The Theoretical Connotation and Practical Direction of Adhering to the General Principle of Pursuing Progress While Ensuring Stability

The 2025 Central Economic Work Conference emphasized that in carrying out economic work for 2026, it is necessary to “adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability.” The general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability is an important principle of our Party’s governance and a methodology for conducting economic work. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important expositions on adhering to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, pointing out that “development is the absolute principle, and stability is also the absolute principle; both development and stability must be firmly grasped,” and emphasizing that “we must adhere to pursuing progress while ensuring stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing the new before abolishing the old.” These important ideological viewpoints are a vital component of Xi Jinping’s economic thought. They not only deepen our Party’s understanding of the laws governing the endogenous growth of a major economy but also make significant original contributions to enriching and developing Marxist political economy, providing important guidance for consolidating and expanding the stable and improving economic trend and promoting high-quality economic development.

2025年中央经济工作会议强调，做好2026年经济工作，要“坚持稳中求进工作总基调”。稳中求进工作总基调是我们党治国理政的重要原则，也是做好经济工作的方法论。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记围绕坚持稳中求进工作总基调发表一系列重要论述，指出“发展是硬道理，稳定也是硬道理，抓发展、抓稳定两手都要硬”，强调“要坚持稳中求进、以进促稳、先立后破”。这些重要思想观点，是习近平经济思想的重要组成部分，不仅深化了我们党对大国经济内生增长的规律性认识，也为丰富发展马克思主义政治经济学作出重要原创性贡献，为巩固拓展经济稳中向好势头、促进经济高质量发展提供了重要遵循。

1. Deeply Understand the Theoretical Connotation of the General Principle of Pursuing Progress While Ensuring Stability

1.深刻认识稳中求进工作总基调的理论内涵

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “The focus of ‘stability’ should be placed on stabilizing economic operations, ensuring that growth, employment, and prices do not experience major fluctuations, and ensuring that finance does not encounter regional systemic risks. The focus of ‘progress’ should be placed on adjusting the economic structure and deepening reform and opening up, ensuring that the transformation of the economic development model and innovation-driven development achieve new results.” This important exposition highlights the significance of stable economic operations and the transformation of the development model for promoting the sustained and healthy development of China’s economy, and profoundly reveals the internal mechanism of endogenous growth in a major economy.

习近平总书记强调，“‘稳’的重点要放在稳住经济运行上，确保增长、就业、物价不出现大的波动，确保金融不出现区域性系统性风险。‘进’的重点要放在调整经济结构和深化改革开放上，确保转变经济发展方式和创新驱动发展取得新成效”。这一重要论述突出强调经济稳定运行和发展方式转变对于推动我国经济持续健康发展的重要意义，深刻揭示了大国经济内生增长的内在机理。

Stable economic operations are an important cornerstone for the endogenous growth of a major economy. Economic growth fluctuates around a steady-state growth rate, exhibiting regular expansion and contraction, which is the norm in macroeconomic operations. If cyclical economic fluctuations intensify, macroeconomic risks will rise, making it impossible to provide a long-term stable development environment for key factors influencing the steady-state growth rate, such as technological accumulation. This is detrimental to raising the steady-state growth rate and, in extreme cases, can bring negative shocks. As a major developing country, China, influenced by factors such as its vast market size and complete industrial system, often has a higher multiplier effect, and the negative effects of cyclical economic fluctuations will be further amplified. Using counter-cyclical regulation to “smooth out” economic cycle fluctuations, promote stable economic operations, ensure that growth, employment, and prices do not experience major fluctuations, and ensure that finance does not encounter regional systemic risks, is a powerful guarantee for the sustainability of endogenous growth in a major economy.

经济稳定运行是大国经济内生增长的重要基石。经济增长围绕稳态增长率上下波动，呈现规律性的扩张与收缩，是宏观经济运行的常态。如果经济周期性波动加剧，将使得宏观经济风险上升，无法为技术积累等稳态增长率的关键影响因素提供长期稳定的发展环境，不利于稳态增长率的提升，在极端情况下还会带来负向冲击。我国作为发展中的大国，受市场规模庞大、产业体系完整等因素的影响，乘数效应往往更高，经济周期性波动带来的负向效应将被进一步放大。通过逆周期调节“熨平”经济周期波动，推动经济稳定运行，确保增长、就业、物价等不出现大的波动，确保金融不出现区域性系统性风险，是大国经济内生增长可持续的有力保证。

The transformation of the development model is the key essence of endogenous growth in a major economy. Economic development is a spiraling upward process. When the stable growth of “quantity” accumulates to a certain stage, it is necessary to actively make progress in promoting innovation, transforming the model, adjusting the structure, improving quality, and increasing efficiency, shifting to an effective improvement of “quality.” From the development experience of economies that have successfully entered the high-income bracket globally, promoting the transformation of economic growth from traditional factor-driven to total factor productivity-driven is key to successfully crossing the “middle-income trap.” [1]1 The “middle-income trap” refers to a situation where an economy, after reaching middle-income status, fails to transition to a high-income level due to stagnant productivity growth and rising costs. For example, during South Korea’s transition period, the contribution rate of total factor productivity to economic growth increased significantly, successfully transforming into an innovation-driven economic development model relying on total factor productivity. In stark contrast, in the Latin American region, the contribution rate of total factor productivity did not rise but fell, making it difficult to leap into the ranks of high-income countries.

发展方式转变是大国经济内生增长的关键要义。经济发展是一个螺旋上升的过程，“量”的稳定增长累积到一定阶段时，必须在促创新、转方式、调结构、提质量、增效益上积极进取，转向“质”的有效提升。从全球成功进入高收入经济体的国家的发展经验来看，推动经济增长从传统要素驱动向全要素生产率驱动转型，是成功跨越“中等收入陷阱”的关键。例如，韩国在跨越时期全要素生产率对经济增长的贡献率大幅提高，成功转变为依靠全要素生产率发展的创新型经济发展模式，与之形成鲜明对比的是拉美地区，全要素生产率贡献率不升反降，难以跃升为高收入国家。

The mutual promotion of “stability” and “progress” is the sustained driving force for endogenous growth in a major economy. “Stability” and “progress” are a dialectically unified relationship. “Stability” creates a better environment and timing for “progress,” while “progress” provides dynamic support for the dynamic balance of “stability.” Under conditions of stable economic operations, “stability” will become the consensus of all market entities, reducing the probability of forming negative expectations at the source, while also helping to block the transmission mechanism from short-term shocks to negative expectations. However, from the perspective of dynamic equilibrium, if one mechanically seeks stability without considering “progress,” the expectation management effect of “stability” will gradually decline, or even directly transform into negative expectations. Only by adhering to “pursuing progress while ensuring stability” can we guide economic entities to continuously form positive expectations in dynamic equilibrium and promote endogenous economic growth.

“稳”和“进”相互促进是推动大国经济内生增长的持续动力。“稳”和“进”是辩证统一的关系，“稳”为“进”创造更好的环境和时机，“进”为“稳”的动态平衡提供动力支撑。在经济稳定运行情况下，“稳”将成为所有市场主体的共识，从源头上降低形成负面预期的概率，同时有助于阻断短期冲击转变为负面预期的传导机制。但从动态均衡的角度看，如果只是不考虑“进”的机械求稳，“稳”的预期管理效应将逐步下降，甚至直接转变为负面预期。只有坚持“稳中求进”，才能在动态均衡中引导经济主体持续形成积极预期，促进经济内生增长。

2. Scientifically Grasp the Policy Logic of the General Principle of Pursuing Progress While Ensuring Stability

2.科学把握稳中求进工作总基调的政策逻辑

In implementing the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability in economic policy formulation, it is necessary to maintain strategic focus. This requires not only using medium- and long-term planning to guide economic and social development but also promoting the coordination and synergy of macro policies such as counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical regulation and expectation management around major national strategies.

在经济政策制定工作中贯彻稳中求进工作总基调，必须保持战略定力，既要用中长期规划指导经济社会发展，也要围绕国家重大战略促进逆周期和跨周期调节、预期管理等宏观政策协调配合、协同发力。

Enhance the consistency of macro policy orientation through scientifically formulating medium- and long-term plans. Economic operations are a complex dynamic equilibrium system involving multiple fields such as production, consumption, and distribution. A single policy is difficult to achieve multiple objectives. In economic practice, economic policies from different dimensions may have inconsistent policy purposes to some extent, and may even produce “synthesis fallacies” or “decomposition fallacies” in policies. [2]2 “Synthesis fallacy” refers to a situation where individually rational policies lead to an irrational overall outcome when combined; “decomposition fallacy” refers to incorrectly assuming that a sound overall policy can be decomposed into equally sound individual components. Scientifically formulating medium- and long-term plans can achieve the optimal policy mix under multiple constraints and effectively promote the coordinated efforts of policies across multiple fields. This is a key measure to enhance the consistency of macro policy orientation. China has continuously formulated and implemented fourteen five-year plans (programs). The “Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development,” adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, has pointed the way forward and provided scientific guidance for economic and social development in the next five years. [3]3 The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in 2024, focusing on comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization.

以科学编制中长期规划增强宏观政策取向一致性。经济运行是一个复杂的动态均衡系统，涉及生产、消费、分配等多个领域，单一政策难以实现多重目标。在经济实践中，不同维度的经济政策或多或少存在政策目的不一致的情况，甚至会产生政策“合成谬误”或“分解谬误”。科学编制中长期规划，能在多重约束下实现最优政策组合，有效促进多领域政策协同发力，这是提升宏观政策取向一致性的关键举措。我国已连续编制实施了十四个五年规划（计划），党的二十届四中全会通过的《中共中央关于制定国民经济和社会发展第十五个五年规划的建议》，为做好未来五年经济社会发展工作指明了前进方向、提供了科学指引。

Address cyclical economic fluctuations through the coordinated promotion of counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical regulation. The laws of economic operations show that economic cycles in practice do not appear in a single type or with a “fixed length,” but often manifest in the form of nested long and short cycles. In the process of addressing cyclical economic fluctuations, counter-cyclical regulation, which focuses on mitigating short-term economic fluctuations, primarily targets short-term negative factors affecting economic trends, while cross-cyclical regulation, which focuses on mitigating long-term economic fluctuations, pays more attention to the long-term healthy operation and orderly growth of the economy. The two need to be coordinated to achieve a dynamic balance between medium- and long-term economic development and short-term economic stability. Currently, affected by the relatively weak growth momentum of the world economy, China’s economy faces increased downward pressure. While implementing counter-cyclical regulation by “introducing more policies conducive to stabilizing expectations, growth, and employment, and cautiously introducing contractionary and inhibitory measures,” it is even more important to focus on solving long-term problems such as industrial structure adjustment, population aging, and systemic risks, and increase the intensity of cross-cyclical regulation, providing important guarantees for the stable operation of China’s economy on the new journey. [4]4 “On the new journey” refers to the new stage of development beginning with the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country after the centenary of the CPC in 2021.

以协调推进逆周期和跨周期调节应对经济周期性波动。经济运行规律显示，经济周期在实践中并非以单一类型、“确定长度”的形式出现，多呈现为长短周期嵌套的形式。在应对经济周期性波动的过程中，以减缓短期经济波动为核心的逆周期调节主要是针对影响经济趋势的短期负面因素，而以减缓长期经济波动为核心的跨周期调节更加注重经济的长期健康运行和有序增长。两者需协调推进，才能实现中长期经济发展与短期经济稳定的动态平衡。当前，受世界经济增长动能偏弱的影响，我国经济下行压力加大，在“多出有利于稳预期、稳增长、稳就业的政策，谨慎出台收缩性抑制性举措”的逆周期调节同时，更要聚焦解决产业结构调整、人口老龄化、系统性风险等长期问题，加大跨周期调节力度，为新征程上我国经济稳定运行提供重要保障。

Enhance policy predictability by improving the expectation management mechanism. Under the market economy system, the key channel for government intervention is to guide market entities to form reasonable expectations consistent with policy objectives and adjust their optimal decision-making behavior based on these expectations. However, if market entities’ expectations regarding the implementation effects of policies deviate, the policies will find it difficult to fully achieve their intended goals, and this will further increase the degree of deviation between new policies and market entities’ expectations. Expectation management is the process by which the government transmits credible signals of policy commitment to market entities, enhancing their predictability of policies and effectively guiding and stabilizing social expectations. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to expectation management, repeatedly emphasizing the need to stabilize market expectations. Both the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC proposed “improving the expectation management mechanism,” indicating that China’s macro-control is paying more attention to policy predictability and the micro-foundations of policy intervention. [5]5 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in 2024, primarily deliberating on further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization.

以健全预期管理机制增强政策可预见性。市场经济体制下，政府干预的关键作用渠道在于引导市场主体形成与政策目标一致的合理预期，并根据该预期调整其最优决策行为。但是，如果市场主体关于政策实施效果的预期出现偏离，政策就难以完全实现预期目标，并且会进一步加大新一轮政策与市场主体预期偏离程度。预期管理是政府通过向市场主体传递政策可置信的信号，增强市场主体对政策的可预见性，有效引导和稳定社会预期。党的十八大以来，党中央高度重视预期管理，反复强调要稳定市场预期，党的二十届三中、四中全会均提出“健全预期管理机制”，表明我国宏观调控更加关注政策可预见性及政策干预的微观基础。

3. Adhere to the General Principle of Pursuing Progress While Ensuring Stability and Do a Good Job in Economic Work under the New Situation

3.坚持稳中求进工作总基调，做好新形势下经济工作

To do a good job in economic work under the new situation, it is necessary to adhere to pursuing progress while ensuring stability and improving quality and efficiency in policy orientation. In conjunction with the important deployments of the 2025 Central Economic Work Conference, it is necessary to grasp key focal points within the overall situation, focus on cultivating endogenous growth drivers of the economy such as domestic demand, innovation, human capital, and opening up, promote high-quality economic development, and respond to various uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development.

做好新形势下经济工作，要在政策取向上坚持稳中求进、提质增效。结合2025年中央经济工作会议的重要部署，需在大局中把握关键着力点，聚焦内需、创新、人力资本、开放等经济内生增长动能培育，推进经济高质量发展，以高质量发展的确定性应对各种不确定性。

Expand domestic demand in all respects. Domestic demand is the main driving force and stabilising anchor for economic growth; expanding domestic demand in all respects can strengthen the endogenous momentum of the domestic economic cycle and effectively respond to external shocks. It is necessary to deeply implement the special action to boost consumption, formulate and implement plans to increase the income of urban and rural residents, further raise the minimum wage level and basic pension for urban and rural residents, broaden channels for residents’ property income, and steadily expand the size of the middle-income group. Expand the supply of high-quality goods and services, use “AI+” to lead the accelerated development of new types of consumption, accelerate the promotion of disruptive technological innovations and the empowerment of related outcomes for the upgrading of consumer products, and explore the construction of a nationwide digital platform for high-quality service industry consumption. Optimise the implementation of the “two new” policies[6]6 The “two new” policies refer to large-scale equipment renewal and the trade-in of consumer goods, a policy framework introduced by the Chinese government in 2024 to stimulate domestic demand., make good and full use of various types of government bond funds, solidly implement the “dual interest subsidy” policy for personal consumption loans and loans to service industry business entities, increase the intensity of support, expand the scope of support, and give local authorities more autonomous space.

全方位扩大内需。内需是拉动经济增长的主动力和稳定锚，全方位扩大内需能增强国内大循环内生动力，有效应对外部冲击。要深入实施提振消费专项行动，制定实施城乡居民增收计划，进一步提高城乡居民最低工资水平和基础养老金，拓宽居民财产性收入渠道，稳步扩大中等收入群体规模。扩大优质商品和服务供给，以“人工智能+”引领新型消费加快发展，加快促进颠覆性科技创新及相关成果赋能消费产品升级，探索构建全国性的高质量服务业消费数字化平台。优化“两新”政策实施，用好用足各类政府债券资金，扎实落实个人消费贷款和服务业经营主体贷款“双贴息”政策，提升支持力度，扩大支持范围，给予地方更多自主空间。

Lead the development of new quality productive forces. New quality productive forces are an advanced state of productive forces that break away from traditional economic growth models and paths of productive forces development; leading the development of new quality productive forces is an inherent requirement for promoting high-quality economic development. It is necessary to promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. Technological innovation should be oriented by industrial demand and application, providing endogenous momentum for industrial innovation; industrial innovation should take enhancing the level of science and technology as its focal point, creating value for technological innovation. Strengthen the principal position of enterprises in technological innovation, construct a multi-level pattern of innovation entities with deep integration of industry, academia, and research, and efficient coordination between large, medium, and small enterprises, give full play to the strategic supporting role of leading enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises, and stimulate the emergence of a number of “specialised and new” enterprises[7]7 “Specialised and new” enterprises (专精特新) are small and medium-sized enterprises that are specialised, refined, distinctive, and innovative, often operating in niche markets with advanced technologies, and are actively promoted by the Chinese government as part of industrial upgrading. with outstanding collaborative and supporting capabilities. Accelerate the smooth flow of various types of advanced and high-quality production factors towards the development of new quality productive forces, remove institutional and mechanistic barriers to factor mobility, improve the mechanism for factor participation in income distribution, and better reflect the market value of knowledge, technology, and human capital.

引领发展新质生产力。新质生产力是摆脱传统经济增长方式和生产力发展路径的先进生产力质态，引领发展新质生产力是推动经济高质量发展的内在要求。要推动科技创新和产业创新深度融合，科技创新以产业需求和应用为导向，为产业创新提供内生动力，产业创新以提升科技水平为着力点，为科技创新创造价值。强化企业科技创新主体地位，建构产学研深度融合、大中小企业高效协同的多层次创新主体格局，充分发挥龙头企业特别是国有企业的战略支撑作用，激发涌现一批协同配套能力突出的“专精特新”企业。加快推进各类先进优质生产要素向发展新质生产力顺畅流动，破除体制机制性要素流动障碍，健全要素参与收入分配机制，更好地体现知识、技术、人力资本的市场价值。

Promote high-quality and full employment. The accumulation of human capital is an important path for endogenous economic growth; promoting high-quality and full employment can further drive the transformation of population resources into human capital, providing key factor support for high-quality economic development. It is necessary to stabilise the employment of key groups such as college graduates and migrant workers, create more job positions with stable growth expectations, and establish a mechanism for increasing workers’ wages. Strengthen the synergy between industry and employment, drive employment growth through industrial upgrading, support and guide workers to participate in training to upgrade their skills, and adapt to the development needs of emerging industries and future industries. Reduce the cost of re-employment, increase support for the re-employment of workers laid off from traditional industries, encourage local governments to establish intelligent employment platforms, and use technologies such as artificial intelligence to accurately match job positions for the unemployed.

促进高质量充分就业。人力资本积累是经济内生增长的重要路径，促进高质量充分就业能进一步推动人口资源转化为人力资本，为经济高质量发展提供关键要素支撑。要稳定高校毕业生、农民工等重点群体就业，创造更多具有稳定成长预期的就业岗位，建立职工工资增长机制。加强产业和就业协同，通过产业升级带动就业增长，支持引导劳动者参加培训提升技能，适应新兴产业和未来产业的发展需求。降低再就业成本，加大对传统产业劳动者失业再就业的支持力度，鼓励地方政府建立智能化就业平台，利用人工智能等技术为失业人群精准匹配就业岗位。

Expand high-standard opening up. Opening up is a powerful driving force for high-quality economic development; expanding high-standard opening up can effectively utilise both domestic and international markets and resources, and improve the quality and level of the international cycle. It is necessary to actively expand autonomous opening up, focus on the service industry to expand market access and open areas, promote the expansion of pilot opening up in the telecommunications and medical fields, and steadily and orderly expand autonomous opening up in the education and cultural fields. Steadily expand institutional opening up, combine with one’s own development needs, actively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and achieve compatibility and integration of rules, regulations, management, and standards in areas such as property rights protection, industrial subsidies, environmental standards, and labour protection. Accelerate the building of high-level opening-up platforms, optimise the layout and scope of pilot free trade zones, solidly advance the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, and accelerate the “dual free trade zone linkage” development of a high-standard free trade agreement network system and a high-quality pilot free trade zone network system.

扩大高水平对外开放。开放是经济高质量发展的强大动能，扩大高水平对外开放能有效利用国内国际两个市场两种资源，提升国际循环质量和水平。要积极扩大自主开放，以服务业为重点扩大市场准入和开放领域，推动扩大电信、医疗领域的开放试点，稳妥有序扩大教育、文化领域自主开放。稳步扩大制度型开放，结合自身发展需要，主动对接国际高标准经贸规则，在产权保护、产业补贴、环境标准、劳动保护等方面实现规则、规制、管理、标准相通相融。加快打造高能级开放平台，优化自由贸易试验区布局范围，扎实推进海南自由贸易港建设，加快推进高标准自由贸易区网络体系与高质量自贸试验区网络体系的“双自联动”发展。

(Author: Chen Hangyu, specially appointed researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Research Centre for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and associate researcher at the Institute for National Strategy and Regional Development, Zhejiang University)

（作者：陈航宇，系浙江省习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员、浙江大学国家战略与区域发展研究院副研究员）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧