Correctly Understand and Grasp the Characteristics and Behavioral Laws of Capital

In April 2022, during the 38th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 19th Central Committee on the lawful regulation and guidance of the healthy development of capital in China, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that “capital is an important factor of production in the socialist market economy” and emphasized the need to “strengthen theoretical research on capital under the conditions of the new era.” In December 2021, the Central Economic Work Conference called for “correctly understanding and grasping the characteristics and behavioral laws of capital” and for “giving full play to the positive role of capital as a factor of production while effectively controlling its negative effects.” Capital possesses a dual nature, encompassing both the content of productive forces and relations of production. “The positive role as a factor of production” derives from the attribute of capital as a productive force, while “its negative effects” derive from its attribute as a relation of production. Expressions such as “setting up ‘traffic lights’ for capital” and “supporting and guiding the standardized and healthy development of capital” have in fact delineated the framework of China’s capital governance theory or capital regulation theory. This is an inherent requirement for promoting the integration of socialism and the market economy at a higher level, and it is also the political-economic implication of Chinese-path modernization.

2022年4月，围绕依法规范和引导我国资本健康发展，习近平总书记主持十九届中央政治局第三十八次集体学习时提出“资本是社会主义市场经济的重要生产要素”，并强调“要加强新的时代条件下资本理论研究”。2021年12月，中央经济工作会议提出“要正确认识和把握资本的特性和行为规律”，“要发挥资本作为生产要素的积极作用，同时有效控制其消极作用”。资本具有二重性，包括生产力和生产关系两方面内容，“作为生产要素的积极作用”源自资本的生产力属性，“其消极作用”源自资本的生产关系属性。“要为资本设置‘红绿灯’”，以及“要支持和引导资本规范健康发展”，这些表述实际上已经划定中国资本治理理论或资本调节理论框架，这是更高水平上推动社会主义与市场经济相结合的应有之义，也是中国式现代化的政治经济学含义。

Understanding the dual nature of capital is the theoretical foundation for grasping the characteristics and behavioral laws of capital. As is well known, the dual nature of labor is the “pivot” for understanding Marxist political economy. A commodity possesses the two factors of use-value and value, which originate from the dual nature of labor that produces commodities, namely concrete labor and abstract labor. Concrete labor is the process of material transformation between humans and nature, the process of producing use-values, embodying the attribute of productive forces; abstract labor contains the social relations and their comparison among producers, the process of producing value or surplus value, embodying the attribute of relations of production. Capital, based on the dual nature of labor and the two factors of commodities, also possesses a dual nature. On the one hand, it is the process of producing use-values, embodying the attribute of productive forces; on the other hand, it is the process of producing surplus value, embodying the attribute of relations of production. For capital, raising productive forces is a means, while making money is the purpose. To obtain more profit, individual capital must continuously promote the progress of its own productive forces, making its level of productive forces higher than the social average, producing the same kind of commodity at a cheaper cost, and gaining a competitive advantage in the market. In short, capital’s thirst for profit is realized through the means of progress in productive forces. The progress of productive forces surges like waves. The behavior of individual capital in obtaining profit or super-profit through its own progress in productive forces gradually spreads to the entire society, thereby raising the average level of social productive forces. This leads to an overall consequence: the average organic composition of total social capital rises, machines displace and replace workers, and the long-term average social rate of profit manifests as an overall tendency to decline. Marx defined this as the fundamental contradiction of the capitalist mode of production, the contradiction between socialized production and capitalist private ownership. Its essence is the contradiction of the dual nature of capital.

认识资本二重性是把握资本特性和行为规律的理论基石。众所周知，劳动二重性是理解马克思主义政治经济学的“枢纽”。商品具有使用价值和价值二因素，这源自生产商品的劳动具有二重性，即具体劳动和抽象劳动。具体劳动，是人和自然之间的物质变换过程，是使用价值的生产过程，体现生产力属性；抽象劳动，蕴含生产者之间的社会关系及其比较，是价值或剩余价值的生产过程，体现生产关系属性。以劳动二重性、商品二因素为基础的资本也具有二重性，一方面，是使用价值的生产过程，体现生产力属性；另一方面，是剩余价值的生产过程，体现生产关系属性。对于资本来讲，提高生产力是手段，赚钱才是目的。单个资本要获取更多利润，就必须不断推动自身生产力进步，使自己的生产力水平高于社会平均水平，以更廉价的方式生产同种商品，在市场中获取竞争优势。简言之，资本对利润的渴望，是通过生产力进步为手段来实现，生产力进步似浪潮般不断涌动，单个资本以自身生产力进步来获取利润或超额利润的行为，会逐渐扩散到整个社会从而提高社会生产力平均水平。这会导致一个总体性后果：社会总资本平均有机构成提高，机器排挤代替工人，长期的社会平均利润率表现为一个趋向下降的总体趋势。马克思将之界定为资本主义生产方式基本矛盾，生产社会化和资本主义私有制之间的矛盾。其本质，就是资本二重性矛盾。

Our Party, based on the basic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism, has developed the socialist market economy, scientifically understood and grasped commodity production and capital relations under basic socialist conditions, and developed a capital structure with Chinese characteristics, mainly comprising three capital forms: state-owned capital, collective capital, and non-public capital. The various forms of capital in the primary stage of socialism are a “creative transformation form of the ‘contradiction of the dual nature of capital’” in China’s primary stage of socialism, transforming from the capital form inherent in the capitalist mode of production to a “new capital form” in the primary stage of socialism. As long as capital exists, its inherent dual nature and its contradiction will not disappear, but they will undergo a historical transformation. In the current capital structure, state-owned capital and collective capital, which embody the nature of the public ownership economy, and their proportion and leading role in the entire capital structure, determine the historical direction of the dynamic evolution of the capital structure with Chinese characteristics.

我们党立足社会主义初级阶段基本国情，发展了社会主义市场经济，科学理解和把握了社会主义基本条件下的商品生产和资本关系，发展起国有资本、集体资本、非公资本三大资本形态为主要内容的中国特色资本结构。社会主义初级阶段的各类资本，是“资本二重性矛盾”在我国社会主义初级阶段的“创造性转化形式”，由资本主义生产方式所固有的资本形态，转变到社会主义初级阶段的“新资本形态”。资本只要存在，自身固有的资本二重性及其矛盾就不会消失，但会发生历史转型。现阶段资本结构中体现公有制经济性质的国有资本和集体资本，它们在整个资本结构中的比重和主导作用，决定着中国特色资本结构动态演进的历史方向。

The theory of capital governance is the practical requirement for understanding and grasping the characteristics and behavioral laws of capital. Adhering to the direction of reform of the socialist market economy requires both utilizing and harnessing capital with its dual attributes to develop social productive forces, and firmly grasping the purpose of socialist production in the process of development. This determines that the Party and the government must effectively respond to the dual nature of capital and its inherent contradictions. Practice has already demanded the accelerated construction of a theory of capital governance.

资本治理理论是认识和把握资本特性和行为规律的实践要求。坚持社会主义市场经济改革方向，既要利用和驾驭具备二重属性的资本来发展社会生产力，更要在发展过程中牢牢把握社会主义生产目的，这就决定了党和政府要有效应对资本二重性及其内在矛盾，实践已然要求加快构建资本治理理论。

First, persisting in strengthening the centralized and unified leadership of the Party over economic work, promoting the modernization of the Party’s capacity for economic work, and clarifying the purpose of socialist production are the fundamental guarantees for the standardized and healthy development of capital. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must strengthen the institutionalization of Party committee leadership over economic and social development work, improve the working mechanisms for Party committees to study economic and social development strategies, regularly analyze the economic situation, and study major policies and guidelines, and promote the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of Party leadership over economic and social development.” These important expositions profoundly reveal the modernization of the Party’s capacity for economic work. China’s market economy is a market economy under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The purpose of socialist production is to liberate and develop social productive forces and ultimately achieve common prosperity for all the people. For capital to develop in a standardized, healthy, and orderly manner, centering on serving the overall national security, major national strategies, optimizing the layout of productive forces, achieving self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology, optimizing the innovation chain, industrial chain, and supply chain, and meeting the needs of the people, it must focus on the purpose of socialist production and must not deviate from or betray this purpose. It is necessary to adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, which is the fundamental stance of Marxist political economy and also the starting point and ultimate goal of leveraging the role of capital.

第一，坚持加强党对经济工作集中统一领导，促进党的经济工作能力现代化，明确社会主义生产目的，是资本规范健康发展的根本保证。习近平总书记指出：“要加强党委领导经济社会发展工作的制度化建设，完善党委研究经济社会发展战略、定期分析经济形势、研究重大方针政策的工作机制，推动党领导经济社会发展制度化、规范化、程序化。”这些重要论述深刻揭示了党的经济工作能力现代化，我国市场经济是在中国共产党领导下的市场经济，社会主义生产目的是解放和发展社会生产力，最终实现全体人民共同富裕，资本要围绕服务国家总体安全、国家重大战略、优化生产力布局、科技自立自强、优化创新链产业链供应链和人民需要而规范健康有序发展，必须聚焦社会主义生产目的，而不能偏离或背离这一目的。必须坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，这是马克思主义政治经济学的根本立场，也是发挥资本作用的出发点和落脚点。

Second, adhering to the “Two Unswervinglys” [1]1 The “Two Unswervinglys” refers to the Party’s policy of unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector of the economy. is the fundamental prerequisite for leveraging the role of various forms of capital. The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC pointed out: “The Party unswervingly consolidates and develops the public ownership economy, unswervingly encourages, supports, and guides the development of the non-public ownership economy, supports state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises in becoming stronger, better, and larger, establishes a modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, and enhances the competitiveness, innovation, control, influence, and risk resistance of the state-owned economy; builds a cordial and clean relationship between government and business, and promotes the healthy development of the non-public ownership economy and the healthy growth of those working in the non-public sector.” First, the degree of opposition and cooperation between capital and labor depends on the specific structure of ownership, on which type of ownership is dominant. In the primary stage of socialism, China’s ownership structure, with public ownership as the mainstay, determines the dominant position of state-owned capital and collective capital in the capital structure with Chinese characteristics. This determines that the relationship between capital and labor in China is not antagonistic but rather strongly cooperative. Second, the three forms of capital are not in a zero-sum game of mutual decline but rather possess strong characteristics of win-win cooperation. For example, state-owned capital of state-owned enterprises has played a significant role in the rapid development of China’s infrastructure such as airports, railways, highways, and power grids. The relatively efficient and low-cost infrastructure conditions provide unique social conditions for non-public capital to build competitive advantages in international competition, expanding the profit space for non-public capital. At the same time, the flexibility and efficiency of non-public capital in industrial division of labor and cooperation have also greatly enhanced the effectiveness of state-owned capital.

第二，坚持“两个毫不动摇”，是发挥各类资本作用的根本前提。党的十九届六中全会指出：“党毫不动摇巩固和发展公有制经济，毫不动摇鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展，支持国有资本和国有企业做强做优做大，建立中国特色现代企业制度，增强国有经济竞争力、创新力、控制力、影响力、抗风险能力；构建亲清政商关系，促进非公有制经济健康发展和非公有制经济人士健康成长。”首先，资本和劳动的对立与合作程度，取决于所有制的具体结构，取决于哪种所有制占主导地位，在社会主义初级阶段，我国以公有制为主体的所有制结构决定了国有资本、集体资本在中国特色资本结构中的主体地位，这就决定了我国资本和劳动之间并非对抗性关系，而是具有较强的合作性。其次，三大资本形态之间并非此消彼长的零和博弈关系，而是具有强大的合作共赢特征。例如，国有企业国有资本对我国机场、铁路、公路、电网等基础设施的快速发展发挥了重要作用，相对高效廉价的基础设施条件给非公资本在国际资本之间竞争中构筑竞争优势提供了独特的社会条件，扩大了非公资本的盈利空间。与此同时，非公资本在产业分工合作中所具有的灵活高效，也极大提升了国有资本效能。

Third, building a new type of government-business relationship is the fundamental requirement for unleashing the role of non-public capital. The 2021 Central Economic Work Conference emphasized: “We must set up ‘traffic lights’ for capital, strengthen effective regulation of capital in accordance with the law, and prevent the unbridled expansion of capital.” [2]2 The Central Economic Work Conference is an annual high-level meeting convened by the CPC Central Committee to set economic policy priorities for the following year. The 2021 conference was held in December 2021. The core meaning of the new type of government-business relationship lies precisely in how to theoretically understand non-public capital under socialist conditions, and how to practically better encourage, support, and guide the healthy development of non-public capital. On the one hand, building a new type of government-business relationship is a necessary prerequisite for properly handling the relationship between the real economy and the virtual economy. The profit-seeking nature of non-public capital determines the disorderliness of its self-driven expansion, manifesting in the possibility that, under the guidance of profit, it may continuously detach from the production sphere of the real economy. On the other hand, building a new type of government-business relationship is a necessary prerequisite for opposing various forms of monopoly by non-public capital. Monopoly allows capital to obtain monopoly profits, thereby accommodating capital’s inherent drive to extract ever more profits, and the continuous expansion of non-public capital has already shown a monopolistic trend. In particular, internet platform enterprises, as a new form of enterprise, exhibit monopolistic behaviors centered on data monopoly that display new characteristics different from traditional monopoly. Only by building a new type of government-business relationship can the Party and the government regulate and manage monopolies arising from non-public capital, and resolutely resist the extraction of monopoly profits through various forms of monopoly.

第三，构建新型政商关系，是发挥非公资本作用的根本要求。2021年中央经济工作会议强调：“要为资本设置‘红绿灯’，依法加强对资本的有效监管，防止资本野蛮生长。”新型政商关系的核心含义，正是在于如何从理论上理解社会主义条件下的非公资本，如何从实践上更好鼓励、支持和引导非公资本的健康发展。一方面，构建新型政商关系是处理好实体经济和虚拟经济之间关系的必要前提。非公资本的逐利本性决定了其自行扩张的无序性，表现为在利润导向下可能不断脱离实体经济生产领域。另一方面，构建新型政商关系是反对非公资本各种形式垄断的必要前提。垄断能够允许资本获得垄断利润，从而适应资本不断攫取更多利润的本性，而非公资本的不断扩张已经表现出垄断趋势，特别是互联网平台企业作为新兴企业形式，以数据垄断为主的垄断行为呈现出不同于传统垄断的新特征。只有构建起新型政商关系，党和政府才能对来自非公资本的垄断进行调节、进行管理，才能坚决抵制凭借各种形式的垄断来攫取垄断利润的行为。

Leading cadres at all levels must be adept at viewing economic issues from a political perspective, skilled at using systematic thinking to analyze and solve economic problems, grasp the dual nature of capital, correctly understand and grasp the characteristics and behavioral laws of capital, correctly apply the “invisible hand” and the “visible hand,” and continuously improve their professional competence in leading economic work.

各级领导干部要善于从政治上看待经济问题，善于用系统思维分析解决经济问题，掌握资本二重性，正确认识和把握资本的特性和行为规律，正确运用“看不见的手”和“看得见的手”，不断提高领导经济工作的专业能力。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗