Deepening the Law-Based Understanding of Doing Economic Work Well in the New Era

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, in the face of a severe and complex international environment and arduous and heavy tasks of domestic reform, development, and stability, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken a broad and long-term view, exercised overall leadership, engaged in profound reflection on many major theoretical and practical issues related to economic development in the New Era, summarized and put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, and formed and developed Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy, guiding China’s economic development to achieve historic accomplishments and undergo historic transformations. As a scientific action guide for China’s economic work in the New Era, the content of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy concerning the law-based understanding of doing economic work well in the New Era is largely reflected in the spirit of the annual Central Economic Work Conferences. By deeply studying and systematically sorting out this content, we can gain a deeper understanding of the positions, viewpoints, and methods of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy and transform law-based understanding into tangible results in doing economic work well.

党的十八大以来，面对严峻复杂的国际环境和艰巨繁重的国内改革发展稳定任务，以习近平同志为核心的党中央高瞻远瞩、总揽全局，对关系新时代经济发展的许多重大理论和实践问题进行深邃思考，概括提出一系列新理念新思想新战略，形成和发展了习近平经济思想，指导我国经济发展取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革。作为新时代我国经济工作的科学行动指南，习近平经济思想关于做好新时代经济工作的规律性认识的内容，很多体现在历年中央经济工作会议精神中。深入学习、系统梳理这些内容，能够更深入理解习近平经济思想的立场观点方法，把规律性认识转化为做好经济工作的实际成效。

Deeply Understanding from the Perspective of Principled Contributions

从原理性贡献的角度深入理解

Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy is a scientific and open theoretical system, containing a summary of practical experience in China’s economic development in the New Era, and it continues to deepen and enrich with the development of practice, thereby exerting a huge guiding role in practice. Systematically sorting out these law-based understandings from the perspective of principled contributions, they can be summarized in the following aspects.

习近平经济思想是科学、开放的理论体系，蕴含着对我国新时代经济发展实践经验的总结，并随着实践发展而不断深化、丰富，进而对实践产生了巨大指导作用。从原理性贡献的角度系统梳理这些规律性认识，可以将其归纳为以下几个方面。

First, the law-based understanding that economic work must adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party. Proposing to adhere to and strengthen the Party’s centralized and unified leadership over economic work is an original contribution of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy. The 2017 Central Economic Work Conference put forward that “we adhere to strengthening the Party’s centralized and unified leadership over economic work, ensuring that China’s economy develops in the correct direction,” elaborating on the major proposition of adhering to the Party’s centralized and unified leadership over economic work. Subsequent annual Central Economic Work Conferences have all expounded on this proposition. For example, the 2018 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee and play its role in steering the ship; the 2020 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that the authority of the Party Central Committee is the fundamental reliance for the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups across the country to rise to challenges in times of crisis, and that at major historical junctures and in the face of major tests, the judgment, decision-making, and action capabilities of the Party Central Committee play a decisive role; the 2022 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must adhere to the overall leadership of the Party, especially the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee; and 2024 even more clearly emphasized that the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is the fundamental guarantee for doing economic work well. It can be seen that our Party’s understanding of why to adhere to the Party’s centralized and unified leadership over economic work and how to adhere to it is continuously deepening.

一是关于经济工作要坚持党的集中统一领导的规律性认识。提出坚持加强党对经济工作的集中统一领导，是习近平经济思想的一个原创性贡献。2017年中央经济工作会议提出“我们坚持加强党对经济工作的集中统一领导，保证我国经济沿着正确方向发展”，阐释了坚持党对经济工作的集中统一领导的重大命题。此后历年中央经济工作会议都对这一命题进行了阐述。比如，2018年中央经济工作会议提出，必须坚持党中央集中统一领导，发挥掌舵领航作用；2020年中央经济工作会议提出，党中央权威是危难时刻全党全国各族人民迎难而上的根本依靠，在重大历史关头，重大考验面前，党中央的判断力、决策力、行动力具有决定性作用；2022年中央经济工作会议提出，必须坚持党的全面领导特别是党中央集中统一领导；2024年更是明确强调，党中央集中统一领导是做好经济工作的根本保证。可以看出，我们党对为什么坚持党对经济工作的集中统一领导、怎样坚持党对经济工作的集中统一领导的认识在不断深化。

Second, the law-based understanding of promoting high-quality development. In 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping made the major judgment at the 19th National Congress of the CPC that China’s economy had shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development. The Central Economic Work Conference of the same year proposed that “promoting high-quality development is the fundamental requirement for determining development ideas, formulating economic policies, and implementing macroeconomic regulation for the current and future period.” The law-based understandings proposed at subsequent annual Central Economic Work Conferences have mostly involved content on high-quality development. For example, the 2018 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must understand the current situation from the perspective of long-term trends and clearly recognize China’s long-term positive development prospects. This pointed out the prerequisite for “turning pressure into a driving force for accelerating high-quality economic development.” The 2021 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must adhere to high-quality development, and that adhering to economic construction as the central task is a requirement of the Party’s basic line, which the entire Party must concentrate on implementing, promoting the economy to achieve steady qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth. This unified adhering to economic construction as the central task with adhering to high-quality development. The 2022 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must adhere to development as the Party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country, and that development must be high-quality development, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implementing the new development philosophy. The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must take promoting Chinese-path modernization as the biggest political task, unite the broadest masses of the people under the unified leadership of the Party, focus on the central task of economic construction and the primary task of high-quality development, and gradually turn the grand blueprint of Chinese-path modernization into a beautiful reality. The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must properly coordinate the relationship between cultivating new drivers and updating old drivers, and develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions; we must properly coordinate the relationship between improving quality and expanding aggregate volume, and consolidate the material foundation of Chinese-path modernization. These important expositions clarify the internal connections among Chinese-path modernization, the central task of economic construction, development as the Party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country, the new development philosophy, new quality productive forces, and high-quality development: high-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects, a concrete manifestation of adhering to economic construction as the central task and adhering to development as the top priority, a development that embodies the new development philosophy, and a development that takes developing new quality productive forces as its inherent requirement and important focus. The law-based understanding of promoting high-quality development and the principles it contains constitute another original contribution of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy, forming a systematic theoretical framework for promoting high-quality development.

二是关于推动高质量发展的规律性认识。2017年，习近平总书记在党的十九大上作出我国经济已由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段的重大判断。同年的中央经济工作会议提出“推动高质量发展是当前和今后一个时期确定发展思路、制定经济政策、实施宏观调控的根本要求”。之后历年中央经济工作会议提出的规律性认识，大都涉及高质量发展的内容。比如，2018年中央经济工作会议提出，必须从长期大势认识当前形势，认清我国长期向好发展前景。这就指出了“变压力为加快推动经济高质量发展的动力”的前提。2021年中央经济工作会议提出，必须坚持高质量发展，坚持以经济建设为中心是党的基本路线的要求，全党都要聚精会神贯彻执行，推动经济实现质的稳步提升和量的合理增长。这就把坚持以经济建设为中心同坚持高质量发展统一起来。2022年中央经济工作会议提出，坚持发展是党执政兴国的第一要务，发展必须是高质量发展，完整、准确、全面贯彻新发展理念。2023年中央经济工作会议提出，必须把推进中国式现代化作为最大的政治，在党的统一领导下，团结最广大人民，聚焦经济建设这一中心工作和高质量发展这一首要任务，把中国式现代化宏伟蓝图一步步变成美好现实。2024年中央经济工作会议提出，必须统筹好培育新动能和更新旧动能的关系，因地制宜发展新质生产力；必须统筹好提升质量和做大总量的关系，夯实中国式现代化的物质基础。这些重要论述，阐明了中国式现代化、经济建设这一中心工作、发展这一党执政兴国的第一要务、新发展理念、新质生产力和高质量发展之间的内在联系：高质量发展是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务，是坚持以经济建设为中心和坚持发展第一要务的具体体现，是体现新发展理念的发展，也是以发展新质生产力为内在要求和重要着力点的发展。关于推动高质量发展的规律性认识及其蕴含的原理，是习近平经济思想的又一原创性贡献，形成了推动高质量发展的系统理论框架。

Third, the law-based understanding of the starting point and relying force of economic work. Development for the people is the fundamental stance of Marxist political economy and also a main thread running through Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy. The 2017 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that the people-centered development thought should be implemented throughout the coordinated advancement of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy. In the practice of implementing the people-centered development thought, our Party has deepened its law-based understanding of the starting point and relying force of economic work. For example, the 2018 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must fully mobilize the initiative of all parties to form a strong synergy for overall work; the 2020 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that putting the people first is the fundamental prerequisite for making correct choices, and that as long as we always keep the people in our hearts and always place the people’s interests in the highest position, we will certainly be able to make correct decisions, determine the optimal path, and rely on the people to overcome all difficulties and obstacles.

三是关于经济工作出发点和依靠力量的规律性认识。发展为了人民是马克思主义政治经济学的根本立场，也是贯穿习近平经济思想的一条主线。2017年中央经济工作会议提出，坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，贯穿到统筹推进“五位一体”总体布局和协调推进“四个全面”战略布局之中。在贯彻以人民为中心的发展思想的实践中，我们党深化了对经济工作出发点和依靠力量的规律性认识。比如，2018年中央经济工作会议提出，必须充分调动各方面积极性，形成全局工作强大合力；2020年中央经济工作会议提出，人民至上是作出正确抉择的根本前提，只要心里始终装着人民，始终把人民利益放在最高位置，就一定能够作出正确决策，确定最优路径，并依靠人民战胜一切艰难险阻。

Fourth, the law-based understanding of macroeconomic governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively put forward supply-side structural reform and pointed out that “the supply side and the demand side are the two basic means of managing and regulating the macroeconomy.” This transcends the Western economic theory of macroeconomic regulation, which is limited to demand management and short-term regulation, and points the way for improving the macroeconomic governance system. The 2018 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must accurately grasp the degree of macroeconomic regulation, proactively conduct anticipatory adjustments and fine-tuning, and strengthen policy coordination; we must promptly respond to social concerns and proactively guide market expectations in a targeted manner. The 2019 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must scientifically and steadily grasp the intensity of counter-cyclical macro-policy adjustments, enhance the vitality of micro-entities, and run the main line of supply-side structural reform through the entire process of macroeconomic regulation. The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must adhere to the coordinated exertion of deepening supply-side structural reform and focusing on expanding effective demand, leverage the advantages of the super-large market and strong production capacity, make the domestic circulation based on the domestic demand as the main driving force, and improve the quality and level of international circulation. The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that we must properly coordinate the relationship between aggregate supply and aggregate demand, and smooth the national economic cycle. The law-based understanding of macroeconomic governance creatively makes a series of new major judgments and important expositions on issues such as strengthening macroeconomic regulation and properly coordinating the relationship between aggregate supply and aggregate demand. Since the New Era, our Party has correctly handled the relationship between supply management and demand management, achieved the organic unity of short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, strengthened interval regulation, targeted regulation, and discretionary regulation, and proactively guided market expectations. China’s macroeconomic governance has become increasingly mature, playing a huge role in resisting economic risks and promoting high-quality development.

四是关于宏观经济治理的规律性认识。习近平总书记创造性提出供给侧结构性改革，并指出“供给侧和需求侧是管理和调控宏观经济的两个基本手段”。这超越了局限于需求管理和短期调控的西方经济学宏观调控理论，为完善宏观经济治理体系指明了方向。2018年中央经济工作会议提出，必须精准把握宏观调控的度，主动预调微调、强化政策协同；必须及时回应社会关切，有针对性主动引导市场预期。2019年中央经济工作会议提出，必须科学稳健把握宏观政策逆周期调节力度，增强微观主体活力，把供给侧结构性改革主线贯穿于宏观调控全过程。2023年中央经济工作会议提出，必须坚持深化供给侧结构性改革和着力扩大有效需求协同发力，发挥超大规模市场和强大生产能力的优势，使国内大循环建立在内需主动力的基础上，提升国际循环质量和水平。2024年中央经济工作会议提出，必须统筹好总供给和总需求的关系，畅通国民经济循环。关于宏观经济治理的规律性认识，创造性地对加强宏观调控、统筹好总供给和总需求的关系等问题作出一系列新的重大判断、重要论述。新时代以来，我们党正确处理供给管理和需求管理的关系，实现短期目标、中期目标、长期目标的有机统一，加强区间调控、定向调控、相机调控，主动引导市场预期，我国宏观经济治理日趋成熟，在抵御经济风险、促进高质量发展方面发挥了巨大作用。

Fifth, law-based understanding concerning deepening reform and opening up to enhance the dynamism and vitality of economic development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The practice of China’s reform and opening up over more than 40 years shows that reform is the key to unleashing and developing the productive forces.” [6]6 Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Conference Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up” (December 18, 2018). Around the theme of deepening reform and opening up to enhance the dynamism and vitality of economic development, the Central Economic Work Conference has put forward a series of law-based understandings. For example, the 2019 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that it is necessary to be adept at removing institutional and mechanistic obstacles facing development through reform, and to activate dormant development potential. The 2020 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that institutional advantages are the fundamental guarantee for forging a mighty force to overcome difficulties together; as long as we firmly uphold the “Four Confidences” [7]7 The Four Confidences: confidence in the path, confidence in the theory, confidence in the system, and confidence in the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. and adhere to the institutional advantage of concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks, we will certainly be able to unite the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups across the country closely together, unleashing powerful energy to overcome difficulties and advance the cause of development. The 2022 Central Economic Work Conference proposed upholding and improving the basic socialist economic system, adhering to the direction of socialist market economy reform, and upholding the “Two Unwavering” principles; [8]8 The “Two Unwavering” principles: unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector of the economy. persisting in promoting high-standard opening up, and steadily expanding institutional opening up in rules, regulations, management, and standards. The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that it is necessary to rely on reform and opening up to enhance the endogenous driving force of development, and to coordinate the promotion of deep-level reform and high-standard opening up. The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that it is necessary to properly handle the relationship between an effective market and a competent government, forming an economic order that is both “vibrant and well-regulated.” The law-based understanding concerning deepening reform and opening up to enhance the dynamism and vitality of economic development covers not only the relationships between reform and development, and between reform and opening up, but also the core of deepening reform and opening up, and the direction, objectives, and pathways of economic reform. On the basis of these law-based understandings, reform and opening up in the New Era have always accompanied the process of improving economic quality and efficiency, forming a favorable situation where reform and opening up and high-quality development mutually promote and advance each other.

五是关于以深化改革开放增强经济发展动力活力的规律性认识。习近平总书记指出：“中国改革开放40多年的实践表明，改革是解放和发展社会生产力的关键。”围绕以深化改革开放增强经济发展动力活力，中央经济工作会议提出了一系列规律性认识。比如，2019年中央经济工作会议提出，必须善于通过改革破除发展面临的体制机制障碍，激活蛰伏的发展潜能。2020年中央经济工作会议提出，制度优势是形成共克时艰磅礴力量的根本保障，只要坚定“四个自信”，坚持集中力量办大事的制度优势，就一定能够使全党全国各族人民紧密团结起来，发挥出攻坚克难、推动事业发展的强大能量。2022年中央经济工作会议提出，坚持和完善社会主义基本经济制度，坚持社会主义市场经济改革方向，坚持“两个毫不动摇”；坚持推进高水平对外开放，稳步扩大规则、规制、管理、标准等制度型开放。2023年中央经济工作会议提出，必须坚持依靠改革开放增强发展内生动力，统筹推进深层次改革和高水平开放。2024年中央经济工作会议提出，必须统筹好有效市场和有为政府的关系，形成既“放得活”又“管得住”的经济秩序。关于以深化改革开放增强经济发展动力活力的规律性认识，既涵盖了改革与发展、改革与开放的关系，也包含了深化改革开放的核心，经济改革的方向、目标和路径等内容。在这些规律性认识的基础上，新时代改革开放始终伴随着经济提质增效的进程，形成了改革开放和高质量发展互促共进的良好局面。

Sixth, law-based understanding concerning coordinating development and security. As the changes unseen in a century accelerate, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, and the security risks facing China’s development have also increased significantly, making the importance of coordinating development and security increasingly prominent. The 2019 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that it is necessary to strengthen risk awareness and firmly hold the bottom line of preventing systemic risks. The 2020 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that achieving self-reliance and strength in science and technology is the fundamental support for promoting the overall situation of development; as long as we uphold the scientific spirit, grasp scientific laws, and vigorously promote independent innovation, we will certainly be able to place national development on a more secure and reliable foundation. The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that it is necessary to adhere to the benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security, promoting high-level security with high-quality development, and ensuring high-quality development with high-level security, so that development and security achieve dynamic balance and mutual reinforcement. The law-based understanding concerning coordinating development and security provides new ideas and new directions for sustainable development, and also opens up new horizons and new spaces in theory and practice for secure development.

六是关于统筹发展和安全的规律性认识。随着百年变局加速演进，世界进入新的动荡变革期，我国发展面临的安全风险也大幅提升，统筹发展和安全的重要性日益凸显。2019年中央经济工作会议提出，必须强化风险意识，牢牢守住不发生系统性风险的底线。2020年中央经济工作会议提出，科技自立自强是促进发展大局的根本支撑，只要秉持科学精神、把握科学规律、大力推动自主创新，就一定能够把国家发展建立在更加安全、更为可靠的基础之上。2023年中央经济工作会议提出，必须坚持高质量发展和高水平安全良性互动，以高质量发展促进高水平安全，以高水平安全保障高质量发展，发展和安全要动态平衡、相得益彰。关于统筹发展和安全的规律性认识，为可持续发展提供了新思路、新方向，也为安全发展打开了理论和实践的新视野、新空间。

Seventh, law-based understanding concerning the methodology for doing economic work well. The 2017 Central Economic Work Conference proposed adhering to a problem-oriented approach in deploying new strategies for economic development; adhering to correct work strategies and methods, seeking progress while maintaining stability, maintaining strategic resolve, and adhering to bottom-line thinking. The 2020 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that scientific decision-making and creative response are the fundamental methods for turning crises into opportunities. The 2021 Central Economic Work Conference proposed that it is necessary to adhere to seeking progress while maintaining stability, and to grasp the timing, intensity, and effectiveness when adjusting policies and promoting reforms, adhering to the principle of establishing the new before abolishing the old, and proceeding steadily and surely; it is necessary to strengthen overall coordination and adhere to a systems perspective. The 2022 Central Economic Work Conference proposed adhering to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, adhering to seeking truth from facts, respecting laws, maintaining a systems perspective and bottom-line thinking, and taking practice as the standard for testing the effectiveness of various policies and work. These law-based understandings constitute the methodology for doing economic work well. The formulation put forward by the 2024 Central Economic Work Conference—“seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress; upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, establishing the new before abolishing the old; systems integration, and coordinated cooperation”—is precisely a comprehensive embodiment and innovative application of these methodologies.

七是关于做好经济工作方法论的规律性认识。2017年中央经济工作会议提出，坚持问题导向部署经济发展新战略；坚持正确工作策略和方法，稳中求进，保持战略定力、坚持底线思维。2020年中央经济工作会议提出，科学决策和创造性应对是化危为机的根本方法。2021年中央经济工作会议提出，必须坚持稳中求进，调整政策和推动改革要把握好时度效，坚持先立后破、稳扎稳打；必须加强统筹协调，坚持系统观念。2022年中央经济工作会议提出，坚持稳中求进工作总基调，坚持实事求是、尊重规律、系统观念、底线思维，把实践作为检验各项政策和工作成效的标准。这些规律性认识，是做好经济工作的方法论。2024年中央经济工作会议提出的“稳中求进、以进促稳，守正创新、先立后破，系统集成、协同配合”，正是对这些方法论的综合体现和创新运用。

Embodying the Dialectical Unity of Three Logics

体现三大逻辑的辩证统一

The content of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy regarding law-based understandings for doing economic work well in the New Era deeply refines and summarizes the law-based achievements of China’s economic development practice. It possesses scientificity and truth, people-centeredness and practicality, openness and contemporaneity, and embodies the dialectical unity of theoretical logic, historical logic, and practical logic.

习近平经济思想关于做好新时代经济工作的规律性认识的内容，深入提炼和总结我国经济发展实践的规律性成果，具有科学性和真理性、人民性和实践性、开放性和时代性，体现了理论逻辑、历史逻辑与实践逻辑的辩证统一。

These law-based understandings deeply grasp the essential attributes and contemporary characteristics of China’s economic development, profoundly elucidate the fundamental guarantee and fundamental stance of China’s economic development, and open up new realms for contemporary Chinese Marxist political economy. Strengthening the Party’s overall leadership over economic work is the fundamental guarantee; adhering to a people-centered development philosophy is the fundamental stance; upholding and improving the basic socialist economic system—with public ownership playing a dominant role and diverse forms of ownership developing side by side, distribution according to work as the main form and diverse modes of distribution coexisting, and the socialist market economy system—is the institutional foundation. These law-based understandings profoundly reveal that, under the conditions where the principal contradiction in Chinese society has undergone profound changes, development must be high-quality development; it is necessary to fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, and accelerate the cultivation of new quality productive forces. These law-based understandings include a series of original concepts with rich connotations and scientific value, making important principle-level contributions to enriching and developing Marxist political economy.

这些规律性认识深入把握我国经济发展本质属性、时代特征，深刻阐明我国经济发展的根本保证、根本立场等，开拓了当代中国马克思主义政治经济学新境界。加强党对经济工作的全面领导，这是根本保证；坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，这是根本立场；坚持和完善公有制为主体、多种所有制经济共同发展，按劳分配为主体、多种分配方式并存，社会主义市场经济体制等社会主义基本经济制度，这是制度基础。这些规律性认识深刻揭示了在我国社会主要矛盾发生深刻变化的条件下，发展必须是高质量发展，要完整、准确、全面贯彻新发展理念，加快构建新发展格局，加快培育新质生产力。这些规律性认识包含一系列具有丰富内涵和科学价值的原创性概念，为丰富和发展马克思主义政治经济学作出重要的原理性贡献。

These law-based understandings run through the past, present, and future; they represent the inheritance and innovation of experiences from promoting Chinese-path modernization, especially economic construction, across different historical periods. Chinese-path modernization is a major achievement obtained by our Party leading the people of all ethnic groups across the country through long-term exploration and practice, enduring countless hardships and paying enormous costs. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, the Party united and led the people to rely on their own efforts and work hard, completed socialist transformation, and established an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system. In this process, our Party formed valuable experiences such as adhering to seeking truth from facts and adjusting the relations of production. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, our Party made the historic decision to shift the focus of the work of the Party and the state to economic construction and implement reform and opening up, established and continuously improved the socialist market economy system, joined the World Trade Organization, actively integrated into the world economic system, and achieved sustained and rapid economic development, realizing a historic breakthrough from a state of relatively backward productive forces to becoming the world’s second-largest economy. In this process, our Party formed valuable experiences such as accurately grasping changes in the principal contradiction in Chinese society and formulating correct guidelines, policies, and measures for economic work. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has coordinated the overall strategic plan for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the changes unseen in a century, comprehensively advanced the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and coordinated the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, deeply implemented a series of major strategies such as the strategy of invigorating China through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the nation through human resources, and the rural revitalization strategy, promoted changes in quality, efficiency, and driving forces, and elevated the country’s economic strength, scientific and technological strength, and comprehensive national power to a new level. The law-based understandings achieved in this process not only inherit the valuable experiences of our Party’s leadership in economic construction in history, but also form new understandings and construct a scientific theoretical system based on new development practices.

这些规律性认识贯穿过去、现在和未来，是对不同历史时期推进中国式现代化特别是经济建设经验的继承与创新。中国式现代化是我们党领导全国各族人民在长期探索和实践中历经千辛万苦、付出巨大代价取得的重大成果。社会主义革命和建设时期，党团结带领人民自力更生、艰苦奋斗，完成社会主义改造，建立了独立的比较完整的工业体系和国民经济体系。在这一过程中，我们党形成了坚持实事求是、调整生产关系等宝贵经验。改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，我们党作出把党和国家工作中心转移到经济建设上来、实行改革开放的历史性决策，确立并不断完善社会主义市场经济体制，加入世界贸易组织，积极融入世界经济体系，经济持续快速发展，实现了从生产力相对落后的状况到经济总量跃居世界第二的历史性突破。在这一过程中，我们党形成了准确把握我国社会主要矛盾变化、制定正确的经济工作路线方针政策等宝贵经验。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央统筹把握中华民族伟大复兴战略全局和世界百年未有之大变局，统筹推进“五位一体”总体布局、协调推进“四个全面”战略布局，深入实施科教兴国战略、人才强国战略、乡村振兴战略等一系列重大战略，推动质量变革、效率变革、动力变革，国家经济实力、科技实力、综合国力跃上新台阶。在这一过程中取得的规律性认识，不仅继承了历史上我们党领导经济建设所取得的宝贵经验，而且根据新的发展实践形成了新的认识、构建起科学理论体系。

These law-based understandings originate from the economic practice since socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, and are the innovative achievements of the Party leading the people to adapt to changes in the stage of development, environment, and conditions. From the new development philosophy, high-quality development, to solidly advancing common prosperity, the logical main line is to adapt to changes in the principal contradiction in society and to focus on resolving the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. From the “overlap of three periods” [9]9 The “overlap of three periods” refers to the period of shifting growth rates, the period of structural adjustment pains, and the period of absorbing the effects of earlier stimulus policies, a formulation used to describe the economic situation in the early 2010s., the new normal of economic development, to the new stage of development, from supply-side structural reform to fighting the three tough battles [10]10 The “three tough battles” are the battles against major risks, against poverty, and against pollution, launched around 2017-2018. and expanding domestic demand, the logical main line is to deeply understand and effectively resolve new major issues emerging in the operation of China’s economy. From high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative to building a new development pattern, the logical main line is to adapt to and grasp the profound changes in the external environment. These are all major decisions made based on the principal contradiction and the principal aspect of the contradiction facing China’s economic development.

这些规律性认识来源于中国特色社会主义进入新时代以来的经济实践，是党领导人民适应发展阶段、环境和条件变化取得的创新成果。从新发展理念、高质量发展到扎实推动共同富裕，逻辑主线是适应社会主要矛盾变化，着力解决人民日益增长的美好生活需要与不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾。从“三期叠加”、经济发展新常态到新发展阶段，从供给侧结构性改革到打好三大攻坚战、扩大国内需求，逻辑主线是深刻认识和有效解决我国经济运行中出现的新的重大问题。从高质量共建“一带一路”到构建新发展格局，逻辑主线是适应和把握外部环境的深刻变化。这些都是根据我国经济发展面临的主要矛盾和矛盾的主要方面作出的重大决策。

Using Law-Based Understandings to Better Guide Practice

用规律性认识更好指导实践

The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference put forward the law-based understanding of “one greatest consensus, five must-coordinate” [11]11 The “one greatest consensus, five must-coordinate” is a specific formulation from the 2024 Central Economic Work Conference, summarizing the consensus on the need for coordinated handling of key economic relationships.. Since the beginning of this year, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the law-based understanding of “one greatest consensus, five must-coordinate” has been transformed into a powerful practice promoting high-quality economic development, ensuring that China’s economy overcomes risks and challenges and demonstrates strong vitality and resilience.

2024年中央经济工作会议提出“一个最大共识、五个必须统筹”的规律性认识。今年以来，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，“一个最大共识、五个必须统筹”的规律性认识已经转化为推动经济高质量发展的有力实践，确保中国经济战胜风险挑战，展现强大活力和韧性。

Handling the relationship between the government and the market is the core issue of economic system reform. It is necessary to coordinate the relationship between an effective market and a competent government, focus on building a high-level socialist market economy system, create a fairer and more dynamic market environment, and stimulate the endogenous driving force and innovation vitality of the whole society.

处理好政府和市场的关系，是经济体制改革的核心问题。必须统筹好有效市场和有为政府的关系，聚焦构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，创造更加公平、更有活力的市场环境，激发全社会内生动力和创新活力。

Supply and demand are a dialectical relationship of both opposition and unity in a market economy. It is necessary to coordinate the relationship between aggregate supply and aggregate demand, organically combine the implementation of the strategy of expanding domestic demand with deepening supply-side structural reform, exert force and coordinate cooperation on both the supply and demand sides simultaneously, form a higher-level dynamic balance where demand drives supply and supply creates demand, and smooth the circulation of the national economy.

供给和需求是市场经济中既对立又统一的辩证关系。必须统筹好总供给和总需求的关系，把实施扩大内需战略同深化供给侧结构性改革有机结合起来，供需两端同时发力、协调配合，形成需求牵引供给、供给创造需求的更高水平动态平衡，畅通国民经济循环。

The transformation of growth drivers in economic development is essentially a continuous process of technological progress and industrial upgrading. It is necessary to coordinate the relationship between cultivating new growth drivers and renewing old growth drivers, give full play to the comparative advantages of each region, adhere to the simultaneous advancement of optimizing and upgrading traditional industries and cultivating and strengthening emerging and future industries, and develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions.

经济发展中的动能转换，本质上是一个连续的技术进步和产业升级过程。必须统筹好培育新动能和更新旧动能的关系，充分发挥各地区的比较优势，坚持传统产业优化提升和培育壮大新兴产业、未来产业齐头并进，因地制宜发展新质生产力。

From the perspective of the circulation of the national economy, optimizing increments and revitalizing stock can, in a certain sense, be understood as seeking progress while maintaining stability and promoting stability through progress. It is necessary to coordinate the relationship between optimizing increments and revitalizing stock, use optimizing increments to revitalize stock, use revitalizing stock to optimize increments, form a virtuous cycle between stock assets and new investment, and comprehensively improve the efficiency of resource allocation.

从国民经济循环视角看，做优增量、盘活存量一定意义上可理解为稳中求进、以进促稳。必须统筹好做优增量和盘活存量的关系，以做优增量来盘活存量，以盘活存量来做优增量，形成存量资产和新增投资的良性循环，全面提高资源配置效率。

Economic development is a process of unifying “qualitative change” and “quantitative change.” It is necessary to coordinate the relationship between improving quality and expanding aggregate, paying attention to both the continuous, gradual “quantitative change” mainly characterized by expanding scale and increasing aggregate, and the fundamental, abrupt “qualitative change” mainly characterized by improving quality and increasing efficiency, and unify the effective improvement of quality and the reasonable growth of quantity throughout the entire process of high-quality development.

经济发展是“质变”与“量变”相统一的过程。必须统筹好提升质量和做大总量的关系，既重视以扩大规模、做大总量为主要特征的连续性、渐进式的“量变”，又重视以提升质量、提高效率为主要特征的根本性、突变式的“质变”，把质的有效提升和量的合理增长统一于高质量发展全过程。

The “Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Proposal”) adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC [12]12 The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in 2025, focusing on the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). makes top-level design and strategic planning for development over the next five years. Studying and understanding the law-based understanding of doing economic work well in the New Era not only helps us further deeply implement Xi Jinping’s economic thought, but also helps us better understand the overall thinking, important principles, main goals, strategic tasks, and major measures for economic and social development during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period proposed in the “Proposal,” ensuring that the development blueprint drawn up by the “Proposal” is turned into a beautiful reality, and ensuring that decisive progress is made in basically realizing socialist modernization.

党的二十届四中全会通过的《中共中央关于制定国民经济和社会发展第十五个五年规划的建议》（以下简称《建议》），对未来5年发展作出顶层设计和战略擘画。学习领会新时代做好经济工作的规律性认识，不仅有助于我们进一步深入贯彻习近平经济思想，而且能够帮助我们更好理解《建议》提出的“十五五”时期经济社会发展的总体思路、重要原则、主要目标、战略任务和重大举措，确保把《建议》擘画的发展蓝图变为美好现实，确保基本实现社会主义现代化取得决定性进展。

(The authors are respectively the Dean of the National Development Research Institute of Sun Yat-sen University and the Deputy Director of the Theory Department of People’s Daily)

（作者分别系中山大学国家发展研究院院长、人民日报社理论部副主任）

Online Editor: Chu Yang

网络编辑：初阳