Building a High-Level Socialist Market Economy System

The “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-Path Modernization,” adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, closely focuses on deploying further comprehensive deepening of reform for Chinese-path modernization. It clearly states that “a high-level socialist market economy system is an important guarantee for Chinese-path modernization,” highlighting the great significance of building a high-level socialist market economy system for advancing Chinese-path modernization. On the new journey of the New Era, we must focus on perfecting high-quality market entities, a high-standard market system, high-efficiency basic institutions for the market economy, and a high-efficiency governance system, deeply advancing the construction of a high-level socialist market economy system, thereby continuously injecting strong impetus and providing robust institutional guarantees for Chinese-path modernization.

党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》，紧紧围绕中国式现代化部署进一步全面深化改革，明确提出“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”，凸显了构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制对推进中国式现代化的重大意义。新时代新征程，要以完善高质量经营主体、高标准市场体系、高效率市场经济基础制度和高效能治理体系为重点，深入推进构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，为中国式现代化持续注入强劲动力、提供有力制度保障。

Achieving High-Efficiency Resource Allocation and High-Efficiency Macro Governance

实现高效率资源配置高效能宏观治理

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that developing a market economy under socialist conditions is a great creation of our Party. The socialist market economy system is a great creation of China’s reform and opening up and has become an important component of the basic socialist economic system. Since reform and opening up, through theoretical innovation, practical innovation, and institutional innovation, China has established the socialist market economy system, organically combining the superiority of the socialist system with the general laws of the market economy. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, reforms have been carried out comprehensively and advanced systematically, centering on enabling the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation and better leveraging the role of government. Decisive achievements have been made in reforms in important areas and key links, making the socialist market economy system more systematic, complete, mature, and well-defined. Practice has fully proven that the establishment and improvement of the socialist market economy system have greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of people, greatly liberated and developed the social productive forces, and provided institutional guarantees for the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability achieved since reform and opening up. On the new journey of the New Era, we must accelerate the building of a high-level socialist market economy system to provide institutional support for building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation.

习近平总书记指出，在社会主义条件下发展市场经济，是我们党的一个伟大创举。社会主义市场经济体制是我国改革开放的伟大创造，已成为社会主义基本经济制度的重要组成部分。改革开放以来，我国通过理论创新、实践创新和制度创新，确立了社会主义市场经济体制，把社会主义制度优越性同市场经济一般规律有机结合起来。党的十八大以来，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，围绕使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用和更好发挥政府作用，全方位展开、系统性推进改革，重要领域和关键环节改革取得决定性成果，社会主义市场经济体制更加系统完备、更加成熟定型。实践充分证明，社会主义市场经济体制的建立和完善极大调动了亿万人民的积极性，极大解放和发展了社会生产力，为改革开放以来我国取得经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹提供了制度保障。新时代新征程，必须加快构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，为强国建设、民族复兴提供制度支撑。

Building a high-level socialist market economy system is an inevitable choice for further perfecting the socialist market economy system and an important aspect of further perfecting and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. Since reform and opening up, centering on the core issue of handling the relationship between government and the market, with economic system reform as the focus, the reform of the socialist market economy system has been continuously deepened. The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC [n1] opened the curtain on reform and opening up, implementing market-oriented reforms, and ushering in a new period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. The 14th National Congress of the CPC [n2] established the goal of building a socialist market economy system as the objective of China’s economic system reform, proposing that the market should play a basic role in resource allocation under the macroeconomic regulation of the socialist state. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC [n3] clearly proposed enabling the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation and better leveraging the role of government. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC further, centering on the core issue of handling the relationship between government and the market, placed building a high-level socialist market economy system in a prominent position, emphasizing both “enlivening” and “managing well.” The process of reforming and perfecting the socialist market economy system is a process of our Party deepening and elevating its understanding of the laws of the market economy, and also a process of continuously exploring the construction of an economic system that meets the requirements of the development of productive forces. Building a high-level socialist market economy system, promoting the adaptation of relations of production to productive forces, especially new quality productive forces, and the adaptation of the superstructure to the economic base, can better advance and expand Chinese-path modernization.

构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制是进一步完善社会主义市场经济体制的必然选择，是进一步完善和发展中国特色社会主义制度、推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的重要方面。改革开放以来，围绕处理好政府和市场关系这个核心问题，以经济体制改革为重点，不断将社会主义市场经济体制改革引向深入。党的十一届三中全会拉开改革开放大幕，实行市场取向的改革，开启了改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期。党的十四大把建立社会主义市场经济体制确立为我国经济体制改革的目标，提出要使市场在社会主义国家宏观调控下对资源配置起基础性作用。党的十八届三中全会明确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。党的二十届三中全会进一步围绕处理好政府和市场关系这个核心问题，把构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制摆在突出位置，强调既“放得活”又“管得住”。社会主义市场经济体制改革完善的过程，是我们党对市场经济规律认识深化和升华的过程，也是不断探索构建与生产力发展要求相适应经济体制的过程。构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，推动生产关系同生产力尤其是新质生产力、上层建筑同经济基础相适应，能够更好推进和拓展中国式现代化。

A high-level socialist market economy system has rich scientific connotations. The core of building a high-level socialist market economy system is to fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and better leverage the role of government, enabling the “invisible hand” of the market to fully exert itself and the “visible hand” of the government to act effectively and well, achieving the organic unity of an effective market and a competent government. An effective market requires the support of high-quality market entities, a high-standard market system, and high-efficiency basic institutions for the market economy. In building a high-level socialist market economy system, by creating market entities full of vitality, competitiveness, and innovation, building a unified national market that is efficient, standardized, fair in competition, and fully open, and forming a fairer and more dynamic market environment, we can achieve optimal resource allocation efficiency and maximized benefits. A competent government requires further perfecting the macroeconomic regulation system, coordinating the advancement of reforms in key areas such as fiscal, taxation, and finance, and better leveraging the government’s role in macroeconomic regulation, market supervision, public services, and environmental protection. By building a high-level socialist market economy system, we promote the organic combination and mutual reinforcement of effective market operation and competent government action, demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system and achieving high-efficiency resource allocation and high-efficiency macro governance.

高水平社会主义市场经济体制具有丰富的科学内涵。构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，核心是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，使市场“无形之手”充分施展、政府“有形之手”有为善为，实现有效市场和有为政府有机统一。有效市场需要高质量经营主体、高标准市场体系、高效率市场经济基础制度支撑。在构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制中，通过打造充满活力、富有竞争力和创新力的经营主体，建设高效规范、公平竞争、充分开放的全国统一大市场，形成更加公平、更有活力的市场环境，实现资源配置效率最优化和效益最大化。有为政府需要进一步完善宏观调控制度体系，统筹推进财税、金融等重点领域改革，更好发挥政府在宏观调控、市场监管、公共服务、环境保护等方面的作用。通过构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，推动市场有效运行和政府有为善为有机结合、相得益彰，彰显社会主义制度优越性，实现高效率的资源配置和高效能的宏观治理。

Providing Important Guarantees for Advancing Chinese-Path Modernization

为推进中国式现代化提供重要保障

Chinese-path modernization is continuously advanced through reform and opening up, and it will surely open up broad prospects through reform and opening up. Adapting to new situations and new requirements, building a high-level socialist market economy system and fully leveraging the leading role of economic system reform can provide important guarantees for advancing Chinese-path modernization.

中国式现代化是在改革开放中不断推进的，也必将在改革开放中开辟广阔前景。适应新形势新要求，构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，充分发挥经济体制改革牵引作用，可以为推进中国式现代化提供重要保障。

Providing important guarantees for achieving the goals and tasks of the new stage. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed the overall goals for China’s development by 2035 and the goal of building China into a great modern socialist country that is leading in comprehensive national strength and international influence by the middle of this century. Against the backdrop of profound changes in the population age structure and the supply of resource factors, improving economic development efficiency and total factor productivity is the driving force for sustained, stable, and healthy economic development. Building a high-level socialist market economy system, by deepening the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, promoting the development of the non-public sector, building a unified national market, and perfecting the basic institutions of the market economy, will accelerate the formation of institutional mechanisms featuring effective incentives for property rights, free flow of factors, flexible price responses, fair and orderly competition, and survival of the fittest among enterprises. This can both stimulate the vitality and innovation capacity of market entities and promote the free flow of production factors such as labor, capital, land, and technology, significantly increase total factor productivity, maintain the potential growth rate at a reasonable level, and consolidate the economic foundation for building a great modern socialist country in all respects.

为实现新阶段目标任务提供重要保障。党的二十大报告提出到2035年我国发展的总体目标，提出到本世纪中叶把我国建设成为综合国力和国际影响力领先的社会主义现代化强国的目标。在人口年龄结构、资源要素供给发生深刻变化的大背景下，提高经济发展效率和全要素生产率，是经济持续稳定健康发展的动力。构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，通过深化国资国企改革、促进非公有制经济发展、构建全国统一大市场、完善市场经济基础制度，加快形成产权有效激励、要素自由流动、价格反应灵活、竞争公平有序、企业优胜劣汰的体制机制，既可以激发经营主体的活力和创新能力，也可以促进劳动、资本、土地、技术等生产要素自由流动，大幅提升全要素生产率，推动潜在增长率保持在合理水平，夯实全面建成社会主义现代化强国的经济基础。

Providing important guarantees for fully, accurately, and comprehensively implementing the new development philosophy. High-quality development is development that embodies the new development philosophy; it is development where innovation becomes the primary driving force, coordination becomes an inherent characteristic, green becomes a universal form, openness becomes the inevitable path, and sharing becomes the fundamental goal. Fully, accurately, and comprehensively implementing the new development philosophy is the inevitable path to achieving higher quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable, and safer development. In implementing the new development philosophy, some localities still have many problems and weak links, affecting the continuous improvement of economic development quality and efficiency. Building a high-level socialist market economy system, accelerating the improvement of the macroeconomic governance system, promoting the coordinated force of fiscal, monetary, industrial, price, and employment policies around the implementation of national development plans and major strategies, optimizing the allocation of various incremental resources and the adjustment of existing structures, promoting the formation of scientific macroeconomic regulation and effective government governance, and encouraging various types of market entities to concentrate on innovation and down-to-earth business operations, will continuously shape new drivers and new advantages for development.

为完整、准确、全面贯彻新发展理念提供重要保障。高质量发展是体现新发展理念的发展，是创新成为第一动力、协调成为内生特点、绿色成为普遍形态、开放成为必由之路、共享成为根本目的的发展。完整、准确、全面贯彻新发展理念是实现更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续、更为安全发展的必由之路。在贯彻落实新发展理念中，一些地方还存在不少问题和薄弱环节，影响经济发展质量和效益持续提升。构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，加快健全宏观经济治理体系，围绕实施国家发展规划、重大战略促进财政、货币、产业、价格、就业等政策协同发力，优化各类增量资源配置和存量结构调整，推动形成科学的宏观调控和有效的政府治理，激励各类经营主体凝心聚力搞创新、脚踏实地搞实业，不断塑造发展新动能新优势。

To provide an important guarantee for the formation of a new pattern of development. Accelerating the formation of a new pattern of development is a strategic choice for reshaping China’s advantages in international cooperation and competition. The advantage of a large-country economy lies in its capacity for internal circulation. The smoother the domestic circulation, the stronger the gravitational field it creates for global resources and factors. At present, China still has certain regulations and practices that impede the formation of a unified market and fair competition. Building a high-standard socialist market economy, achieving unimpeded access, consistent rules, connected infrastructure, and coordinated supervision, eliminating local protection and market segmentation, promoting the organic linkage of commodities and resource factors across the links of production, distribution, circulation, and consumption, and enabling their smooth flow and optimal allocation on a broader scale, all contribute to smoothing economic circulation. The formation and development of a strong domestic market can maintain and enhance the appeal of global resource factors, better connect domestic and international markets and resources, and realize the mutual reinforcement of domestic and international dual circulation.

为构建新发展格局提供重要保障。加快构建新发展格局是重塑我国国际合作和竞争新优势的战略抉择。大国经济的优势就是内部可循环。国内循环越顺畅，越能形成对全球资源要素的引力场。当前我国还存在妨碍统一市场形成和公平竞争的一些规定和做法。构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，实现准入畅通、规则一致、设施联通和监管协同，破除地方保护和市场分割，促进商品资源要素在生产、分配、流通、消费各环节有机衔接，在更大范围内顺畅流动、优化配置，有利于畅通经济循环。强大国内市场的形成与发展，能保持和增强对全球资源要素的吸引力，更好联通国内国际两个市场、两种资源，实现国内国际双循环相互促进。

To provide an important guarantee for promoting high-quality development. High-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects. At present, China’s development faces relatively prominent problems of imbalance and inadequacy; the market system is still imperfect, market development is insufficient, and the relationship between the government and the market has not yet been fully straightened out, affecting the transformation of development in terms of quality, efficiency, and drivers. Building a high-standard socialist market economy, removing institutional and mechanistic obstacles to the efficient allocation of resource factors, improving a modern property rights system with clear ownership, well-defined rights and responsibilities, strict protection, and smooth transfer, implementing an open and transparent market access system, a fair competition system, and a social credit system, and perfecting incentive and constraint mechanisms for promoting high-quality development, will allow higher-quality goods and services to stand out, enable more high-quality resource factors to gather toward advanced productive forces and advantageous entities, facilitate the wider application of new technologies, new business forms, and new models, and continuously cultivate and strengthen new drivers and new advantages, thereby providing a source of impetus for achieving effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth in the economy.

为推动高质量发展提供重要保障。高质量发展是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务。当前我国发展不平衡不充分问题较为突出，市场体系仍不健全，市场发育还不充分，政府和市场的关系尚未完全理顺，影响发展质量变革、效率变革、动力变革。构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，破除资源要素有效配置的体制机制障碍，完善归属清晰、权责明确、保护严格、流转顺畅的现代产权制度，实施开放透明的市场准入制度、公平竞争制度、社会信用制度，健全推动高质量发展激励约束机制，让更高质量的商品和服务脱颖而出，让更多优质资源要素向先进生产力和优势主体集聚，让更多新技术新业态新模式推广应用，不断培育壮大新动能新优势，为推动经济实现质的有效提升和量的合理增长提供动力来源。

Coordinating various strategic tasks to smooth the national economic cycle

统筹各项战略任务畅通国民经济循环

With handling the relationship between the government and the market as the core, taking economic system reform as the driving force, and focusing on stimulating the vitality of business entities, building a unified national market, improving the basic institutions of the market economy, and perfecting the macroeconomic governance system, we will accelerate the construction of a high-standard socialist market economy, promoting fairer competition among business entities, a more unified market system, more efficient market institutions, and more coordinated government governance.

以处理好政府和市场关系为核心，以经济体制改革为牵引，以激发经营主体活力、构建全国统一大市场、完善市场经济基础制度、健全宏观经济治理体系为重点，加快构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，推动经营主体竞争更加公平、市场体系更加统一、市场制度更加高效、政府治理更加协同。

First, adhere to and implement the “two unswerving principles.” [4]4 The “two unswerving principles” (两个毫不动摇) refer to the Party’s policy of unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector of the economy. Unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy, promoting complementary advantages and common development among all forms of ownership, and continuously stimulating the vitality of business entities. Deepen the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, further strengthen and improve the top-level institutional design for the management of the state-owned economy, promote the optimization and structural adjustment of the state-owned economic layout, make state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises stronger, better, and larger, enhance their core functions, and raise their core competitiveness. Focusing on providing more opportunities for the development of the non-public sector, formulate a law on promoting the private economy, and continuously optimize the legal, policy, and market environment for the development of the private economy, ensuring that all forms of ownership legally and equally use factors of production, participate fairly in market competition, and receive equal protection under the law. At the same time, improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, promote the entrepreneurial spirit, and promote the formation of a number of world-class enterprises.

一是坚持和落实“两个毫不动摇”。毫不动摇巩固和发展公有制经济，毫不动摇鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展，促进各种所有制经济优势互补、共同发展，持续激发经营主体活力。深化国资国企改革，进一步加强和改进国有经济管理的顶层制度设计，推进国有经济布局优化和结构调整，推动国资国企做强做优做大，增强核心功能，提升核心竞争力。聚焦为非公有制经济发展提供更多机会，制定民营经济促进法，持续优化民营经济发展的法治环境、政策环境、市场环境，确保各种所有制经济依法平等使用生产要素、公平参与市场竞争、同等受到法律保护。同时，完善中国特色现代企业制度，弘扬企业家精神，推动形成一批世界一流企业。

Second, build a unified national market. Issue guidelines for building a unified national market, promote the unification of basic market system rules, fair and unified market supervision, and high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure, strengthen the rigid constraints of fair competition review, clean up and abolish various regulations and practices that hinder a unified national market and fair competition, and eliminate local protection and market segmentation. Continuously promote market-oriented allocation reform of factors, remove institutional and mechanistic obstacles that hinder the free flow of factors, improve the factor market system, advance the construction of factor market institutions, and achieve market-determined factor prices, orderly and autonomous flow, and efficient and fair allocation. Improve integrated and coherent circulation rules and standards, deepen the reform of the energy management system, and build a unified national electricity market. Accelerate the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system, form a market-led endogenous growth mechanism for effective investment, improve the long-term mechanism for expanding consumption, expand effective investment and stimulate potential consumption, and fully unleash the advantages of the super-large-scale market and the huge potential of domestic demand.

二是构建全国统一大市场。推出全国统一大市场建设指引，推动市场基础制度规则统一、市场监管公平统一、市场设施高标准联通，加强公平竞争审查刚性约束，清理和废除妨碍全国统一市场和公平竞争的各种规定和做法，破除地方保护和市场分割。持续推动要素市场化配置改革，破除阻碍要素自由流动的体制机制障碍，健全要素市场体系，推进要素市场制度建设，实现要素价格市场决定、流动自主有序、配置高效公平。健全一体衔接的流通规则和标准，深化能源管理体制改革，建设全国统一电力市场。加快培育完整内需体系，形成市场主导的有效投资内生增长机制，完善扩大消费长效机制，扩大有效益的投资、激发有潜能的消费，把超大规模市场优势和巨大内需潜力充分激发出来。

Third, improve the basic institutions of the market economy. Improve the property rights system, strengthen the protection of property rights and intellectual property rights, legally, equally, and durably protect the property rights of all forms of ownership, give various business entities a greater sense of security and belonging (归属), and stimulate the innovation vitality and motivation of the whole society. Improve the market access system, issue relevant opinions, release a new version of the negative list for market access, optimize the market access environment for new business forms and new fields, and at the same time improve the enterprise bankruptcy mechanism, explore the establishment of a personal bankruptcy system, improve the enterprise exit system, and better create a market environment for fair competition. Improve the social credit system and regulatory system, and better create a fair and honest market environment.

三是完善市场经济基础制度。完善产权制度，加强产权和知识产权保护，依法平等长久保护各种所有制经济产权，让各类经营主体有更多的安全感、归属感，激发全社会的创新活力和动力。完善市场准入制度，出台相关意见，发布新版市场准入负面清单，优化新业态新领域市场准入环境，同时健全企业破产机制，探索建立个人破产制度，完善企业退出制度，更好营造公平竞争的市场环境。健全社会信用体系和监管制度，更好营造公平诚信的市场环境。

Fourth, improve the macroeconomic governance system. Improve the national strategic planning system and the policy coordination mechanism, and perfect the institutional system for national economic and social development planning. Strengthen the coordination and cooperation of macroeconomic policies, incorporate both economic and non-economic policies into the consistency assessment of macroeconomic policy orientation, improve the expectation management mechanism, and promote the coordinated efforts of fiscal, monetary, industrial, price, and employment policies, avoiding “composition fallacy” and “decomposition fallacy.” Deepen the reform of the fiscal and tax systems, strengthen the coordination of fiscal resources and budgets, optimize the tax structure, and establish a central-local fiscal relationship with clear powers and responsibilities, coordinated financial resources, and regional balance. Deepen the reform of the financial system, smooth the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, improve the positioning and governance of financial institutions, perfect the functions of the capital market in coordinating investment and financing, and strengthen and improve the modern financial regulatory system. Based on reality and focusing on key points, accelerate the establishment of a statistical system and framework that is compatible with high-quality development. Improve the mechanism for implementing the regional coordinated development strategy, promote the established major regional strategic deployments to leverage their respective advantages and functions, and build a regional economic layout and territorial space system with complementary advantages.

四是健全宏观经济治理体系。完善国家战略规划体系和政策统筹协调机制，健全国家经济社会发展规划制度体系。加强宏观政策协调配合，将经济政策和非经济性政策都纳入宏观政策取向一致性评估，健全预期管理机制，促进财政、货币、产业、价格、就业等政策协同发力，避免“合成谬误”和“分解谬误”。深化财税体制改革，加强财政资源和预算统筹，优化税制结构，建立权责清晰、财力协调、区域均衡的中央和地方财政关系。深化金融体制改革，畅通货币政策传导机制，完善金融机构定位和治理，健全投资和融资相协调的资本市场功能，加强和完善现代金融监管体系。立足实际、聚焦重点，加快建立与高质量发展相适应的统计制度和体系。完善实施区域协调发展战略机制，推动既定区域重大战略部署发挥各自优势功能，构建优势互补的区域经济布局和国土空间体系。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗