Lenin’s Thought on the New Economic Policy from the Perspective of Reform and Its Contemporary Value

In August 1890, Engels wrote in a letter: “The so-called ‘socialist society’ is not something immutable, but, like any other social system, should be regarded as a society that is constantly changing and reforming.” [1]1 Engels’s letter to Otto von Boenigk, August 21, 1890. The translation follows the standard English edition of Marx and Engels’s works. For Communists, establishing a proletarian regime and attaining ruling status through revolution is only the beginning of building socialism. In the process of building socialism, they will continuously encounter unprecedented problems and contradictions, requiring Communists to constantly explore and creatively resolve new issues and contradictions in their advance, so as to continuously develop and perfect socialism. The essence of this process is reform. After the October Revolution in Russia in 1917, there followed civil war and armed intervention by Western imperialist powers; it was only after victory in the civil war and the struggle against foreign armed intervention that Russia began the process of peaceful construction. In the initial stage of this process, there existed a period of reform in which the policy of war communism was transformed into the New Economic Policy. As the principal leader of Soviet Russia during this period, Lenin was the main driver of the shift from war communism to the New Economic Policy. He engaged in extensive theoretical reflection on the New Economic Policy and promptly summarized practical experience, thereby forming a relatively complete and independent body of thought on the New Economic Policy, rich in reform content. Studying Lenin’s thought on the New Economic Policy in the New Era [2]2 “New Era” (新时代) refers to the period since the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017, characterized by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. is of important theoretical and practical value for understanding and advancing comprehensive and deepening reform.

1890年8月，恩格斯在一封信中曾写道：“所谓‘社会主义社会’不是一种一成不变的东西，而应当和任何其他社会制度一样，把它看成是经常变化和改革的社会。”共产党人经过革命建立无产阶级政权、获得执政地位，只是建设社会主义的开始。在建设社会主义过程中，会不断遇到前所未有的问题和矛盾，需要共产党人不断探索，创造性地解决前进中的新问题和新矛盾，以不断地发展和完善社会主义，这个过程的本质就是改革。1917年俄国十月革命后，接踵而至的是内战和西方帝国主义国家的武装干涉，直到取得内战和反对外国武装干涉的胜利之后，俄国才开启和平建设过程。在这一过程的开始阶段，存在一个由战时共产主义政策向新经济政策转变的改革时期。作为这一时期苏维埃俄国的主要领导人，列宁是战时共产主义政策向新经济政策转变的主要推动者，对新经济政策进行了大量的理论思考并及时总结实践中的经验，从而形成了相对完整和独立、富含改革内容的新经济政策思想。新时代研究列宁新经济政策思想，对理解和推进全面深化改革具有重要的理论和现实价值。

I. The Process of Formation of Lenin’s Thought on the New Economic Policy

一、列宁新经济政策思想形成的过程

(A) The Germination of the Thought on the New Economic Policy

（一）新经济政策思想的萌芽

After the October Revolution of 1917, Lenin’s theoretical reflections already contained certain elements of the New Economic Policy. Lenin believed that the transition to socialism in Russia after the victory of the revolution would be protracted and complex; the less developed capitalism was, the longer the transition period required. Since the transition process was “protracted and complex,” it was bound to involve many unforeseen difficulties and challenges, which required innovative methods and strategies to address. This theoretical anticipation by Lenin provided the cognitive premise for Russia’s subsequent shift from the policy of war communism to the New Economic Policy.

1917年十月革命后，列宁的理论思考中就包含了新经济政策中的某些因素。列宁认为，革命胜利后俄国向社会主义过渡是漫长而复杂的，资本主义越不发达，所需要的过渡时间就越长。既然过渡过程是“漫长而复杂的”，必然存在很多难以预见的困难和挑战，这就需要用创新性的方法和策略来应对。列宁的这种理论预判，为未来俄国从战时共产主义政策向新经济政策的转变提供了认识前提。

In April 1918, Lenin pointed out in “The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government” that, due to the lack of necessary material conditions, “the immediate task cannot be defined by the simple formula: continue the offensive against capital,” and that “for the success of the future offensive, the ‘offensive’ should be ‘suspended’ for the present.” This indicates that Lenin had already recognized at this time the positive role of capital for Russia at that stage, and that Russia needed to utilize the positive role of capital. In his subsequent “Report on the Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government” at a session of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee, Lenin criticized the view of the Left Communists that “development in the direction of state capitalism is a crime,” arguing that they “merely seize on isolated phrases from books and forget reality,” and that “reality tells us that state capitalism would be a step forward for us. If within a short period we could achieve state capitalism in Russia, that would be a victory.” If Russia had state capitalism, then its transition to socialism would be easier and more assured. These discussions by Lenin on state capitalism are basically consistent with the relevant discussions during the period of implementing the New Economic Policy. It can be said that at this time Lenin already possessed the theoretical “seed” of the thought on the New Economic Policy, which would germinate when conditions were suitable.

1918年4月，列宁在《苏维埃政权的当前任务》中指出，由于不具备必要的物质条件，“不能以继续向资本进攻这个简单的公式来规定当前的任务”，“为了今后进攻的胜利，目前应当‘暂停’进攻”。这表明，列宁这时就已认识到资本对当时俄国的积极作用，俄国需要利用资本的积极作用。在随后的《在全俄中央执行委员会会议上关于苏维埃政权的当前任务的报告》中，列宁批评了左派共产主义者关于“向国家资本主义方向发展，就是罪恶”的观点，列宁认为他们只是“抓住书本上的片言只语而忘掉现实”，“现实告诉我们，国家资本主义对于我们来说是一个进步。如果我们在短期内能够在俄国实现国家资本主义，那是一个胜利”。如果俄国有了国家资本主义，那么俄国向社会主义过渡就会更容易、更有把握。列宁这些关于国家资本主义的论述，与推行新经济政策时期的相关论述是基本一致的。可以讲，这时列宁已有新经济政策思想的理论“种子”，在条件适合的时候它就会萌芽。

However, the harsh situation that followed delayed the germination of this “seed.” At the end of May 1918, the Western powers hostile to the October Revolution began a joint armed intervention in Russia, supporting counterrevolutionary armed forces within Russia in armed rebellion, and soon formed an encirclement of the Soviet regime from all sides. The besieged Soviet regime found itself in an exceptionally difficult predicament, unable to obtain grain from the southern grain-producing regions; its already underdeveloped industry fell into paralysis; the people suffered from hunger and extreme hardship. Under these circumstances, the Soviet government was forced to implement the policy of war communism. The policy of war communism concentrated limited financial, material, and human resources to the greatest extent, aroused the patriotic fervor and fighting spirit of Russian workers and peasants, and played a major role in the Soviet regime’s decisive victory against foreign armed intervention and the civil war by early 1920.

但接下来严酷的形势，让这颗“种子”推迟了发芽。1918年5月底，仇视十月革命的西方列强开始发起了对俄国的联合武装干涉，并支持俄国内的反革命武装进行武装叛乱，并很快形成了对苏维埃政权的四面包围之势。处在包围中的苏维埃政权处在异常艰难的困境中，无法从南方的产粮区获得粮食，本就不发达的工业陷入瘫痪，人民忍饥挨饿，生活极度困难。在这种情况下，苏维埃政府被迫实施战时共产主义政策。战时共产主义政策在最大程度上集中了有限的财力、物力和人力，激发了俄国工人和农民的爱国热情和斗志，为1920年初苏维埃政权取得反对外国武装干涉和国内战争的决定性胜利发挥了重大作用。

(B) The Proposal of the New Economic Policy

（二）新经济政策的提出

After achieving victory in the struggle against foreign armed intervention and the civil war, Soviet Russia entered a period of peaceful construction. Because the policy of war communism was largely based on Marx and Engels’ conception of future society, and its practice during the war was generally successful, the “policy of war communism,” which had been temporary in nature and born of wartime, did not end with the conclusion of the war but continued to be implemented nationwide on an even larger scale. In agriculture, not only was the amount of grain requisitioned increased, but the requisition system was extended from grain and fodder to agricultural by-products such as cotton, flax, and furs; in industry, all industrial enterprises were nationalized by the end of 1920; in the sphere of circulation, free trade activities were prohibited or restricted on a broader scale. However, the policy of war communism soon experienced “policy failure” during the period of peaceful construction, leading to a severe economic and political crisis. The policy of war communism was premised on enormous sacrifices by the peasants. During the war, the peasants endured these sacrifices, but when war was no longer an immediate threat, continuing the policy of war communism inevitably provoked strong peasant discontent. Peasant discontent, combined with agitation by hostile forces, led to peasant uprisings erupting one after another, making the continued implementation of the surplus grain appropriation system unimaginably difficult.

在取得反对外国武装干涉和国内战争的胜利之后，苏维埃俄国进入了和平建设时期。由于战时共产主义政策在很大程度上是基于马克思、恩格斯关于未来社会的设想提出的，并且在战争期间的实践总体上是成功的。因此，产生于战争时期具有临时性质的“战时共产主义政策”就没有随着战争的结束而结束，而且还以更大的规模在全国继续推行。在农业方面，不仅增加了粮食征集的数量，而且将征集制从粮食和饲料扩展到棉花、亚麻、毛皮等农副产品领域；在工业方面，所有的工业企业在1920年底都实现了国有化；在流通领域，则在更大范围禁止或限制自由贸易活动。但是，战时共产主义政策在和平建设时期很快就出现了“政策失灵”，导致了严重的经济危机和政治危机。战时共产主义政策是以农民的巨大牺牲为前提的，在战争时期农民忍受了这种牺牲，但在战争已经不是现实威胁的情况下，继续推行战时共产主义政策必然导致农民强烈的不满。农民的不满加上敌对势力的煽风点火，导致农民暴动此起彼伏，继续实行余粮收集制遇到难以想象的困难。

The peasants were an important foundation of the Soviet regime. The peasant uprisings prompted Lenin to reflect on the rationality of the policy of war communism. On November 30, 1920, in the “Draft Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars on a Direct Tax,” Lenin for the first time formally proposed studying the question of replacing the surplus grain appropriation system with a tax in kind. On February 8, 1921, in the “Preliminary Draft of Theses on the Peasant Question,” Lenin explicitly proposed replacing the surplus grain appropriation system with a grain tax, and pointed out that the peasants’ surplus grain after paying the tax could be freely circulated locally. At this point, the policy idea of the grain tax, as one of the main components of the New Economic Policy, was basically formed. In addition, regarding the concession system, another main component of the New Economic Policy, Lenin had also engaged in corresponding theoretical reflection before the New Economic Policy was formally proposed. In November 1920, in a speech at a meeting of secretaries of Party cells in the Moscow organization of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Lenin pointed out that the concession system was an important means of utilizing capital, accelerating economic development, and developing the productive forces when the Russian economy was extremely weak. In several subsequent reports and speeches, Lenin repeatedly discussed the correctness and necessity of implementing the concession system. These theoretical reflections by Lenin laid the ideological and theoretical foundation for the final introduction of the New Economic Policy.

农民是苏维埃政权的重要基础，农民的暴动促使列宁反思战时共产主义政策的合理性。1920年11月30日，列宁在《人民委员会关于直接税的决定草案》中，首次正式提出要研究把余粮收集制改为实物税的问题。1921年2月8日，列宁在《农民问题提纲初稿》中，明确提出了用粮食税代替余粮收集制，并指出农民的税后余粮可以在地方自由流转。至此，作为新经济政策主要内容之一的粮食税政策思路基本形成。此外，在新经济政策的另一主要内容租让制方面，列宁在新经济政策正式提出之前也有相应的理论思考。1920年11月，列宁在俄共（布）莫斯科组织支部书记会议上的讲话中指出，租让制是在俄国经济极其薄弱时利用资本、加速经济发展、发展生产力的重要方式。在此之后的多个报告和讲话中，列宁多次论述了实施租让制的正确性和必要性。列宁的这些理论思考为新经济政策的最终推出奠定了思想理论基础。

(C) The Formation and Perfection of the Thought on the New Economic Policy

（三）新经济政策思想的形成和完善

In March 1921, in his report and speeches at the Tenth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Lenin comprehensively expounded theoretically on the necessity of ending the policy of war communism and implementing the New Economic Policy. Driven by Lenin, this congress adopted relevant resolutions on implementing the replacement of the surplus grain appropriation system with a tax in kind, marking the beginning of the formal implementation phase of the New Economic Policy.

1921年3月，列宁在俄共（布）召开的第十次代表大会上的报告和发言中，较全面地从理论上阐述了结束战时共产主义政策、实行新经济政策的必要性。在列宁的推动下，这次代表大会通过了实施以实物税代替余粮收集制的有关决议，标志着新经济政策开始进入正式实施阶段。

After the Tenth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), to promote the implementation of the New Economic Policy, Lenin, on the one hand, continued to theoretically expound the necessity of implementing the New Economic Policy; on the other hand, in concrete work, he continuously pushed forward the implementation of the New Economic Policy. Theoretically, Lenin’s *On the Tax in Kind*, written shortly after the congress in April 1921, comprehensively and deeply elaborated the necessity of the New Economic Policy, and is the main symbol of the formation of New Economic Policy thought. In concrete work, in the directive Lenin drafted for the then leading organ of Russia, the Council of Labour and Defence, he put forward specific requirements for implementing the New Economic Policy, demanding that local organs at all levels vigorously carry out extensive activities to comprehensively improve the peasant economy and develop industry, strictly implement various new decrees, and take the results of turnover between agriculture and industry as a main criterion for evaluating the achievements of economic construction. In addition, the Soviet organs and economic organs were reorganised to meet the needs of the New Economic Policy.

在俄共（布）第十次代表大会之后，为推动新经济政策的实施，列宁一方面继续从理论上阐述实行新经济政策的必要性；另一方面，在具体工作上，不断推动新经济政策的落实。在理论上，列宁在会后不久的1921年4月撰写的《论粮食税》，全面深入地阐述了新经济政策的必要性，是新经济政策思想形成的主要标志。在具体工作上，列宁在为俄国当时的领导机关劳动国防委员会起草的指令中，对落实新经济政策提出了具体要求，要求各级地方机关大力开展全面改善农民经济和发展工业的广泛活动，严格执行各项新的法令，并将农业和工业间的流转的成绩作为衡量经济建设成就的一个主要标准。此外，还对苏维埃机关和经济机关进行了改组以适应新经济政策的需要。

As a new thing, the New Economic Policy inevitably encountered new problems in the course of practice, and it was precisely these new problems that prompted Lenin to continuously improve the New Economic Policy. At the beginning of the implementation of the New Economic Policy, the surplus grain trade of the peasants was conducted through a state-controlled form of commodity exchange. This commodity exchange bypassed the intermediary of money, was in fact exclusive of the market, and its purpose was to avoid the capitalist tendencies caused by commodity-money relations. However, in practice, this commodity exchange was soon replaced by commodity buying and selling, and the form of commodity exchange actually failed. This made Lenin realise that the New Economic Policy needed to be conditioned on the market, commerce, and monetary circulation. The resolution adopted by the Eleventh Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) held in December 1921 absorbed this idea of Lenin, proposing that “it is necessary to proceed from the existence of the market and take account of the laws of the market, to master the market, and to regulate the market and monetary circulation through systematic, carefully considered economic measures based on an accurate assessment of market processes.” Accepting and utilising the market made the New Economic Policy more in line with reality, and the New Economic Policy was thus basically mature and finalised.

新经济政策作为新事物，在实践过程中必然会出现新问题，正是这些新问题促使列宁不断完善新经济政策。在新经济政策实施之初，农民的余粮交易是通过受国家控制的商品交换方式进行的，这种商品交换绕开了货币这个交易中介，实际上是排斥市场的，其目的是为了避免商品货币关系所造成的资本主义倾向。但在实践中，这种商品交换很快就被商品买卖所取代，商品交换的形式实际上失败了。这使列宁认识到新经济政策需要以市场、商业、货币流通为条件。1921年12月召开的俄共（布）第十一次代表大会通过的决议吸收了列宁的这一思想，提出“必须从市场的存在出发并考虑市场的规律，掌握市场，通过有系统的、深思熟虑的、建立在对市场过程的精确估计之上的经济措施，来调节市场和货币流通”。接受并利用市场使新经济政策更符合实际，新经济政策至此基本成熟和定型。

II. Lenin’s New Economic Policy Thought from the Perspective of Reform

二、改革视角下的列宁新经济政策思想

The transition from the War Communism policy to the New Economic Policy was a major reform in the history of socialist development. To promote the reform, Lenin acted both as a promoter of reform and as a doer of reform, forming a New Economic Policy thought rich in reform content and reform spirit. Sorting out the content of Lenin’s New Economic Policy thought from the perspective of reform, and studying and drawing on the scientific theories and methods it contains, will help to understand and advance the theory and practice of China’s comprehensive deepening of reform.

战时共产主义政策向新经济政策的转变是社会主义发展史上的一次重大改革。为推动改革，列宁既当改革促进派，又当改革实干家，形成了富含改革内容和改革精神的新经济政策思想。从改革的视角梳理列宁新经济政策思想的内容，学习和借鉴其中包含的科学理论和方法，将有助于理解和推进我国全面深化改革的理论和实践。

(I) The Motive for Reform: Improving the Production Situation and Improving the Lives of Workers and Peasants

（一）改革的动因：改进生产状况，改善工人和农民的生活

The War Communism policy adapted to the needs of wartime and achieved results. After entering the period of peaceful construction, continuing to implement the “wartime” communism policy was in fact to carry out socio-economic activities according to a theoretically abstracted socialist model. But the basic situation in Russia at that time was: (1) workers did not constitute an absolute majority of the population, did not have a high degree of organisation, and there was almost no large-scale industrial production; (2) patriarchal peasant economy was dominant, and the vast majority of cultivators were small commodity producers. (3) The vast countryside and the cities were in an almost isolated and barbaric state. After entering the period of peaceful construction, the War Communism policy seriously deviated from Russia’s economic, production, and socio-economic conditions at the time, leading to acute contradictions between the relations of production and the development of the productive forces, severely curbing the production enthusiasm of labourers, especially the peasants, hindering the development of the productive forces, causing the living conditions of workers and peasants to deteriorate, and thereby triggering a serious political and economic crisis. Lenin recognised that to improve the production situation, improve the lives of workers and peasants, and overcome the economic and political crisis, it was necessary to carry out a reform from the War Communism policy to the New Economic Policy.

战时共产主义政策适应了战时的需要，并取得了成果。在进入和平建设时期后，继续执行“战时”共产主义政策，实际上是按照经过理论抽象的社会主义模式来开展社会经济活动。但当时俄国的基本情况是：（1）工人没有在人口中占绝对优势，没有很高的组织程度，几乎没有大工业生产；（2）宗法式的农民经济占优势，绝大多数耕作者都是小商品生产者。（3）广大的农村与城市几乎处于隔绝的野蛮状态。战时共产主义政策在进入和平建设时期后，严重脱离了俄国当时的经济、生产、社会经济条件，导致了生产关系和生产力发展之间的尖锐矛盾，严重遏制了劳动者特别是农民的生产积极性，阻碍了生产力的发展，导致工人和农民的生活状况恶化，进而引发严重的政治和经济危机。列宁认识到，为改进生产状况，改善工人和农民的生活，克服经济危机和政治危机，必须要进行从战时共产主义政策转向新经济政策的改革。

Implementing the New Economic Policy was, first of all, to promote grain production and improve the lives of the peasants. The surplus grain appropriation system was the main cause of the serious economic and political crisis that Russia suffered in the spring of 1921. Grain was the most scarce and important material in Russia at that time, and the peasants were the main producers of grain, but “under the conditions of the surplus grain appropriation system, the small peasant household had no normal economic foundation, and for many years it was inevitably lifeless; the small economy could not exist and develop, because the small proprietor lost interest in consolidating and developing his household and increasing output, and as a result we lost our economic foundation.” By the spring of 1921, “a political situation had formed that required the immediate adoption of the swiftest, most resolute, and most urgent measures to improve the living conditions of the peasants and raise their productive forces,” and this measure was to replace the surplus grain appropriation system with a tax in kind.

实行新经济政策首先是要促进粮食生产，改善农民的生活。余粮收集制是俄国在1921年春天遭到严重的经济危机和政治危机的主要原因。粮食是当时俄国最紧缺、最重要的物资，农民是生产粮食的主体，但“在实行余粮收集制的情况下，小农户没有正常的经济基础，许多年都必然死气沉沉，小经济不能存在和发展，因为小业主对于巩固和发展家业、增加产量失去兴趣，结果我们就失去了经济基础”。到1921年春天，就“形成了这样的政治形势：要求必须立刻采取迅速的、最坚决的、最紧急的办法来改善农民的生活状况和提高他们的生产力”，这个办法就是用粮食税取代余粮收集制。

Implementing the New Economic Policy was, secondly, to restore and develop large-scale industry and improve the lives of the workers. The surplus grain appropriation system affected not only the peasants and agricultural production, but also the workers and industry. Agriculture and industry, peasants and workers were mainly connected through the exchange of agricultural products (mainly grain) and industrial products. The decline in agricultural productivity caused by the surplus grain appropriation system led to a shortage of grain not only for the peasants, but also for the workers. Because the state could not obtain the grain reserves needed by the workers, it led to “the proletarians being forced to adopt non-proletarian, petty-bourgeois, speculative ways of making a living that had no connection with large-scale industry, having to obtain products by stealing public property or doing private work in public factories, and then exchanging these products for agricultural products.” The implementation of the New Economic Policy was to obtain the grain reserves needed to rebuild large-scale industry, so that the few remaining large-scale industries in Russia could operate, thereby “enabling the proletarians to avoid having to resort to non-proletarian, speculative, petty-bourgeois ways in seeking the means of subsistence, because such ways are for us the greatest economic danger.”

实行新经济政策其次是要恢复和发展大工业，改善工人的生活。余粮收集制不仅影响农民和农业生产，也影响工人和工业。农业和工业、农民和工人主要是通过农产品（主要是粮食）和工业品之间的交换建立联系的。余粮收集制所导致的农业生产力下降，造成不仅农民缺粮，而且工人也缺粮。由于国家无法获得工人所需要的粮食储备，导致“无产者不得不采取非无产阶级的、同大工业没有联系的、小资产阶级的、投机倒把的谋生方式，不得不通过盗窃公共财物或者在公有工厂中干私活来获得产品，然后拿这些产品去交换农产品”。实行新经济政策，是为了获得重建大工业所需要的粮食储备，使俄国仅存的少量大工业能够运转起来，从而“使无产者在寻求生活资料时不必去采取非无产阶级的、投机倒把的、小资产阶级的方式，因为这种方式对于我们是一种经济上的最大的危险”。

When discussing the necessity of implementing the concession system, Lenin also emphasised the importance of the concession system for developing production and improving the lives of workers and peasants. Lenin pointed out that, in order to bring workers back to large-scale industrial production and prevent them from becoming speculators or small producers for the sake of survival, any sacrifice should be made, because “from the point of view of building socialism, it is advantageous for us now to pay several hundred million more to foreign capitalists and thereby obtain the machines and materials needed to restore large-scale industry, which can restore the economic foundation of the proletariat and turn the proletariat into a strong proletariat, no longer a proletariat engaged in speculation.”

在论述实行租让制必要性时，列宁同样强调了租让制对发展生产、改善工农生活的重要性。列宁指出，为了使工人回归大工业生产，避免为了生存而成为投机倒把者或小生产者，应当不惜任何牺牲，因为“从建设社会主义的观点来看，现在多付几亿给外国资本家并因此获得恢复大工业所需的机器和材料，这对于我们是有利的，这些机器和材料可以使我们恢复无产阶级的经济基础，使无产阶级变成一个坚强的无产阶级，而不再是一个从事投机倒把的无产阶级”。

(II) The Method of Reform: Promoting Socialism Through Private Capitalism

（二）改革的方法：通过私人资本主义来促进社会主义

The failure of the War Communism policy in practice after the Russian Civil War showed that Russia at that time was still unable to achieve the transition to socialism using the methods of the War Communism policy. Lenin likened the transition to socialism to climbing a mountain, believing that although the path of the War Communism policy had climbed very high, it had not yet reached the summit, and continuing along this path was not only difficult and dangerous, but simply impossible. To reach the summit, it was necessary to “find another, more circuitous but ultimately possible path to the summit.” This path was to turn back and utilise capitalism to promote socialism.

战时共产主义政策在俄国国内战争后实践中的失败，表明当时俄国还无法用战时共产主义政策的那一套方法实现向社会主义的过渡。列宁将向社会主义过渡比喻为爬山，认为尽管通过战时共产主义政策这条路已经爬得很高了，但还没有达到山顶，沿这条路继续前进不仅困难和危险，而且简直不可能。要爬到山顶，就必须“另找别的比较远但终究有可能爬到山顶的道路”。这条路就是回过头来利用资本主义来促进社会主义。

Socialism should have been built on the basis of developed capitalism, but at that time Russia’s level of productive forces and capitalist development lagged far behind Western European countries. “From the material, economic, and productive sense, we have not yet reached the ‘preconditions’ of socialism,” nor did it have the international political conditions (the victory of the socialist revolution in Western Europe) to directly utilize the fruits of Western European capitalist civilization on a large scale. Lenin believed that under these circumstances Russia could not yet achieve a direct transition from small-scale production to socialism, and that the development of capitalism was to a certain extent inevitable. Therefore, capitalism and socialism could not be abstractly opposed to each other, nor could capitalism be simply regarded as a scourge and feared for its utilization. After the proletariat seized power in a backward country, it could fully utilize the progressive role of capitalism in eliminating feudalism and developing productive forces. By developing state capitalism, “it is to strengthen large-scale production against small-scale production, to strengthen advanced production against backward production, to strengthen machine production against handicraft production, to increase the quantity of large-scale industrial products at one’s own disposal (i.e., the share), and to strengthen state-regulated economic relations against the anarchic economic relations of the petty bourgeoisie.”

社会主义本应是建立在发达的资本主义基础上的，但当时俄国生产力水平和资本主义发展程度远落后于西欧国家，“从物质、经济、生产意义上说，我们还没有到达社会主义的‘前阶’”，也没有大规模直接利用西欧的资本主义文明成果的国际政治条件（西欧社会主义革命的胜利）。列宁认为在这种情况下俄国还不能实现从小生产到社会主义的直接过渡，资本主义的发展在一定程度上是不可避免的，因此不能抽象地将资本主义和社会主义对立起来，简单地将资本主义视为洪水猛兽而惧怕利用资本主义，无产阶级在落后国家取得政权后，完全可以利用资本主义在消灭封建主义、发展生产力方面的进步作用。通过发展国家资本主义，“就是加强大生产来反对小生产，加强先进生产来反对落后生产，加强机器生产来反对手工生产，增加可由自己支配的大工业产品的数量（即提成），加强由国家调整的经济关系来对抗小资产阶级无政府状态的经济关系”。

To utilize capitalism, one must pay a certain “tribute” to capitalism, and Lenin considered this worthwhile. Lenin pointed out: “As long as we can obtain the help of powerful advanced capitalism, we will not hesitate to take several hundred million or even several billion of our assets from our infinite wealth, from our abundant resources. All that we spend, we will recover later with great profit.” In Lenin’s view, although utilizing capitalism would lead to the development of capitalist forces, it could simultaneously strengthen the development of socialism. As long as the overall balance of forces shifts in favor of socialism and is conducive to the development of socialism, then there is “profit.”

要利用资本主义，就得给资本主义一定“贡赋”，列宁认为这是值得的。列宁指出：“只要能获得强大的先进资本主义的帮助，我们便不惜从我们的无限财富当中，从我们丰富的资源当中，拿出几亿以至几十亿的资财。花掉的这一切我们以后收回时是可以获得很大的利润的。”在列宁看来，利用资本主义虽然会导致资本主义力量的发展，但它同时也能够加强社会主义的发展，只要在总体力量对比上发生有利于社会主义的变化、有利于社会主义的发展，那就是有“利润”的。

(3) Prevention of Reform Risks: Never Allow the Restoration of Capitalist Power

（三）改革风险的防范：决不让资本家政权复辟

Since the main means of the New Economic Policy was to utilize capitalism and allow a certain degree of capitalist development, there existed the risk of being exploited by capitalism, of capitalist development exceeding a certain limit and leading to restoration. Lenin fully estimated the risks inherent in the New Economic Policy, believing that every step taken by the New Economic Policy contained numerous dangers, and that denying the risks was to comfort oneself with empty words. Lenin pointed out: “The situation created by the New Economic Policy, such as the development of small commercial enterprises and the leasing of state-owned enterprises, signifies the development of capitalist relations. To fail to see this is to completely lose a sober mind. It goes without saying that the strengthening of capitalist relations is itself an increase in danger.” Lenin even believed that because the entire economy consisted of a multitude of trivial daily management matters, and people often became accustomed to these trivial matters and paid little attention to them, the danger of implementing the New Economic Policy was even greater than the danger caused by the civil war.

既然新经济政策的主要手段是利用资本主义，允许资本主义一定程度的发展，那么就存在被资本主义利用、资本主义的发展超过一定限度而复辟的风险。列宁对新经济政策存在的这种风险有充分的估计，认为新经济政策所采取的每一个步骤都包含着许许多多的危险，不承认风险是在用空话安慰自己。列宁指出：“新经济政策所造成的情况，如小型商业企业的发展、国营企业的出租等，都意味着资本主义关系的发展，看不到这一点，那就是完全丧失了清醒的头脑。不言而喻，资本主义关系的加强，其本身就是危险性的增强。”列宁甚至认为，由于整个经济是由大量经营管理方面的日常琐事构成的，而人们对这些琐事往往会习以为常，不太注意，导致推行新经济政策的危险比国内战争造成的危险还大。

Lenin likened the New Economic Policy to a retreat in the process of an offensive, and the key to preventing the risks of the New Economic Policy lay in setting the “limit” of the retreat. During a retreat, if the “limit” of the retreat is not set, and people do not know where the retreat will end, it is easy to panic and collapse. The “limit” of the New Economic Policy retreat was to ensure that the developed capitalism remained “under the supervision and within the accounting” of the Soviet regime, channeling the development of capitalism onto the track of state capitalism. Lenin pointed out: “The whole question, whether theoretical or practical, is to find the correct method, that is, how to channel the inevitable (inevitable to a certain extent and within a certain period) development of capitalism onto the track of state capitalism.” As long as capital was under the effective supervision of the proletarian state and developed on the track of state capitalism, whether it was capital from abroad or capital developed domestically, it would not threaten the proletarian regime. To channel capitalism onto the track of state capitalism, the proletariat needed to master the art of managing state capitalism, to be adept at making state capitalism act according to its will, and must “hold the main economic forces in our hands. All decisive large enterprises, railways, etc., are in our hands,” and strictly regulate and restrict any capitalism that exceeded the scope of state capitalism.

列宁将新经济政策比喻为进攻过程中的退却，防范新经济政策风险的关键在于设定退却的“度”。在退却的时候，如果没有设定退却的“度”，人们不清楚退却到哪里为止，就容易惊慌失措而溃败。新经济政策退却的“度”，就是要确保发展起来的资本主义处在苏维埃政权的“监督之下和计算之中”，将资本主义的发展纳入国家资本主义的轨道。列宁指出：“全部问题，无论是理论上的还是实践上的问题，在于找出正确的方法，即应当怎样把不可避免的（在一定程度上和在一定期限内不可避免的）资本主义的发展纳入国家资本主义的轨道。”只要资本处于无产阶级国家有效监督之下，在国家资本主义的轨道中发展，无论是国外进来的资本还是国内发展起来的资本，都不会威胁无产阶级政权。而要将资本主义纳入国家资本主义的轨道，无产阶级需要掌握驾驭国家资本主义的本领，善于使国家资本主义按照自己的意志来行动，必须要将“主要经济力量操在我们手里。一切具有决定意义的大企业、铁路等等，都操在我们手里”，对任何超越国家资本主义范围的资本主义要进行严格的规范和限制。

(4) Implementation of Reform: Learn to Use New Methods to Solve Today’s Tasks

（四）改革的落实：学会用新的方式方法来解决今天的任务

Lenin pointed out that implementing the New Economic Policy was a new undertaking, emphasizing that the Party’s understanding and consciousness must adapt to the requirements of implementing the New Economic Policy, and that it must learn to use new methods to accomplish its tasks. Lenin regarded learning economic management as an extremely important aspect of implementing the New Economic Policy, believing that “the New Economic Policy is a form through which we truly begin to learn economic management.” The New Economic Policy required the state to manage and regulate various economic relations, and required Communist Party members to be capable of economic work, effectively managing enterprises and engaging in commerce. These were tasks that the Soviet state and Communist Party members had never encountered before. Therefore, Lenin demanded that Communist Party members learn from scratch, and not be obsessed with the experience of the past revolutionary period, pointing out that “past experience is good, precious, remarkable, and of world significance, but it cannot solve the economic problems that the current situation demands we solve,” and advocated removing those Communist Party members who did not seriously study management work.

列宁指出推行新经济政策是一项新的事业，强调党内的认识和觉悟要同实行新经济政策的要求相适应，必须学会用新的方式方法来完成自己的任务。列宁将学习经营管理作为落实新经济政策一个极其重要的方面，认为“新经济政策是我们开始真正学习经济管理的一种形式”。新经济政策要求国家管理调节各种经济关系，要求共产党员能够做经济工作，有效地管理企业、经营商业，这些都是苏维埃国家和共产党员以前从未遇到过的任务。因此，列宁要求共产党员要从头学习，而不能迷恋过去革命时期的经验，指出“过去的经验是很好的、宝贵的、了不起的、有世界意义的，可是它不能解决现实情况要求我们解决的经济问题”，主张撤换掉那些不认真学习管理工作的共产党员。

Implementing the New Economic Policy required dealing with capitalists and competing with them. Hence, Lenin believed that “when you live with wolves, you must howl like a wolf,” and that one must be adept at learning from various bourgeois experts, including capitalists. Lenin pointed out: “If Communist Party members can use others’ hands to build the economy, and can learn from the bourgeoisie, making the bourgeoisie follow the path the Communist Party members want to take, then we can manage this economy.” Therefore, “do not be afraid to let Communist Party members ‘learn’ from bourgeois experts, including from merchants, from small capitalists running cooperatives, and from capitalists.” Lenin demanded that through learning, Communist Party members should be able to “do better than the bourgeois experts beside them, and use various methods to revitalize agriculture, revitalize industry, and develop the circulation between agriculture and industry,” and emphasized that for the sake of learning, one should not hesitate to spend money, as long as one could learn something.

推行新经济政策需要与资本家打交道，同时要与资本家竞争，故而，列宁认为“和狼在一起，就要学狼叫”，要善于向包括资本家在内的各种资产阶级专家学习。列宁指出，“如果共产党员能够用别人的手来建设经济，而自己能向资产阶级学习，使资产阶级走共产党员要走的道路，那我们就能管理这种经济”，因此，“不要害怕让共产党员去向资产阶级专家‘学习’，其中也包括向商人，向办合作社的小资本家，向资本家‘学习’”。列宁要求共产党员通过学习要能够“比自己身旁的资产阶级专家做得好，要会用各种办法振兴农业，振兴工业，发展农业和工业间的流转”，并强调为了学习这些要不惜破费，只要能学到东西就行。

(5) Guarantee of Reform: Maintain the Unity and Solidarity of the Party Ranks

（五）改革的保障：保持党的队伍的统一和团结

During the reform period of transitioning from old to new policies, the unity of the Party in ideology and organization becomes particularly important, serving as a crucial guarantee for advancing reform. At the beginning of the implementation of the New Economic Policy, although it received widespread support and endorsement within the Party, there were also opponents, sparking intense debates within the Party. Lenin did not oppose intra-Party debates; at that time, he even supported the establishment of intra-Party publications specifically reflecting different theoretical views within the Party. However, Lenin pointed out: “Theoretical debates are one thing; the Party’s political line and political struggle are another. Ours is not a debating club.” The situation in Russia at that time urgently demanded immediate reform. Lenin believed that questioning the reform at this time, even with good intentions, was spreading panic. At this moment, it was important to maintain the Party’s unity and solidarity; without a high degree of unity and solidarity, it would be impossible to act and achieve anything under these circumstances.

在新旧政策转换的改革时期，党在思想上和组织上的统一变得尤为重要，是推进改革的重要保障。新经济政策推行之初，虽然得到党内较大范围的拥护和支持，但也不乏反对者，在党内引起激烈的争论。列宁并不反对进行党内辩论，此时还支持创办专门反映党内不同理论主张的党内刊物。但列宁指出：“理论上的辩论是一回事，党的政治路线和政治斗争则是另一回事。我们这里不是辩论的俱乐部。”俄国当时的形势迫切要求立即进行改革，列宁认为这时候质疑改革，即使出于好意也是在散布惊慌情绪，这时候重要的是保持党的团结和统一，如果没有高度的团结和统一，就无法在这种情况下有所行动作为。

With the advance of the New Economic Policy, capitalism in Russia inevitably strengthened, and the breeding of capitalism could in turn exert new influence on the unity and cohesion of the Party in terms of ideology and organization. In Russia, “every unique turn in history causes the wavering of the petty bourgeoisie to change in form. The wavering of the petty bourgeoisie always occurs around the proletariat and always penetrates the ranks of the proletariat to a certain extent.” [8]8 Xi Jinping, “Explanatory Notes on the ‘Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform’” (November 9, 2013), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 1, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2023, p. 183. The New Economic Policy objectively intensified the wavering of the Russian petty bourgeoisie, inclining it toward bourgeois restoration. Therefore, “at this time it is especially necessary to maintain the unity and cohesion of the Party’s ranks, to ensure complete mutual trust among Party members, to ensure genuine concerted effort in work, and to truly embody the unity of will of the vanguard of the proletariat.” [9]9 Xi Jinping, “Explanatory Notes on the ‘Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform’” (November 9, 2013), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 1, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2023, p. 183.

随着新经济政策的推进，俄国资本主义不可避免地得到加强，而资本主义的滋生又可能会在思想和组织上对党的团结和统一造成新的影响。在俄国，“历史上每一次独特的转变，都使小资产阶级的动摇在形式上有所改变。小资产阶级的动摇总是发生在无产阶级周围，总是在一定程度上渗入无产阶级队伍”。新经济政策在客观上加剧了俄国小资产阶级的动摇，使俄国小资产阶级倾向于资产阶级复辟，因此“在这个时候特别需要保持党的队伍的统一和团结，保证党员相互之间的完全信任，保证在工作中真正齐心协力，真正体现无产阶级先锋队的意志的统一”。

III. The Enlightenment of Lenin’s Thought on the New Economic Policy for Advancing Comprehensive Deepening of Reform

三、列宁新经济政策思想对推进全面深化改革的启示

Lenin’s thought on the New Economic Policy is a summary of his theoretical reflections and practical experience concerning the New Economic Policy. The theories and methods of reform it contains have both the particularity of Russian reform and the universality of socialist reform. It possesses profound temporal penetration and also offers important enlightenment for our advancement of comprehensive deepening of reform today.

列宁新经济政策思想是列宁对新经济政策的理论思考和实践经验总结，其中蕴含的关于改革的理论和方法，既有俄国改革特殊性的一面，又包含社会主义改革普遍性的一面，具有深邃的时代穿透力，对我们今天推进全面深化改革也有着重要的启示。

(1) Adhere to a Problem-Oriented Approach and Actively Implement Reform

（一）坚持问题导向，主动实施改革

Problems are the voice of the times. Adhering to a problem-oriented approach is a working method that insists on actively discovering problems, daring to face them squarely, and actively solving them. Lenin’s process of proposing the New Economic Policy embodied a problem-oriented working method. As mentioned earlier, after the Russian Civil War, the policy of War Communism led to serious political and economic problems in practice. Faced with these problems, Lenin did not evade them but insisted on starting from the problems, applying the basic principles of Marxism to contemplate methods and pathways for solving them. Only thus did the turn to the New Economic Policy reform come about. The New Economic Policy responded to the voices of the workers and peasants, especially the peasants, won their support, consolidated the worker-peasant alliance, gradually restored the Russian economy, successfully resolved the urgent problems caused by the War Communism policy, and laid the foundation for the subsequent large-scale socialist economic construction of the Soviet Union.

问题是时代的声音，坚持问题导向是坚持以主动发现问题、敢于正视问题、主动解决问题为导向的工作方法。列宁在提出新经济政策的过程中体现了以问题为导向的工作方法。如前所述，俄国国内战争后，战时共产主义政策在实践中导致了严重的政治和经济问题。面对这些问题，列宁没有回避，而是坚持从问题出发，运用马克思主义基本原理思索解决问题的方法和路径，这才有了转向新经济政策的改革。新经济政策回应了工农群众特别是农民的呼声，赢得了农民的支持，巩固了工农联盟，使俄国经济逐渐得到了恢复，成功地解决了战时共产主义政策导致的紧迫问题，并为接下来苏联的大规模社会主义经济建设奠定了基础。

General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Reform is forced by problems and

习近平总书记指出：“改革是由问题倒逼而产生，又在不断解决问题中得以深化。”全面深化改革，必须坚持问题导向。全面深化改革在本质上是一个不断解决问题的过程。我国的改革已进入深水区、攻坚期，面临着一系列复杂和艰难的现实问题，如：发展不平衡不充分问题、收入差距问题、科技创新能力问题、国家安全风险问题、民生问题、腐败问题，等等。这些问题的解决从根本上要依靠全面深化改革，改革产生这些问题或阻碍这些问题解决的体制机制。坚持问题导向，要求承认和正视这些问题，将解决问题作为工作的导向，作为全面深化改革的着力点，“主动识变应变求变，主动防范化解风险”，掌握改革的主动权，从而避免问题升级或演变为危及改革、发展、稳定大局的“黑天鹅”“灰犀牛”。

(II) Adhere to Theoretical Innovation and Continuously Advance Reform

（二）坚持理论创新，持续推进改革

Innovation is the prerequisite for reform; without innovation, reform cannot be carried out. Lenin’s New Economic Policy fully demonstrated the character and courage of innovation. Lenin proposed the New Economic Policy not as a reactive response to the practical problems that the War Communism policy had brought to Russia, but on the basis of applying the fundamental principles of Marxism to theoretical innovation, breaking through the traditional understanding of the relationship between socialism and capitalism. In the process of implementing the New Economic Policy, Lenin also repeatedly emphasized the need for “pioneering spirit,” “innovative spirit,” and “original spirit,” continuing to engage in theoretical reflection and theoretical innovation in accordance with the development of practice, so that the New Economic Policy would increasingly conform to Russia’s actual conditions.

创新是改革的前提，没有创新就无法进行改革，列宁的新经济政策充分展现了创新的品格和勇气。列宁提出新经济政策，并非是对战时共产主义政策给俄国带来现实问题的应激反应，而是在运用马克思主义基本原理进行理论创新、突破了对社会主义和资本主义相互关系的传统认识基础上提出的。在推行新经济政策的过程中，列宁也反复强调要有“首创精神”“创新精神”“独创精神”，继续根据实践的发展持续进行理论思考和理论创新，使新经济政策不断趋于符合俄国的实际。

General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “Theoretical innovation plays a major guiding role in practical innovation; comprehensively deepening reform must be guided by theoretical innovation.” [8]8 Xi Jinping, “Explanatory Notes on the ‘Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform’” (November 9, 2013), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 1, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2023, p. 183. The history since reform and opening up shows that major breakthroughs and progress in reform require theoretical innovation as a guide. Our reform still has many hard nuts to crack, many difficulties to overcome, will encounter many unprecedented new problems, and still faces many foreseeable and unforeseeable risks. All of this requires new scientific answers to be provided theoretically, so as to take correct actions on the basis of grasping the laws. Only by applying Marxism to theoretical reflection and theoretical innovation on the problems, difficulties, and risks encountered can we find scientific solutions for reform, guide reform to be continuously and deeply advanced, and promote the continuous development of the cause.

习近平总书记指出：“理论创新对实践创新具有重大先导作用，全面深化改革必须以理论创新为先导。”改革开放以来的历史表明，改革的重大突破和进展需要以理论创新为先导。我们的改革还有许多硬骨头要啃，还有许多难关要攻克，还将遇到许多前所未有的新问题，还存在许多可以预见和难以预见的风险，这都需要能够从理论上做出新的科学回答，从而在把握规律的基础上采取正确的行动。唯有运用马克思主义对所遇到的问题、困难和风险进行理论思考和理论创新，才能为改革找到科学的方案，指导改革持续深入推进，推动事业不断发展。

(III) Adhere to Bottom-Line Thinking and Guard Against Reform Risks

（三）坚持底线思维，防范改革风险

To carry out reform, one must take certain risks; there is no reform without risks. But reform cannot stop moving forward because of the existence of risks; the risk of needing reform but not carrying it out is greater than the risk of reform itself. The key lies in how to guard against and defuse the risks of reform. In response to the reform risks caused by capitalist development resulting from the implementation of the New Economic Policy, Lenin mainly guarded against them by strictly setting the “degree” of reform. “Degree” is the limit within which a thing maintains its quality and quantity; the “bottom line” is the boundary of “degree,” and in essence, it is another form of expression of “degree.” Adhering to bottom-line thinking in comprehensively deepening reform is consistent with Lenin’s thinking of adhering to the “degree” of reform in the New Economic Policy.

要改革就要冒一定的风险，没有风险的改革是没有的。但改革不能因为存在风险停步不前，需要改革而不改革的风险比改革的风险更大，关键是如何防范和化解改革的风险。针对实行新经济政策所导致的资本主义发展引发的改革风险，列宁主要通过严格设定改革的“度”来防范。“度”是事物保持自己质和量的限度，“底线”是“度”的边界，在本质上则是“度”的另一种表达形式。在全面深化改革中坚持底线思维，与列宁在新经济政策中坚持改革“度”的思想是一致的。

General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “China is a big country; it must never make subversive mistakes on fundamental issues.” [9]9 Xi Jinping, “Explanatory Notes on the ‘Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform’” (November 9, 2013), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 1, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2023, p. 183. Adhering to bottom-line thinking is an important method of thinking to avoid subversive mistakes. Comprehensively deepening reform involves all aspects; in every important aspect, it is necessary to adhere to bottom-line thinking and focus on guarding against and defusing major risks. Comprehensively deepening reform is aimed at improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics; therefore, adhering to the socialist system and the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the overall bottom line of comprehensively deepening reform. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, “No matter how we reform or open up, we must always adhere to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” [10]10 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up” (December 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2023, p. 181. resolutely reforming what should and can be reformed, while resolutely not reforming what should not and cannot be reformed, and “must take a clear-cut stand against issues that endanger the leadership of the Communist Party of China, endanger our country’s socialist political power, endanger the national system and the rule of law, and harm the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people.” [11]11 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up” (December 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2023, p. 181.

习近平总书记指出：“中国是一个大国，决不能在根本性问题上出现颠覆性错误。”坚持底线思维是避免出现颠覆性错误的重要思想方法。全面深化改革涉及方方面面，在每一个重要方面都要坚持底线思维，着力防范、化解重大风险。全面深化改革是为了完善和发展中国特色社会主义制度，因此坚持社会主义制度和共产党的领导是全面深化改革总的底线。习近平总书记强调，“不论怎么改革、怎么开放，我们都始终要坚持中国特色社会主义道路、中国特色社会主义理论体系、中国特色社会主义制度”，对该改的、能改的要坚决改，而不该改的、不能改的坚决不改，“对危害中国共产党领导、危害我国社会主义政权、危害国家制度和法治、损害最广大人民根本利益的问题，必须旗帜鲜明反对”。

Comprehensively deepening reform involves various fields; reform in each specific field also needs to adhere to bottom-line thinking, implementing the overall bottom line of comprehensively deepening reform in practice. For example: reform in the field of ownership must adhere to the bottom line of maintaining the dominant position of public ownership and the leading role of the state-owned economy; reform in the financial field must hold the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks; reform in the social field must hold the bottom line of basic livelihood; reform in the fields of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers must adhere to the bottom line of not changing the public ownership nature of land, not breaking the red line of arable land, and not harming the interests of farmers, and so on.

全面深化改革涉及各个领域，每个具体领域的改革也需要坚持底线思维，将全面深化改革总的底线落到实处。如：所有制领域的改革要坚持公有制主体地位、国有经济主导作用的底线，金融领域的改革要守住不发生系统性金融风险的底线，社会领域的改革要守住基本民生的底线，“三农”领域的改革要坚持土地公有制性质不改变、耕地红线不突破、农民利益不受损的底线，等等。

(IV) Strengthen Capacity Building and Implement Reform Measures

（四）加强能力建设，落实改革举措

To promote the implementation of the New Economic Policy, Lenin, on the one hand, strengthened the centralized and unified leadership of the Party; on the other hand, he demanded that the entire Party strengthen study and cultivate the capabilities suited to the New Economic Policy, in order to cope with the new situations and new problems different from those during the civil war period, and to implement the specific measures of the New Economic Policy in place. Comprehensively deepening reform far exceeds the New Economic Policy in both the breadth and depth of reform; the complexity and difficulty of reform, as well as the degree of influence of external ideas on the Party’s thinking, are all greater. This places higher demands on the various capabilities of Party cadres at all levels, such as understanding the spirit of reform, grasping the direction of reform, controlling the pace of reform, and guarding against reform risks. It is necessary to ensure through capacity building that the various deployments of comprehensively deepening reform are implemented completely, accurately, and comprehensively.

为推进新经济政策的落实，列宁一方面加强党的集中统一领导；另一方面要求全党加强学习，练就与新经济政策相适应的本领，以应对与国内战争时期不同新情况、新问题，将新经济政策的具体举措落实到位。全面深化改革在改革的广度和深度上均大大超过了新经济政策，改革的复杂程度、困难程度以及外界对党内思想的影响程度都更大，这就对各级党员干部领会改革精神、把握改革方向、控制改革节奏、防范改革风险等各种能力提出了更高的要求，需要通过能力建设来确保全面深化改革的各项部署得到完整、准确、全面地落实。

General Secretary Xi Jinping requires all Party members, especially leading cadres at all levels, to have a sense of crisis about insufficient competence and to continuously enhance their abilities, pointing out: “If we do not urgently enhance our abilities, over time we will find it difficult to shoulder the heavy tasks of leading reform and opening up and socialist modernization.” For example, Lenin demanded that Party members learn to engage in commerce and manage the economy in order to adapt to the tasks of the New Economic Policy reform. Today, comprehensive deepening of reform consists of specific reforms in various fields; the implementation of reform in each specific field requires Party cadres to possess corresponding professional knowledge and capabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to target the different fields of comprehensive deepening of reform, to require and help Party cadres to remedy knowledge weaknesses and capability shortcomings, and to enhance the professional capacity of Party cadres to implement comprehensive reform.

习近平总书记要求全党同志特别是各级领导干部，要有本领不够的危机感，要一刻不停地增强本领，指出：“如果不抓紧增强本领，久而久之，我们就难以胜任领导改革开放和社会主义现代化建设的繁重任务。”例如：列宁就要求党员学会经商和管理经济以适应新经济政策改革的任务。如今，全面深化改革由各个领域的具体改革组成，每一具体领域改革的落实需要党员干部具备相应的专业知识和能力，因此需要针对全面深化改革不同的领域，要求和帮助党员干部弥补知识弱项和能力短板，提升党员干部落实全面改革的专业化能力。

(5) Strengthen Party leadership and form a joint force for reform

（五）加强党的领导，形成改革合力

In the process of proposing and implementing the New Economic Policy, Lenin emphasized that in this special period, the unity and cohesion of the Party in ideology and organization were especially needed, so that the Party could work with one heart and one mind and concentrate its strength to deal with various risks and challenges ahead. In the New Era, China’s comprehensive deepening of reform, compared with the New Economic Policy, is a more comprehensive and more complex systemic project. It even more requires the unity and cohesion of the Party in ideology and organization, and even more requires the Party to play its leading core role of commanding the overall situation and coordinating all parties, in order to consolidate the reform consensus of the people of all ethnic groups across the country, form a powerful joint force for reform, and ensure the smooth advancement of reform against the backdrop of changes unseen in a century in the world.

在新经济政策的提出和推行过程中，列宁强调在这个特殊的时期尤其需要党在思想和组织上的团结和统一，以使党能够齐心协力地工作，集中力量应对前进中的各种风险和挑战。新时代，中国的全面深化改革相比于新经济政策，是一项更为全面、更为复杂的系统工程，更加需要党在思想和组织上的团结和统一，更加需要党发挥总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，以凝聚全国各族人民的改革共识，形成强大的改革合力，确保在世界面临百年未有之大变局背景下顺利推进改革。

Beginning in the 1980s, China and socialist countries such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe all carried out reforms. China’s reforms achieved great success, but the reforms in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe failed. A very important reason for this difference lies in whether Party leadership was consistently upheld. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “No matter what is reformed or to what stage reform proceeds, we must uphold Party leadership, ensure that the Party sets the direction, plans the overall situation, and formulates policies, and ensure that the Party always commands the overall situation and coordinates all parties.” During the reform process, countries such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe abandoned the Party’s leadership power, causing the reforms to deviate from their original intentions and ultimately evolve into a wanton carve-up of national resources and assets by foreign capital and domestic oligarchs. The country’s strength and the people’s living standards severely regressed, and many countries have not recovered to this day. Because China’s reforms have consistently upheld Party leadership and continuously strengthened and improved Party leadership, reform and opening up has become a crucial move for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and the country has experienced a great leap from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong. The positive and negative experiences and lessons from the reform practices of China, the Soviet Union, and Eastern European countries show that comprehensive deepening of reform must strengthen Party leadership. After the 18th National Congress of the CPC [12]12 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of the New Era under Xi Jinping’s leadership., to strengthen Party leadership over the work of comprehensive deepening of reform, the Party established a specialized leading body for comprehensive deepening of reform, forming a decision-making system and mechanism for the centralized and unified leadership of the Party over reform work. After the 20th National Congress of the CPC, the centralized and unified leadership of the Party was further implemented in all links and aspects of comprehensive deepening of reform, providing a strong institutional guarantee for the smooth advancement of comprehensive deepening of reform.

20世纪80年代开始，中国和苏联、东欧等社会主义国家都进行了改革，中国的改革取得了巨大的成功，但苏联、东欧的改革失败了。导致这种差别的一个很重要的原因就在于是否始终坚持党的领导。习近平总书记指出：“无论改什么、改到哪一步，都要坚持党的领导，确保党把方向、谋大局、定政策，确保党始终总揽全局、协调各方。”苏联、东欧等国家在改革过程中放弃了党的领导权，导致改革背离了初衷，最终演变为国外资本和国内权贵对本国资源和资产肆无忌惮的瓜分，国家的实力和人民的生活水平严重倒退，很多国家至今没有恢复。由于中国的改革始终坚持党的领导，并不断加强和改善党的领导，改革开放成为实现中华民族伟大复兴的关键一招，国家迎来从站起来、富起来到强起来的伟大飞跃。中国和苏联、东欧等国家改革实践中正反两方面的经验教训表明，全面深化改革必须加强党的领导。党的十八大之后，为加强党对全面深化改革工作的领导，党成立了全面深化改革的专门领导机构，形成了党对改革工作集中统一领导的决策体制机制。党的二十大之后，党的集中统一领导进一步落实到全面深化改革各环节和各方面，为顺利推进全面深化改革提供了坚强的制度保证。

Conclusion

结语

Although the depth and breadth of the Russian New Economic Policy reforms did not match those of China’s comprehensive deepening of reform in the New Era, the problems faced by both are highly similar, including how to treat capital and capitalism, how to get along with capitalist countries, how backward countries can build socialism, and how to uphold and improve Party leadership during reform. The epochal penetrating power of Lenin’s thinking and exploration of the New Economic Policy can provide useful reference and inspiration for later generations’ reforms. Today, China is on a new journey of comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization and will launch a new round of comprehensive deepening of reform. We should continue to study and draw on Lenin’s New Economic Policy thought, grasp the Marxist positions, viewpoints, and methods contained within, flexibly apply them to reform, and explore a more effective path to modernization for the future of humanity.

尽管俄国新经济政策从改革的深度和广度上都不及新时代中国的全面深化改革，但两者面对的问题有很大的相似性，包括如何对待资本和资本主义、如何与资本主义国家相处、落后国家如何建设社会主义、如何在改革中坚持和改善党的领导等。列宁对新经济政策的思考和探索所具有的时代穿透力，能为后人的改革提供有益的借鉴和启示。如今，中国正处在以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴的新征程上，将开启新一轮全面深化改革。我们应当继续研究、借鉴列宁的新经济政策思想，掌握其中蕴含的马克思主义立场、观点、方法，并将其灵活运用于改革之中，为人类的未来探索出一条更加有效的现代化之路。

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心