Achieving Effective Qualitative Improvement and Reasonable Quantitative Growth

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we should continue to designate high-quality development as the theme of economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, requiring us to adhere to economic construction as the central task, fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, achieve effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth, and promote sustained and healthy economic development and comprehensive social progress. To promote high-quality development, the most important task is to accelerate high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, actively develop new quality productive forces, and make substantive and breakthrough progress in promoting scientific and technological innovation, accelerating the cultivation of new growth drivers, and promoting economic structural optimization and upgrading. This important exposition points out the fundamental direction for China’s five-year economic and social development in the future, marking a historic transformation of Chinese-path modernization from an extensive growth model focusing on scale and speed to an intensive improvement model focusing more on quality and efficiency.

习近平总书记指出，继续把推动高质量发展确定为“十五五”时期经济社会发展的主题，要求坚持以经济建设为中心，完整准确全面贯彻新发展理念，实现质的有效提升和量的合理增长，推动经济持续健康发展和社会全面进步。推动高质量发展，最重要是加快高水平科技自立自强，积极发展新质生产力，在推动科技创新、加快培育新动能、促进经济结构优化升级上取得实质性、突破性进展。这一重要论述为未来我国五年经济社会发展指明了根本方向，标志着中国式现代化从注重规模和速度的外延式增长，向更加注重质量和效益的内涵式提升的历史性转变。

The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial five-year period on the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. Achieving the organic unity of “effective qualitative improvement” and “reasonable quantitative growth” at this stage is not only a profound understanding and conscious adherence to the laws of economic and social development, but also a creative application and expansion of the Marxist development philosophy adapted to the needs of the times. It requires us, while maintaining stable economic operation, to focus more on the innovativeness, coordination and sustainability of development, to deepen reform and opening up, to optimize systems and mechanisms, to truly enable the fruits of development to better benefit all the people, to solidly promote sustained and healthy economic development and comprehensive social progress, and to lay a solid foundation for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country.

“十五五”时期是我国全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程上的关键五年，在这一阶段实现“质的有效提升”与“量的合理增长”的有机统一，不仅是对经济社会发展规律的深刻认识和自觉遵循，也是对马克思主义发展哲学的创造性运用与时代化拓展。它要求我们在保持经济平稳运行的同时，更加聚焦发展的创新性、协调性与可持续性，通过深化改革开放、优化体制机制，真正让发展成果更好惠及全体人民，扎实推动经济持续健康发展与社会全面进步，为全面建成社会主义现代化强国奠定坚实基础。

Enrichment and Expansion of the Connotation of Modernization

对现代化内涵的丰富与拓展

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the 15th Five-Year Plan period holds an important position of building on the past and ushering in the future in the process of basically realizing socialist modernization. This is a judgment made based on the historical tasks that the 15th Five-Year Plan period should undertake. The important historical position of the 15th Five-Year Plan in building on the past and ushering in the future determines that in advancing the process of Chinese-path modernization, attention should be paid to the following three points.

习近平总书记指出，“十五五”时期在基本实现社会主义现代化进程中具有承前启后的重要地位。这是根据“十五五”时期应承担的历史任务作出的判断。“十五五”承前启后的重要历史地位决定了在推进中国式现代化进程中，要注重以下三点。

First, the quality-oriented direction of modernization goals. Promoting the economy to achieve effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth means placing quality before quantity, marking a historic shift in development strategy. While maintaining a reasonable growth rate, more attention should be paid to the connotation and efficiency of development. Historically, China has completed the transformation from high-speed growth to high-quality development, and the 15th Five-Year Plan will further promote the leap from “general development” to “qualitative development.”

一是现代化目标的质变导向。推动经济实现质的有效提升和量的合理增长，就是要将质置于量之前，标志着发展战略的历史性转变。在保持合理增长速度的同时，更加注重发展的内涵与效能。历史地看，我国已完成了从高速增长到高质量发展的转变，而“十五五”将进一步推动从“一般性发展”向“质性发展”的跃升。

Second, the historical deepening of resolving the principal social contradiction. The proposal for the 15th Five-Year Plan highlights qualitative indicators in its goal setting, such as continuously improving the quality of people’s lives, significantly raising the level of cultural-ethical progress, and making new major progress in building a Beautiful China, reflecting the historic progress from material and

二是社会主要矛盾解决的历史深化。“十五五”规划建议在目标设置上突出人民生活品质不断提高、社会文明程度明显提升、美丽中国建设取得新的重大进展等质性指标，体现了从物质文化需求到美好生活需要的历史性进步。

Third, the civilizational self-awareness of the path of modernization. As a new form of human civilization, Chinese-path modernization embodies its “qualitative nature” in promoting goals such as “ensuring that material and cultural-ethical progress advance in tandem” and “promoting people’s well-rounded development and common prosperity for all.” This enrichment and expansion of the connotation of modernization breaks the single materialist logic of the Western model of modernization and manifests a historical self-awareness of civilizational diversity.

三是现代化道路的文明自觉。中国式现代化作为人类文明新形态，其“质性”体现在促进“物质文明和精神文明相得益彰”“推动人的全面发展、全体人民共同富裕”等目标中。这种对现代化内涵的丰富与拓展，打破了西方现代化模式的单一物质主义逻辑，展现了文明多样性的历史自觉。

Multi-dimensional and multi-level development

多维度、多层次的发展

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan [n1] is a critical juncture for consolidating the foundation and launching a full-scale effort; formulating and implementing the 14th Five-Year Plan well will lay a more solid foundation for basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035. Specifically, attention should be paid to the following two aspects.

习近平总书记指出，“十五五”时期是夯实基础、全面发力的关键时期，制定和实施好“十五五”规划，就能为2035年基本实现社会主义现代化奠定更加坚实的基础。具体来看，要注重以下两个方面。

First, the qualitative orientation of consolidating the foundation. The Party’s overall leadership provides the fundamental guarantee for qualitative development, ensuring that the direction of development does not deviate and the path does not change; putting the people first establishes the value orientation of qualitative development, taking “meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life” as the fundamental purpose; high-quality development clarifies the path choice for qualitative development, achieving a shift in drivers through “developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions”; comprehensively deepening reform constructs the dynamic mechanism for qualitative development, promoting a better alignment between “relations of production and productive forces, and between the superstructure and the economic base”; the combination of an effective market and a competent government optimizes the allocation of resources for qualitative development, forming an economic order that is both “vibrant” and “well-regulated”; coordinating development and security builds a bottom-line safeguard for qualitative development, ensuring a new pattern of development with a new security architecture.

一是夯实基础的质性导向。党的全面领导提供质性发展的根本保证，确保发展方向不偏、道路不变；人民至上确立质性发展的价值归宿，将“满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要”作为根本目的；高质量发展明确质性发展的路径选择，通过“因地制宜发展新质生产力”实现动能转换；全面深化改革构建质性发展的动力机制，推动“生产关系和生产力、上层建筑和经济基础”更好相适应；有效市场和有为政府相结合优化质性发展的资源配置，形成“放得活”又“管得好”的经济秩序；统筹发展和安全筑牢质性发展的底线屏障，以新安全格局保障新发展格局。

Second, the qualitative characteristics of achieving the goals. “Steady improvement in total factor productivity” embodies efficiency quality; “significant enhancement in basic research and original innovation capacity” embodies innovation quality; “extensive practice of core socialist values” embodies cultural quality; “optimization of the distribution structure and continued expansion of the middle-income group” embodies distribution quality; “basic formation of green production and lifestyle” embodies ecological quality; “further consolidation of the national security shield” embodies security quality. This goal system breaks through the limitations of a single economic dimension and constructs a multi-dimensional, multi-level framework for qualitative development.

二是实现目标的质性特征。“全要素生产率稳步提升”体现了效率质性；“基础研究和原始创新能力显著增强”体现了创新质性；“社会主义核心价值观广泛践行”体现了文化质性；“分配结构得到优化，中等收入群体持续扩大”体现了分配质性；“绿色生产生活方式基本形成”体现了生态质性；“国家安全屏障更加巩固”体现了安全质性。这一目标体系突破了单一经济维度的局限，构建了多维度、多层次的质性发展框架。

An important stage of continuous development and progress

不断发展进步的重要阶段

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that realizing socialist modernization is a historical process of stepwise progression and continuous development and progress, requiring unremitting effort and sustained struggle. The period of the 14th Five-Year Plan is a critical stage for achieving substantive and breakthrough progress in realizing high-quality development. Therefore, the following three points should be grasped.

习近平总书记指出，实现社会主义现代化是一个阶梯式递进、不断发展进步的历史过程，需要不懈努力、接续奋斗。“十五五”时期是在实现高质量发展中取得实质性、突破性进展的关键阶段。因此，应把握以下三点。

First, the stepwise progression of the modernization process. The positioning of achieving decisive progress in basically realizing socialist modernization reflects the processual and staged nature of modernization. The period of the 14th Five-Year Plan occupies a pivotal position linking the past and the future; it must both consolidate existing achievements and lay a solid foundation for basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035. This processual logic of “stepwise progression” requires that we neither rush for quick results nor passively wait, but rather grasp the rhythm and advance steadily.

一是现代化进程的阶梯递进。基本实现社会主义现代化取得决定性进展的定位，体现了现代化建设的过程性和阶段性。“十五五”时期处于承前启后的关键位置，既要巩固已有成果，又要为2035年基本实现社会主义现代化奠定坚实基础。这种“阶梯式递进”的过程逻辑要求我们既不能急于求成，也不能消极等待，而要把握节奏、稳扎稳打。

Second, the systemic project of qualitative transformation. Qualitative development is a complex systemic project requiring coordinated advancement across all fields and links: in the economic sphere, a shift from factor-driven to innovation-driven development; in the science and technology sphere, a shift from following and running alongside to running alongside and leading; in the social sphere, a shift from guaranteeing basic needs to improving quality; in the ecological sphere, a shift from pollution control to a Beautiful China; in the governance sphere, a shift from management and control to modernization of governance. These shifts are not isolated but constitute an organic whole that is interconnected and mutually reinforcing.

二是质性转变的系统工程。质性发展是一个复杂的系统工程，需要各领域、各环节的协同推进：在经济领域，从要素驱动向创新驱动转变；在科技领域，从跟跑并跑向并跑领跑转变；在社会领域，从保障基本向品质提升转变；在生态领域，从污染防治向美丽中国转变；在治理领域，从管理控制向治理现代化转变。这些转变不是孤立的，而是一个相互联系、相互促进的有机整体。

Third, the processual characteristics of institutional maturation and finalization. Goals such as a more complete socialist market economy system, a more robust system and mechanism for high-level opening up, and a further improvement in the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of whole-process people’s democracy reflect the processual logic of institutional construction moving from exploration and establishment to maturation and finalization. The qualitative improvement of institutions is a gradual process requiring continuous deepening of reform to transform institutional advantages into governance effectiveness.

三是制度成熟定型的过程特性。社会主义市场经济体制更加完善，高水平对外开放体制机制更加健全，全过程人民民主制度化、规范化、程序化水平进一步提高等目标，体现了制度建设从探索建立到成熟定型的过程逻辑。制度的质性提升是一个渐进过程，需要持续深化改革，推动制度优势转化为治理效能。

Prominently emphasizing common prosperity for all the people

突出强调全体人民共同富裕

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that “Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all the people. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, we have adhered to our original aspiration and founding mission, considered issues from the standpoint of the people,” and “prominently emphasized taking solid steps toward common prosperity for all the people; this is an overarching requirement guiding the economic and social development of the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan.” To this end, attention needs to be paid to the following three points.

习近平总书记指出，“中国式现代化是全体人民共同富裕的现代化。党的十八大以来，我们坚持不忘初心，站在人民立场上考虑问题”，“突出强调全体人民共同富裕迈出坚实步伐，这是指导‘十五五’时期经济社会发展的一个总体性要求”。为此，需要注重以下三点。

First, the development logic centered on the people. Adhering to the principle of putting the people at the center and the goal of continuously improving the quality of life of the people establishes the people-centered nature of Chinese-path modernization. This development logic is manifested in: development for the people, taking meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life as the fundamental purpose; development relying on the people, respecting the principal position of the people and firmly relying on them; development outcomes shared by the people, ensuring that the fruits of modernization benefit all the people more and more fairly. This stands in stark contrast to the polarization between rich and poor that emerged in the process of Western modernization and reflects the essential requirements of socialism.

一是以人民为中心的发展逻辑。坚持以人民为中心的原则和人民生活品质不断提高的目标，确立了中国式现代化的人民性本质。这种发展逻辑体现在：发展为了人民，将满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要作为根本目的；发展依靠人民，尊重人民主体地位，紧紧依靠人民；发展成果由人民共享，让现代化建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民。这与西方现代化过程中出现的贫富分化形成鲜明对比，体现了社会主义的本质要求。

Second, the development logic of comprehensive coordination. Chinese-path modernization is a comprehensive modernization of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, and the proposal for the 15th Five-Year Plan covers the fields of economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological civilization: economic development emphasizes the simultaneous improvement of quality and efficiency, political development emphasizes whole-process people's democracy, cultural development emphasizes cultural confidence, social development emphasizes fairness and justice, and ecological development emphasizes a Beautiful China. This comprehensiveness breaks through the single economic orientation of Western modernization and embodies the holistic law of the development of human society.

二是全面协调的发展逻辑。中国式现代化是“五位一体”的全面现代化，“十五五”规划建议涵盖了经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明各个领域：经济发展强调质效双升，政治发展强调全过程人民民主，文化发展强调文化自信，社会发展强调公平正义，生态发展强调美丽中国。这种全面性突破了西方现代化的单一经济导向，体现了人类社会发展的整体性规律。

Third, the development logic of civilizational innovation. As a new form of human civilization, Chinese-path modernization is qualitatively embodied in its transcendence of traditional modernization models: it transcends Western capital-centered modernization by adhering to the people-centered principle; it transcends Western materialist modernization by pursuing the all-round development of the individual; it transcends Western expansionist and predatory modernization by taking the path of peaceful development; and it transcends Western consumerist modernization by advocating green and low-carbon development. This civilizational innovation provides a new choice for humanity to achieve modernization and demonstrates the confidence in the path, confidence in the theory, confidence in the system, and confidence in the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

三是文明创新的发展逻辑。中国式现代化作为人类文明新形态，其质性体现在对传统现代化模式的超越上：超越了西方资本中心的现代化，坚持人民至上；超越了西方物质主义的现代化，追求人的全面发展；超越了西方扩张掠夺的现代化，走和平发展道路；超越了西方消费主义的现代化，倡导绿色低碳。这种文明创新为人类实现现代化提供了新的选择，展现了中国特色社会主义的道路自信、理论自信、制度自信和文化自信。

Achieving effective improvement in quality and reasonable growth in quantity during the 15th Five-Year Plan period marks that Chinese-path modernization has entered a new historical stage. From a historical logic, this is an inevitable leap from quantitative change to qualitative change in the modernization process; from a practical logic, this is a systematic transformation of the development mode from scale and speed to quality and efficiency; from a process logic, this is a key link in the stepwise progression of modernization construction; from a development logic, this is a vivid practice of creating a new form of human civilization.

“十五五”时期实现质的有效提升和量的合理增长，标志着中国式现代化进入了一个新的历史阶段。从历史逻辑看，这是现代化进程从量变到质变的必然跃迁；从实践逻辑看，这是发展方式从规模速度到质量效益的系统转变；从过程逻辑看，这是现代化建设阶梯式递进的关键环节；从发展逻辑看，这是创造人类文明新形态的生动实践。

The fundamental guarantee for this qualitative journey lies in upholding the Party's comprehensive leadership, the fundamental driving force lies in comprehensively deepening reform and opening up, the value destination lies in the people-centered principle, and the method and path lie in coordinating development and security. The whole Party must deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, enhance the Four Consciousnesses, strengthen the Four Confidences, and achieve the Two Upholds, maintain historical patience and strategic resolve, and continuously create new prospects for Chinese-path modernization construction in this qualitative journey.

这一质性征程的根本保证在于坚持党的全面领导，根本动力在于全面深化改革，价值归宿在于人民至上，方法路径在于统筹发展和安全。全党要深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义，增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，保持历史耐心和战略定力，在这场质性征程中不断开创中国式现代化建设新局面。

The grand goal of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035 requires not only the speed of economic growth but also the comprehensive improvement of development quality, the substantive improvement of people's lives, the comprehensive progress of social civilization, and the significant enhancement of ecological civilization. This "qualitative journey" will prove to the world that Chinese-path modernization is not only modernization with a huge population scale but also modernization of common prosperity for all the people, modernization of the coordination of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, modernization of the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, and modernization that takes the path of peaceful development.

到2035年基本实现社会主义现代化的宏伟目标，需要的不仅是经济增长的速度，更是发展质量的全面提升、人民生活的实质改善、社会文明的全面进步、生态文明的显著提升。这场“质性征程”将向世界证明：中国式现代化不仅是人口规模巨大的现代化，更是全体人民共同富裕的现代化、物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化、人与自然和谐共生的现代化、走和平发展道路的现代化。

(The author is Secretary of the Party Committee and Professor of Yanshan University)

（作者系燕山大学党委书记、教授）