Marx’s Thought on Productive Forces and Its Implications for Developing New Quality Productive Forces

Productive forces are an important category of Marxist historical materialism and also a principal object of concern for Marxist political economy. The formation and development of Marx’s thought on productive forces, accompanied by the transformation of his logical thinking, continuously unfolded through critique and construction. In the process of criticizing idealist conceptions of history, Marx took “real individuals” as the primary premise for understanding history, gradually establishing the category of productive forces in the sense of historical materialism, and thereby building a theoretical connection between social material production practice and human history. The category of productive forces distilled from historical materialism deepened Marx’s revelation and understanding of the capitalist production process and its laws. Marx’s references to “labour productivity” and “productivity of capital” are both conceptual expressions of his investigation into the productive forces of capitalist society and a profound manifestation of the logical progression of Marx’s thought on productive forces. Because productive forces possess historical specificity, the progress of capitalist productive forces implies a future path through which humanity can achieve liberation by innovating the system of productive forces. New quality productive forces represent a high-level requirement of productive forces development; they belong in essence to the Marxist category of productive forces, but with the development and transformation of the economy and society, they have taken on new connotations and orientations in terms of technological form, contemporary meaning, intrinsic requirements, and strategic value. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC proposed “developing productive forces characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality.” In the interrelated evolution of material production capacity and socialism with Chinese characteristics, new quality productive forces, as a category, not only embody the terminological revolution and paradigm shift of Marxist productive forces theory in the 21st century, but can also provide a powerful driving force for promoting high-quality economic development and comprehensively advancing Chinese-path modernization.

生产力是马克思主义唯物史观的一个重要范畴，也是马克思主义政治经济学关注的主要对象。马克思生产力思想的形成与发展，伴随其思维逻辑的转换而不断地展开批判与建构。在批判唯心史观的过程中，马克思以“现实的人”作为理解历史的首要前提，逐渐确立起唯物史观意义上的生产力范畴，进而在社会物质生产实践与人类历史之间建立起理论联系。从唯物史观中凝练出的生产力范畴深化了马克思对资本主义生产过程及其规律的揭示和认识。马克思提及的“劳动生产力”“资本生产力”等，既是对资本主义社会生产力进行考察的观念表现，也是马克思生产力思想发展的逻辑进程的深刻体现。由于生产力具有历史规定性，资本主义生产力的进步隐含着人类通过革新生产力系统走向实现解放的未来道路。新质生产力是生产力发展的高阶性要求，本质上隶属于马克思主义的生产力范畴，但随着经济社会的发展变革，其在技术形态、时代内涵、内在要求、战略价值等方面都呈现出新的内涵和指向。党的二十届三中全会提出，“发展以高技术、高效能、高质量为特征的生产力”。在物质生产能力和中国特色社会主义发展的相互关联演化中，新质生产力从范畴上不仅体现了马克思主义生产力理论在21世纪的术语革命和范式转换，而且能够为推动实现经济高质量发展、全面推进中国式现代化提供强大动力。

I. The Intrinsic Determination of the Core Category of Marx’s Thought on Productive Forces In Marx’s view, the development and change of society are always linked to specific productive forces and their social forms. Among these, productive forces, as the most active and revolutionary element in the mode of production, play a foundational role in the evolution and succession of social formations. Marx particularly emphasized the subjective initiative of “real individuals” engaged in production activities, and abstracted different levels of productive forces from the concrete forms of real production and life. These productive forces are both a comprehensive manifestation of individual physical and mental strength, and a social productive force formed through specific modes of production organization, as well as an objective force formed in the material exchange between humans and nature. In the process of constructing historical materialism and the critique of political economy, Marx examined the development and evolutionary laws of productive forces at a specific stage based on the reality of general material production, providing a theoretical and logical foundation for profoundly grasping and analyzing new quality productive forces in the New Era.

一、马克思生产力思想核心范畴的内在规定在马克思看来，社会的发展变迁始终同一定的生产力及其社会形式相关联。其中，生产力作为生产方式中最活跃、最革命的要素，在社会形态的演进更替中起到基础性作用。马克思特别强调从事生产活动的“现实的人”的主体能动性，并从现实生产生活的具体形式中抽象出不同层次的生产力。这个生产力既是个体体力和脑力的综合体现，也是通过一定的生产组织方式形成的社会生产力，以及人们在与自然进行物质变换中形成的客观力量。在建构唯物史观与政治经济学批判的过程中，马克思基于一般的物质生产现实去考察某一特定阶段的生产力发展及其演变规律，为新时代深刻把握和解析新质生产力提供了理论和逻辑基础。

(I) Productive Forces as the Creative Power of Humans as Subjects of Social History When transforming Feuerbach’s humanist philosophy, Marx introduced an analytical framework of socio-economic reality, classifying material production activities as the subjective activities of humans under specific historical conditions, i.e., productive labor. Through the analysis of concrete industrial production, Marx observed the limitations of previous studies of productive forces, including those of classical political economy. For example, by criticizing List’s theory of productive forces, he exposed the hypocrisy of assertions such as “means of enrichment” and “productive forces of enrichment,” pointing out that they did not regard humans as the subjects of production, but rather as “instruments of enrichment” for the bourgeoisie. In *The German Ideology*, through his exposition of historical materialism, Marx further emphasized that productive forces are the creative power formed by “real individuals” in labor production. Here, “real individuals” are “active in life, engaged in material production, and thus acting within definite material boundaries, presuppositions, and conditions which are not subject to their arbitrary control.” From a historical origin perspective, “real individuals” and their “material life” and “activity” are the premise for the generation and development of all productive forces. A real production activity necessarily includes “the material factor and the human factor”; their coordinated development—that is, promoting the combination of the subjective and objective aspects of productive forces—is what forms the decisive force driving the development of social history. But with regard to the subject and practice, real productive forces are always generated based on humans’ autonomous activity, manifested as the transformation of the production capacity inherent in the physical and intellectual strength of individual humans into external material forces. As subjects, humans objectify their own capacities into the material conditions needed to generate productive forces, such as tools of production and science and technology, which are all condensations and manifestations of humans’ own creative power. Therefore, the subjective creative power possessed by “real individuals” is also the entry point for understanding productive forces. The formation of humans’ creative power in the development of productive forces is consistent with their material production activities. Specifically, “as far as a single individual is concerned, all the driving forces of his actions must pass through his brain, must be transformed into motives of his will, before he can act.” As active beings distinct from other animals, humans can not only use the wisdom and thinking of the brain to meet the needs of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, but can also use the practical initiative and innovativeness inherent in their own creative power to improve labor productivity. According to this line of thought, no matter what type of productive forces, and no matter what nature they have that differs from previous productive forces, they cannot be separated from the “human factor.” For new quality productive forces, while emphasizing the innovative development of science and technology, they also prominently highlight the positive role of “real individuals.” Because substantive elements such as technology are nothing more than the result of the objectification of the human subject; without humans’ creative capacity, the development of productive forces would lose its endogenous driving force.

（一）生产力是作为社会历史主体的人的创造力马克思在改造费尔巴哈人本主义哲学时引入了社会经济现实的分析框架，把物质生产活动归为一定历史条件下人的主体性活动，即生产劳动。通过分析具体的工业生产，马克思观察到了包括古典政治经济学在内的以往生产力研究的局限性。例如，通过批判李斯特的生产力理论，揭露出所谓“致富的手段”“致富的生产力”等论断的虚伪性，指出其并没有把人看作生产的主体，反而看成是资产阶级的“致富工具”。在《德意志意识形态》中，马克思通过对唯物史观的阐述，进一步强调生产力是“现实的人”在劳动生产中形成的具有创造性的力量。在这里，“现实的人”是“从事活动的，进行物质生产的，因而是在一定的物质的、不受他们任意支配的界限、前提和条件下活动着的”。从历史起源来看，“现实的人”及其“物质生活”与“活动”是生成和发展一切生产力的前提。一个现实的生产活动必然包括“物的因素和人的因素”，两者协同发展，即促进生产力的主体方面和客体方面相结合，才会形成推动社会历史发展的决定性力量。但就主体和实践而言，现实生产力总是基于人的自主活动而生成，表现为将蕴藏于个体的人的体力和智力两方面的生产能力转化为外在的物质力量。作为主体的人将自身能力对象化为生成生产力所需的物质条件，如生产工具、科学技术等，它们都是基于人自身创造力的凝结和显现。所以，“现实的人”拥有的主体创造力又是理解生产力的切入点。生产力发展中人的创造力的形成和其物质生产活动是一致的。具体而言，“就单个人来说，他的行动的一切动力，都一定要通过他的头脑，一定要转变为他的意志的动机，才能使他行动起来”。人作为有别于其他动物的能动存在物，既能够运用大脑智慧和思维来满足衣食住行的需要，也能够以自身的创造力所蕴含的实践能动性和创新性来提高劳动生产力。依据这一思路，不论是什么类型的生产力，也不论该生产力具有何种同以往生产力不同的性质，都离不开“人的要素”。对于新质生产力来说，其在强调科学技术创新发展的同时，也着重突出“现实的人”的积极作用。因为技术等实体性要素不外乎是人的主体客体化的结果，离开了人的创造能力，生产力的发展也就失去了内生性动力。

(2) Productive forces are a resultant force formed in real productive activities. Marx pointed out: “Any productive force is an already acquired force, the product of previous activity.” [3]3 Marx, “Letter to P. V. Annenkov,” December 28, 1846. (Translator’s note: The Chinese text cites this as a direct quotation from Marx; the standard English rendering is from the Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 38, p. 95.) It can be seen that, in a general sense, productive forces exist as an already acquired potential force; people need to take the productive forces created by their predecessors as means and support to produce new products that meet their own needs and the needs of social development. However, before this material productive capacity exerts its actual effect, it exists only as a potential force, not as a real force driving social development. Therefore, only in actually ongoing, real-existing productive activities, and in the process of combining with the laborers, can this already acquired potential force actually exert its effect. Consequently, when examining productive forces, if one departs from real productive activities and merely speculates abstractly and externally from the concept or notion of productive forces, one can often only arrive at vague and abstract conclusions lacking concrete content and understanding. By criticizing the relationship of equivalence between humans and various reified forces under the conditions of capitalist private ownership, Marx elucidated the subjectivity inherent in productive forces. From the “subject–practice” perspective, he established the production basis for the existence and development of social history, namely, the common activity of human beings. Marx pointed out: “The common activity of different individuals, as determined by the division of labor, produces a social force, namely, multiplied productive forces.” [4]4 Marx and Engels, *The German Ideology* (1845–1846). (Translator’s note: The Chinese text cites this as a direct quotation; the standard English rendering is from the Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 5, p. 53.) “Cooperation not only raises the individual productive force but also creates a productive force that is itself a collective force.” [5]5 Marx, *Capital*, vol. 1, ch. 13. (Translator’s note: The Chinese text cites this as a direct quotation; the standard English rendering is from the Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 35, p. 329.) How “the mode of common activity of individuals” is formed and in what form it is formed determines the extent to which the already acquired potential force can become a real resultant force. Because productive forces, as the already acquired potential force of individuals, cannot coalesce into a real social force in an isolated state; “these forces are only real forces in the intercourse and mutual relations of these individuals.” [6]6 Marx and Engels, *The German Ideology*. (Translator’s note: The Chinese text cites this as a direct quotation; the standard English rendering is from the Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 5, p. 53.) The process of obtaining material means through production requires not only real factors of production but also the organization of effective productive activities to promote the realization of the already acquired potential force. In short, defining the force formed in real productive activities as “common activity” indicates that the productive forces in Marx’s view are social productive forces created through the division of labor and cooperation in human labor production. Social productive forces imply the combined effect of many individuals, reflecting the formation and shaping of relations of production; they can aggregate the potential productive forces of individuals into real productive forces and generate new productive resultant forces. From the perspective of political economy, the division of labor and cooperation, i.e., a certain organizational form, are important supports for realizing and developing social productive forces. With the refinement of the social division of labor, it is inevitably necessary to rely on orderly production organization and management to coordinate and rationally allocate the various factors of real productive forces, forming an overall resultant force. Moreover, productive activities under different organizational forms can also create different productive forces. For example, the application of production technology in capitalist society is closely related to its organizational form. The modern factory system, based on the system of machinery, not only greatly raised the productive force of individuals but also enhanced the productive forces of the entire society, including different production departments and production units, causing social wealth to appear as an immense accumulation of commodities. Under socialist conditions, productive forces can more fully exert a concentrated and efficient effect. New quality productive forces, with the new nationwide system [7]7 The “new nationwide system” (新型举国体制) refers to a state-led mobilization of resources across the entire country, adapted from the earlier “nationwide system” (举国体制) used for strategic projects like the atomic bomb and space program, now updated for market-economy conditions to drive technological innovation. as their operational guarantee, relying on the collaboration and unity led by technological innovation and talent leadership, and the coordinated optimization of the production layout, and other advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics, are more conducive to forming a powerful resultant force, accelerating the transformation and development of social productive forces.

（二）生产力是在现实生产活动中形成的合力马克思指出：“任何生产力都是一种既得的力量，是以往的活动的产物。”可见，从一般意义上来说，生产力是作为一种既得的潜在力量存在的，人们需要把前人所创造的生产力作为手段和依托来生产出适应自身和社会发展需要的新产品。但这一物质生产能力在其实际效用发挥出来之前，只是作为一种潜在的力量而非推动社会发展的现实力量存在。因此，只有在实际进行的、现实存在的生产活动中，以及在与劳动者结合的过程中，这种既得的潜在力量才能实际地发挥效用。因此，考察生产力时，如果离开现实的生产活动，只是外在地、空洞地从生产力的概念或观念中思辨地去分析，往往只能得出笼统抽象、缺乏实际的内容和认识。马克思通过批判资本主义私有制条件下人与各类物化力量的等同关系，阐明了生产力具有的主体性，从“主体—实践”角度出发，确立了社会历史存在和发展的生产基础，即人类的共同活动。马克思指出：“受分工制约的不同个人的共同活动产生了一种社会力量，即成倍增长的生产力。”“通过协作提高了个人生产力，而且是创造了一种生产力，这种生产力本身必然是集体力。”如何结成以及以何种形式结成“个人的共同活动方式”，决定既得的潜在力量能够在多大程度上成为现实的合力。因为生产力作为个体既得的潜在力量，在孤立状态下无法凝结成为现实的社会力量，“这些力量只有在这些个人的交往和相互联系中才是真正的力量”。通过生产获取物质资料的过程除了需要现实的生产要素，还需要组织有效的生产活动来推动既得的潜在力量的实现。总之，以“共同活动”界定现实生产活动中形成的力量，表明马克思眼中的生产力是在人类劳动生产中通过分工与协作创造的社会生产力。社会生产力意味着许多个体的共同作用，体现着生产关系的形成与塑造，它能够把个体潜在的生产力聚集成现实的生产力并生成新的生产合力。在政治经济学视域下，分工与协作即一定的组织形式，是实现和发展社会生产力的重要依托。随着社会分工的细化，必然要依托有序的生产组织与管理，才能协调合理地分配现实生产力诸要素，形成整体的合力。并且，不同组织形式下的生产活动还会创造出不同的生产力。如生产技术在资本主义社会中的运用就与其组织形式紧密相关。基于机器体系的现代工厂制度不仅极大地提高了个体的生产力，还增强了包括不同生产部门、生产单位在内的整个社会的生产力，使社会财富表现为庞大的商品堆积。在社会主义条件下，生产力更能发挥出集中、高效的作用，新质生产力在以新型举国体制为运行保障、依靠技术创新和人才引领的协作与统一、生产布局的协调优化等中国特色社会主义的优势下，更有利于形成强大合力，加快推进社会生产力的变革和发展。

(3) Productive forces are the capacity for material exchange between humans and nature. For a long time, people have often narrowly and one-sidedly regarded productive forces as the capacity of humans to conquer and dominate nature, thereby neglecting the unified relationship of mutual construction between humans and nature, and obscuring the organic connection between natural productive forces and social productive forces. In fact, from the holistic perspective of Marx’s thought on productive forces, the productive forces he understood are an organic whole in which natural productive forces and social productive forces interact and interweave. Humans incorporate natural objects or the natural environment into the category of productive forces through labor, and on the basis of forming natural productive forces, transform them into social productive forces. Only social material production built upon natural productive forces can jointly form the force that creates wealth. At the same time, the “differences in natural conditions and the diversity of their natural products form the natural basis of the social division of labor.” [8]8 Marx, *Capital*, vol. 1, ch. 14. (Translator’s note: The Chinese text cites this as a direct quotation; the standard English rendering is from the Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 35, p. 351.) These natural conditions include both humans themselves as natural beings and the means of production and livelihood such as water, metals, and coal. They are the natural prerequisites for the formation and expansion of the social division of labor and are also important conditions determining the state of development of labor productivity. In the context of political economy, Marx repeatedly juxtaposed “labor productivity” with “natural conditions.” When discussing the production of absolute surplus value, he pointed out: “Labor is first of all a process between humans and nature, a process in which humans, through their own activity, mediate, regulate, and control the material exchange between themselves and nature.” [9]9 Marx, *Capital*, vol. 1, ch. 7. (Translator’s note: The Chinese text cites this as a direct quotation; the standard English rendering is from the Marx-Engels Collected Works, vol. 35, p. 187.) In the production process, the two major elements of productive forces—the means of labor and the objects of labor—both exist within the natural environment, and both are products of humans using tools of production to interact with nature. Therefore, defining the labor process with “material exchange” fully indicates that an important dimension of productive forces refers to the capacity for material exchange by which humans obtain means of labor and objects of labor from nature and, through labor processing, form material means. However, this capacity for material exchange is not about conquering the natural system but about rationally and moderately regulating the exchange relationship between humans and nature on the basis of following the laws of ecological evolution. This means that in exchanging matter, information, and energy with nature, humans must not only obtain the material means of subsistence needed for survival and development but also pay attention to expanding and constructing a positive connection between humans and nature. The identity of the natural attribute and social attribute of productive forces revealed here requires that people can neither escape their dependence on nature nor transcend the boundaries of nature. On the one hand, the total social production should be coordinated according to the demand for use value to alleviate the carrying pressure on the natural environment; on the other hand, green productive forces should be developed to break through the original qualitative structure of productive forces and further improve the efficiency of the metabolic cycle of human society. As Xi Jinping emphasized, “New quality productive forces are themselves green productive forces,” [10]10 Xi Jinping, speech during the 11th collective study session of the Politburo of the 20th CPC Central Committee, January 31, 2024. (Translator’s note: The Chinese text cites this as a direct quotation from Xi Jinping.) which also provides scientific guidance for dialectically understanding the development of the ecological economy and green economy and for cultivating and forming their organic connection with new quality productive forces.

（三）生产力是人与自然之间的物质变换能力长期以来，人们往往狭隘、片面地将生产力视作人们征服自然、支配自然的能力，从而忽视人与自然之间相互建构的统一关系，遮蔽了自然生产力与社会生产力之间的有机联系。事实上，从马克思生产力思想的整体性来看，其理解的生产力是自然生产力与社会生产力相互作用、彼此交织的有机整体。人类通过劳动将自然物或自然环境纳入生产力的范畴，在形成自然生产力的基础上将其转化为社会生产力，只有建基在自然生产力之上的社会物质生产，才能共同形成财富创造的力量。同时，自然条件的“差异性和它的自然产品的多样性，形成社会分工的自然基础”。这些自然条件既包括人这一自然存在物本身，也包含水、金属、煤炭等生产生活资料，它们是形成和扩大社会分工的自然前提，也是决定劳动生产力发展状况的重要条件。在政治经济学语境中，马克思多次将“劳动生产力”与“自然条件”相提并论。他在探讨绝对剩余价值的生产时就指出：“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。”在生产过程中，生产力包括的劳动资料和劳动对象两大要素均存在于自然环境之中，两者都是人利用生产工具与自然界发生作用的产物。因此，用“物质变换”来定义劳动过程充分表明，生产力的一个重要层面就是指人从自然界获取劳动资料与劳动对象，并经过劳动加工形成物质资料的物质变换能力。但这种物质变换能力不是要对自然系统进行征服，而是在遵循生态演化规律的基础上合理有度地调节人与自然之间的交换关系。这意味着，人类与自然进行物质、信息和能量交换，不仅要获取满足生存发展所需的物质生活资料，还要注意拓展和建构人与自然之间的正向联系。从中体现出的生产力的自然属性与社会属性的同一性，要求人们既不能摆脱自然依赖，也不能超越自然界限。一方面，按使用价值的需求来统筹社会总生产，缓解自然环境的承载压力；另一方面，发展绿色生产力以突破原有的生产力质态结构，进一步提高人类社会代谢循环的效率。正如习近平所强调的，“新质生产力本身就是绿色生产力”，这也为辩证认识发展生态经济、绿色经济以及培育和形成其与新质生产力的有机联系提供了科学指引。

II. The Marxist Theoretical Logic of New Quality Productive Forces The internal unity of historical inevitability and practical necessity dictates that theory will present different contents and forms according to the times and circumstances. From the perspective of theoretical tracing, new quality productive forces are still an advanced category of productive forces proposed based on the transformation of real human productive activities, representing a rich development of Marx’s thought on productive forces. Only by grasping the theoretical logic of new quality productive forces from the construction of Marx’s thought on productive forces, and correctly understanding the essential meaning of new quality productive forces from the dual perspectives of historical materialism and political economy, can we better develop new quality productive forces.

二、新质生产力的马克思主义理论逻辑诠释历史必然性与现实必要性的内在统一规定了理论将因时因势地呈现不同的内容与形式。从理论溯源来看，新质生产力仍然是基于人类现实生产活动变革而提出的先进生产力范畴，是对马克思生产力思想的丰富发展。只有从马克思生产力思想的建构中把握新质生产力的学理逻辑，在唯物史观和政治经济学双重视域下正确理解新质生产力的内涵要义，才能更好地发展新质生产力。

(I) An Examination of New Quality Productive Forces from the Perspective of Historical Materialism. Productive forces are one of the core categories Marx uses to analyze the existence of human society and the entire development of history. Marx’s historical-materialist transformation of the category of productive forces in classical political economy endowed this economic category with a distinct philosophical implication, enabling it to occupy a foundational position within the theoretical system of historical materialism and even within the entire theoretical system of Marxism. The development of productive forces is the fundamental driving force that pushes human society from lower to higher levels, from backward to advanced evolution. Each transformation of productive forces manifests characteristics and qualitative states different from those of past productive force development. New quality productive forces, as a leap in the development of productive forces in the present era, will inevitably promote progress in social production practices and adjustments in social relations of production. Marxist historical materialism holds that all social factors are historical and transient; productive forces are likewise—they are given, but not eternal or fixed. As socio-historical conditions change, productive forces also undergo new qualitative changes and continuously achieve an escalation of their energy level on the existing foundation. New quality productive forces contain the basic elements of productive forces and represent timely renewal and creative development on the basis of traditional productive forces. Their “new quality” is relative to the old qualitative state and old forms, indicating that productive forces have not merely undergone quantitative changes but have undergone a qualitative transformation. They are advanced productive forces more characteristic of the times, driven by revolutionary breakthroughs in technology, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. From the perspective of Marx’s historical materialism, productive forces are a systemic concept, whose basic elements include the laborer, the means of labor, and the subject of labor. Among these, the laborer is the subjective, agential existence within the system of productive forces, while the means of labor and the subject of labor are more objective, agential existences. The synergistic evolution of these three can form, from both the subjective and objective aspects, the driving force that continuously supports the new-qualitization of productive forces. The key to new quality productive forces becoming a new direction for high-quality development in the process of productive force transformation lies in their realization of the integration and transformation of the elements of traditional productive forces, mainly manifested as “the leap in laborers, means of labor, subjects of labor, and their optimized combination.” [1]1 This phrasing is a standard formulation from official Chinese discourse on new quality productive forces, emphasizing the qualitative leap in the combination of the three basic elements of productive forces. Specifically, the implantation and empowerment of new technologies into the system of instruments of production, and the qualitative transformation of the technical foundation of the labor process, will further reduce the limitations imposed on production by the subjective will and physiological boundaries of laborers, causing some physical labor to be replaced by the system of instruments, thereby driving more laborers to shift toward mental labor. At the same time, an increasing number of mental laborers are also turning to engage in the invention and innovation of science and technology. Marx pointed out that “science is also included in productive forces.” [2]2 This is a paraphrase of Marx’s argument in the *Grundrisse* that science becomes a direct productive force under capitalism. Science and technology exist in the system of productive forces in material form, promoting the scale-increasing growth of productive forces. To develop new quality productive forces, it is necessary to transform and apply the achievements of scientific and technological innovation into specific production processes. For example, using artificial intelligence technology, cloud computing, etc., to jointly create a “brain-like” intelligent instrument system, which can perform data analysis, intelligent control, and deep learning according to pre-set programs by humans, thereby continuously raising the level of intelligentization of productive forces. In general, the achievements of scientific and technological innovation, as the crystallization of human wisdom, can act upon the means of labor and the subject of labor, playing a key guiding role in accelerating the formation and development of new quality productive forces. In Marx’s view, humans are the core and key of all production activities. Therefore, from the perspective of the subjective elements of new quality productive forces, the formation of new quality productive forces inevitably requires the support of scientific and technological talents, demanding that laborers master new quality labor skills. In this regard, general physical laborers in traditional industries need to be transformed into knowledge-based, compound high-quality laborers. Focusing on the current economic and social development status brought about by the application of high and new technologies such as automation, digitalization, and greening, cultivating labor-skilled talents capable of adapting to and operating modern high-end advanced equipment will inevitably become a prerequisite for developing new quality productive forces. From the perspective of the objective elements of new quality productive forces, new quality means of production (including new quality means of labor and new quality subjects of labor) are the resources and tools for laborers to engage in productive labor, mainly including material forms such as new energy, new materials, new tools, new infrastructure, and virtual forms such as data elements. In the actual process of labor production, the basic constituent elements of new quality productive forces usually exhibit a new trend of mutual connection and intertwined integration, jointly empowering and promoting the formation and development of new quality productive forces.

（一）新质生产力的唯物史观考察生产力是马克思用以分析人类社会存在及整个历史发展的核心范畴之一。马克思对古典政治经济学的生产力范畴进行的历史唯物主义改造，赋予这一经济学范畴以鲜明的哲学意蕴，使其在唯物史观理论体系乃至在整个马克思主义理论体系中占据着始基性地位。生产力的发展是推动人类社会由低级向高级、由落后向先进演变的根本动力。每一次生产力的变革，都呈现出与过去生产力发展不同的特性和质态。新质生产力作为现时代生产力发展的跃迁，必将推动社会生产实践的进步以及社会生产关系的调整。马克思主义唯物史观认为，一切社会因素都是历史的、暂时的，生产力亦如此，它是既定的，但不是永恒或固定的。随着社会历史条件的变化，生产力也会发生新的质态变化，并在已有的基础上不断实现能级的攀升。新质生产力内含生产力的基本要素，是在传统生产力基础上的趋时更新和创造性发展。其“新质”是相对于旧的质态、旧的形式而言的，表明生产力并不只是发生了量的规定性变化，而是发生了质的转化，它是由技术的革命性突破、生产要素的创新性配置、产业的深度转型升级催生的更具时代性的先进生产力。马克思唯物史观视域下的生产力是一个系统性概念，其基本要素包括劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象。其中，劳动者是生产力系统中主观性、主体性的存在，劳动资料和劳动对象则更多是客观性、客体性的存在，三者的协同演化能够从主体和客体两方面形成支撑生产力不断新质化的原动力。新质生产力在生产力变革过程中能够成为高质量发展的新航向，关键在于其实现了对传统生产力要素的整合和转变，主要表现为“劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象及其优化组合的跃升”。具体而言，新技术向生产工具系统的植入与赋能，劳动过程的技术基础发生质的变革，将进一步降低生产所受到的劳动者主观意愿和生理界限的限制，使得部分体力劳动被工具系统替代，从而驱使更多的劳动者转向脑力劳动。同时，越来越多的脑力劳动者也转向从事科学技术的发明和创新。马克思指明，“生产力中也包括科学”。科学技术以物质的形式存在于生产力系统中，推动生产力实现规模性递增。发展新质生产力，必须将科技创新成果转化运用到具体的生产过程中。如利用人工智能技术、云计算等共同创造出“类脑”的智能工具系统，可按照人预设的程序进行数据分析、智能控制、深度学习，使生产力的智能化水平不断提高。总的来说，科技创新成果作为人类智慧的结晶，可以作用于劳动资料和劳动对象，发挥加快形成和发展新质生产力的关键牵引作用。在马克思看来，人是一切生产活动的核心和关键。因此，从新质生产力的主体性要素来看，新质生产力的形成必然需要科技人才的支撑，要求劳动者掌握新质劳动技能。对此，传统产业中体能型的一般劳动力需要转化为知识型、复合型的高素质劳动力。着眼当前自动化、数字化、绿色化等高新技术运用所带来的经济社会发展现状，培养能够适应和操作现代高端先进设备的劳动技能型人才，势必成为发展新质生产力的前提条件。从新质生产力的客体性要素来看，新质生产资料（包括新质劳动资料和新质劳动对象）是劳动者从事生产劳动的资源和工具，主要包括物质形态的新能源、新材料、新工具、新基础设施以及虚拟形态的数据要素等。在实际劳动生产过程中，新质生产力的基本构成要素之间通常呈现出互相关联和交织融合的新态势，共同赋能推动新质生产力的形成与发展。

(II) A Political Economy Perspective on New Quality Productive Forces. The category of productive forces as viewed from the standpoint of historical materialism is a philosophical determination at the macro level, grasped mainly through the socio-historical forms of productive forces and the scientific stipulation of the productive forces system. To understand productive forces from the perspective of political economy, by contrast, is to proceed on the basis of historical materialism, starting from direct, actual material production, and to arrive at a more micro-level definition of productive forces with greater economic significance. Specifically, productive forces in the political economy sense refer mainly to the “productive power of labor.” According to Marx’s view in *Capital*, the productive power of labor reflects the actual productive capacity of laborers acting upon the means of production, and embodies the efficiency of material production activity within a given period of time. “Productive power is, of course, always the productive power of useful, concrete labor, and in fact determines only the efficacy of purposeful productive activity within a given period of time.” Although the formulations “productive forces” and “productive power of labor” differ, this also indicates that the two are mutually interpenetrating, namely, that productive forces take as their material content the use values created by concrete labor. In the course of the evolution from old-quality productive forces to new quality productive forces, the natural conditions of labor, the invention and application of science and technology, the division and cooperation of labor and its organization and management, and the average level of skill of laborers are all real factors affecting the productive power of labor. As a new qualitative state in the development of the productive power of labor, new quality productive forces are generated along with breakthroughs in critical and disruptive technologies, achieving an organic combination and coordinated advancement of science and technology, innovation-driven development, and human resources. With regard to the increase in the productive power of labor brought about by changes in the labor process, Marx held that “this change can shorten the socially necessary labor time for producing a certain commodity, thereby enabling a smaller quantity of labor to acquire the capacity to produce a larger quantity of use values.” The formation and development of new quality productive forces show that the revolutionary power of technological innovation has caused large-scale, complex, and systematic disruptive qualitative changes within the productive forces, and that digital-intelligent production and green production have profoundly changed the mode of combination between laborers and the means of production, enhancing laborers’ basic capacity to produce use values and create value. On the one hand, new quality productive forces first create new-quality use values. By developing and utilizing new energy materials and information software technologies to replace low-cost labor, large-scale resource inputs, and high energy consumption, people not only raise industrial labor efficiency and drive productive forces to grow exponentially, but also create more products that meet the people’s needs for a better life, thereby resolving the contradiction between the diversity of people’s needs and the finiteness of natural resources. On the other hand, laborers also create new-quality value in the process of producing new-quality use values. Through information control systems, digital technologies, new energy technologies, and the like, laborers continuously realize combination and aggregation with the means of production, which not only breaks spatial constraints and reduces enterprise production costs, but also resolves the predicament of labor force development, liberating more laborers from simple and repetitive labor and creating greater and more sustainable new-quality value. Taken together, what new quality productive forces pursue is the organic unity of quantitative growth and qualitative improvement, creating material conditions for promoting the all-round development of the human person and for establishing a community of free individuals. From the perspective of the “social combination of the production process,” division and cooperation of labor are indispensable factors in accelerating the development of new quality productive forces. Cooperation based on division of labor can form supply chains, innovation chains, and industrial chains with clear division of labor, deep cooperation, and solid reliability, enabling modern industrial clusters to form closely linked organic wholes under the impetus of scientific and technological innovation. This productive force formed on the basis of division and cooperation of labor is an important form of expression of new quality productive forces and is what Marx called the “productive power of social labor.” Division and cooperation of labor require seeking a scientific proportioning of the various factors of production within the productive forces system and achieving efficient operation, which necessitates raising the level of management adapted to the development of new quality productive forces, accelerating the efficiency of transforming scientific and technological innovations into practical results through real-time regulation and rational allocation of human, financial, material, and informational resources, and more efficiently cultivating the momentum for developing new quality productive forces. (III) An Analysis of the Modernization Implications of New Quality Productive Forces. Modernization, as an inevitable trend in the historical development and progress of human society, is inseparable from the development and transformation of productive forces. To a certain extent, the process by which human society realizes modernization is precisely the process in which new productive forces continuously replace old productive forces, thereby driving economic and social change. Developing new quality productive forces is an important yardstick for measuring the level of scientific and technological modernization, reflecting the trends and requirements of modernization development in the present era, and embodying economic and social changes in the course of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. As modern, high-quality productive forces, new quality productive forces contain the practical requirements of scientific and technological modernization, modernization of the factors of production, and modernization of the industrial system, and are the key support and cornerstone for advancing Chinese-path modernization. Xi Jinping emphasized: “The key to Chinese-path modernization lies in scientific and technological modernization.” New quality productive forces are productive forces that emphasize the core driving role of scientific and technological innovation; the new technologies involved are not merely a transformative innovation of traditional physical labor methods, but also emphasize achieving critical, original, and disruptive scientific and technological innovation, thereby providing revolutionary momentum for modernization development. In traditional productive forces, the empowerment of the means of production by science and technology is mainly manifested in its being “produced as the direct organ of social practice, as the direct organ of the actual life process,” enabling people to stand “beside the production process.” In contrast, new quality productive forces are formed on the basis of the most cutting-edge or most advanced science and technology, such as artificial intelligence, quantum information, biological breeding, new energy technology, and high-tech environmental protection technology. The deep integration and transformative application of these forward-looking, strategic, and disruptive innovative technologies with the means of production will break through old modes of production and promote the formation of new technological systems, giving rise to new production sectors and new models of economic development. In particular, the intelligent production system formed by new quality productive forces will greatly liberate people from the shackles of machinery, promoting the realization of social modernization and the modernization of the human person. At the same time, the innovative development and embedding of science and technology will also promote the modern transformation of the system of factors of production within new quality productive forces, providing new factor momentum for modernization development. The wave of scientific and technological modernization has prompted new types of data factors to integrate into the production function, achieving the upgrading and complementarity of traditional factors of production, dematerializing the direct object of labor, and thereby reshaping the labor production process. The digital-intelligent productive force formed by the innovative combination of “data + algorithms + computing power” is a typical form of new quality productive forces. The dual drive of digital technology and data factors can link and strengthen the connections among different factors of production, thereby producing a value multiplication effect. From the perspective of industrial modernization, the formation and development of high-tech industries and the modern transformation and upgrading of agriculture, industry, and services all depend on the support and impetus of new quality productive forces. Only when the new technologies and new factors in the formation and development of new quality productive forces are fully applied to the construction of the modern industrial system can they “promote industrial innovation through scientific and technological innovation and build new competitive advantages through industrial upgrading.” Strategic emerging industries and future industries occupy a pioneering position in building the modern industrial system; they are the most vivid manifestation of the transformation and application of new quality productive forces and are also the focal point and entry point for cultivating and developing new quality productive forces. Therefore, from the perspective of industrial modernization, strategic emerging industries are an important force for the iterative upgrading of traditional industries, capable of forming cluster effects in industrial development through complex industrial networks and strengthening the industrial integration mechanism of operational synergy. Future industries, with their higher technological content, stronger capacity for empowering industries, and broader application prospects, give rise to the emerging industries they incubate and nurture, which are the “windfall” and direction for winning on new tracks, and can create new industrial forms for advancing Chinese-path modernization.

（二）新质生产力的政治经济学透视唯物史观视域下的生产力范畴是从宏观层面对生产力的哲学规定，主要是从生产力的社会历史形态、生产力系统的科学规定来把握这一抽象概念的。而从政治经济学视域理解生产力，则是以唯物史观为基础，从直接的、现实的物质生产出发，形成更为微观、更具经济学意义的生产力定义。具体而言，政治经济学意义上的生产力主要是指“劳动的生产力”。根据马克思《资本论》中的观点，劳动生产力是劳动者作用于生产资料的现实生产能力的反映，集中体现物质生产活动在一定时间内的效率。“生产力当然始终是有用的、具体的劳动的生产力，它事实上只决定有目的的生产活动在一定时间内的效率。”虽然“生产力”和“劳动的生产力”提法不同，但这也表明两者存在相互贯通性，即生产力是以具体劳动创造的使用价值为物质内容的。在旧质生产力向新质生产力演变的过程中，劳动的自然条件、科学技术的发明应用、劳动的分工协作与组织管理、劳动者的平均熟练程度等都是影响劳动生产力的现实因素。新质生产力作为劳动生产力发展的新质态，是伴随关键性、颠覆性技术的突破而生成的，实现了科学技术、创新驱动和人才资源的有机结合与协同并进。对于由劳动生产过程变化引起的劳动生产力的提高，马克思认为，“这种变化能缩短生产某种商品的社会必需的劳动时间，从而使较小量的劳动获得生产较大量使用价值的能力”。新质生产力的形成与发展表明，技术创新的革命性力量使生产力内部发生了规模化、复杂化、体系化的颠覆性质变，数智生产、绿色生产深刻改变了劳动者与生产资料的结合方式，增强了劳动者生产使用价值和创造价值的基本能力。一方面，新质生产力首先创造的是新质的使用价值。人们通过开发利用新能源材料、信息软件技术来取代低成本劳动力、大规模资源投入和高能源消耗，不仅提高了产业劳动效率，推动生产力呈指数级增长，而且能够创造出更多满足人民美好生活需要的产品，以解决人们需求多样性与自然资源有限性之间的矛盾。另一方面，劳动者在生产新质使用价值的过程中也创造出新质价值。劳动者通过信息控制系统、数字技术、新能源技术等不断实现与生产资料的组合和聚合，不仅打破了空间约束，降低企业生产成本，而且破解了劳动力发展的困境，将更多劳动者从简单重复的劳动中解放出来，并创造出更大、更可持续的新质价值。综合来看，新质生产力所追求的是量的增长和质的提升的有机统一，为促进人的全面发展和建立自由人联合体创造物质条件。从“生产过程的社会结合”来看，分工协作是加快发展新质生产力不可或缺的因素。以分工为基础的协作，能够形成分工明确、协作深入、稳固牢靠的供应链、创新链、产业链体系，促使现代化产业集群在科技创新的推动下形成联系紧密的有机整体。这种基于分工协作形成的生产力，是新质生产力的重要表现形式，也是马克思所言的“社会劳动的生产力”。分工协作要寻求生产力系统中各类生产要素的科学配比并实现高效运行，这就需要提升与新质生产力发展相适应的管理水平，通过实时调控和合理配置人、财、物、信息等资源，加快科技创新成果的转化效率，更加高效地培育发展新质生产力的动能。（三）新质生产力的现代化意蕴解析现代化作为人类社会历史发展进步的必然趋势，与生产力的发展变革密不可分。甚至在一定程度上来看，人类社会实现现代化的过程，就是新的生产力不断接替旧的生产力，从而推动经济社会变迁的过程。发展新质生产力是科学技术现代化水平的重要衡量尺度，反映了当今时代现代化发展的趋势和要求，体现了在新一轮科技革命和产业变革进程中的经济社会变化。新质生产力作为现代化的、优质的生产力，蕴含着科学技术现代化、生产要素现代化、产业体系现代化等现实要求，是推进中国式现代化的关键支撑和基石。习近平强调：“中国式现代化关键在科技现代化。”新质生产力是强调发挥科技创新核心驱动作用的生产力，其中的新技术不仅是对传统体力型劳动方式的转化创新，更强调实现关键性、原创性、颠覆性的科技创新，从而为现代化发展提供革新动力。在传统的生产力中，科学技术对生产资料的赋能主要体现于它是“作为社会实践的直接器官，作为实际生活过程的直接器官被生产出来”，从而使人能够站在“生产过程的旁边”。与之相较，新质生产力是以人工智能、量子信息、生物育种、新能源技术、高新环保技术等最前沿或最先进的科学技术为基础形成的。这些具有前瞻性、战略性、颠覆性的创新型科技与生产资料的深度融合及其转化应用，将突破旧有的生产方式并促进形成新的技术体系，催生出新生产部门和新经济发展模式。尤其是新质生产力形成的智能化生产系统，将极大地把人从机器的束缚中解放出来，推动实现社会现代化和人的现代化。同时，科技的创新发展与嵌入也会促进新质生产力的生产要素体系发生现代化转变，为现代化发展提供新的要素动能。科技现代化的发展浪潮促使新型的数据要素融入生产函数当中，实现对传统生产要素的升级与互补，使直接劳动对象非物质化，进而重塑劳动生产过程。由“数据+算法+算力”创新组合形成的数智化生产力就是一种典型的新质生产力。数字技术和数据要素的双轮驱动可以链接并强化不同生产要素之间的联系，从而产生价值倍增效应。从产业现代化来看，高新技术产业的形成和发展，农业、工业、服务业的现代化转型升级，都有赖于新质生产力的支撑和推动。新质生产力形成和发展中的新技术、新要素只有充分应用到现代化产业体系建设之中，才能“以科技创新推动产业创新、以产业升级构筑竞争新优势”。而战略性新兴产业与未来产业在建设现代化产业体系中具有先导性地位，是新质生产力转化应用最为鲜明的体现，也是培育和发展新质生产力的着眼点和着力点。因此，从产业现代化来看，战略性新兴产业是传统产业迭代升级的重要力量，能够通过复杂的产业网络形成产业发展的集群效应，强化运营协同的产业融合机制。而未来产业科技含量更高、产业赋能能力更强、应用前景更广，其孵化和孕育的新兴产业，是制胜新赛道的“风口”和走向，能够为推进中国式现代化创造新的产业形态。

III. The Implications of Marx's Thought on Productive Forces for Developing New Quality Productive Forces. Marx's thought on productive forces reveals, from the dimension of historical materialism, that the productive forces generated in the material production activities of "real individuals" are the fundamental force driving the evolution of human society and the development of modernization; at the same time, from the dimension of political economy, it provides a micro-level interpretation and systematic construction of the category of productive forces, elucidating how laborers promote the transformation and reshaping of productive forces in the dialectical movement of the means of production and modes of labor. Viewed from the core categories of Marx's thought on productive forces and the laws of productive force development it discloses, accelerating the formation and development of new quality productive forces requires, in light of the developmental demands of the era, achieving multi-dimensional coordination, multiple measures in tandem, and breakthroughs at multiple points through cultivating new quality laborers, promoting green and sustainable development, shaping new relations of production, and advancing the integration of the digital and the real.

三、马克思生产力思想对发展新质生产力的启示马克思生产力思想既从唯物史观维度揭示出在“现实的人”的物质生产活动中生成的生产力是推动人类社会演变和现代化发展的根本力量，又从政治经济学维度对生产力的范畴进行了微观诠释与系统建构，阐明了劳动者如何在生产资料、劳动方式的辩证运动中推动生产力的变革与重塑。从马克思生产力思想的核心范畴及其揭示的生产力发展规律来看，加快形成和发展新质生产力，要立足时代发展要求，从培养新质劳动者、促进绿色可持续发展、塑造新型生产关系、推进“数实”融合等方面实现多维联动、多措并举、多点突破。

(1) Cultivating High-Quality New Quality Laborers with Strong Innovative Capabilities. From the perspective of the subjectivity of labor, productive forces are in fact the objectified presentation of humanity's essential powers. Cultivating and developing new quality productive forces requires promoting the transformation of science and technology from the form of knowledge into the objective form of the means of labor—that is, it requires laborers to apply the fruits of mental labor to the sphere of social production, and only thus can these be transformed into actual material productive forces. Therefore, the quality and skills of laborers and the degree of their objectification are the basic conditions for achieving a leap in productive forces; only by cultivating new quality laborers suited to the development needs of new quality productive forces can the leading, driving, and supporting role of human resources for new quality productive forces be fully brought into play. Xi Jinping emphasizes, "In accordance with the development requirements of new quality productive forces, smooth the virtuous cycle of education, science and technology, and talent." [13]13 Xi Jinping's instruction on coordinating education, science and technology, and talent in the context of new quality productive forces, cited from his speeches in 2024. Achieving the effective linkage and integrated advancement of educational development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation is a practical requirement for developing new quality productive forces. Only the coordinated development of these three can strengthen the impetus for transforming scientific and technological achievements into new quality productive forces, anchoring the development of new quality productive forces in reliance on scientific and technological innovation and the improvement of laborers' quality. Among these, education can, through the reproduction of labor power and scientific and technological knowledge, provide the foundational conditions for the formation and development of new quality productive forces. To this end, higher education should be accelerated and a strong educational nation built, so as to supply for the development of new quality productive forces innovative laborers with modern technological characteristics as well as technical personnel suited to modern high-end advanced equipment. On the one hand, the cultivation of innovative capacity and scientific thinking should be strengthened. By fostering a research atmosphere that is inclusive and tolerant, lenient toward error, and encouraging of innovation, and by providing open and inclusive platforms for exchanging and showcasing research findings, students' enthusiasm for engaging in scientific research should be stimulated, and their capacity for independent inquiry and innovative practice should be cultivated. New quality talent with forward-looking strategic vision, adept at grasping key issues, and proactively adapting to scientific and technological progress should be nurtured. On the other hand, focusing on achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, educational models should be innovated to promote the effective supply of high-quality labor power. While taking fostering virtue through education as the fundamental task and cultivating new quality laborers with well-rounded development in morality, intellect, physique, aesthetics, and labor, universities should, around basic research, technological innovation, and industrial upgrading, strengthen the development and creation of applied and technical professional curricula, so as to cultivate composite new quality talent in the fields of technical management and research and development for the development of new quality productive forces. In the process of integrating into production practice, the key to cultivating new quality laborers lies in cultivating and enhancing their comprehensive knowledge application ability and creative thinking ability. High-quality talent should be guided to provide intellectual support for scientific and technological innovation, the iteration of the means of production, and the layout and development of emerging industries and future industries, thereby strengthening the practical scientificity and creativity of new quality laborers in the process of developing new quality productive forces. New quality talent should be encouraged to focus on basic research and frontier technologies, enhancing the knowledge and skills required for sustained technological innovation and transformation. In addition, developing new quality productive forces is a long-term, arduous, and systematic project, which also requires cultivating new quality laborers' capacity for collaborative tackling of hard problems. Only by building multi-subject integrated, complementary, and synergistic teams and platforms for tackling hard problems, and by promoting interpersonal collaboration among new quality laborers as well as human-machine collaboration, can a powerful joint force be formed to collectively overcome the "chokepoint" and "binding limbs" [14]14 A colloquial Chinese expression referring to key bottlenecks and constraints that impede technological and industrial progress, analogous to "chokepoint" issues. difficulties in the fields of science and technology and industrial development.

（一）培养具有较强创新能力的高素质新质劳动者从劳动的主体性来看，生产力实际上是人的本质力量的对象化呈现。培育和发展新质生产力，需要推动科学技术从知识形态转化为劳动资料这一客体形态，也就是需要劳动者将脑力劳动成果应用于社会生产领域，如此才能将其转化为现实的物质生产力。因此，劳动者的素质与技能及其对象化程度是实现生产力跃升的基本条件，只有培养符合新质生产力发展所需的新质劳动者，才能充分发挥人才资源对新质生产力的引领、驱动和支撑作用。习近平强调，“按照新质生产力的发展要求，畅通教育、科技、人才的良性循环”。实现教育发展、科技创新、人才培养有效联动、一体推进，是发展新质生产力的现实要求。三者的协同发展才能增强科技成果向新质生产力转化的动力，把新质生产力的发展落脚到依靠科技创新与提高劳动者素质上。其中，教育能够通过再生产劳动力和科学技术知识为新质生产力的形成与发展提供基础条件。为此，应加快发展高等教育、建设教育强国，为发展新质生产力输送具有现代技术特质的创新型劳动者以及适应现代高端先进设备的技术型人才。一方面，应强化创新能力和科学思维的培养。通过营造兼容并包、宽松容错、鼓励创新的科研氛围，提供开放包容的交流、分享研究成果的展示平台，激发学生从事科研工作的热情，培养学生自主探究精神和创新实践能力。培育具有前瞻性战略眼光、善于把握关键问题、主动适应科技进步的新质人才。另一方面，聚焦实现高水平科技自立自强创新教育模式，促进高素质劳动力有效供给。在以立德树人为根本任务，培养德智体美劳全面发展的新质劳动者的同时，围绕基础研究、技术创新和产业升级，高校应加强开发和打造应用型、技术型专业课程，为发展新质生产力培养技术管理和研发领域的复合型新质人才。在融入生产实践的过程中，新质劳动者的培育关键在于培养和提升其综合知识运用能力与创造性思维能力。引导高素质人才为科技创新、生产资料迭代、新兴产业和未来产业布局和发展提供智力支持，增强新质劳动者在发展新质生产力过程中的实践科学性和创造性。鼓励新质人才聚焦基础研究和前沿技术，增强技术持续创新与变革所需的知识技能。此外，发展新质生产力是一项长期性、艰巨性的系统工程，还需要培养新质劳动者的协作攻坚能力。只有搭建多主体融合的、具有互补性和协同性的攻坚团队和平台，促进新质劳动者的人际协作以及人机协同，才能形成共同攻克科技领域和产业发展中“卡脖子”“捆四肢”难题的强大合力。

(2) Striving to develop new quality productive forces that promote harmony between humanity and nature. Marx connected human society with the natural environment through "labor," and, taking labor production as the core category, constructed a thought on productive forces that unifies natural production and social production. By incorporating the various factors of humanity and the natural environment into the human production process, he revealed the organic interdependence between humanity and the natural environment, guiding people to form the productive capacity for harmony between humanity and nature by constructing a sustainable mode of production that "reproduces the whole of nature." The inherent ecological implications of Marx's thought on productive forces indicate that humanity can only form new quality productive forces suited to the sustainable development of the economy, society, and ecology in the practice of labor production by exchanging material energy with nature in a mutually complementary and harmonious way. From the assertion that "new quality productive forces are themselves green productive forces,"[15]15 A formulation from General Secretary Xi Jinping, emphasizing that green development is an inherent requirement of new quality productive forces. defining the development of productive forces by the laws of natural environmental production is the objective basis that must be followed in forming and developing new quality productive forces. Its method is to achieve the harmonious unity of social productive forces and natural productive forces, and of economic benefits and ecological benefits, through a new qualitative mode of labor production. From the requirements of the connotation of green development, new quality productive forces are reflected not only in the improvement of production efficiency, but more importantly in emphasizing the use of low-carbon, green technologies to reduce excessive dependence on natural resources, forming a mode of production conducive to the protection of the natural environment. Although industrialization and mechanized mass production in the past brought rapid development of social productive forces, the use of machinery and standardized production also brought high energy consumption and high pollution, causing damage to the ecological environment. Unlike traditional production technologies, the low-carbon, green technologies advocated by new quality productive forces are characterized by low energy consumption costs and high technological empowerment. Therefore, accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces requires relying on green technologies for pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction, as well as "high-precision, cutting-edge" energy-saving equipment, to promote the realization of low energy consumption and low pollution in resource utilization, and to develop an ecological economy and circular economy that is "energy-saving, environmentally friendly, clean in production, and low-carbon and green." As for green technology itself, it is necessary to strengthen the research, development, promotion, and utilization of green technologies. In accordance with the purpose of green production, integrate high-tech environmental protection technologies such as ecological agricultural technology, waste resource recovery technology, and ecological damage prevention and control technology, build a green technology innovation system, and realize the full-line, whole-process greening from production to products. In addition, developing new quality productive forces that promote harmony between humanity and nature also requires giving play to the supporting and promoting role of new energy in green production practice. From the impact of the global energy structure on China, China on the one hand faces the risk of increased energy import costs, and on the other hand the competition and game-playing with the United States in the field of clean energy has intensified. To this end, China needs to accelerate the construction of a new energy system and vigorously develop the green energy industry to meet the urgent requirements of the green and low-carbon transformation of energy. Taking the resolution of the key difficulties in the battle against pollution as a breakthrough point,[16]16 The "battle against pollution" is one of the three major battles for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, launched by the CPC around 2018. further transform the energy structure dominated by coal through new technologies, new processes, new business forms, and new models, and promote the realization of the goals of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality."[17]17 China's dual carbon goals: peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Focus on cultivating green and low-carbon industries such as new materials and resource recycling, incubate a self-controllable low-carbon industrial chain, enterprise chain, and supply chain, give play to the driving role of green industries in production, consumption, and other fields, and accelerate the establishment and improvement of a green, low-carbon, and circular economic development system. (3) Adjusting and shaping new relations of production suited to the development of new quality productive forces. Grasping Marx's thought on productive forces from the perspective of historical materialism, it can be found that the relations of production formed in material production are likewise embedded in the movement system of productive forces. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC pointed out that "we must accelerate the formation of relations of production more compatible with new quality productive forces and promote the concentration of all types of advanced production factors toward the development of new quality productive forces."[18]18 A decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, held in July 2024, on further deepening reform comprehensively. To achieve the leap in productive forces and the distribution of the wealth created by productive forces, it is necessary to construct compatible relations of production as a guarantee. The formation of new quality productive forces is not merely a process of technological progress or economic development, but also a process of profound adjustment and gradual construction and shaping of new relations of production. The development of new quality productive forces in terms of science and technology, factor combination, industrial forms, and other aspects must rely on the basic socialist economic system. In order to better promote the transformation of social production, it is necessary to adhere to giving play to the strong advantages of the public-owned economy, especially state-owned enterprises, which have a solid research and development foundation, flexible resource allocation, and a concentration of technical talent. At the same time, it is also necessary to stimulate the vitality of the multi-ownership economy to inject new momentum into the formation and development of new quality productive forces. For example, give play to the advantages of private enterprises, such as short decision-making chains, rapid market response, and strong innovation momentum, forming a new quality productive forces system with the public-owned economy that echoes each other and has a reasonable division of labor, so as to rapidly promote the commercialization and industrialization of new quality productive forces. At the level of the distribution system, it is necessary to combine distribution according to work with distribution according to production factors, mobilizing the enthusiasm of owners of different factors in promoting the development of new quality productive forces. The enthusiasm of workers in production and creation plays a key role in the formation and development of new quality productive forces, and the generation and application of various production factors such as knowledge and data must be coordinated and combined through workers as the intermediary. Therefore, the income distribution of different types of factors should be maintained at a scientifically reasonable ratio. It is necessary to focus on building a high-level socialist market economy system, deepen the market-oriented allocation reform of new production factors, and promote the concentration and transformation of new production factors toward the development of new quality productive forces. For example, use the characteristics of data factors, such as high liquidity and low replication costs, to promote the rapid flow of other factors such as labor, technology, and capital, break down market segmentation and regional restrictions that limit the development of new quality productive forces, and improve total factor productivity and the operational efficiency of the market. In terms of the organizational structure and operational mechanism for forming and developing new quality productive forces, it is necessary to improve the new nationwide system for major scientific and technological innovation under the leadership of the CPC,[19]19 The "new nationwide system" (新型举国体制) refers to a state-led mobilization of resources for major scientific and technological tasks, adapted from the earlier planned-economy model to a market-economy context. organically integrate national scientific research forces, government financial forces, and market entity forces, and enhance the organizational coordination of various production factors and innovation entities. Focus on key technology areas for the development of new quality productive forces, promote the implementation of coordinated tackling of key problems in major scientific and technological innovation projects, and form cooperation mechanisms across fields, industries, departments, and institutions. Transform the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the advantages of the Party's centralized, unified leadership into the effectiveness of developing new quality productive forces.

（二）着力发展促进人与自然和谐共生的新质生产力马克思通过“劳动”将人类社会与自然环境联结起来，并以劳动生产为核心范畴建构起自然生产和社会生产相统一的生产力思想。将人与自然环境诸因素纳入人类生产过程，揭示出人与自然环境相互依存的有机联系，指引人们通过建构“再生产整个自然界”的可持续生产方式，形成人与自然和谐共生的生产能力。马克思生产力思想内在的生态意蕴指明，人类只有使自身与自然界以相辅相成、和谐共生的方式相互转换物质能量，才能在劳动生产实践中形成适应经济、社会、生态可持续发展的新质生产力。从“新质生产力本身就是绿色生产力”的论断来看，以自然环境生产的法则来定义生产力的发展，是形成和发展新质生产力必须遵循的客观依据。其方法就是以新质态的劳动生产方式实现社会生产力与自然生产力、经济效益与生态效益的和谐统一。从绿色化的内涵要求来看，新质生产力不仅体现在生产效率的提升上，更重要的是强调利用低碳、绿色技术降低对自然资源的过度依赖，形成一种有益于自然环境保护的生产方式。尽管过去工业化、机械化大生产使得社会生产力快速发展，但机器的使用和标准化生产也带来了高能耗与高污染，对生态环境造成了破坏。不同于传统生产技术，新质生产力提倡的低碳、绿色技术具有低能耗成本、高技术赋能的特点。因此，加快形成新质生产力需要依靠减污降碳的绿色技术和“高精尖”节能设备，推动实现资源利用低能耗、低污染，发展“节能环保、清洁生产、绿色低碳”的生态经济、循环经济。就绿色技术本身来说，要加强对绿色技术的研究、开发、推广与利用。按照绿色生产的目的，整合生态农业技术、废物资源化技术、生态破坏防治技术等高新环保技术，构建绿色技术创新体系，实现从生产到产品的全线、全过程绿色化。此外，发展人与自然和谐共生的新质生产力，还需要发挥新能源对绿色生产实践的助力和促进作用。从全球能源格局对中国的影响来看，中国一方面面临着能源进口成本增加的风险，另一方面在清洁能源领域与美国之间的竞争博弈加剧。为此，我国需要加快构建新型能源体系、大力发展绿色能源产业以应对能源绿色低碳转型的迫切要求。以解决污染防治攻坚战的关键难点为突破口，进一步通过新技术、新工艺、新业态、新模式对以煤炭为主的能源结构进行转型，推动实现“碳达峰、碳中和”目标。重点培育新材料和资源循环利用等绿色低碳产业，孵化出自主可控的低碳产业链、企业链与供应链，发挥绿色产业对生产、消费等领域的带动作用，加快建立健全绿色低碳循环发展经济体系。（三）调整塑造适应新质生产力发展的新型生产关系从唯物史观来把握马克思生产力思想可以发现，在物质资料生产中形成的生产关系同样嵌套在生产力的运动系统中。党的二十届三中全会指出，“加快形成同新质生产力更相适应的生产关系，促进各类先进生产要素向发展新质生产力集聚”。要实现生产力的跃升以及生产力创造的财富的分配，必须建构与之相适应的生产关系作为保障。新质生产力的形成不只是一个纯粹的技术进步或经济发展的过程，还是一个深刻调整和循序建构、塑造新型生产关系的过程。新质生产力在科学技术、要素组合、产业形态等方面的发展必须要以社会主义基本经济制度为依托。为了更好地促进社会生产的变革，必须坚持发挥公有制经济特别是国有企业研发基础雄厚、资源调度灵活、技术人才集聚的强大优势。同时，还要激发多种所有制经济活力，为形成和发展新质生产力注入新动能。如发挥民营企业决策链条短、市场反应快、创新动力足等优势，与公有制经济形成彼此呼应、分工合理的新质生产力体系，迅速推动新质生产力的商品化、产业化。在分配制度层面，要把按劳分配和按生产要素分配结合起来，调动不同要素所有者推动新质生产力发展的积极性。劳动者的生产和创造的积极性在形成与发展新质生产力中起着关键作用，知识、数据等各种生产要素的产生与应用要以劳动者为中介进行协调和组合，因此，要让不同类型要素的收入分配保持科学合理的比例。要围绕构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，深化新型生产要素的市场化配置改革，让新型生产要素向发展新质生产力集聚转化。比如，利用数据要素流动性高、复制成本低等特点促进劳动力、技术、资金等其他要素的快速流动，打破限制新质生产力发展的市场分割和区域限制，提高全要素生产率和市场的运行效率。在形成和发展新质生产力的组织架构与运行机制方面，要完善中国共产党领导的重大科技创新新型举国体制，把国家科研力量、政府财政力量和市场主体力量有机整合起来，提升各类生产要素和创新主体的组织协调性。重点聚焦新质生产力发展的关键技术领域，推动实施重大科技创新项目的协同攻关，形成跨领域、跨行业、跨部门、跨机构的合作机制。把中国特色社会主义制度优势、党的集中统一领导优势转化为发展新质生产力的效能。

(4) Accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system with deep integration of the digital and real economies. The digital economy is both an important cause of the formation and development of new quality productive forces and an inevitable result of them. Through the digital reorganization and upgrading of the means of production via digital technology, it is possible to promote the formation of high-quality productive forces that are highly innovative and integrative, with high scientific and technological content and application efficiency. This is especially evident in the processes of industrial digitalization, digital industrialization, and their coordinated advancement, which embody the qualitative state and qualitative efficiency requirements of new quality productive forces. When explaining new quality productive forces, Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must vigorously develop the digital economy, promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and build digital industry clusters with international competitiveness." The digital economy has a powerful engine effect in advancing the digital transformation of the industrial system and the reconstruction of productive forces. Therefore, seizing the opportunities presented by the development of the digital economy, empowering the real economy with the digital economy, promoting the deep integration of the digital and real economies, and helping to build a modern industrial system are necessary to provide a strong fulcrum for the formation and development of new quality productive forces. Digital industrialization is the industrial link through which the digital economy and the real economy achieve deep integration. The development and application of cutting-edge digital technologies such as high-end chips and high-end industrial software are undoubtedly important breakthroughs in the development of new quality productive forces. On the one hand, by focusing on the construction of digital industry clusters to accelerate independent technological innovation and its promotion and application, building a multi-industry chain integration mechanism with specialized division of labor and inter-industry collaboration, promoting the intelligent management of supply chains, and facilitating the two-way connectivity of the industrial internet and the consumer internet, it is possible to optimize resource allocation, promote the rational flow and mutually beneficial sharing of various factors of production, and thereby expand the development space of the real economy. On the other hand, by using digital technologies and equipment such as the Internet of Things and data sensors to improve the efficiency of data generation and mining, and promoting the flow of data resources and the realization of their value, it is possible to further enhance the modernization level of the industrial chain and supply chain. Therefore, strengthening the construction of digital infrastructure, vigorously developing digital foundational industries, and using digital industry clusters to boost breakthroughs in original digital technologies are the growth points for the high-quality development of digital industries and the digital economy. Industrial digitalization can enhance the integration effect of the digital economy and the real economy, thereby continuously stimulating the momentum for the upgrading of the industrial structure in the formation and development of new quality productive forces. On the one hand, it is necessary to promote traditional industries to implement industrial foundation reengineering projects based on their own development characteristics, use digital technology to promote the optimization of the industrial structure of the real economy, promote the innovative development of the industrial internet, and advance the digital, networked, and intelligent transformation of manufacturing. On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen the tackling of key problems in major technical equipment, focus on forming the multiplier effect of the integrated innovation and application of digital technology, and upgrade the structure, quality, and efficiency of the industrial system. Actively implementing the "enterprises going to the cloud" strategy, building digital industrial chains for R&D and design, production and manufacturing, operation and management, and market services, enhancing the traction of industrial digitalization, and creating industrial development momentum that meets the requirements of the development of new quality productive forces. In sum, the mutual complementarity and coordinated development of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization are conducive to forming a more complete industrial chain and industrial clusters, and to building the systematic and interconnected modern industrial system required for the formation and development of new quality productive forces. "New quality productive forces have the highest distribution share in strategic emerging industries, and from a long-term trend, this distribution share has a tendency to continue to rise." The development of digital new quality productive forces can further promote the clustering and expansion of emerging industries such as intelligent connected vehicles, artificial intelligence, and integrated circuits, and promote the layout and construction of future industries such as quantum information, satellite internet, and brain-inspired intelligence. IV. Conclusion. The proposal of new quality productive forces is based on a scientific grasp of the forward direction of the development of productive forces in the process of Chinese-path modernization, as well as the requirements of the times for promoting the iterative upgrading and qualitative transformation of productive forces. It reflects the Communist Party of China's innovation and development of Marx's thought on productive forces in the process of deepening the understanding of the laws of the development of productive forces. From the perspective of historical materialism, the process of the development of productive forces is the process in which people, through their own practical activities in labor and production, regulate the material transformation between humanity and nature. Among this, the laborer is the element that plays a leading role. Therefore, in the process of the formation and development of new quality productive forces, high-quality new quality laborers play a key leading role. It is necessary to rely on the construction of the talent chain to promote scientific and technological innovation, and, under the synergistic effect of "new medium" means of labor and "new material quality" objects of labor, promote the spiral upward and green development of productive forces. From the perspective of political economy, productive forces, as the manifestation of labor, reflect the efficiency of material production activities within a certain period of time. Since new quality productive forces manifest as the improvement of labor productivity, they can achieve greater value creation in the circulation of the national economy. In short, tracing and examining new quality productive forces from the theoretical logic constructed by Marx's thought on productive forces has important theoretical and practical significance for clarifying the connotative characteristics of new quality productive forces and systematically grasping the essential requirements of their formation and development.

（四）加快建设“数实”深度融合的现代化产业体系数字经济是新质生产力形成和发展的重要起因，也是其必然结果。通过数字技术对生产资料进行数字化重组与升级，能够推动形成创新性、融合性强，科技含量和应用效率高的优质生产力，尤其在产业数字化、数字产业化以及二者协同并进的发展过程中更能体现新质生产力的质态和质效要求。习近平在阐释新质生产力时强调：“要大力发展数字经济，促进数字经济和实体经济深度融合，打造具有国际竞争力的数字产业集群。”数字经济在推进产业体系数字化转型、生产力重构方面具有强大的引擎效应。因此，抓住数字经济发展机遇，以数字经济赋能实体经济，推进数字经济和实体经济深度融合，助力现代产业体系构建，才能为形成和发展新质生产力提供强有力的支点。数字产业化是数字经济和实体经济实现深度融合的产业链接。高端芯片、高端工业软件等尖端数字技术的开发应用无疑是新质生产力发展的重要突破口。一方面，通过聚焦数字产业集群建设加快推动技术自主创新和推广应用，构建专业化分工、产业间协同的多产业链融合机制，推动供应链管理智能化，促进工业互联网与消费互联网双向联通，才能优化资源配置，促进各类生产要素合理流动、互利共享，进而拓展实体经济的发展空间。另一方面，通过物联网、数据传感器等数字技术和设备着力提高数据生成与挖掘的效率，推动数据资源流动及价值实现，才能进一步提升产业链、供应链的现代化水平。因此，加强数字基础设施建设，大力发展数字基础产业，以数字产业集群助推原创性数字技术攻关，是数字产业和数字经济高质量发展的增长点所在。产业数字化能够增强数字经济和实体经济的融合效应，从而不断激发形成和发展新质生产力产业结构升级的动能。一方面，要推动传统产业基于自身发展特质实施产业基础再造工程，运用数字技术促进实体经济产业结构的优化，推动工业互联网创新发展，推进制造业的数字化、网络化、智能化转型。另一方面，要加强重大技术装备攻关，聚焦形成数字技术融合创新应用的乘数效应，升级产业体系的结构、质量和效率。积极实施“企业上云”战略，打造研发设计、生产制造、运营管理、市场服务的数字化产业链，提升产业数字化的牵引力，打造适应新质生产力发展要求的产业发展势能。概而言之，数字产业化和产业数字化的相互补充、协同发展有利于形成更为完善的产业链和产业集群，有利于构建形成和发展新质生产力所需的系统性、联动性的现代化产业体系。“新质生产力在战略性新兴产业中分布比重最高，从长远趋势看，分布比重有继续上升趋势。”而数字新质生产力的发展，能够进一步推进智能联网汽车、人工智能、集成电路等新兴产业的集群和壮大，并推动量子信息、卫星互联网、类脑智能等未来产业的布局和建设。四、结语新质生产力的提出是基于对中国式现代化进程中生产力发展的前进方向，以及推动生产力迭代升级和质性变革的时代要求的科学把握，体现了中国共产党在深化生产力发展规律认识的过程中对马克思生产力思想的创新和发展。从唯物史观视域来看，生产力发展的过程是人们在劳动生产中以自身的实践活动来调节人与自然之间物质变换的过程，其中，劳动者是起主导作用的要素。因此，在新质生产力形成和发展过程中，高素质的新质劳动者起着关键性的主导作用，必须依托人才链的建设来推动科技创新，并在“新介质”劳动资料和“新料质”劳动对象的协同作用下促进生产力实现螺旋式上升、绿色化发展。从政治经济学视域来看，生产力作为劳动的表现形式，反映着物质生产活动在一定时间内的效率。由于新质生产力表现为劳动生产力的提高，因此在国民经济循环中能够实现更大的价值创造。总之，从马克思生产力思想建构的理论逻辑对新质生产力进行溯源和考察，对于明晰新质生产力的内涵特征，系统把握其形成发展的本质要求，具有重要的理论和现实意义。

Source: Marxism and Reality, 2024, Issue 5

文章来源：《马克思主义与现实》2024年第5期

Online editor: Jing Mu

网络编辑：静穆