Advancing Marxist Political Economy to a New Realm

*Xi Jinping: Selected Economic Works*, Volume I, is the authoritative text of Xi Jinping’s economic thought and a landmark achievement of Marxist political economy in the latest period. Xi Jinping’s economic thought inherits the philosophical methodology and fundamental stance of Marxist political economy, takes its stand on a new historical juncture, and advances Marxist political economy to a new realm of the times.

《习近平经济文选》第一卷是习近平经济思想的权威文本，更是马克思主义政治经济学的最新成果和里程碑。习近平经济思想继承了马克思主义政治经济学的哲学方法论和根本立场，立足新的历史方位，将马克思主义政治经济学推向了时代的新境界。

Tracing the origins: the stance, method and basic principles of Marxist political economy

溯源：马克思主义政治经济学的立场、方法和基本原理

Classical political economy is the starting point of modern economics. It attempts to expound the basic laws of social wealth production on the basis of the labor theory of value and market mechanisms. Classical political economy provides an objective perspective for the analysis of wealth and therefore possesses a certain social-materialist coloring, yet it lacks a reflection on the historical preconditions of the capitalist mode of production from which it emerged, and thus falls into the predicament of individualism and empiricism. The study of political economy and the creation and development of Marx and Engels’ new philosophical world outlook mutually promoted each other. The study and critique of classical political economy enabled the young Marx and Engels to recognize the foundational role that objective material productive forces play in history, and decisively propelled the creation of the new philosophical world outlook of historical materialism. And once they had created the new philosophical world outlook of historical materialism, Marx and Engels were able to thoroughly break through the ideological character of classical political economy and the fetishistic shell of its economic categories, thereby completing a “revolution in terminology” [1]1 The “Two Unswervinglys” (两个毫不动摇) refer to the Party’s policy of unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector of the economy. in economics. They examined and scrutinized political-economic issues from the perspective of people’s social-historical relations rather than from natural relations among things, and unified the study of political economy with the liberation of the proletariat and all humanity. Historical materialism is the philosophical-methodological foundation of Marxist political economy.

古典政治经济学是现代经济学的起点，它试图立足于劳动价值论和市场机制来阐述社会财富生产的基本规律。古典政治经济学提供了财富分析的客观性视角，因而具有一定的社会唯物主义色彩，但是它对于得以产生的资本主义生产方式缺少历史前提的反思，而陷入个人主义、经验主义的困境之中。政治经济学研究与马克思恩格斯的新哲学世界观的创立发展相互促进。对古典政治经济学的研究和批判，促使青年马克思和恩格斯认识到客观的物质生产力量在历史中所具有的基础性作用，决定性地推动了历史唯物主义新哲学世界观的创立。而在创立了历史唯物主义新哲学世界观之后，马克思和恩格斯便拥有了彻底突破古典政治经济学的意识形态特征和政治经济学范畴的拜物教外壳的可能，从而完成了经济学的“术语的革命”。从人的社会历史关系，而非自然的物的关系考察审视政治经济学问题，将政治经济学研究与无产阶级和全人类的解放统一在一起。历史唯物主义是马克思主义政治经济学哲学方法论的根基。

Through the critique of political economy, Marx profoundly revealed the capitalist mode of production and the laws of operation of the modern economy, providing the basic principles of Marxist political economy. Engels gave the most concise summary of these principles. He held that political economy, in the broad sense, is “the science of the conditions and forms under which the various human societies have produced and exchanged and have accordingly distributed their products.” [2] At the same time, Engels also pointed out that such a broad political economy “still remains to be created.” [3] For in the era in which Marx and Engels lived, the economic science they mastered “was limited to the genesis and development of the capitalist mode of production.” [4] In the course of the creation and development of Marxism and the transition of scientific socialism from theory to practice, the laws of operation of the modern economy revealed by Marx’s critique of political economy, together with Engels’ “political economy in the broad sense,” became major subjects that socialist construction needed to continuously enrich and develop in practice. In the New Era, the latest theoretical achievement on this subject is Xi Jinping’s economic thought.

通过政治经济学批判，马克思深刻揭示了资本主义生产方式和现代经济运行规律，提供了马克思主义政治经济学的基本原理。恩格斯对这一原理进行了最为精练的概括，他认为，政治经济学从广义上来说，是“一门研究人类各种社会进行生产和交换并相应地进行产品分配的条件和形式的科学”。与此同时，恩格斯也提出，这样一门广义的政治经济学“尚待创造”。因为在马克思和恩格斯所处的时代，他们掌握的经济科学“只限于资本主义生产方式的产生和发展”。在马克思主义创立和发展、科学社会主义从理论到实践的过程中，马克思政治经济学批判所揭示的现代经济运行规律，以及恩格斯提出的“广义的政治经济学”，成为社会主义建设需要在实践中不断丰富和发展的重大课题。在新时代，这一课题的最新理论成果就是习近平经济思想。

Upholding the fundamentals: Xi Jinping’s economic thought as an inheritance of Marxist political economy

守正：习近平经济思想对马克思主义政治经济学的继承

Xi Jinping’s economic thought is a valuable achievement of the political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It inherits the fundamental stance, philosophical methodology, basic viewpoints and world perspective of Marxist political economy.

习近平经济思想是中国特色社会主义政治经济学的宝贵成果，它继承了马克思主义政治经济学的根本立场、哲学方法论、基本观点和世界视野。

Xi Jinping’s economic thought inherits the people-centered fundamental stance of Marxist political economy. The direct object of study of Marxist political economy is the laws of social production and exchange of things, but its starting point and goal have always been people themselves, the liberation of the proletariat and humanity. This is determined by the methodology of historical materialism itself. The people are the subjects of all economic activity and likewise the purpose of all economic activity. “Development for the people – this is the fundamental stance of Marxist political economy.” [5] Xi Jinping’s economic thought adheres to and implements the people’s stance. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee [6] put forward the development thinking of people-centered development, taking enhancing the people’s well-being, promoting people’s all-round development, and steadily advancing toward common prosperity as the starting point and ultimate goal of economic development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes: “On this point, we must never forget it at any time; when deploying economic work, formulating economic policies, and promoting economic development, we must firmly adhere to this fundamental stance.” [7]

习近平经济思想继承了马克思主义政治经济学以人民为中心的根本立场。马克思主义政治经济学研究的直接对象是社会生产和交换这些物的规律，但其出发点和目标自始至终都是人本身，是无产阶级和人类的解放。这是由历史唯物主义的方法论本身决定的。人民是一切经济活动的主体，同样也是一切经济活动的目的。“发展为了人民，这是马克思主义政治经济学的根本立场。” 习近平经济思想坚持、贯彻了人民的立场，党的十八届五中全会提出了坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，把增进人民福祉、促进人的全面发展、朝着共同富裕方向稳步前进作为经济发展的出发点和落脚点。习近平总书记强调：“这一点，我们任何时候都不能忘记，部署经济工作、制定经济政策、推动经济发展都要牢牢坚持这个根本立场。”

Xi Jinping’s economic thought inherits the methodology of Marxist political economy. Marxist political economy always treats economic categories as forms of expression of a specific society, and from this starting point returns to the foundation of social history to examine the value and limitations of different economic theories. Xi Jinping’s economic thought always attaches importance to thinking about economic issues from a socio-political perspective. When confronting Western economics, we should pay attention to drawing on those aspects that reflect the general laws of large-scale socialized production and the market economy; at the same time, “we must discard the dross and select the essential, discard the false and retain the true, insist on taking ourselves as the mainstay and using it for our own purposes, and must not copy or mechanically apply those contents that reflect the attributes of the capitalist system and its values, or those contents that have a Western ideological coloring. Although economics studies economic issues, it cannot detach itself from society and politics and be purely pure.” [8] Inheriting the methodology of Marxist political economy and using the method of social-historical contradiction analysis provided by historical materialism to analyze and guide China’s economic construction, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made major strategic judgments such as the change

习近平经济思想继承了马克思主义政治经济学的方法论。马克思主义政治经济学始终将经济范畴作为特定社会的表现形式，由此出发，回到社会历史的基础之上审视不同经济学说的价值和局限。习近平经济思想始终重视从社会政治的角度思考经济学问题。在面对西方经济学时，对于其中反映社会化大生产和市场经济一般规律的一面，我们要注意借鉴，同时，“我们要坚持去粗取精、去伪存真，坚持以我为主、为我所用，对其中反映资本主义制度属性、价值观念的内容，对其中具有西方意识形态色彩的内容，不能照抄照搬。经济学虽然是研究经济问题，但不可能脱离社会政治，纯而又纯”。继承马克思主义政治经济学的方法论，以历史唯物主义提供的社会历史矛盾分析法分析和指导中国经济建设，习近平总书记作出了中国社会主要矛盾变化、中国经济已经步入高质量发展阶段等重大战略判断，确定了中国经济建设发展的历史坐标。

Xi Jinping’s economic thought inherits the basic view of Marxist political economy that a proletarian revolutionary party must exercise centralized and unified leadership over economic work. A proletarian revolutionary party armed with scientific theory is an active force in carrying out social revolution and promoting historical progress. Marxist political economy has always emphasized the “political” dimension of “political economy.” In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx and Engels put forward specific economic measures for communists to transform ownership and relations of production; the core spirit of these measures is the centralized and unified leadership of the proletarian revolutionary party over economic work, so that economic activity serves the people. Xi Jinping’s economic thought profoundly inherits this basic view. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “The centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is the fundamental guarantee for doing a good job in economic work.” Party leadership is the lifeblood of upholding and improving the basic socialist economic system, and it is also the fundamental guarantee of the institutional advantages and reform direction of the socialist market economy.

习近平经济思想继承了马克思主义政治经济学关于无产阶级革命政党要集中统一领导经济工作的基本观点。用科学理论武装的无产阶级革命政党，是进行社会革命、推动历史进步的主动力量。马克思主义政治经济学始终强调“政治经济学”的“政治”维度。马克思和恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中提出了共产党人改造所有权和生产关系的具体经济措施，这些措施的核心精神便是无产阶级革命政党对经济工作的集中统一领导，使经济活动服务于人民。习近平经济思想深刻继承了这一基本观点。习近平总书记指出，“党中央集中统一领导是做好经济工作的根本保证”。党的领导是坚持和完善社会主义基本经济制度的命脉，也是社会主义市场经济的制度优势和改革方向的根本保证。

Xi Jinping’s economic thought inherits the world vision of Marxist political economy. In *The German Ideology*, Marx and Engels recognized that the modern mode of production and mode of intercourse drive the history of each nation toward world history. In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx and Engels gave a classic description of the globalization process of capitalism. Viewing the economic development of a country or a nation from the perspective of world connections, rather than examining it in isolation, is one of the fundamental characteristics of Marxist political economy. “Maintaining a global vision” is an inherent requirement of Marxist political economy. Facing the new situation in the world, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made the strategic judgment that “the world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century.” Based on the New Era, promoting high-level opening up, and proposing the construction of a new development pattern with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other—all this reflects the world vision of Xi

习近平经济思想继承了马克思主义政治经济学的世界视野。马克思和恩格斯在《德意志意识形态》中认识到，现代的生产方式和交往方式推动了各民族的历史走向世界历史。在《共产党宣言》中，马克思和恩格斯对资本主义的全球化进程作出了经典描述。从世界联系之中来看待一国、一个民族的经济发展，而非孤立地进行考察，是马克思主义政治经济学的根本特征之一。“坚持胸怀天下”是马克思主义政治经济学的应有之义。面对世界的新形势，习近平总书记作出了“当今世界正处于百年未有之大变局”的战略判断，立足新时代，推进高水平对外开放，提出构建以国内大循环为主体、国内国际双循环相互促进的新发展格局，这都体现了习近平经济思想的世界视野。

Innovation: Xi Jinping's economic thought enriches and develops Marxist political economy

创新：习近平经济思想对马克思主义政治经济学的丰富发展

Today, nearly 160 years have passed since the publication of Volume I of Marx's *Capital*, and contemporary China has undergone earth-shaking changes

今天距离马克思《资本论》第一卷发表已经接近160年，当代中国已经发生了翻天覆地的变化。习近平经济思想产生于中华民族伟大复兴战略全局和世界百年未有之大变局的历史形势之中，对马克思主义政治经济学作出了一系列深刻的创新。

It has made a scientific judgment on the economic situation of the world and China. Only by observing the trends of the world can one plan for the benefit

对世界和中国的经济形势作出了科学判断。能观天下之势，方能谋万世之利。习近平经济思想以洞穿历史的思想纵深，准确把握了当今世界正处于百年未有之大变局与“东升西降”的走势，指出了新自由主义的全球化造成的一系列弊端，揭示了当今世界存在的和平赤字、发展赤字、信任赤字和治理赤字。同时，中国经济已由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段。

Putting forward the new development philosophy and promoting the establishment of a new pattern of development. Since the beginning of the New Era, as China’s economic development has entered a new normal, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized a new development philosophy of innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing. This has provided guiding principles for China’s economic development and led a profound transformation in the overall situation of China’s development. High-quality development is an inevitable requirement under the new normal, stressing the quality and efficiency of economic development and the people’s sense of gain.

提出新发展理念，推动构建新发展格局。新时代以来，面对中国经济发展进入新常态的发展格局，习近平总书记强调创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享的新发展理念，为我国经济发展提供了指导原则，引领了我国发展全局的深刻变革。高质量发展是新常态下的必然要求，强调经济发展的质量、效益和人民的获得感。

Upholding and improving the basic socialist economic system. The basic socialist economic system is an important component of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the institutional foundation of China’s economic development. Upholding and improving the basic socialist economic system is an important innovative element of Xi Jinping’s economic thought. In the New Era, we adhere to the “Two Unswervinglys” [1]1 The “Two Unswervinglys” (两个毫不动摇) refer to the Party’s policy of unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector of the economy., uphold distribution according to work as the mainstay while allowing coexistence of multiple modes of distribution, treat the role of market mechanisms in resource allocation scientifically, deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises through a series of measures, encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy, and stimulate the vitality of all types of market entities. We improve the mechanism of distribution according to work, promote more reasonable and orderly income distribution, improve the redistribution adjustment mechanism, and advance common prosperity. These measures have consolidated the basic socialist economic system and provided a Chinese solution for global institutional innovation in the economy.

坚持和完善社会主义基本经济制度。社会主义基本经济制度是中国特色社会主义制度的重要组成部分，是我国经济发展的制度基础。坚持和完善社会主义基本经济制度是习近平经济思想的重要创新内容。新时代，我们坚持“两个毫不动摇”，坚持按劳分配为主体、多种分配方式并存，科学对待市场机制在资源配置中的作用，通过一系列举措深化国有企业改革，鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展，激发各类市场主体的活力。完善按劳分配机制，促进收入分配更合理、更有序，健全再分配调节机制，推动共同富裕。这些举措巩固了社会主义基本经济制度，为全球提供了经济制度创新的中国方案。

Deepening the understanding of the characteristics and laws of the operation of capital. Understanding and grasping the characteristics and behavioral laws of capital is a core topic of Marxist political economy. Regulating and guiding capital under the conditions of the socialist market economy is a major economic, political, practical, and theoretical issue. With the financialization of world capitalism and the deepening of China’s economic opening to the outside world, how to understand and manage new forms of capital, especially financial issues, has become crucial. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly pointed out that finance is the core of the modern economy and an important core competitiveness of the country, and that we must unswervingly follow the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics and promote the high-quality development of China’s finance. Xi Jinping’s economic thought profoundly reveals the nature and laws of finance.

深化了对资本特性和运行规律的认识。认识和把握资本的特性和行为规律，是马克思主义政治经济学的核心议题。在社会主义市场经济条件下规范和引导资本，是重大的经济问题、政治问题、实践问题和理论问题。随着世界资本主义的金融化转型和我国经济的对外开放不断深入，如何认识和驾驭资本的新形态，特别是金融问题，就成为关键。习近平总书记多次指出，金融是现代经济的核心，是国家重要的核心竞争力，要坚定不移走中国特色金融发展之路，推动我国金融高质量发展。习近平经济思想深刻揭示了金融本质和规律。

(The author is Vice Dean and Professor of the School of Marxism at Nanjing University.)

（作者系南京大学马克思主义学院副院长、教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心