Comprehensively Grasping the Core Essence and Practical Pathways of Xi Jinping’s Important Expositions on High-Quality Life

“Chinese-path modernization, the people’s livelihood is the priority.”[n] Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly delivered important speeches on safeguarding and improving the people’s livelihood and raising the quality of the people’s life. Volume V of *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China* includes a series of reports, speeches, articles, instructions and other important works by General Secretary Xi Jinping from 27 May 2022 to 20 December 2024, among which the ninth section consists of important expositions on “implementing the people-centered development thought and constantly raising the quality of the people’s life.” Earnestly studying and deeply grasping General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on high-quality life, including the great significance, basic connotations and practical pathways of creating a high-quality life, is of great significance for advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation in the New Era, especially for creating a high-quality life in the course of promoting high-quality development, and for promoting the well-rounded development of the person and all-round social progress.

“中国式现代化，民生为大”。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记多次围绕保障和改善民生、提高人民生活品质作出重要讲话。《习近平谈治国理政》第五卷收入习近平总书记在2022年5月27日至2024年12月20日期间的一系列报告、讲话、文章、指示等重要著作，其中第九部分就是关于“落实以人民为中心的发展思想，不断提高人民生活品质”的重要论述。认真学习和深刻把握习近平总书记关于高品质生活的重要论述，包括创造高品质生活的重大意义、基本内涵和实践路径等，对新时代推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业，尤其是在推动高质量发展中创造高品质生活，促进人的全面发展和社会全面进步，具有十分重要的意义。

I. Deeply Grasping the Great Significance of Creating a High-Quality Life

一、深刻领会创造高品质生活的重大意义

In March 2018, when participating in the deliberation of the Chongqing delegation at the First Session of the 13th National People’s Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping for the first time put forward the epochal proposition of “striving to promote high-quality development and create a high-quality life.” In August of the same year, President Xi Jinping again mentioned “high-quality life” in his congratulatory letter to the first China International Smart Industry Expo. Creating a high-quality life subsequently became the focus of attention from all sectors of society. Provinces and municipalities such as Chongqing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Qinghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu successively began practical exploration of creating a high-quality life.

2018年3月，习近平总书记在参加十三届全国人大一次会议重庆代表团审议时首次提出“努力推动高质量发展、创造高品质生活”的时代命题。同年8月，习近平主席在致首届中国国际智能产业博览会的贺信中再次提及“高品质生活”。创造高品质生活随之成为社会各界关注的焦点。重庆、上海、成都、青海、浙江和江苏等省市相继开始对创造高品质生活进行实践探索。

Viewed from the perspective of the great significance of creating a high-quality life, creating a high-quality life conforms to the inherent requirements of the transformation of the principal contradiction in society, is an important goal of social development after completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and is an inevitable requirement for adhering to the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission.

从创造高品质生活的重大意义看，创造高品质生活顺应了社会主要矛盾转变的内在要求，是全面建成小康社会之后社会发展的重要目标，是坚守党的初心和使命的必然要求。

1. Creating a High-Quality Life Is an Inevitable Requirement for Adhering to the Party’s Original Aspiration and Founding Mission

1.创造高品质生活是坚守党的初心和使命的必然要求

First, the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission is precisely to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. The Communist Party of China is the Party of the people, a Party that serves the people. “From the very day of its founding, the Communist Party of China made seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation its original aspiration and founding mission.”[n] Since modern times, the Chinese nation has faced two major historical tasks: winning national independence and the liberation of the people, and achieving national prosperity and the people’s well-being. The former requires opposing imperialism and feudal rule and establishing a modern nation-state; the latter requires comprehensively catching up with the level of modern Western countries and realizing modernization. As a proletarian party, from the day of its founding, the Communist Party of China has linked its historical mission with the destiny of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people, taken seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation as its original aspiration and founding mission, taken national prosperity and the people’s well-being as its goals of struggle, always represented the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people, always adhered to the fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, always adhered to the people-centered development thought, and insisted on development for the people, development relying on the people, and the fruits of development shared by the people.

首先，党的初心和使命就是为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴。中国共产党是人民的党，是为人民服务的党。“中国共产党一经诞生，就把为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴确立为自己的初心使命。”近代以来，中华民族面临争取民族独立、人民解放和实现国家富强、人民幸福两大历史任务。前者要求反对帝国主义和封建统治，建立现代意义上的民族国家；后者要求全面赶上现代西方国家的水平，实现现代化。中国共产党作为无产阶级政党，自成立之日起，就将自己的历史使命与最广大中国人民的命运联系在一起，把为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴作为自己的初心使命，把国家富强和人民幸福作为自己的奋斗目标，始终代表中国最广大人民的根本利益，始终坚持全心全意为人民服务的根本宗旨，始终坚持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，发展成果由人民共享。

Second, the Party promotes reform and development in order to raise the quality of the people’s life. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “The people’s aspiration for a better life is our goal of struggle; grasping reform and promoting development, in the final analysis, is to enable the people to live better lives.”[n] After the founding of New China, in order to enable the people to live a happy life, centering on the goal of achieving national prosperity and the people’s well-being, our Party put forward the socialist construction goal of the “four modernizations.”[n] After reform and opening up, our Party further put forward the strategic goal of building a modern socialist country. The 13th National Congress of the CPC put forward the “three-step” development strategy: the first step, solving the problem of adequate food and clothing for the people; the second step, by the end of the 20th century, the people’s life reaching a moderately prosperous level; the third step, by the middle of the 21st century, the people’s life being relatively affluent, and modernization basically realized. The 15th National Congress of the CPC made a new “three-step” strategic deployment for the first 50 years of the 21st century, proposing that by 2010 “the people’s moderately prosperous life be made more comfortable.” The 16th National Congress of the CPC further proposed “building a moderately prosperous society of a higher standard benefiting well over one billion people.” The 18th National Congress of the CPC put forward the strategic goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, specifying the concrete goals and requirements for “comprehensively raising the people’s living standards.” The 19th National Congress of the CPC and the 20th National Congress of the CPC made a “two-step” strategic arrangement for the 30 years after 2020, namely, by 2035, basically realizing socialist modernization, and by the middle of the 21st century, building China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful; they specified the development goals of “the people’s life being happier and more beautiful” by 2035 and “the people enjoying a happier and more secure life” by the middle of the 21st century.

其次，党推动改革发展是为了提升人民生活品质。习近平总书记指出：“人民对美好生活的向往就是我们的奋斗目标，抓改革、促发展，归根到底就是为了让人民过上更好的日子。”新中国成立后，为了让人民过上幸福生活，围绕实现国家富强、人民幸福的目标，我们党提出了“四个现代化”的社会主义建设目标。改革开放后，我们党进一步提出建设社会主义现代化国家的战略目标。党的十三大提出了“三步走”的发展战略：第一步，解决人民的温饱问题；第二步，到20世纪末，人民生活达到小康水平；第三步，到21世纪中叶，人民生活比较富裕，基本实现现代化。党的十五大对21世纪的前50年作出新“三步走”战略部署，提出到2010年“使人民的小康生活更加宽裕”。党的十六大进一步提出“全面建设惠及十几亿人口的更高水平的小康社会”。党的十八大提出全面建成小康社会的战略目标，明确“人民生活水平全面提高”的具体目标和要求。党的十九大和党的二十大对2020年后的30年作出了“两步走”战略安排，即到2035年，基本实现社会主义现代化，到21世纪中叶，把我国建成富强民主文明和谐美丽的社会主义现代化强国；明确了到2035年“人民生活更加幸福美好”和到21世纪中叶“人民将享有更加幸福安康的生活”的发展目标。

Finally, promoting the well-rounded development of the person is the goal of struggle of our Party. The free and well-rounded development of the person is the highest realm of human development, the fundamental value goal of Marxism, and the fundamental characteristic of communist society. The Communist Party of China is a Marxist party that serves the people, unifying the lofty ideal of communism with the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and taking promoting all-round social progress and the well-rounded development of the person as its goal of struggle. A high-quality life is a basic condition for the well-rounded development of the person, embodying the value orientation of the well-rounded development of the person. Without a high-quality life, there is no well-rounded development of the person. Marx and Engels pointed out: “As long as people cannot obtain sufficient guarantees in the quality and quantity of their food, drink, housing and clothing, they fundamentally cannot achieve liberation.”[n] General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes “constantly promoting the well-rounded development of the person.” He points out, “Chinese-path modernization is modernization in which material civilization and cultural-ethical progress are coordinated,” and it is necessary to “constantly consolidate the material conditions for the people’s happy life, while vigorously developing advanced socialist culture, strengthening education in ideals and convictions, inheriting Chinese civilization, and promoting the comprehensive enrichment of things and the well-rounded development of the person.”[n] The 20th National Congress of the CPC explicitly put forward the development goal of achieving “more obvious substantive progress in the well-rounded development of the person and common prosperity for all the people” by 2035.

最后，推动人的全面发展是我们党的奋斗目标。人的自由全面发展是人的发展的最高境界，是马克思主义的根本价值目标，是共产主义社会的根本特征。中国共产党是为人民服务的马克思主义政党，将共产主义远大理想同中国特色社会主义共同理想统一起来，将促进社会全面进步和人的全面发展作为自己的奋斗目标。高品质生活是人的全面发展的基本条件，体现了人的全面发展的价值取向。没有高品质生活，就没有人的全面发展。马克思恩格斯指出：“当人们还不能使自己的吃喝住穿在质和量方面得到充分保证的时候，人们就根本不能获得解放。”习近平总书记强调“不断促进人的全面发展”。他指出，“中国式现代化是物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化”,要“不断夯实人民幸福生活的物质条件，同时大力发展社会主义先进文化，加强理想信念教育，传承中华文明，促进物的全面丰富和人的全面发展”。党的二十大明确提出到2035年“人的全面发展、全体人民共同富裕取得更为明显的实质性进展”的发展目标。

2. Creating a High-Quality Life Is an Important Goal of Social Development in the New Era

2.创造高品质生活是新时代社会发展的重要目标

Livelihood construction is the focus of social construction; creating a high-quality life is the new mission of livelihood construction in the New Era.

民生建设是社会建设的重点，创造高品质生活是新时代民生建设的新使命。

First, a high-quality life is the people’s pursuit of a better life. Since the founding of New China, the development goals and living conditions of the Chinese people’s life have gone through a development process from solving adequate food and clothing, to overall moderate prosperity, to moderate prosperity in all respects. A high-quality life is a new goal of pursuit for the people’s life after eradicating absolute poverty and completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and is also an important goal of China’s social development in the New Era. With economic and social development, the people’s needs for a better life are growing day by day. In July 2017, in his speech at the opening ceremony of a study session for principal leading officials at the provincial and ministerial level, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “After nearly 40 years of reform and opening up, the level of China’s social productive forces has been markedly raised; the people’s lives have been significantly improved, and their longing for a better life has become stronger.”[n] In October 2022, when inspecting Yan’an, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The first centenary goal of the ‘two centenary goals’ has already been realized, the problem of absolute poverty has been solved, and the villagers are living good days, but we must continue to strive and move forward, so that life becomes increasingly better.”[n] General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the goal of struggle for a better life, pointing the direction for social development in the New Era.

首先，高品质生活是人民对美好生活的追求。新中国成立以来，我国人民生活的发展目标和生活状态经历了从解决温饱、总体小康到全面小康的发展历程。高品质生活是消除绝对贫困、全面建成小康社会之后人民生活新的追求目标，也是新时代我国社会发展的重要目标。随着经济社会发展，人民对美好生活的需要日益增长。2017年7月，习近平总书记在省部级主要领导干部专题研讨班开班式上的讲话中指出，“经过改革开放近40年的发展，我国社会生产力水平明显提高；人民生活显著改善，对美好生活的向往更加强烈”。2022年10月，习近平总书记在延安考察时强调：“‘两个一百年’奋斗目标的第一个百年目标已经实现，绝对贫困问题解决了，老乡们过上了好日子，但还要继续努力往前走，让生活越来越美好。”习近平总书记强调了美好生活的奋斗目标，为新时代社会发展指明了方向。

Second, China has reached the stage of development for creating a high-quality life. Creating a high-quality life is a phased development goal of the New Era. According to the strategic plan of the 13th National Congress of the CPC, in 1987 China achieved the first step of the “three-step” development strategy, doubling the gross national product compared with 1980 and basically solving the problem of food and clothing for the people, three years ahead of the original schedule. In 1995, China achieved the development goal of doubling the gross national product again, completing the second step of the “three-step” development strategy five years ahead of the original schedule; on this basis, in 2000 the development goal of an overall moderately prosperous society was achieved. By the end of 2020, China had eliminated absolute poverty. In July 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping declared at the celebration of the centenary of the founding of the CPC that “a moderately prosperous society in all respects has been built on the land of China.” Responding to the people’s new expectations for a better life, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core clearly put forward the development goal of creating a “high-quality life.” A high-quality life is a new phased development goal for improving and raising the people’s living standards, following the solution of the problem of food and clothing and the completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

其次，我国到了创造高品质生活的发展阶段。创造高品质生活是新时代的阶段性发展目标。按照党的十三大的战略安排，1987年，我国完成“三步走”发展战略的第一步目标，实现国民生产总值比1980年翻一番，基本解决了人民的温饱问题，比原计划提前了3年。1995年，我国实现国民生产总值再增长一倍的发展目标，比原计划提前5年完成“三步走”发展战略的第二步目标；在此基础上，2000年实现了总体小康的发展目标。2020年年底，我国消除了绝对贫困。2021年7月，习近平总书记在庆祝中国共产党成立100周年大会上宣告，我们“在中华大地上全面建成了小康社会”。顺应人民对美好生活的新期待，以习近平同志为核心的党中央明确提出创造“高品质生活”的发展目标。高品质生活是继解决温饱问题和全面建成小康社会之后，改善和提高人民生活水平的新的阶段性发展目标。

3. Creating a high-quality life conforms to the inherent requirements of the transformation of the principal contradiction in society

3.创造高品质生活顺应了社会主要矛盾转变的内在要求

As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a New Era, the principal contradiction in Chinese society has transformed from the contradiction between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and backward social production into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. This is a historic change affecting the overall situation, inevitably bringing about historic adjustments in the main tasks and development goals.

中国特色社会主义进入新时代，我国社会主要矛盾由人民日益增长的物质文化需要和落后的社会生产之间的矛盾转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾。这是关系全局的历史性变化，必然带来主要任务、发展目标的历史性调整。

First, since reform and opening up, with the continuous improvement of the level of social productive forces and the gradual perfection of the socialist market economy, China’s social production capacity has entered the forefront of the world in many aspects. The era of a shortage economy that had existed since the founding of New China has ended. The domestic market supply and demand have moved from shortage to abundance to sufficiency, with market commodities being abundant in total volume, diverse in variety, and improved in quality.

首先，改革开放以来，随着社会生产力水平持续提高和社会主义市场经济逐步完善，我国社会生产能力在很多方面进入世界前列，新中国成立以来的短缺经济时代结束了，国内市场供求由紧缺到宽松再到富足，市场商品总量丰富、品种多样、质量提升。

Second, with sustained economic and social development, the living standards of urban and rural residents have continuously risen. Since reform and opening up, China has entered an overall moderately prosperous society on the basis of gradually solving the problem of food and clothing, with comprehensive improvements in people’s lives. China’s per capita gross domestic product grew from 385 yuan in 1978 to 95,749 yuan in 2024, equivalent to 13,303 US dollars in 2024; the income and consumption levels of urban and rural residents have continuously increased, with the per capita disposable income of urban residents and rural residents rising from 343 yuan and 134 yuan in 1978 to 54,188 yuan and 23,119 yuan in 2024, respectively; the per capita consumption expenditure of urban residents and rural residents rose from 311 yuan and 116 yuan in 1978 to 34,557 yuan and 19,280 yuan in 2024, respectively.

其次，随着经济社会持续发展，城乡居民生活水平不断跃升。改革开放以来，我国在逐步解决温饱问题的基础上迈入全面小康，人民生活全方位改善。我国人均国内生产总值从1978年的385元增长到2024年的95749元,换算成美元，2024年为13303美元;城乡居民收入水平、消费水平持续提高，城镇居民和农村居民人均可支配收入分别从1978年的343元、134元提高到2024年的54188元、23119元;城镇居民和农村居民人均消费支出分别从1978年的311元、116元提高到2024年的34557元、19280元。

The level of education of residents has continuously improved, the average life expectancy is higher than the world average, the level of social security has greatly increased, a social security system covering both urban and rural residents has been basically established, and livelihood security systems such as social assistance and social welfare have become more complete. At the same time, the people’s needs for a high-quality life are growing day by day. The demands of the masses of the people are characterized by diversification, multi-levels, and multiple aspects. Not only have higher requirements been put forward for material and cultural life, but demands for democracy, the rule of law, fairness, justice, security, and the environment are also growing day by day. The scope of the people’s needs for a better life is expanding, and the level of these needs is also rising. The overall demand is shifting from “whether there is any” to “whether it is good.” This requires us to adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, focus on solving the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development, continuously improve people’s well-being, and persistently enhance the quality of people’s lives.

居民受教育程度不断提高，人均预期寿命高于世界平均水平，社会保障水平极大提高，覆盖城乡居民的社会保障体系基本建立，社会救助、社会福利等民生保障制度更加完善。同时，人民对高品质生活的需要日益增长。人民群众的需求呈现多样化、多层次、多方面的特点，不仅对物质文化生活提出了更高要求，而且对民主、法治、公平、正义、安全、环境等方面的要求也日益增长，人民美好生活需要的范围在扩展，人民美好生活需要的层次也在提升，总体需求从“有没有”向“好不好”转变。这就要求我们坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，着力解决发展不平衡不充分问题，不断增进民生福祉，持续提升人民生活品质。

II. Accurately Grasping the Basic Connotation of a High-Quality Life

二、准确把握高品质生活的基本内涵

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important speeches on a better life and improving the quality of people’s lives. In November 2012, when meeting Chinese and foreign journalists as the newly elected Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th Central Committee, Xi Jinping pointed out: “The people’s aspiration for a better life is our goal of struggle.” In October 2015, in a speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, UK, President Xi Jinping pointed out: “What the Chinese people want is an even better life.” In August 2021, in a speech at the 21st meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Promote high-quality development and create a high-quality life with high-level protection, and strive to build a beautiful China where man and nature coexist in harmony.” In October 2022, the 20th National Congress of the CPC made arrangements around “improving people’s well-being and raising the quality of people’s lives.” In March 2023, when participating in the deliberation of the Jiangsu delegation at the First Session of the 14th National People’s Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “The happiness and well-being of the people is the ultimate goal of promoting high-quality development.” The “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform to Advance Chinese-Path Modernization,” reviewed and approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, proposed “seven focal points” for further comprehensively deepening reform, one important aspect of which is “focusing on improving the quality of people’s lives.” General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on “a better life,” “promoting high-quality development and creating a high-quality life,” etc., clarify the basic connotation of a high-quality life. 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,” adopted by the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, [7]7 The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in October 2025. The “15th Five-Year Plan” covers the years 2026–2030. clearly sets “continuously improving the quality of people’s lives” as a main goal for economic and social development during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period.

党的十八大以来，习近平总书记围绕美好生活、提高人民生活品质发表了一系列重要讲话。2012年11月，习近平总书记在十八届中央政治局常委同中外记者见面时指出：“人民对美好生活的向往，就是我们的奋斗目标。”2015年10月，习近平主席在英国伦敦金融城市长晚宴上的演讲中指出：“中国人民要的是更加美好的生活。”2021年8月，习近平总书记在中央全面深化改革委员会第二十一次会议上的讲话中指出：“以高水平保护推动高质量发展、创造高品质生活，努力建设人与自然和谐共生的美丽中国。”2022年10月，党的二十大围绕“增进民生福祉，提高人民生活品质”作出部署。2023年3月，习近平总书记在参加十四届全国人大一次会议江苏代表团审议时强调，“人民幸福安康是推动高质量发展的最终目的”。党的二十届三中全会审议通过的《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》提出进一步全面深化改革的“七个聚焦”,其中一个重要方面就是“聚焦提高人民生活品质”。习近平总书记关于“美好生活”“推动高质量发展、创造高品质生活”等的重要论述，阐明了高品质生活的基本内涵。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》明确将“人民生活品质不断提高”作为“十五五”时期经济社会发展的主要目标。

What kind of life is a high-quality life? From the perspective of measurement standards, a high-quality life is a better life of a higher standard that the people aspire to and expect; from the perspective of life content, a high-quality life includes all aspects of life, including material life and cultural-ethical progress, and is a better life created in the process of Chinese-path modernization; from the perspective of evaluation criteria, a high-quality life is a state of life in which the people’s needs for a better life are fully satisfied, a better life in which the people have a strong sense of gain, happiness, and security.

什么样的生活是高品质生活?从衡量尺度看，高品质生活是人民向往和期待的更高标准的美好生活；从生活内容看，高品质生活是包括物质生活、精神文化生活等在内的全部生活，是在中国式现代化进程中创造的美好生活；从评价标准看，高品质生活是人民美好生活需要得到充分满足的生活状态，是人民获得感、幸福感、安全感强的美好生活。

1. A high-quality life is a better life that the people aspire to and expect

1.高品质生活是人民向往和期待的美好生活

From the perspective of the yardstick of measurement, a high-quality life is the good life that the people expect, a life that continuously develops and improves in the course of the people’s pursuit of a good life. Intuitively understood, a high-quality life is one of “high quality”; in terms of level, it is a life above the general standard or average; in terms of content, it is a life in which material, spiritual, and cultural needs are fully satisfied. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Our people love life and look forward to better education, more stable employment, more satisfactory income, more reliable social security, higher-level medical and health services, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment. They look forward to their children growing up better, working better, and living better. The people’s aspiration for a good life is our goal of struggle.” The “ten betters” mentioned by General Secretary Xi Jinping depict the good life that the people yearn for and expect, elucidating the basic meaning of a high-quality life. The “14th Five-Year Plan” [n8] for Public Services, jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments, while putting forward national standards for public services in areas such as “ensuring childcare, education, employment, medical care, elderly care, housing, and assistance for the vulnerable,” also proposes the long-term goals of “excellent childcare, quality education, decent remuneration, good medical care, comfortable elderly care, livable housing, and extensive support for the vulnerable,” initially outlining the blueprint for a good life. A high-quality life belongs to the category of the good life; it is a high-level form of the good life and a relatively clear and specific development goal. Viewed from the changes and development in the living standards and quality of life of the Chinese people, a high-quality life is a better life above the level of a moderately prosperous life. A high-quality life is characterized by better education, more stable employment, more satisfactory income, more reliable social security, higher-level medical and health services, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment. The pursuit and realization of a high-quality life is a dynamic practical process; the standard of a high-quality life is not fixed but dynamically changes—it is a good life that develops with economic and social progress, a good life that is continuously elevated.

从衡量尺度看，高品质生活是人民期待的美好生活，是在人民对美好生活的追求中不断发展和提升的美好生活。直观地理解，高品质生活是“高品质”的，从水平上看，是一般标准或平均程度之上的生活；从内涵上看，是物质和精神文化等需要得到充分满足的生活。习近平总书记指出：“我们的人民热爱生活，期盼有更好的教育、更稳定的工作、更满意的收入、更可靠的社会保障、更高水平的医疗卫生服务、更舒适的居住条件、更优美的环境，期盼孩子们能成长得更好、工作得更好、生活得更好。人民对美好生活的向往，就是我们的奋斗目标。”习近平总书记所说的“十个更”,描绘了人民所向往和期待的美好生活，阐明了高品质生活的基本含义。国家发展改革委等部门联合发布的《“十四五”公共服务规划》,在提出“幼有所育、学有所教、劳有所得、病有所医、老有所养、住有所居、弱有所扶”等领域公共服务国家标准的同时，也提出了“幼有善育、学有优教、劳有厚得、病有良医、老有颐养、住有宜居、弱有众扶”的远景目标，初步擘画了美好生活的图景。高品质生活属于美好生活的范畴，是美好生活的高层次形态，是相对明确和具体的发展目标。从我国人民生活水平和生活质量的变化和发展看，高品质生活是在小康生活水平之上的更加美好的生活。高品质生活表征为更好的教育、更稳定的工作、更满意的收入、更可靠的社会保障、更高水平的医疗卫生服务、更舒适的居住条件、更优美的环境等方面。高品质生活的追求和实现是一个动态的实践过程，高品质生活的标准不是一成不变的，而是动态变化的，是随着经济社会发展而发展的美好生活，是持续提升的美好生活。

2. A high-quality life is a good life created in the process of Chinese-path modernization

2.高品质生活是在中国式现代化进程中创造的美好生活

From the perspective of life content, a high-quality life is built upon objective living conditions, and the level of quality of life is closely related to the degree of development in the economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological civilization. The so-called “life” refers to “the various activities carried out by people or living beings for survival and development.” From the perspective of life spheres, a high-quality life encompasses all aspects of life, including both private and public life; from the perspective of life domains, a high-quality life includes all aspects of life, such as material life and spiritual-cultural life. A high-quality life is a life of material abundance and spiritual enrichment. A high-quality life not only refers to the improvement of material living standards but also inherently includes the abundance of spiritual life and the satisfaction of spiritual pursuits; it must satisfy not only the people’s higher-level material and cultural needs but also their higher-level needs for fairness and justice, social respect, self-realization, and comprehensive development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The people’s needs are diverse, multi-level, and multifaceted. They look forward to better education, more stable employment, more satisfactory income, more reliable social security, higher-level medical and health services, more comfortable living conditions, a more beautiful environment, and a richer spiritual and cultural life.” This statement elucidates the main content of the high-quality life that the people pursue. From the perspective of living conditions and living environment, a high-quality life is built upon the living conditions and environment created by Chinese-path modernization; it is a modern life created in the process of advancing development goals such as high-quality development, high-efficiency governance, and high-quality employment. It is a material life, spiritual life, green life, healthy life, and intelligent life created through the coordinated advancement of economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, and ecological civilization construction in the process of Chinese-path modernization, reflecting the quantity and level of the ultimate fruits of economic and social development centered on various types of people’s wellbeing that the people can enjoy.

从生活内容看，高品质生活建立在客观的生活条件基础之上，生活品质的高低与经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明发展程度密切相关。所谓“生活”,是指“人或生物为了生存和发展而进行的各种活动”。从生活场域看，高品质生活是包括私人生活和公共生活在内的全部生活；从生活领域看，高品质生活是包括物质生活、精神文化生活等在内的全部生活。高品质生活是物质富足、精神富有的生活。高品质生活不仅指物质生活水平的提高，而且内含着精神生活的富足和精神追求的满足；既要满足人民更高层次的物质文化生活需要，还要满足人民对获得公平正义、社会尊重、实现自身价值、全面发展等的高层次需要。习近平总书记指出，“人民群众的需要呈现多样化多层次多方面的特点，期盼有更好的教育、更稳定的工作、更满意的收入、更可靠的社会保障、更高水平的医疗卫生服务、更舒适的居住条件、更优美的环境、更丰富的精神文化生活”。这一论述阐明了人民追求的高品质生活的主要内容。从生活条件和生活环境看，高品质生活建立在中国式现代化所创造的生活条件和生活环境之上，是在推进高质量发展、高效能治理、高质量就业等发展目标的进程中创造的现代化生活，是在中国式现代化进程中统筹推进经济建设、政治建设、文化建设、社会建设、生态文明建设而创造的物质生活、精神生活、绿色生活、健康生活、智慧生活，体现着人民能够享受到的、以各类民生福祉为核心的经济社会发展最终成果的数量及其水平。

3. A high-quality life is a good life with a strong sense of gain, happiness, and security for the people

3.高品质生活是人民获得感、幸福感、安全感强的美好生活

From the perspective of evaluation criteria, a high-quality life refers to a state of life in which the people’s needs for a good life are fully satisfied, and it is the people’s positive perception of living conditions and environment. A high-quality life is built upon objective living conditions; at the same time, a high-quality life is also manifested in the people’s subjective perception of objective living conditions and environment, embodied in the people’s continuously enhanced sense of gain, happiness, and security. That is to say, both the good living conditions and environment created by Chinese-path modernization and the people’s positive perception of these good living conditions and environment are inherent requirements of a high-quality life. On March 5, 2023, when participating in the deliberation of the Jiangsu delegation at the First Session of the 14th National People’s Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must take meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life as the starting point and ultimate goal, continuously transform development achievements into quality of life, and constantly enhance the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security.” “Sense of gain” can be understood as the sense of satisfaction an individual feels after obtaining some benefit or achieving some goal; “sense of happiness” is the degree of satisfaction an individual has with their own life situation, the level of happiness subjectively felt by people; “sense of security” is an individual’s stable expectation of whether their survival, development, and emotional needs can be met, a feeling based on an individual’s assessment of external risks. The sense of gain, happiness, and security are subjective psychological experiences; they are the individual’s perception and evaluation of their own life situation based on the objective living conditions in which they find themselves, reflecting people’s overall satisfaction with life.

从评价标准看，高品质生活是指人民美好生活需要得到充分满足的生活状态，是人民对生活条件和生活环境的美好感受。高品质生活建立在客观的生活条件基础之上，同时，高品质生活还表现为人民对客观生活条件和生活环境的主观感受，体现为人民群众不断增强的获得感、幸福感、安全感。也就是说，中国式现代化所创造的美好生活条件和生活环境、人民对美好生活条件和生活环境的美好感受，都是高品质生活的题中应有之义。2023年3月5日，习近平总书记参加十四届全国人大一次会议江苏代表团审议时指出：“必须以满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要为出发点和落脚点，把发展成果不断转化为生活品质，不断增强人民群众的获得感、幸福感、安全感。”“获得感”可以理解为个体在获取某种利益或实现某种目标后所产生的满足感；“幸福感”是个体对自身生活状态的满意程度，是人们主观上感受到的幸福程度；“安全感”是个体对自身生存、发展及情感需求能否得到满足的稳定预期，是个体基于对外界风险评估而产生的感受。获得感、幸福感、安全感是主观心理体验，是个体基于自身所处的客观生活条件，对自身生活状态的感知和评价，反映了人们对生活的总体满意度。

3. Comprehensively advancing the practical pathways for creating a high-quality life

三、全面推进创造高品质生活的实践路径

Creating a high-quality life is a continuously advancing practical process. It requires us to always adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, firmly grasp high-quality development as the primary task, strive to promote high-quality population development, work hard to improve people’s wellbeing, solidly promote common prosperity, and continuously elevate the quality of people’s life in the process of promoting comprehensive social progress and the all-round development of the individual.

创造高品质生活是一个持续推进的实践过程，要求我们始终坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，紧紧抓住高质量发展这个首要任务，着力推进人口高质量发展，努力增进民生福祉，扎实推动共同富裕，在促进社会全面进步和人的全面发展中持续提升人民生活品质。

1. Firmly grasp high-quality development as the primary task, and create a high-quality life through high-quality development

1.紧紧抓住高质量发展这个首要任务，在高质量发展中创造高品质生活

High-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “We must firmly grasp high-quality development as the primary task and comprehensively advance Chinese-path modernization.” The shift of China’s economy from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development is a scientific judgment made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core based on changes in the world economic environment and domestic factor conditions. What is high-quality development? General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “High-quality development is development that can well meet the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life; it is development that embodies the new development philosophy; it is development in which innovation becomes the primary driving force, coordination becomes an inherent characteristic, green becomes a universal form, openness becomes the inevitable path, and sharing becomes the fundamental goal.”

高质量发展是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务。习近平总书记指出：“要紧紧抓住高质量发展这个首要任务，全面推进中国式现代化。”我国经济由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段，是以习近平同志为核心的党中央根据世界经济环境和国内要素条件的变化对我国经济发展作出的科学判断。什么是高质量发展?习近平总书记指出：“高质量发展，就是能够很好满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的发展，是体现新发展理念的发展，是创新成为第一动力、协调成为内生特点、绿色成为普遍形态、开放成为必由之路、共享成为根本目的的发展。”

High-quality development and high-quality life are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. First, high-quality development is the foundation of a high-quality life, providing the objective conditions for it; a high-quality life is the purpose of high-quality development, embodying the value orientation of high-quality development: “In the final analysis, carrying out reform and promoting development is all about enabling the people to live a better life.” Second, the demand and consumption upgrades and the accumulation of human capital brought about by a high-quality life are important driving forces for high-quality development; the income growth, and the improvement in the quality of goods and services brought about by industrial upgrading and green transformation through high-quality development, are the basic pathways for creating a high-quality life. Creating a high-quality life is a process in which the people’s lives move from “having or not having” to “being good or bad, being excellent or not.” The new development philosophy “has answered a series of theoretical and practical questions concerning the purpose, driving force, mode, and pathway of development.” High-quality development, guided by the concepts of innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing, will, in the process of completing the transformation of driving forces, the change of mode, industrial upgrading, and structural optimization, also manifest the purpose and value of development—creating a high-quality life in the process of meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life.

高质量发展与高品质生活相互联系、相互促进。首先，高质量发展是高品质生活的基础，为高品质生活提供客观条件；高品质生活是高质量发展的目的，蕴含着高质量发展的价值旨归，“抓改革、促发展，归根到底就是为了让人民过上更好的日子”。其次，高品质生活带来的需求和消费升级、人力资本积累，是高质量发展的重要动力；高质量发展通过产业升级、绿色转型带来的收入增长、物品和服务的品质提升，是创造高品质生活的基本途径。创造高品质生活是人民生活从“有没有”走向“好不好、优不优”的过程。新发展理念“回答了关于发展的目的、动力、方式、路径等一系列理论和实践问题”,在创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享理念引领下的高质量发展，在完成动力转换、方式转变、产业升级、结构优化的进程中，也将彰显发展的目的和价值——在满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的过程中创造高品质生活。

Creating a high-quality life through high-quality development. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out the need to “strive to promote high-quality development and create a high-quality life.” On the new journey of the New Era, striving to promote high-quality development and create a high-quality life means adhering to the guidance of the new development philosophy, accelerating the establishment of a new pattern of development, and focusing on promoting the transformation of the development mode, the optimization of the economic structure, and the conversion of growth drivers; it means always grasping, measuring, and promoting development through the internal unity of innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing, taking innovation as the primary driving force for development, using coordinated development to promote sustained and healthy economic and social development, using green development to achieve sustainable development, using open development to promote national prosperity and development, and taking shared development and improving people’s wellbeing as the fundamental purpose of China’s development; it means taking a high-quality life as the starting point and ultimate goal of high-quality development, raising residents’ income levels through industrial upgrading, technological innovation, green transformation, and digital-intelligence empowerment, enriching the supply of high-quality material and cultural products and public services, and transforming the achievements of high-quality development into a high-quality life; it means comprehensively advancing the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan [1]1 The Five-Sphere Integrated Plan refers to China’s overall plan for promoting economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress. and coordinating the implementation of the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy [2]2 The Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy refers to comprehensively building a modern socialist country, comprehensively deepening reform, comprehensively governing the country according to law, and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party., pushing material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical progress, social civilization, and ecological civilization to new heights, and continuously raising the levels of material life, spiritual life, green life, healthy life, and intelligent life.

在高质量发展中创造高品质生活。习近平总书记指出，要“努力推动高质量发展、创造高品质生活”。新时代新征程，努力推动高质量发展、创造高品质生活，就是要坚持以新发展理念为引领，加快构建新发展格局，着力推动发展方式转变、经济结构优化、增长动力转换；就是要始终以创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享的内在统一来把握发展、衡量发展、推动发展，以创新作为引领发展的第一动力，以协调发展推动经济社会持续健康发展，以绿色发展实现永续发展，以开放发展推动国家繁荣发展，以共享发展、增进民生福祉为我国发展的根本目的；就是要把高品质生活作为高质量发展的出发点和落脚点，通过产业升级、技术创新、绿色转型、数智赋能提升居民收入水平，丰富高质量的物质文化产品和公共服务供给，将高质量发展成果转化为高品质生活；就是要统筹推进“五位一体”总体布局，协调推进“四个全面”战略布局，推动物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明走向新高度，不断提升物质生活、精神生活、绿色生活、健康生活、智慧生活水平。

2. Taking high-quality population development as the starting point, improving people’s quality of life in promoting the all-round development of the people

2.以人口高质量发展为抓手，在促进人的全面发展中提升人民生活品质

High-quality population development is a major strategy for population development in the New Era. High-quality population development is a scientific judgment made by General Secretary Xi Jinping on China’s population development situation, a population development strategy proposed to adapt to the new normal of population development. The goal of high-quality population development is to “shape modern human resources that are of excellent quality, sufficient in total quantity, optimized in structure, and reasonably distributed.” Promoting high-quality population development requires “shifting population work from mainly regulating quantity to improving quality, stabilizing total quantity, optimizing structure, and smoothing mobility,” in order to form an excellent population quality, a moderate population size, a suitable population structure, and a reasonable population distribution.

人口高质量发展是新时代人口发展的重大战略。人口高质量发展是习近平总书记对我国人口发展形势作出的科学判断，是适应人口发展新常态提出的人口发展战略。人口高质量发展，目标是“塑造素质优良、总量充裕、结构优化、分布合理的现代化人力资源”。推进人口高质量发展，要求“人口工作由调节数量为主向提升素质、稳定总量、优化结构、畅通流动转变”,以推动形成优良的人口素质、适度的人口规模、适宜的人口结构、合理的人口分布。

Promoting high-quality population development is an inherent requirement for promoting the all-round development of the people. Marxism holds that people are the subjects of social practice, and the essence of social development is the development of people. The development of people is not only an inherent requirement of social development but also the ultimate manifestation of social development. The highest realm of human development is the free and all-round development of people, which requires, on the basis of meeting basic needs, promoting the simultaneous enhancement of people’s multi-dimensional abilities, individuality, and social relations. High-quality population development is rich in connotation. Its focus is maintaining an appropriate fertility level and population size; its core is improving the overall quality of the population. It is the high-quality development of all life stages of people from birth to death, the all-round development of all people, and development including scientific and cultural quality, health quality, and ideological and moral quality. It is the unity of the entire life cycle, the entire population, and all qualities of population development, embodying the Marxist value orientation regarding human development.

推动人口高质量发展是促进人的全面发展的内在要求。马克思主义认为，人是社会实践活动的主体，社会发展的实质是人的发展。人的发展不仅是社会发展的内在要求，而且是社会发展的最终体现。人的发展的最高境界是人的自由全面发展，它要求在满足基本需求的基础上，促进人的多维能力、个性与社会关系的同步提升。人口高质量发展内涵丰富，重点是保持适度生育水平和人口规模，核心是提高人口整体素质，是人从出生到死亡的全部生命阶段的高质量发展，是所有人的全面发展，是包括科学文化素质、健康素质、思想道德素质等的发展，是人口发展全生命周期、全人群、全素质的统一,体现了马克思主义关于人的发展的价值取向。

High-quality population development and a high-quality life for the people are mutually reinforcing. High-quality population development is an important component of high-quality development. High-quality population development and a high-quality life are closely linked and mutually reinforcing; the two are internally unified in the process of high-quality development. High-quality population development is the foundation and prerequisite for achieving a high-quality life. A high-quality population group is the subject that creates and enjoys a high-quality life, affecting the overall situation of modernization and determining the degree to which a high-quality life for the people can be realized. A high-quality life is the driving force and guarantee for promoting high-quality population development. Meeting the people’s needs for a high-quality life is the fundamental driving force for promoting high-quality population development; the people’s aspiration for a better life will motivate individuals and society to invest in human capital, thereby promoting the improvement of population quality. At the same time, a series of public policy measures to promote high-quality population development, such as those concerning childbirth, education, employment, healthcare, and elderly care, can not only effectively enhance human capital and promote high-quality population development but also directly improve people’s wellbeing and enhance their quality of life.

人口高质量发展和人民高品质生活相互促进。人口高质量发展是高质量发展的重要组成部分。人口高质量发展和高品质生活紧密联系、相互促进，二者内在统一于高质量发展的进程中。人口高质量发展是实现高品质生活的基础和前提，高质量的人口群体是创造和享受高品质生活的主体，影响着现代化建设全局，决定着人民高品质生活的实现程度。高品质生活是推动人口高质量发展的动力和保障，满足人民高品质生活需要是推动人口高质量发展的根本动力；人民对美好生活的向往，会激励个体和社会进行人力资本投资，从而促进人口质量的提升。同时，促进人口高质量发展的生育、教育、就业、医疗、养老等系列公共政策手段，既能有效提升人力资本，促进人口高质量发展，也能直接改善民生福祉，提升人民生活品质。

Promoting the coordinated development of high-quality population development and the creation of a high-quality life. High-quality human resources are an important driving force for social development. Currently, “China has generally shifted from a stage of population incremental development to a stage of population reduction development.” [3]3 This refers to the official assessment that China’s population has entered a period of decline after peaking in 2022. In the New Era, it is necessary to adapt to and lead the new normal of population development, optimize the population development strategy, improve the support and service system for population development, comprehensively improve population quality, use high-quality population development to build high-quality human resources, and promote the transformation from a demographic dividend of quantity to a demographic dividend of quality; it is necessary to adhere to a people-centered approach, “closely integrate high-quality population development with a high-quality life for the people, and closely integrate ‘investment in things’ with ‘investment in people’”; it is necessary to promote high-quality population development through reform and innovation, establish and improve a population service system covering the entire population and the entire life cycle, establish a childbirth support policy system, deepen education and healthcare reforms, optimize the allocation of human resources, implement the national strategy to actively respond to population aging, and consider marriage, childbirth, parenting, education, employment, medical treatment, housing, and elderly care as a whole, promoting high-quality population development and creating a high-quality life while improving public services; it is necessary to coordinate the positive interaction between population and the economy, society, resources, and the environment, effectively promote the all-round development of people and common prosperity for all the people, and advance the all-round development of people and the comprehensive progress of society.

推动人口高质量发展与创造高品质生活协同发展。高素质的人口资源是推动社会发展的重要动力。当前，“我国总体上已由人口增量发展转向减量发展阶段”。新时代，要适应、引领人口发展新常态，优化人口发展战略，健全人口发展支持和服务体系，全面提升人口素质，以人口高质量发展打造高素质人力资源，推动人口数量红利向人口质量红利转变；要坚持以人民为中心，“把人口高质量发展同人民高品质生活紧密结合起来，把‘投资于物’同‘投资于人’紧密结合起来”;要以改革创新推动人口高质量发展，建立健全覆盖全人群、全生命周期的人口服务体系，建立生育支持政策体系，深化教育医疗改革，优化人力资源配置，实施积极应对人口老龄化国家战略，将婚嫁、生育、养育、教育、就业、就医、住房、养老等一体考虑，在改善公共服务中推动人口高质量发展、创造高品质生活；统筹人口与经济社会、资源环境的良性互动，有力促进人的全面发展、全体人民共同富裕，推动人的全面发展与社会的全面进步。

3. Improving people’s quality of life in enhancing people’s wellbeing, and continuously strengthening the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security

3.在增进民生福祉中提高人民生活品质，不断增强人民的获得感、幸福感、安全感

First, prioritize the development of education and build a strong education system.

第一，优先发展教育事业，建设教育强国。

Education is a major national and Party undertaking. Building a strong education system is a foundational project for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Adhere to prioritizing the development of education, deeply implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, and accelerate the construction of a high-quality education system; deepen comprehensive education reform, and coordinately advance reforms in education methods, school-running models, management systems, and guarantee mechanisms. Improve the mechanism for fostering virtue and nurturing people [4]4 “Fostering virtue and nurturing people” (立德树人) is a core principle of Chinese education policy, emphasizing moral education as the foundation of talent cultivation., promote the integrated reform and innovation of ideological and political courses in universities, middle schools, and primary schools, and improve the comprehensive training system for moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education; accelerate the high-quality and balanced development of compulsory education and urban-rural integration, strengthen the universal access to preschool education and special education, and adhere to the diversified development of high school education; promote the integration of vocational and general education, the integration of industry and education, and the integration of science and education, and optimize the positioning of vocational education types; optimize the layout of higher education, promote the reform of universities by category, accelerate the construction of first-class universities and first-class disciplines, and achieve the connotative development of higher education; promote the digitalization of education, and build a learning society and a learning nation for lifelong learning for all.

教育是国之大计、党之大计。建设教育强国是中华民族伟大复兴的基础工程。坚持把教育事业放在优先位置，深入实施科教兴国战略，加快建设高质量教育体系；深化教育综合改革，统筹推进育人方式、办学模式、管理体制、保障机制改革。完善立德树人机制，推进大中小学思政课一体化改革创新，健全德智体美劳全面培养体系；加快义务教育优质均衡发展和城乡一体化，强化学前教育、特殊教育普惠发展，坚持高中阶段学校多样化发展；推进职普融通、产教融合、科教融汇，优化职业教育类型定位；优化高等教育布局，分类推进高校改革，加快一流大学和一流学科建设，实现高等教育内涵式发展；推进教育数字化，建设全民终身学习的学习型社会、学习型大国。

Second, implement the employment-first strategy and promote high-quality and full employment.

第二，实施就业优先战略，促进高质量充分就业。

Employment is the foundation of people’s livelihood. High-quality and full employment, at the macro level, is characterized by “sufficient employment opportunities, a fair employment environment, an optimized employment structure, efficient matching of people and posts, and harmonious labor relations”; at the micro level, it is characterized by “workers not only having jobs, but also stable work, reasonable income, reliable safeguards, and occupational safety.” Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee has placed employment work in a prominent position in governance, achieving relatively full employment and providing important support for the improvement of people’s livelihood and economic development. The 20th National Congress of the CPC scientifically assessed new changes in the employment situation and made major deployments to promote high-quality and full employment. Currently, the pressure to stabilize growth and stabilize employment persists, and improving the quality of employment is an urgent desire of workers. On the new journey of the New Era, we must take high-quality and full employment as the goal, be guided by the employment-first strategy, develop new employment growth points in accordance with new trends in economic and social development and the new expectations of the people for a high-quality life, and promote high-quality development to drive the expansion and upgrading of employment quality; promote the connection between human resources supply and demand to resolve structural employment contradictions; improve the public employment service system, perfect the employment support system for key groups, and strengthen the bottom-line assistance for difficult groups in employment; deepen the reform of the employment system and mechanism, perfect the institutional mechanisms for promoting equal opportunities, smooth the channels of social mobility, improve the consultation and coordination mechanisms for labor relations, and strengthen the protection of workers’ rights and interests.

就业是民生之本。高质量充分就业，在宏观层面，具有“就业机会充分、就业环境公平、就业结构优化、人岗匹配高效、劳动关系和谐”等特征，在微观层面，具有“劳动者不仅有活干，而且工作稳定、收入合理、保障可靠、职业安全”等特征。党的十八大以来，党中央坚持把就业工作摆在治国理政的突出位置，实现了比较充分的就业，为民生改善和经济发展提供了重要支撑。党的二十大科学把握就业形势新变化，作出了促进高质量充分就业的重大部署。当前，稳增长、稳就业的压力始终存在，提升就业质量是劳动者的迫切愿望。新时代新征程，要以高质量充分就业为目标，以就业优先战略为引领，根据经济社会发展新趋势和人民群众高品质生活新期待，开发新的就业增长点，推动高质量发展带动就业提质扩容；促进人力资源供需衔接，解决结构性就业矛盾；健全就业公共服务体系，完善重点群体就业支持体系，加强困难群体就业兜底帮扶；深化就业体制机制改革，完善促进机会公平制度机制，畅通社会流动渠道，完善劳动关系协商协调机制，加强劳动者权益保障。

Third, improve the social security system and build a social safety net.

第三，健全社会保障体系，筑牢社会安全网。

The social security system is a safety net for people’s livelihood and a stabilizer for society. We must further improve a multi-tiered social security system that covers the entire population, coordinates urban and rural areas, is fair and unified, safe and standardized, and sustainable; improve the social security system for flexible employment personnel, migrant workers, and those in new forms of employment, expand the coverage of unemployment, work-related injury, and maternity insurance, comprehensively abolish household registration restrictions on participating in insurance at the place of employment, and improve policies for the transfer and continuation of social security relations; improve the national pooling system for basic old-age insurance, promote provincial-level pooling of basic medical insurance, unemployment insurance, and work-related injury insurance, and improve a unified national social security public service platform; accelerate the development of a multi-tiered and multi-pillar old-age insurance system, expand the coverage of the annuity system, and implement the personal pension system; promote the orderly connection of multi-tiered medical security, improve the critical illness insurance and medical assistance systems, establish a long-term care insurance system, deepen the reform of medical insurance payment methods, implement cross-regional medical settlement, and strengthen the supervision of medical insurance funds; improve the reasonable adjustment mechanisms for the financing and benefits of basic old-age and basic medical insurance, and gradually raise the basic pension for urban and rural residents; leverage the supplementary protection role of various types of commercial insurance; improve a tiered and categorized social assistance system; perfect the social security system and care service system for persons with disabilities, and promote the comprehensive development of the cause of persons with disabilities.

社会保障体系是民生安全网、社会稳定器。要进一步健全覆盖全民、统筹城乡、公平统一、安全规范、可持续的多层次社会保障体系；健全灵活就业人员、农民工、新就业形态人员社保制度，扩大失业、工伤、生育保险覆盖面，全面取消在就业地参保户籍限制，完善社保关系转移接续政策；完善基本养老保险全国统筹制度，推动基本医疗保险、失业保险、工伤保险省级统筹，健全全国统一的社保公共服务平台；加快发展多层次多支柱养老保险体系，扩大年金制度覆盖范围，推行个人养老金制度；促进多层次医疗保障有序衔接，完善大病保险和医疗救助制度，建立长期护理保险制度，深化医保支付方式改革，落实异地就医结算，加强医保基金监管；健全基本养老、基本医疗保险筹资和待遇合理调整机制，逐步提高城乡居民基本养老保险基础养老金；发挥各类商业保险补充保障作用；健全分层分类的社会救助体系；完善残疾人社会保障制度和关爱服务体系，促进残疾人事业全面发展。

Fourth, advance the building of a Healthy China and raise the health level of the entire population.

第四，推进健康中国建设，提升全民健康水平。

People’s health is an important marker of a nation’s prosperity and a country’s strength. We must adhere to the health-first development strategy, strengthen the construction of the public health system, and promote social co-governance, medical-prevention coordination, and medical-prevention integration; enhance the capacity for building the epidemic prevention and control system and emergency response; deepen the reform of the medical and health system, and promote the coordinated development and governance of medical insurance, medical services, and pharmaceuticals; promote the expansion and sinking of high-quality medical resources and their balanced regional distribution, and accelerate the construction of a tiered diagnosis and treatment system; deepen the reform of public hospitals oriented toward public welfare, and establish a fee mechanism dominated by medical services; regulate the development of private hospitals, and innovate means of medical and health supervision; develop and expand the medical and health workforce; promote the inheritance, innovation, and development of traditional Chinese medicine; deeply carry out the Healthy China initiative and the patriotic health campaign, and advocate a civilized and healthy lifestyle.

人民健康是民族昌盛和国家强盛的重要标志。要坚持实施健康优先发展战略，加强公共卫生体系建设，促进社会共治、医防协同、医防融合；提升重大疫情防控救治体系和应急能力建设水平；深化医药卫生体制改革，促进医保、医疗、医药协同发展和治理；促进优质医疗资源扩容下沉和区域均衡布局，加快建设分级诊疗体系；深化以公益性为导向的公立医院改革，建立以医疗服务为主导的收费机制；规范民营医院发展，创新医疗卫生监管手段；发展壮大医疗卫生队伍；促进中医药传承创新发展；深入开展健康中国行动和爱国卫生运动，倡导文明健康生活方式。

Fifth, improve the living environment and raise the quality of housing.

第五，改善人居环境，提高居住品质。

Moving from “having a place to live” to “living in a high-quality home” is not only a common aspiration of the people but also an important foundation for a happy and beautiful life. On the new journey of the New Era, we must adhere to the positioning that “houses are for living in, not for speculation,” and accelerate the establishment of a housing system with multiple entities supplying, multiple channels guaranteeing, and both renting and buying; build “good houses” in accordance with the national standard “Residential Project Specifications”; continuously advance urban renewal actions, strengthen the construction of urban infrastructure, solve problems such as installing elevators, parking, and charging, advance the renovation of urban villages and dilapidated and old houses, transform old houses into “good houses,” turn old residential communities into “good communities,” and build livable, resilient, and smart cities; continuously promote the improvement of the quality and safety of rural housing and energy-saving renovations, improve the living environment for urban and rural residents, create high-quality living spaces for urban and rural residents, and continuously meet the people’s expectations for better housing conditions.

从“住有所居”到“住有优居”,既是人民群众的共同期盼，也是人民幸福美好生活的重要基础。新时代新征程，要坚持“房子是用来住的、不是用来炒的”的定位，加快建立多主体供给、多渠道保障、租购并举的住房制度；按照《住宅项目规范》国家标准建造“好房子”;持续推进城市更新行动，加强城市基础设施建设，解决好加装电梯、停车、充电等难题，推进城中村和危旧房改造，把老房子改造成为“好房子”,把老旧小区打造成“好小区”,打造宜居、韧性、智慧城市；持续推进农村住房质量安全提升、节能改造，改善城乡居民居住环境，为城乡居民创造高品质生活空间，不断满足人民群众对更好居住条件的期待。

Improving people’s livelihood and well-being has only a present tense, not a perfect tense; improving the quality of people’s life has only a comparative degree, not a superlative degree. We must both do our utmost and act within our capacity, focus on improving the quality of people’s life, promote the upgrading of people’s livelihood in areas such as childbirth, education, labor, medical care, elderly care, housing, and assistance from “having” to “having high quality,” enrich the supply of multi-level and diversified life services, and make the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security more substantial, more guaranteed, and more sustainable.

增进民生福祉，只有进行时，没有完成时；改善人民生活品质，只有比较级，没有最高级。既要尽力而为，又要量力而行，聚焦提高人民生活品质，推动生育、教育、劳动、医疗、养老、住房、救助等民生从“有”升级为“优”,丰富多层次多样化生活服务供给，使人民群众获得感、幸福感、安全感更加充实、更有保障、更可持续。

4. Solidly advance common prosperity, and raise the level of high-quality life in the coordinated development of material and cultural-ethical progress

4.扎实推进共同富裕，在促进物质文明和精神文明协同发展中提升高品质生活水平

In creating a high-quality life through advancing common prosperity, we must adhere to grasping both aspects and making both aspects firm, promoting the coordination and mutual reinforcement of material and cultural-ethical progress, so that the people are not only materially affluent but also spiritually rich, and achieve the comprehensive development of the individual and the overall progress of society in the process of promoting common prosperity.

在推进共同富裕中创造高品质生活，要坚持两手抓、两手硬，促进物质文明和精神文明相协调、相促进，让人民群众不仅物质富足，而且精神富有，在促进共同富裕中实现人的全面发展、社会全面进步。

“Shaking off poverty is the millennia-old dream of the Chinese nation. Common prosperity is the common expectation of the Chinese people.” Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has placed the gradual realization of common prosperity for all the people in a more important position, made promoting common prosperity for all the people the focal point of working for the people’s happiness, united and led the people in winning the battle against poverty, historically resolved the problem of absolute poverty, created a miracle in the history of human poverty reduction, achieved the historic accomplishment of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and embarked on a new journey of solidly advancing common prosperity.

“摆脱贫困，是中华民族的千年梦想。共同富裕，是中国人民的共同期盼。”党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央把逐步实现全体人民共同富裕摆在更加重要的位置，把促进全体人民共同富裕作为为人民谋幸福的着力点，团结带领人民打赢脱贫攻坚战，历史性地解决了绝对贫困问题，创造了人类减贫史上的奇迹，取得全面建成小康社会历史性成就，开启扎实推进共同富裕的新征程。

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We are committed to common prosperity, so that every Chinese person can live a good life.” “The common prosperity we speak of is the common prosperity of all the people, the prosperity of both the material and spiritual life of the people, not the prosperity of a minority, nor is it uniform egalitarianism.” Common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the realization of common prosperity is a long historical process. To solidly advance common prosperity, we must encourage hard work and innovation to get rich, adhere to the basic economic system, adhere to doing our utmost and acting within our capacity, and proceed step by step.

习近平总书记指出：“我们致力于共同富裕，让每一个中国人都过上美好生活。”“我们说的共同富裕是全体人民共同富裕，是人民群众物质生活和精神生活都富裕，不是少数人的富裕，也不是整齐划一的平均主义。”共同富裕是中国特色社会主义的本质要求，共同富裕的实现是一个长期的历史过程。扎实推进共同富裕，要鼓励勤劳创新致富，坚持基本经济制度，坚持尽力而为、量力而行，循序渐进。

Adhere to advancing common prosperity through high-quality development, and continuously raise the people’s material living standards. Development is the foundation and key to realizing common prosperity, and the quality of development determines the effectiveness of common prosperity. On the new journey of the New Era, we must take high-quality development as the guide, make meeting the people’s new expectations for a better life the starting point and落脚点 of development, continuously meet the people’s growing needs for a better life, and continuously improve the quality of people’s life; implement major regional strategies and the strategy for coordinated regional development, strengthen the coordination of industry development, support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote development that is more balanced, coordinated, and inclusive; construct a multi-level basic institutional arrangement for coordinated distribution, establish a fair, reasonable, and efficient distribution system and mechanism, provide institutional norms and guidance for promoting common prosperity, and promote the formation of an olive-shaped distribution structure; broaden channels for increasing farmers’ incomes and getting rich, comprehensively advance rural revitalization, and promote common prosperity for farmers and rural areas.

坚持在高质量发展中推进共同富裕，不断提高人民物质生活水平。发展是实现共同富裕的基础和关键，发展的质量决定共同富裕的成效。新时代新征程，要以高质量发展为引领，把满足人民对美好生活的新期待作为发展的出发点和落脚点，不断满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要，持续提高人民生活品质；要实施区域重大战略和区域协调发展战略，强化行业发展的协调性，支持中小企业发展，推动发展更平衡、更协调、更包容；要构建多层次分配协调配套的基础性制度安排，建立公正合理高效的分配体制机制，为促进共同富裕提供制度规范和制度引导，推动形成橄榄型分配结构；要拓宽农民增收致富渠道，全面推进乡村振兴，促进农民农村共同富裕。

Strive to build cultural-ethical progress and continuously enrich the people’s spiritual and cultural life. “Chinese-path modernization requires both great material abundance and great spiritual abundance, as well as confidence and self-reliance in ideology and culture.” History and reality prove that improvements in material living conditions do not automatically bring about a richer spiritual world or an enhanced quality of life. While improving the people’s material living standards, we must also adhere to the direction and goal of spiritual prosperity, take the people’s growing spiritual and cultural needs as the guide, develop advanced socialist culture, and produce more excellent literary and artistic works, “so that the entire people will always have the ideological foundation for united struggle, the proactive spirit for pioneering and advancing, and the healthy and upward value pursuit.” In the process of building a socialist cultural power, we must promote the coordinated development of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, continuously enrich the people’s spiritual world, elevate the spiritual realm of high-quality life, and promote the all-round development of the people.

着力建设精神文明，不断丰富人民精神文化生活。“中国式现代化既要物质财富极大丰富，也要精神财富极大丰富、在思想文化上自信自强。”历史和现实证明，物质生活条件的改善并不会自动带来精神世界的丰富和生活品质的提升。在改善人民物质生活水平的同时，还要坚持精神富裕的前进方向和目标，以人民日益增长的精神文化需求为导向，发展社会主义先进文化，推出更多优秀文艺作品，“让全体人民始终拥有团结奋斗的思想基础、开拓进取的主动精神、健康向上的价值追求”,在建设社会主义文化强国的过程中推动物质文明和精神文明协调发展，不断丰富人民精神世界，提升高品质生活的精神境界，促进人的全面发展。

General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourse on high-quality life comprehensively elaborates on the historical background, basic foundations, basic connotations, and practical pathways of high-quality life, and profoundly answers the questions “why create a high-quality life,” “what kind of high-quality life to create,” and “how to create a high-quality life.” This is an important theoretical innovation of our Party in the New Era in applying the worldview and methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism. It has significant and far-reaching guiding significance for creating a high-quality life through high-quality development on the new journey, better advancing Chinese-path modernization, and realizing the people’s aspiration for a better life.

习近平总书记关于高品质生活的重要论述，全面阐述了高品质生活的时代背景和基本依据、基本内涵与实践路径，深刻回答了“为什么要创造高品质生活”“创造什么样的高品质生活”“怎样创造高品质生活”,是我们党在新时代运用辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义世界观和方法论的重要理论创新，对新征程上在高质量发展中创造高品质生活，更好推进中国式现代化建设、实现人民对美好生活的向往，具有重大而深远的指导意义。

Author’s brief biography: Liu Zhichang, professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Marxism, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and researcher at the Institute of Marxism, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Capital Development Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

作者简介：刘志昌，中国社会科学院大学马克思主义学院教授、博士生导师，中国社会科学院马克思主义研究院、中国社会科学院首都发展研究院研究员。