Empowering the Development of New Quality Productive Forces through State-Owned Enterprises: Theoretical Foundations, Historical Experience, and Practical Pathways

Unlike the qualitative state of traditional productive forces, new quality productive forces are driven by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. Their basic connotation is the leap in the quality of laborers, means of labor, subjects of labor, and their optimized combination, with a significant increase in total factor productivity as the core indicator. They are characterized by innovation, key in high quality, and essentially advanced productive forces. In July 2024, the *Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform and Comprehensively Advancing Chinese-Path Modernization* adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC emphasized that new quality productive forces are productive forces characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality. The optimized combination of new-type laborers, new-type means of labor, and new-type subjects of labor constitutes the constituent elements for realizing new quality productive forces. Under the requirements of new quality productive forces, the quality and skills of laborers shift toward more sophisticated and complex knowledge innovation and intelligent manufacturing, making outstanding contributions in the fields of disruptive scientific understanding and key core technologies. At the same time, the means of labor, as a bridge linking laborers and subjects of labor, provide laborers with the material tools needed to process subjects of labor. The integrated development of information technology, advanced manufacturing technology, and new material technology has greatly expanded the space for production, enriched the forms of production tools, further liberated laborers, and even reshaped the logic and mode by which the means of labor act upon the production process. Furthermore, the subjects of labor are the basic premise of production activities. With technological progress and industrial upgrading, the subjects of labor are gradually transforming from natural resources to higher-level resource forms, creating richer material structures and forms. Non-material forms such as digital platforms, data resources, and algorithm models are becoming important future subjects of labor, driving the scale and level of productive forces development from quantitative to qualitative change, achieving a leap in capability.

传统生产力的质态不同，新质生产力由技术革命性突破、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。2024年7月，党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革推进中国式现代化的决定》强调，新质生产力是以高技术、高效能、高质量为特征的生产力。新型劳动者、新型劳动资料和新型劳动对象的优化组合，是新质生产力实现的构成要素。在新质生产力的要求下，劳动者的素质和技能转向更为尖端复杂的知识创新和智能制造，在颠覆性科学认识和关键核心技术领域做出突出贡献。同时，劳动资料作为链接劳动者和劳动对象的桥梁，为劳动者提供加工劳动对象所需要的物质工具，信息技术、先进制造技术和新材料技术的融合发展，极大拓展了生产空间，丰富了生产工具的表现形态，进一步解放了劳动者，甚至重塑了劳动资料作用于生产过程的逻辑和模式。此外，劳动对象是生产活动的基础前提，随着科技进步和产业升级，劳动对象由自然资源逐步向更高级的资源形态转变，创造出更为丰富的物质结构和形态，数字平台、数据资源、算法模型等非物质形态成为未来重要的劳动对象，带动生产力发展规模和水平由量变到质变，实现能级跃升。

The development of new quality productive forces requires being built on a solid micro-foundation, achieving efficient coordination of various elements of productive forces within the organization. Enterprises are the most active subjects in generating and developing new quality productive forces. As the micro-level main force for constructing new models, applying new technologies, and cultivating new industries, they have the ability to stimulate innovation vitality, cultivate competitive advantages, and provide lasting impetus and key support for the development of new quality productive forces.

新质生产力的发展，需要建立在一个坚实的微观基础之上，在组织内部实现生产力各类要素的高效协同。企业是生成和发展新质生产力最活跃的主体，作为构建新模式、运用新技术、培养新产业的微观主力，有能力激发创新活力、培植竞争优势，为新质生产力的发展提供持久动力和关键支撑。

Existing research has already touched upon taking the development of enterprises as the practical pathway for new quality productive forces, arguing that cultivating new quality productive forces requires encouraging enterprises to fully exert their innovation consciousness, promoting the implementation of innovation achievements, and assisting in the deep transformation of industries. Some studies also suggest that private enterprises possess a strong consciousness of independent innovation and are an important driving force for cultivating new quality productive forces. It is necessary to encourage private enterprises to increase R&D investment through fiscal and tax incentives and subsidy policies, providing financial support to specific enterprises.

以企业的发展作为新质生产力的实践路径，既有研究已有涉及，认为新质生产力的培育，需要鼓励企业充分发挥创新意识、促进创新成果落地实施，助力产业深度转型。也有一些研究认为，民营企业具有强烈的自主创新意识，是培育新质生产力的重要推动力量，有必要通过财税优惠和补贴政策鼓励民营企业增加研发投入，对特定企业给予资金支持。

The author believes that state-owned enterprises, as the "pillar" of the socialist economy with Chinese characteristics, bear political, economic, and social responsibilities, playing an important role as the main force, vanguard, and pacesetter. State-owned enterprises are owned or controlled by the state in terms of their capital, and the will and interests of the government determine the behavior of state-owned enterprises. This characteristic enables them to follow political objectives, undertake important and unconventional strategic tasks, and forge competitiveness oriented toward new quality productive forces. The development direction of state-owned enterprises will resonate with the national macro strategy, leading, influencing, and guiding the optimized combination of laborers, means of labor, and subjects of labor, striving to achieve set goals. After the concept of new quality productive forces was proposed, some scholars have explored issues related to state-owned enterprises and new quality productive forces. Shi Jie believes that state-owned enterprises can play a key supporting role in the development of new quality productive forces in two aspects: technological innovation and constructing a modern industrial system. Liu Lihong et al. indicate that state-owned enterprises should fully exert their role as the main force of new quality productive forces, striving to build original technological innovation sources, striving to build leading enterprises in the modern industrial system, striving to build a new-type labor force, and striving to build the institutional environment for the development of new quality productive forces.

笔者认为，国有企业作为中国特色社会主义经济的“顶梁柱”，担负着政治责任、经济责任和社会责任，发挥着主力军、先锋队和排头兵的重要作用。国有企业由国家对其资本拥有所有权或者控制权，政府的意志和利益决定了国有企业的行为。这一特征使其能够遵循政治目标，承担重要的、非常规的战略任务，面向新质生产力锻造竞争力。国有企业的发展方向将会与国家的宏观战略同频共振，引领、影响和指导劳动者、劳动资料和劳动对象优化组合，为实现既定目标而努力。新质生产力的概念提出之后，一些学者对国有企业与新质生产力相关的议题展开探讨。时杰认为，国有企业可以在技术创新和构造现代产业体系两个方面对发展新质生产力起到关键支撑作用。刘李红等表示，国有企业应充分发挥新质生产力的主力军作用，全力打造原创技术创新策源地、全力打造现代产业体系领军企业、全力打造新型劳动者队伍、全力打造发展新质生产力的制度环境。

This article sorts out the issue from two levels: at the theoretical level, it argues that the state enterprises envisioned by Marx and Engels bear the major responsibility of leading production activities. This concept, after being inherited by the German Social Democrats, played a key role in the practice of state-owned enterprises in the Soviet Union, especially in terms of technological innovation. At the empirical level, state-owned enterprises have played an important role in leading technological innovation, guiding industrial direction, and constructing a modern system in various historical stages. This article further argues that for state-owned enterprises to become the source and incubator of new quality productive forces, breakthroughs are needed at the macro, meso, and micro levels simultaneously to construct new-type relations of production.

本文从两个层面进行梳理:在理论层面，认为马克思、恩格斯设想中的国家企业，承担着领导生产活动的重大责任。这一理念经过德国社会民主党人的继承之后，在苏联的国有企业实践中扮演关键角色，尤其体现在技术创新方面。在经验层面，在各个历史阶段国有企业都发挥着主导科技创新、引领产业方向、构建现代化体系的重要作用。本文进而认为国有企业要成为新质生产力的策源地、孵化地，需要在宏观、中观和微观三个层面共同突破，构建新型生产关系。

I. Theoretical Foundations for State-Owned Enterprises to Promote Technological Innovation

一、国有企业推动技术创新的理论基础

Starting from Marx and Engels' discussions on state-owned economic organizations promoting economic development, combined with the theory and practice of the Soviet Union achieving economic leaps through state-owned enterprises, the author argues that state-owned enterprises "not only help establish an industrial prototype model but also help set the pace and pattern of this new type of organization," possessing advantages in clarifying strategic direction, integrating knowledge achievements, and obtaining financial support, enabling them to persistently support long-term scientific and technological innovation. The public ownership economy, represented by state-owned enterprises, is an advanced mode of production and relations of production that emerges on the basis of sublation and transcendence of capitalist private ownership enterprises, and has the capacity to promote the development of productive forces and technological innovation.

笔者从马克思、恩格斯关于国有经济组织推动经济发展的论述出发，结合苏联以国有企业实现经济跃进的理论与实践，认为国有企业“不仅有助于建立一种工业的原型范例，而且也有助于确立这种新型组织的步调和型态”，具有明确战略方向、整合知识成果、获取财务支持等方面的优势，能够持之以恒地支持长期的科技创新。以国有企业为代表的公有制经济，是在扬弃和超越资本主义私有制企业基础上而产生的一种先进的生产方式和生产关系，有能力促进生产力发展和科技创新。

(A) Marx and Engels' Discussions on State-Owned Economic Organizations Promoting Economic Development

(一)马克思、恩格斯关于国有经济组织推动经济发展的论述

Marx's classic thesis points out that productive forces are the material content of relations of production, and relations of production are the social form of productive forces. In the overall process of social production development, productive forces are the most active and revolutionary element, playing a decisive role in relations of production. Marx and Engels once pointed out: "The sum of productive forces accessible to men determines the condition of society; hence, the 'history of humanity' must always be studied and treated in relation to the history of industry and exchange." Therefore, "with the acquisition of new productive forces, men change their mode of production; and with the change of the mode of production, they change all the economic relations which were merely the necessary relations of that particular mode of production."

马克思的经典论断指出，生产力是生产关系的物质内容，生产关系是生产力的社会形式。在社会生产发展的总过程中，生产力是最活跃、最革命的要素，它对生产关系起着决定作用。马克思和恩格斯曾指出：“人们所达到的生产力的总和决定着社会状况，因而，始终必须把‘人类的历史’同工业和交换的历史联系起来研究和探讨”。因此，“随着新的生产力的获得，人们便改变自己的生产方式，而随着生产方式的改变，他们便改变所有不过是这一特定生产方式的必然关系的经济关系”。

Marx believed that under the mature conditions of the development of the capitalist commodity economy, the contradiction between socialized production and the capitalist private appropriation of the means of production led to the emergence of economic crises, which is an inevitable result of the capitalist private ownership of the means of production. Due to the development of productive forces, the contradiction between socialized production and capitalist appropriation reaches a point of violent eruption. With the further development of the socialization of production, capital increasingly concentrates, "In a given society, the limit of concentration is reached only when the total social capital is united in the hands of either a single capitalist or a single capitalist company." At this point, expropriating this single capitalist would allow the division of labor within the workshop to replace the social division of labor, "turning the whole of society into one factory." Marx further stated that after the expropriation of the single capitalist, society would enter a public ownership society, giving rise to a free association of individuals. The "public ownership" here is not the primitive public ownership of utopian socialism, "but a much higher, much more developed form of common possession."

马克思认为，在资本主义商品经济发展成熟的背景下，生产社会化和生产资料资本主义私人占有之间的矛盾导致了经济危机的出现，这是资本主义生产资料私有制所带来的必然结果。由于生产力的发展，社会化生产和资本主义占有之间的矛盾达到剧烈爆发的地步。随着生产社会化的进一步发展，资本加剧集聚，“在一个社会里，只有当社会总资本或者合并在唯一的资本家手中，或者合并在唯一的资本家公司手中的时候，集中才算达到极限”。此时对这个唯一的资本家实行剥夺，就可以使工场的内部分工取代社会分工，“把整个社会变成一座工厂”。马克思进而表示，在唯一的资本家被剥夺之后，就会进入到一个公有制社会，出现一个自由人联合体。此处的“公有制”并不是乌托邦这样的原始公有制，“而是要建立高级得多、发达得多的公共占有形式”。

The solution Marx provided was to centralize the means of production nationwide, to be used by the free and equal association of producers according to a common and rational plan. Engels, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of state power in safeguarding the interests of the ruling class and other working masses, arguing that "in any case, with or without trusts, the official representative of capitalist society — the state — will ultimately have to undertake the leadership of production. This necessity of transformation into state property first manifests itself in the large-scale means of communication: the postal service, telegraphs, and railways." That is to say, the nationalization of the means of production can only be implemented when the development of productive forces reaches a level unsuitable for management by joint-stock companies; otherwise, it would cause huge losses.

马克思给出的解决方案，是将生产资料进行全国性的集中，由自由平等的生产者联合体按照共同合理的计划加以使用。恩格斯则强调，国家政权对于维护本阶级和其他劳动群众利益的重要性，认为“无论在任何情况下，无论有或者没有托拉斯，资本主义社会的正式代表——国家终究不得不承担起对生产的领导。这种转化为国家财产的必然性首先表现在大规模的交通机构，即邮政、电报和铁路方面”，也就是说，只有当生产力发展到不适用于股份公司来管理的程度时，才能够推行生产资料的国有化，否则会造成巨大的损失。

(B) The Theory and Practice of the Soviet Union Achieving Economic Leaps through State-Owned Enterprises

(二)苏联以国有企业实现经济跃进的理论与实践

Around the time of the October Revolution, in view of the problems caused by the blindness and uncertainty of Russia’s market economy—duplication of construction, vicious competition, factory closures, unemployment, and uneven regional economic development—Lenin, influenced by the German Social Democrats, proposed the establishment of a “state syndicate,” “the nationalization of land, the nationalization of all banks and capitalist syndicates or at least their immediate supervision by the Soviets of Workers’ Deputies… all citizens become employees of the state (the armed workers). All citizens become employees and workers of one nationwide state ‘syndicate.’” [1]1 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC: A major meeting of the Chinese Communist Party held in July 2024, focused on deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization. Lenin believed that by means of state intervention in economic activity, “the greater part of the state’s resources (raw materials, grain, fuel, money) is concentrated in the hands of large-scale state-owned industry, and these materials are distributed in a planned manner to ensure that the production work of enterprises supplied by the state is not interrupted.” He suggested following the German example, which “adopted superior technology and incomparably better organization, transforming the capitalism of the old free-competition era into the capitalism of giant trusts, syndicates, and cartels,” thereby “guaranteeing us a comprehensive, up-to-date, and non-bureaucratic ‘state apparatus.’”

十月革命前后，鉴于俄国市场经济发展的盲目性、不确定性所造成的重复建设、恶性竞争、工厂倒闭、工人失业、地域经济发展不平衡等问题，列宁受到德国社会民主党人的影响，提出建立“国家的辛迪加”，“实行土地国有化、把一切银行和资本家的辛迪加收归国有或至少由工人代表苏维埃立刻加以监督……全体公民都成了国家(武装工人)雇用的职员。全体公民都成了一个全民的、国家的‘辛迪加’的职员和工人”。列宁认为，通过国家干预经济活动的做法，“把最大部分的国家资料(原料、粮食、燃料、货币)集中在国营大工业手中，并有计划地分配这些物资，以保证依靠国家供应的各企业的生产工作不致中断”。他建议仿效德国的经验，“采用了优良的技术和无比优越的组织，使旧的资本主义即自由竞争时代的资本主义变成了大托拉斯、辛迪加、卡特尔的资本主义”，由此“保证我们有一个无所不包的、最新式的和非官僚主义的‘国家机构’”。

After Lenin, Stalin further strengthened the role of state-owned enterprises. He argued that the greatest obstacle to the Soviet Union’s accelerated establishment of a relatively complete industrial system and national economic system was how to concentrate human and material resources to accomplish accumulation under conditions of a very low degree of socialized production. The key to solving this problem was direct state management of enterprises, with primitive accumulation provided by profits from nationalized industry, domestic and foreign trade, and the banking system, and finally “such a weapon as state power, which controls the state budget and accumulates certain funds for the further development of the entire national economy, especially for our industry.”

列宁之后，斯大林进一步强化了国营企业的作用。他提出，苏联要加速建立比较完备的工业体系和国民经济体系，最大的阻碍因素是在生产社会化程度很低的情况下，如何集中人力物力，完成积累。解决这一问题的关键是国家直接经营企业，原始积累由国有化的工业、国内外贸易、银行系统提供利润，最后还有“国家政权这样的武器，国家政权支配着国家预算，并为整个国民经济，尤其为我国工业的进一步发展集聚若干资金”。

From the perspective of the development of productive forces, the Soviet economic management system concentrated human, financial, and material resources on the development of sectors vital to the overall national economy and on solving major strategic problems, liberating productive forces long severely fettered by the old system, responding to the needs of the development of productive forces, and advancing the process of industrialization. In practice, the Soviet Union, by establishing state-owned enterprises, promoted collaborative investment among economic sectors, reduced transaction costs between sectors, and achieved a “big push” effect. From 1929 to 1941, the Soviet Union established a total of more than 5,000 state-owned enterprises, three-quarters of which were concentrated in heavy industry, especially in manufacturing and metal processing. This was related to the path of socialist industrialization chosen by the Soviet Union. Lenin repeatedly emphasized the priority growth of the means of production, especially the priority growth of the most basic heavy industrial sectors. He sharply pointed out that “Department I of social production (production of the means of production) can and must develop faster than Department II (production of articles of consumption).” [2]2 The *Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform and Comprehensively Advancing Chinese-Path Modernization*: A key policy document adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee, outlining reform directions. In this process, state organs, as organizers and regulators of economic life, carried out macro-level management and coordination of economic activities and established a relatively scientific set of institutional methods. In terms of economic performance, the achievements of the Soviet Union before the 1950s were evident to all. Research shows that the Soviet economy achieved long-term rapid growth before World War II and is considered the most successful case of economic development in that period.

从生产力发展的角度而言，苏联的经济管理体制，将人力、财力、物力集中用于关系国民经济全局的部门发展和重大战略问题的解决上，将长期受到严重束缚的生产力从旧制度下解放出来，呼应了生产力发展的需求，推动了工业化的进程。在实践中，苏联通过组建国营企业的方式，促进经济部门之间的协作性投资，降低部门之间的交易成本，达到“大推进”(bigpush)的效果。1929—1941年，苏联总共建立了5000余个国营企业，其中3/4集中于重工业，尤其是在制造业和金属加工业。这是与苏联选择的社会主义工业化路径有关的。列宁曾多次强调生产资料优先增长的观点，特别是最基本重工业部门的优先增长。他尖锐地指出，“社会产品的第I部类(生产资料的生产)能够而且应当比第II部类(消费品的生产)发展得快”。在此过程中，国家机关作为经济生活的组织者和调节者，对经济活动进行宏观的管理协调，建立起一套较为科学的制度方法。从经济绩效来看，苏联在20世纪50年代之前获得的成就是有目共睹的。研究表明，二战之前的苏联经济实现了长时段的快速增长，被认为是这一时期经济发展最为成功的案例。

In addition to the above advantages, Soviet state-owned enterprises also achieved relatively notable results in scientific and technological innovation. Seizing the opportunity presented by the capitalist countries’ economic crisis, the Soviet Union introduced advanced machinery, equipment, and technical expertise from the West, hired foreign experts and technicians at high salaries to work in enterprises, and gradually expanded investment in scientific research and technology, with these investments basically controlled by state-owned enterprises and research institutions. In addition, the Soviet Union vigorously strengthened the training of scientific and technical personnel. According to statistics, in 1977, the Soviet Union had more than 4 million scientific and technical personnel, of whom industrial scientific researchers accounted for the largest proportion, and the scientific intensity of industrial labor increased rapidly. The Soviet Union established a unified system for the advanced training of technical cadres by sector, improving technical theoretical levels through rotation training and further education. The Soviet Union also established a vast network of vocational and technical schools, supplying enterprises with large numbers of comprehensively educated young skilled workers and providing rationalization proposals for enterprise technological innovation. To change the situation of disconnection between scientific research and production, the Soviet Union promoted the establishment of production associations, set up design bureaus and experimental bases within enterprises, and enabled scientific researchers to actually participate in industrial production. In addition, the Soviet Union continuously increased the labor remuneration of scientific and technical personnel, regularly appraised work results, and paid wages and bonuses according to the actual contributions of scientific researchers.

除了上述优势之外，苏联国营企业在科技创新方面，也取得了较为显著的业绩。苏联利用资本主义国家遭受经济危机打击的机遇，从西方引进先进的机器设备和技术力量，高薪聘请外国专家和技工进入企业，并逐步扩大对科研和技术的投资，这些投资基本上都由国营企业和科研机构所掌握。除此之外，苏联还大力加强对科技人员的培养，据统计，1977年，苏联共有400多万科研技术人员，其中工业科研人员占比最大，工业劳动的科学占用量迅速提高。苏联按部门建立统一的技术干部进修系统，通过轮训和进修提高技术理论水平。苏联还建立庞大的职业技术学校网络，为企业输送大批受过全面教育的青年技工，为企业的技术革新提供合理化建议。为了改变科研与生产脱节的状况，苏联推动建立生产联合公司，在企业中设立设计局和试验基地，让科研人员实际参与到工业生产中来。此外，苏联还不断提高科技人员的劳动报酬，定期对工作效果进行鉴定，按照科研人员的实际贡献付给工资奖金。

From historical experience, at least before the 1970s, scientific and technological innovation in Soviet state-owned enterprises developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results. Some studies point out that the Soviet Union almost successfully imitated the defense industrial technologies of Western powers in all fields, and even held a leading position in some technological areas. Although there were problems such as military technology being significantly superior to civilian technology and heavy industry development taking priority over light industry, the growth efficiency of Soviet technological research, development, and innovation once shocked the United States and Europe. It can be said that the foundation of Soviet technological innovation came from the management capacity and mobilization efficiency of state-owned enterprises, as well as the implementation of science and technology policies.

从历史经验来看，至少在20世纪70年代之前，苏联国营企业的科技创新发展迅猛，业绩斐然。有研究指出，苏联几乎成功模仿了西方大国所有领域的国防工业技术，甚至在一些技术领域占据领先地位。尽管存在着军用技术显著高于民用技术、重工业发展优先于轻工业等问题，但苏联的技术研发和创新的增长效率一度令美欧各国倍感震惊。可以说，苏联技术创新的基础，来源于国营企业的管理能力和动员效率，以及科技政策的推动实施。

From the theoretical connotations of the state-owned economy and Soviet practice, it can be seen that state-owned enterprises must not only provide public goods and natural monopoly products, correcting distortions caused by free market competition, but also bear the important responsibility of leading core technological innovation. Especially for some strategic or basic industries, which have characteristics such as high costs, high risks, and long payback periods, it is difficult for enterprises to consider strategic goals over the long term. State-owned enterprises, as promoters of the innovation system, can concentrate human, material, and financial resources in a short period of time to focus on developing innovative industries, making it easier to overcome the negative effects of the “latecomer disadvantage” in certain fields.

从国有经济的理论内涵和苏联实践可以看到，国有企业既要提供公共产品和自然垄断品，修正自由市场竞争带来的扭曲，也承担着领导核心技术创新的重要责任。尤其是一些战略性产业或基础产业，具有成本高、风险大、回收周期长等特点，企业难以长远地考虑战略目标。国有企业作为创新体系的推动者，短时间集中人力、物力、财力，重点发展创新型产业，便于在某些领域克服“后来者劣势”的负面影响。

II. Historical Experience of Technological Innovation in China’s State-Owned Enterprises

二、我国国有企业技术创新的历史经验

Regarding whether state-owned enterprises are conducive to innovation, some studies have taken a negative view, arguing that based on the attribute of public ownership, enterprise operators simultaneously play the dual roles of “manager” and “political person,” neither able to obtain the benefits brought by innovation nor willing to bear the risks caused by innovation, naturally avoiding innovation projects with long investment cycles, low success rates, and high risks, thereby reducing the enthusiasm of state-owned enterprises for engaging in technological progress and innovation activities. In recent years, some studies have refuted the above views, arguing that with the reform of state-owned enterprises, enterprises have comprehensive advantages in funds, policies, and technology, invest more in research and development, have higher research and development efficiency, and engage in more efficient innovation activities. Other studies have shown that government subsidies can reduce the uncertainty of economic policy, mitigate the negative impact of policies, and indirectly promote the development of strategic emerging industries.

关于国有企业是否有利于创新，有的研究曾持否定态度，认为国有企业基于公有产权的属性，企业经营者同时扮演“经理人”和“政治人”的双重角色，既无法获得创新带来的收益，也不愿承担创新导致的风险，天然规避投资周期长、成功率低、风险较高的创新项目，使得国有企业从事技术进步和创新活动的积极性降低。近年来，一些研究对上述观点进行驳斥，认为随着国有企业的改革，企业拥有资金、政策、技术等全面优势，研发投入更多，研发效率更高，创新活动更高效。还有研究表明，政府补贴能够降低经济政策的不确定性，降低政策的负面影响，间接促进战略性新兴产业的发展。

From historical experience, after 1949, China introduced a large amount of equipment, materials, and knowledge from technologically developed countries to compensate for the insufficiency of its own research and development capabilities. In different historical stages, state-owned enterprises have become important carriers of technology transfer, digesting and absorbing it on this basis, enabling it to “take root.” [3]3 "Pillar" (顶梁柱): A common metaphor in Chinese political discourse for a key supporting force, here referring to the central role of state-owned enterprises in the economy. Entering the New Era, state-owned enterprises have implemented the innovation-driven development strategy, achieving a major transformation from introduction and imitation to independent innovation. Their innovation awareness has gradually strengthened, innovation investment has gradually increased, and they have mastered a number of key core technologies and independent intellectual property rights. High-quality scientific and technological achievements and highly qualified innovative talents have continuously emerged, demonstrating strong core competitiveness in the international market, laying the foundation for building a “source ground” [4]4 German Social Democrats: Refers to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which engaged in debates on state ownership and economic planning, influencing later Marxist-Leninist practice. for new quality productive forces.

从历史经验来看，1949年之后，我国大量引进技术发达国家的设备、资料、知识，以弥补本国研究与开发力量的不足。在不同的历史阶段，国有企业都成为技术转移的重要载体，在此基础上消化吸收，使之“落地生根”。进入新时代，国有企业贯彻创新驱动发展战略，实现从引进模仿向自主创新的重大转型，创新意识日渐增强，创新投入力度逐渐加大，掌握了一批关键核心技术和自主知识产权，高质量科技成果和高素质创新人才不断涌现，在国际市场上显示出较强的核心竞争力，为构建新质生产力的“策源地”奠定基础。

(1) Technology Digestion and System Construction Centered on the “156 Projects” in the 1950s

(一)20世纪50年代以“156项工程”为中心的技术消化与体系搭建

Looking back at history, it can be seen that in each stage of large-scale technology introduction and technological innovation, state-owned enterprises have played an undeniably important role. In the 1950s, China introduced 156 key industrial and mining capital construction projects from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries (150 were actually implemented, collectively referred to as the “156 Projects” [n9]). According to the *Agreement on the Assistance of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the Development of the Chinese National Economy* signed in May 1953, the Soviet Union was responsible for providing technical parameters and data, supplying related equipment, and guiding and training Chinese technical personnel in project design. Some scholars have pointed out that through the construction of the 156 Projects, China introduced the basic technologies of Soviet basic industry on a large scale, filling gaps in basic industrial technology, especially in heavy industry. The technological level of heavy industries such as energy, machinery, and raw materials advanced by several decades. A series of heavy industrial sectors, including automobile manufacturing, power generation equipment manufacturing, metallurgical and mining heavy equipment manufacturing, advanced alloy steel and non-ferrous metal smelting, as well as then-emerging high-tech fields such as aerospace and electronics, achieved breakthroughs from nothing. The vast majority of technological links took root, and the framework of an independent industrial system was essentially established.

回顾历史可以看到，在大规模技术引进和科技创新的各个阶段，国有企业都扮演着无可置疑的重要角色。20世纪50年代，中国从苏联和东欧国家引进了156项重点工矿业基本建设项目(实际落地150项，统称“156项工程”)。根据1953年5月签订的《关于苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟政府援助中华人民共和国政府发展中国国民经济的协定》，由苏联负责提供技术参数和资料，供应相关设备，指导和培训中国技术人员开展项目设计。有学者指出，通过156项工程的建设，中国成规模地引进了苏联基础工业的基础技术，填补了工业特别是重工业基础技术的空白，能源、机械、原材料等重工业的技术水平向前跃进了几十年，汽车制造业、发电设备制造业、冶金和矿山重型设备制造业、高级合金钢和有色金属冶炼业等一系列重工业部门以及航空航天、电子等当时新兴的高科技实现了从无到有的突破，绝大多数的技术环节实现“落地生根”，独立的工业体系框架已基本搭建起来。

The successful implementation of the “156 Projects” relied crucially on the role of state-owned enterprises. After Soviet technical assistance arrived in China, it connected with technical personnel in state-owned enterprises, enabling the rapid localization of these technologies. The Luoyang No. 1 Tractor Plant serves as an example for analysis. From 1955 to 1956, China organized multiple groups of personnel to study technology in the Soviet Union. After returning home, they served as bridges for communication and liaison between Chinese workers and Soviet experts. From 1956 to 1958, the Process Department of the Luoyang No. 1 Tractor Plant translated and proofread the process equipment and non-standard equipment drawings provided by the Soviet Union. Among these, 1,850 sets of mechanical equipment drawings were translated and 3,731 sets were reproduced; 20,301 sets of process equipment drawings were translated and 96,505 sets were reproduced. They also translated and reproduced Soviet-designed process cards, process specifications, blank drawings, layout plans, equipment load tables, and other process technical data. By learning from the experts, local technical personnel quickly became capable of working independently, even independently designing large factory buildings and complex machinery. To rapidly improve technical levels, a wave of learning technology swept through the enterprises from top to bottom. Various specialized technical refresher courses formulated personal study plans for young technical cadres, aiming to reach the level of engineer within three to five years. They required mutual teaching and learning in practical work. Among the graduates from universities and secondary technical schools uniformly assigned to the plant by the state, nearly half were transferred to the positions of technician or assistant technician after practical work experience. By the end of 1956, the number of engineering and technical personnel at the Luoyang No. 1 Tractor Plant in fields such as mechanical manufacturing, motor manufacturing, metal cutting, metallurgy, casting, and civil construction had increased to over 580, more than double the number from the same period in 1955, accounting for over 60% of the technical force needed when the tractor plant would eventually commence production.

“156项工程”能够成功落地，国营企业在其中发挥着关键作用。苏联的技术援助来到中国之后，与国营企业的技术人员对接，使这些技术迅速本土化。下面以洛阳第一拖拉机厂为例进行分析。1955—1956年，中方组织多批人员前往苏联学习技术，回国之后成为中国工人和苏联专家之间沟通联络的桥梁。1956—1958年，洛阳第一拖拉机厂工艺处对苏联提供的工艺装备及非标准设备图纸进行了翻译、校对，其中机械设备类图纸共翻译1850套，复制3731套;工艺装备类图纸共翻译20301套，复制96505套，翻译复制苏联设计的工序卡、工艺规程、毛坯图、平面布置图、设备负荷表等工艺技术资料。通过向专家学习，本土技术人员很快能够独立工作，甚至独立设计大型厂房和复杂机器。为了尽快提升技术水平，企业由上到下掀起学习技术的浪潮。各种专业技术进修班对青年技术干部制定了三年到五年内达到工程师水平的个人学习规划，要求在实际工作中互教互学，由国家统一分配来厂的大学和中等技术学校毕业的学生经过实际工作的锻炼，近一半转为技术员或助理技术员。截至1956年底，洛阳第一拖拉机厂在机械制造、电机制造、金属切削、冶金、铸造、土木建筑等各方面的工程技术人员，已经增加到580多人，比1955年同期增加了一倍多，相当于拖拉机厂将来投入生产时所需技术力量的60%以上。

Data shows that from the large-scale introduction of Soviet tracked tractors in 1949 to the basic formation of localized design and production capacity by the end of 1964, it took only 15 years. This indicates that China’s effect in digesting and absorbing Soviet technology was extremely significant. After 1960, the No. 1 Tractor Plant successively designed and trial-produced several new tractor models. One particularly noteworthy case was the improvement of the Type 54 tracked tractor. Because this tractor was designed and produced according to Soviet national conditions, it did not fully match China’s climate, soil, and agricultural environment, making it difficult to adapt to local usage requirements. At the same time, this tractor used nickel-chromium steel and high-manganese steel materials, consuming a large amount of nickel and chromium resources. In response, the tractor plant successfully improved the Type 54 tracked tractor into a Type 75 horsepower tractor, increasing operational efficiency by 45%–50%. Technical personnel also replaced nickel-chromium with manganese-aluminum to manufacture heat-resistant steel furnace components, saving a large amount of nickel-chromium alloy.

资料表明，从1949年大批量引进苏联履带式拖拉机，到1964年底基本形成国产化的设计生产能力，总共只有15年的时间，这说明我国在消化吸收苏联技术方面的效果极其显著。1960年之后，第一拖拉机厂先后设计、试制了多款拖拉机新产品。其中值得一提的是54型履带式拖拉机的改良。由于该款拖拉机根据苏联国情设计生产，与中国的气候、土壤、农业环境不完全匹配，难以适应本土的使用要求;同时，这款拖拉机采用镍铬钢和高锰钢材料，对镍铬资源消耗量极大。对此，拖拉机厂成功地将54型履带式拖拉机改进为75型马力拖拉机，作业率提高了45%~50%;技术人员还以锰铝代替镍铬，制造耐热钢炉用构件，节约了大量镍铬合金。

(II) The Main Course of State-Owned Enterprises’ Introduction, Absorption, and Independent Innovation since Reform and Opening Up

(二)改革开放以来国有企业引进吸收和自主创新的主要历程

In the 1980s, with the acceleration of the reform and opening up process, state-owned enterprises once again became the core sector for undertaking advanced technology and enhancing industrial competitiveness. To catch up with the pace of foreign technological development within a short period, policymakers proposed adopting methods such as technology licensing, cooperative production, and joint ventures, striving to introduce technology from Western countries and rapidly improve the domestic industrial manufacturing level and equipment self-sufficiency capacity. In July 1979, when discussing issues of foreign economic cooperation, Deng Xiaoping emphasized that “joint ventures are better than compensation trade” because “in a joint venture, the other party has to consider economic accounting; it will have to bring in advanced technology.” [n10] The goal of joint ventures was technology introduction, more precisely “exchanging market for technology.” According to Zhang Jinfu, then chairman of the State Economic Commission, “In enterprises that introduce foreign capital, we must introduce, digest, and absorb foreign high and new technologies to improve our own design and manufacturing capabilities. … Chinese and foreign experts should jointly design and jointly construct various production sectors. Capital and technology should be introduced simultaneously. In the process of introduction, we must gradually strive to digest and absorb, and on this basis, continuously innovate.” [n11]

20世纪80年代，随着改革开放进程的加快，国营企业又成为承接先进技术、提升产业竞争力的核心部门。为了能够在短时间之内追赶国外技术发展的步伐，政策制定者提出采取技术许可、合作生产和合资经营等方式，力图从西方国家引进技术，迅速提高本国工业制造水平和设备自给能力。1979年7月，邓小平在谈到对外经济合作问题时强调“合资经营比补偿贸易好”，因为“搞合资经营，对方就要经济核算，它要拿出先进的技术来”。合资经营的目标是技术引进，更确切地说是“以市场换技术”。按照时任国家经委主任张劲夫的说法，“要在引进外资的企业里引进、消化、吸收外国的高新技术，提高我们自己的设计和制造能力。……中方专家与外方专家要共同设计、共同建设各个生产部门，资金、技术要同时引进，在引进的过程中逐步努力消化、吸收，并且在这个基础上不断创新”。

During this period, the main entities undertaking projects co-built with foreign capital and introducing and absorbing high and new technologies were state-owned enterprises. Although “exchanging market for technology” was affected by the problem of “emphasizing introduction while neglecting absorption,” state-owned enterprises, by digesting technology and improving the level of technical equipment, introduced advanced foreign products into domestic production, significantly increased the localization rate of products, deeply studied the management experience of advanced enterprises, and promoted the adjustment of enterprise organizational structure and product structure. At the technical level, most of the introduced equipment played a crucial role in the technological upgrading and production capacity enhancement of domestic enterprises.

这一时期，与外资共建项目、引进吸收高新技术的主体是国营企业。尽管“以市场换技术”受到“重引进轻吸收”的问题的影响，但是，国企通过消化技术、提高技术装备水平，将国外先进的产品引入本土进行生产，大幅提升产品的国产化率，深入学习先进企业的管理经验，推进企业组织结构和产品结构的调整。就技术层面而言，多数引进的设备对于国内企业的技术更新换代、生产能力提升，都发挥了至关重要的作用。

In the process from directly purchasing equipment to introducing and absorbing technology, the research and development capabilities of domestic enterprises also gradually improved. By the end of 1997, the loss-making rate of large and medium-sized industrial enterprises that were state-owned or state-controlled nationwide reached 39.1%, with losses amounting to 66.59 billion yuan. Industries such as textiles, coal, and military industry even faced a situation of “losses across the entire industry.” Under these circumstances, state-owned enterprises, by digesting and absorbing advanced foreign technology, still mastered a number of core and key technologies, and used high and new technologies and advanced applicable technologies to transform traditional industries. The production equipment and technical level of key enterprises in major industries improved significantly. After transformation, the gap between the equipment level of key state-owned enterprises and the international advanced level further narrowed. Some enterprises also carried out necessary technological transformations, forming relatively strong technological innovation capabilities. Driven by guiding principles such as export orientation and import substitution, and the continuous promotion of related policies, a large number of Chinese-made industrial products entered the international market.

在直接购买设备到引进吸收技术的过程中，国内企业的研发能力也在逐步提高。1997年底，全国国有及国有控股的大中型工业企业的亏损面达到39.1%，亏损额665.9亿元，纺织、煤炭、军工等多个行业甚至面临“全行业亏损”的状况。在此情况下，国有企业通过消化吸收国外先进技术，依然掌握了一批核心技术和攻关技术，并运用高新技术和先进适用技术改造传统产业，主要行业重点企业的生产装备和技术水平明显提高。经过改造，重点国有企业装备水平与国际先进水平的差距进一步缩小。一些企业还进行必要的技术改造，形成较强的技术创新能力。在出口导向、进口替代等指导方针的贯彻和相关政策的不断推动下，大量中国制造的工业品走向国际市场。

In May 1999, when presiding over a symposium on the reform and development of state-owned enterprises, Jiang Zemin pointed out: “Facing the new century, one of our urgent tasks is to adopt advanced domestic and foreign technologies to accelerate the transformation of traditional industries, while striving to develop high and new technology industries, and accelerating the formation of our own scientific and technological innovation system. This is crucial for the development of our country in the next century.” [n12] In 2005, the State Council issued the *National Medium- and Long-Term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology (2006–2020)*, formally elevating “independent innovation” to a national strategy. In 2006, Hu Jintao, in his speech at the National Conference on Science and Technology, clearly stated that “independent innovation capability is the core of national competitiveness, a major choice for our country to meet future challenges, the strategic main line guiding our country’s future scientific and technological development, and the fundamental way to achieve the goal of building an innovative country.” [n13] State-owned enterprises responded to the call for “independent innovation,” accelerated the enhancement of their technical strength, including recruiting engineering and technical talents and creating local brands, and activated skills learned in the practice of “exchanging market for technology,” such as factory management, equipment operation, and commodity marketing. The value of the enterprises was fully realized.

1999年5月，江泽民在主持国有企业改革和发展座谈会时指出:“面向新的世纪，我们的一项紧迫任务，就是要采用国内外先进技术，加快改造传统产业，同时努力发展高新技术产业，加快形成我们自己的科技创新体系。这对于我国下世纪的发展至关重要”。2005年，国务院印发《国家中长期科学和技术发展规划纲要(2006—2020年)》,将“自主创新”正式上升至国家战略。2006年，胡锦涛在全国科学技术大会上的讲话中明确指出，“自主创新能力是国家竞争力的核心，是我国应对未来挑战的重大选择，是统领我国未来科技发展的战略主线，是实现建设创新型国家目标的根本途径”。国有企业响应“自主创新”的号召，加快提升技术力量，包括网罗工程技术人才、创建本土品牌等，并激活了“以市场换技术”实践中学到的工厂管理、设备操作、商品营销等技能，企业的价值得到了充分的发挥。

In November 2012, the report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC, based on the stage-specific characteristics of China’s development, proposed the implementation of an innovation-driven development strategy, emphasizing the need to adhere to the path of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics, deepen the reform of the science and technology system, improve the knowledge innovation system, implement major national science and technology projects, accelerate the research, development, and application of new technologies, new products, and new processes, and promote the efficient allocation and comprehensive integration of innovation resources. Under the guidance of the innovation strategy, state-owned enterprises have demonstrated strong vitality and capability in major national scientific and technological innovation projects, the transformation and upgrading of socioeconomic industries, and major scientific and technological breakthroughs. Their scale advantages and cluster advantages in key fields, as well as their innovation level in core technologies, have all been significantly enhanced. For example, in industries closely linked to national economic security, such as military industry and energy, state-owned enterprises undertake important national scientific and technological innovation tasks. With high-intensity R&D investment, high-quality innovation output, and high-efficiency innovation processes, they have achieved a batch of innovation outcomes with independent intellectual property rights and internationally advanced standards, represented by major national scientific and technological innovation projects such as manned spaceflight, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, manned deep-sea submersibles, ultra-high-voltage power grids, and the West-to-East Gas Pipeline project. [14]14 The West-to-East Gas Pipeline project (西气东输) is a major national infrastructure project transporting natural gas from the resource-rich western regions of China to the eastern coastal areas. For another example, in strategic emerging industries and high-tech industries, state-owned enterprises have taken the lead in entering, forming a number of innovative leading enterprises with strong original innovation capabilities, providing strong support for breaking through the “bottleneck” predicament. [15]15 “Bottleneck” (卡脖子) is a Chinese political and economic term referring to critical technologies or components that are controlled by foreign entities, leaving China vulnerable to supply disruptions or coercion.

2012年11月，党的十八大报告立足我国发展的阶段性特征，提出了实施创新驱动发展战略，强调要坚持走中国特色自主创新道路，深化科技体制改革，完善知识创新体系，实施国家科技重大专项，加快新技术新产品新工艺研发应用，促进创新资源高效配置和综合集成。在创新战略的引领之下，国有企业在国家重大科技创新工程、社会经济产业转型升级、重大科技攻关等方面表现出强大的活力和实力，关键领域的规模优势、集群优势，以及关键技术的创新水平都在显著提升。例如，军工、能源等与国家经济安全紧密联系的行业，国有企业承担着重要的国家科技创新任务，以高强度的研发投入、高质量的创新产出、高效率的创新流程，取得了一批以载人航天、北斗系统、载人深潜、特高压电网、西气东输等国家重大科技创新项目为代表的、具有自主知识产权和国际先进水平的创新成果。又如，在战略性新兴产业、高科技产业等行业，国有企业率先进入，形成了一批具有较强原始创新能力的创新型领军企业，为打破“卡脖子”困境提供有力支撑。

Overall, the scale and organizational management capacity of state-owned enterprises can effectively reduce the risk costs brought about by scientific and technological innovation. State-owned enterprises have the ability to achieve integration and control over the industrial chain through mergers, reorganizations, strategic cooperation, and other means, generating economies of scale. Of course, problems such as the lack of competitive pressure and innovation motivation due to monopoly positions, or insufficient enthusiasm for obtaining innovation returns caused by the “principal-agent” dilemma, also need to be confronted and overcome. This requires more thorough institutional innovation in policy design, so that state-owned enterprises can truly become the “power source” and “cradle” of new quality productive forces.

总体而言，国有企业的规模性和组织管理能力，能够有效降低科技创新所带来的风险成本。国有企业有能力通过兼并、重组、战略合作等方式，实现对产业链的整合与控制，产生规模经济效应。当然，国有企业因处于垄断地位而缺乏竞争压力和创新动力，或是“委托代理”困境导致的获取创新回报的积极性不足等问题，也是需要正视和克服的，这就要求在政策设计上进行更彻底的制度创新，使国有企业真正成为新质生产力的“动力源”和“策源地”。

III. Practical Pathways for China’s State-Owned Enterprises to Accelerate the Development of New Quality Productive Forces

三、我国国有企业加快发展新质生产力的实践路径

Compared with the previously advocated promotion of scientific and technological innovation in state-owned enterprises to achieve high-quality development, the concept of new quality productive forces has continuity but also embodies a revolutionary character. In terms of continuity, new quality productive forces are mainly marked by a significant increase in total factor productivity, fully utilizing the general-purpose technologies of the New Era, changing the traditional exogenous path of relying on factor input volume to drive economic growth, giving rise to new industries, new models, and new drivers, and developing productive forces characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality. In terms of revolutionary character, new quality productive forces attach great importance to the improvement of rules and policies, requiring the accelerated formation of relations of production that are more compatible with new quality productive forces, and promoting the agglomeration of advanced production factors into various fields of new quality productive forces. Mao Zedong presciently pointed out, “Eliminating the old relations of production and establishing new relations of production opens up the path for the development of new productive forces.” When relations of production are suited to the nature and level of productive forces, they can promote the development of social productive forces; conversely, they will play a hindering role. General Secretary Xi Jinping therefore pointed out, “Relations of production must be compatible with the requirements of the development of productive forces. To develop new quality productive forces, we must further deepen reform comprehensively and form new relations of production that are compatible with them.” In other words, the transformation of relations of production is a necessary condition for the sustained development of productive forces, which requires further deepening reform comprehensively and constructing new relations of production.

与此前倡导的推进国有企业科技创新、实现高质量发展相比，新质生产力的概念有其延续性，更体现出革命性。延续性方面，新质生产力以全要素生产率大幅提升为主要标志，充分运用新时代的通用技术，改变外生式的依靠要素投入量拉动经济增长的传统路径，催生新产业、新模式、新动能，发展以高技术、高效能、高质量为特征的生产力。革命性方面，新质生产力高度重视规则和政策的健全，要求加快形成同新质生产力更相适应的生产关系，促进先进生产要素向新质生产力各领域集聚。毛泽东曾预见性地指出，“消灭了旧的生产关系，确立了新的生产关系，这样就为新的生产力的发展开辟了道路”。生产关系适合生产力的性质和水平，就能促进社会生产力发展，反之则将会起到阻碍作用。习近平总书记因而指出，“生产关系必须与生产力发展要求相适应。发展新质生产力，必须进一步全面深化改革，形成与之相适应的新型生产关系”。换言之，生产关系的变革是生产力持续发展的必要条件，这就要求进一步全面深化改革，构建新型生产关系。

Based on preliminary research and data collection, state-owned enterprises face several problems in undertaking new quality productive forces and promoting scientific and technological innovation: First, the advantages of the new nationwide system for mobilizing resources have not been fully leveraged. [16]16 The “new nationwide system for mobilizing resources” (新型举国体制) refers to a state-led approach to organizing scientific and technological innovation that combines centralized coordination with market mechanisms, adapted from the earlier planned-economy “nationwide system” (举国体制) used for projects like nuclear weapons and space satellites. Most policies for industry-university-research collaborative innovation are “indirect guidance,” with unclear policy orientation. Policy guidance in areas such as personnel, credit, taxation, rewards and punishments, and performance assessment is insufficiently forceful, which is not conducive to mobilizing the enthusiasm of all cooperating parties. At the same time, relevant systems are imperfect; the management systems and implementation rules in areas such as the intellectual property system and the fund utilization system are not well-developed, causing all parties to hold back during the cooperation process. Second, there is poor coordination and complementarity between upstream and downstream industries; an industrial synergy working mechanism has not yet formed; integration and development between industries are insufficient; it is difficult to form industrial clusters and industrial chains; and the industrial chain layout suffers from problems such as long negotiation times and high decision-making costs. At the same time, there is a relative lack of public service platforms for high-end industries; data circulation and sharing between various departments, enterprises, or systems are not smooth, hindering the in-depth analysis and application of data on a global scale, and negatively impacting the intelligent operation and decision-making of enterprises or organizations. Third, the internal organizational mechanisms of enterprises are not yet sound, reflected in the phenomenon of “two separate skins” between Party building and daily business operations. [17]17 “Two separate skins” (两张皮) is a Chinese political idiom describing a situation where two related aspects of work (here, Party building and business operations) are formally linked but in practice operate independently without integration. A breakthrough point for combining Party building work with new quality productive forces has not yet been found, making it difficult for Party organizations to fully play their leading and organizing role in enterprise scientific and technological innovation. At the same time, structural contradictions in the talent pool are prominent; the supply of high-level technical and skilled talent is insufficient; there is a relative shortage of engineering and technical talent suited to the development of new industries, new models, and new drivers; and phenomena such as “valuing academic qualifications over skills, valuing seniority over ability, and valuing introduction over cultivation” exist to a certain extent, meaning that the innovation vitality of talent has not yet been fully stimulated.

从前期调研和资料搜集的情况来看，国有企业在承担新质生产力、推动科技创新方面，存在几个方面的问题:第一，新型举国体制的优势尚未充分发挥，产学研协同创新的政策多数属于“间接引导”，政策导向不明确，在人事、信贷、税收、奖惩、考核等方面的政策导向不够有力，不利于调动合作各方的积极性。同时，相关制度不完善，在知识产权制度、资金使用制度等方面的管理体制和实施细则不够完善，使各方在合作过程中有所保留。第二，产业上下游配套和互补性差，产业协同工作机制尚未形成，行业之间的融合发展不足，难以形成产业集群和产业链条，产业链布局存在协商时间长、决策成本高等问题。同时，高端产业公共服务平台较为缺乏，各个部门、企业或系统间的数据流通和共享不畅，阻碍数据在全局范围内的深入分析和应用，对企业或组织的智能化运作和决策产生负面影响。第三，企业内部的组织机制尚不健全，体现在企业党建与日常业务工作存在“两张皮”现象，还没有找到党建工作和新质生产力结合的突破点，党组织在企业科技创新的引领组织作用难以充分发挥。同时，人才队伍结构性矛盾突出，高水平技术技能人才供给不足，适应新产业、新模式、新动能发展的工程科技人才较为短缺;一定范围内存在“重学历轻技能、重资历轻能力、重引进轻培育”等现象，人才创新活力尚未得到充分激发。

Based on the above problems, the author believes that for China’s state-owned enterprises to fulfill the historical mission of developing new quality productive forces, it is necessary to form relations of production conducive to the development of new quality productive forces at the macro, meso, and micro levels, and to promote innovation in productive forces through institutional innovation.

基于上述问题，笔者认为，我国国有企业要完成发展新质生产力的历史使命，需要在宏观、中观和微观三个方面形成有利于新质生产力发展的生产关系，以制度创新推动生产力创新。

1. Macro level. Institutional and mechanistic obstacles that hinder state-owned enterprises from playing their main role in scientific and technological innovation should be removed, the advantages of the new nationwide system for mobilizing resources should be leveraged, and state-owned enterprises should be promoted to join with research institutes, universities, and others to strengthen the integration of industry, academia, research, and application, forming an incentive-based and systematic environment for industrial technological innovation and R&D. In September 2022, the 27th meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform deliberated and approved the *Opinions on Improving the New Nationwide System for Mobilizing Resources for Key Core Technology Breakthroughs under the Conditions of a Socialist Market Economy*, which requires constructing an organizational and operational mechanism for collaborative tackling of key problems, efficiently allocating scientific and technological forces and innovation resources, strengthening cross-field and cross-disciplinary collaborative tackling of key problems, forming a strong synergy for key core technology breakthroughs, promoting a better combination of an effective market and a competent government, strengthening the main position of enterprises in technological innovation, accelerating the transformation of government functions in science and technology management, creating a good innovation ecosystem, and stimulating the vitality of innovation entities.

1.宏观层面。应当破除阻碍国有企业发挥科技创新主体作用的体制机制障碍，发挥新型举国体制优势，推动国有企业联合科研院所、高校等加强产学研用融合，形成具有激励性、系统性的产业技术创新研发环境。2022年9月，中央全面深化改革委员会第二十七次会议审议通过《关于健全社会主义市场经济条件下关键核心技术攻关新型举国体制的意见》，要求构建协同攻关的组织运行机制，高效配置科技力量和创新资源，强化跨领域跨学科协同攻关，形成关键核心技术攻关强大合力，推动有效市场和有为政府更好结合，强化企业技术创新主体地位，加快转变政府科技管理职能，营造良好创新生态，激发创新主体活力。

New quality productive forces require a high degree of integration of production, education, research, and application, achieving the effect of “concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks.” [18]18 “Concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks” (集中力量办大事) is a standard formulation in Chinese political discourse, often used to describe the perceived advantage of the socialist system in mobilizing resources for strategic goals. In this regard, it is necessary to establish legislative guarantees for collaborative innovation among industry, academia, and research, and to strengthen the guiding role of policy. On the one hand, improve and perfect the intellectual property system, formulating specific regulations and measures in areas such as fund use, personnel mobility, equipment sharing, ownership of results, and assessment rewards and punishments, so as to regulate and constrain the behavior of all parties and remove worries from cooperation. On the other hand, grant preferential policies to all parties in industry-academia-research collaborative innovation in terms of tax reductions and exemptions, financial subsidies, and priority in project approval; establish special funds or risk funds to bridge cooperation between enterprises and universities; and strengthen the construction of science and technology intermediary service organizations. In addition, the government should also focus on evaluating industry-academia-research cooperation projects, deeply study the laws and evaluation indicator systems of the operation and management of such projects, continuously adjust the deployment of cooperation projects, track and understand the actual needs of all cooperating parties, and ensure that industrial policies truly “take root.” The development of new quality productive forces requires the expansion of “patient capital,” which can provide long-term stable financial support for investment projects, thereby promoting the innovative development of enterprises. Currently, the mode of industry-academia-research collaborative innovation is mainly led by project-based systems, where short-term cooperation is initiated after reaching consensus. The duration can be as short as a few months or as long as one to three years, and cooperation ends with the conclusion of the project. Higher-level forms of cooperation, such as establishing long-term stable collaborative research and development institutions, academician workstations, postdoctoral mobile stations, and science and technology commissioner agencies, are relatively rare. University researchers, due to objective conditions, cannot batch-deploy and reside long-term in enterprises to conduct scientific research; simultaneously, the innovation resources concentrated in universities, such as research platforms and instruments, are difficult for enterprises to utilize. Industry-academia-research collaborative innovation requires building stable cooperative relationships, where partners must undergo prolonged磨合 (running-in) on agenda setting, capital investment, benefit distribution, etc., to reach consensus and reduce communication costs. The current short-cycle, small-scale, low-level project cooperation exhibits the characteristics of a “one-off deal,” unable to carry out long-term, continuous technological research and development and achievement transformation. The depth and breadth of industry-academia-research cooperation are far from sufficient. In response, it is recommended to build an innovation consortium of “central SOEs/SOEs +,” attracting extensive participation from higher education institutions, research institutes, national laboratories, private enterprises, and users, forming a strong systemic support for breakthroughs in core technologies. The government needs to further improve science and technology innovation policies, appropriately adjust and reform enterprise assessment and evaluation mechanisms, raise the level of transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, break the primary cooperation structure of “one project, one batch of funds,” and guide long-term capital and patient capital to achieve diversified synergy and deep integration between state-owned enterprises and other innovation entities.

新质生产力要求产学研用高度结合，实现“集中力量办大事”的效果。对此，有必要建立产学研协同创新的立法保障，强化政策引领作用。一方面，健全完善知识产权制度，在资金使用、人员流动、设备共享、成果归属、考核奖惩等方面制定具体的法规办法，以规范、约束各方的行为，使合作无后顾之忧。另一方面，给予产学研协同创新各方在税收减免、财政补贴、立项优先等方面的优惠政策，设立专项基金或风险基金，为企业和高校的协同创新牵线搭桥，加强科技中介服务组织的建设。此外，政府还应注重对产学研合作项目的评价，深入研究产学研合作项目管理运作的规律和评价指标体系，不断调整合作项目的部署，跟踪了解合作各方的实际需求，使产业政策真正“落地”。新质生产力发展需要壮大“耐心资本”，可以为投资项目提供长期稳定的资金支持，进而促进企业的创新发展。目前产学研协同创新的方式，主要以项目制引领为主，达成共识后开展短期合作，时间短的只有数个月，长的也只有1~3年，随着项目的结题，合作也随之结束。建立长期稳定的合作研发机构、院士工作站、博士后流动站、科技特派员机构等层次较高的合作方式相对较少。高校的科研人员因为客观条件无法成批、长期驻扎在企业开展科研攻关;同时，高校富集的科研平台、仪器设备等创新资源很难为企业所用。产学研协同创新需要构建稳定的合作关系，合作方要在议题设置、资金投入、利益分配等方面久经磨合才能取得共识，降低沟通成本。当前周期短、规模小、层次低的项目合作，体现出“一锤子买卖”的特征，无法进行长期的、连续性的技术研发和成果转化，产学研合作的深度和广度都远远不够。对此，建议打造“央企/国企+”的创新联合体，吸引高等院校、科研机构、国家实验室、民营企业、用户等广泛参与，形成突破核心技术的强大体系支撑。政府需要进一步完善科技创新政策，适当调整和改革企业考核与评价机制，提高科技成果转化和产业化水平，打破“一个项目、一笔经费”的初级合作结构，引导长期资本、耐心资本实现国有企业和其他创新主体之间的多元协同和深度融合。

2. At the meso level, overall coordination should be strengthened, enhancing synergy within the industrial chain. Guided by high-quality development, the construction of a modern industrial system should be accelerated, with efforts focused on improving the resilience and security level of the industrial and supply chains. Currently, the relationship between domestic and foreign market entities is undergoing structural changes. Trade imbalances between major powers have triggered deep-seated protectionism, which has evolved into an East-West ideological struggle, gradually shifting from the trade domain to the industrial domain, with the politicization of industrial chains intensifying. To counter the technological constraints imposed by Western countries in core technologies and industrial fields, state-owned enterprises have the responsibility to improve the organizational mechanism for scientific and technological innovation, enhance core scientific and technological strength, and build a closer industrial chain ecosystem.

2.中观层面，应当加强总体统筹，增强产业链内部的协同力度，以高质量发展为导向，加快建设现代化产业体系，着力提升产业链供应链韧性和安全水平。当前，内外市场主体关系正发生结构性变化，大国之间的贸易失衡诱发深层次保护主义，并演化为东西意识形态之争，逐步从贸易领域转移至产业领域，产业链政治化愈演愈烈。为了应对西方国家核心技术和产业领域的技术束缚，国有企业有责任完善科技创新组织机制，提升核心科技实力，构建更紧密的产业链生态系统。

New quality productive forces require giving full play to the role of state-owned enterprises as “chain leaders” of the industrial chain, participating in the research and application of emerging and future industries. New quality productive forces are supported by a modern industrial system that is autonomous and controllable, safe and reliable, and highly competitive. They involve cultivating and strengthening strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, advanced manufacturing, and electronic information, and prospectively planning future industries such as quantum mechanics and life sciences. Following the work approach of increasing product varieties, launching batches, and forming industries, efforts should coordinate forces from all sides to form synergy and jointly promote the development of emerging and future industries. Compile and publish directory guides for key products, key enterprises, and key clusters; timely track and grasp the development dynamics of emerging and future industries at home and abroad; continuously improve the capital layout of one’s own industrial chain, value chain, and innovation chain; promote the effective allocation of resources such as technology, management, and finance; and build a number of industrial clusters that are highly concentrated in space, closely coordinated upstream and downstream, and集约高效 (intensive and efficient) in supply chains. Through independent innovation, driving collaborative innovation in the industrial chain, and supporting innovation by small and medium-sized enterprises, state-owned enterprises should take the lead in industrial chain integration. Support the development of enterprises in emerging and future industries through acquisitions, equity participation, and other means; build long-term cooperative partnerships; promote high-degree synergy and coupling between industrial categories, regions, large, medium, and small enterprises, and upstream and downstream links; and better release the comprehensive benefits of the industrial network.

新质生产力要求充分发挥国有企业的产业链“链长”作用，参与新兴产业和未来产业的研发和应用。新质生产力以自主可控、安全可靠、竞争力强的现代化产业体系为支撑，培育壮大新能源、新材料、先进制造、电子信息等战略性新兴产业，前瞻谋划量子力学、生命科学等未来产业。按照增品种、上批次、成产业的工作思路，统筹协调各方力量，形成合力，共同推进新兴产业和未来产业的发展。编制发布重点产品、重点企业、重点集聚区的目录指南，及时跟踪、掌握国内外新兴产业和未来产业的发展动态，不断完善自身产业链、价值链、创新链的资本布局，推动技术、管理、金融等资源的有效配置，打造一批空间上高度集聚、上下游紧密协同、供应链集约高效的产业集群。通过自主创新、带动产业链协同创新、支持中小企业创新等方式，以国有企业为主导进行产业链整合，通过收购、入股等方式支持新兴产业和未来产业的企业发展，构建长期合作伙伴关系，推动产业门类之间、区域之间、大中小企业之间、上下游环节之间高度协同耦合，更好释放产业网络的综合效益。

The core of new quality productive forces is “digitalization.” It is necessary to promote the construction of digital infrastructure, coordinately advance the digitalization of industries and the industrial transformation of digitalization, create a legal and regulatory system and market environment compatible with the development of the digital economy, and strive to seize the strategic high ground of the intelligentization of the industrial system. Some research suggests that the current industrial revolution is in the process of transitioning from “informatization” to “digitalization.” The development of general-purpose technologies represented by digital technology and emerging industries will fundamentally transform traditional industries, thereby comprehensively and systematically improving the qualitative state of the economic structure. Relevant literature also points out that digital transformation helps drive “quality improvement and quantity increase” in the technological innovation of state-owned enterprises, reflected in the organic unity of enabling functions, enabling systems, and enabling means. The current development of industrial digitalization exhibits a significant “island” phenomenon, causing various links in the industrial chain to be unable to fully obtain the required data and information. In response, it is necessary to improve the classified and graded management system for data and digital services, clarify the specific rules and assessment processes for data flow security assessment, publish assessment standards, form a “positive list” of important data and core data, provide credible mechanisms and monitoring capabilities for data flow, form a compliant, orderly, safe, and controllable data trading and circulation mechanism, explore the construction of a diversified, aggregated, and orderly data resource management system, and achieve information sharing and value co-creation.

新质生产力的核心是“数字化”，推动数字基础设施建设，协同推进数字产业化和产业数字化转型，创造与数字经济发展相适应的法律法规制度体系和市场环境，努力抢占产业体系智能化的战略制高点。有研究认为，当前的产业革命正处于从“信息化”向“数字化”转变的过程中，以数字技术为代表的通用技术和新兴产业的发展，将会对传统产业进行根本改造，以此全面系统地改进经济结构质态。相关文献也指出，数字化转型有助于驱动国有企业技术创新“提质增量”，体现在赋能功能、赋能体系和赋能手段三者的有机统一。目前的产业数字化发展，存在显著的“孤岛”现象，导致产业链上各个环节无法充分获取到所需数据信息。对此，有必要完善数据数字服务分级分类管理体制，明确数据流动安全评估的具体规则和评估流程，公布评估标准，形成重要数据和核心数据的“正面清单”，为数据流动提供可信机制和监控能力，形成合规有序、安全可控的数据交易流通机制，探索构建多元汇聚、流通有序的数据资源管理体系，实现信息共享和价值共创。

3. At the micro level, it is necessary to establish and improve internal organizational structures suited to enterprise characteristics, organically integrate upholding the Party’s overall leadership over state-owned enterprises with improving corporate governance, enhance enterprise competitiveness, and achieve the preservation and appreciation of state-owned assets. Improve a more precise, flexible, standardized, and efficient distribution and incentive mechanism; stimulate the vitality of production factors such as labor, capital, land, knowledge, technology, management, and data; establish a talent evaluation system oriented towards innovation value, capability, and contribution; enable scientific researchers to obtain due benefits from scientific and technological research and development and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements; and provide intellectual support for the accelerated formation of new quality productive forces.

3.微观层面，应当建立健全符合企业特点的内部组织架构，把坚持党对国有企业的全面领导与完善公司治理有机融合，增强企业竞争力、实现国有资产保值增值。健全更加精准灵活、规范高效的分配激励机制，激发劳动、资本、土地、知识、技术、管理、数据等生产要素活力，建立以创新价值、能力、贡献为导向的人才评价体系，使科研人员在科技研发及科技成果转移转化中获得应有收益，为新质生产力的加速形成提供智力保障。

The development of new quality productive forces is inseparable from the guidance and support of high-quality Party building. Some scholars point out that the cultivation of new quality productive forces is a concrete practice of developing advanced productive forces under the leadership of the Party in the New Era. Enterprise Party organizations play the role of leadership core and political core, setting the direction, managing the overall situation, and ensuring implementation for the development of state-owned enterprises. This is also the unique political advantage of state-owned enterprises. Party building should be regarded as the “ballast stone” and “power source” for enterprise development, actively promoting the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of integrating Party leadership into corporate governance. Currently, state-owned enterprises have basically achieved the organic unity of Party leadership and corporate governance, fully completed the “incorporation of Party building into the company charter,” and formulated lists of major operational and management matters for prior study and discussion by the Party committee (Party leadership group). Next, enterprises should further strengthen the research, publicity, and interpretation of the theory of new quality productive forces. By building Party building platforms and joint meeting formats, promote the interconnection, complementarity, and interaction of departmental Party building, enterprise Party building, and industry Party building; break down the organizational barriers of each performing its own duties and acting according to regulations under conventional governance; form a “penetrating” mobilization synergy; and lead revolutionary breakthroughs in technology.

新质生产力发展离不开高质量党建的引领和支撑。有学者指出，新质生产力的培育是新时代党领导下发展先进生产力的具体实践，企业党组织发挥着领导核心和政治核心作用，为国有企业的发展把方向、管大局、保落实，这也是国有企业所特有的政治优势。要将党建作为企业发展的“压舱石”和“动力源”，积极推动党的领导融入公司治理制度化、规范化、程序化。目前，国有企业已基本实现党的领导与公司治理的有机统一，全面完成“党建入章”，并制定党委(党组)前置研究讨论重大经营管理事项清单。接下来，企业要进一步加强新质生产力理论的研究、宣传与阐释，通过搭建党建平台和联席会议形式，推动部门党建、企业党建、行业党建互联互补互动，打破常规治理下各司其职、照章办事的组织壁垒，形成“穿透性”的动员合力，引领技术革命性突破。

New quality productive forces require stimulating the innovative and creative vitality of talent, necessitating the continuous improvement of evaluation and assessment mechanisms for scientific and technological personnel, perfecting the income distribution mechanism for factor participation, and designing a more scientific and reasonable compensation system so that talent can obtain returns commensurate with their contributions. In terms of evaluation criteria, performance should be highlighted, innovation should be dared, and a performance-focused evaluation sequence should be constructed that is classified and stratified for different positions, age groups, and technical titles. Innovative organizational management methods for scientific research projects such as "open competition for the best candidates" (揭榜挂帅) [19]19 "Open competition for the best candidates" (揭榜挂帅) refers to a project management mechanism where research tasks are publicly announced, and teams or individuals compete to take on the challenge, regardless of their rank or institutional affiliation. should be adopted to further stimulate the innovative enthusiasm and creative potential of the vast number of scientific researchers, especially young talent, and to encourage young talent to produce more results during the golden period of scientific research. The spirit of scientists and the spirit of craftsmanship should be vigorously promoted, the mechanisms for cultivating, utilizing, and attracting talent should be improved, the evaluation system for scientific and technological talent oriented toward innovation capability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution should be perfected, high-end technical talent in enterprises should be vigorously cultivated, the innovative vitality of talent should be stimulated, and the goal of enabling everyone to fully display their talents, use their abilities to the fullest, and achieve success in their roles should be realized.

新质生产力要求激发人才创新创造活力，需要不断完善科技人才评价和考核机制，健全要素参与收入分配机制，设计更加科学合理的报酬体系，使人才能够获得与其贡献相匹配的回报。在评价标准上，应突出业绩，敢于创新，构建以业绩为重点，针对不同岗位、不同年龄段、不同技术职称等，制定出分类分层的人才评价序列。创新“揭榜挂帅”等新型科研项目组织管理方式，更大激发广大科研人员特别是青年人才的创新积极性和创造潜能，促进青年人才在科研黄金阶段多出成果。大力弘扬科学家精神、工匠精神，完善创新培养、使用和吸引人才的机制，健全以创新能力、质量、实效、贡献为导向的科技人才评价体系，大力培养企业高端技术人才，激发人才创新活力，实现人尽其才、才尽其用、用有所成。

IV. Conclusion

四、结语

Due to their organizational nature and political characteristics, state-owned enterprises are both the backbone force for cultivating and developing new quality productive forces and the main arena where new quality productive forces play a role and realize value. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party [20]20 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024, focusing on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese-path modernization. clearly required deepening the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, improving the management and supervision institutional mechanisms, enhancing strategic coordination among relevant management departments, promoting the optimization and structural adjustment of the state-owned economy, making state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises stronger, better, and larger, strengthening core functions, and enhancing core competitiveness. State-owned enterprises should concentrate on forward-looking and strategically important emerging industries. The institutional arrangements for state-owned enterprises to promote original innovation should be improved. That state-owned enterprises serve as the main force for new quality productive forces does not mean that scientific and technological innovation is all completed within the enterprise. In fact, state-owned enterprises should become high-quality innovation platforms, organizing and coordinating forces from all sides to tackle difficulties and plan the overall situation for comprehensive development. The development of new quality productive forces requires the mutual influence and interaction of various elements to form an innovative ecosystem. This requires the joint efforts of an "effective market" and a "proactive government," which must both promote the deep integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain, promote the improvement of quality and expansion of scale in emerging industries, make forward-looking arrangements for future industries, use digital industrialization and industrial digitization as a lever to comprehensively empower new-type industrialization, and provide comprehensive policy guarantees from aspects such as basic research, funding investment, innovation entities, talent cultivation, supporting systems, organizational models, fiscal and taxation systems, financial systems, and intellectual property rights, thereby building a strong systemic support for breakthroughs in core technologies.

国有企业由于组织性质和政治特点，既是培育和发展新质生产力的中坚力量，又是新质生产力发挥作用和实现价值的主要阵地。党的二十届三中全会明确要求，深化国资国企改革，完善管理监督体制机制，增强各有关管理部门战略协同，推进国有经济布局优化和结构调整，推动国有资本和国有企业做强做优做大，增强核心功能，提升核心竞争力。国有企业应当向前瞻性战略性新兴产业集中。健全国有企业推进原始创新制度安排。国有企业担当新质生产力的主力军，并不意味着科技创新都在企业内部完成。实际上，国有企业更应当成为优质的创新平台，组织协调各方力量攻关克难，为全局发展谋篇布局。新质生产力的发展，需要各要素相互影响、发生作用，形成一套创新的生态体系。这就需要“有效市场”和“有为政府”共同发力，既要推动创新链和产业链的深度融合，推动新兴产业提质扩量，前瞻布局未来产业，以数字产业化和产业数字化为抓手，全方位赋能新型工业化，又要从基础研究、经费投入、创新主体、人才培养、配套系统、组织模式、财税体制、金融体系、知识产权等方面全方位提供政策保障，为突破核心技术构建强大的体系支撑。

Online Editor: Paul

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