We Must Coordinate the Relationship Between an Effective Market and a Proactive Government, Forming an Economic Order That Is Both "Vibrant" and "Well-Regulated"

We must coordinate the relationship between an effective market and a proactive government, forming an economic order that is both "vibrant" and "well-regulated." Zhang Xu, Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Keywords: proactive government. The Central Economic Work Conference proposed that "we must coordinate the relationship between an effective market and a proactive government, forming an economic order that is both 'vibrant' and 'well-regulated,'" which further reflects the Party Central Committee's profound grasp of the laws of economics and provides guidance for correctly handling the relationship between government and market and for advancing the improvement of the socialist market economy system.

必须统筹好有效市场和有为政府的关系 形成既“放得活”又“管得住”的经济秩序张旭中国社会科学院经济研究所关键词：有为政府中央经济工作会议提出“必须统筹好有效市场和有为政府的关系，形成既‘放得活’又‘管得住’的经济秩序”，进一步体现了党中央对经济规律的深刻把握，为正确处理政府和市场的关系、推动完善社会主义市场经济体制提供了遵循。

Coordinating the relationship between an effective market and a proactive government is of great significance.

统筹好有效市场和有为政府的关系意义重大

Developing a socialist market economy is a great creation of our Party. Through decades of practice, China's socialist market economy system has continued to develop, and our Party's understanding of the relationship between government and market has also continued to deepen. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC proposed that upholding the reform direction of the socialist market economy has as its core issue the proper handling of the relationship between government and market, enabling the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation and better enabling the government to play its role.

发展社会主义市场经济是我们党的一个伟大创造。经过几十年实践，我国社会主义市场经济体制不断发展，我们党对政府和市场关系的认识也在不断深化。党的十八届三中全会提出，坚持社会主义市场经济改革方向，核心问题是处理好政府和市场的关系，使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用和更好发挥政府作用。

Enabling the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation and better enabling the government to play its role is both a major theoretical proposition and a major practical proposition. A key factor in the great success of China's economic development is that we have given play to both the strengths of the market economy and the superiority of the socialist system. We are developing a market economy under the premise of the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system, and at no time can we forget the qualifier "socialist." We must always uphold the reform direction of the socialist market economy, continue to work on the integration of the basic socialist system with the market economy, and give full play to the advantages of both aspects.

使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用、更好发挥政府作用，既是一个重大理论命题，又是一个重大实践命题。我国经济发展获得巨大成功的一个关键因素，就是我们既发挥了市场经济的长处，又发挥了社会主义制度的优越性。我们是在中国共产党领导和社会主义制度的大前提下发展市场经济，什么时候都不能忘了“社会主义”这个定语。必须始终坚持社会主义市场经济改革方向，继续在社会主义基本制度与市场经济的结合上下功夫，把两方面优势都发挥好。

Adhere to dialectics and the theory of two points.

坚持辩证法和两点论

Building a high-level socialist market economy system requires us to continuously deepen our understanding in practice of the economic work law of "coordinating the relationship between an effective market and a proactive government," continuously enhance the systemic, holistic, and coordinated nature of reform, strive to achieve the sustained and sound development of China's economy and society, and steadily advance Chinese-path modernization.

构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，要求我们不断在实践中深化对“统筹好有效市场和有为政府关系”这一经济工作规律的认识，不断增强改革的系统性、整体性、协同性，着力实现我国经济社会发展持续向好，稳步推进中国式现代化。

In developing a socialist market economy, it is necessary to give play to both the role of the market and the role of the government, but the functions of the market and the government are different. For the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation, it is necessary to unleash the vitality of market entities and allow the market to fully function under the law of value. Scientific macro-regulation and effective government governance are inherent requirements for giving play to the advantages of the socialist market economy system. To better enable the government to play its role, it is necessary to effectively transform government functions, deepen administrative system reform, innovate administrative management methods, improve the macro-regulation system, improve the macroeconomic governance system, strengthen supervision of market activities, strengthen and optimize public services, promote social fairness and justice and social stability, and promote common prosperity. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Governments at all levels must strictly exercise administration according to law, earnestly perform their duties, manage well and manage to the full extent the matters that should be managed, delegate fully and delegate to the full extent the powers that should be delegated, and resolutely overcome the phenomena of dislocation, offside, and absence of government functions." Therefore, on the issue of the relationship between the role of the market and the role of the government, we must adhere to dialectics and the theory of two points, make good use of both the "invisible hand" and the "visible hand," strive to form a pattern in which the role of the market and the role of the government are organically unified, mutually complementary, mutually coordinated, and mutually reinforcing, and promote the sustained and healthy development of the economy and society.

发展社会主义市场经济，既要发挥市场作用，也要发挥政府作用，但市场作用和政府作用的职能是不同的。市场在资源配置中起决定性作用，就要释放市场主体活力，让市场在价值规律下充分发挥作用。科学的宏观调控、有效的政府治理，是发挥社会主义市场经济体制优势的内在要求。更好发挥政府作用，就要切实转变政府职能，深化行政体制改革，创新行政管理方式，完善宏观调控制度体系，健全宏观经济治理体系，加强市场活动监管，加强和优化公共服务，促进社会公平正义和社会稳定，促进共同富裕。习近平总书记强调：“各级政府一定要严格依法行政，切实履行职责，该管的事一定要管好、管到位，该放的权一定要放足、放到位，坚决克服政府职能错位、越位、缺位现象。”因此，在市场作用和政府作用关系的问题上，要坚持辩证法、两点论，“看不见的手”和“看得见的手”都要用好，努力形成市场作用和政府作用有机统一、相互补充、相互协调、相互促进的格局，推动经济社会持续健康发展。

Achieve both "vibrant" and "well-regulated."

做到既“放得活”又“管得住”

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC made strategic arrangements for "building a high-level socialist market economy system" and proposed that "we must better enable the market mechanism to play its role, create a fairer and more dynamic market environment, achieve optimal efficiency and maximum benefit in resource allocation, be both 'vibrant' and 'well-regulated,' better maintain market order and remedy market failures, smooth the circulation of the national economy, and stimulate the endogenous driving forces and innovative vitality of the whole society."

党的二十届三中全会对“构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制”作出战略部署，提出“必须更好发挥市场机制作用，创造更加公平、更有活力的市场环境，实现资源配置效率最优化和效益最大化，既‘放得活’又‘管得住’，更好维护市场秩序、弥补市场失灵，畅通国民经济循环，激发全社会内生动力和创新活力”。

"Vibrant" means further deepening reform comprehensively, using reform to remove thresholds, break down barriers, and eliminate obstacles, continuously improving market rules and optimizing the market environment, stimulating market vitality by mobilizing the enthusiasm and creativity of microeconomic entities, and achieving optimal efficiency and maximum benefit in resource allocation. At present, China's market system is not yet sound, market development is not yet fully mature, and there are still problems such as insufficient market incentives, unsmooth factor flows, low efficiency in resource allocation, and weak microeconomic vitality, and there are still many institutional and mechanism obstacles to promoting high-quality development. This requires building a unified national market as soon as possible, promoting the unification of basic market system rules, the unification of fair market supervision, and the high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure. It is necessary to strengthen the foundational position of competition policy, strengthen the rigid constraints of fair competition review, and strengthen antitrust and anti-unfair competition efforts. It is necessary to improve the systems and rules for factor markets, promote the smooth flow of production factors, the efficient allocation of various resources, and the full release of market potential. It is necessary to improve the circulation system, improve the circulation rules and standards for integrated connectivity, and reduce the overall logistics costs of society. It is necessary to accelerate the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system, improve the mechanisms for stimulating the vitality of social capital investment and promoting the implementation of investment, and form an endogenous growth mechanism for effective investment led by the market. It is necessary to improve the property rights protection system with fairness as the core principle, protect the property rights of all forms of ownership equally and permanently in accordance with the law, and establish an efficient comprehensive management system for intellectual property rights.

“放得活”，就是要进一步全面深化改革，以改革消门槛、破壁垒、除阻碍，不断完善市场规则、优化市场环境，通过调动微观经济主体的积极性、创造性来激发市场活力，实现资源配置效率最优化和效益最大化。目前，我国市场体系还不健全、市场发育尚不充分，还存在市场激励不足、要素流动不畅、资源配置效率不高、微观经济活力不强等问题，推动高质量发展仍存在不少体制机制障碍。这就要求尽快构建全国统一大市场，推动市场基础制度规则统一、市场监管公平统一、市场设施高标准联通。强化竞争政策基础地位，加强公平竞争审查刚性约束、强化反垄断和反不正当竞争。完善要素市场制度和规则，推动生产要素畅通流动、各类资源高效配置、市场潜力充分释放。完善流通体制，健全一体衔接的流通规则和标准，降低全社会物流成本。加快培育完整内需体系，完善激发社会资本投资活力和促进投资落地机制，形成市场主导的有效投资内生增长机制。健全以公平为核心原则的产权保护制度，依法平等长久保护各种所有制经济产权，建立高效的知识产权综合管理体制。

The market is an automatic and spontaneous mechanism. If there is only "delegation" without "regulation," there will be market failures, market monopolies, and the economy will be either hot or cold, with violent fluctuations. "Well-regulated" means focusing on better enabling the government to play its role, better maintaining market order and remedying market failures, while also actively responding to external shocks, smoothing out economic fluctuations, and ensuring the stable operation and sustainable growth of the economy. In recent years, in response to people's expectations for a high-standard market system, China has introduced a number of supporting policies in areas such as property rights, market access, and credit, abolished, revised, and corrected a number of policy measures that hindered a unified market and fair competition, increased efforts to investigate and deal with acts of abusing administrative power to exclude and restrict competition, and achieved initial results in the construction of a unified national market. On the basis of respecting market laws, using reform to stimulate market vitality, using policies to guide market expectations, using planning to clarify investment directions, and using the rule of law to regulate market behavior, a proactive government can both effectively improve the market environment and promptly supervise market disorder, reflecting the institutional advantage of our system of concentrating efforts on major tasks.

市场是一种自动自发机制，如果只“放”不“管”，会出现市场失灵、市场垄断，经济或冷或热、剧烈波动。“管得住”，就是要围绕更好发挥政府作用，更好维护市场秩序、弥补市场失灵，同时积极应对外部冲击，熨平经济波动，保证经济平稳运行和可持续增长。近年来，顺应人们对高标准市场体系的期待，我国在完善产权、市场准入、信用等方面出台了一批配套政策，废止、修订和纠正了一批妨碍统一市场和公平竞争的政策措施，加大对滥用行政权力排除、限制竞争行为的查处力度，全国统一大市场建设取得初步成效。在尊重市场规律的基础上，用改革激发市场活力，用政策引导市场预期，用规划明确投资方向，用法治规范市场行为，有为政府既能有效改善市场环境，又能及时监管市场失序，体现了我们集中力量办大事的制度优势。

"Well-regulated" means, on the basis of respecting market laws, creating a sound development environment, providing high-quality public services, maintaining social fairness and justice, and managing well those matters that the market cannot manage or cannot manage well. It is necessary to improve the macroeconomic governance system, improve the national strategic planning system and the mechanism for policy coordination, deepen fiscal, tax, and financial system reform, and enhance the consistency of macro-policy orientations, so as to achieve scientific macro-regulation and effective government governance.

“管得住”，要在尊重市场规律的基础上，创造良好发展环境、提供优质公共服务、维护社会公平正义，管好那些市场管不了或管不好的事情。要健全宏观经济治理体系，完善国家战略规划体系和政策统筹协调机制，深化财税、金融体制改革等，增强宏观政策取向一致性，实现科学的宏观调控、有效的政府治理。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗