The Three Horizons of Marx and Engels’ Concept of Productive Forces

Productive forces are one of the core concepts running through Marxist political economy, historical materialism, and scientific socialism. Yet in the texts of Marx and Engels, “it is even difficult to find a definitional statement for the concept of ‘productive forces.’ The reason for this lies in the usage of terms by Marx and Engels, which in fact never established an identical determination.” [1]1 The authors cite a Chinese scholarly observation that Marx and Engels never gave a fixed definition of “productive forces” in their writings. For this reason, it is necessary to return to the texts and intellectual contexts of Marx and Engels, and to examine concretely the usage and meaning of the concept of productive forces in specific contexts. The concept of productive forces in Marx and Engels is not an abstract category, but a theoretical grasp of actual material production activities, a vehicle for articulating thought. The analysis of productive forces from the perspective of political economy uses facts and logic to expose the contradictions of capitalism; the analysis from the perspective of historical materialism provides a tool for understanding the world; and the analysis from the perspective of scientific socialism points the way to transforming the world. The analysis of the concept of productive forces in these three horizons and contexts is unified in the Marxist mission of interpreting the world and changing the world. Conducting a theoretical analysis of this can provide new perspectives for deepening the understanding of productive forces. The ideas of Marx and Engels concerning the factors influencing labor productivity, the conditions for the emergence and development of new productive forces, the social nature of productive forces, and revolution as the only possible way to liberate social productive forces have important practical implications for developing new quality productive forces.

生产力是贯穿于马克思主义政治经济学、历史唯物主义和科学社会主义的核心概念之一。但在马克思恩格斯文本中，“‘生产力’这个概念，连找出定义性的语句也很困难。究其原因，这源于马克思恩格斯的用词，实际上不曾作同一性的确定”。为此，有必要回到马克思恩格斯的文本和思想境域，在特定语境中对生产力概念的用法和含义作具体考察。马克思恩格斯的生产力概念不是抽象的范畴，而是对现实物质生产活动的理论把握，是叙述思想的载体。政治经济学视域的生产力分析用事实和逻辑揭露了资本主义矛盾，历史唯物主义视域的生产力分析提供了认识世界的工具，科学社会主义视域的生产力分析则指明了改造世界的路径。这三个视域和语境的生产力概念分析统一于马克思主义解释世界和改变世界的使命，对其进行学理分析可以为深化对生产力的理解提供新的视野。马克思恩格斯关于劳动生产力的影响因素、新的生产力的产生发展条件、生产力的社会本性、革命是解放社会生产力的唯一可能出路等思想，对发展新质生产力具有重要现实启示。

I. Analysis of “Labor Productivity” and “Productivity of Capital” from the Perspective of Political Economy

一、政治经济学视域中关于“劳动生产力”及“资本的生产力”的解析

“Labor productivity” is a foundational concept in Marxist political economy. Volume 1 of *Capital* offers a brief explanation of productive forces: “Productive forces are of course always the productive forces of useful, concrete labor. In fact, it only expresses the efficiency of purposeful productive activity within a given period of time.” Marx, in a concrete and practical sense, treats “labor productivity” as synonymous with productive forces, measuring the level of labor productivity by the quantity of products created by a unit of labor in a unit of time.

“劳动生产力”是马克思主义政治经济学的基础概念，《资本论》第1卷对生产力作了简短说明：“生产力当然始终是有用的、具体的劳动的生产力。它事实上只表现有目的的生产活动在一定时间内的效率。”马克思在具体的和现实的意义上将“劳动的生产力”视作生产力的同义语，以单位时间内单位劳动所创造的产品数量来衡量劳动生产力的高低。

Labor productivity is an important concept used by Marx in expounding the labor theory of value and the theory of surplus value. On the basis of clarifying that the substance of value is labor, Marx further determines the quantity of labor congealed in a commodity—i.e., the value of the commodity—by the standard of labor time, and elaborates the regular relationship between labor productivity and the magnitude of commodity value: “The magnitude of value of a commodity varies directly as the quantity of labor realized in it, and inversely as the productivity of that labor.” The labor time required to produce a unit of commodity varies inversely with labor productivity. As the natural and social conditions of labor improve, labor productivity increases, the necessary labor time to produce a unit of commodity decreases, and the magnitude of value per unit of commodity falls. In the *Grundrisse* (1857–1858), Marx uses the concept of labor productivity to reveal the productive conditions for the valorization of capital: “The development of labor productivity—first the creation of surplus labor—is the necessary condition for the valorization or self-expansion of capital.” As labor productivity develops to a certain level, the efficiency of labor in creating value increases, necessary labor time gradually decreases, surplus labor and surplus labor time become possible, and the production of surplus value becomes a reality.

劳动生产力是马克思阐述劳动价值论和剩余价值论时使用的重要概念。马克思在明确价值的实体是劳动的基础上，进一步确定以劳动时间为标准衡量商品中凝结的劳动量即商品的价值，阐述了劳动生产力与商品价值量的规律性关系：“商品的价值量与实现在商品中的劳动的量成正比地变动，与这一劳动的生产力成反比地变动。”生产单位商品所需的劳动时间与劳动的生产力成反比，随着劳动的自然条件和社会条件的改善，劳动生产力获得提高，生产单位商品所需的必要劳动时间就越少，单位商品的价值量就越低。马克思在《政治经济学批判（1857—1858年手稿）》用劳动生产力概念揭示了资本增殖的生产力条件：“劳动生产力的发展——首先是剩余劳动的创造——是资本的价值增加或资本的价值增殖的必要条件。”随着劳动生产力发展到一定水平，劳动创造价值的效率提高，必要劳动时间逐渐减少，剩余劳动和剩余劳动时间才成为可能，剩余价值的生产才成为现实。

Engels, early in the history of Marxist thought, expounded the important role of science and capital in promoting the increase of labor productivity. In his *Outlines of a Critique of Political Economy*, he proposed: “The productive forces at humanity’s disposal are incalculable. The application of capital, labor, and science can increase the productive capacity of the land infinitely.” Marx clarified that the reason capital drives the increase of labor productivity is the drive of capital’s nature to valorize itself. He pointed out: “The tendency of capital is to push productivity to its limits in order to increase relative surplus time.” Capital is a relation of production corresponding to a certain level of development of productive forces; an important precondition for the valorization and accumulation of capital is the development of labor productivity. To achieve the valorization of capital and extract as much surplus value as possible, individual capitalists raise the labor productivity of their own sector by improving production techniques, optimizing the organization and management of production, and other means, objectively promoting the increase of productivity throughout society. In the *Economic Manuscripts of 1861–1863*, Marx proposed three main forms for increasing labor productivity: “cooperation, division of labor, and the application of machinery or the power of science.” Cooperation is the productive activity of many workers performing the same operation in the same space to produce the same product, unleashing a productive force that isolated workers could never achieve. Division of labor is the activity of many workers performing different parts of the same product under the command or direction of the same capital, which can fully develop the one-sided talents and skills of different laborers and increase the efficiency of labor production. Machinery, as the application of science to production, is an important intermediary for transforming the potential productive forces contained in science into actual productive forces.

恩格斯在马克思主义思想史上较早阐述了科学和资本对于推动劳动生产力提高的重要作用，他在《国民经济学批判大纲》中提出：“人类支配的生产力是无法估量的。资本、劳动和科学的应用，可以使土地的生产能力无限地提高。”马克思阐明了资本推动劳动生产力提高的原因是资本增殖本性的驱动。他指出：“资本的趋势是，为了增加相对剩余时间，必然把生产力提高到极限。”资本是与一定生产力发展水平相适应的生产关系，资本增殖和积累的重要前提是劳动生产力的发展。为了实现资本增殖和尽可能多地攫取剩余价值，个别资本家通过改进生产技术、优化对生产的组织管理等手段提高本部门的劳动生产力，客观上推动了全社会生产力的提高。马克思在《政治经济学批判（1861—1863年手稿）》中提出提高劳动生产力的三个主要形式是：“协作、分工和机器或科学的力量的应用”。协作是许多工人为生产同一种产品，在同一空间内进行同一种操作的生产活动，能发挥出孤立的工人不可能达到的生产力。分工是许多工人为生产同一种产品的不同部分，在同一资本的统治或指挥下进行的活动，能够充分发挥不同劳动者单方面的才能和技艺，提高劳动生产效率。机器作为科学在生产上的应用，是把科学中蕴含的可能的生产力转化为现实的生产力的重要中介。

Marx revealed the phenomenon and causes of labor productivity manifesting as the “productivity of capital” under capitalist conditions, and criticized the alienation of productive forces from the worker in capitalist society. Labor is the actual creative subject of social productive capacity. Under capitalist conditions, “capital itself appears as the subject of all social productive capacity,” and capital becomes the de facto subject that appropriates social productive capacity. The “productivity of capital” derives from the domination of “living labor” and the appropriation of labor productivity; it is a special form of the manifestation of labor productivity under capitalist conditions, embodying the alienated relationship between productive forces and the worker. Due to this alienation, all development of labor productivity in capitalist society “does not enrich the worker, but only enriches capital; that is, it only increases the power that dominates labor; it only increases the productivity of capital.” Starting from “exchange,” Marx revealed the logical chain by which labor productivity becomes the “productivity of capital”: “The capitalist exchanges for labor itself, which is value-creating activity, productive labor; that is, the capitalist exchanges for a productive force that enables capital to be preserved and multiplied, thereby becoming the productive force and reproductive force of capital, a force belonging to capital itself.” Under the conditions of capitalist private ownership, the capitalist, by purchasing labor power as a commodity with money, simultaneously acquires the right to appropriate labor productivity. By virtue of his ownership of labor power and the means of production, the capitalist appropriates the worker and everything created by his labor, including both the products of labor and the productive forces created by labor. Therefore, labor productivity becomes the “productivity of capital” in the process of exchange, is realized in the process of production, and is prominently manifested in the results of production.

马克思揭示了资本主义条件下劳动生产力表现为“资本的生产力”的现象及原因，批判了资本主义社会中生产力同工人的异化。劳动是社会生产能力的实际创造主体，在资本主义条件下，“资本本身表现为一切社会生产能力的主体”，资本成为社会生产能力的事实占有主体。“资本的生产力”来自对“活劳动”的统治和对劳动生产力的占有，是劳动生产力在资本主义条件下的特殊表现形式，体现了生产力同工人的异化关系。由于这种异化，资本主义社会中劳动生产力的一切发展“都不会使工人致富，而只会使资本致富；也就是只会使支配劳动的权力更加增大；只会使资本的生产力增长”。马克思从“交换”出发，揭示了劳动生产力成为“资本的生产力”的逻辑链条：“资本家换来劳动本身，这种劳动是创造价值的活动，是生产劳动；也就是说，资本家换来这样一种生产力，这种生产力使资本得以保存和倍增，从而变成了资本的生产力和再生产力，一种属于资本本身的力。”在资本主义私有制条件下，资本家用货币购买劳动力商品的同时也获得了对劳动生产力的占有权。资本家凭借对劳动力和生产资料的所有权占有工人及其劳动创造的一切，既包括劳动产品也包括劳动创造的生产力。因此，劳动生产力成为“资本的生产力”发生于交换过程，实现于生产过程，突出体现在生产结果上。

II. Analysis of the “Sum Total of Productive Forces” and the “Basis in Productive Forces” from the Perspective of Historical Materialism

二、历史唯物主义视域里关于“生产力总和”及“生产力依据”的解析

The concept of productive forces grasped by Marx and Engels in their study of political economy provided a “key” for discovering the “materialist conception” of social-historical development. Subsequently, in the context of historical materialism, they proposed that the “sum total of productive forces” constitutes the foundation of human history, and expounded the law of contradiction between productive forces and relations of production, as well as the “basis in productive forces” for judging social revolution.

马克思恩格斯在政治经济学研究中把握到的生产力概念，为其发现社会历史发展的“物质观”提供了一把“钥匙”，进而在唯物史观语境中提出“生产力总和”是构成人类历史的基础，阐述了生产力与生产关系的矛盾规律以及判断社会革命的“生产力依据”。

Marx and Engels believed that the “sum total of productive forces” determines social relations and social conditions, and that the productive forces of different historical stages, together with the social conditions they determine, constitute human history, thereby placing the foundation of human history on the objective material force of productive forces. In *The German Ideology*, Marx and Engels stated: “The mode of cooperation itself is a ‘productive force’; it follows that the sum total of the productive forces accessible to men determines the condition of society.” In this context, “cooperation” refers primarily to human productive activity, and the “mode of cooperation” is the mode of production. Through cooperation, people develop material productive forces while simultaneously creating their own social relations; the expression of social relations in production is the relations of production. A change in the mode of production implies a change in the relations between people in production, thereby giving rise to different social relations and different social conditions. “Each stage of history encounters a definite material result, a definite sum of productive forces, a historically created relation of individuals to nature and to one another.” Therefore, human history is, in a certain sense, the history of the development of the productive forces attained by humanity and the history of the development of social relations linked to those productive forces. Historical materialism attributes changes in the mode of production to the development of productive forces, highlights the decisive significance of productive forces for relations of production and the foundational position of productive forces within the mode of production, and thus takes the “sum total of productive forces” as the determining factor of social conditions, elucidating the foundational and generative significance of productive forces for human history.

马克思恩格斯认为“生产力总和”决定社会关系和社会状况，不同历史阶段的生产力以及由此决定的不同社会状况构成人类的历史，从而把人类历史的基础置于生产力这一客观物质力量之上。马克思恩格斯在《德意志意识形态》中提出：“共同活动方式本身就是‘生产力’；由此可见，人们所达到的生产力的总和决定着社会状况。”这一语境中，“共同活动”主要指人类的生产活动，“共同活动方式”即生产方式。人们通过共同活动发展物质生产力的同时也创造着自己的社会关系，社会关系在生产中的表现即生产关系。生产方式的改变意味着生产中人与人的关系的改变，进而产生不同的社会关系和不同的社会状况。“历史的每一阶段都遇到一定的物质结果，一定的生产力总和，人对自然以及个人之间历史地形成的关系。”因此，人类历史一定意义上就是人所取得的生产力的发展史以及与生产力相联系的社会关系的发展史。唯物史观把生产方式的变更归结为生产力的发展，突出生产力对生产关系的决定性意义以及生产力在生产方式中的基础性地位，进而把“生产力总和”作为社会状况的决定因素，阐明了生产力对于人类历史的基础性和生成性意义。

Marx used the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production to clarify the “criterion of productive forces” for judging social revolution, thereby transcending idealist conceptions of history on the question of what determines social change. Productive forces and relations of production are two inseparable aspects of the same activity: the development of productive forces drives changes in relations of production, and a given set of relations of production constitutes the “space for development” of productive forces. Idealist conceptions of history do not understand real individuals and their material productive activity, and therefore cannot grasp that the fundamental driving force of historical development is the development of material productive forces, nor can they understand that the replacement of social formations is a transformation of relations of production and superstructure on the basis of the development of productive forces; they explain history from ideas and spirit, treating historical development as a “history of spirit.” Marx proposed that social change must be “explained from the conflict existing between the social productive forces and the relations of production.” Historical materialism explains history from real individuals and their material productive activity, taking the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production in material life as the basis for judging social change, thereby understanding historical development as a “natural history” of changes in the mode of production based on the development of productive forces.

马克思用生产力和生产关系的矛盾阐明了判断社会革命的“生产力依据”，在以何判断社会变革的问题上超越了唯心史观。生产力与生产关系是同一活动不可分割的两个方面，生产力的发展推动着生产关系的改变，一定的生产关系构成了生产力的“发展空间”。唯心史观不理解现实的个人及其物质生产活动，因而无法理解社会历史发展的根本动力是物质生产力的发展，不能理解社会形态的更替是生产力发展基础上的生产关系和上层建筑的变革，从观念和精神出发解释历史，将历史发展视作“精神史”。马克思提出，社会变革必须“从社会生产力和生产关系之间的现存冲突中去解释”。唯物史观从现实的个人及其物质生产活动出发解释历史，把物质生活中生产力和生产关系的矛盾作为判断社会变革的依据，从而将历史发展理解为生产力发展基础上生产方式变革的“自然史”。

The “criterion of productive forces” for judging social revolution has both qualitative and quantitative determinations. On the one hand, the qualitative determination of the “criterion of productive forces” shows the inevitability of social revolution. When relations of production “turn from forms of development of the productive forces into fetters of the productive forces. Then begins an era of social revolution.” Productive forces are the “active” factor driving social revolution, and their development to a certain degree is the precondition for social revolution. When existing relations of production can no longer accommodate the development of productive forces, “the only possible way out is a social revolution, to free the social productive forces from the fetters of the outmoded social system.” The capitalist mode of production, while promoting the development of productive forces, intensifies class antagonisms and economic crises in capitalist society, revealing the contradiction between the capitalist social system and social productive forces. To resolve this contradiction, it is necessary to break the old relations of production and their forms of expression in the social structure, overthrow the capitalist relations of production and superstructure that hinder the development of productive forces, and then create new relations of production and a new social structure suited to the level and requirements of development of productive forces, thereby achieving a revolutionary transformation of the social system. On the other hand, the quantitative determination of the “criterion of productive forces” shows the conditionality of social revolution. “No social order is ever destroyed before all the productive forces for which it is sufficient have been developed, and new superior relations of production never replace older ones before the material conditions for their existence have matured within the framework of the old society.” In this context, the word “all” indicates that the productive forces a social formation can accommodate have a “quantitative limit.” In other words, social revolution has a “quantitative requirement” for the level of development of productive forces; when the “quantitative change” of social productive forces has not yet reached a specific degree, social revolution will not occur. In summary, social revolution is the result of the contradictory movement between productive forces and relations of production, plays an important role in promoting the liberation and development of productive forces, and the development of productive forces creates the material precondition and foundation for comprehensive social revolution.

判断社会革命的“生产力依据”具有质的规定和量的规定。一方面，“生产力依据”的质的规定显示了社会革命的必然性。随着生产关系“由生产力的发展形式变成生产力的桎梏。那时社会革命的时代就到来了”。生产力是推动社会革命的“主动”因素，其一定程度的发展是社会革命的前提。当已有的生产关系不能继续容纳生产力发展时，“唯一可能的出路，就是实行社会革命，把社会生产力从过时的社会制度的桎梏下解放出来”。资本主义生产方式在推动生产力发展的同时，加剧了资本主义社会的阶级对立和经济危机，展露了资本主义社会制度与社会生产力之间的矛盾。要解决这一矛盾，必须打破旧的生产关系及其在社会结构上的表现形式，推翻阻碍生产力发展的资本主义的生产关系和上层建筑，进而创建出适应生产力发展水平和发展要求的新的生产关系及社会结构，实现社会制度的革命性变革。另一方面，“生产力依据”的量的规定显示了社会革命的条件性。“无论哪一个社会形态，在它所能容纳的全部生产力发挥出来以前，是决不会灭亡的；而新的更高的生产关系，在它的物质存在条件在旧社会的胎胞里成熟以前，是决不会出现的。”在这一语境中，“全部”一词表明一个社会形态所能容纳的生产力存在“量的限度”。换言之，社会革命对生产力发展水平有“量的要求”，当社会生产力的“量变”还没有达到特定程度时，社会革命就不会发生。综上所述，社会革命是生产力与生产关系矛盾运动的结果，对生产力的解放和发展具有重要的推动作用，生产力发展为全面的社会革命创造物质前提和基础。

III. Analysis of “New Productive Forces” and the “Social Character of Productive Forces” from the Perspective of Scientific Socialism

三、科学社会主义视域下关于“新的生产力”及“生产力的社会本性”的解析

The scientific elaboration of the concept of productive forces is an important ideological foundation for Marx’s “two great discoveries” [2]2 Marx’s two great discoveries are the materialist conception of history (historical materialism) and the theory of surplus value. and also laid the theoretical premise for Marx and Engels to expound the general principles of scientific socialism. In the context of scientific socialism, Marx and Engels put forward the concept of “new productive forces,” expounded the conditions for the emergence and development of new productive forces, and clarified the social character of productive forces.

对生产力概念的科学阐释是马克思“两大发现”的重要思想基础，也为马克思恩格斯阐述科学社会主义的一般原则奠定了理论前提。马克思恩格斯在科学社会主义语境中提出了“新的生产力”概念，阐述了新的生产力的产生发展条件，阐明了生产力的社会本性。

Marx and Engels distinguished between the quantity and quality of productive forces, arguing that new productive forces arise within previous modes of production, and that to preserve and further develop new productive forces, it is necessary to establish a new mode of production corresponding to them. In *The German Ideology*, Marx and Engels stated: “Any new productive force, insofar as it is not merely a quantitative extension of productive forces already known (for instance, the bringing into cultivation of new land), causes a further development of the division of labor.” Here, “merely quantitative” implies the existence of qualitative differences in productive forces, and “new productive forces” include both quantitative expansion and qualitative leaps in productive forces. “Growth of productive forces, quantity and quality” is a brief note Marx wrote in the “Draft Plan for the Chapter on Capital” in the *Economic Manuscripts (1859–1861)*; although the existing texts do not contain a detailed exposition of the quality of productive forces, this note proves that he had at least conceptually distinguished between the quantity and quality of productive forces. “New productive forces and relations of production … develop within the existing process of production and within the inherited, traditional relations of property, and in opposition to them.” New productive forces and new relations of production arise within previous modes of production, that is, within the contradictory unity of previous relations of production and productive forces; the new contradictory unity they form in turn sublates and transcends the previous mode of production—this is the dialectics of the development of productive forces. “Only by adopting a new mode of production corresponding to the present degree of development of the productive forces can the new productive forces themselves be preserved and further developed.” When capitalist relations of production can no longer accommodate the development of productive forces, in order to preserve all the productive forces already attained by human society, it is necessary through revolution to transfer the productive forces into the hands of the proletariat, which is linked to the advanced productive forces and represents the requirements for the development of new productive forces, and to create a new mode of production suited to the development of the new productive forces.

马克思恩格斯区分了生产力的量和质，认为新的生产力产生于以往的生产方式之中，要保存和进一步发展新的生产力，必须建立与之相适应的新的生产方式。马克思恩格斯在《德意志意识形态》中提出：“任何新的生产力，只要它不是迄今已知的生产力单纯的量的扩大（例如，开垦土地），都会引起分工的进一步发展。”在这里，“单纯的量”内涵生产力存在质的差别的意蕴，“新的生产力”既包括生产力在量的层面的扩大也包括生产力在质的层面的跃升。“生产力的增长，量和质”是马克思在《经济学著作和手稿（1859—1861年）》“资本章计划草稿”写下的简短笔记，尽管在现有文本未见其对生产力的质所作的具体阐述，但这一笔记证明他至少已经在思想上区分了生产力的质和量。“新的生产力和生产关系……是在现有的生产发展过程内部和流传下来的、传统的所有制关系内部，并且与它们相对立而发展起来的。”新的生产力和新的生产关系产生于以往的生产方式内部即以往的生产关系与生产力的矛盾统一体之中，二者形成的新的矛盾统一体又扬弃和超越了以往的生产方式，这是生产力发展的辩证法。“只有采用同生产力的现在的发展程度相适应的新的生产方式，新的生产力本身才能保存并进一步发展。”当资本主义生产关系不再能够容纳生产力发展，为了保存人类社会已有的全部生产力，就必须通过革命将生产力转移到与先进生产力相联系的代表新的生产力发展要求的无产阶级手中，创造出与新的生产力的发展相适应的新的生产方式。

Productive forces are the social material forces created by social labor; the capitalist mode of production obscures the social nature of productive forces. “The violently growing productive forces, in their rebellion against their capitalist character, the growing pressure to have their social character recognized, force the capitalist class itself to treat them more and more as social productive forces, as far as this is possible within the framework of capitalist relations.” The development of productive forces constantly breaks through the private nature of capital and the narrow relations of production; the accumulation and concentration of capital lead to an expansion in the scale of production, requiring the means of production to be used jointly by the associated producers. Capitalism partially improves the relations of production through forms such as joint-stock companies, trusts, and state ownership of capital, but this only proves that capital can no longer control the increasingly powerful social productive forces. The adjustment of capitalist relations of production is driven by capital’s inherent drive to pursue surplus value; fundamentally, it is determined by the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production. “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society.” The contradiction between capitalist relations of production and productive forces leads to the frequent outbreak of periodic economic crises, which are in fact a forcible alleviation of the contradiction between relations of production and productive forces at the cost of wasting productive forces. Economic crises prove that “the productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property”; they demand the overthrow of the entire social system of capitalism through proletarian revolution, liberating society’s productive forces from capitalist relations of production, thereby achieving the further development of productive forces under new relations of production.

生产力是社会劳动创造的社会性的物质力量，资本主义生产方式遮蔽了生产力的社会本性。“猛烈增长着的生产力对它的资本属性的这种反作用力，要求承认生产力的社会本性的这种日益增长的压力，迫使资本家阶级本身在资本关系内部可能的限度内，越来越把生产力当作社会生产力看待。”生产力的发展不断突破资本的私有性质和狭隘的生产关系，资本积累和资本积聚引起生产规模的扩大，要求生产资料由联合起来的劳动者共同使用。资本主义通过股份公司、托拉斯、国家占有资本等形式部分地改良生产关系，只能证明资本已经不能掌握日益强大的社会生产力。资本主义生产关系的调整是由资本追逐剩余价值的本性驱使的，究其根本，是由生产力与生产关系的矛盾决定的。“资产阶级除非对生产工具，从而对生产关系，从而对全部社会关系不断地进行革命，否则就不能生存下去。”资本主义生产关系和生产力的矛盾导致周期性的经济危机频繁爆发，实际上是以生产力的浪费为代价的对生产关系和生产力矛盾的强制缓解。经济危机证明，“社会所拥有的生产力已经不能再促进资产阶级文明和资产阶级所有制关系的发展”，要求通过无产阶级革命推翻资本主义的整个社会制度，将社会的生产力从资本主义的生产关系中解放出来，从而实现生产力在新的生产关系下的进一步发展。

The proletarian revolution will open up the communist path of liberating productive forces from the rule of capital, fully releasing and giving play to the social nature of productive forces. “Through the planned use and further development of the existing huge productive forces of all members of society, under the condition that everyone is obliged to work, everyone will equally and increasingly obtain the means of subsistence, means of enjoyment, and the means for the development and exertion of all physical and mental faculties.” Therefore, the social nature of productive forces manifests as follows: the characteristic of social production is “planned”; the ownership of productive forces belongs to all members of society; and the condition for the development of productive forces is that everyone must work. After fully liberating the social nature of productive forces, the alienation of productive forces from humanity will be superseded, and the development of productive forces will become a condition for the all-round development of human beings. “With the all-round development of individuals, their productive forces also grow”; the all-round development of humanity further promotes the development of productive forces, and the development of humanity and the development of productive forces will achieve a “reconciliation.”

无产阶级革命将开辟出把生产力从资本的统治中解放出来的共产主义道路，充分解放和发挥生产力的社会本性。“通过有计划地利用和进一步发展一切社会成员的现有的巨大生产力，在人人都必须劳动的条件下，人人也都将同等地、愈益丰富地得到生活资料、享受资料、发展和表现一切体力和智力所需的资料。”因此，生产力的社会本性表现为：社会生产的特征是“有计划”，生产力的所有权属于一切社会成员，生产力发展的条件是人人都必须劳动。在充分解放生产力的社会本性之后，生产力同人的异化将被扬弃，生产力发展将成为人的全面发展的条件。“在随着个人的全面发展，他们的生产力也增长起来”，人的全面发展进一步推动生产力的发展，人的发展与生产力的发展将实现“和解”。

IV. The Implications of the Scientific Meaning of Marx and Engels’ Concept of Productive Forces for Developing New Quality Productive Forces

四、马克思恩格斯生产力概念的科学含义对发展新质生产力的启示

As a theoretical form, new quality productive forces are an important emblematic concept reflecting the level and demands of the development of productive forces in contemporary Chinese society. They represent a principled innovation on Marx and Engels’ concept of productive forces, realizing a terminological transformation in Marxist discourse on productive forces and developing the Marxist theory of productive forces. As a material force, new quality productive forces are advanced productive forces with a new qualitative state, formed under the comprehensive influence of factors such as information, technology, science, and intelligence in contemporary society, differing from traditional productive forces. They are productive forces possessing both “new quantity” and “new quality.” The scientific connotations contained in Marx and Engels’ concept of productive forces across three horizons offer important practical insights for our in-depth understanding of new quality productive forces and for promoting their development.

作为一种理论形态，新质生产力是反映当代中国社会生产力发展水平和要求的一个重要标识性概念，是对马克思恩格斯生产力概念的原理性创新，实现了马克思主义生产力话语的术语变革，发展了马克思主义生产力理论。作为一种物质力量，新质生产力是生产力在当代社会信息、技术、科学、智能等因素的综合影响下形成的一种与传统生产力不同的具有新质态的先进生产力，是兼具“新量”和“新质”的生产力。马克思恩格斯三重视域下的生产力概念蕴含的科学内涵对我们深入理解新质生产力和推动发展新质生产力具有重要现实启示。

First, developing new quality productive forces still requires giving play to and harnessing the important role of capital in promoting the development of productive forces. As a relation of production, capital has a dual character in driving socio-economic development. On the one hand, “the development of the social productive forces of labor is the historical task and historical right of capital.” A certain scale of capital can integrate the means of production and labor power, thereby fully unleashing the power of the social combination of labor. On the other hand, “capital has a profit-seeking nature; if not regulated and constrained, it will bring incalculable harm to economic and social development.” The unchecked expansion of capital can lead to the destruction of the natural environment, periodic economic crises, social polarization, and so on. As a product of a specific level of development of productive forces, the extent to which capital can promote the development of productive forces is ultimately limited. While promoting the development of productive forces, capital also creates the material foundation for a new and higher mode of production, creating the conditions for its own supersession. Therefore, it is necessary both to fully utilize the role of capital in promoting the development of productive forces and to prevent and regulate the unchecked growth of capital, avoiding the harms brought by capital’s profit-seeking, and liberating the social nature of productive forces.

第一，发展新质生产力仍然要发挥并驾驭资本推动生产力发展的重要作用。资本作为一种生产关系，在推动社会经济发展方面具有两重性。一方面，“社会劳动生产力的发展是资本的历史任务和历史权利”。一定规模的资本能够统合生产资料和劳动力，从而充分发挥劳动的社会结合的力量。另一方面，“资本具有逐利本性，如不加以规范和约束，就会给经济社会发展带来不可估量的危害”。资本的无序扩张会导致自然环境的破坏、周期性的经济危机、社会两极分化等。资本作为特定生产力发展水平的产物，它所能推动的生产力的发展程度终究是有限的。资本在推动生产力发展的同时也为新的更高的生产方式创造了物质基础，为扬弃自身创造了条件。因此，既要充分利用资本推动生产力发展的作用，又要防范和规制资本的无序增长，规避资本逐利带来的危害，解放生产力的社会本性。

To fully utilize capital in developing new quality productive forces, it is necessary, while adhering to the basic socialist economic system, to simultaneously strengthen government guidance and policy support, promoting the deep integration of capital with scientific and technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and green transformation. Specifically: first, optimize the direction of capital investment, focusing on the core areas of new quality productive forces and strategic emerging industries, clarifying a value orientation where capital serves national strategy rather than short-term profit-seeking. Second, innovate capital operation models, develop multi-level capital markets, activate the vitality of state-owned capital, and explore new financing instruments. Third, build a virtuous cycle of “capital–technology–industry,” create a collaborative ecosystem of industry, academia, and research, and strengthen coordinated investment across the industrial chain. Fourth, optimize the institutional environment, lower the threshold for capital participation, and improve the policy support system. “Enhance the inclusiveness and adaptability of the capital market system, and improve the functions of the capital market in coordinating investment and financing.” Fifth, open “green lights” and set “red lights” for capital; both stimulate the vitality of capital and prevent systemic risks, ensuring that capital becomes a “booster” for new quality productive forces rather than a “harvester.”

充分利用资本发展新质生产力，需要在坚持社会主义基本经济制度的前提下，同时加强政府引导和政策支持，推动资本与科技创新、产业升级、绿色转型深度融合。具体而言：一是优化资本投向，聚焦新质生产力的核心领域和战略性新兴产业，明确资本服务国家战略而非短期逐利的价值导向。二是创新资本运作模式，发展多层次资本市场，激活国有资本活力，探索新型融资工具。三是构建“资本—科技—产业”良性循环，打造产学研协同生态，强化产业链协同投资。四是优化制度环境，降低资本参与门槛，完善政策支持体系。“提高资本市场制度包容性、适应性，健全投资和融资相协调的资本市场功能。”五是为资本开好“绿灯”，设好“红灯”，既要激发资本的活力，又要防范系统性风险，确保资本成为新质生产力的“助推器”而非“收割机”。

In the process of utilizing capital to develop new quality productive forces, it is necessary to fully leverage the important role of various types of capital in the socialist market economy. First, promote the strengthening, improvement, and expansion of state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises. Promote the concentration of state-owned enterprises and state-owned capital in public welfare and foundational areas related to the national economy and people’s livelihoods, improve the supervision and management mechanisms for state-owned enterprises and state-owned capital, and enhance the core competitiveness of state-owned enterprises and state-owned capital. Second, regulate and guide the healthy development of private capital. Continuously dismantle institutional and mechanistic obstacles hindering the development of the private economy through reform, and strengthen policy guarantees for the development of the private economy through policy support. Establish and improve a legal and institutional system for the healthy development of private capital, creating a fair and favorable development environment for the private economy. Third, encourage and guide medium- and long-term investment, and help develop patient capital. Patient capital focuses on medium- and long-term returns, which can to a certain extent overcome the short-sightedness brought by capital’s profit-seeking, and is conducive to guiding factors such as labor, knowledge, management, technology, and data to converge in the direction of developing new quality productive forces. In short, capital is an important factor of production for promoting the development of new quality productive forces. It is necessary to “comprehensively enhance the effectiveness of capital governance, and improve the level of capital regulatory capacity and the modernization of the regulatory system.” Develop diversified, multi-level capital markets that meet the needs of new quality productive forces, and use the modernization of capital governance to provide guarantees for utilizing capital to promote the development of new quality productive forces.

在利用资本发展新质生产力过程中，需要充分发挥社会主义市场经济中各类资本的重要作用。一是推动国有资本和国有企业做强做优做大。推动国有企业和国有资本向关系国计民生的公益性、基础性领域集中，完善对国有企业和国有资本的监督管理机制，提升国有企业和国有资本核心竞争力。二是规范和引导民营资本健康发展。要通过改革不断破除阻碍民营经济发展的体制机制障碍，通过政策扶持加强民营经济发展的政策保障。建立健全民营资本健康发展的法律制度体系，为民营经济发展营造公平良好发展环境。三是鼓励引导中长期投资，助力耐心资本发展壮大。耐心资本注重中长期回报，能够一定程度上克服资本逐利带来的短视性，有利于引导劳动、知识、管理、技术、数据等要素向发展新质生产力方向汇聚。总之，资本是推动新质生产力发展的重要生产要素，要“全面提升资本治理效能，提高资本监管能力和监管体系现代化水平”。要发展适应新质生产力需求的多元化、多层次资本市场，以资本治理现代化为利用资本推动发展新质生产力提供保障。

Second, developing new quality productive forces requires constructing new relations of production through further comprehensively deepening reform. The emergence and development of any new productive forces require corresponding new relations of production; it is necessary to construct new relations of production through reform to open up “development space” for new quality productive forces. The development of productive forces drives changes in relations of production; changes in relations of production require adjustments in the social system; adjustments in the social system necessitate the implementation of reforms. Only by transforming relations of production can the development of productive forces be promoted. The transformation of relations of production does not occur spontaneously; it requires the active agency of human beings as historical subjects. Reform is an important means, within the same social formation, of resolving the contradiction between relations of production and the development of productive forces, and of promoting the adjustment of relations of production in a direction that meets the requirements of the development of productive forces. Therefore, “to develop new quality productive forces, it is necessary to further comprehensively deepen reform and form new relations of production that are compatible with them.”

第二，发展新质生产力要通过进一步全面深化改革构建新型生产关系。任何新的生产力的产生发展都要求与之相适应的新的生产关系，必须通过改革构建新的生产关系为新质生产力开辟“发展空间”。生产力发展推动生产关系变化，生产关系变化要求社会体制调整，社会体制的调整要求实行改革。只有变革生产关系，才能推动生产力发展。生产关系的变革不是自发实现的，需要作为历史主体的人的主动作为。改革是在同一社会形态内解决生产关系与生产力发展不相适应的矛盾，推动生产关系朝着适应生产力发展要求方向调整的重要方式。因此，“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”。

To further deepen reform comprehensively is, on the basis of the achievements of past reform, to further adjust those mechanisms and institutions in the social and economic system, the cultural system, and other areas that are incompatible with the development of productive forces, thereby creating conditions for the further liberation and development of productive forces. First, take the reform of the economic system as the牵引 [n5]. The economic system is the embodiment of relations of production within the social system; reform of the economic system can directly promote the adjustment of relations of production, thereby liberating and developing productive forces. We must adhere to the reform direction of the socialist market economy, deepen reforms in the market-based allocation of factors of production, smooth the flow of factors such as data, technology, and human capital, and raise total factor productivity; improve the income distribution system, enable factors of production such as labor, knowledge, technology, management, capital, and data to participate in distribution according to their contribution, and enhance the impetus and vitality for the development of new quality productive forces. Second, take the reform of the rule-of-law system as the guarantee. The social legal system has an important counteractive effect on the economic base; a sound rule-of-law system can promote social and economic development. We must deepen the reform of “streamlining administration, delegating power, improving regulation, and upgrading services” [n6], implement the deployment for a unified national market, and break down hidden and institutional barriers; improve regulations against monopolies and unfair competition, ensure that market entities participate fairly in market competition under a rule-of-law environment, and stimulate and enhance the vitality and confidence of market entities in starting undertakings and innovating. Third, accelerate the reform of the ecological civilization system. New quality productive forces are green productive forces; the natural ecological environment is an important carrier for the development of productive forces. We must promote the green upgrading and transformation of traditional industries, develop green industries and green technologies, strengthen the constraints of the “dual carbon” goals [n7], and use the green and low-carbon economy to inject new momentum into the development of new quality productive forces. Fourth, deepen the reform of the cultural system. New quality productive forces require new-type workers with new qualities and new skills; the cultural and educational undertakings are an important pathway for cultivating workers’ skills and promoting the comprehensive development of the individual. The production of spiritual culture is an important component of social production. We must take enriching the people’s spiritual world as the goal, take enhancing the dissemination power and influence of fine traditional Chinese culture as the internal requirement, stimulate the vitality of cultural market entities and the cultural innovation and creativity of the entire nation, continuously promote the flourishing of cultural undertakings and the prosperity of the cultural industry, and inject cultural strength into the development of new quality productive forces. In short, constructing new-type relations of production is a systematic project; we must adhere to a problem-oriented approach and a systemic perspective, and through coordinated reforms in key areas such as the economy, rule of law, ecology, and culture, break down the institutional and mechanistic obstacles that constrain the development of new quality productive forces.

进一步全面深化改革就是要在以往改革成果的基础上，进一步调整与生产力发展不相适应的社会经济体制、文化体制等各方面体制机制，为进一步解放和发展生产力创造条件。一是以经济体制改革为牵引。经济体制是生产关系在社会制度上的体现，经济体制改革能够直接推动生产关系的调整，进而解放和发展生产力。要坚持社会主义市场经济的改革方向，深化要素市场化配置改革，畅通数据、技术、人才资本等要素流动，提高全要素生产率；完善收入分配制度，推动劳动、知识、技术、管理、资本、数据等生产要素按贡献参与分配，增强新质生产力发展的动力与活力。二是以法治体制改革为保障。社会法律制度对经济基础具有重要反作用，良好的法治体系能够促进社会经济发展。要深化“放管服”改革，落实全国统一大市场部署，破除隐性和制度性壁垒；完善反垄断和反不正当竞争的法规，保障市场主体在法治环境下公平参与市场竞争，激发和增强市场主体干事创业活力与信心。三是加快生态文明体制改革。新质生产力是绿色生产力，自然生态环境是生产力发展的重要载体。要推动传统产业绿色升级转型，发展绿色产业、绿色技术，强化“双碳”目标约束，以绿色低碳经济为发展新质生产力注入新动能。四是深化文化体制改革。新质生产力要求具备新素质、新技能的新型劳动者，文化教育事业是培养劳动者技能和促进人的全面发展的重要途径。精神文化生产是社会生产的重要组成部分，要以丰富人民精神世界为目标，以提升中华优秀传统文化传播力影响力为内在要求，激发文化市场主体活力和全民族文化创新创造活力，不断推动文化事业繁荣、文化产业兴盛，为新质生产力发展注入文化力量。总之，构建新型生产关系是一项系统工程，必须坚持问题导向和系统观念，通过经济、法治、生态、文化等关键领域协同改革，破除束缚新质生产力发展的体制机制障碍。

Third, the development of new quality productive forces must take the promotion of the free and comprehensive development of the individual as its value orientation. The free and comprehensive development of the individual is an important condition for the development of productive forces, and promoting the free and comprehensive development of the individual is an inherent requirement of the development of productive forces. On the one hand, human wisdom and ability are important driving forces for the development of productive forces; only on the basis of the comprehensive development of the individual can social productive forces be fully developed, and the social nature of productive forces be fully liberated. On the other hand, “since the working class has created the boundless productive forces of modern industry, it has also achieved the first condition for the emancipation of labor.” [n8] The development of productive forces objectively creates conditions for the realization of the emancipation of labor and the free and comprehensive development of the individual, expanding the “time” and “space” for the free and comprehensive development of the individual. Therefore, it is necessary to properly handle the relationship between the development of productive forces and the development of the individual, and insist on promoting the free and comprehensive development of the individual while promoting the development of new quality productive forces. China’s basic economic system and fundamental political system have laid a solid institutional guarantee for the free and comprehensive development of the individual; the multi-ownership economy with public ownership as the mainstay provides a solid material foundation for the free and comprehensive development of the individual. In this sense, new quality productive forces are the advanced productive forces of socialist society, productive forces that are jointly created and jointly enjoyed by all members of society and that can promote the free and comprehensive development of the individual.

第三，发展新质生产力要以促进人的自由全面发展作为价值旨归。人的自由全面发展是生产力发展的重要条件，推动人的自由全面发展是生产力发展的应有之义。一方面，人的智慧和能力是生产力发展的重要推动力量，只有在人的全面发展的基础上，社会生产力才能得到充分发展，生产力的社会本性才能得到充分解放；另一方面，“工人阶级既然创造了现代工业的无穷无尽的生产力，也就实现了劳动解放的第一个条件”。生产力的发展客观上为实现劳动解放和人的自由全面发展创造了条件，拓展了人的自由全面发展的“时间”和“空间”。因此，必须处理好生产力发展与人的发展的关系，坚持在推动新质生产力发展的同时促进人的自由全面发展。我国的基本经济制度和根本政治制度为人的自由全面发展奠定了有力的制度保障，公有制为主体的多种所有制经济为人的自由全面发展提供了坚实的物质基础。就此而言，新质生产力是社会主义社会的先进生产力，是社会全体成员共同创造、共同享有、能够推动人的自由全面发展的生产力。

Adhering to the promotion of the free and comprehensive development of the individual through the development of new quality productive forces means implementing the people-centered development thought, insisting that development is for the people and relies on the people, and striving to achieve the sharing of development results by all the people. The development of new quality productive forces must take doing everything for the people as its starting point, continuously meet the people’s aspirations for a better life, and take promoting the free and comprehensive development of the individual as its fundamental purpose. While promoting the continuous development of new quality productive forces, actively promote the replacement of high-intensity, repetitive labor with automated and intelligent production technologies, improve workers’ working conditions, and create more free time for the free and comprehensive development of the individual. Social productive forces are ultimately created by people; people are the most active factor among productive forces, and the labor of the masses of the people is the main body that creates social productive forces and the fundamental force for the development of social productive forces. We must innovate the talent cultivation mechanism integrating industry, academia, and research, stimulate the creative vitality of all members of society, give full play to the entrepreneurial spirit of the broad masses of workers and scientific researchers, promote the transformation of scientific and technological innovation achievements into practical productive forces, and realize a positive interaction among talent cultivation, scientific and technological innovation, and the development of new quality productive forces. The emancipation of the masses of the people and the improvement of social conditions “depend not only on the development of productive forces, but also on whether the productive forces belong to the people.” [n9] An important superiority of developing productive forces in socialist society lies in the fact that, by consolidating and developing socialist public ownership, liberating the social nature of productive forces, breaking the monopolistic and exploitative possession of productive forces by capital, driving new quality productive forces to a higher level through the improvement of people’s qualities and abilities and their comprehensive development, it creates the necessary prerequisites and material foundation for realizing the free and comprehensive development of the individual. We must improve the participation of factors in income distribution, form a joint force of primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution, implement the concept of shared development, and ensure that the fruits of the development of new quality productive forces benefit all the people. In short, the purpose of developing productive forces in socialist society is by no means the one-sided pursuit of the growth of material wealth; the fundamental aim is to open up space for the emancipation and free and comprehensive development of the individual, and to realize the harmonious unity of the development of productive forces and the development of the individual.

坚持以新质生产力发展促进人的自由全面发展，就是要贯彻以人民为中心的发展思想，坚持发展为了人民，发展依靠人民，努力实现发展成果由全体人民共享。发展新质生产力必须把一切为了人民作为出发点，不断满足人民对美好生活的向往，以促进人的自由全面发展为根本目的。在推动新质生产力不断发展的同时，积极推进以自动化、智能化生产技术代替高强度、重复性劳动，改善劳动者工作条件，为人的自由全面发展创造更多自由时间。社会生产力归根到底是由人创造的，人是生产力中最活跃的因素，人民群众的劳动是社会生产力的创造主体和社会生产力发展的根本力量。要创新产学研一体化人才培养机制，激发社会全体成员的创造活力，发挥广大劳动者和科研工作者的干事创业精神，推动科技创新成果向现实生产力转化，实现人才培养、科技创新和新质生产力发展的良性互动。人民群众的解放和社会状况的改善“不仅仅决定于生产力的发展，而且还决定于生产力是否归人民所有”。社会主义社会发展生产力的重要优越性就在于，通过巩固和发展社会主义公有制，解放生产力的社会本性，打破资本对生产力的垄断性和剥削性占有，通过人的素质能力提升和全面发展驱动新质生产力向更高水平迈进，为实现人的自由全面发展创造必要前提和物质基础。要健全要素参与收入分配，形成初次分配、再分配、第三次分配的合力，贯彻共享发展理念，确保新质生产力发展成果惠及全体人民。总之，社会主义社会发展生产力的目的绝非片面追求物质财富的增长，根本是要为人的解放和自由全面发展开辟空间，实现生产力发展与人的发展的和谐统一。

About the authors: Zhang Lin, Professor, Department One of Advanced Studies, Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC [National Academy of Governance]; Fu Guowei, Doctoral Candidate, School of Marxism, Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC [National Academy of Governance].

作者简介：张琳，中央党校[国家行政学院]进修一部教授；付国伟，中央党校[国家行政学院]马克思主义学院博士研究生。