On the Development Orientation of the New Era

The 19th National Congress of the CPC pointed out that “after long-term effort, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era.” The New Era not only marks a new historical orientation for “where socialism with Chinese characteristics has come from, where it is now, and where it is going,” but also marks a new development orientation for our country in terms of development stage, development proposition, and development mission, raising the new topic of the development orientation of the New Era. If the historical orientation focuses on grasping the New Era from the historical process of socialism with Chinese characteristics, then the development orientation focuses on grasping the New Era from the development stage of the primary stage of socialism. From the perspective of the development orientation, the New Era is a new stage of the primary stage of socialism in our country, a new orientation “after development has taken off,” and this new development orientation has distinct characteristics and a new mission. Current academic research mainly studies the New Era from the historical orientation, and most studies conflate the historical orientation with the development orientation; there is a notable lack of research that explicitly studies the New Era from the development orientation. This article argues that studying the development orientation of the New Era not only helps deepen research on important issues such as the scientific connotation, essential characteristics, and fundamental mission of the New Era, but also has significant practical significance for profoundly revealing the development characteristics of the New Era, scientifically understanding the laws of development in the New Era, and better guiding development practice in the New Era.

党的十九大指出，“经过长期努力，中国特色社会主义进入了新时代。”新时代不仅标注了“中国特色社会主义从何处走来，现在何处，又走向何方”的新的历史方位，而且也从发展阶段、发展命题和发展使命等方面标注了我国新的发展方位，提出了新时代的发展方位的崭新课题。如果说，历史方位侧重于从中国特色社会主义的历史进程来把握新时代的话；那么，发展方位则侧重于从社会主义初级阶段的发展阶段把握新时代。从发展方位来看，新时代我国处于社会主义初级阶段的新阶段，“发展起来后”的新方位，新的发展方位具有鲜明的特征和崭新的使命。当前学术界主要从历史方位研究新时代，大多数研究将历史方位与发展方位混淆在一起，明确从发展方位研究新时代的成果尚付阙如。本文认为，研究新时代的发展方位，不仅有助于深化对新时代的科学内涵、本质特征和根本使命等重要问题的研究，而且对深刻揭示新时代的发展特征，科学理解新时代的发展规律，更好指引新时代的发展实践，具有重要现实意义。

I. The New Era Is a New Development Stage of the Primary Stage of Socialism

一、新时代是社会主义初级阶段的新发展阶段

In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping made an overall judgment on the development orientation of socialism in China after reform and opening up: “Chinese socialism is at what stage? It is at the primary stage, it is socialism at the primary stage. Socialism itself is the primary stage of communism, and China is at the primary stage of socialism, that is, the underdeveloped stage.” Deng Xiaoping equated the primary stage with the “underdeveloped stage,” and “underdevelopment” constituted the fundamental characteristic of the primary stage of socialism. According to the report of the 13th National Congress of the CPC, the reason for being in the primary stage of socialism is fundamentally that our country’s socialism emerged from a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and our country must complete the historical tasks of “industrialization and the marketization, socialization, and modernization of the economy” during the primary stage of socialism. In short, the primary stage of socialism is “the specific stage that our country must inevitably go through when building socialism under conditions of backward productive forces and underdeveloped commodity economy.” Here, “underdevelopment” is further concretized as “underdeveloped productive forces” and “underdeveloped commodity economy,” and becomes the core basis for our country being in the primary stage of socialism for a long historical period. According to Deng Xiaoping, the “underdeveloped” primary stage “requires at least a hundred years,” roughly ending by the middle of this century, when our country will have basically achieved modernization.

20世纪80年代，邓小平对改革开放后我国的社会主义发展方位有一个总体性判断：“中国社会主义是处在一个什么阶段，就是处在初级阶段，是初级阶段的社会主义。社会主义本身是共产主义的初级阶段，而我们中国又处在社会主义的初级阶段，就是不发达的阶段”。邓小平将初级阶段基本等同于“不发达的阶段”，“不发达”构成社会主义初级阶段的根本特征。根据十三大报告，之所以处于社会主义初级阶段，根本上是因为我国的社会主义脱胎于半殖民地半封建社会，我国要在社会主义初级阶段完成“工业化和经济的市场化、社会化、现代化”的历史任务。简而言之，社会主义初级阶段是“特指我国在生产力落后、商品经济不发达条件下建设社会主义必然要经历的特定阶段”。这里，“不发达”又具体化为“生产力不发达”和“商品经济不发达”，并且成为我国在很长一段历史时段内处于社会主义初级阶段的核心依据。按照邓小平的说法，“不发达”的初级阶段“至少需要上百年时间”，大致终结于本世纪中叶，彼时我国基本实现现代化。

(1) The Primary Stage of Socialism Is Constantly Developing and Changing

（一）社会主义初级阶段是不断发展变化的

1. The “Five Characteristics” and “Nine Characteristics” of the Primary Stage of Socialism

1.社会主义初级阶段的“五特征”和“九特征”

While proposing that our country would remain in the primary stage of socialism for a long period, the 13th National Congress of the CPC also put forward the “five characteristics” of the primary stage of socialism from a process-oriented perspective, namely: “In summary, the primary stage of socialism in our country is the stage of gradually shaking off poverty and backwardness; the stage of gradually transforming from an agricultural country with a majority of the population engaged in manual labor into a modern industrial country with a majority of the population in non-agricultural industries; the stage of transforming from a natural and semi-natural economy with a large proportion into a highly developed commodity economy; the stage of establishing and developing a vibrant socialist economic, political, and cultural system through reform and exploration; and the stage of the whole people rising up, working hard, and achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Subsequently, on the basis of the 13th National Congress, the 15th National Congress of the CPC provided a more specific and comprehensive summary of the basic characteristics of the primary stage of socialism, expanding them into the “nine characteristics.” The “five characteristics” and “nine characteristics” cover the development tasks of our country in the primary stage of socialism in terms of “population structure, level of industrial development, regional development conditions, scientific, educational, and cultural development, degree of market economy perfection, degree of democratic political development, people’s living standards, and changes in international status.” They generally point out that in the primary stage of socialism, our country must achieve fundamental changes from tradition to modernity and from underdevelopment to development, and also indicate that the primary stage of socialism is a continuous process of development, a process of gradual accumulation of quantitative changes leading to “partial qualitative changes” and then to “comprehensive qualitative changes.”

十三大在提出我国将长期处于社会主义初级阶段的同时，从过程论的角度提出了社会主义初级阶段具有的“五个特征”，即“总起来说，我国社会主义初级阶段，是逐步摆脱贫穷、摆脱落后的阶段；是由农业人口占多数的手工劳动为基础的农业国，逐步变为非农产业人口占多数的现代化的工业国的阶段；是由自然经济半自然经济占很大比重，变为商品经济高度发达的阶段；是通过改革和探索，建立和发展充满活力的社会主义经济、政治、文化体制的阶段；是全民奋起，艰苦创业，实现中华民族伟大复兴的阶段”。在此之后，党的十五大在十三大的基础上，对社会主义初级阶段的基本特征进行了更具体和全面的概括，扩展为“九特征”。“五特征”和“九特征”涵盖了社会主义初级阶段我国“人口结构、工业发展水平、地区发展状况、科学教育文化发展、市场经济完善程度、民主政治发展程度、人民生活水平、国际地位变化”等方面的发展任务，总体上指出了社会主义初级阶段我国要实现从传统到现代、从不发达到发达的根本性变化，也指明了社会主义初级阶段是一个不断发展的过程，是一个不断由量变的积累到“部分质变”，再到“全面质变”的过程。

Although the “five characteristics” and “nine characteristics” do not explicitly propose that the development of the primary stage of socialism has stages, they provide an epistemological basis for analyzing the process of development and change in the primary stage of socialism. The summary of the “five aspects” of the New Era at the 19th National Congress of the CPC follows the same internal logic, that is, the “five aspects” of the New Era have evolved from the “five characteristics” and “nine characteristics” of the primary stage of socialism. The main economic and social development goals of the “six new aspects” [1]1 The “six new aspects” (六个新) refer to the main economic and social development goals for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025) as proposed at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee: new achievements in economic development, new steps in reform and opening up, new progress in social civilization, new improvements in ecological civilization, new levels of people’s well-being, and new effectiveness in national governance. for our country’s 14th Five-Year Plan period and the long-range objectives for basically achieving socialist modernization by 2035, as proposed at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, fundamentally still originate from the development tasks defined by the “five characteristics” and “nine characteristics” of the primary stage of socialism.

“五特征”和“九特征”虽未明确提出社会主义初级阶段的发展具有阶段性，却为我们分析社会主义初级阶段的发展变化过程提供了认识论基础。十九大关于新时代的“五个是”的概括与此具有一脉相承的内在逻辑，亦即新时代的“五个是”是从社会主义初级阶段的“五特征”和“九特征”的基础上发展演变而来的。十九届五中全会作出的我国十四五时期的“六个新”的经济社会发展主要目标和2035年基本实现社会主义现代化的远景目标，从根本上仍然来源于社会主义初级阶段的“五特征”和“九特征”所定义的发展任务。

2. The Primary Stage of Socialism Has Experienced a Staged Leap in Development

2.社会主义初级阶段出现了阶段性的发展跃升

Xi Jinping pointed out, “Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, on the basis of the major achievements in our country’s development since the founding of New China, especially since reform and opening up, the cause of the Party and the state has undergone historic changes, our country’s development has stood at a new historical starting point, and socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new development stage.” It should be said that “our country’s development has stood at a new historical starting point” and “entered a new development stage” have a solid realistic basis. According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the forty years since reform and opening up, China’s GDP has grown 33.5 times, doubling on average every eight years; China’s position in the global economic structure has shifted from accounting for only 1.8% of global GDP at the beginning of reform and opening up to about 16% now; in per capita terms, China’s per capita income has gone from a state of poverty at the beginning of reform and opening up to subsistence (1998), to middle-income status (2010), and now exceeds 10,000 US dollars, entering the ranks of upper-middle-income countries; in terms of urban-rural structure, by the end of 2017, the urbanization rate of the permanent resident population was 58.52%, an increase of 40.6 percentage points from the end of 1978; looking at the Engel coefficient of household consumption, which reflects people’s living standards, China’s Engel coefficient dropped from an average of over 60% at the beginning of reform and opening up (about 58% in urban areas and about 63% in rural areas) to below 30% in 2018 (26% in urban areas and 28% in rural areas), and fell to 28.2% in 2019, entering the “affluent” stage according to UN standards.

习近平指出，“党的十八大以来，在新中国成立特别是改革开放以来我国发展取得的重大成就基础上，党和国家事业发生历史性变革，我国发展站到了新的历史起点上，中国特色社会主义进入了新的发展阶段。”应该说，“我国发展站到了新的历史起点”和“进入了新的发展阶段”，具有坚实的现实根据。根据国家统计局统计，改革开放四十年我国GDP增长了33.5倍，平均每8年就要翻一番；我国在世界经济格局中的位置由改革开放初期GDP占全球仅1.8%，到现在的16%左右；从人均来看，我国人均收入经历了改革开放初期的贫困状态到温饱状态（1998年）、中等收入阶段（2010年），目前已超过1万美元，步入上中等收入国家行列；从城乡结构来看，2017年末我国常住人口城镇化率为58.52%，此1978年末上升40.6个百分点；从反映人民生活水平的居民家庭恩格尔系数来看，我国的恩格尔系数从改革开放初期的平均60%以上（城镇58%左右，农村63%左右）降至2018年的30%以下（城镇26%，农村28%），2019年降至28.2%，进入联合国标准中的富足阶段。

The above changes, when compared with the “five characteristics” and “nine characteristics” of the primary stage of socialism, reveal that China’s primary stage of socialism has undergone changes of a “partial qualitative change” nature. This “partial qualitative change” is mainly manifested in the fact that the level of development and degree of development defined by the basic characteristics of the primary stage of socialism have achieved a phased leap: from the perspective of “the level of industrial development,” China’s industrialization has moved from “a natural economy as the mainstay” to the comprehensive completion of industrialization with simultaneous informatization, and is about to enter a post-industrialization stage of development; from the perspective of “the transformation of the agricultural population into a non-agricultural population,” China is about to complete urbanization and has begun to comprehensively realize the urbanization of the transferred agricultural population; from the perspective of “the transformation from a majority of the poor population to a majority of the wealthy population,” China has entered the ranks of upper-middle-income countries, is moving towards high-income countries, and the middle-income group has become the main social group, driving rapid social transformation; from the perspective of “the transformation from backwardness in science, technology, education, and culture to relative development in science, technology, education, and culture,” the overall development level of China’s education has entered the upper-middle ranks of the world, the level of scientific and technological innovation is accelerating towards the international first phalanx, and many areas of science and technology are beginning to lead the world; from the perspective of “gradually narrowing the gap through sequential development,” China’s realization of common prosperity has entered a critical stage, having shifted from “letting some people and some regions get rich first” to the former driving the latter and beginning to enter the stage of realizing common prosperity; from the perspective of “gradually narrowing the gap with the world’s advanced level,” China’s international status has achieved a substantial leap, having begun to transition from a regional power to a global power and a global strong power with significant discourse power and global influence.

上述变化对照社会主义初级阶段的“五特征”与“九特征”，发现我国的社会主义初级阶段发生了带有“部分质变”性质的变化。这种“部分质变”，主要体现为社会主义初级阶段基本特征所定义的发展水平和发展程度已经实现了阶段性跃升：从“工业发展水平”来看，我国的工业化由“自然经济为主”进入全面完成工业化并同步信息化、即将进入后工业化的发展阶段；从“农业人口转变非农业人口”来看，我国即将完成城镇化并开始全面实现农业转移人口市民化；从“贫困人口占多数向富裕人口占多数转变”来看，我国已进入中高等收入国家，正在迈向高收入国家，中等收入群体成为社会主体人群并带动社会快速转型；从“科技教育文化落后向科技教育文化比较发达转变”来看，我国的教育事业总体发展水平进入世界中上行列，科技创新水平加速迈向国际第一方阵，很多科技水平开始领先世界；从“通过有先有后的发展，逐步缩小差距”来看，我国实现共同富裕进入关键阶段，当前已经从“让一部分人和一部分地区先富起来”转变为先富带动后富并开始进入实现共同富裕阶段；从“逐步缩小同世界先进水平的差距”来看，我国国际地位实现了大幅跃升，已开始由区域性大国向具有重大话语权和全球影响力的全球性大国、全球性强国跃进。

(II) The “underdeveloped state” of the primary stage of socialism has not fundamentally changed

（二）社会主义初级阶段的“不发达状态”没有根本改变

This developmental leap of a “partial qualitative change” nature has not fundamentally changed the “underdeveloped state” of China’s primary stage of socialism.

这种带有“部分质变”性质的发展跃升，并未根本改变我国社会主义初级阶段的“不发达状态”。

1. The fundamental characteristics and core basis of “underdevelopment” in the primary stage of socialism still exist

1.社会主义初级阶段“不发达”的根本特征和核心依据依然存在

Comparing the basic characteristics of the primary stage of socialism in terms of “population structure, level of industrial development, regional development conditions, development of science, education, and culture, degree of market economy perfection, degree of democratic political development, and people’s living standards,” first, although China’s total economic output has leaped to the forefront of the world, its per capita GDP has not reached the world average and still lags far behind developed capitalist countries. As the American economist Paul Baran said, the common feature of all underdeveloped countries is their low per capita national income, which is an important constraint on “underdevelopment.” Second, the contradiction of unbalanced development between urban and rural areas, between regions, and within urban and rural areas and regions is prominent, and China remains one of the countries with the largest urban-rural gap in the world. Third, although China’s level of industrialization has made great progress, it still faces enormous challenges such as an irrational industrial structure, low economic efficiency, and a low technological content, and its innovation capacity does not meet the requirements of high-quality development. Therefore, in the New Era, China must still continue to complete the historical tasks of “marketization, socialization, and modernization.”

对照社会主义初级阶段“人口结构、工业发展水平、地区发展状况、科学教育文化发展、市场经济完善程度、民主政治发展程度、人民生活水平”等方面的基本特征，一是我国经济总量虽跃居世界前列，但人均GDP达不到世界平均水平，与发达资本主义国家相比差距很大，正如美国经济学家保罗?巴兰所说，所有不发达国家的共同特点是它们的人均国民生产低下，这是“不发达”的重要制约；二是我国城乡之间、地区之间以及城乡和地区之间内部发展不平衡的矛盾突出，我国仍是世界城乡差距最大的国家之一；三是我国工业化水平取得极大进步，但仍面临产业结构不合理、经济效益不高、科技含量较低等巨大挑战，创新能力不适应高质量发展要求。因而，新时代我国仍然要继续完成“市场化、社会化和现代化”的历史任务。

In addition, at the present stage, China’s socialist market economy system is not yet fully mature, and socialist democratic rule of law, social management systems, etc., are still being continuously improved. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee [n2], while pointing out the historical achievements and significant advantages of China’s national governance system, put forward a timetable and roadmap for “making various systems more mature and well-defined,” “making various systems more complete,” and “comprehensively realizing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.” The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee [n3] also made strategic deployments for the 14th Five-Year Plan period and beyond, such as “promoting socialist political construction,” “deepening the reform of the science and technology system and improving the national science and technology governance system,” and “removing institutional and mechanism obstacles that restrict high-quality development and high-quality life.” These all fully demonstrate that the perfection of China’s market economy, the degree of democratic political development, and the modernization of the national governance system have not yet been completed, and the primary stage of socialism is far from having undergone a “comprehensive qualitative change.”

除此之外，现阶段我国的社会主义市场经济体制还不够完善，社会主义民主法治、社会管理体制等仍然在不断完善之中。党的十九届四中全会在指出我国国家治理体系的历史成就和显著优势的基础上，提出了“推动各方面制度更加成熟定型”“各方面制度更加完善”和“全面实现国家治理体系和治理能力现代化”的时间表和路线图。党的十九届五中全会也作出了十四五乃至更长时期内“推进社会主义政治建设”“深入推进科技体制改革，完善国家科技治理体系”“破除制约高质量发展、高品质生活的体制机制障碍”的战略部署。这些都充分说明，我国市场经济完善程度、民主政治发展程度和国家治理体系的现代化还没有完成，社会主义初级阶段还远没有发生“全面质变”。

2. The “underdevelopment” of the primary stage of socialism exhibits holistic and dynamic characteristics

2.社会主义初级阶段的“不发达”呈现出总体性和动态性特点

Another important reason for positioning the development orientation of the New Era within the still overall “underdeveloped” primary stage of socialism is that the core basis of the primary stage of socialism, “underdevelopment,” has holistic, processual, and dynamic characteristics. This is mainly reflected in the following: first, underdevelopment has obvious long-term and holistic characteristics. The long-term nature of the primary stage of socialism and the leapfrog development of recent decades coexist within specific time and space, causing China’s “underdeveloped” state to exhibit the intertwined coexistence of holistic underdevelopment and partial development, long-term underdevelopment and temporary development, continuous underdevelopment and phased development, and lagging underdevelopment and advanced development. Second, underdevelopment has dynamic and changing characteristics. When we proposed in the 1980s that the primary stage of socialism is an underdeveloped stage, we took the developed capitalist countries of that time as a reference. Therefore, the level of productive forces in China’s primary stage of socialism must catch up with and surpass that of developed capitalist countries. However, while China’s productive forces are developing rapidly, developed capitalist countries are also in a state of constant development and change. The 13th National Congress of the CPC [n4] proposed that by the middle of the 21st century, China’s per capita gross national product would reach the level of moderately developed countries, basically realizing modernization. At that time, it was believed that when China’s per capita gross national income (GNI) reached about 4,000 US dollars, modernization would be basically realized. Although China’s per capita GNI has far exceeded 4,000 US dollars (according to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, China’s per capita GNI exceeded 10,000 US dollars, higher than the average level of middle-income countries), compared with developed capitalist countries of the same era, it is still in a stage of “neither poor nor rich, with a relatively comfortable life.” Therefore, the historical tasks of the primary stage of socialism will not be completed within a short historical period.

仍在总体“不发达”的社会主义初级阶段定位新时代的发展方位，另一个重要原因是社会主义初级阶段的核心依据是“不发达”具有总体性、过程性和动态性的特点。主要体现在：一是不发达具有明显的长期性和总体性。社会主义初级阶段的长期性和近几十年我国的跨越式发展在特定时间和空间范围内的长期并存，使得我国的“不发达”状态呈现出整体性不发达与局部性发达、长期性不发达与暂时性发达、连续性不发达与阶段性发达、落差性不发达与超前性发达并存交织的特点。二是不发达具有动态性和变动性。20世纪80年代我们提出社会主义初级阶段就是不发达的阶段，是以当时发达的资本主义国家作为参照的，因此，社会主义初级阶段我国生产力水平要赶上和超过发达资本主义国家。然而在我国生产力快速发展的同时，发达资本主义国家同样处于不断发展变化中。党的十三大提出，到21世纪中叶，我国人均国民生产总值达到中等发达国家水平，基本实现现代化。当时认为，我国人均国民总收入（GNI）达到4000美元左右，就基本实现现代化。虽然我国人均国民总收入（GNI）已远远超过4000美元（根据国家统计局，2019年我国人均国民总收入突破1万美元，高于中等收入国家平均水平），但与同时代的发达资本主义国家相比较，还属于“不穷不富，日子比较好过”的阶段。因而，社会主义初级阶段的历史任务不会在较短历史时期内完成。

(III) The primary stage of socialism in the New Era has entered a new stage of development

（三）新时代社会主义初级阶段进入新发展阶段

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “To understand and grasp the phased characteristics of China’s social development, we must adhere to the methodology of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, think from the combination of history and reality, theory and practice, domestic and international, think from the historical orientation of China’s social development, and think from the overall situation of the development of the Party and the state’s undertakings, to draw correct conclusions.” [n5] Using this as a scientific methodology, he proposed, “We must not only see that the basic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism have not changed, but also see the new characteristics presented by each stage of China’s economic and social development,” and “accurately grasp the new changes and new characteristics of China’s different stages of development, so that the subjective world better conforms to the objective world.” [n6]

习近平总书记指出，“认识和把握我国社会发展的阶段性特征，要坚持辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义的方法论，从历史和现实、理论和实践、国内和国际等的结合上进行思考，从我国社会发展的历史方位上来思考，从党和国家事业发展大局出发进行思考，得出正确结论。”以此为科学方法论，他提出，“既要看到社会主义初级阶段基本国情没有变，也要看到我国经济社会发展每个阶段呈现出来的新特点”，“准确把握我国不同发展阶段的新变化新特点，使主观世界更好符合客观世界”。

1. The New Era is a new stage of development within the primary stage of socialism

1.新时代是社会主义初级阶段的新发展阶段

It must be recognized that, on the one hand, “the basic national conditions of being in the primary stage of socialism for a long time have not changed,” and “the international status of being the world’s largest developing country has not changed.” These “two no-changes” remain the basic basis for our planning of development. For a long time in the past, we believed that the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing material and cultural needs and backward social production would run through the entire process of the primary stage of socialism. Then, does the New Era, marked by a new principal social contradiction, still belong to the primary stage of socialism? The 19th National Congress of the CPC clearly pointed out that the principal social contradiction in China has changed, and socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era, but this has not changed the historical stage of socialism in which China is located. We must clearly understand that the New Era cannot be positioned apart from the primary stage of socialism; the New Era is still within the primary stage of socialism.

必须看到，一方面我国“长期处于社会主义初级阶段的基本国情没有变”，“世界上最大发展中国的国际地位没有变”，这两个“没有变”依然是我们谋划发展的基本依据。过去很长一段时间我们认为，人民日益增长的物质文化需要同落后的社会生产之间的矛盾，将会贯穿于社会主义初级阶段的整个过程。那么，以新的社会主要矛盾为主要标志的新时代，是否仍然处于社会主义初级阶段？党的十九大明确指出，我国社会主要矛盾发生变化，中国特色社会主义进入新时代，但没有改变我国社会主义所处的历史阶段。我们必须明确不能离开社会主义初级阶段来定位新时代，新时代仍然处于社会主义初级阶段。

But on the other hand, the New Era is a new development stage of the primary stage of socialism. For although the fundamental characteristic and core basis of the “underdeveloped” nature of the primary stage of socialism in the New Era have not undergone a “fundamental change,” the degree and forms of manifestation of underdevelopment have already undergone a “fundamental change”: in terms of degree, in the New Era “China’s social productive forces have on the whole risen significantly, and the country’s social productive capacity has moved to the forefront of the world in many areas,” with developed and underdeveloped conditions exhibiting an interweaving of “holistic and partial” as well as “general and specific” characteristics; in terms of forms of manifestation, the “underdeveloped” state in the New Era has crossed beyond “underdeveloped productive forces and underdeveloped commodity economy” and entered a new stage of “unbalanced, uneven, and insufficient development.”

但另一方面，新时代是社会主义初级阶段的新发展阶段。因为，虽然新时代的社会主义初级阶段“不发达”的根本特征和核心依据没有发生“根本性变化”，但是不发达的程度和表现形式已经发生“根本性变化”：从程度看，新时代我国的“社会生产力水平总体上显著提高，社会生产能力在很多方面进入世界前列”，发达与不发达呈现出“整体性与局部性”“一般性与特殊性”相互交织的特点；从表现形式看，新时代的“不发达”状态跨越“生产力不发达、商品经济不发达”而进入“不平衡、不均衡和不充分的发展”的新阶段。

2. The New Era is a phased overcoming, sublation, and transcendence of the “underdeveloped state” of the primary stage of socialism

2.新时代是对社会主义初级阶段“不发达状态”的阶段性克服、扬弃与超越

As a “fairly long historical stage,” the primary stage of socialism must necessarily undergo a process from underdeveloped to relatively developed to fully developed. In this historical process, the long-term quantitative accumulation of development levels will cause “partial qualitative change,” and then on the basis of partial qualitative change, long-term quantitative accumulation will cause “comprehensive qualitative change,” giving rise to several development stages that are both successive and mutually distinct. The New Era is the new stage entered as a result of “partial qualitative change” caused by decades of quantitative accumulation during reform and opening up. The New Era is both the result of “partial qualitative change” and the marker of “partial qualitative change.” The significance of the “partial qualitative change” in the New Era lies in the fact that it represents a phased overcoming, sublation, and transcendence of the “underdeveloped state” of China’s primary stage of socialism. Whether it is the decisive achievements in securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, or the commencement of a new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects in 2021, or the basic realization of socialist modernization by 2035, or the building of a great modern socialist country by 2049, all represent a phased overcoming, sublation, and transcendence of the “underdeveloped state” of China’s primary stage of socialism.

作为一个“相当长的历史阶段”，社会主义初级阶段必然要经历由不发达到较为发达再到发达的过程。在这个历史过程中，会因为发展水平长期量变的积累而引起“部分质变”，再在部分质变的基础上，经过长期量变而引起“全面质变”，由此会出现若干相互接续但又相互区别的发展阶段。新时代就是社会主义初级阶段发展过程中随着改革开放几十年量变而引起“部分质变”从而进入的新阶段。新时代既是“部分质变”的结果，也是“部分质变”标志。新时代的“部分质变”意义在于，它是对我国社会主义初级阶段“不发达状态”的阶段性克服、扬弃与超越。不管是2020年决胜全面建成小康社会取得决定性成就，还是2021年开启全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程，或是2035年基本实现社会主义现代化、2049年建成社会主义现代化强国，都是对我国社会主义初级阶段“不发达状态”的阶段性克服、扬弃与超越。

The primary stage of socialism is a “century-long Long March” from the “poverty and blankness” of the 1950s to the “realization of socialist modernization” in the mid-21st century. It has already spanned more than 60 years before and after reform and opening up, and has now concluded the “first half” of the primary stage of socialism. As a new stage after the long-term development of the primary stage of socialism, the New Era opens the “second half” of the primary stage of socialism. In the “second half” of the primary stage of socialism, China will realize “comprehensive qualitative change” on the basis of “partial qualitative change” in such areas as “population structure, level of industrial development, regional development conditions, scientific, educational, and cultural development, degree of market economy perfection, degree of democratic political development, people’s living standards, and changes in international status.”

社会主义初级阶段是从上世纪50年代“一穷二白”到二十一世纪中叶“实现社会主义现代化”的“百年长征”，至今已历经改革开放前后60多年，现已结束社会主义初级阶段的“上半程”。作为社会主义初级阶段长期发展后的新阶段，新时代开启社会主义初级阶段的“下半程”。在“下半程”的社会主义初级阶段中，我国在“人口结构、工业发展水平、地区发展状况、科学教育文化发展、市场经济完善程度、民主政治发展程度、人民生活水平、国际地位变化”等方面，将在“部分质变”的基础上实现“全面质变”。

II. The New Era is in the new development orientation of “after having developed”

二、新时代处于“发展起来后”的新发展方位

So, how should the new development stage of the primary stage of socialism be defined theoretically? Does the intrinsic character and historical mission of this new development stage differ from those of the entire primary stage of socialism, or not?

那么，如何在理论上定义社会主义初级阶段的新发展阶段，这个新发展阶段的内在特征和历史使命与整个社会主义初级阶段相比，有无变化或不同呢？

(I) The two major development orientations of the primary stage of socialism

（一）社会主义初级阶段的两大发展方位

In the 1990s, Deng Xiaoping, based on his insight into the new problems emerging from China’s reform and opening up and his profound reflection on the path of future development, put forward the important proposition of the primary stage of socialism having a “first develop” and a “after having developed” orientation. He pointed out: “In the past we talked about first developing. Now it seems that the problems after having developed are no fewer than when we had not developed”; he gave the example: “How to achieve prosperity for 1.2 billion people, and how to distribute wealth once it is achieved—these are all big problems”; and he believed that “solving this problem is more difficult than solving the problem of development itself.” General Secretary Xi Jinping, when analyzing the stage-specific characteristics of China’s social development, also profoundly pointed out: “At present, an important课题 facing the entire Party is how to correctly understand and properly handle the new situations and new problems that continuously emerge after our country has developed. Now, the problems we encounter… are largely newly emerging problems.” Here, General Secretary Xi Jinping also used the expression “after having developed” and believed that the new situations and new problems that continuously emerge now are those that continuously emerge after having developed.

上世纪90年代，邓小平基于对我国改革开放出现的新问题的洞察和未来发展之路的深刻思考，提出了社会主义初级阶段“先发展起来”和“发展起来以后”的重要命题。他指出：“过去我们讲先发展起来。现在看，发展起来以后的问题不比不发展时少”；他举例说，“十二亿人口怎样实现富裕，富裕起来以后财富怎样分配，这都是大问题”；而且他认为，“解决这个问题比解决发展起来的问题还困难”。习近平总书记在分析我国社会发展的阶段性特征时，也深刻指出，“当前，全党面临的一个重要课题，就是如何正确认识和妥善处理我国发展起来后不断出现的新情况新问题，现在，我们遇到的问题中……大量是新出现的问题”。这里，习近平总书记也提到了“发展起来以后”这一说法，并认为，现在不断出现的新情况新问题是发展起来以后不断出现的。

On this basis, we divide the primary stage of socialism into two major development orientations: one is the “underdeveloped” development orientation. From reform and opening up to before the 18th National Congress, the overall characterization is the “underdeveloped” development orientation, whose fundamental historical task was to liberate and develop the social productive forces, whose principal contradiction was to “meet the people’s material and cultural needs” by resolving “backward social production,” and whose fundamental mission was to enable China to “first develop.” As Deng Xiaoping said, the most important thing in this stage was to “seize the opportunity, accelerate development, and strive to raise the national economy to a new level every few years.” The other is the “after having developed” development orientation. After the 18th National Congress, as China entered the New Era, our country as a whole entered the new development orientation of “after having developed.” The development goals, development thinking, and main challenges of the new development orientation have all changed markedly. The new development orientation takes the pursuit of “higher quality, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable” development as its goal, takes the five new development concepts as its fundamental guidance, takes solving the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development as its fundamental path, takes crossing the middle-income trap as its historical task, and pursues the fundamental goal of continuously meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. These are all “problems after having developed,” reflecting the development thinking and development concepts of “after having developed.” From the perspective of historical mission, the New Era of “after having developed” is an era of realizing common prosperity from the prosperity of some people, an era of moving from getting rich to becoming strong, and an era of continuously meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. These historical missions are highly consistent with the problems Deng Xiaoping said needed to be solved “after having developed,” demonstrating from a practical level that the New Era is in the development orientation of “after having developed.”

以此为依据，我们将社会主义初级阶段划分为两大发展方位：一个是“欠发展”的发展方位。从改革开放到十八大以前，总体概括为“欠发展”的发展方位，其根本历史任务是解放和发展社会生产力，主要矛盾是通过解决“落后的社会生产”来“满足人民的物质文化需要“，根本使命是让我国“先发展起来”。正如邓小平所讲的，这一阶段最主要的，是“抓住机遇，加快发展，争取每隔几年使国民经济上一个新台阶”。另一个是“发展起来后”的发展方位。党的十八大后，随着我国进入新时代，我国整体上处于“发展起来后”的新发展方位。新发展方位的发展目标、发展思路和主要挑战都发生明显变化。新发展方位以追求“更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续”为发展目标，以五大新发展理念为根本指引，以解决不平衡不充分的发展问题为根本途径，以跨越中等收入陷阱为历史任务，追求不断满足人民日益增长的美好生活新需要的根本目标，这些都是“发展起来后的问题”，反映“发展起来后”的发展思路和发展理念。从历史使命看，“发展起来后”的新时代，是实现由部分人的富裕到全体人民共同富裕的时代，是从富起来走向强起来的时代，是不断满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的时代。这些历史使命与邓小平关于“发展起来以后”要解决的问题，具有高度契合性，从实践层面表明新时代处于“发展起来后”的发展方位。

(II) The changes and continuities in productive forces and relations of production in the “after having developed” development orientation

（二）“发展起来后”发展方位生产力与生产关系的变和不变

To scientifically position the new development orientation of “after having developed,” it is necessary to reveal the movement and change of relations of production and productive forces in this new development orientation. In comparison with the “five characteristics” and “nine characteristics” of the primary stage of socialism, the productive forces of the new development orientation are still, on the whole, in the “underdeveloped state” of the primary stage of socialism; the “after having developed” new development orientation has “bade farewell to the low-income development stage and entered the upper-middle-income stage,” and “many development problems in this stage are different from those in the low-income stage.” That is: first, this stage has already crossed the stage of productive forces development whose main goal was to shake off poverty and solve the problem of adequate food and clothing, and is entering a stage of productive forces development whose main goal is to achieve “higher quality, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable” development; second, this stage has already crossed the stage where a large proportion of the population was illiterate or semi-literate and science, technology, and education were backward, and is rapidly realizing the goal of becoming a world power in education and scientific and technological innovation; third, this stage will gradually narrow regional disparities and the gap between rich and poor by encouraging and supporting the economic and social development of backward regions; fourth, this stage will rapidly narrow the development gap between our country and the world’s advanced countries, until it catches up and surpasses them and stands on its own among the world’s great powers.

科学定位“发展起来后”的新发展方位，要揭示新发展方位的生产关系和生产力运动变化。对照社会主义初级阶段“五特征”和“九特征”，新发展方位的生产力总体上仍处于社会主义初级阶段“不发达状态”；“发展起来后”新发展方位已“告别了低收入发展阶段，进入了上中等收入阶段”，“这个阶段的许多发展问题和低收入阶段时是不一样的”。即，第一，此阶段已跨过以摆脱贫困、解决温饱为主要目标的生产力发展阶段，正在进入追求实现“更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续”为主要目标的生产力发展阶段；第二，此阶段已经跨越了文盲半文盲占很大比重和科技教育落后的阶段，正在快速实现世界教育强国和科技创新强国；第三，此阶段将通过鼓励支持落后地区经济社会发展，逐步缩小地区差距和贫富差距；第四，此阶段将快速缩小我国与世界先进水平国家的发展差距，直至赶超并自立于世界强国之林。

In terms of relations of production, on the one hand, after “development has taken off,” the development orientation remains within the primary stage of socialism, and the epochal proposition of the new development orientation after “development has taken off” is still to thoroughly shake off the “underdeveloped state” through basically realizing socialist modernization and realizing a powerful modern socialist country. The relations of production in the primary stage of socialism are adapted to the new development orientation after “development has taken off,” and the basic line of socialism—taking economic construction as the center, adhering to reform and opening up, and adhering to the Four Cardinal Principles [8]8 “After having developed” (发展起来后) is a phrase used by Xi Jinping to characterise the stage China entered after achieving rapid economic growth, contrasting with the earlier stage of “underdevelopment” (欠发展).—remains the “lifeline” of the Party and the state and the “line of happiness” for the people throughout the development orientation after “development has taken off.” On the other hand, the relations of production in the “development has taken off” development orientation, adapting to the productive forces of the new development orientation, have undergone important changes: First, “development in the New Era must be scientific development, and we must unswervingly implement the new development philosophy to promote the comprehensive development of the Party and the state’s undertakings.” As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, while adhering to the Party’s basic line, the New

生产关系上，一方面“发展起来后”发展方位仍处社会主义初级阶段，通过基本实现社会主义现代化和实现社会主义现代化强国来彻底摆脱“不发达状态”，仍是“发展起来后”新发展方位时代命题。社会主义初级阶段生产关系适应“发展起来后”新发展方位，以经济建设为中心、坚持改革开放、坚持四项基本原则的社会主义基本路线仍是贯穿“发展起来后”发展方位上党和国家的“生命线”、人民的“幸福线”。另一方面，“发展起来后”发展方位的生产关系，与新发展方位的生产力相适应，有重要变化：第一，“新时代的发展必须是科学发展，必须坚定不移贯彻新发展理念，推动党和国家事业全面发展”。如习近平总书记指出，新时代要在坚持党的基本路线的同时，更好解决我国社会出现的新问题，更好发展中国特色社会主义事业，更好推动人的全面发展、社会全面进步；“新时代新阶段的发展必须贯彻新发展理念，必须是高质量发展”。第二，新时代正在实现由“让一部分人和地区先富起来”转向“必须促进全体人民共同富裕摆在更加重要的位置”。在这一转向下，我国的社会主义基本经济制度、社会主义分配制度、社会主义市场经济制度将更加完善和成熟。正如十九届四中全会指出，我国的基本经济制度“既体现社会主义制度的优越性，又同我国社会主义初级阶段社会生产力发展水平相适应”，尤其是分配制度，要“完善相关制度和政策”，更加“合理调节城乡、区域、不同群体间的分配关系”。第三，新时代要着重推动中国特色社会主义制度更加成熟、更加定型。1992年邓小平在南方谈话中提出，恐怕再有三十年的时间，我们才会在各方面形成一整套更加成熟、更加定型的制度，将近三十年过去了，可以说，新时代正当其时。习近平指出，“社会主义实践的后半程，我们的主要历史任务是完善和发展中国特色社会主义制度，为党和国家事业发展、人民幸福安康、为社会和谐稳定、为国家长治久安提供一整套更完备、更稳定、更管用的制度体系。”

In sum, the “New Era” is a new stage in the development of productive forces under the conditions of the relations of production in the primary stage of socialism; it is the stage of middle-to-high income development within the primary stage of socialism. Viewed from the movement and change of productive forces and relations of production, the New Era is situated in a new development orientation of “after having developed.” [n]

总之，“新时代”处于社会主义初级阶段生产关系条件下生产力发展的新阶段，是社会主义初级阶段的中高等收入发展阶段，从生产力与生产关系的运动变化来看，新时代处于“发展起来后”的新发展方位。

III. The Epochal Characteristics of the New Development Orientation of “After Having Developed”

三、“发展起来后”新发展方位的时代特征

The development orientation of “underdevelopment” and the new development orientation of “after having developed” are interconnected yet distinct within the primary stage of socialism. The basic line, basic tasks, and basic features of the primary stage of socialism run through all development orientations. However, compared with the development orientation of “underdevelopment,” the new development orientation of “after having developed” possesses new epochal characteristics. In terms of content, the epochal characteristics are “concentratedly manifested in the epochal tasks, principal contradictions, historical missions, and strategic policies that adapt to the development of the times” and other aspects. In terms of nature, the new epochal characteristics both embody the “unchanged” nature of the primary stage of socialism as a whole and concentrate on embodying the “change” of the new development stage and new development orientation within the primary stage of socialism — that is, the specific connotations of the “new.” This is mainly manifested in three aspects.

“欠发展”的发展方位和“发展起来后”的新发展方位，在社会主义初级阶段中相互联系而又有所区别，社会主义初级阶段的基本路线、基本任务、基本特征等基本属性贯穿于不同发展方位的始终。但与“欠发展”的发展方位相比较，“发展起来后”的新发展方位又具有新的时代特征。从内容来看，时代特征“集中体现为面临的时代课题、主要矛盾、历史任务和适应时代发展的战略策略”等方面；从性质来看，新的时代特征既整体上体现了社会主义初级阶段之“不变”，又集中体现了社会主义初级阶段的新发展阶段、新发展方位之“变”，即“新”的具体内涵。主要体现在三个方面。

(1) The Essence of Socialism Runs Through the New Era, but the New Era Has New Requirements

（一）社会主义本质贯穿于新时代，但新时代有新要求

The New Era is the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and therefore it must embody the essence of socialism. After reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping, on the basis of a profound reflection on the traditional socialist model, re-understood the essence of socialism. He pointed out that the essence of socialism is “to liberate and develop the productive forces, to eliminate exploitation and polarisation, and ultimately to achieve common prosperity.” It should be said that this important theory clarified two fundamental principles of socialism: first, the greatest superiority of socialism is the liberation and development of the productive forces, and the fundamental task of the primary stage of socialism is precisely to liberate and develop the productive forces. This “political economy of development” became the fundamental guide for China’s decades of reform and opening up, which saw a historic leap in productive forces and a transition from the low-income stage to the middle-to-high income development stage. Second, the fundamental goal of socialism is to achieve common prosperity for all the people. In Deng Xiaoping’s view, “common prosperity is something that embodies the essence of socialism,” and “by adhering to the socialist road, our fundamental goal is to achieve common prosperity.” In 1990, during a conversation with leading comrades of the Party Central Committee, he proposed that common prosperity “will one day become a central课题.” [n]

新时代是中国特色社会主义的新时代，因而必须体现社会主义本质。改革开放后，邓小平在对传统社会主义模式深刻反思的基础上对社会主义的本质进行了重新认识，他指出，社会主义的本质是“解放生产力，发展生产力，消灭剥削，消除两极分化，最终达到共同富裕”。应该说这一重要理论，明确了社会主义的两个根本原则：一是社会主义最大的优越性是解放和发展生产力，社会主义初级阶段的根本任务就是解放和发展生产力。这一“发展起来”的政治经济学，成为我国改革开放几十年生产力取得历史性飞跃、告别低收入阶段进入中高等收入发展阶段的根本指引。二是社会主义的根本目标是实现全体人民共同富裕。在邓小平看来，“共同富裕，这是体现社会主义本质的一个东西”，“我们坚持走社会主义道路，根本目标是实现共同富裕”，1990年在同中央领导同志谈话时提出，共同富裕“将来总有一天要成为中心课题”。

In the New Era, as China enters the new development orientation of “after having developed,” facing the people’s growing needs for a better life and the historical mission of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects “without leaving a single person behind,” problems such as the still large number of impoverished people, persistently high wealth disparity, and unfair income distribution have become increasingly prominent, becoming major issues affecting the overall situation. In response, Xi Jinping proposed that “eliminating poverty, improving people’s livelihoods, and gradually achieving common prosperity are the essential requirements of socialism and an important mission of our Party.” This is a new development of the theory of the essence of socialism and a new requirement of Xi Jinping on the essence of socialism in the New Era. While inheriting the core content of Deng Xiaoping’s theory on the essence of socialism, this new requirement, based on the historical mission of decisively building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in the New Era and the strategic goal of building a modern socialist power, demands that the New Era focus its efforts on eliminating poverty and improving people’s livelihoods; it requires greater emphasis on “gradually achieving common prosperity,” and calls on the entire Party to “promote the spirit of sharing the Party’s concerns and of those who get rich first helping those who get rich later.” This points the direction for the more complete manifestation of the essence of socialism in the New Era. It means that the New Era will shift from a GDP-centered approach to a people-centered approach, and will focus more on solving the problem of “common prosperity for all the people.” In formulating development plans in practice, Xi Jinping put forward the concept of shared development that embodies the new requirements of the essence of socialism in the New Era, demanding that the fruits of reform and development be shared more fairly by all the people, and that effective “institutional arrangements” be made for the people to share the fruits of development in areas such as public services, poverty alleviation, education and employment, narrowing the income gap, and establishing a fairer social security system. The 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed that to decisively build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, we must resolutely fight the three critical battles, especially winning the battle against poverty through targeted poverty alleviation, eliminating poverty, and ensuring that the entire nation enters a moderately prosperous society in all respects simultaneously. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee also proposed that in the next 15 years, “more obvious substantive progress will be made in the common prosperity of all the people,” and that in the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, we must “solidly promote common prosperity.” These are all manifestations of the new requirements of the essence of socialism in practice, embodying the new epochal characteristics.

新时代随着我国进入“发展起来后”的新发展方位，面对人民日益增长的美好生活需要和全面建成小康社会“一个也不能少”的历史使命，仍然庞大的贫困人口数量、居高不下的贫富差距和收入分配不公等问题日渐突出，成为影响全局的重大问题。对此，习近平提出，“消除贫困、改善民生、逐步实现共同富裕，是社会主义的本质要求，是我们党的重要使命”。这是社会主义本质理论的新发展，是新时代习近平关于社会主义本质的新要求。这个新要求，在继承了邓小平关于社会主义本质理论的核心内容的同时，立足于新时代全面决胜小康社会的历史使命和建设社会主义现代化强国的战略目标，要求新时代要把着力点放在消除贫困、改善民生上；要求更加重视“逐步实现共同富裕”，并且号召全党都要“弘扬为党分忧、先富帮后富的精神”。这为新时代社会主义本质的更加充分显现，指明了方向。它意味着新时代将以GDP为中心转向以人民为中心，将更加着重解决“全体人民共同富裕”问题。在实践中制定发展规划时，习近平提出了体现新时代社会主义本质新要求的共享发展理念，要求改革发展成果要更加公平地惠及全体人民，并要在公共服务、脱贫攻坚、教育就业、缩小收入差距、建立更公平的社会保障制度等方面为人民共享发展成果作出有效“制度安排”；党的十九大提出，决胜全面小康，要坚决打好三大攻坚战，尤其是要通过精准扶贫来打赢扶贫攻坚战、消除贫困，确保全国人民同步进入全面小康社会；党的十九届五中全会也提出，未来15年“全体人民共同富裕取得更为明显的实质性进展”，在全面建设社会主义现代化的新征程中要“扎实推动共同富裕”。这些都是社会主义本质新要求在实践中的展开，体现了新的时代特征。

(2) Still in the Primary Stage of Socialism, but the Principal Contradiction in the New Era Has Transformed

（二）仍然处于社会主义初级阶段，但新时代的社会主要矛盾发生转化

At the beginning of reform and opening up, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC proposed that the principal contradiction to be resolved after the completion of China’s socialist transformation was the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing material and cultural needs and backward social production. This judgment on the principal contradiction became the fundamental guide for China to achieve “prosperity” over decades of reform and opening up. As mentioned above, the primary stage of socialism will go through different development stages, and the principal contradiction will manifest differently at different stages. At the same time, due to the structural role and overall impact of the principal contradiction, changes in the principal contradiction will possess “epochal characteristics.”

改革开放之初，党的十一届六中全会提出，我国社会主义改造完成后要解决的主要矛盾，是人民日益增长的物质文化需要同落后的社会生产之间的矛盾。这一主要矛盾判断，成为改革开放几十年我国实现“富起来”的根本指引。如上所述，社会主义初级阶段会经历不同的发展阶段，社会主要矛盾在不同阶段会有不同呈现；同时，由于社会主要矛盾的结构性作用和全局性影响，社会主要矛盾的变化将具有“时代性特征”。

Since entering the New Era, although China remains in the primary stage of socialism, the principal contradiction in society has undergone a clear transformation bearing the characteristics of a new stage of development. The 19th National Congress of the CPC summarized this transformation as “the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development.” This new principal contradiction in society is manifested in two aspects: the people’s needs and social production. In terms of the people’s needs, on the one hand, the people are no longer satisfied with simple subsistence needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, nor are they content with the moderately prosperous needs that guarantee a basic standard of living and achieve sufficiency in food and clothing; they have higher demands for a high-quality, high-level material and cultural life. On the other hand, beyond material and cultural needs, the people’s “needs for a better life” are becoming increasingly extensive—that is, there is a real increment in the people’s needs concerning democracy, the rule of law, fairness, justice, and other aspects. In terms of social production, compared with “backward social production,” the more prominent problem in social production in the New Era is the issue of “unbalanced and inadequate development,” such as unbalanced urban-rural development, unbalanced regional development, unbalanced and inadequate basic public services between urban and rural areas and among regions, and imbalances in income distribution across urban and rural areas, industries, population groups, and within and outside the system.

进入新时代，虽然我国仍然处于社会主义初级阶段，但社会主要矛盾却已发生明显的具有新发展阶段特征的转化，党的十九大将这种转化概括为：“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”。这一新的社会主要矛盾体现在人民需要和社会生产两个方面。从人民需要来看，一方面，人民已经不满足于简单的衣食住行等温饱需要，也不满足于保证基本生活和达到丰衣足食水平的小康需要，对物质文化生活有了高质量、高水平等更高要求；另一方面，除了物质文化需要以外，人民“美好生活需要”日益广泛，即人民需要出现了民主、法治、公平、正义等方面的现实增量。从社会生产来看，与“落后的社会生产”相比，新时代社会生产方面更加突出的问题是“发展不平衡不充分”问题，如城乡发展不平衡、区域发展不平衡，城乡和区域之间的基本公共服务不平衡不充分，城乡、行业、人群、体制内外的收入分配不平衡，等等。

The change in the principal contradiction in society is a historic change affecting the overall situation. It requires that development in the New Era must adapt to the new changes in the principal contradiction. The New Era must take solving the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development as the fundamental pathway and adhere to taking the satisfaction of the people’s new needs for a better life as the fundamental goal orientation. The change in the principal contradiction also constitutes the fundamental basis for the new development philosophy. It requires that the New Era must adhere to a people-centered development thinking, comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, and in particular, take the concepts of coordinated and shared development as guidance to make up for the shortcomings of unbalanced and inadequate development.

社会主要矛盾的变化是关系全局的历史性变化，要求新时代的发展必须适应社会主要矛盾新变化，新时代要把解决发展不平衡不充分问题作为根本途径，坚持以满足人民美好生活新需要为根本目标导向。社会主要矛盾变化也构成了新发展理念的根本依据，要求新时代必须坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，全面贯彻落实新发展理念，尤其要以协调和共享发展理念为指引，补齐发展不平衡不充分的短板。

(3) The historical task of becoming prosperous has not yet been fully resolved, but the main historical mission of the New Era is to become strong

（三）富起来的历史任务还没有完全解决，但新时代的主要历史使命是强起来

When the 19th National Congress of the CPC elaborated on the significance of the New Era, it pointed out that the New Era “signifies that the Chinese nation, which has endured so much since modern times, has achieved a great leap from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong.” In elaborating on the scientific connotation of the New Era, it proposed that the New Era “is an era of securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and of striving for the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.” This indicates that in the New Era, after “having developed,” China is at a critical juncture of transitioning from growing prosperous to becoming strong, and the New Era has opened a new journey toward the era of a strong nation.

党的十九大在阐述新时代的意义时指出，新时代“意味着近代以来久经磨难的中华民族迎来了从站起来、富起来到强起来的伟大飞跃”；在阐述新时代的科学内涵时提出，新时代“是决胜全面建成小康社会、进而全面建设社会主义现代化强国的时代”。这表明，“发展起来后”的新时代我国处于由富起来到强起来的关键档口，新时代开启了强国时代的新征程。

Reform and opening up initiated China’s historical process of “growing prosperous.” After nearly two decades, by the end of the twentieth century, China had generally entered a moderately prosperous society, and the first two steps of Deng Xiaoping’s “three-step” strategy were realized on schedule. After two decades of development in the new century, by 2020 China had built a moderately prosperous society in all respects. To a certain extent, building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eradicating absolute poverty meant that the historical task of “growing prosperous” had been basically resolved. According to the “two centenary goals” for the primary stage of socialism proposed by the 15th National Congress of the CPC, in the New Era after “having developed,” China is at the historical intersection of the “two centenary goals,” about to complete the first centenary goal and embark on the new journey toward the second centenary goal. While the 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed that China must secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, it also focused on making strategic plans for embarking on the new journey of building a great modern socialist country, proposing the goal of a strong nation in the New Era and the timetable and roadmap for achieving this goal. That is, on the basis of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, China will achieve the goal of a great modern socialist country in two 15-year stages: after the first 15 years, by 2035, basically realize socialist modernization; and after another 15 years, around 2050, build a great modern socialist country. The medium- and long-term plan of the state made by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC focuses on the shortcomings and weaknesses of “becoming strong.” Whether it is the emphasis on innovation’s “core position” in the overall modernization situation or the positioning of scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening as a “strategic support,” both are efforts to solve the problem of “being big but not strong.” The proposed long-range objectives for 2035, such as “building a strong cultural country, a strong education country, a strong talent country, a strong sports country, and a healthy China,” all directly point to becoming strong.

改革开放开启了我国“富起来”的历史进程，经过近二十年，二十世纪末我国总体上步入了小康社会，邓小平提出的“三步走”战略中的前两步如期实现。经过新世纪二十年的发展，2020年我国全面建成小康社会，一定程度上讲，全面建成小康社会、消除绝对贫困问题，意味着“富起来”的历史任务基本上解决了。按照党的十五大提出的社会主义初级阶段的“两个一百年”的奋斗目标，“发展起来后”的新时代，我国正处于“两个一百年”的历史交汇点，即将完成第一个百年的目标，开启第二个百年的新征程。党的十九大在提出我国要全面决胜小康社会的同时，重点为开启社会主义现代化强国建设的新征程做出了战略部署，提出了新时代的强国目标和实现这一目标的时间表和路线图，即在2020年全面建成小康社会的基础上，我国将分两个15年的阶段实现社会主义现代化强国目标：经过第一个15年到2035年，基本实现社会主义现代化时；再经过第二个15年到2050年前后，建成社会主义现代化强国。党的十九届五中全会作出的国家中长期规划聚焦“强起来”的短板和弱项，不管是对创新在现代化全局中的“核心地位”的强调，还是对科技自立自强“战略支撑”的定位，都是着力解决“大而不强”的问题，提出的2035年现代化远景目标中的“建成文化强国、教育强国、人才强国、体育强国、健康中国”等，都直指强起来。

Thus, the new mission of the New Era after “having developed” includes securing a decisive victory in the first centenary goal, but the focus is on embarking on the new journey toward the second centenary goal, that is, “basically realizing modernization” and “realizing a great modern socialist country.” The New Era also includes the historical task of continuing to grow prosperous after “building a moderately prosperous society in all respects,” but the key task is to comprehensively become strong, and in the process of comprehensively becoming strong, realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Becoming strong is the main mission and fundamental characteristic of the new developmental orientation.

可见，“发展起来后”新时代的新使命包括了决胜第一个百年奋斗目标，但重点是开启第二个百年目标新征程，即“基本实现现代化”“实现社会主义现代化强国”；新时代也包括了在“全面建成小康社会”后还要不断地富起来的历史任务，但重点任务是要全面强起来，并在全面强起来中实现中华民族伟大复兴。强起来是新发展方位的主要使命和根本表征。

(The author is Vice Dean, Associate Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor of the School of Marxism at China University of Geosciences (Beijing).)

（作者系中国地质大学（北京）马克思主义学院副院长，副教授，博士生导师）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心