Gathering the Mighty Force of Chinese-Path Modernization through High-Quality Labor Creation

Labor creates happiness, and struggle builds great achievements. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “High-quality development cannot be separated from high-quality labor creation,” and “we must focus on promoting high-quality development, mobilizing and motivating the broad masses of workers and working people to make contributions and innovate and create.” High-quality labor creation runs through the entire process of Chinese-path modernization, deeply aligns with the people-centered value foundation, builds the driving engine for high-quality development, and points toward the realization of common prosperity and the all-round development of the people. At present, China is in a critical period of advancing Chinese-path modernization. Only by taking high-quality labor creation as the link and pooling the drip-like efforts of hundreds of millions of workers can we form the surging mighty force that continuously pushes forward Chinese-path modernization.

劳动创造幸福，奋斗铸就伟业。习近平总书记指出，“高质量发展离不开高质量的劳动创造”，“要聚焦推动高质量发展，动员激励广大职工和劳动群众建功立业、创新创造”。高质量的劳动创造贯穿中国式现代化进程，深刻契合以人民为中心的价值底色，构筑起高质量发展的动力引擎，并指向实现共同富裕与人的全面发展。当前，我国正处于推进中国式现代化的关键时期，只有以高质量的劳动创造为纽带，将亿万劳动者的涓滴努力汇聚起来，方能形成推动中国式现代化不断前进的磅礴伟力。

High-quality labor creation manifests the essential requirement of being people-centered

高质量的劳动创造彰显以人民为中心的本质要求

A society’s attitude toward labor and laborers essentially defines the nature and boundaries of its modernization. Chinese-path modernization adheres to being people-centered, and its ultimate destination is the realization of people’s free and all-round development. In this context, high-quality labor creation is a vivid practice of adapting the Marxist view on labor to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, achieving the organic unity of the attributes of the labor subject, the quality of the process, and the value orientation.

一个社会对待劳动与劳动者的态度，本质上规约着其现代化的性质与边界。中国式现代化坚持以人民为中心，其最终归宿是实现人的自由全面发展。在这一语境下，高质量的劳动创造是马克思主义劳动观中国化时代化的生动实践，实现了劳动主体属性、过程品质与价值导向的有机统一。

Labor is the unfolding of the species-essence of human beings, a “free, conscious activity,” while the objectification of the essential forces of human beings reveals the authentic state of labor as the externalization of the subject’s creativity. In the old-style modernization dominated by the logic of capital, labor is often alienated into a mere means of subsistence, leading to the obscuring of the laborer’s subjectivity and the estrangement of the spiritual world. High-quality labor creation in the context of Chinese-path modernization, on the other hand, promotes the return of labor to the authentic state of the objectification of the essential forces of human beings. In terms of connotation, it transcends simple repetitive physical exertion and moves toward the deep integration of knowledge-based, skill-based, and innovation-based labor; in terms of attitude, it discards the old model of rough-and-ready coping and advocates the spirit of craftsmanship that pursues excellence and perfection; in terms of effectiveness, it eliminates ineffective internal friction and focuses on effective output that responds to the real needs of society and promotes overall progress.

劳动是人的类本质的展开，是“自由的有意识的活动”，而人的本质力量的对象化则揭示了劳动作为主体创造力外化的本真状态。在资本逻辑主导的旧式现代化中，劳动常被异化为单纯的谋生手段，导致劳动者主体性遮蔽与精神世界疏离。中国式现代化语境下的高质量的劳动创造，则推动劳动向人的本质力量对象化的本真状态复归。它在内涵上超越了简单重复的体力消耗，迈向知识型、技能型、创新型劳动的深度融合；在态度上摒弃粗放应付的旧模式，崇尚精益求精、追求卓越的工匠精神；在效能上杜绝无效内耗，聚焦于回应社会真实需求、推动整体进步的有效产出。

High-quality labor creation fully embodies the initiative and creativity of laborers and manifests the dignity of the laborer as subject. It is by no means exclusive to specific positions but is a universal pursuit covering all legitimate fields of labor. Whether it is rural teachers rooted at the podium, community workers deeply engaged in the grid, or workers in new forms of employment shuttling through streets and alleys, they all confirm their own value through professionalized and refined labor practices. This form of labor, which integrates individual value into the overall situation of national development, is precisely the microcosmic reflection of the institutional advantage of “development for the people, development relying on the people, and development achievements shared by the people,” and manifests the distinctive character of Chinese-path modernization that distinguishes it from Western modernization.

高质量的劳动创造充分体现了劳动者的主动性创造性，彰显了劳动者的主体尊严。它绝非特定岗位的专属，而是覆盖一切合法劳动领域的普遍追求。无论是扎根讲台的乡村教师、深耕网格的社区工作者，还是穿梭街巷的新就业形态劳动者，都在以专业化、精细化的劳动实践确证自身价值。这种将个体价值融入国家发展大局的劳动形态，正是“发展为了人民、发展依靠人民、发展成果由人民共享”制度优势的微观映射，彰显了中国式现代化区别于西方现代化的鲜明品格。

High-quality labor creation is the core engine driving high-quality development

高质量的劳动创造是驱动高质量发展的核心引擎

From the perspective of political economy, labor is the sole source of value creation, but the value that complex labor can create grows geometrically. The core essence of high-quality labor creation is precisely to promote the transformation of the labor form from factor-input-driven to innovation-driven, achieving a leap in labor quality and efficiency.

从政治经济学视域看，劳动是价值创造的唯一源泉，但复杂劳动所能创造的价值呈几何级数增长。高质量的劳动创造的核心要义，正是推动劳动形态从要素投入型向创新驱动型转变，实现劳动质效跃升。

At present, new quality productive forces are accelerating their formation. The core hallmark of new quality productive forces is a substantial increase in total factor productivity, and its primary factor is precisely the high-quality workforce of laborers. New quality productive forces do not fall from the sky; they are condensed in the continuous optimization of micro-processes by industrial workers, nurtured in the independent tackling of key core technologies by research teams, and embodied in the intelligent reshaping of algorithm models and industrial ecosystems by digital workers. As the 14th Five-Year Plan draws to a close, the total number of skilled workers in China exceeds 220 million. Facing the structural demands of industrial upgrading, high-quality labor creation continuously bridges the gap between talent supply and technological iteration, providing strong support for leapfrog breakthroughs in fields such as manned spaceflight, deep-sea exploration, and quantum information. In the era of the digital economy, the boundaries of high-quality labor creation are constantly expanding. From the precise operation and maintenance of smart agriculture to the technological iteration of advanced manufacturing, from the brand going global of cross-border e-commerce to the experience upgrading of modern service industries, new forms of labor are achieving a virtuous cycle of “science and technology – industry – talent” through knowledge spillover, technological integration, and organizational innovation.

当前，新质生产力正加速形成。新质生产力的核心标志是全要素生产率大幅提升，而其第一要素正是高素质的劳动者队伍。新质生产力并非凭空而降，它凝结于产业工人对微观工序的持续优化，孕育于科研团队对关键核心技术的自主攻坚，体现为数字劳动者对算法模型与产业生态的智能重塑。在“十四五”收官之际，我国技能劳动者总量超过2.2亿人。面对产业升级的结构性需求，以高质量的劳动创造持续弥合人才供给与技术迭代的鸿沟，为载人航天、深海探测、量子信息等领域的跨越式突破提供强大支撑。在数字经济时代，高质量的劳动创造的边界不断延展。从智慧农业的精准运维到先进制造的技术迭代，从跨境电商的品牌出海到现代服务业的体验升级，新型劳动形态正以知识溢出、技术融合与组织创新，实现“科技—产业—人才”的良性循环。

To keep this engine running continuously, high-quality labor creation must be placed in a prominent position in the national strategy. First, we must deepen the integrated reform of the systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent, and take vocational education as the foundational project for cultivating master craftsmen of the nation. Second, we must extensively carry out labor and skill competitions, improve the mechanisms for training, using, evaluating, and incentivizing skilled personnel, and smooth the channels for the growth of technical workers. Third, we must improve the income distribution mechanism that reflects the value of innovation factors such as knowledge and technology, so that “those who work more, those with higher skills, and those who innovate more get more” becomes an institutional norm. When every laborer can refine their skills and release their potential on a professional track, the endogenous driving force for high-quality development will surely continue to emerge.

驱动这一引擎持续运转，必须将高质量的劳动创造置于国家战略的突出位置。一要深化教育、科技、人才体制机制一体改革，将职业教育作为培育大国工匠的基础工程；二要广泛开展劳动和技能竞赛，完善技能人才培养、使用、评价与激励机制，畅通技术工人成长通道；三要健全体现知识、技术等创新要素价值的收益分配机制，让“多劳者多得、技高者多得、创新者多得”成为制度常态。当每一位劳动者都能在专业化轨道上精进技艺、释放潜能，高质量发展的内生动力必将持续涌现。

Promoting the all-round development of people and achieving common prosperity for all the people cannot be separated from high-quality labor creation

推动人的全面发展、实现全体人民共同富裕离不开高质量的劳动创造

Common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important feature of Chinese-path modernization. Without high-quality labor creation, there can be no sustainable sharing; without the general improvement of laborers’ capabilities, it is difficult to achieve genuine common prosperity. High-quality labor creation is precisely the realistic path that connects wealth accumulation with reasonable distribution and realizes material abundance and spiritual enrichment.

共同富裕是中国特色社会主义的本质要求，也是中国式现代化的重要特征。没有高质量的劳动创造，就没有可持续的共享；没有劳动者能力的普遍提高，就难以实现真正的共同富裕。高质量的劳动创造，正是贯通财富积累与合理分配、实现物质丰裕与精神富足的现实路径。

From the dimension of wealth generation, the entry of a super-large-scale population into a modernized society as a whole imposes systematic requirements on the scale, structure, and quality of wealth creation. In recent years, China’s labor productivity of all employees has maintained a steady increase, which is a direct confirmation that high-quality labor creation provides a solid foundation for the growth of residents’ income and the resilience of the macroeconomy. High-quality labor creation pushes the mode of production to climb toward high-value-added links, accumulating a more substantial material foundation for common prosperity.

从财富生成维度看，超大规模人口整体迈进现代化社会，对财富创造的规模、结构与质量提出了系统性要求。近年来，我国全员劳动生产率保持稳步提升，这正是高质量的劳动创造为居民收入增长与宏观经济韧性提供坚实基础的直接印证。高质量的劳动创造推动生产方式向高附加值环节攀升，为共同富裕积累了更为雄厚的物质基础。

From the dimension of distributive justice, the foundation of common prosperity lies in “common,” and its root lies in “co-building.” Adhering to the principle of distribution according to work as the mainstay and increasing the proportion of labor remuneration in the primary distribution essentially recognizes the differences in labor value, allowing laborers who create greater social wealth through high-quality labor to receive matching returns. China has continuously improved the vocational skill level system and explored new mechanisms for the salary distribution of technical workers. This has not only effectively expanded the size of the middle-income group but also stimulated the endogenous driving force of the whole society to strive for upward mobility and goodness through institutionalized value feedback, forming a virtuous cycle of “creation – sharing – re-creation.”

从分配正义维度看，共同富裕的底色在于“共同”，根基在于“共建”。坚持按劳分配为主体、提高劳动报酬在初次分配中的比重，本质上是承认劳动价值的差异性，让创造更大社会财富的高质量的劳动者获得相匹配的回报。我国持续完善职业技能等级制度，探索技术工人薪酬分配新机制，不仅有效扩大了中等收入群体规模，更以制度化的价值回馈激发全社会向上向善的内生动力，形成“创造—共享—再创造”的良性循环。

More deeply, high-quality labor creation points toward the all-round development of people. Chinese-path modernization emphasizes the coordination of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, and high-quality labor creation is precisely the core field for cultivating professional ethics, shaping the spirit of struggle, and realizing spiritual enrichment. In the practice of overcoming technical difficulties and in the exploration of optimizing service processes, laborers not only update their knowledge structure and enhance their professional skills but also temper their will and elevate their realm in the process of value creation. From ordinary skilled workers growing into chief technicians, from “new farmers” to “prosperous farmers,” laborers achieve self-transcendence while contributing to society. This simultaneous resonance of “enriching the pocket” and “enriching the mind” lays a deep and lasting spiritual foundation for realizing common prosperity for all the people.

更为深层的是，高质量的劳动创造指向人的全面发展。中国式现代化强调物质文明与精神文明相协调，而高质量的劳动创造正是涵养职业伦理、塑造奋斗精神、实现精神富有的核心场域。在攻克技术难关的实践中，在优化服务流程的探索中，劳动者不仅更新知识结构、提升专业技能，更在价值创造中淬炼意志、升华境界。从普通技工成长为首席技师，从“新农人”到“兴农人”，劳动者在奉献社会的同时完成自我超越。这种“富口袋”与“富脑袋”的同频共振，为实现全体人民共同富裕夯实了深厚、持久的精神根基。

Chinese-path modernization is achieved through hard work, not by waiting. With its distinctive value foundation, strong dynamic effectiveness, and clear goal orientation, high-quality labor creation constitutes a solid support for advancing the great cause of building a strong country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. On the new journey, we must vigorously promote the spirit of model workers, the spirit of labor, and the spirit of craftsmanship, improve the system for protecting laborers’ rights and interests, and foster a social atmosphere of respecting labor, valuing skills, and encouraging innovation. Let high-quality labor creation become a prevailing trend across society, so that every laborer can pursue excellence in ordinary posts and anchor their coordinates in the torrent of the times, gathering the contributions of hundreds of millions of people into an irresistible mighty force advancing Chinese-path modernization.

中国式现代化是干出来的，不是等出来的。高质量的劳动创造，以其鲜明的价值底色、强劲的动力效能与清晰的目标指向，构成了推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业的坚实支撑。新征程上，必须大力弘扬劳模精神、劳动精神、工匠精神，完善劳动者权益保障体系，营造尊重劳动、崇尚技能、鼓励创新的社会风尚。让高质量的劳动创造在全社会蔚然成风，使每一位劳动者都能在平凡岗位上追求卓越、在时代洪流中锚定坐标，将亿万人民的贡献汇聚成推进中国式现代化不可阻挡的奋进伟力。

(The author, Li Yuyan, is a professor at the School of Basic Education for Military and Political Affairs, National University of Defense Technology.)

（作者：李雨燕，系国防科技大学军政基础教育学院教授）