代井田制度正与近世之社会主义同一立脚点”。梁启超强调土地公有制是发展社会主义的立足点，但在实践中不支持中国政府采取土地公有制。孙中山主张发展国有经济，倡导发展经济、改善民生、节制资本的民生主义，反对中国实行以消灭私有制为核心的苏维埃制度。在土地方面，节制资本表现为时代发展中地权溢价主要为国家所享有，以克服帝国主义对中国资本输出而产生的贫富分化问题。孙中山认为，“况且中国今日如果实行民生主义，总较欧美易得许多。”作为民主革命的先行者，孙中山主张既要发挥政府对市场积极干预的作用，又要发挥市场的有效作用，有效促进民族资本主义经济的发展。与严复的政府不干预思想、孙中山的政府积极干预思想相比，张骞主张在政府干预和市场调节之间保持平衡。张骞的经济思想来源于中国近代化的探索实践，较为科学地认识了政府和市场间的互动关系。

(III) The Understanding of the Concept of “Economic System” in the Early Context of the Communist Party of China

（三）中国共产党早期语境中对“经济体制”概念的理解

In the early context of the Communist Party of China, “economic system” had already become the entry point for Chinese Communists to think about socialism, and they began to use concepts such as “nationalization” (收归国有), “public ownership + planned economy” (公有制+计划经济), and “planned development of the economy” (有计划地发展经济) to analyze and study the relationship between government and the market. After the October Revolution, Russia crossed the “Caudine Forks” of capitalist development by establishing and developing a socialist economy. [9]9 The “Caudine Forks” (卡夫丁峡谷) refers to a narrow pass in ancient Italy where a Roman army was forced to surrender. Marx used the phrase “to cross the Caudine Forks of capitalist development” to describe the possibility of a society bypassing the capitalist stage by adopting socialist relations of production, a concept later applied to Russia and other less developed countries. Li Dazhao scientifically explained that public ownership is the prerequisite for a socialist economic system, advocating the nationalization of enterprises and the implementation of a planned economy. In 1919, under Li Dazhao’s influence, a group of intellectuals purposefully promoted Marxist economic thought through translation and introduction around the Morning Post (晨报). For example, Chen Puxian translated Karl Kautsky’s The Economic Doctrines of Karl Marx, as rendered by the Japanese Marxist scholar Takabatake Motoyuki, from Japanese into Chinese as An Interpretation of Marx’s Capital (马氏资本论释义), which was serialized in the Morning Post, revealing the insurmountable contradictions in the operation of the capitalist economic system. In his article “Socialism and Social Movements” (社会主义与社会运动), Li Dazhao pointed out: “Socialism does not mean making everyone rich or everyone poor; it means making production, consumption, and distribution develop in a coordinated manner.” Thus, in Li Dazhao’s view, the socialist goal of common prosperity is not equal prosperity, but a prosperity with a certain degree of appropriateness under specific national conditions, which must be realized in the development of a socialist economic system. On the basis of recognizing the respective advantages and disadvantages of planning and the market, Li Dazhao proposed that “all large capital enterprises: railways, mines, steamship companies, transportation undertakings, large-scale manufacturing industries, and large stores, be nationalized.” Li Dazhao affirmed the planned concentration of state-owned economy and means of production, advocating the gradual nationalization of individual industry and commerce to prevent the phenomenon of capitalist economic crises. Chen Duxiu believed that “under the system of public ownership of property, that is, the socialist system, in production, there is no drawback of a minority owning the means of production; with statistics on social needs, it will not fall into an anarchic state; all products are produced for social needs.” Based on his critique of private ownership of the means of production, Chen Duxiu’s conception of a socialist economic system was “public ownership + planned economy.” Facing the complex international environment and China’s semi-colonial and semi-feudal social nature, Cai Hesen proposed using public ownership of the means of production to liberate and develop productive forces. After analyzing the experience of Russia’s economic reforms, he argued that China could also use “socialist principles and methods” for economic transformation. Cai Hesen believed that “using socialist methods of production to develop China’s large-scale production enterprises, in order to build the economic foundation of a communist society.” Cai Hesen’s idea of public ownership “developing large-scale production” aimed to prepare the conditions for modernization.

在中国共产党早期语境中，“经济体制”已成为中国共产党人思考社会主义的切入点，开始使用“收归国有”“公有制+计划经济”“有计划地发展经济”等概念分析研究政府与市场关系。俄国在十月革命后通过建立和发展社会主义经济跨越了资本主义发展的“卡夫丁峡谷”。李大钊科学地阐释公有制是社会主义经济体制的前提，主张将企业收回国有、实行计划经济。1919年在李大钊的影响下，一批知识分子围绕《晨报》有目的地通过译介的方式宣传马克思主义经济思想，如陈溥贤根据日本马克思主义大家高畠素之翻译的考茨基的《马克思经济学说》，由日文翻译成中文《马氏资本论释义》，载于《晨报》上，揭示了资本主义经济体制运行无法克服的矛盾。李大钊在《社会主义与社会运动》一文中指出：“社会主义不是使人尽富或皆贫，是使生产、消费、分配适合的发展。”可见，在李大钊看来，社会主义共富目标不是平均富裕，而是在特定国情下具有一定适度性的富裕，这需要在发展社会主义经济体制中实现。李大钊在认识计划与市场各自利弊的基础上，提出“凡大资本的企业：铁路、矿山、轮船公司、承办运输事业、大规模的制造工业、大商店，收归国有”。李大钊肯定国有经济及生产资料有计划地集中，主张将个体工商业渐进收归国有，防止出现资本主义经济危机现象。陈独秀认为：“在财产公有制度即社会主义制度之下，在生产上，没有少数人占有生产工具的弊病，有了社会需要的统计，不至陷于无政府状态，所有生产品是为社会需要而生产。”基于对生产资料私有制的批判，陈独秀对社会主义经济体制的设想是“公有制+计划经济”。面对复杂的国际环境和中国半殖民地半封建的社会性质，蔡和森提出应利用生产资料的公有制来解放和发展生产力，他在分析俄国经济改革经验后，提出中国同样可以运用“社会主义的原理和方法”进行经济改造。蔡和森认为：“以社会主义的生产方法，发展中国的大生产事业，以建筑共产社会的经济基础。”蔡和森的公有制“发展大生产”思想，旨在为现代化建设提供准备条件。

The early Chinese Communists’ understanding and application of the “economic system” had already transcended the capitalist economic development model under Western binary opposition thinking, exploring a development model suited to China through social revolution, theoretical research, and innovation. Against the historical backdrop of national salvation and survival, the “socialist economic system” remained a theoretical conception based on textual translation and introduction, ideological innovation, and the clash of currents of thought, awaiting further theoretical exploration and breakthrough innovation on the basis of revolutionary practice. In the early Chinese Communists’ revolution and their collision with various social currents of thought, the specific context of the Chinese Communists’ concept of “economic system” entered the logic of Marxism, and in revolutionary practice and theoretical research, it promoted the dissemination of Marxist economics, opening a path for its practical turn toward the construction and realization of New Democratic economic thought. This promoted the profound transformation of Marxist economic thought from tradition to modernity, from passivity to initiative, and from foreignization to Sinicization, pointing the way toward a scientific development model for China’s economy.

早期中国共产党人对“经济体制”的理解和运用，已经超越了西方二元对立思维下的资本主义经济发展模式，在社会革命、理论研究与创新中探索适合中国的经济发展模式。在救亡图存的时代背景下，“社会主义经济体制”还是在文本译介、思想创新、思潮激荡基础上的理论构想，有待在革命实践基础上进一步进行理论探索与突破创新。在早期中国共产党人的革命和与各种社会思潮的碰撞中，中国共产党人“经济体制”观念的具体语境进入马克思主义逻辑之中，并在革命实践与理论研究中推动马克思主义经济学传播，为实现其到新民主主义经济思想构建与实践的现实转向开辟了前进道路，促进马克思主义经济学思想实现从传统到现代、从被动到主动、外来化到中国化的深刻转变，指明了中国经济的科学发展模式。

II. The Process of Generating the Concept of “High-Standard Socialist Market Economy System”

二、“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的生成过程

The generation and evolution of concepts cannot rely solely on logical deduction; they are inseparable from fertile historical soil and from historical subjects’ abstract summary of practical experience and reflection on the times. In the different historical contexts of socialist revolution, construction, and reform, Chinese Communists have continuously deepened their scientific understanding of the socialist economic system, persistently advancing the practical and theoretical exploration of China’s economic development model, thereby enabling the semantic formation and expansion of the embryonic concept of “socialist market economy system.” In the New Era, Chinese Communists have adhered to the principle of the Two Integrations, [10]10 The Two Integrations (两个结合) refers to the principle of integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture. It was formally articulated under Xi Jinping. creatively proposing the signature concept of “high-standard socialist market economy system,” enriching the conceptual system of China’s economic development model.

概念的生成与演化不能仅靠逻辑的演绎结构，离不开肥沃的历史土壤，也离不开历史主体对实践经验的抽象总结和时代反思。在社会主义革命、建设、改革的不同历史语境中，中国共产党人不断深化对社会主义经济体制的科学认识，持续推进中国经济发展模式的实践和理论探索，使“社会主义市场经济体制”概念雏形的语义得以形成和拓展。新时代，中国共产党人坚持“两个结合”原则，创造性提出“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”这一标识性概念，丰富了中国经济发展模式的概念体系。

(I) The Gestation of the Embryonic Concept of “High-Standard Socialist Market Economy System”

（一）“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念雏形的孕育

The global spread of the capitalist world economic crisis of 1929–1933 inevitably had a tremendous impact on the development of the economy of the Republic of China. Chinese intellectuals actively explored measures to respond to the economic crisis and engaged in discussions centered on the idea of a planned economy. Hu Yisheng believed that the characteristic of a planned economy lay in comprehensive planning for all economic links, and that China should actively learn from this economic development model. Zhang Sumin argued that the realization of China’s modernization could not rely solely on private capital. Shen Zhiyuan, deeply influenced by Marxism, emphasized in his *Outline of New Economics* that fundamental contradictions still existed in socialist society, and advocated that “under the conditions of a socialist planned economy, the laws of capitalism no longer exist, and the anarchy of production has been replaced by planning,” thereby raising the question of the applicability of a planned economy to socialist society. Zhang Wentian, in his “Outline of the Economic Composition and Basic Policy Directions for the Economy of the Northeast,” put forward the idea of a “new democratic planned economy,” arguing that the state-owned economy should be combined with the cooperative economy to ensure that the new democratic planned economy gained the upper hand in the struggle against anarchic and unorganized economic sabotage activities. Mao Zedong, in his article “On New Democracy,” proposed the concept of a new democratic economy, emphasizing that “the big banks, big industries, and big commerce shall belong to the state of this republic,” offering an initial conception of a new democratic planned economic system.

1929—1933年资本主义世界经济危机的全球布展不可避免对中华民国经济的发展产生了巨大冲击，中国知识分子积极探索应对经济危机的举措，围绕计划经济思想展开了讨论。胡沂生认为计划经济的特点在于对各个经济环节通盘筹划，中国应积极借鉴这一经济发展模式。张素民认为，中国现代化的实现不能只依靠私人资本。沈志远深受马克思主义的影响，在《新经济学大纲》中强调社会主义社会仍存在基本矛盾，主张“在社会主义的计划经济条件之下，资本主义的规律既已不存在，生产的无政府性既已被计划化所代替”，提出了计划经济对社会主义社会的适用性问题。张闻天在《关于东北经济构成及经济建设基本方针的提纲》中提出“新民主主义的计划经济”的思想，主张国有经济同合作社经济结合起来，确保新民主主义计划经济在同无政府无组织的经济破坏活动斗争中取得优势。毛泽东在《新民主主义论》一文中提出新民主主义经济概念，强调“大银行、大工业、大商业，归这个共和国的国家所有”，对新民主主义计划经济体制进行初步设想。

After the founding of New China, regarding the economic development model of an independent China, the Party and academia engaged in extensive reflection focused on the important relationship between plan and market. Scholars such as Xue Muqiao, Sun Yefang, and Gu Zhun were among the first to propose the theory of a socialist commodity economy, providing the theoretical accumulation that nurtured the concept of a “socialist market economy.” In 1956, Chen Yun put forward the economic system idea of “three mainstays and three supplements.” [11]11 “Three mainstays and three supplements” (三个主体、三个补充) refers to Chen Yun’s 1956 proposal that in economic management, state-owned and collective operations should be the mainstay, with individual operations as a supplement; planned production should be the mainstay, with free production under state planning as a supplement; and the national market should be the mainstay, with a free market under state leadership as a supplement. This view, based on an affirmation of the respective advantages of plan and market, reflected a dialectical consideration of the relationship between plan and market under the planned economic system. Mao Zedong pointed out that commodity production “linked with the socialist system is socialist commodity production.” He not only introduced the category of socialist commodity production but also affirmed the important role of economic laws such as “commodity exchange” and “the law of value” in the development of the socialist economy. From 1959 to 1960, Mao Zedong advocated within the Party the study of the Soviet *Political Economy Textbook* to clarify the ideological confusion within the Party regarding the socialist economic sphere. Reflecting on the Soviet Union’s highly centralized economic system, Mao Zedong proposed the concept of a “nominal monarch with real power devolved” [12]12 “Nominal monarch with real power devolved” (虚君共和) is a classical Chinese political metaphor, originally referring to a constitutional monarchy where the monarch is a figurehead. Mao Zedong used it to analogize the need for the central government to delegate economic decision-making power to local authorities. for appropriately decentralizing authority, initially shaping an economic management system of power-sharing between central and local governments. Zhang Wentian, based on historical materialism, had deep reflections on socialist economic issues. He argued that the operation of a planned economy must submit to systematic economic laws, proposing that “this special relation of production, that is, the ownership relations of the means of production and products within a certain social formation,” emphasized that relations of production possess a duality of the general and the particular, and advocated that the socialist economic system should combine the general stipulations of modern productive forces with the particular stipulations of socialist ownership.

新中国成立后，针对独立自主的中国的经济发展模式，党内和学界聚焦计划与市场这一重要关系进行了广泛反思。薛暮桥、孙冶方、顾准等学者较早提出社会主义商品经济理论，为孕育“社会主义市场经济”概念提供了理论积淀。1956年，陈云提出“三个主体、三个补充”的经济体制思想。此观点基于对计划与市场各自优势的肯定，反映了计划经济体制下对计划与市场关系的辩证思考。毛泽东指出，商品生产“同社会主义制度相联系就是社会主义商品生产。”他不仅提出了社会主义商品生产的范畴，而且肯定了“商品交换”“价值法则”等经济规律对社会主义经济发展的重要作用。1959—1960年毛泽东在党内倡导学习读苏联《政治经济学教科书》，以澄清党内关于社会主义经济领域的思想混乱问题。鉴于对苏联高度集中经济体制的反思，毛泽东提出权力适度下放的“虚君共和”观念，初步塑造了央地分权的经济管理体制。张闻天基于唯物史观对社会主义经济问题具有深入思考，主张计划经济的运行要服从于系统性的经济规律，提出“这种特殊的生产关系，即一定社会形态中的生产资料和生产品的所有关系”，强调生产关系具有一般和特殊的二重性，主张社会主义经济体制兼具现代生产力的一般规定性和社会主义所有权的特殊规定性。

(II) The Formation of the Embryonic Form of the Concept of “High-Standard Socialist Market Economy System”

（二）“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念雏形的形成

The concept of a socialist market economy is the embryonic form of the concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system.” In fact, the German scholar Alfred Weber was the first internationally to propose the concept of a “socialist market economy” in 1950. Due to limitations of ideology, discursive hegemony, international blockade, and habitual thinking, the idea that a market economy was incompatible with the socialist system was a societal consensus before reform and opening up. China’s economic system reform was a “strategic retreat” undertaken while adhering to the nature of the reform and the leading subject, not a “hasty retreat” toward capitalism. In April 1979, Chinese scholar Yu Zuyao, in his article “On the Socialist Market Economy,” analyzed the objective inevitability of the formation of a socialist market economy in China under the premise of adhering to commodity production and respecting the law of value, proposing that “the socialist market economy is a new type of market economy built on the foundation of public ownership of the means of production.” This was the first time the landmark concept of a “socialist market economy” was proposed within Chinese academia, possessing distinct theoretical scientificity, ideological frontier nature, and logical rigor. In November 1979, Deng Xiaoping criticized the view that socialism could not adopt a market economy, stating, “We take the planned economy as the mainstay, while also combining it with a market economy, but this is a socialist market economy.” The proposal of the concept of a “socialist market economy” was a scientific definition within the Party in the early period of reform and opening up of the dialectical relationship between socialism and the market economy, providing an important foundation for the gestation of the concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system.”

社会主义市场经济的概念是“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的雏形。事实上，德国学者阿尔弗雷德·韦伯于1950年在国际上首次提出“社会主义市场经济”概念。由于意识形态、话语霸权、国际封锁和思维习惯等方面的局限，改革开放前市场经济与社会主义制度相斥是社会的思想共识。中国经济体制改革是在坚持改革性质和领导主体前提下的“战略退却”，而并非转向资本主义的“仓促退却”。1979年4月我国学者于祖尧在《试论社会主义市场经济》一文分析了我国坚持商品生产和尊重价值规律的前提下社会主义市场经济形成的客观必然性，提出“社会主义市场经济是建立在生产资料公有制基础上的新型的市场经济”。这是国内学界首次提出“社会主义市场经济”的标识性概念，具有鲜明的理论科学性、思想前沿性和逻辑严密性。1979年11月，邓小平批判了社会主义不能采用市场经济的观点，认为“我们是计划经济为主，也结合市场经济，但这是社会主义市场经济”。“社会主义市场经济”概念的提出是改革开放初期党内对社会主义和市场经济辩证关系的科学界定，为“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的孕育提供了重要基础。

Subsequently, through methods of soliciting opinions, expert participation, and decision-making by the Party Central Committee, and after holding several Party congresses on economic system reform, China’s concept of the economic system continuously evolved in the direction of a socialist market economy. In September 1980, Xue Muqiao, serving as an advisor to the State Council System Reform Office, presided over the drafting of the “Preliminary Opinions on Economic System Reform,” proposing that China’s reform should target a commodity economy. In the early period of reform and opening up, central leadership invited economic experts such as Ivan Maksimović, Włodzimierz Brus, and Ota Šik to hold discussions with domestic economic workers, fully absorbing the opinions of domestic and foreign experts to advance the top-level design of economic system reform. The top-level design of economic system reform and grassroots exploration mutually shaped each other, coalescing the conceptual consensus of discourse subjects including the Party, government, enterprises, scholars, and the public, collectively constituting an important method for the formation of the discourse on the socialist market economy system. Due to people’s doubts about whether the private economy was “socialist” or “capitalist,” Deng Xiaoping’s scientific judgment of “two not-equals” [13]13 “Two not-equals” (两个不等于) refers to Deng Xiaoping’s statement in his 1992 Southern Talks that “a planned economy is not equivalent to socialism, because capitalism also has planning; a market economy is not equivalent to capitalism, because socialism also has markets.” This argument was used to break the ideological deadlock over whether market-oriented reforms were capitalist. in his Southern Talks in early 1992 expressed the Party’s support for the organic combination of socialism and the market economy on the basis of firmly safeguarding the people’s livelihood, advancing the ideological emancipation of the people, and promoting the formation of the concept of a “socialist market economy system.” In June 1992, Jiang Zemin, after comparing different names for the socialist economic system, stated that he “tends to favor using the formulation ‘socialist market economy system.’” The concept of a “socialist market economy system” received approval from leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, and Li Xiannian, and gained unanimous agreement within the Party, signifying the Party’s ideological unification on the new economic system. Jiang Zemin proposed at the 14th National Congress of the CPC that “the goal of China’s economic system reform is to establish a socialist market economy system.” The Third Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee proposed constructing the basic framework of the socialist market economy system from aspects such as the modern enterprise system, the market system, and the macroeconomic regulation system. With the development of the times, the connotation of the concept of the socialist market economy system, centered on the relationship between government macroeconomic regulation and market allocation of resources, has continuously enriched and developed on the basis of deepening the practice of reform and opening up, with the aim of continuously advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics by perfecting the socialist market economy system.

之后通过意见征集、专家参与、党中央决策的方式，经过召开多次关于经济体制改革的党代会，我国经济体制概念不断朝着社会主义市场经济的方向演化。1980年9月薛暮桥作为国务院体制改革办公室顾问，主持起草了《关于经济体制改革的初步意见》，提出中国改革以商品经济为目标。改革开放初期，中央领导层邀请伊凡·马克西莫维奇、W·布鲁斯、奥塔·锡克等经济专家，与国内经济工作者进行座谈，充分吸收国内外专家意见，推进经济体制改革的顶层设计。经济体制改革的顶层设计与基层探索相互塑造，凝聚了党、政府、企业、学者、民众等话语主体的观念共识，共同构成社会主义市场经济体制话语形成的重要方式。由于人们对私营经济“姓资”“姓社”问题的疑惑，邓小平在1992年初南方谈话中“两个不等于”的科学判断，表达了党在坚定维护人民生活的基础上支持社会主义与市场经济的有机结合，推进了人们的思想解放，推进了“社会主义市场经济体制”概念的形成。1992年6月，江泽民在比较不同社会主义经济体制的名称后，提出“比较倾向使用‘社会主义市场经济体制’这个提法”。“社会主义市场经济体制”概念得到了邓小平、陈云、李先念等领导人的赞同，并获得党内的一致同意，意味着党对新经济体制的思想统一。江泽民在党的十四大提出“我国经济体制改革的目标是建立社会主义市场经济体制”。党的十四届三中全会提出从现代企业制度、市场体系、宏观调控体系等方面建构社会主义市场经济体制的基本框架。随着时代的发展，社会主义市场经济体制概念的内涵以政府宏观调控和市场配置资源关系为中心，在改革开放实践深化基础上不断丰富发展，目的在于通过完善社会主义市场经济体制不断把中国特色社会主义事业推向前进。

(III) The Emergence and Shaping of the Concept of “High-Standard Socialist Market Economy System”

（三）“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的出场与形塑

China’s economic system reform is a concrete process in which the economic system, centered on the relationship between the government and the market, is continuously improved, and on that basis concepts are reshaped, discourse is innovated, and ideas evolve. Since reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people in achieving the historic transformation “from a highly centralized planned economy to a vibrant socialist market economy.” The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, in summing up the achievements and experience of the CPC’s century-long struggle, highly affirmed the historic changes in economic system reform. Faced with the difficult transformation of the economic system, “we need to come up with a relatively good method to gradually solve this and transition to a genuine socialist market economy.” Deepening economic system reform requires not only upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership but also leveraging the role of local cadres who understand China’s national conditions and form a “strategic group” based on shared interests, spirit, habits, and other factors. Viewed from the evolution of economic system discourse in the reports of the Party congresses, the discursive construction of the socialist market economy system with Chinese characteristics has, with its pronounced continuity, developed a narrative that combines government macro-control with market allocation of resources. The 15th National Congress of the CPC proposed “improving the macro-control system” and “further giving play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation”; the 17th National Congress of the CPC proposed “better giving play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation from an institutional perspective, forming a macro-control system conducive to scientific development”; the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC proposed “letting the market play a decisive role in resource allocation and better playing the role of the government.” In the historical evolution of economic system discourse since the new century, government discourse has undergone changes from “macro-control system” to “better playing the role of the government,” from “delegating power and conceding benefits” to “streamlining administration and delegating power,” and from “government management” to “government governance”; market discourse has undergone changes from “the basic role of the market in resource allocation” to “the market playing a decisive role in resource allocation.” The historical changes in economic system discourse highlight the Party’s enhanced understanding of respecting market laws and leveraging the government’s role, providing the conceptual foundation for the emergence of the new concept of a high-standard socialist market economy system.

中国经济体制改革是以政府与市场关系为核心的经济体制不断完善及其基础上概念重塑、话语创新、观念演化的具体过程。改革开放以来，中国共产党领导中国人民“实现了从高度集中的计划经济体制到充满活力的社会主义市场经济体制”的历史性转变。党的十九届六中全会在总结中国共产党百年奋斗的成就与经验时高度肯定了经济体制改革的历史性变迁。面对艰难的经济体制转型，“我们要想出一个比较好的办法来逐步解决，过渡到真正的社会主义市场经济”。深入推进经济体制改革不仅需要坚持和加强党的全面领导，也需要了解中国国情的地方干部发挥基于共同的利益、精神和习性等因素而形成的“战略性群体”作用。从党代会报告中经济体制话语演进看，中国特色社会主义市场经济体制话语建构以突出的继承性发展了政府宏观调控与市场配置资源相结合的话语叙事。党的十五大提出“健全宏观调控体系”“进一步发挥市场对资源配置的基础性作用”；党的十七大提出“从制度上更好发挥市场在资源配置中的基础性作用，形成有利于科学发展的宏观调控体系”；党的十八届三中全会提出“使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用和更好发挥政府作用”。新世纪以来经济体制话语的历史演进中，政府话语经历了从“宏观调控体系”到“更好发挥政府作用”、从“放权让利”到“简政放权”、从“政府管理”到“政府治理”的变迁；市场话语经历了从“市场对资源配置的基础性作用”到“市场在资源配置中起决定性作用”的变迁。经济体制话语的历史变迁彰显了党对尊重市场规律和发挥政府作用的认识水平提升，为高水平社会主义市场经济体制新概念的出场提供观念基础。

The “high-standard socialist market economy system” is an original concept proposed by the Party in the context of the “two overall situations” [n14] and the “transformation of the principal social contradiction in the New Era.” [n15] The discursive construction of a high-standard socialist market economy system, characterized by “a higher starting point, a higher level, and higher goals,” expresses the objectives and requirements for perfecting the socialist market economy system with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. The proposal of the concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system” not only upholds the people-centered socialist value narrative but also, through the goal orientation of “high standard,” expands the innovative discursive narrative on the relationships between the socialist market economy system and Party leadership, comprehensively deepening reform, high-quality development, and Chinese-path modernization. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC formally proposed the concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system.” In the context of the New Era, high-quality development is the primary task in advancing Chinese-path modernization, and the emergence of the concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system” has brought about a conceptual coupling between “perfecting the socialist market economy system” and “high-quality economic development.” In the New Era, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have issued joint documents on themes such as “a more complete system and mechanism for market-based allocation of factors of production,” “building a unified national market,” “promoting the growth and expansion of the private economy,” and “improving the market access system,” thereby enhancing the political momentum of economic system discourse and advancing the adaptive shaping of the concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system.” Xi Jinping emphasized: “Deepen market-based reforms of factors of production, and create a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized first-class business environment.” The discursive construction of “market-based allocation of factors of production” and “business environment” promotes the upgrading and transformation of socialist market economy system discourse toward the narrative goal of “high standard.” The 20th National Congress of the CPC made detailed arrangements for building a high-standard socialist market economy system, proposing “improving the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics,” “building a unified national market,” and “improving the modern budget system.” The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC proposed “taking economic system reform as the driving force,” placing “building a high-standard socialist market economy system” at the top of the “seven focal points,” [n16] and interpreting the improvement of the economic system and mechanisms through five chapters: “improving the systems and mechanisms for promoting high-quality economic development,” “building systems and mechanisms to support comprehensive innovation,” “improving the macro-economic governance system,” “improving the systems and mechanisms for integrated urban-rural development,” and “improving the systems and mechanisms for high-standard opening up.” The emergence and shaping of the concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system” is the Party’s innovative demarcation of the contemporary connotation of the economic system from a comparative perspective spanning ancient and modern times, China and the West. It is the theoretical crystallization of adhering to the Two Integrations, [n17] marking the increasingly mature and finalized basic socialist economic system with Chinese characteristics.

“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”是党在“两个大局”和“新时代社会主要矛盾转化”的语境中提出的原创性概念。“更高起点、更高层次、更高目标”的高水平社会主义市场经济体制话语建构表达了完善新时代中国特色社会主义市场经济体制的目标要求。“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的提出既坚持以人民为中心的社会主义价值叙事，也以“高水平”目标定位拓展了社会主义市场经济体制与党的领导、全面深化改革、高质量发展、中国式现代化等方面关系的创新性话语叙事。党的十九届五中全会正式提出“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念。在新时代的背景下，高质量发展是推进中国式现代化的首要任务，而“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的出场使“完善社会主义市场经济体制”与“经济高质量发展”发生了概念耦合。新时代党中央和国务院以联合发文的方式发布以“更加完善的要素市场化配置体制机制”“建设全国统一大市场”“促进民营经济发展壮大”“完善市场准入制度”等为主题的文件，增强了经济体制话语的政治势能，推进了“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的适应性形塑。习近平强调：“深化要素市场化改革，营造市场化、法治化、国际化一流营商环境。”“要素市场化”“营商环境”等话语建构推进社会主义市场经济体制话语向“高水平”目标叙事进行升级转化。党的二十大对构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制做出了详细部署，提出“完善中国特色现代企业制度”“构建全国统一大市场”“健全现代预算制度”等。党的二十届三中全会提出“以经济体制改革为牵引”，将“构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制”置于“七个聚焦”的首要位置，并通过“健全推动经济高质量发展体制机制”“构建支持全面创新体制机制”“健全宏观经济治理体系”“完善城乡融合发展体制机制”“完善高水平对外开放体制机制”等五个篇章诠释经济体制机制的完善。“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的出场和形塑，是党在古今、中西比较视域下对经济体制的时代内涵做出的创新标定，是坚持“两个结合”的理论结晶，标志着中国特色社会主义基本经济制度更加成熟定型。

III. The Discursive Innovation of the Concept of a “High-Standard Socialist Market Economy System”

三、“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念的话语创新

Discursive innovation includes methods such as original innovation, integrated innovation, and borrowed innovation. Among these, original innovation is rooted in the endogenous soil of China’s development practice, historical culture, national traditions, linguistic habits, and the thinking of the times. The concept of a “high-standard socialist market economy system” is an original identifying concept that combines Marxist thought on the economic system with China’s reality, supporting the innovation of the CPC’s discourses on “comprehensively deepening reform,” “institutional advantages,” “Chinese-path modernization,” and “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

话语创新包括原创性创新、集成性创新、借鉴性创新等方式。其中，原创性创新根植于中国发展实践、历史文化、民族传统、语言习惯、时代思维等方面的内生性土壤。“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念是马克思主义经济体制思想与中国实际相结合的原创性标识概念，支撑了中国共产党“全面深化改革”“制度优势”“中国式现代化”及“中华民族伟大复兴”等话语的创新。

(I) Enriching the Discourse System of the Socialist Market Economy with Chinese Characteristics through the Expressive Principle of Upholding Fundamentals and Pursuing Innovation

（一）以守正创新的表述原则丰富了中国特色社会主义市场经济体制话语体系

Upholding fundamentals is the prerequisite for innovation, while innovation is the implementation of upholding fundamentals. Regarding the discourse of a “high-standard socialist market economy system,” in terms of upholding fundamentals, this discourse contains the inherent requirement of adhering to socialist public ownership of the means of production and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC; in terms of innovation, this discourse contains the practical consideration of optimizing the allocation mode and quality of scarce social resources in light of economic development practice, thereby achieving high-quality economic development through the combined force of upholding fundamentals and pursuing innovation.

守正是创新的前提，而创新是守正的贯彻。就“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”这一话语而言，于守正而言，该话语内涵了坚持社会主义生产资料公有制和中国共产党集中统一领导的内在要求，于创新而言，该话语内涵了结合经济发展实践对社会稀缺资源的配置方式与质量进行优化的现实考量，从而在守正与创新的合力中实现经济高质量发展。

On the one hand, the discourse of a “high-standard socialist market economy system” interprets the substance of the economic system as a basic economic system through the prescriptiveness of the times. From the perspective of the duality of relations of production, the operation of the socialist market economy system must not only reflect the objective laws of following the market economy and the development of productive forces but also, in terms of institutional prescriptiveness, manifest the essential connotation of socialist economic relations and the nature of socialist ideology. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC proposed “the basic socialist economic system, which includes public ownership as the mainstay with diverse forms of ownership developing together, distribution according to work as the mainstay with multiple modes of distribution coexisting, and the socialist market economy system.” The “trinity” discursive construction of the basic socialist economic system has strengthened the discursive confidence and ideological function of the socialist market economy system, reflecting the Party’s steadfast adherence to its original aspiration and founding mission [n18] in requiring a leap beyond the historical cycle of rise and fall, [n19] and also reflecting the Party’s enhanced scientific understanding of the mature and finalized form of the socialist market economy system while complying with the operational laws of the market economy system.

一方面，“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”话语以时代的规定性诠释了经济体制的基本经济制度实质。从生产关系二重性视角看，社会主义市场经济体制的运行不仅要体现遵循市场经济和生产力发展的客观规律，更要在制度规定性上彰显社会主义经济关系的本质内涵和社会主义意识形态性质。党的十九届四中全会提出“公有制为主体、多种所有制经济共同发展，按劳分配为主体、多种分配方式并存，社会主义市场经济体制等社会主义基本经济制度”。“三位一体”的社会主义基本经济制度话语建构强化了社会主义市场经济体制话语的自信力和意识形态功能，体现了党秉持坚定的初心和使命要求跳出历史周期率，也体现了党在遵守市场经济体制运行规律上对社会主义市场经济体制成熟定型化的科学认识提升。

On the other hand, the “high-standard socialist market economy system” transcends the discursive hegemony of Western economic systems through its pronounced criticality. The discourse that new quality productive forces correspond to new-type relations of production contains the connotation of discursive orthodoxy. The enrichment of the discursive construction of the socialist market economy system with Chinese characteristics by the concept of the “high-standard socialist market economy system” embodies the laws of economic system operation that combine particularity and universality in the process of Chinese-path modernization. It transcends the universalist hegemony of Western economic systems centered on “universal values” and responds to Western doubts about the fundamental nature of China’s economic system, its market economy status, and competitive neutrality. Adhering to a people-centered supply-side structural reform is the proper meaning of building a high-standard socialist market economy system. Facing the challenge of the discursive hegemony of Western economic systems, our Party’s discursive construction of supply-side structural reform critiques the supply-side school that advocates privatization as the core and the logical trap of neoliberalism behind it. This is conducive to interpreting the internal connection between supply-side structural reform and high-quality development within the context of China’s development, guiding further comprehensive deepening of reform from a people-centered perspective.

另一方面，“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”以突出的批判性超越了西方经济体制话语霸权。新质生产力与新型生产关系相适应的话语蕴含话语守正的内涵。“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念对中国特色社会主义市场经济体制话语建构的丰富，蕴含中国式现代化进程中特殊性和普遍性相结合的经济体制运行规律，超越了西方以“普世价值”为中心的经济体制普世性霸权，回应了西方对中国经济体制根本性质、市场经济地位、竞争中性等方面的质疑。坚持以人民为中心的供给侧结构性改革是构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制的应有之义。面对西方经济体制话语霸权的挑战，我们党对供给侧结构性改革话语的建构批判了主张以私有化为核心的供给学派及其背后新自由主义的逻辑陷阱，有利于在中国发展语境下诠释供给侧结构性改革与高质量发展的内在关联，从以人民为中心的观念上引导进一步全面深化改革。

(II) Expanding the Discourse System of the Marxist Model of Economic Development through the Dialectical Logical Mode of Thinking

（二）以辩证逻辑的思维方式拓展了马克思主义经济发展模式话语体系

Combining an effective market with a competent government is the proper meaning of building a socialist market economy system with Chinese characteristics. This discourse contains the dialectical logic of the “theory of two points.” [20]20 The “theory of two points” (两点论) is a Chinese Marxist formulation derived from Mao Zedong’s philosophical writings, referring to the dialectical method of analyzing a contradiction by examining both of its opposing aspects. On the one hand, the combination of an effective market and a competent government is the inherent advantage of building a high-standard socialist market economy system. From the perspective of the relationship between government and market, Western neoliberalism advocates an economic system of “big market, small government,” whereas the socialist market economy system with Chinese characteristics should be an economic operation system that dialectically treats the relationship between the market being “vibrant when deregulated” and the government being “capable when regulated.” In actual economic development, the market is not absolutely effective, nor is the government inherently bad. The spontaneous operation of the market can produce market failures or social polarization, while the government has great potential in correcting market failures, effective economic governance, and promoting common prosperity. Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must adhere to dialectics and the theory of two points, continue to work hard on the combination of the basic socialist system and the market economy, give full play to the advantages of both sides, and strive to solve this worldwide economic problem in practice by having both an ‘effective market’ and a ‘competent government.’” The dialectical discursive construction of combining an effective market with a competent government adheres to both utilizing the laws of the market economy, stimulating the vitality of market entities, promoting enterprise technological innovation, and improving the business environment, while also focusing on giving play to the government’s effective role in enhancing social fairness and justice.

坚持有效市场和有为政府相结合，是构建中国特色社会主义市场经济体制的应有之义，该话语中蕴含“两点论”的辩证逻辑。一方面，有效市场和有为政府相结合是构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制的内在优势。从政府与市场的配合关系角度，西方新自由主义主张“大市场、小政府”的经济体制，而中国特色社会主义市场经济体制应是辩证对待市场“放得活”与政府“管得住”关系的经济运行体制。在现实的经济发展中，市场并非绝对有效，而政府并非坏的。市场的自发运行会产生市场失灵或社会分化问题，政府则在纠正市场失灵、有效经济治理、推进共同富裕等方面大有可为。习近平指出：“我们要坚持辩证法、两点论，继续在社会主义基本制度与市场经济的结合上下功夫，把两方面优势都发挥好，既要‘有效的市场’，也要‘有为的政府’，努力在实践中破解这道经济学上的世界性难题。”有效市场和有为政府相结合的辩证话语建构坚持既利用市场经济规律、激发市场主体活力、推进企业技术创新、改善营商环境，也注重发挥政府在增进社会公平正义方面的有效作用。

On the other hand, the combination of the market playing a decisive role in resource allocation and government macro-regulation is the inherent characteristic of building a high-standard socialist market economy system. From the perspective of the respective functions of the market and the government, the combination of the market playing a decisive role in resource allocation and government macro-regulation is the practical orientation of the discourse on the high-standard socialist market economy system, requiring the unification of improving the basic market system and the government macro-regulation system. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party proposed “focusing on building a high-standard socialist market economy system, fully leveraging the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and better playing the role of the government.” [21]21 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024 and focused on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese-path modernization. “The decisive role of the market” means affirming and respecting the laws of the market economy, while “the better role of the government” means improving the macro-regulation system under the leadership of the Party and comprehensively adopting economic regulation policies such as counter-cyclical regulation and cross-cyclical regulation in economic policy. From the perspective of historical political science, the discursive innovation of the high-standard socialist market economy system, based on continuing socialist discourse and characterized by breaking through the economic system discourse centered on the “relationship between government and market,” is conducive to providing legitimacy resources for the Party’s long-term governance.

另一方面，市场在资源配置中起决定性作用和政府宏观调控相结合是构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制的内在特质。从市场和政府各自的功能发挥角度看，市场在资源配置中起决定性作用和政府宏观调控相结合是高水平社会主义市场经济体制话语的实践指向，要求完善市场基础性制度和政府宏观调控制度相统一。党的二十届三中全会提出“聚焦构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，充分发挥市场在资源配置中的决定性作用，更好发挥政府作用”。“市场的决定性作用”意味着肯定和尊重市场经济规律，而“政府的更好作用”意味着在坚持党的领导下完善宏观调控体系，在经济政策中综合采取逆周期调节、跨周期调节等经济调控政策。从历史政治学视域来看，高水平社会主义市场经济体制话语创新以赓续社会主义话语为基础，以突破“政府与市场关系”为内核的经济体制话语为表征，有利于为党长期执政提供合法性资源。

(III) Developing the Discourse System of Chinese-Path Modernization through the Theoretical Innovation of “Terminological Revolution”

（三）以“术语革命”的理论创新性发展了中国式现代化话语体系

“Terminological revolution” was first proposed by Engels in academic history: “Every new viewpoint in a science includes a revolution in the terminology of that science.” [22]22 This quotation is from Friedrich Engels’s preface to the third edition of *Capital*, Volume I (1883). “Terminological revolution” is a key link in achieving knowledge production, containing strong theoretical innovation and academic influence. Promoting the construction of an independent knowledge system of economics oriented toward Chinese-path modernization must necessarily advance the “terminological revolution” and discursive innovation of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics, guided by the problems of the times and economic practice. The “terminological revolution” carried out in developing the socialist market economy has powerfully promoted the shaping of the discourse system of Chinese-path modernization.

“术语革命”在学术史上最早由恩格斯提出，“一门科学提出的每一种新见解都包含这门科学的术语的革命。”“术语革命”是实现知识生产的关键环节，蕴含着强大的理论创新力和学术影响力。推进面向中国式现代化的经济学自主知识体系构建，必然要以时代问题与经济实践为导向推进中国特色社会主义政治经济学的“术语革命”和话语创新。发展社会主义市场经济进行的“术语革命”，有力推动塑造着中国式现代化的话语体系。

First, the concept of the “high-standard socialist market economy system” enriches the discourse on the ideal form of Chinese-path modernization. The discourse on the ideal form is an ideal expression depicting the target pattern of Chinese-path modernization, reflecting the Party’s enhanced understanding of its long-term governance position and its realization methods. The 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed “building a high-standard socialist market economy system” as an important task for achieving high-quality development. [23]23 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. In terms of conceptual implication, the object of the statement “building a high-standard socialist market economy system” is the operational goal of China’s economic system in the New Era, enriching the goal system of Chinese-path modernization. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party proposed that “the high-standard socialist market economy system is an important guarantee for Chinese-path modernization.” This outlines the internal connection between the high-standard socialist market economy system and Chinese-path modernization from the perspective of practical function. From an objective manifestation, the concept of the “high-standard socialist market economy system,” through methods such as localized reconstruction, epochal refinement, and creative development, not only focuses on the Chinese nation’s historical confidence, practical innovation, and cultural subjectivity but also enhances its inherent theoretical explanatory power and ideological leadership through institutional discourse imbued with high political potential, endowing the goal of Chinese-path modernization with a unique institutional civilizational connotation and enriching the discourse on the ideal form of Chinese-path modernization.

首先，“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念丰富了中国式现代化的应然形态话语。应然形态话语是描摹中国式现代化目标样态的理想表达，反映了党对长期执政地位及其实现方式的认识水平提升。党的二十大提出将“构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制”作为实现高质量发展的重要任务。从概念意蕴上来说，“构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制”的言说对象是新时代中国经济体制的运行目标，丰富了中国式现代化的目标体系。党的二十届三中全会提出“高水平社会主义市场经济体制是中国式现代化的重要保障”。这从实践功能角度来勾勒了高水平社会主义市场经济体制与中国式现代化的内在关联。从客观表现看，“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念通过对本土化重构、时代性提炼、创造性发展等方式，既注重中华民族的历史自信、实践创新和文化主体性，又以蕴含高政治势能的制度话语提升其内在的理论诠释力和思想引领力，并赋予中国式现代化目标以独特的制度文明内涵，丰富中国式现代化的应然形态话语。

Second, the concept of the “high-standard socialist market economy system” develops the discourse on the actual form of Chinese-path modernization. The discourse on the actual form is a realistic discourse revealing the historical process of Chinese-path modernization, built on the Party’s judgment of objective reform practice. The discursive construction of Chinese-path modernization has undergone discursive changes such as “the Four Modernizations,” “Chinese-path modernization,” “building a moderately prosperous society in all respects,” and “building a modern socialist country in all respects,” which are highly consistent with the historical process of transformation from a planned economy system to a high-standard socialist market economy system. [24]24 The “Four Modernizations” (四个现代化) refers to the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, a policy goal first articulated by Zhou Enlai in 1964 and revived by Deng Xiaoping after 1978. Since reform and opening up, the discursive construction of China’s economic system has undergone historical changes in discursive narratives such as “planning as the mainstay, market as a supplement,” “a planned commodity economy system,” “a socialist market economy system,” and “a high-standard socialist market economy system,” highlighting the distinctive characteristics of reform and opening up. It can be seen that in the historical process, the two types of discourse coexist, merge, and mutually shape each other. The discursive resources, concepts of the times, institutional resilience, and civilizational concepts contained in the generation process of the concept of the “high-standard socialist market economy system” have further made the discursive connotation of “Chinese-path modernization” more profound, specific, and pragmatic, presenting a more comprehensive picture of the value concepts and practical vision of the interaction between modernization and the economic system.

其次，“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念发展了中国式现代化的实然形态话语。实然形态话语是揭示中国式现代化历史进程的现实性话语，建立在党对客观改革实践判断的基础上。中国式现代化话语建构历经“四个现代化”“中国式现代化”“全面建成小康社会”“全面建设社会主义现代化国家”等话语变迁，与计划经济体制向高水平社会主义市场经济体制转变的历史进程高度契合。改革开放以来中国经济体制话语建构经历了“计划为主、市场为辅”“有计划的商品经济体制”“社会主义市场经济体制”“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”等话语叙事的历史变迁，彰显了改革开放的鲜明特色。可见，历史进程中两种话语叙事共生共融、相互塑造。“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念生成过程中所蕴含的话语资源、时代理念、制度韧性和文明观念，都进一步使得“中国式现代化”话语内涵更加深刻、具体和务实，更加全面地呈现了现代化和经济体制互动的价值理念和实践图景。

Finally, the concept of “a high-standard socialist market economy system” shapes the discourse on the natural-form modality of Chinese-path modernization. The discourse of the can-form modality interprets the means by which Chinese-path modernization is realized, specifying the action mechanisms, core concepts, and practical pathways for the transition from the actual-form modality to the ought-form modality. From the perspective of action mechanisms, the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy[25]25 The Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy (四个全面) is a strategic layout proposed by Xi Jinping, comprising comprehensively building a modern socialist country, comprehensively deepening reform, comprehensively governing the country according to law, and comprehensively governing the Party with strict discipline. encompasses expressions of the leading subject, the driving force of reform, the guarantee of law-based governance, and the goal of modernization, thereby constituting a narrative of the practical pathway for building a socialist market economy system with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. The rich connotation of the concept of “a high-standard socialist market economy system” interprets the means by which the Party realizes economic modernization, enriches the discursive connotation of the strategic layout for realizing Chinese-path modernization, and enhances the pertinence, specificity, and appeal of the discourse on the can-form modality of Chinese-path modernization. From the perspective of core concepts, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee[26]26 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024, focusing on further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization. emphasized that further deepening reform comprehensively must “focus on improving the quality of life of the people.” Based on the practical need to maintain discursive power and produce theoretical knowledge, the people-centered narrative of the discourse on the socialist market economy system with Chinese characteristics and the people-centered narrative of the discourse on Chinese-path modernization mutually shape each other, jointly leading the autonomous construction of advancing Chinese-path modernization and promoting its integration into the historical process of comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. From the perspective of practical pathways, adhering to “systems engineering” is the scientific method for building a high-standard socialist market economy system, while simultaneously emphasizing thinking oriented toward law-based governance, openness, and constructiveness. As an effective response to the difficulties of reform, building a high-standard socialist market economy system is the inevitable path for further comprehensively deepening reform, following the inherent law of positive interaction between modernization and reform.

最后，“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念塑造了中国式现代化的自然形态话语。能然形态话语是诠释中国式现代化实现方式的话语，指明从实然形态到应然形态转变的行动机制、核心理念和实践进路。从行动机制角度看，“四个全面”战略布局蕴含领导主体表达、改革动力表达、法治保障表达、现代化目标表达，构成了构建新时代中国特色社会主义市场经济体制的实践进路叙事。而“高水平社会主义市场经济体制”概念内涵的丰富诠释了党领导经济现代化的实现方式，丰富了中国式现代化实现的战略布局话语内涵，提升了中国式现代化能然形态话语的针对性、具体性和吸引力。从核心理念看，党的二十届三中全会强调进一步全面深化改革要“聚焦提高人民生活品质”。基于话语权维护和理论知识生产的现实需要，中国特色社会主义市场经济体制话语的人民性叙事与中国式现代化话语的人民性叙事相互塑造，共同引领推进中国式现代化的自主性建构，推动融入以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴实现的历史进程。从实践进路看，坚持“系统工程”是构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制的科学方法，同时注重法治性、开放性、建设性等思维。作为对改革难题的有效回应，构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制是进一步全面深化改革的必然路径，遵循现代化和改革良性互动的内在规律。

(The authors are, respectively, a lecturer at the School of Marxism, Anhui Normal University, and an assistant researcher at the School of Marxism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.)

（作者系安徽师范大学马克思主义学院讲师；上海交通大学马克思主义学院助理研究员）

Online editor: Ma Jingren

网络编辑：马京仁