High-Quality Development Is a Major Innovation in the Category of Marxist Political Economy

High-quality development is the hard truth of the New Era, the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects, and an important concept with originality and distinctiveness in Xi Jinping’s economic thought. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions on high-quality development, emphasizing that “high-quality development is the theme of China’s economic and social development for the 14th Five-Year Plan period and even longer, and it concerns the overall situation of China’s socialist modernization” and that “promoting high-quality development is the fundamental requirement for determining our development thinking, formulating economic policies, and implementing macroeconomic regulation in the current and future period.” These provide scientific guidance and fundamental principles for transforming China’s economic development model and make original contributions to enriching and developing Marxist political economy. A profound understanding of the originality and scientific nature of this important category of high-quality development is of great significance for adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping’s economic thought and continuously opening up new prospects and reaching new heights in China’s high-quality development.

高质量发展是新时代的硬道理，是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务，也是习近平经济思想中具有原创性、标识性的重要概念。习近平总书记围绕高质量发展作出了一系列重要论述，强调“高质量发展是‘十四五’乃至更长时期我国经济社会发展的主题，关系我国社会主义现代化建设全局”“推动高质量发展是我们当前和今后一个时期确定发展思路、制定经济政策、实施宏观调控的根本要求”等，为推动我国经济发展方式变革提供了科学指引和根本遵循，为丰富和发展马克思主义政治经济学作出了原创性贡献。深刻理解高质量发展这一重要范畴的原创性和科学性，对于坚持以习近平经济思想为指引，推动我国高质量发展不断开创新局面、迈上新台阶，具有重要意义。

Scientifically Revealing the Essential Characteristics of the New Stage of China’s Economic Development, Enriching and Developing Marxist Political Economy’s Theory on Stages of Economic Development

科学揭示我国经济发展新阶段的本质特征，丰富发展了马克思主义政治经济学关于经济发展阶段的理论

Marxism is the guiding ideology of our Party and the “soul vein” [1]1 “Soul vein” (魂脉) is a term used in CPC discourse to denote the fundamental theoretical foundation that animates all other innovations, analogous to the “soul” of the Party’s theoretical system. for advancing theoretical, practical, and institutional innovation. Adhering to the guidance of the Marxist worldview and methodology, making a scientific judgment on the stage of China’s economic development, and thereby providing a fundamental basis for clarifying the central tasks of each stage and formulating lines, principles, and policies—this is an important experience of our Party in successfully promoting reform and development.

马克思主义是我们党的指导思想，是我们推进理论创新、实践创新、制度创新的“魂脉”。坚持以马克思主义世界观和方法论为指导，对我国经济发展阶段作出科学判断，从而为明确阶段性中心任务、制定路线方针政策提供根本依据，是我们党推动改革发展不断取得成功的重要经验。

Guided by dialectical materialism and historical materialism, Marxist political economy has conducted theoretical analysis of the stages of capitalist economic development and the transition from capitalism to communism. In *Capital*, Marx divided the stages of capitalist economic development at multiple levels and from multiple dimensions. For example, he understood the establishment of the capitalist mode of production and its dominance in overall social production as the sign of the final formation and consolidation of the capitalist economic system, and divided capitalism into two major stages of development: commercial capitalism and industrial capitalism, further dividing industrial capitalism into the stages of manufacture and large-scale industry. Another example: he regarded joint-stock capital as “social capital” distinct from private capital, and joint-stock companies as “social enterprises” distinct from private enterprises, pointing out that “this is the abolition of the capitalist mode of production within the capitalist mode of production itself.” [2]2 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 3, Chapter 27. The phrase refers to the transformation of private capital into social capital via joint-stock companies, which Marx saw as a transitional form within capitalism. In the *Critique of the Gotha Programme*, Marx divided the stages after the proletariat seizes political power into the “revolutionary transformation period” of capitalist society into communist society, i.e., the “transition period,” the “first phase of communist society,” and the “higher phase of communist society.” Marx’s theoretical analysis of the stages of economic and social development in capitalism and communism provides important insights for our profound understanding of the stage-based nature and laws of socialist economic development.

马克思主义政治经济学以辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义为指导，对资本主义经济发展阶段以及资本主义向共产主义发展的问题进行了理论分析。在《资本论》中，马克思对资本主义经济发展阶段进行了多层次、多维度划分。比如，把资本主义生产方式的建立及其在整个社会生产中占据统治地位理解为资本主义经济制度最终形成和确立的标志，并把资本主义划分为商业资本主义和工业资本主义两个大的发展阶段，把工业资本主义划分为工场手工业和大工业两个发展阶段。又如，认为股份资本是不同于私人资本的“社会资本”，股份公司是不同于私人企业的“社会的企业”，并指出“这是资本主义生产方式在资本主义生产方式本身范围内的扬弃”。在《哥达纲领批判》中，马克思把无产阶级夺取政权之后的发展阶段划分为资本主义社会转变为共产主义社会的“革命转变时期”即“过渡时期”、“共产主义社会第一阶段”和“共产主义社会高级阶段”等阶段。马克思关于资本主义和共产主义经济社会发展阶段的理论分析，对于我们深刻认识社会主义经济发展的阶段性和规律性具有重要启示。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the scientific understanding and theoretical generalization of the stage of China’s economic development, putting forward a series of major judgments in step with the times. For example, in 2012, he proposed that “taking the strategic adjustment of the economic structure as the main direction to accelerate the transformation of the economic development model is an important task for China’s economic development in the current and future period”; in 2013, he proposed that “China’s economy is in a period of overlapping of the growth rate shift period, the structural adjustment pain period, and the digestion period of earlier stimulus policies,” emphasizing that “we must accurately understand the stage-specific characteristics of China’s economic development”; in 2014, he proposed that “China’s economic development has entered a New Normal,” emphasizing that “understanding, adapting to, and leading the New Normal is the major logic for China’s economic development in the current and future period”; in 2017, he proposed that “China’s economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development”; in 2021, he proposed that “after building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving the First Centenary Goal, we must seize the opportunity to embark on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects and marching toward the Second Centenary Goal, which marks China’s entry into a new stage of development,” and that we must “take promoting high-quality development as the theme”; and so on. It can be seen that whether it is the “three periods overlapping” or the “New Normal of economic development,” the ultimate focus is on high-quality development. Precisely because of this, high-quality development has become the theoretical crystallization formed by General Secretary Xi Jinping’s scientific summary of the new stage of China’s economic development and its essential characteristics. It has laid a solid theoretical foundation for our Party to formulate new reform and development strategies and policies, and has also provided important theoretical support for the formation and development of Xi Jinping’s economic thought. Based on an accurate judgment of the historical position and development stage of China’s economy, combined with forward-looking scientific research on major changes in the external environment for China’s development, General Secretary Xi Jinping has successively put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, such as building a modern economic system, accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, and developing new quality productive forces, guiding and promoting China’s economy onto a path of development that is higher quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable, and safer.

党的十八大以来，习近平总书记高度重视对我国经济所处发展阶段的科学认识和理论概括，与时俱进提出一系列重大判断。比如，2012年提出“以经济结构战略性调整为主攻方向加快转变经济发展方式，是当前和今后一个时期我国经济发展的重要任务”；2013年提出“我国经济正处于增长速度换挡期、结构调整阵痛期、前期刺激政策消化期叠加的阶段”，强调“要准确认识我国经济发展阶段性特征”；2014年提出“我国经济发展进入新常态”，强调“认识新常态，适应新常态，引领新常态，是当前和今后一个时期我国经济发展的大逻辑”；2017年提出“我国经济已由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段”；2021年提出“全面建成小康社会、实现第一个百年奋斗目标之后，我们要乘势而上开启全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程、向第二个百年奋斗目标进军，这标志着我国进入了一个新发展阶段”，要“以推动高质量发展为主题”；等等。可以看出，无论是“三期叠加”还是“经济发展新常态”，最后的落脚点都是高质量发展。正因如此，高质量发展成为习近平总书记对我国经济发展新阶段及其本质特征进行科学总结而形成的理论结晶，为我们党制定新的改革发展战略与政策奠定了坚实理论基础，也为习近平经济思想的形成和发展提供了重要思想理论支撑。依据对我国经济所处历史方位和发展阶段的准确判断，并结合我国发展所处外部环境重大变化的前瞻性科学研判，习近平总书记相继提出了建设现代化经济体系、加快构建新发展格局、发展新质生产力等一系列新理念新思想新战略，引领和推动我国经济迈上更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续、更为安全的发展之路。

General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on high-quality development adhere to the methodological essence of Marxist political economy’s thought on stages of economic development, namely, the basic laws of dialectical materialism such as the law of unity of opposites, the law of quantitative and qualitative change, and the law of negation of negation, as well as the basic principles of historical materialism such as productive forces determining relations of production and the economic base determining the superstructure. At the same time, they enrich and develop the measurement standards and theoretical connotations of Marxist political economy’s thought on stages of economic development, that is, they carry out a completely new theoretical division of China’s economic development stages from the perspective of the dialectical relationship between economic development speed and quality, innovating the theoretical understanding of stages of economic development.

习近平总书记关于高质量发展的重要论述，坚持马克思主义政治经济学关于经济发展阶段思想的方法论精髓，即对立统一规律、量变质变规律、否定之否定规律等辩证唯物主义基本规律，以及生产力决定生产关系、经济基础决定上层建筑等历史唯物主义基本原理；同时，丰富发展了马克思主义政治经济学关于经济发展阶段思想的衡量标准和理论内涵，即从经济发展速度以及质量辩证关系的角度对我国经济发展阶段进行全新的理论划分，创新了关于经济发展阶段的理论认知。

Profoundly Elucidating the Scientific Connotation of High-Quality Development, Enriching and Developing Marxist Political Economy’s Thought on the Quality of Economic Development

深刻阐明高质量发展的科学内涵，丰富发展了马克思主义政治经济学关于经济发展质量的思想

Although Marxist political economy does not directly use the term “quality of economic development,” its many works contain rich thought on the quality of economic development. For example, Marxism holds that productive forces determine relations of production, and relations of production react upon productive forces; when relations of production adapt to the development of productive forces, they promote the development of productive forces and the improvement of economic quality, and conversely, they hinder the sustained development of productive forces and the economy. Another example: the labor theory of value in Marxism highlights the core role of labor in creating value, emphasizing that high-quality economic development must fully mobilize the initiative and creativity of workers, continuously improve labor productivity, and enable labor to be more effectively transformed into commodity value and social wealth. Yet another example: Marxism holds that capitalist economic development has profound contradictions that it cannot overcome on its own; with the accumulation of capital and the increase in the organic composition of capital, the economic and social contradictions of capitalism will inevitably deepen and develop, leading to periodic economic crises; the outbreak of economic crises is a concentrated manifestation of a serious decline in the quality of economic development. These rich thoughts contained in Marxist political economy provide important guidance and inspiration for our scientific understanding of the issue of economic development quality under the conditions of the socialist market economy.

马克思主义政治经济学虽然没有直接使用“经济发展质量”这一术语，但在其诸多著作中蕴含着丰富的关于经济发展质量的思想。例如，马克思主义认为，生产力决定生产关系，生产关系反作用于生产力，当生产关系适应生产力发展时，会促进生产力的发展和经济质量的提升，反之则会阻碍生产力和经济的持续发展；再如，马克思主义中的劳动价值理论突出了劳动在创造价值中的核心作用，强调高质量的经济发展必须充分发挥劳动者的积极性、创造性，不断提高劳动生产率，使劳动能够更有效地转化为商品价值和社会财富；又如，马克思主义认为，资本主义经济发展存在自身无法克服的深刻矛盾，随着资本积累和资本有机构成的提高，资本主义经济社会矛盾必将不断深化和发展，从而产生周期性的经济危机，经济危机的爆发是经济发展质量严重下降的集中体现；等等。马克思主义政治经济学所蕴含的这些丰富思想，对我们科学认识社会主义市场经济条件下的经济发展质量问题具有重要指导和启发意义。

After decades of reform and opening up and rapid development, China’s economic aggregate has continuously expanded, the quality of development has steadily improved, and both comprehensive national strength and the people’s living standards have risen substantially, securing its position as the world’s second-largest economy. At the same time, the pressures on resources and the environment, as well as the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development, have become increasingly severe. General Secretary Xi Jinping

经过几十年改革开放和快速发展，我国经济总量不断扩大、发展质量持续提升，综合国力和人民生活水平大幅提高，已经稳居世界第二大经济体。与此同时，我国面临的资源和环境压力、发展不平衡不充分问题日益严峻。习近平总书记对于我国经济发展面临的新的时代课题作出深刻分析和清醒判断。早在2013年，习近平总书记就指出：“要改进考核方法手段，既看发展又看基础，既看显绩又看潜绩，把民生改善、社会进步、生态效益等指标和实绩作为重要考核内容，再也不能简单以国内生产总值增长率来论英雄了。”2014年，习近平总书记进一步指出：“如果看不到甚至不愿承认新变化、新情况、新问题，仍然想着过去的粗放型高速发展，习惯于铺摊子、上项目，就跟不上形势了。用老的办法，即使暂时把速度抬上去了也不会持久，相反会使发展中的矛盾和问题进一步积累、激化，最后是总爆发。”2017年，习近平总书记在党的十九大报告中作出“我国经济已由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段”重大判断，在当年中央经济工作会议上进一步阐明高质量发展的科学内涵，指出：“高质量发展，就是能够很好满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的发展，是体现新发展理念的发展，是创新成为第一动力、协调成为内生特点、绿色成为普遍形态、开放成为必由之路、共享成为根本目的的发展。”

General Secretary Xi Jinping not only pioneered the economic category of high-quality development, taking “being able to well meet the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life” and “embodying the new development philosophy” as the core criteria for measuring high-quality development, profoundly reflecting the fundamental purpose and value orientation of socialist production; but also innovatively developed the theoretical understanding of Marxist political economy regarding the quality of economic development and its measurement criteria, breaking through the limitations of the national economic accounting and evaluation system centered on gross domestic product, achieving a profound revolution in the theoretical understanding of the quality of economic development, and opening up a new realm of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics. In this sense, the series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping around promoting China’s economic development are all planned and laid out with achieving high-quality development as the core and main thread. Precisely because of this, high-quality development occupies a very important position in Xi Jinping’s economic thought, serving as a crucial hub and clue for deeply understanding and systematically grasping the internal logic and spiritual essence of Xi Jinping’s economic thought.

习近平总书记不仅首创性地提出了高质量发展这一经济范畴，把“能够很好满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要”和“体现新发展理念”作为高质量发展的核心衡量标准，深刻反映了社会主义生产的根本目的和价值取向；而且创新发展了马克思主义政治经济学关于经济发展质量及其衡量标准的理论认知，突破了以国内生产总值为核心的国民经济核算和评价体系的局限性，实现了关于经济发展质量理论认识的一场深刻革命，开拓了中国特色社会主义政治经济学新境界。从这个意义上来说，习近平总书记围绕推动我国经济发展提出的一系列新理念新思想新战略，都是以实现高质量发展为核心和主线来谋篇布局的。正因如此，高质量发展在习近平经济思想中占有十分重要的地位，是深刻理解和系统把握习近平经济思想内在逻辑和精神实质的重要枢纽和线索。

Systematically elucidating the practical path to achieving high-quality development enriches and develops the Marxist political economy thought on modes of economic development.

系统阐明实现高质量发展的实践路径，丰富发展了马克思主义政治经济学关于经济发展方式的思想

Currently, China’s economy is in a critical period of transforming the development mode, optimizing the economic structure, and switching growth drivers, and is promoting changes in the quality, efficiency, and drivers of economic development. This fully demonstrates that transforming the economic development mode and promoting high-quality development are the same process. In a certain sense, the result of successfully transforming the development mode is the realization of high-quality development.

当前，我国经济正处在转变发展方式、优化经济结构、转换增长动力的攻关期，正在推动经济发展质量变革、效率变革、动力变革。这充分表明，转变经济发展方式与推动高质量发展是同一的过程。从一定意义上说，成功转变发展方式的结果就是实现了高质量发展。

Marxist political economy profoundly expounds the basic principles regarding the transformation of the economic development mode, providing theoretical guidance for our scientific understanding of the practical path to achieving high-quality development under the conditions of a socialist market economy. In *Capital*, Marx profoundly elucidates that capital accumulation and the expanded reproduction of total social capital are the foundation of capitalist economic development, and expanded reproduction is further divided into extensive expanded reproduction and intensive expanded reproduction. The economic development mode manifests as two types: extensive economic growth and intensive economic growth. Intensive expanded reproduction and intensive economic growth take the continuous improvement of labor productivity and the organic composition of capital as prerequisites and means. At the same time, it also profoundly elucidates that the fundamental nature of the capitalist mode of production determines that, regardless of the method adopted for capitalist economic development, it cannot avoid the inherent law of the periodic outbreak of economic crises.

马克思主义政治经济学深刻阐述了关于转变经济发展方式的基本原理，为我们科学认识社会主义市场经济条件下实现高质量发展的实践路径提供了理论指导。在《资本论》中，马克思深刻阐明，资本积累和社会总资本的扩大再生产是资本主义经济发展的基础，扩大再生产又分为外延的扩大再生产和内涵的扩大再生产，经济发展方式表现为粗放型经济增长和集约型经济增长两种类型，内涵的扩大再生产和集约型经济增长以劳动生产率和资本有机构成的不断提高为前提和手段；同时，还深刻阐明了资本主义生产方式的根本性质决定了资本主义经济发展无论采取什么方式，都无法避免经济危机周期性爆发的内在规律。

Proceeding from the basic principles of Marxist political economy on transforming the economic development mode, General Secretary Xi Jinping comprehensively expounds the practical path and requirements for transforming the economic development mode and achieving high-quality development under the conditions of China’s socialist market economy. At the 2017 Central Economic Work Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “From the supply side, high-quality development should achieve a relatively complete industrial system, networked and intelligent production organization methods, strong innovation, demand-capturing ability, brand influence, and core competitiveness, and high product and service quality. From the demand side, high-quality development should continuously meet the personalized, diversified, and constantly upgrading needs of the people. This demand in turn leads to changes in the supply system and structure, and supply changes continuously give rise to new demand. From the input-output perspective, high-quality development should continuously improve labor efficiency, capital efficiency, land efficiency, resource efficiency, and environmental efficiency, continuously increase the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress, and continuously improve total factor productivity. From the distribution perspective, high-quality development should achieve returns on investment, profits for enterprises, income for employees, and tax revenue for the government, and fully reflect each party’s contribution as evaluated by the market. From the macroeconomic cycle perspective, high-quality development should achieve smooth circulation of production, distribution, distribution, and consumption, relatively reasonable major proportional relationships and spatial layout of the national economy, and relatively stable economic development without major fluctuations.” This important exposition, starting from multiple levels and dimensions such as supply, demand, input-output, distribution, and the macroeconomic cycle, profoundly elucidates the practical path to achieving high-quality development, further concretizing the practical requirements of the category of high-quality development, enriching and developing the Marxist political economy theory on the mode of economic development, and embodying a methodology of thought that highly unifies theory and practice.

习近平总书记从马克思主义政治经济学关于转变经济发展方式的基本原理出发，全面阐述了在我国社会主义市场经济条件下转变经济发展方式和实现高质量发展的实践路径和要求。在2017年中央经济工作会议上，习近平总书记指出：“从供给看，高质量发展应该实现产业体系比较完整，生产组织方式网络化智能化，创新力、需求捕捉力、品牌影响力、核心竞争力强，产品和服务质量高。从需求看，高质量发展应该不断满足人民群众个性化、多样化、不断升级的需求，这种需求又引领供给体系和结构的变化，供给变革又不断催生新的需求。从投入产出看，高质量发展应该不断提高劳动效率、资本效率、土地效率、资源效率、环境效率，不断提升科技进步贡献率，不断提高全要素生产率。从分配看，高质量发展应该实现投资有回报、企业有利润、员工有收入、政府有税收，并且充分反映各自按市场评价的贡献。从宏观经济循环看，高质量发展应该实现生产、流通、分配、消费循环通畅，国民经济重大比例关系和空间布局比较合理，经济发展比较平稳，不出现大的起落。”这一重要论述，从供给、需求、投入产出、分配、宏观经济循环等多层面多维度出发，深刻阐明了实现高质量发展的实践路径，使高质量发展这一范畴的实践要求进一步具体化，丰富发展了马克思主义政治经济学关于经济发展方式的理论，体现了理论与实践高度统一的思想方法论。

Profoundly elucidating the key focal points for achieving high-quality development enriches and develops the Marxist theory of productive forces.

深刻阐明实现高质量发展的重要着力点，丰富发展了马克思主义生产力理论

Promoting high-quality economic development is a systematic project. It requires not only a comprehensive grasp of the rich connotations and multifaceted practical requirements of high-quality development but also, more importantly, seizing the key links and the “ox nose” [3]3 “Ox nose” (牛鼻子) is a Chinese idiom referring to the key link or crucial point in a complex matter; leading an ox by its nose is the most effective way to control it. to achieve the effect of grasping the key link and everything else falls into place.

推动经济高质量发展是一个系统工程，既要全面把握高质量发展的丰富内涵和多方面实践要求，更要抓住关键环节和“牛鼻子”，达到纲举目张的效果。

Marxism profoundly reveals the essential connection between economic development and the development of productive forces, and reveals the general laws of human society and economic development. Understanding material productive forces and their development as the foundation of social economy and its development, and as the ultimate force determining the nature and form of society and their changes, is a major theoretical contribution Marxism has made to humanity. Lenin profoundly pointed out that what makes Marxist materialism possible for the first time as a scientific sociology is that the method Marx used was to demarcate the economic sphere from the various spheres of social life, and to demarcate relations of production from all social relations, that is, the basic and original relations that determine all other relations. Because only by reducing social relations to relations of production, and relations of production to the level of productive forces, can there be a reliable basis for regarding the development of social formations as a natural-historical process. “It goes without saying that without this view, there would be no social science.” [4]4 This is a paraphrase of Lenin’s argument in *What the “Friends of the People” Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats* (1894), emphasizing that reducing social relations to relations of production and these to the level of productive forces is the foundation for a scientific view of history. Based on the worldview and methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, Marxist political economy further explains the relationship between science, technology, and productive forces, proposes very rich concepts of productive forces such as natural productive forces, labor productive forces, social productive forces, and capital productive forces, reveals the laws of quantitative and qualitative change in productive forces, the logical relationship of productive forces—mode of production—relations of production, the essential characteristics of capitalist social productive forces and their inherent contradictions with capitalist relations of production, etc., thereby revealing the laws of motion of the capitalist social economy and the historical limitations of the capitalist mode of production. The Marxist theory of productive forces has laid the ideological foundation for our deeper understanding of the issues of socialist economic development and the development of productive forces.

马克思主义深刻揭示了经济发展与生产力发展的本质联系，揭示了人类社会和经济发展的一般规律。把物质生产力及其发展理解为社会经济及其发展的基础，理解为决定社会性质和形态及其变化的终极力量，是马克思主义为人类作出的重大理论贡献。列宁深刻指出，马克思主义的唯物主义之所以第一次使科学的社会学的出现成为可能，是因为马克思所用的方法，就是从社会生活的各种领域中划分出经济领域，从一切社会关系中划分出生产关系，即决定其余一切关系的基本的原始的关系。由于只有把社会关系归结于生产关系，把生产关系归结于生产力的水平，才能有可靠的根据把社会形态的发展看作自然历史过程。“不言而喻，没有这种观点，也就不会有社会科学。”基于辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义的世界观和方法论，马克思主义政治经济学进一步说明了科学、技术与生产力的关系，提出了自然生产力、劳动生产力、社会生产力、资本生产力等十分丰富的生产力概念，揭示了生产力的量变质变规律、生产力—生产方式—生产关系的逻辑关系、资本主义社会生产力的本质特征及其与资本主义生产关系的内在矛盾等，从而揭示了资本主义社会经济运动规律，揭示了资本主义生产方式的历史局限性。马克思主义生产力理论，为我们更加深刻认识社会主义经济发展和生产力发展问题奠定了思想基础。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, our Party, on the basis of upholding that “development is the absolute principle,” has further established that “we must make high-quality development the absolute principle of the New Era.” Since 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping, guided by Marxism and grounded in the new characteristics and trends of science, technology, and economic development in contemporary China and the world, proceeding from the goals and tasks of high-quality development, has creatively put forward the important concepts and ideas of new quality productive forces and developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions. He has systematically elucidated the basic theoretical issues of new quality productive forces, including their characteristics, basic connotations, core markers, features, key points, and essence, and has profoundly revealed the great significance of developing new quality productive forces for achieving high-quality development, thereby establishing the development of new quality productive forces as the internal requirement and important focal point for promoting high-quality development. In 2024, when presiding over the 11th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping provided a profound summary of new quality productive forces, pointing out: “New quality productive forces are advanced productive forces driven by innovation, breaking away from traditional economic growth modes and paths of productive forces development, characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality, and conforming to the new development philosophy. They are spawned by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. Their basic connotation is the leap in laborers, means of labor, objects of labor, and their optimized combination. Their core marker is a substantial increase in total factor productivity. Their feature is innovation, their key is high quality, and their essence is advanced productive forces.”

党的十八大以来，我们党在坚持“发展是硬道理”的基础上，进一步确立了“必须把坚持高质量发展作为新时代的硬道理”。2023年以来，习近平总书记坚持以马克思主义为指导，立足当代中国和世界科技经济发展新特征新趋势，从高质量发展的目标任务出发，创造性提出新质生产力和因地制宜发展新质生产力的重要概念和思想，系统阐明了新质生产力的特征、基本内涵、核心标志、特点、关键、本质等基本理论问题，深刻揭示了发展新质生产力对于实现高质量发展的重大意义，从而把发展新质生产力确立为推动高质量发展的内在要求和重要着力点。2024年，在主持二十届中共中央政治局第十一次集体学习时，习近平总书记对新质生产力作出深刻概括，指出：“新质生产力是创新起主导作用，摆脱传统经济增长方式、生产力发展路径，具有高科技、高效能、高质量特征，符合新发展理念的先进生产力质态。它由技术革命性突破、生产要素创新性配置、产业深度转型升级而催生，以劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象及其优化组合的跃升为基本内涵，以全要素生产率大幅提升为核心标志，特点是创新，关键在质优，本质是先进生产力。”

The concept of new quality productive forces represents the adherence to and inheritance, deepening, and sublimation of the concept of high-quality development. From the perspective of adherence and inheritance, from promoting high-quality development to accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, there is a consistent guiding ideology, both requiring the complete, accurate, and comprehensive implementation of the new development philosophy. This is because only by further deepening the understanding of the great significance of the complete, accurate, and comprehensive implementation of the new development philosophy can we deeply grasp the internal logical relationship between new quality productive forces and high-quality development, as well as the major strategic significance of accelerating the development of new quality productive forces for achieving high-quality development. From the perspective of deepening and sublimation, from promoting high-quality development to accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, the Marxist thought on the laws of the development of human society has been further innovated and developed. This is mainly reflected in the fact that new quality productive forces further reveal the underlying logic and deep-seated forces for achieving high-quality development, reveal the dialectical relationship between economic development and the development of productive forces, more prominently highlight the fundamental supporting role of developing new quality productive forces for achieving high-quality development, and mark that our Party’s understanding of the basic laws of the development of human society has reached a new and higher realm.

新质生产力概念是对高质量发展概念的坚持和继承、深化和升华。从坚持和继承来看，从推动高质量发展到加快发展新质生产力，在指导思想上一以贯之，都要求完整准确全面贯彻新发展理念。因为只有进一步深化对完整准确全面贯彻新发展理念重大意义的认识，才能深刻理解新质生产力与高质量发展的内在逻辑关系以及加快发展新质生产力对于实现高质量发展的重大战略意义。从深化和升华来看，从推动高质量发展到加快发展新质生产力，进一步创新发展了马克思主义关于人类社会发展规律的思想。这主要体现在新质生产力进一步揭示了实现高质量发展的底层逻辑和深层力量，揭示了经济发展与生产力发展之间的辩证关系，更加凸显了发展新质生产力对于实现高质量发展的根本支撑作用，标志着我们党对于人类社会发展基本规律的认识达到了一个更高的新境界。

This important concept of new quality productive forces adheres to the worldview and methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, enriching and developing the Marxist theory of productive forces. Although Marx put forward concepts such as “new productive forces,” “revolution of productive forces,” and “stages of development of productive forces,” he did not explicitly classify productive forces by quality. The concept of new quality productive forces, for the first time, provides a clear classification by quality and theoretical definition of productive forces, promoting a “revolution in terminology” and achieving a major innovation in the Marxist theory of productive forces. Moreover, the proposal of the concept of new quality productive forces also has immense methodological value. The concept of the quality of productive forces it contains endows productive forces with a more distinct historical character and stage of development, thereby methodologically helping us to start from different qualities of productive forces, to gain a more specific understanding and deeper comprehension of the relationship between productive forces and relations of production in different historical stages, to theoretically make clear definitions and summaries of the quality of productive forces in different social formations, and to apply these to a more refined and accurate explanation of the historical evolutionary process of human social formations. In this sense, the concept of new quality productive forces is not only a major innovation in the Marxist theory of productive forces but also makes a major original contribution to the innovative development of the Marxist worldview and methodology.

新质生产力这一重要概念，坚持辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义的世界观和方法论，丰富发展了马克思主义生产力理论。虽然马克思提出了“新生产力”“生产力的革命”“生产力的发展阶段”等，但并没有明确地对生产力进行质态划分。新质生产力概念第一次对生产力进行了明确的质态划分和理论规定，推动“术语的革命”，实现了对马克思主义生产力理论的重大创新。不仅如此，新质生产力概念的提出还有巨大的方法论价值，其中蕴含的生产力质态概念，赋予生产力更为鲜明的历史性和发展的阶段性，从而在方法论上有助于我们从生产力不同质态出发，对不同历史阶段中的生产力和生产关系之间的关系进行更加具体的认识和深入理解，对不同社会形态的生产力质态在理论上作出清晰界定和概括，并运用于对人类社会形态历史演进过程进行更加精细和准确的解释。从这个意义上说，新质生产力概念不仅是马克思主义生产力理论的重大创新，而且为马克思主义的世界观方法论的创新发展作出了重大原创性贡献。

Since the New Era, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping’s economic thought, especially General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on high-quality development, China’s economic development has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone historic transformations, standing at a higher historical starting point. In particular, China’s independent innovation capacity has been continuously strengthened, and it has entered the ranks of innovative countries. Key core technology fields have continuously achieved new breakthroughs. New industries, new business forms, and new models led and driven by cutting-edge technological innovation have emerged in competition. Traditional industries have accelerated their transformation and upgrading. Self-development capacity has significantly improved, and international competitiveness has continuously strengthened. Practice has fully proven that Xi Jinping’s economic thought, especially General

新时代以来，在习近平经济思想特别是习近平总书记关于高质量发展的重要论述的科学指引下，我国经济发展取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革，站在了更高历史起点上。特别是我国自主创新能力不断增强，已进入创新型国家行列，关键核心技术领域不断取得新突破，以前沿科技创新引领和驱动的新产业新业态新模式竞相涌现，传统产业加快转型升级，自我发展能力显著提升，国际竞争力不断增强。实践已经充分证明，习近平经济思想特别是习近平总书记关于高质量发展的重要论述是科学的理论，为我国实现经济现代化指明了前进方向。新时代新征程上，我们要深入学习贯彻习近平经济思想特别是习近平总书记关于高质量发展的重要论述，坚持把高质量发展作为新时代的硬道理，完成好实现高质量发展这一全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务，为充满不确定性的当代世界贡献最大的确定性。

(The author is Vice President of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Institute at Renmin University of China)

（作者为中国人民大学习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究院副院长）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心