Chinese-Path Modernization and a New Form of Human Civilization

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China: “We have upheld and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics, promoted coordinated progress in material, political, cultural-ethical, social, and ecological civilization, blazed a new and uniquely Chinese path to modernization, and created a new form of human civilization.” [1]1 The “July 1st speech” refers to Xi Jinping’s address at the ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China on July 1, 2021. Chinese-path modernization has created a new form of human civilization, profoundly influencing the course of human civilization. We need to base ourselves on the heights of historical materialism to deeply elaborate on this important thesis of General Secretary Xi Jinping.

习近平总书记在“七一”重要讲话中指出：“我们坚持和发展中国特色社会主义，推动物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明协调发展，创造了中国式现代化新道路，创造了人类文明新形态。”中国式现代化创造了人类文明新形态，深刻影响人类文明进程。我们需要立足历史唯物主义高度，深入阐释习近平总书记这一重要论断。

The Modernization Model of Harnessing Capital

驾驭资本的现代化模式

Chinese-path modernization is socialist modernization. It is fundamentally different from capitalist modernization, which follows the logic of capital, and it is also different from the traditional socialist model that completely negates capital. From the perspective of Marx’s view of modern history, the basic characteristic of Chinese-path modernization is the harnessing of capital, that is, using various forces to make the operation of capital subordinate to socialism and human development. This includes two dimensions: utilizing and guiding capital, and preventing and regulating capital. Harnessing capital means giving play to the positive role of capital while avoiding or minimizing the negative effects brought about by capital.

中国式现代化是社会主义现代化，它与遵循资本逻辑的资本主义现代化有本质区别，当然也与彻底否定资本的传统社会主义模式不同。从马克思的现代史观来看，中国式现代化基本特征就是驾驭资本，及运用各种力量使资本运行服从社会主义和人的发展，包括利用和引导资本以及防范和规制资本两个维度。驾驭资本就是要发挥资本的正面作用，规避或尽可能降低资本所带来的负面效应。

First, Chinese-path modernization is a path that utilizes capital through the socialist market economy to liberate and develop the productive forces. The primary stage of socialism constitutes the historical orientation of Chinese-path modernization; it still belongs to the second form revealed by Marx, whose basic characteristic is the market economy. “Patriarchal, ancient (and feudal) states decline with the development of commerce, luxury, money, exchange value, and modern society develops simultaneously with these things.” [2]2 This is a paraphrase of Marx’s discussion in the *Grundrisse* on the transition from pre-capitalist to capitalist social formations. One major manifestation of the logic of modern civilization is “the independence of the individual based on dependence on things.” Its essence is dependence on things and the principle of capital domination, which brings about “universal social metabolism, comprehensive relations, multifaceted needs, and a system of comprehensive capacities.” [3]3 This is a direct quotation from Marx’s *Grundrisse* on the forms of social dependence. Chinese-path modernization broke through the Soviet model that completely discarded the market economy and capital, and through the socialist market economy, it continuously utilizes and guides global capital and private capital to serve socialist modernization.

第一，中国式现代化是一条通过社会主义市场经济利用资本以解放和发展社会生产力之路。社会主义初级阶段构成了中国式现代化的历史方位，它仍然属于马克思所揭示的第二形态，其基本特征就是市场经济。“家长制的，古代的（以及封建的）状态随着商业、奢侈、货币、交换价值的发展而没落下去，现代社会则随着这些东西同步发展起来。”现代性文明逻辑的一大表现就是“以物的依赖性为基础的人的独立性”，本质是物的依赖性及资本的支配原则，它带来了“普遍的社会物质变换、全面的关系、多方面的需要以及全面的能力的体系”。中国式现代化突破了完全摒弃市场经济和资本的苏联模式，通过社会主义市场经济不断利用和引导全球资本和民间资本，为社会主义现代化服务。

Second, Chinese-path modernization is a path that regulates and harnesses capital to serve the common prosperity of the people and socialist development. The nature of capital is to constantly pursue maximum profit. A society that takes capital as its highest principle cannot fundamentally solve problems such as common prosperity and social harmony. Chinese-path modernization adheres to the value principles of socialism. The difference between socialism and capitalism lies not in whether there is capital or a market economy, but in what is taken as the highest principle of society. Taking capital as the foundation is capitalism; taking society as the foundation and taking people as the foundation is socialism. Therefore, the socialist market economy must clarify the scope and boundaries of capital operation and the logic of capital. One is the “effect boundary,” that is, the “three favorables”: “whether it is conducive to developing the productive forces of the socialist society, whether it is conducive to enhancing the comprehensive national strength of the socialist country, and whether it is conducive to improving the people’s living standards.” [4]4 The “three favorables” are a criterion attributed to Deng Xiaoping, used to judge the correctness of reform and opening up policies. The second is the “scope boundary.” Chinese-path modernization must confine the logic of capital to the field of economic development, preventing capital from penetrating and invading political, social, spiritual, and other fields, and preventing the excessive abuse of the logic of capital and the disorderly expansion of capital.

第二，中国式现代化是一条规制和驾驭资本，以服务于人民共同富裕和社会主义发展之路。资本的本性是不断追求利润最大化。以资本为最高原则的社会无法从根本上解决共同富裕和社会和谐等问题。中国式现代化坚持社会主义价值原则，社会主义与资本主义的区别不在于有没有资本和市场经济，而在于以什么为社会的最高原则，以资本为本的是资本主义，以社会为本、以人为本的是社会主义。所以，社会主义市场经济要明确资本运行、资本逻辑作用的范围和界限。一个是“效果界限”，也就是“三个有利于”：“是否有利于发展社会主义社会的生产力，是否有利于增强社会主义国家的综合国力，是否有利于提高人民的生活水平。”第二个是“范围界限”，中国式现代化要把资本逻辑限定在经济发展领域内，防止资本向政治、社会、精神等领域渗透与入侵，防止资本逻辑的过度滥用和资本的无序扩张。

Third, Chinese-path modernization is a path of modernization that uses socialist forces led by state power to harness capital. Harnessing capital by no means implies that state power engages in “unprincipled” or “omnipotent” intervention in everything. State power must harness capital within the framework of the rule of law and rational principles; public power must never arbitrarily control or infringe upon private rights. State power’s harnessing of capital is mainly at the macro level, and it must avoid intervention or control over capital in the micro sphere. State power must also solve the problem of self-purification to ensure its people-centered nature. Overall, Chinese-path modernization must both fully leverage the positive role of capital and harness capital through state power; it must both give play to the role of state power in harnessing capital and ensure the people-centered nature of state power.

第三，中国式现代化是一条运用以国家权力为主导的社会主义力量驾驭资本的现代化之路。驾驭资本绝不意味着国家权力“无原则”“全能式”干预一切。国家权力要在法治轨道和理性原则下驾驭资本，公权力决不能随意地控制或侵犯私权；国家权力驾驭资本主要是在宏观层面，要杜绝其对微观领域的资本的干预或控制。国家权力也要解决自我净化的问题，保证其人民性。总体说来，中国式现代化既要充分发挥资本的积极作用，又要通过国家权力驾驭资本；既要发挥国家权力驾驭资本的作用，又要确保国家权力的人民性。

The Civilizational Logic of Chinese-Path Modernization

中国式现代化的文明逻辑

Chinese-path modernization is a new type of modernity that transcends capitalist civilization. While rejuvenating the ancient Chinese civilization, it is also creating a new form of human civilization in actively answering the question of the times: “What is wrong with the world, and what should we do about it?” As a new form of human civilization, Chinese-path modernization has the following aspects of civilizational logic.

中国式现代化是一种超越了资本主义文明的新现代性类型，它在让古老中华文明再度焕发青春的同时，也在积极回答“世界怎么了，我们怎么办”的时代之问中创造着人类文明新形态。作为一种人类文明新形态，中国式现代化具有如下几个方面的文明逻辑。

First, Chinese-path modernization follows the civilizational logic of “people-centeredness.” It is not a modernization based on capital, but a modernization centered on the people. Western modernization is based on capital; the logic of capital accumulation is the dominant logic of capitalist production and even social life. Capital has a “civilizing aspect”; it expands space for human development. However, in the process of continuous expansion, capital constantly encroaches on the space for human development. One is the compulsion of production: capital’s self-accumulation requires the constant absorption of natural and social resources, especially living labor. The second is the compulsion of consumption: capital reconstructs the mode of existence of modern people, constantly reinforcing the logic of “wealth—consumption—happiness,” that is, people pursue happiness by purchasing and possessing commodities. As “consumption machines,” people lose their richness and completeness. The new form of human civilization initiated by Chinese-path modernization takes “the true appropriation of the human essence” as its value orientation and is a “completed humanism.” [5]5 “Completed humanism” is a phrase from Marx’s *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*, referring to the positive transcendence of private property. On the one hand, it establishes a people-centered logic of production and development. Chinese-path modernization insists on taking the comprehensive and free development of people as the highest goal of social development. On the other hand, Chinese-path modernization transcends the logic of life characterized by “possession” and oriented toward consumption, establishing a logic of a better life centered on the comprehensive and free development of people. It can be seen that, in terms of the logic of life, Chinese-path modernization is fundamentally oriented toward the liberation of labor; people confirm their essence and obtain their own happiness through labor in the sphere of production.

第一，中国式现代化遵循了“以人民为中心”的文明逻辑，不是以资本为本，而是以人民为中心的现代化。西方现代化是以资本为本，资本增殖逻辑是资本主义生产乃至社会生活的主导逻辑。资本具有“文明面”，它为人的发展拓展了空间，但是在不断扩张过程中，资本又不断吞噬人的发展空间。一是生产强制，资本自我增殖需要不断吸吮自然资源、社会资源，尤其是活劳动；二是消费强制，资本重构了现代人的存在方式，不断强化“财富—消费—幸福”逻辑，即人们通过购买和占有商品，去实现对幸福的追求，作为“消费机器”的人丧失了丰富性和完整性。中国式现代化所开启的人类文明新形态，以“对人的本质的真正占有”为价值旨归，是一种“完成了的人道主义”。一方面，其确立了以人民为中心的生产逻辑、发展逻辑。中国式现代化坚持把人的全面自由发展作为社会发展的最高目标。另一方面，中国式现代化超越了以“占有”为基本特征、以消费为主要取向的生活逻辑，确立了以人的全面自由发展为核心的美好生活逻辑。可见，在生活逻辑上，中国式现代化从根本上是导向劳动解放的，人们在生产领域通过劳动确证自己的本质，获得自身幸福。

Second, Chinese-path modernization follows the civilizational logic of “holistic civilization.” It is not a one-dimensional modernization, but a comprehensive modernization. Western modernization is essentially a one-dimensional modernization led by industrialization and centered on material modernization. In its early stages, Chinese-path modernization imitated Western modernization to a large extent and in many aspects. However, in the process of practice, it has continuously achieved a leap from economic modernization to comprehensive modernization, and from the modernization of things to the modernization of people. From a complete perspective, Chinese-path modernization is a comprehensive modernization centered on the modernization of people, manifested as a “1+6+1” modernization system. The “1” refers to “the modernization of people.” The “6” refers to “modernization in various fields,” including economic modernization, political modernization, cultural modernization, social modernization, ecological civilization modernization, and the modernization of national defense and the armed forces. The final “1” refers to “modernization of governance,” that is, the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. Chinese-path modernization follows the civilizational logic of “holistic civilization.” From the social dimension, it concerns the modernization of the organic whole from productive forces to relations of production, and from the economic base to the superstructure. From the dimension of human development, it focuses on the comprehensive development of people, aiming to achieve all-round and whole-process modernization and to provide space for the comprehensive development of people. From the civilizational dimension, it concerns the “Five-Sphere Integrated Plan” of civilization forms: material civilization, political civilization, cultural-ethical civilization, social civilization, and ecological civilization.

第二，中国式现代化遵循了“整体性文明”逻辑，不是单维度的现代化，而是全面现代化。西方现代化本质上是以工业化为先导的、以物质现代化为核心的单维度现代化。中国式现代化最初在很大程度、很多方面模仿西方现代化，但是其在实践过程中不断实现了从经济现代化到全面现代化、从物的现代化到人的现代化的跃进。从完备形态看，中国式现代化是以人的现代化为中心的全面现代化，其表现是“1+6+1”现代化系统。“1”指的是“人的现代化”。“6”指的是“各个领域的现代化”，包括经济现代化、政治现代化、文化现代化、社会现代化、生态文明现代化以及国防和军队现代化。最后的“1”是指“治理现代化”，即国家治理体系和治理能力的现代化。中国式现代化遵循了“整体性文明”逻辑，从社会维度看，它关涉从生产力到生产关系、从经济基础到上层建筑的有机整体之现代化；从人的发展维度看，它着眼于人的全面发展，要实现全方面全过程的现代化，要为人的全面发展提供空间；从文明维度看，它关涉物质文明、政治文明、精神文明、社会文明、生态文明“五位一体”的文明形态。

Third, Chinese-path modernization follows the logic of “community civilization,” taking not “civil society” but “human society” as its standpoint. Chinese-path modernization follows the logic of “community civilization,” transcending the logic of “egoism” and “atomized individuals.” Marx referred to the future society as a “community of free individuals.” On the one hand, the individuals in the “community” are “free individuals.” The “community” is not a “false community” that devours individual interests and freedom, but one premised on and aimed at the free development of individuals. On the other hand, free individuals are free individuals within the “community.” Only in the “community” can individuals achieve genuine liberation and freedom. Chinese-path modernization, oriented toward the future goal of a “community of free individuals,” strives to transcend the principle of “atomized individuals” and its institutional forms. It takes the “genuine community” as its fundamental principle, correctly handling the relationship between particular interests and universal interests, and between the individual and society. Of course, we must also recognize that the new form of human civilization inaugurated by Chinese-path modernization is still in the process of continuous development and exploration. We cannot expect the ideal principles of “human society” to be fully and completely realized, nor can we hope that the logic of “community civilization” will be entirely implemented in reality. However, it is undeniable that its basic value principles have already gradually manifested in current Chinese practice. For example, the pursuit of common prosperity and shared development, the emphasis on public ownership and the state’s “community power” in curbing polarization, the stress on collectivist values and the sense of community of the Chinese nation, and the advocacy of a community with a shared future for mankind, and so on.

第三，中国式现代化遵循了“共同体文明”逻辑，不是以“市民社会”，而是以“人类社会”为立足点。中国式现代化遵循了“共同体文明”逻辑，超越“利己主义”“原子化个人”逻辑。马克思将未来社会称为“自由人联合体”。一方面，“联合体”中的个人是“自由人”。“联合体”不是吞噬个体利益和自由的“虚假共同体”，是以自由发展的个人为前提、为目标的。另一方面，自由人是“联合体”中的自由人。个人只有在“联合体”中，才能得到真正的解放和自由。以“自由人联合体”为未来导向的中国式现代化要努力实现对“原子化个人”原则及其制度的超越，它以“真正的共同体”为基本原则，正确处理特殊利益与普遍利益、个体与社会之间的关系。当然，我们也要意识到，中国式现代化所开启的人类文明新形态，仍然在不断开展与探索中，我们不可能指望理想的“人类社会”原则全部、完整地被现实化，也不奢望“共同体文明”逻辑全然贯彻于现实之中，但是，不可否认，其基本价值原则在当下的中国实践中已然逐步呈现出来。比如，追求共同富裕和共享发展，强调公有制、国家在抑制分化中的“共同体力量”，强调集体主义价值观、中华民族共同体意识，倡导人类命运共同体，等等。

Fourth, Chinese-path modernization follows the civilizational logic of “pacifism,” not taking the old path of “a strong country is bound to seek hegemony,” but taking a new path of peaceful development. Western capitalist modernization was built on the primitive accumulation of exploiting labor internally and colonial plunder externally. As Marx said, “Capital comes into the world dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt.” [6]6 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume 1, Chapter 31, “Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist.” Western capitalist modernization follows the logic of “hegemony.” Chinese-path modernization transcends the logic of “a strong country is bound to seek hegemony” and follows the civilizational logic of “pacifism.” This is grounded in fine traditional Chinese culture and China’s socialist nature. Since ancient times, Chinese civilization has emphasized “harmony is most precious,” “harmony in diversity,” “inner sageliness and outer kingliness,” [7]7 “Inner sageliness and outer kingliness” (内圣外王) is a classical Confucian ideal: cultivating moral perfection within oneself (inner sageliness) while exercising benevolent governance over the world (outer kingliness). “good neighborly relations with friendly states,” and “the Great Harmony under Heaven.” [8]8 “The Great Harmony under Heaven” (天下大同) is a classical Confucian vision of a peaceful, equitable, and unified world order. Its civilizational qualities are harmony, peace, and concord—that is, non-expansionist and non-confrontational. The pacifist civilizational logic of Chinese-path modernization also depends on the socialist system. As Deng Xiaoping said, what we are building is socialism with Chinese characteristics, a socialism that continuously develops the productive forces and a socialism that advocates peace.

第四，中国式现代化遵循了“和平主义”的文明逻辑，不走“国强必霸”的老路，而是走和平发展的新路。西方资本主义现代化是建立在对内剥削劳动、对外殖民掠夺的原始积累基础上的。正如马克思所说：“资本来到世间，从头到脚，每个毛孔都滴着血和肮脏的东西。”西方资本主义现代化遵循的是“霸权逻辑”。中国式现代化超越了“国强必霸”逻辑，遵循的是“和平主义”的文明逻辑，这是由中华优秀传统文化和中国的社会主义性质所奠基的。自古以来，中华文明强调“和为贵”“和而不同”“内圣外王”“睦邻友邦”“天下大同”，其文明品质是和谐、和平、和睦，即非扩张性的、非对抗性的。中国式现代化的和平主义文明逻辑，还取决于社会主义制度。正如邓小平所说，我们搞的是有中国特色的社会主义，是不断发展社会生产力的社会主义，是主张和平的社会主义。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗