马克思主义研究网Marxism Research Network

Unofficial English translation by DeepSeek, a Chinese LLM · source marxism.cass.cn

On the Ecological Implications of Developing New Quality Productive Forces

李永胜、许夏琳:论发展新质生产力的生态意蕴

· · Fundamental Principles of Marxism · "Contemporary Economic Research" 2024, no. 12 · 37 min read

In September 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping, during his inspection tour in Heilongjiang, put forward the new concept of accelerating the formation of “new quality productive forces.” In February 2024, during the eleventh collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Green development is the defining feature of high-quality development, and new quality productive forces are in themselves green productive forces.” In March 2024, during the twelfth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, he stressed the need to actively develop clean energy and “build a new model of mutually beneficial transformation toward green and low-carbon energy.” In the same month, when attending the deliberation session of the Jiangsu delegation, he pointed out the need to “develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions” and to “use new technologies to transform and upgrade traditional industries, actively promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of industries.” Subsequently, at the symposium on promoting the rise of the central region in the New Era, he stressed the need to “coordinate the advancement of ecological and environmental protection with green and low-carbon development” and to “promote the ecological transformation of industries and the industrialization of ecology.”

2023年9月,习近平总书记在黑龙江考察时提出了要加快形成“新质生产力”这一新概念。2024年2月,习近平总书记在中共中央政治局第十一次集体学习时指出:“绿色发展是高质量发展的底色,新质生产力本身就是绿色生产力”。2024年3月,他在中共中央政治局第十二次集体学习时,强调要积极发展清洁能源,“构建能源绿色低碳转型共赢新模式”。同月,他在参加江苏代表团审议会时指出,要“因地制宜发展新质生产力”,要“用新技术改造提升传统产业,积极促进产业高端化、智能化、绿色化”。之后,他在新时代推动中部地区崛起座谈会上强调,“要协同推进生态环境保护和绿色低碳发展”,“推进产业生态化和生态产业化”。

Viewed along this chronological thread, General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly revealed the relationship between new quality productive forces and the green economy, emphasizing the need to combine high-quality economic development with high-level ecological protection, allowing the two to advance in tandem. New quality productive forces represent the direction of high-quality development and inherently possess the endogenous advantage of protecting the ecological environment and promoting the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature. The progression from simple “natural productive forces” to “social productive forces” and then to “new quality productive forces” is not merely a change in wording; it is more profoundly the deepening and perfection of the Chinese Communist Party’s understanding of the relationship between economic construction and ecological construction. It embodies the people’s good will and broad consensus and manifests the Chinese characteristics and ecological implications of the path of modernization.

从时间脉络来看,习近平总书记深刻揭示了新质生产力与绿色经济的关系,强调要将经济高质量发展与生态高水平保护相结合,让二者协同并进。新质生产力代表高质量发展方向,本质上具有保护生态环境、推进人与自然和谐共生的内生优势。从单纯的“自然生产力”到“社会生产力”再到“新质生产力”,并非简单的措辞变化,更是中国共产党对经济建设与生态建设间关系认识的深化与完善,内蕴着人民群众的美好意愿和广泛共识,彰显了现代化道路的中国特色与生态意蕴。

I. The Ecological Connotation of New Quality Productive Forces

一、新质生产力的生态内涵

New quality productive forces are green productive forces, possessing rich ecological connotations, which are concretely embodied in four aspects: constituent elements, technological attributes, value objectives, and inherent advantages. In terms of constituent elements, new quality productive forces take the optimized combination of laborers, means of labor, and subjects of labor as their core driving force; in terms of technological attributes, new quality productive forces take digital technology and green technology as their technological support; in terms of value objectives, new quality productive forces take the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature as their value objective; in terms of inherent advantages, new quality productive forces take the ecological character of the innovation-driven development system as their endogenous characteristic.

新质生产力是绿色生产力,具有丰富的生态内涵,具体体现在构成要素、技术属性和价值目标、内在优势四个方面。在构成要素上,新质生产力以劳动者、劳动资料和劳动对象的优化组合为内核驱动;在技术属性上,新质生产力以数字科技和绿色科技为技术支撑;在价值目标上,新质生产力以人与自然的和谐共生为价值目标;在内在优势上,新质生产力以创新发展体系生态性为内生特点。

1. New Quality Productive Forces Take the Optimized Combination of Constituent Elements as Their Core Driving Force

1.新质生产力以构成要素的优化组合为内核驱动

Productive forces are the material force with which humanity transforms nature; they are the practical production activities through which humanity acts upon nature to satisfy its own needs. In essence, they are the material transformation relationship between humanity and nature. New quality productive forces “take the leap in laborers, means of labor, subjects of labor, and their optimized combination as their basic connotation, and take the substantial increase in total factor productivity as their core hallmark.” [1]1 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012. Truly grasping the “new” characteristics of the elements of new quality productive forces is the key to promoting the efficient and synergistic matching of the various elements of new quality productive forces.

生产力是人们改造自然的物质力量,是为满足自身需要而作用于自然的生产实践活动,本质上是人与自然的物质变换关系。新质生产力“以劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象及其优化组合的跃升为基本内涵,以全要素生产率的大幅提升为核心标志”,切实把握新质生产力要素的“新”特征,是促进新质生产力诸要素实现高效协同匹配的关键。

With the progress of science and technology and the development of innovation, the three traditional elements of productive forces—laborers, means of labor, and subjects of labor—have already undergone profound changes, increasingly displaying a “new qualitative state.” New-type laborers are intelligent laborers who can proficiently master and use digital tools. New-type laborers must not only possess traditional labor skills but also have an innovative spirit, scientific and technological literacy, and practical operational ability. Marx pointed out: “Labor productivity is constantly developing with the continuous progress of science and technology.” [2]2 Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects (全面建成小康社会) is a strategic goal set by the CPC, achieved by the centenary of the Party's founding in 2021, signifying a society where the basic needs of the population are met and living standards are significantly improved. Entering the era of the digital economy, the subjects of labor have expanded from traditional material forms to digital forms centered on data. The intelligent combination of symbolic language, images, numbers, and machines has replaced traditional mechanical operations. Data, algorithms, and platforms have evolved into new types of subjects of labor, injecting a continuous stream of “raw materials” for the development of new quality productive forces. Marx pointed out: “The distinction between different economic epochs is not what is produced, but how it is produced, by what means of labor.” [3]3 Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, “Critique of Hegel’s Dialectic and Philosophy as a Whole.” What are means of labor? Marx believed that “the means of labor are a thing or a complex of things which the worker interposes between himself and the subject of his labor and which serves as the conductor of his activity onto that subject.” [4]4 Friedrich Engels, “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man.” They are the basis for distinguishing different economic epochs. For example, in slave society, the means of labor were hand tools and basic farm implements; in capitalist society, the means of labor were various types of machinery; now, entering an intelligent society, the means of labor have leaped from simple, manually operated traditional mechanical tools to digitally operated intelligent equipment and applications.

随着科技进步和创新发展,传统的生产力三要素——劳动者、劳动资料和劳动对象,已然发生深刻变化,日益展现出“新质态”。新型劳动者是能够熟练掌握和使用数字化工具的智能化劳动者,新型劳动者不但要具备传统劳动技能,更要具有创新精神、科技素养和实践操作能力。马克思指出:“劳动生产力是随着科学和技术的不断进步而不断发展的。”步入数字经济时代,劳动对象从传统的物质形态拓展至以数据为核心的数字形态,由符号语言、图像、数字与机器的智能组合代替了传统的机械操作,数据、算法和平台等演变为新型劳动对象,为发展新质生产力注入源源不断的“原料”。马克思指出:“各种经济时代的区别,不在于生产什么,而在于怎样生产,用什么劳动资料生产。”何为劳动资料?马克思认为,“劳动资料是劳动者置于自己和劳动对象之间、用来把自己的活动传导到劳动对象上去的物或物的综合体”。它是区分不同经济时代的依据,比如在奴隶社会的劳动资料就是手工工具和基础农具;资本主义社会的劳动资料就是各类机器;如今步入智能化社会,劳动资料就由简单操作的传统机械工具跃变为数字化操作的智能型设备和应用。

In the digital era, laborers, subjects of labor, and means of labor have become new qualitative states adapted to the development and changes of digital technology. How to optimize the combination of these elements is the key point for the formation, development, and growth of new quality productive forces. From the perspective of element composition, the elements emerging in new quality productive forces include traditional elements such as laborers, subjects of labor, and means of labor, as well as new elements such as data, information, digital technology, knowledge, computing power, and algorithms. New quality productive forces are a comprehensive force constituted by various production elements. Laborers, subjects of labor, and means of labor are the basic elements; “technology” and “various types of information and data” are the multiplier elements that maximize their effect. “Technology” and “data,” as new types of production elements, are only potential productive capacities. Only by permeating them into the aforementioned three elements and combining with them can they be transformed into actual productive forces, forming more powerful production efficiency, production quality, and production speed, thereby achieving the comprehensive effect of “better, faster, and stronger.” Furthermore, from the perspective of the production structure, the traditional production model is a simple production structure in which laborers use material means of labor to act upon purely material subjects of labor. Today, it requires laborers to proficiently master technology and information data to operate corresponding digital machines, thereby driving the efficient operation of target projects. Therefore, new quality productive forces need to take the optimized combination of constituent elements as their core driving force to advance economic and social development.

数字时代下,劳动者、劳动对象和劳动资料成为适应数字科技发展变化的新质态,如何对各要素进行优化组合是新质生产力形成、发展壮大的关键点。从要素构成来看,新质生产力涌现的要素包括劳动者、劳动对象、劳动资料等传统要素,亦包括数据、信息、数字科技、知识、算力、算法等新要素。新质生产力是各生产要素构成的综合力,劳动者、劳动对象和劳动资料是基础要素,“科技”与“各类信息数据”是使其作用最大化的乘数要素。“科技”与“数据”作为新型生产要素仅是潜在的生产能力,只有将其渗透于上述三要素之中,与之组合才能转变为现实的生产力,形成更强大的生产效能、生产质量和生产速度,进而实现“更好、更快、更强”的综合效果。再者,从生产结构看,传统生产模式是劳动者利用物质劳动资料作用于纯物质劳动对象的简单生产结构,现今则需要劳动者熟练掌握科技和信息数据来操作相应的数字化机器进而驱动目标项目的高效运行。因此,新质生产力需要以构成要素的优化组合为内核驱动经济社会向前发展。

2. New Quality Productive Forces Take Digital Technology and Green Technology as Their Technological Support

2.新质生产力以数字科技和绿色科技为技术支撑

New quality productive forces take digital technology as their core and green technology as their technological foundation. In essence, they are “sustainable productive forces that are the dialectical unity of the ecologization of productive forces and the productivization of ecology.” [5]5 Friedrich Engels, Anti-Dühring, Part I, Chapter 11. At the current stage, developing new quality productive forces requires empowering industries with technology to move towards green and intelligent development, promoting the green transformation of the economic development model.

新质生产力以数字科技为核心,以绿色科技为技术底色,本质是“生产力的生态化和生态化的生产力辩证统一起来的可持续生产力”。现阶段发展新质生产力,就要以科技赋能产业迈向绿色化、智能化,推动经济发展方式的绿色转型。

Digital technology is the technological core for developing new quality productive forces. From informatization to digitalization and now to digital-intelligence integration, digital technology, characterized by digitalization, networking, and intelligence, and with the features of fast transmission, extensive interconnection, and high computing power, is reshaping the global economic structure and development system. The digital era has spawned a series of emerging industries, such as big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. The rise of these industries has not only accelerated the generation and processing of data but also, through algorithm optimization and application, promoted the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional industries. Digital technology empowers the real economy through algorithm optimization, promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. It uses technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to optimize production processes, reduce resource waste, improve resource allocation efficiency, and promote the personalization of products and services. It can be said that digital technology is the core technological support for new quality productive forces, fully demonstrating its powerful engine role in data analysis and monitoring, productivity exertion, kinetic energy conversion, and efficiency improvement in modern industries.

数字科技是发展新质生产力的技术核心。从信息化到数字化再到如今的数智化,数字科技以数字化、网络化、智能化为主要特征,以快传输、多互联、高计算的特性正在重塑全球经济结构和发展体系。数字时代催生了一系列新兴产业,如大数据、云计算、物联网和人工智能,这些产业的兴起不仅加速了数据的产生与处理,而且通过算法优化和应用,推动传统产业的数字化和智能化转型。数字科技以算法优化赋能实体经济,推动传统产业改造升级,使用云计算、物联网、人工智能和机器学习等技术来优化生产流程,减轻资源浪费,提高资源配置效率,推动产品和服务更趋个性化。可以说,数字科技是新质生产力的核心技术支撑,在现代化产业的数据分析监测、生产力发挥、动能转换、效率提升等方面充分显示出其强大引擎作用。

Green technology is the technological foundation of developing new quality productive forces. Humans and nature are a community of life; natural resources and the ecological environment are finite—used without awareness, lost beyond recovery. Humans cannot exploit and utilize nature by extracting from it arbitrarily, divorced from natural laws. “Labour is, first of all, a process between man and nature, a process by which man, through his own actions, mediates, regulates and controls the metabolism between himself and nature.” [1]1 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012. The metabolism between the ecological environment and economic and social development is a zero-sum game; economic growth often comes at the cost of sacrificing the ecological environment, with massive energy consumption and environmental pollution causing severe damage to the ecological environment. In contrast, green technology is an ecological technology centered on reducing environmental burdens and conserving resources, committed to promoting sustainable development. It encompasses multiple fields, including the development and utilization of renewable energy, the optimization of energy consumption patterns, the research, development and application of green materials, and the implementation of clean production processes. In summary, it is oriented toward intelligence and ecologization, characterized primarily by energy conservation, carbon reduction, emission reduction, and efficiency enhancement. Through green technological innovation, it develops and applies new green technologies such as clean energy, the circular economy, and pollution monitoring, adjusts the structure of high-pollution industries, thereby reducing negative environmental impacts in the processes of production and consumption, achieving the sustainable utilization of resources, and thus driving industries toward a more efficient and more environmentally friendly direction.

绿色科技是发展新质生产力的技术底色。人与自然是生命共同体,自然资源和生态环境是有限的,用之不觉、失之难存,人类对自然的开发利用不能脱离自然规律而肆意索取。“劳动首先是人和自然之间的过程,是人以自身的活动来中介、调整和控制人和自然之间的物质变换的过程。”生态环境与经济社会发展的物质变换是此消彼长的,经济增长常常以牺牲生态环境为代价,大量的能源消耗和环境污染对生态环境造成了严重的破坏。与之相对,绿色科技是以减少环境负担、节约资源为核心,致力于推动可持续发展的生态技术,涵盖可再生能源的开发利用、能源消费模式的优化、绿色材料的研发应用及清洁生产工艺的实施等多领域。概言之,它是以智能化、生态化为方向,以节能、降碳、减排、增效为主要特征,经由绿色科技创新,研发应用清洁能源、循环经济、污染监测等新型绿色技术,调整高污染产业结构,进而在生产和消费过程中减少对环境的负面影响,实现资源的可持续利用,进而推动产业向更高效、更环保的方向发展。

3. New quality productive forces take the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature as their value goal

3.新质生产力以人与自然的和谐共生为价值目标

New quality productive forces take the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature as their value goal, focusing on achieving a win-win for the economy and ecology, ensuring the sustainable development of human society. This is not only a response to the current environmental crisis but also a consideration for the future well-being of humanity.

新质生产力以人与自然的和谐共生为价值目标,注重实现经济与生态的双赢,确保人类社会的永续发展,这不仅是对当前环境危机的回应,也是对未来人类福祉的考虑。

The green attributes inherent in new quality productive forces essentially reflect the question of the relationship between humans and nature. Nature is the “inorganic body of man”; [2]2 Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects (全面建成小康社会) is a strategic goal set by the CPC, achieved by the centenary of the Party's founding in 2021, signifying a society where the basic needs of the population are met and living standards are significantly improved. man lives from nature. From an ontological perspective, there is an absolute unity between humans and nature: “Man is directly a natural being.” [3]3 Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, “Critique of Hegel’s Dialectic and Philosophy as a Whole.” It can be said that humans and nature are one, which also means that in the practical process of transforming and utilizing nature, humans must appropriately restrain and control their own actions, ensuring that their deeds do not exceed the carrying capacity of the environment; otherwise, they will inevitably suffer nature’s backlash and retaliation. Historically, since the Industrial Revolution, the technological revolution has greatly promoted the development of human society, while simultaneously causing severe impacts on the natural environment. Industrialization has brought about environmental pollution problems, leading to air pollution, water pollution, reduced biodiversity, rising global temperatures, frequent extreme weather events, and other issues. The environment is closely linked to human health. The painful lessons of history profoundly confirm the “oneness” of humans and nature; an imbalance in nature has far-reaching and lasting effects on human production and development.

新质生产力蕴含的绿色属性,本质上体现了人与自然的关系问题。自然界是“人的无机的身体”,人靠自然界生活。从存在论角度来看,人与自然之间具有绝对的统一性,“人直接地是自然存在物”。可以说,人与自然是一体的,这也意味着人在改造自然、利用自然的实践过程中,要对自身行为进行适当约束和控制,保证人的所作所为不能超越环境的承载能力,否则必将遭到自然的反噬和报复。从历史来看,自工业革命以来,科技革命极大地推动了人类社会的发展,同时也对自然环境造成严重影响。工业化带来环境污染问题,导致空气污染、水污染、生物多样性减少、全球气温上升、极端天气频发等问题,而环境与人类健康息息相关,历史的沉痛教训深刻印证了人与自然的“一体性”,自然失衡对人类的生产和发展具有深远持久的影响。

Tracing the issue to its root, the contradiction between humans and nature lies in the contradiction between the infinity of human development and the finiteness of natural resources and the environment. The root of the contradiction lies in humans, so the solution should also start with humans. Engels pointed out that human production is comprehensive: “The animal only produces itself, while man reproduces the whole of nature.” [4]4 Friedrich Engels, “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man.” Humans can utilize nature and high technology to sustain production, exerting direct control over nature, but the freedom of humans to use technology to extract from natural resources is limited. “Freedom does not consist in the dream of independence of natural laws, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends.” [5]5 Friedrich Engels, Anti-Dühring, Part I, Chapter 11. So-called knowledge of natural laws means using new quality productive forces to balance the relationship between the economy and the environment, because “man also reacts on nature, changing it and creating new conditions of existence for himself.” [6]6 Friedrich Engels, “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man.” New quality productive forces break the binary opposition between the economy and the environment. They follow both the laws of productive forces development and the laws of nature, vividly demonstrating that protecting the ecological environment means protecting productive forces, and improving the ecological environment means developing productive forces, embodying the value pursuit of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. At the same time, new quality productive forces advocate for the common development of humans and nature, using emerging technologies to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, developing strategic emerging industries and future industries, using new technologies to achieve a comprehensive transformation of traditional high-pollution industries, minimizing the harm of industrialization to nature, and thereby maximizing the exertion of productive forces under the premise of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

寻根究底,人与自然的矛盾在于人类发展的无限性与自然资源环境有限性的矛盾,矛盾根源在人,那解决也应从人入手。恩格斯指出,人的生产是全面的,“动物只生产自身,而人再生产整个自然界。”人能够利用自然、高科技为生产续航,对自然具有直接支配作用,但人利用技术对自然资源的索取自由是有限度的。“自由不在于幻想中摆脱自然规律而独立,而在于认识这些规律,从而能够有计划地使自然规律为一定的目的服务。”所谓认识自然规律,就是要利用新质生产力去平衡经济与环境的关系,因为“人也反作用于自然界,改变自然界,为自己创造新的生存条件”。新质生产力打破经济与环境的二元对立关系,它既遵循生产力发展规律,又遵循自然规律,生动彰显了保护生态环境就是保护生产力,改善生态环境就是发展生产力,蕴含着人与自然和谐共生的价值追求。同时,新质生产力倡导人与自然共同发展,利用新兴科技开源节流,发展战略性新兴产业和未来产业,以新技术实现对传统高污染产业的全面革新,最大程度减少工业化对自然界的危害,进而在人与自然和谐共生的前提下使生产力得到最大发挥。

4. New quality productive forces take the ecologization of the innovation and development system as an endogenous characteristic

4.新质生产力以创新发展体系生态性为内生特点

From the perspective of “material attributes,” new quality productive forces focus on the improvement and enhancement of productive forces brought about by new technologies, new materials, new energy, etc. In essence, they are a green productive force, an advanced quality of productive forces that conforms to the new development concept. [7]7 The new development concept (新发展理念) refers to the five concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing, which guide China’s economic and social development. They take the coordination of economy and ecology, green, low-carbon, and sustainable development as their development goals, possessing the inherent characteristic of protecting the ecological environment and promoting the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.

从“物质属性”看,新质生产力重在关注新技术、新材料、新能源等对生产力的改善和提升,本质是一种绿色生产力,是符合新发展理念的先进生产力质态。它以经济与生态相协调、绿色低碳可持续为发展目标,具有保护生态环境,促进人与自然和谐共生的内在特质。

The traditional development model of high pollution, high energy consumption, and high emissions has severely constrained the sustainable development of the economy and society. Although it has stimulated the expansion of material wealth to some extent, it has been accompanied by the increasing depletion of resources, the continuous deterioration of the environment, the gradual decline of ecosystem functions, and the spread of various sub-health problems among humans. These external negative effects constitute a non-circulating, unsustainable, single linear development system. Its internal logic runs counter to the concept of contemporary ecological civilization, increasingly highlighting deep-seated contradictions and conflicts. Building a green development system that integrates the economy and ecology is a merit for a thousand generations and a benefit for a thousand autumns.

传统高污染、高能耗、高排放的发展模式严重制约了经济社会的可持续发展,虽在某种程度上刺激了物质财富的膨胀,但随之而来的却是资源的日益枯竭、环境的持续恶化、生态系统功能的逐步衰退以及人类各类亚健康问题的蔓延。这些外部不良效应,构成了一个不可循环、不可持续的单一线性发展体系,其内在逻辑与当代生态文明的理念背道而驰,日益凸显出深层次的矛盾与冲突。构建经济与生态相融合的绿色发展体系功在千代、利在千秋。

In May 2024, during his inspection tour of Shandong, General Secretary Xi Jinping, with the theme of “further deepening reform comprehensively,” [8]8 “Further deepening reform comprehensively” (进一步全面深化改革) is a key policy direction emphasized by the Party Central Committee, particularly following the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, which focused on deepening reforms across all sectors. emphasized the need to develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, and to “vigorously promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the development model, and advance green environmental protection technological innovation and industrial development.” [9]9 Quotation from Xi Jinping’s speech during his inspection tour of Shandong, May 2024. New quality productive forces are led by technological innovation, emphasizing the efficiency of resource utilization, the reduction of environmental impact, and the resilient restoration of ecosystems. At the same time, they abandon traditional economic growth models and paths of productive forces development, constructing a development system with low resource consumption, low environmental pollution, and a climate-friendly nature through pathways such as technological innovation, model innovation, and institutional innovation, thereby demonstrating the inherent ecological attributes of new quality productive forces. Guided by the concept of sustainable development, they coordinate the interrelationship between high-quality development and high-level protection, change the traditional production and consumption models of “mass production, mass consumption, mass emissions,” continuously reduce the “carbon content” in the air, and increase the “gold content,” “green content,” and “innovation content” of economic and social development.

2024年5月,习近平总书记在考察山东时以“进一步全面深化改革”为主题,强调要因地制宜发展新质生产力,“大力推动发展方式绿色低碳转型,推进绿色环保科技创新和产业发展”。新质生产力以科技创新为引领,强调资源利用的高效性、环境影响的减量化以及生态系统的韧性恢复。同时,摒弃了传统经济增长方式和生产力发展路径,通过科技创新、模式创新、制度创新等途径构建资源消耗低、环境污染少、气候友好的发展体系,展现出新质生产力天然的生态属性。在可持续发展理念引导下,协调高质量发展和高水平保护的相互关系,改变传统的“大量生产、大量消耗、大量排放”的生产模式和消费模式,不断降低空气中的“含碳量”,增加经济社会发展的“含金量”“含绿量”“含新量”。

II. The Ecological Thinking of Developing New Quality Productive Forces

二、发展新质生产力的生态思维

Emphasizing the development of new quality productive forces at the present stage inherently contains an ecological thinking of harmonious coexistence and synergistic progress between humans and nature, thereby guiding our country’s economy towards a healthier, more stable, and higher-quality path of sustainable development. To develop new quality productive forces, it is necessary to adhere to and skillfully apply dialectical materialist thinking, green development thinking, and ecosystem thinking.

现阶段强调发展新质生产力,其内蕴着人与自然和谐共生与协同共进的生态思维,以此引领我国经济迈向更加健康、平稳与高质量的可持续发展之路。要发展新质生产力,就要坚持好、运用好唯物辩证思维、绿色发展思维和生态系统思维。

1. Adhere to dialectical materialist thinking, promote the internal unity of economy and ecology

1.坚持唯物辩证思维,推进经济生态内在统一

New quality productive forces inherit Marx’s dialectical materialist method of thinking, specifically embodied in the dialectical historical view that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” [10]10 “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” (绿水青山就是金山银山) is a famous dictum of Xi Jinping, encapsulating the idea that ecological protection is compatible with and conducive to economic development. and the dialectical unity view of ecological protection and economic development. This is both an inheritance and development of Marxist ecological economic thought and a manifestation of the era’s integration and development of Xi Jinping’s economic thought and ecological thought.

新质生产力继承了马克思唯物辩证的思维方法,具体体现在绿水青山就是金山银山的辩证历史观、生态保护和经济发展的辩证统一观等方面,既是对马克思主义生态经济思想的继承和发展,也是习近平经济思想和生态思想融合发展的时代彰显。

First, establish the dialectical historical view that a flourishing ecology leads to a flourishing civilization, and a declining ecology leads to a declining civilization.

第一,树立生态兴则文明兴,生态衰则文明衰的辩证历史观。

“As long as people exist, the history of nature and the history of people mutually condition each other.” The survival and continuation of human civilization rely on the natural environment as their foundation, and are the result of following the laws of nature and achieving a harmonious coexistence with nature. Viewed from the history of human civilization, the world’s four primary civilizations all originated in environments with dense forests, abundant water, and fertile fields. However, the decline of the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian civilizations due to ecological degradation profoundly confirms the philosophical implication that when the ecology flourishes, civilization flourishes, and when the ecology declines, civilization declines, revealing the close connection between the ecological environment and human civilization. The natural environment provides humanity with food, water, living spaces, and means of production, serving as the material foundation for the existence of human civilization. From the ancient hunter-gatherer civilization, to agricultural civilization, and then to industrial civilization, each stage of human civilization has been nurtured and developed within a specific natural environment. Similarly, the laws of nature are inviolable; developing the economy must follow the laws of nature, respect nature, conform to nature, and protect nature, achieving a stable state of harmonious coexistence with nature, in order to promote the sustainable development of human civilization. Otherwise, once the laws of nature are violated, it will lead to the destruction of the ecological environment and the depletion of resources, thereby threatening the survival of human civilization.

“只要有人存在,自然史和人类史就彼此相互制约。”人类文明的生存、延续是以自然环境为依托,是遵循自然规律、与自然和谐共生的结果。从人类文明发展史来看,世界四大原生性文明均发源于森林茂密、水量充沛、田野肥沃的环境,但由于生态环境衰退导致古埃及、古巴比伦文明衰落,以历史深刻印证了生态兴则文明兴,生态衰则文明衰的哲理内涵,揭示了生态环境与人类文明的紧密联系。自然环境为人类提供了食物、水源、居住地和生产资料,是人类文明得以存在的物质基础。从远古的狩猎采集文明,到农耕文明,再到工业文明,每一个阶段的人类文明都是在特定的自然环境中孕育和发展起来的。同样,自然规律具有不可违逆性,发展经济必须遵循自然规律,尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然,达到与自然和谐共生的稳定状态,方可助推人类文明的可持续发展。否则,一旦违背了自然规律,就会导致生态环境的破坏和资源的枯竭,进而威胁到人类文明的生存。

Second, adhere to the dialectical development view that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.

第二,坚持绿水青山就是金山银山的辩证发展观。

Lucid waters and lush mountains are important components of the Earth’s life system, possessing multiple values such as providing ecological services and maintaining ecological balance; invaluable assets symbolize the material wealth and social welfare accumulated by humanity through economic activities, serving as an intuitive manifestation of economic and social development. The relationship between the two is not a simple opposition but a dialectical unity of mutual dependence and mutual promotion. Xi Jinping inherited Marx’s ecological values, based on overall and long-term interests, and innovatively put forward the important exposition that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” and “protecting the ecological environment is protecting productive forces, improving the ecological environment is developing productive forces.” [11]11 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (18 May 2018). The phrase “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” is a signature ecological maxim of Xi Jinping, first articulated during his tenure in Zhejiang Province (2002–2007). With population growth and increasing demand for resources, traditional high-pollution, high-energy-consumption development models are difficult to sustain for generations. There is an urgent need to view history, reality, and the future with a perspective of sustainable development, introduce advanced, green, intelligent, and efficient new quality productive forces, and comprehensively promote the construction of a green and smart digital ecological civilization.

绿水青山是地球生命系统的重要组成部分,具有提供生态服务、维护生态平衡等多重价值;金山银山则象征着人类通过经济活动所积累的物质财富和社会福祉,是经济社会发展的直观体现。两者间的关系并非简单对立,而是相互依存、相互促进的辩证统一体。习近平继承了马克思的生态价值观,立足整体利益、长远利益,创新提出“绿水青山就是金山银山”“保护生态环境就是保护生产力,改善生态环境就是发展生产力”的重要论述。[11]伴随人口增长及对资源的需求增大,传统高污染、高能耗的发展方式难以世代为继,迫切需要以可持续发展的眼光看待历史、现实和未来,引入先进、绿色、智能、高效的新质生产力,全面推进绿色智慧的数字生态文明建设。

Third, advocate a dialectical understanding view that places equal emphasis on development, protection, and governance.

第三,倡导发展、保护与治理并行的辩证认识观。

“Scientific development” and “high-quality development” are the themes of Chinese-path modernization. Since reform and opening up, the whole country has been full of energy to develop the economy. China has completed in just a few decades the development process that took developed countries several hundred years, achieving an “economic development miracle.” However, everything has two sides, and it is necessary to dialectically understand the real ecological problems brought about by rapid economic development. In summary, in the past, China followed an extensive economic growth path characterized by “high input, high consumption, high emissions, difficult recycling, and low efficiency,” achieving rapid development at the cost of “scrambling for resources, scrambling for labor, scrambling for equipment, scrambling for capital investment, high resource consumption, high pollution, and low output.” At the current stage, it is necessary to dialectically understand the relationship between economic development and the ecological environment, weigh the pros and cons of the economy and the environment from a long-term perspective, strictly control resource waste, promote green production, achieve recycling, and formulate response plans that place equal emphasis on development, protection, and governance.

“科学发展”“高质量发展”是中国式现代化发展的主题。自改革开放以来,全国上下铆足干劲发展经济,我国用几十年时间走完了发达国家几百年走过的发展进程,实现了“经济发展奇迹”。然而任何事物都有正反两面,需要辩证认识经济快速发展带来的现实生态问题。概言之,过去我国走的是“高投入、高消耗、高排放、难循环、低效率”的粗放型经济增长道路,是以“拼资源、拼劳力、拼设备、拼资金投入、高资源消耗、高污染、低产出”为代价换来的高速发展。现阶段,需要辩证认识经济发展与生态环境之间的关系,从长远角度权衡经济与环境的利害关系,严控资源浪费、推进绿色生产、实现循环利用,做好发展、保护与治理并行的应对方案。

2. Adhere to green development thinking, innovatively solve real ecological dilemmas

2.坚持绿色发展思维,创新解决现实生态困境

Traditional production models sacrifice the environment for economic growth, leading to resource depletion and ecological imbalance. New quality productive forces are mainly characterized by being “green, intelligent, and ubiquitous,” achieving synergy between the economy and ecology through technological innovation. Developing new quality productive forces means developing green productive forces. Only by upholding green development thinking, adhering to the concept of sustainable development, promoting green technological innovation, and advocating green production and lifestyles can we promote high-quality economic development and achieve green development.

传统生产模式牺牲环境换取经济增长,导致资源枯竭与生态失衡,而新质生产力是以“绿色、智能、泛在”为主要特征,通过技术革新实现经济与生态的协同并进,发展新质生产力就是发展绿色生产力。只有秉持绿色发展思维,坚持可持续发展理念、推动绿色科技创新、宣扬绿色生产生活方式,才能推动经济高质量发展,实现绿色发展。

First, the concept of sustainable development is an inherent requirement of new quality productive forces.

第一,可持续发展理念是新质生产力的内在要求。

“New quality productive forces conform to the general trend and new demands of global green transformation, possessing inherent characteristics of sustainability.” [12]12 Source not specified in the original text; likely a quotation from a Chinese policy document or academic commentary on new quality productive forces. This indicates that new quality productive forces are green productive forces and sustainable productive forces, emphasizing the balance between long-term and short-term benefits, representing a reflection on and transcendence of traditional development models. From the perspective of the essential attributes of productive forces, new quality productive forces are production capacities that have emerged driven by modern technology and social demands, possessing higher efficiency, lower energy consumption, and greater environmental friendliness. They require taking green development as the background and integrating high-quality development throughout the entire process and chain of the new type of industrialization. In industrial and agricultural production, through the comprehensive application of green technological innovation, green productivity tools, intelligent online equipment, and ecological environment management technologies, precise carbon and energy reduction can be achieved, enhancing the market competitiveness of products, promoting efficient recycling of resources, and reducing environmental pollution. From a long-term perspective, while pursuing high-quality economic development, new quality productive forces fully consider the carrying capacity of the ecological environment, focus on the sustainability of development, avoid harming long-term interests due to short-sighted behavior, and follow a path of sustainable development characterized by production development, affluent living, and a sound ecology.

“新质生产力顺应了全球绿色转型的大趋势和新需求,具备可持续的内在特征。”[12]这表明新质生产力是绿色生产力、可持续生产力,注重长期效益与短期效益的平衡,是对传统发展模式的反思与超越。从生产力本质属性来看,新质生产力是在现代科技和社会需求推动下,涌现出的具备更高效率、更低能耗、更环保的生产能力,要求以绿色发展为底色,将高质量发展贯穿新型工业化全过程全链条。在工农业生产中,通过综合应用绿色科技创新、绿色生产力工具、智能化在线设备、生态环境管理技术等精准降碳降耗,提升产品市场竞争力,推动资源高效循环利用,降低环境污染。从长远来看,新质生产力在追求经济高质量发展的同时,充分考虑生态环境的承载能力,关注发展的可持续性,避免因短视行为而损害长期利益,走的是生产发展、生活富裕、生态良好的可持续发展之路。

Second, green technological innovation is an important focal point of new quality productive forces.

第二,绿色科技创新是新质生产力的重要着力点。

New quality productive forces are based on traditional productive forces, supported by digital technology, and have green development as an inherent requirement. In the era of the Internet of Everything, solving ecological problems with intelligent and interconnected thinking requires fully leveraging the technical support role of green technology. First, enhance intelligent research on environmental pollution monitoring. Digitalization is an important track for developing new quality productive forces in the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Digital technologies, especially big data and artificial intelligence technologies, can process and analyze large-scale environmental data, such as air quality monitoring, water quality monitoring, solid matter monitoring, physical pollution monitoring, remote sensing, and biological monitoring, to understand environmental conditions in real time and respond quickly to environmental incidents. Second, promote innovative research on clean energy. Using clean energy is key to reducing dependence on fossil fuels and lowering environmental pollution, including the development of traditional renewable energy technologies such as wind energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, and other new energy sources. Using new quality productive forces to study how to systematically integrate and intelligently manage various energy systems, optimizing energy distribution and consumption, is a direction that green technological innovation needs to focus on. Third, innovate in the research and development of energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies. New quality productive forces place more emphasis on the technological research and development and frontier layout of emerging and future industries such as new energy, new materials, and biotechnology, with the goal of energy saving, carbon reduction, energy storage, and energy creation. It is adept at using advanced integrated sensors and big data analysis to efficiently manage and predict energy production, such as using digital technology to develop and deploy new environmentally friendly materials and technologies like carbon capture and storage.

新质生产力以传统生产力为基础,以数字科技为技术支撑,以绿色发展为内在要求。在万物互联时代,以智能互联思维解决生态问题,就需要充分发挥绿色科技的技术支持作用。一是增强环境污染监测智能化研究。数字化是新一轮科技革命和产业变革中发展新质生产力的重要赛道,数字技术特别是大数据和人工智能技术,能够处理和分析大规模的环境数据,如空气质量监测、水质监测、固体物监测、物理污染监测、遥感和生物监测等,实时了解环境状况,快速响应环境事件。二是推进清洁能源的创新研究。使用清洁能源是减少化石燃料依赖、降低环境污染的关键,包括传统可再生能源技术如风能、地热能、氢能等新型能源开发。利用新质生产力研究如何系统集成和智能化管理各类能源系统,优化能源的分配和消费是绿色科技创新需要关注的方向。三是创新节能降碳技术的研发。新质生产力更多注重新能源、新材料、生物等新兴未来产业的技术研发和前沿布局,以节能降碳、储能创能为目标。它善于借助先进集成的传感器和大数据分析,高效管理和预测能源生产,诸如用数字技术开发、部署碳捕捉和碳存储等新型环保材料和技术等。

Third, green production and lifestyles are an inherent part of new quality productive forces.

第三,绿色生产生活方式是新质生产力的题中之义。

Xi Jinping pointed out: “Human beings are born from nature, and the relationship between humans and nature is a symbiotic one.” [13]13 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 95th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China” (1 July 2016). New quality productive forces are green productive forces. Based on new technologies such as big data, blockchain, cloud computing, and AI, emerging industries represented by high-tech industries, green economy industries, and high-end equipment manufacturing continue to grow and strengthen. The gradual formation of new quality productive forces has important guiding significance for green production methods, lifestyles, and sustainable social development. In terms of the transformation of production methods, new quality productive forces abandon traditional extensive development methods, adhere to the path of green, low-carbon, and sustainable development, promote the greening and low-carbonization of economic and social development, and achieve high-quality development; in terms of the transformation of lifestyles, they promote green lifestyles, advocate reasonable consumption, oppose waste and excessive consumption, firmly establish the concept that humans and nature are a community of life, and enhance people’s awareness of conservation, environmental protection, and ecology. Use green lifestyles to force the green transformation and ecological development of production methods, promote harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and advance the construction of a Beautiful China.

习近平指出:“人因自然而生,人与自然是一种共生关系。”[13]新质生产力就是绿色生产力,基于大数据、区块链、云计算、AI等新技术,以高新技术产业、绿色经济产业、高端装备制造等为代表的新兴产业不断发展壮大。新质生产力的日渐形成对于绿色生产方式、生活方式以及社会可持续发展具有重要引导意义。在生产方式变革上,新质生产力摒弃传统粗放型发展方式,坚持走绿色、低碳、可持续发展之路,推动经济社会发展绿色化、低碳化,实现高质量发展;在生活方式变革上,推行绿色生活方式,主张合理消费,反对铺张浪费、超前消费,牢固树立人与自然是生命共同体理念,增强人们的节约意识、环保意识和生态意识。以绿色生活方式倒逼生产方式绿色化转型和生态化发展,促进人与自然和谐共生,推进美丽中国建设。

3. Adhere to ecosystem thinking, promote environmental protection, governance, and restoration

3.坚持生态系统思维,促进环境保护治理修复

Developing new quality productive forces is a complex systemic project, whose essence lies in humanity's rational and orderly utilization of nature through specific forms of social organization. All economic production in society is an appropriation of natural resources. Yet the resources and environmental carrying capacity of nature are limited, and large-scale extraction in the past has already caused severe ecological damage. Therefore, it is imperative to take the developmental opportunities of new quality productive forces—innovative allocation of production factors, revolutionary breakthroughs in technology, and deep transformation and upgrading of industries—as a guide, and to apply an ecosystem mindset to implement a systemic diagnosis and treatment of nature, from protection to governance and then to restoration.

发展新质生产力是一项复杂的系统工程,本质在于人类社会通过特定的社会组织形式,对自然界进行合理而有序的利用。社会的一切经济生产都是对自然资源的占有,然而自然界的资源与环境承载力有限,况且以往大规模开采已对生态造成了严重损害。因此,势必需要以新质生产力的生产要素创新性配置、技术革命性突破、产业深度转型升级的发展契机为引领,运用生态系统思维对自然界实施从保护、治理再到修复的系统性诊治。

First, achieve systemic protection of natural resources through innovative allocation of production factors.

第一,以生产要素创新性配置实现对自然资源的系统性保护。

New quality productive forces are "new" in the newness of their factor composition. The constituent factors of productive forces can be divided into tangible and intangible: "laborers, means of production, and objects of labor are tangible factors; science and technology, management, information, and data are intangible factors."[14] On the one hand, regarding tangible factors, the optimized combination of laborers, means of production, and objects of labor embodies the implementation of the integrated strategy for education, science and technology, and human resources. Responding to the Party Central Committee's call to "conserve resources and protect the environment," enterprises and institutions continuously introduce and develop environmental protection technologies and equipment, such as high-efficiency resource utilization technologies, waste recycling and reuse systems, and low-carbon emission processes. At this point, only new-type laborers equipped with digital literacy and digital skills can drive new environmental protection technologies and methods, accurately operate and maintain the corresponding digital tools and equipment, rationally utilize and manage various resources, and ensure their renewable use and long-term stability. On the other hand, regarding intangible factors, scientific and technological innovation plays a key role in the formation and development of new quality productive forces. Researching and developing advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and remote sensing can continuously enhance the capacity to monitor, assess, and manage the state of natural resources. Furthermore, the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) can be introduced to optimize resource decision-making, establish corresponding information and data sharing platforms, pool collective wisdom and efforts, deepen the understanding of natural resources, and thereby protect natural resources more systematically.

新质生产力“新”在要素构成的新。生产力的构成要素有实体和非实体之分,“劳动者、生产资料和劳动对象是实体性要素,科技、管理、信息和数据等是非实体性要素”。[14]一方面,在实体性要素上,劳动者、生产资料和劳动对象的优化组合就是贯彻教育科技人才一体化战略的体现。在党中央“节约资源、保护环境”的号召下,企业单位不断引入和发展环保技术和设备,如高效能的资源利用技术、废物循环再利用系统及低碳排放工艺。此时,只有具备数字素养、数字技能的新型劳动者,才能够驱动新型的环保技术和方法,才能准确操控与维护相应的数字工具和设备,合理利用和管理各类资源,确保其可再生利用和长期稳定。另一方面,在非实体性要素上,科技创新在新质生产力形成和发展中起关键作用。研发人工智能、大数据分析和遥感技术等先进科技,能够不断提升对自然资源状态的监测、评估和管理能力。此外,还可以引入全面质量管理(TQM)理念,优化资源的决策,设立相应信息和数据共享平台,群策群力,深化对自然资源的认识,以更系统地保护自然资源。

Second, promote systemic governance of environmental pollution through revolutionary breakthroughs in technology.

第二,以技术革命性突破推进对环境污染的系统治理。

New quality productive forces represent high quality, high technology, and high efficiency, thereby triggering revolutionary breakthroughs and major disruptive innovations in existing technologies, significantly changing current markets, industry standards, and production methods, and leading a new technological revolution. On the one hand, revolutionary breakthroughs in technology can have a significant impact on environmental pollution governance. Disruptive technologies can improve the precision and efficiency of pollution control, achieving whole-process management from source to treatment. For example, the application of nanotechnology in treating water pollution can effectively remove heavy metals and harmful chemical substances from water; biotechnology can be used for ecological restoration, degrading pollutants in soil and water through microorganisms; gene editing technology may fundamentally change medicine, agriculture, and bioengineering; breakthroughs in nuclear fusion technology have the potential to provide nearly unlimited clean energy; artificial intelligence has a multiplicative capability in upgrading and improving the quality of industries and reducing consumption and carbon emissions. On the other hand, the green technology revolution requires the joint efforts of government, enterprises, and research institutes to share resources and information, forming a unified synergy, while effectively drawing on advanced green environmental protection technologies from abroad to promote the transition of technologies from the laboratory to the broader market. In summary, revolutionary breakthroughs in technology provide new perspectives and tools for the systemic governance of environmental pollution, enabling more effective responses to environmental problems and maximizing governance outcomes.

新质生产力代表高质量、高科技、高效能,从而引发现有技术的革命性突破、重大颠覆性创新,显著改变了现有市场、行业标准和生产方式,引领全新科技革命。一方面,技术革命性突破能够对环境污染治理具有重大影响。颠覆性技术能够提高污染控制的精确性和效率,实现从源头到处理的全过程管理,如纳米技术在处理水污染中的应用,可以有效去除水中的重金属和有害化学物质;生物技术则可以用于生态修复,通过微生物降解土壤和水中的污染物;基因编辑技术,可能彻底改变医学、农业和生物工程;核聚变技术的突破,有潜力提供将近无限的清洁能源;人工智能在产业提质升级、降耗降碳中具有乘数级能力。另一方面,绿色技术革命需要政府、企业、科研院所共同努力,共享资源信息,形成统一合力,同时有效借鉴国外的先进绿色环保技术,推动技术从实验室走向大市场。总之,技术革命性突破为环境污染的系统治理提供了新的视角和工具,能够更有效地应对环境问题,实现治理效果最大化。

Third, ensure the systemic restoration of ecological security through deep industrial transformation and upgrading.

第三,以产业深度转型升级保障生态安全的系统修复。

From an economic perspective, the pollutants emitted by production must be less than the self-purification capacity or environmental carrying capacity of the ecosystem. Currently, there is an urgent need to focus on the green transformation of industries. Through the principles of sustainable development and green technological innovation, a fundamental reform and upgrade of existing industries is carried out. This involves not only technological innovation and changes in production methods but also a fundamental reshaping of the existing industrial structure and economic model. That is to say, it requires both implementing a green transformation within industries and allowing sufficient time for the natural restoration of external ecosystems. In other words, the internal structure of industries needs to be transformed from "black" to "green": First, optimize the layout of the industrial structure, gradually phase out traditional industries with high energy consumption and high pollution, and promote the transformation of the industrial structure towards a more environmentally friendly and resource-conserving type. Second, promptly introduce and utilize the disruptive innovative technologies of new quality productive forces, using artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, etc., to calculate the pollution elements and pollution levels contained in the entire process of a product from design, production, and use to disposal, thereby minimizing the impact on the environment. Finally, promote industrial circular economy, expand recycling and reuse, intelligently integrate mechanical equipment components, achieve maximum utilization of resources and minimum emission of waste, avoid placing an excessive burden on the ecological environment, accelerate the restoration of the ecosystem's self-regulating function, and create an environmentally friendly industrial development model.

从经济学出发,生产所排放的污染物要小于生态环境自净能力或环境承载容量,目前亟需重视产业的绿色转型。经由可持续发展原则和绿色技术创新,对现有产业进行根本性的改革和升级,不仅涉及技术革新和生产方式的变革,还包括对现有产业结构和经济模式的根本重塑。也就是说,既需要对产业内部实行绿色转型,又要为外部生态系统的自然修复留有足够时间。换言之,要对产业内部结构实现由“黑色”向“绿色”转化:首先,优化产业结构布局,逐步淘汰高能耗、高污染的传统产业,推动产业结构向更加环保型、资源节约型转变;其次,及时引入并利用新质生产力的颠覆性创新技术,通过人工智能、大数据、云计算等方式,计算产品从设计、生产、使用到废弃的全过程所含有的污染要素及污染程度,从而最大化减少对环境的影响;最后,推广产业循环经济,扩大回收再利用,智能化整合机械设备元件,实现资源的最大化利用和废弃物的最小化排放,避免对生态环境造成过重负担,加速生态系统恢复自我调节功能,营造环境友好的产业发展模式。

III. The Ecological Orientation of Developing New Quality Productive Forces

三、发展新质生产力的生态指向

The ecological orientation of new quality productive forces is manifested in three aspects: value concepts, policy guidance, and the development of the times. At the level of value concepts, it is expressed as adhering to regularity and practicing the ecological value of green development. At the level of policy guidance, it is expressed as emphasizing synergy and promoting consistency between industrial innovation and ecological orientation. At the level of the development of the times, it is expressed as highlighting the character of the times, meeting the people's increasingly rich needs for a better ecological life through deepening economic reform.

新质生产力的生态指向体现在价值理念、政策导向和时代发展三个方面。在价值理念层面,表现为恪守规律性,践行绿色发展的生态价值观;在政策导向层面,表现为注重协同性,推动产业创新与生态向度相一致;在时代发展层面,表现为彰显时代性,通过深化经济改革满足人民日益丰富的美好生态生活需要。

1. Adhering to Regularity: Practicing the Ecological Value of Green Development

1.恪守规律性:践行绿色发展的生态价值观

Natural laws exist independently of human will. "Natural laws cannot be abolished at all."[15] New quality productive forces follow natural laws, embodying the value pursuit of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

自然规律独立于人的意志而存在。“自然规律是根本不能取消的”,[15]新质生产力遵循自然规律,体现了人与自然和谐共生的价值追求。

First, regarding the relationship between humanity and nature, humanity and nature are a community of life; we must respect nature, conform to nature, and protect nature.

第一,就人与自然关系看,人与自然是生命共同体,要尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然。

The continuous development of human society from lower to higher levels is a natural historical process. When the ecology thrives, civilization thrives; when the ecology declines, civilization declines. First, respect nature. Respecting nature is the ethical cornerstone of ecological civilization: nature nurtures humanity, and human survival and development depend on the various resources provided by nature. The two are in the same "ecological cycle," presenting a relationship of unity of opposites; if one side is damaged, the other cannot escape responsibility or disaster. Therefore, when carrying out economic construction, we must rationally exploit natural resources, protect ecological balance, and avoid causing irreparable harm to natural ecosystems. Second, conform to nature. Conforming to nature is the objective law of ecological civilization: natural ecosystems are composed of complex, interdependent factors. Each system has its inherent state of balance, formed through long-term evolution, which can support the reproduction and survival of the life forms within it. When human activities or external interventions disrupt this balance, it may lead to the degradation of ecosystem functions, such as species extinction and reduced biodiversity. Third, protect nature. Protecting nature is an inevitable requirement of ecological civilization: in terms of policy support, continuously strengthen legislation and policy formulation; in terms of protection subjects, continuously enhance the sense of responsibility from macro subjects such as the Party, government, and institutions down to micro subjects, the people; in terms of technical support, innovate, research, develop, and introduce emerging and future technologies such as environmental monitoring and green circular low-carbon technologies, jointly promoting the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature. It can be seen that in the New Era, using new quality productive forces to develop the economy requires adapting measures to local conditions, adhering to scientific ecological rationality, and weakening humanity's unrestricted domination over nature under the control of economic rationality and technological rationality.

人类社会不断从低级向高级发展是一个自然历史过程,生态兴则文明兴,生态衰则文明衰。一是尊重自然。尊重自然是生态文明建设的伦理基石:自然孕育人类,人类生存发展依赖于自然所提供的各种资源,二者同处一个“生态循环圈”,呈现对立统一关系,一方受损另一方难逃其责、难避其祸。因此,在进行经济建设时,合理开采自然资源,保护生态平衡,避免对自然生态系统造成无法弥补的伤害。二是顺应自然。顺应自然是生态文明的客观规律:自然界的生态系统是由复杂、互为依赖的因素构成,每个系统都有其内在的平衡状态,这种平衡是由长期进化形成的,能够支持其中的生命形式繁衍和存续。当人类活动或外部干预破坏了这种平衡时,可能导致生态系统功能退化,如物种灭绝、生物多样性减少。三是保护自然。保护自然是生态文明的必然要求:从政策支撑上,不断加强立法和政策制定;从保护主体上,不断提升从党、政府、机关单位等宏观主体到人民微观主体的责任意识;从技术支持上,创新研发并引入环境监测和绿色循环低碳技术等新兴技术和未来技术,共同推进人与自然和谐共生。由此可见,新时代利用新质生产力发展经济要因地制宜,坚持科学的生态理性,减弱经济理性和技术理性控制下的人对自然的无限制支配。

Second, regarding the internal elements of nature, mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, sand, and ice form a community of life, requiring systematic and coordinated governance.

第二,就自然内部要素看,山水林田湖草沙冰是生命共同体,要系统化协同治理。

General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively put forward the thought on ecological civilization. The understanding of the governance of natural ecosystems has undergone a gradual evolution from "mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, and lakes" to "mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands" to "mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts" to "mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, deserts, and ice," which is a holistic understanding of natural laws, ecosystems, and material cycles based on systematic thinking. Nature is an organic and unified whole; "the ecology is a unified natural system, a natural chain in which various natural elements are interdependent and achieve circulation." [16] The chains "human → farmland → water → mountain → soil → tree → grass" and "human ← farmland ← water ← mountain ← soil ← tree ← grass" are mutually dependent material circulation chains, possessing a lifeline relationship of "material dependence - energy transformation - material circulation." [17] It is precisely because of this endogenous relationship between humans and nature that human actions must be placed within the ecosystem, comprehensively considering their economic, social, and ecological benefits. At the present stage, the core of accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces is, under the new conditions of technological innovation, factor optimization, and digital intelligence, to reshape the traditional industrial structure, promote high-quality, high-efficiency, and deep green development, and foster a symbiotic and win-win situation between humans and nature.

习近平总书记创造性提出生态文明思想,对自然生态系统治理的认识经历了“山水林田湖——山水林田湖草——山水林田湖草沙——山水林田湖草沙冰”的逐步演变,是以系统思维对自然规律、生态系统、物质循环的整体性认识。自然界是有机统一的整体,“生态是统一的自然系统,是各种自然要素相互依存而实现循环的自然链条”。[16]“人→田→水→山→土→树→草”和“人←田←水←山←土←树←草”是互为依赖的物质循环链条,具有“物质依赖-能源变换-物质循环”的命脉关系。[17]正是由于人与自然的内生关系,因而必须将人类行动置于生态系统中,综合考量其经济效益、社会效益和生态效益。现阶段加快形成新质生产力,核心就是在技术创新、要素优化、数字智能的新条件下,重塑传统产业结构,推动高质量、高效率和深绿色发展,促进人与自然共生共赢。

Third, from the perspective of human-human relations, humans and humans form a community with a shared future for mankind, and it is necessary to establish the concept of global co-governance of the ecology.

第三,就人与人的关系看,人与人是人类命运共同体,要树立生态全球共治理念。

Against the backdrop of globalization, the degree of interdependence among humans is higher, and all of humanity constitutes a community with a shared future. Climate issues and ecological problems often transcend national borders and affect the survival and continuation of all humanity on a global scale. Establishing the concept of global co-governance of the ecology is not only an international responsibility but also concerns the long-term interests of humanity. To achieve this goal, conducting global exchanges of environmental protection talent, technology sharing conferences, and environmental protection congresses enables countries to cooperate fully in resources, policies, funds, talent, technology, and other aspects: first, sharing ecological technologies, widely disseminating advanced environmental protection technologies, new methods for sustainable development, and innovative solutions through international cooperation platforms to accelerate the process of ecological modernization; second, sharing ecological information, promoting the global sharing and transparency of environmental monitoring data, climate change research, biodiversity status, and other information to improve the efficiency of environmental governance; third, improving various environmental protection agreements under international emission reduction agreements, and promoting the establishment of internationally recognized environmental technology standards and certification systems to facilitate global market access for environmental protection products and services. In short, environmental pollution and climate warming are major challenges for the world in addressing ecological issues. Only through the joint efforts and close collaboration of all countries can we better respond to climate change, biodiversity loss, and other environmental crises, ensuring the sustainability of global development.

全球化背景下,人类之间依存度更高,全人类构成了一个命运共同体。气候问题和生态问题往往跨越国界、影响全球人类的生存和延续。树立生态全球共治理念不仅是国际责任,也关乎人类长远利益。为实现这一目标,在全球范围内开展环保人才交流会、技术分享会、环境保护大会等,使得各国在资源、政策、资金、人才、技术等方面通力合作:一是共享生态技术,将先进环保技术、可持续发展新方法和创新解决方案通过国际合作平台广泛传播,加速生态现代化进程;二是共享生态信息,推动环境监测数据、气候变化研究、生物多样性状态等信息的全球共享和透明化,提高环境治理效率;三是健全国际减排协议的各项环保协议,并推动建立国际认可的环保技术标准和认证体系,促进环保产品和服务的全球市场准入。总之,环境污染和气候变暖是全球应对生态问题的重大挑战,只有各国共同努力和密切协作,才能更好应对气候变化、生物多样性丧失和其他环境危机,确保全球发展的可持续。

2. Emphasizing Synergy: Aligning Industrial Innovation Practices with the Ecological Dimension

2.注重协同性:推动产业创新实践与生态向度相一致

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that new quality productive forces are an advanced form of productive forces characterized by innovation as the leading force, high-quality development as the goal, and embodying an ecological economy. The sustainable development of Chinese-path modernization requires us to break free from the rut of anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, focus on dialectically addressing the relationship between economic development and environmental protection, strive to transform "production advantages" into "ecological advantages," and develop green new quality productive forces according to local conditions.

习近平总书记指出,新质生产力是以创新为主导、高质量发展为目标、体现生态经济的先进生产力质态。中国式现代化的可持续发展要求我们跳出人类中心主义和自然中心主义的窠臼,注重辩证应对经济发展与环境保护的关系,着力把“生产优势”转化为“生态优势”,因地制宜发展绿色新质生产力。

First, accelerate green technological innovation to form green new quality productive forces.

第一,加快绿色科技创新,形成绿色新质生产力。

Green is the magnificent foundation of high-quality development. Green technology should be used to drive the transformation of the industrial economy towards greening and ecologization. Traditional industries are not equivalent to backward industries, and developing new quality productive forces does not mean completely abandoning traditional industries. Rather, it is necessary to base efforts on the needs of the national strategy, the needs of the people, and the needs of the industry, adopting a method of "simultaneously exerting force through positive incentives and reverse pressure," [18] promoting the "new quality" to drive the "old quality," and facilitating the transformation of traditional industries towards high-end, intelligent, and green development. The government, as the main body, should strengthen financial support and innovation incentives for enterprises' green technology research and development, take the lead in establishing green technology research platforms and technology alliance institutions, reduce the risk of innovation failure, and promote the implementation of green technology from the laboratory to the factory market. Enterprises, as market entities, should: first, promote green technology research and development to increase the degree of greening of the enterprise; second, introduce advanced green technologies to strengthen monitoring of pollution emissions during the production process, promoting energy conservation and consumption reduction; third, make good use of big data to conduct intelligent analysis of the entire production process, improve production processes, increase the use of renewable energy, reduce fossil fuel consumption, optimize the utilization of natural resources, improve resource utilization efficiency, and reduce production costs.

绿色是高质量发展的壮丽底色,要以绿色技术推动产业经济向绿色化、生态化转型。传统产业并不等同于落后产业,发展新质生产力也不是要完全抛弃传统产业,而是要立足国家战略所需、人民所需和产业所需,采用“正向激励和反向倒逼双向发力”的方式,[18]推动“新质”带动“旧质”,促进传统产业转向高端化、智能化和绿色化。政府作为主体,要加强对企业绿色科技研发的财政资金支持和创新激励,牵头建立绿色技术攻关平台和技术联盟机构,降低创新失败风险,推动绿色科技从实验室向工厂市场的落地。企业作为市场主体,一是要推动绿色技术研发,提高企业绿色化程度;二是在生产过程污染排放上引入先进绿色技术加大监测,推动节能降耗;三是用好大数据对整个生产过程进行智能化分析,改进生产工艺,多使用可再生能源,减少化石燃料消耗,优化自然资源利用,提高资源利用效率,降低生产成本。

Second, optimize the three elements of productive forces to precisely empower ecological modernization.

第二,优化生产力三要素,精准赋能生态现代化。

First, it is necessary to accelerate the cultivation of high-quality new-type laborers who can proficiently master new technologies and new skills. Through professional training and lifelong learning, effectively improve their ability to adapt to and innovate with new technologies, and enhance their comprehensive adaptive qualities. Second, the selection and utilization of labor objects should pay more attention to resource sustainability and environmental impact. For example, choosing environmentally friendly materials and optimizing production processes to reduce waste and emissions, achieving the greening of the production process. Third, research and develop new means of labor that possess new quality elements and embody emerging technologies. Means of labor refer to the means of labor, among which the leading role is played by the instruments of production, including various tools and equipment used for production. New quality productive forces emphasize the intelligent and automated characteristics of production tools, are committed to utilizing advanced information technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to enhance the operational efficiency and precision of labor tools, and concomitantly reduce redundant outputs or resource waste such as labor costs, material costs, and operating costs, effectively promoting ecological modernization.

一是要加紧培育能够熟练掌握新技术、新技能的高素质新型劳动者,通过专业培训和终身学习,有效提高其对新技术的适应能力和创新能力,提升其综合适应素质。二是劳动对象的选择和利用应更加注重资源的可持续性和环境影响。例如,选择环保材料和优化生产工艺来减少废物和排放,实现生产过程的绿色化。三是研发具有新质要素、体现新兴技术的新型劳动资料。劳动资料即劳动手段,其中起主导作用的是生产工具,包括用于生产的各种工具和设备。新质生产力强调生产工具的智能化和自动化特性,致力于利用先进的信息技术如物联网、人工智能和机器学习,提升劳动工具的操作效率与精确度,并且附带削减人力成本、材料成本、运营成本等冗杂输出或资源浪费,有效促进了生态现代化。

Third, pioneer the layout of green frontiers, cultivating strategic emerging industries and future industries.

第三,开拓绿色前沿布局,培育战略性新兴产业和未来产业。

During his inspection in Heilongjiang Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "actively cultivate strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, advanced manufacturing, and electronic information, and actively cultivate future industries." [19] The world is in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The layout of frontier digital technologies is triggering changes in the world's innovation landscape and reshaping the global structure. Digital technology is the technological key to forming new quality productive forces. Strategic emerging industries and future industries are the main battlefields for generating and developing new quality productive forces. Mastering the frontier enables one to lead the times. Under the premise of "respecting the laws of industrial development and optimizing the industrial layout," [20] combining frontier digital technologies to develop these two major industries is the general trend for the future. Strategic emerging industries include nine major fields: the new-generation information technology industry, high-end equipment manufacturing industry, new materials industry, bio-industry, new energy industry, energy conservation and environmental protection industry, digital creative industry, and related service industries. Future industries refer to strategic emerging industries that may appear in the future, including frontier technologies such as brain-like intelligence, quantum information, gene technology, future networks, deep-sea and aerospace research and development, hydrogen energy and energy storage. From the above, it can be seen that the Party and the government attach great importance to building advanced, green, intelligent, and sustainable industries, striving to promote the construction of a clean and beautiful world and a world of high-quality development.

习近平总书记在黑龙江考察时强调,要“积极培育新能源、新材料、先进制造、电子信息等战略性新兴产业,积极培育未来产业”。[19]世界正处于第四次工业革命时代,前沿数字技术布局正引发世界创新版图的更迭,重塑全球格局。数字科技是形成新质生产力的技术关键,战略性新兴产业和未来产业是生成和发展新质生产力的主阵地,掌握前沿就能引领时代。在“尊重产业发展规律,优化产业布局”前提下,[20]结合前沿数字技术发展两大产业是未来大势所趋。战略性新兴产业包括新一代信息技术产业、高端装备制造产业、新材料产业、生物产业、新能源产业、节能环保产业、数字创意产业以及相关服务业九大领域;未来产业即未来可能出现的战略性新兴产业,包括类脑智能、量子信息、基因技术、未来网络、深海空天研发、氢能和储能等前沿科技。从以上可以看出,党和政府对于构建高级化、绿色化、智能化和可持续性产业的高度重视,着力推动建设清洁美丽的世界、高质量发展的世界。

3. Manifesting the Character of the Times: Deepening Economic Reform and Innovation to Meet the People's Needs for a Better Ecology and Life

3.彰显时代性:深化经济改革创新满足人民美好生态和生活需要

New quality productive forces are oriented towards high-quality development, based on the people's diverse ecological life needs, striving to transform production advantages into ecological advantages, and promoting traditional industries towards high-end, intelligent, green, and integrated development. Currently, after achieving a comprehensive victory in the fight against poverty [n1] and the comprehensive completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects [n2], the people's needs for a better life evolve with the times, increasingly pursuing high-quality development and a high-quality life. Therefore, in the New Era, developing new quality productive forces should start from the platform-integrated economy, low-carbon circular economy, and smart industry economy, continuously meeting the people's increasingly rich needs for a better ecology and a better life.

新质生产力以高质量发展为导向,立足人民多元化生态生活需要,着力把生产优势转化为生态优势,推动传统产业迈向高端化、智能化、绿色化、融合化。当前,在脱贫攻坚取得全面胜利、小康社会全面建成后,人民美好生活需要与时迁移,更加追求高质量发展和高品质生活。因此,新时代发展新质生产力,要从平台融合经济、低碳循环经济和智慧产业经济出发,不断满足人民日益丰富的美好生态需要和美好生活需要。

First, develop the platform-integrated economy to promote the balance of supply and demand for ecology and life.

第一,发展平台融合经济,推动生态和生活供需平衡。

“The platform economy is a new model and new business format centered on platform enterprises, which gather and integrate multiple types of market entities and resources, organized around digital platforms.” [21] What is called platform integration is based on algorithms, realizing the interconnection of information from multiple parties in social production, distribution, exchange, and consumption, effectively saving energy and resources, assisting the conversion of old and new growth drivers, and achieving green development. Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. The platform economy is of great significance for promoting the balance of supply and demand, saving energy and resources, optimizing industrial structure, and developing services such as personalized customization. From the demand side, the platform economy has a fast speed of information dissemination, enhancing people’s awareness of green consumption. In real-life scenarios, the market share of new energy vehicles, coal-to-electricity conversions, green smart home appliances, and green building materials is continuously rising. The concepts of green consumption and healthy living are constantly reshaping the production and sales landscape. People’s green lifestyles are forcing the production source, process management, and consumption utilization to shift towards a green trend. From the supply side, the platform economy can promote the sharing of modern industrial and agricultural resources, information, technology, tools, and services, effectively saving unnecessary energy and resource consumption and waste. With the introduction of new quality productive forces such as big data, artificial intelligence, and algorithms, it can promote the intelligent and coordinated development of industrial and agricultural production in urban and rural areas. For example, searching for relevant information on platforms, sharing drone planting experiences, the efficient circulation of industrial and agricultural tools, and the “customization” of product production and sales effectively reduce resource waste, enhance economic and ecological benefits, and promote the sustainable development of the ecological environment.

“平台经济是以平台企业为核心,通过汇聚整合多类市场主体和资源,围绕数字化平台组织起来的新模式新业态。”[21]所谓平台融合就是以算法为基础,实现社会生产、分配、交换、消费多方信息联通,有效节约能源资源,助力新旧动能转换,实现绿色发展。绿水青山就是金山银山,平台经济对推动供需平衡、节约能源资源、优化产业结构、发展个性定制等服务意义匪浅。从需求侧出发,平台经济信息传播速度快,增强人民绿色消费意识。现实生活场景的新能源汽车、煤改电、绿色智能家电、绿色建材等的市场占有率不断上升,绿色消费和健康生活理念不断重塑产销格局,人民的绿色生活方式倒逼生产源头、过程管理、消费利用向绿色化态势转变。从供给侧来看,平台经济可以推动现代工农业资源、信息、技术、工具、服务等共享,有力节约不必要的能源资源消耗和浪费。借助大数据、人工智能、算法等信息新质生产力的引入,能够推动城乡区域的工业、农业生产智能化、协调化发展。诸如在平台搜索相关信息、无人机种植经验分享、工农业用具的高效流转、产品生产和销售的“定制化”等,有效减少资源浪费,提升经济和生态效益,推动生态环境的可持续发展。

Second, develop a low-carbon circular economy to meet the people’s needs for a better ecology.

第二,发展低碳循环经济,满足人民美好生态需要。

The Report to the 18th National Congress of the CPC [1]1 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012. pointed out: “We should endeavor to pursue green, circular, and low-carbon development… to create a good working and living environment for the people and contribute to global ecological security.” Low-carbon and circular development are the development directions of modern industries, containing the concept of “greening.” They are an external manifestation of the “material exchange process between humans and nature,” aiming to achieve a “reconciliation” of the relationship between humans and nature. The core of low-carbon development is low energy consumption, low emissions, and low pollution, focusing on the relationship between the economy and climate. Circular development, on the other hand, utilizes reduction, reuse, and recycling production systems to achieve a triple win of economic development, resource and energy conservation, and environmental friendliness. American economists G. Grossman and A. Krueger proposed the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), pointing out that economic development has a strong impact on environmental pollution, and when the economy and per capita income reach a certain level, economic development will take actions beneficial to environmental improvement, presenting an inverted U-shaped curve relationship. [23] Currently, as we enter the digital era, China’s economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed development to a stage of high-quality development. New quality productive forces highlight the direction of greening, requiring the transformation of traditional high-carbon industries, the development of cheap, clean, efficient, and low-emission energy technologies, and the consistent implementation of green, circular, and agglomeration concepts to optimize production and living processes. This is precisely a confirmation of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. In particular, we must vigorously develop advanced technological processes, make great efforts in the research, development, and application of advanced technologies such as energy-saving and consumption-reduction technologies, deep resource development, industrial waste gas purification devices, solid waste treatment devices, clean energy development, and reduction technologies. We must promote collaboration among entities such as research institutes, governments, and enterprises to break through the technical bottlenecks restricting the low-carbon circular economy, do a good job of “increasing income and reducing expenditure” on energy and resources, and provide the people with a beautiful and sustainable ecological environment.

党的十八大报告指出:“着力推进绿色发展、循环发展、低碳发展……为人民创造良好的生产生活环境,为全球生态安全作出贡献。”低碳和循环是现代产业的发展方向,内蕴“绿色化”概念,是“人与自然的物质变换过程”的外在体现,以期实现人与自然关系的“和解”。低碳发展的核心是低能耗、低排放、低污染,聚焦于经济与气候关系,而循环发展是借助减量、再利用和循环生产体系,以实现经济发展、资源能源节约和环境友好的三赢。美国经济学家G.格鲁斯曼和A.克鲁克提出环境库兹涅茨曲线(即EKC),指出经济发展对环境污染具有很强影响,而在经济和人均收入达到一定程度,经济发展会作出利于环境改善的行动,呈倒U型曲线关系。[23]当前步入数字时代,我国经济由高速发展转向高质量发展阶段,新质生产力凸显绿色化方向,要求改造传统高碳产业,开发廉价、清洁、高效和低排放的能源技术,坚持贯彻绿色化、循环化、集聚化理念,优化生产和生活过程,正是环境库兹涅茨曲线的印证。特别是发展先进技术工艺,在节能降耗技术开发、资源深度开发、工业废气净化装置、固体废弃物处理装置、清洁能源开发、减量技术等先进技术研发应用上下大气力,推动科研院所、政府和企业等主体协同,突破制约低碳循环经济的技术瓶颈,做好能源资源的“开源节流”,为人民提供优美可持续的生态环境。

Third, develop a smart industrial economy to meet the people’s needs for a better life.

第三,发展智慧产业经济,满足人民美好生活需要。

Humans are, in essence, cultural beings, not “reified” beings; they are active, comprehensive beings, not rigid, “one-dimensional” beings. From the perspective of human nature, humans possess comprehensive, proactive, and dynamic characteristics. The “smart industrial economy” profoundly aligns with humanity’s pursuit of comprehensive development, active exploration, and dynamic adaptation. It transcends the traditional “reified” economic framework and highlights humanity’s essential attributes as cultural subjects and active creators. In short, it takes the laborer as the main body, connects modern information technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence with various types of machinery and equipment, promotes the intelligent, digital, controllable, and green transformation of machinery and equipment, achieves coordination between economic activities and ecological environmental protection, and thereby promotes the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. In the production field, the smart industrial economy promotes green and intelligent production, precisely controls processes to reduce energy consumption and waste discharge, and fosters green production. For example, smart agriculture and sustainable energy development can improve the quality of agricultural products, ensure food safety, reduce the environmental burden, and contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture. In the education field, the smart industry promotes the balanced, personalized, and efficient allocation of educational resources. The popularization of online education and personalized skills training breaks down geographical barriers, meets the different skill needs of industrial and agricultural talents, adapts to the practical needs of new quality productive forces in the modernization of industry and agriculture in different regions, and lays the talent foundation for sustainable economic development. In the medical and health field, smart healthcare can efficiently integrate medical resources and utilize telemedicine technology to improve the accessibility, accuracy, and efficiency of medical services, reduce the waste of medical resources, enable patients to enjoy faster and more personalized diagnosis and treatment services, and safeguard a Healthy China.

人,本质上就是文化的人,而不是“物化”的人;是能动的、全面的人,而不是僵化的、“单向度”的人。从人的本质角度来看,人具有全面、主动和动态特性。“智慧产业经济”深刻契合人对全面发展、主动探索与动态适应的追求,超越了传统“物化”经济框架,彰显了人类作为文化主体与能动创造者的本质属性。简言之,就是以劳动者为主体,将现代信息技术如物联网、大数据、人工智能等与各类机械设备相联系,推动机械设备的智能化、数字化、可控化、绿色化,实现经济活动与生态环境保护相协调,进而促进人与自然和谐共生。在生产领域,智慧产业经济推动生产绿色化、智能化,精准控制流程减能耗、排废,促进绿色生产。如智能农业与可持续能源发展能够提升农产品质量,保障食品安全,减少环境负担,助力农业可持续发展。在教育领域,智慧产业促进教育资源均衡、个性、高效配置。以在线教育的普及与个性化技能培训打破地域壁垒,满足工农业人才技能需求差异,适应新质生产力在不同地区工农业现代化发展的现实需要,为经济可持续发展奠定人才基石。在医疗健康领域,智慧医疗能够通过高效整合医疗资源与利用远程医疗技术,提升医疗服务的可及性、精确性和效率,减少医疗资源浪费,使患者享受更快速、更个性化的诊疗服务,为健康中国保驾护航。

In summary, high-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects. Developing new quality productive forces is the intrinsic requirement and key focus for promoting high-quality development. Green is the distinctive background of high-quality development. Developing new quality productive forces means developing green productive forces. Humans and nature are a dialectically interconnected unity. We must view economic development with a historical and developmental perspective. On the basis of an in-depth analysis of the ecological connotations of new quality productive forces, we must use dialectical materialist thinking, green development thinking, and ecosystem thinking to provide ecological guidance for economic actions, and leverage the role of new quality productive forces as an “engine” and a “quality enhancer” to build a “balance of interests” between ecological construction and economic development. On this basis, we must continue to practice the ecological values of scientific green development, promote the alignment of industrial innovation practices with ecological orientation, continuously deepen economic reform and innovation, and steadily realize the people’s diverse needs for a better ecology and life. Profoundly grasping the ecological implications of developing new quality productive forces from the three aspects of ecological connotation, ecological thinking, and ecological orientation is of great significance for thoroughly integrating the internal logic of Xi Jinping’s economic thought and Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, continuing to adhere to the direction of ecological civilization development, and advancing Chinese-path modernization.

总之,高质量发展是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务,发展新质生产力是推动高质量发展的内在要求和重要着力点,绿色是高质量发展的鲜明底色,发展新质生产力就是要发展绿色生产力。人与自然界是辩证联系的统一体,要用历史的眼光、发展的眼光看待经济发展,在深入剖析新质生产力的生态内涵基础上,以唯物辩证思维、绿色发展思维和生态系统思维作好经济行动的生态指引,发挥新质生产力“引擎器”“提质器”作用,在生态建设与经济发展间搭建“利益平衡木”。在此基础上,继续践行科学绿色发展的生态价值观,推动产业的创新实践与生态指向相一致,不断深化经济改革创新,以稳步实现人民群众的多元化美好生态和生活需要。从生态内涵、生态思维和生态指向三个方面深刻把握发展新质生产力的生态意蕴,对于深入贯通习近平经济思想和生态文明思想的内在逻辑,继续坚持生态文明发展方向,推进中国式现代化具有重大意义。

Web Editor: Paul

网络编辑:保罗

Notes

  1. This quotation is from the official definition of new quality productive forces provided by the Chinese Communist Party, emphasizing the leap in the three basic elements of production (laborers, means of labor, subjects of labor) and their optimized combination, with the goal of significantly increasing total factor productivity. ↩
  2. Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume 1, Chapter 15, Section 1. ↩
  3. Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume 1, Chapter 7, Section 1. ↩
  4. Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume 1, Chapter 7, Section 1. ↩
  5. This is a formulation from Chinese academic discourse on ecological civilization, describing a productive force that is both ecologically oriented in its own operation and capable of generating ecological benefits as a product. ↩
  6. Karl Marx, Capital, Volume 1, Chapter 7, Section 1. ↩
  7. Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, “Private Property and Communism.” ↩
  8. Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, “Critique of Hegel’s Dialectic and Philosophy as a Whole.” ↩
  9. Friedrich Engels, “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man.” ↩
  10. Friedrich Engels, Anti-Dühring, Part I, Chapter 11. ↩
  11. Friedrich Engels, “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man.” ↩
  12. The new development concept (新发展理念) refers to the five concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing, which guide China’s economic and social development. ↩
  13. “Further deepening reform comprehensively” (进一步全面深化改革) is a key policy direction emphasized by the Party Central Committee, particularly following the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, which focused on deepening reforms across all sectors. ↩
  14. Quotation from Xi Jinping’s speech during his inspection tour of Shandong, May 2024. ↩
  15. “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” (绿水青山就是金山银山) is a famous dictum of Xi Jinping, encapsulating the idea that ecological protection is compatible with and conducive to economic development. ↩
  16. Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (18 May 2018). The phrase “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” is a signature ecological maxim of Xi Jinping, first articulated during his tenure in Zhejiang Province (2002–2007). ↩
  17. Source not specified in the original text; likely a quotation from a Chinese policy document or academic commentary on new quality productive forces. ↩
  18. Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 95th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China” (1 July 2016). ↩
  19. The fight against poverty (脱贫攻坚战) refers to the nationwide campaign launched by the CPC around 2015 to eradicate absolute poverty by the end of 2020, which was declared a comprehensive victory in 2021. ↩
  20. Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects (全面建成小康社会) is a strategic goal set by the CPC, achieved by the centenary of the Party's founding in 2021, signifying a society where the basic needs of the population are met and living standards are significantly improved. ↩
  21. The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012. ↩