A Re-examination of Mao Zedong’s Thought on Comprehensive Balance of the National Economy

Mao Zedong’s thought on comprehensive balance of the national economy is an important component of Mao Zedong’s economic thought. In the early period after the founding of New China, China’s national economic growth experienced violent fluctuations, making the promotion of comprehensive balance of the national economy a top priority in macroeconomic management. Against this backdrop, Mao Zedong, standing at the height of dialectics and employing the idea of the unity of opposites, conducted an in-depth and systematic exposition on a series of issues concerning the connotation, essence, foundation for realization, guarantee for realization, and means of realization of comprehensive balance of the national economy, thereby forming the thought on comprehensive balance of the national economy. At present, the institutional foundation and micro-level carriers of China’s economic development have undergone significant changes, but the essence of Mao Zedong’s thought on comprehensive balance of the national economy still radiates theoretical brilliance and demonstrates important contemporary value.

毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想是毛泽东经济思想的重要组成部分。新中国成立初期，我国国民经济增长出现剧烈波动，推动国民经济实现综合平衡成为宏观经济管理工作的重中之重。在这一背景下，毛泽东站在辩证法的高度，运用对立统一思想，围绕国民经济综合平衡的内涵、本质、实现基础、实现保证和实现手段等一系列问题，展开了深入系统阐述，形成了国民经济综合平衡思想。当前，我国经济发展的体制基础和微观载体已发生很大变化，但毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想的精髓仍闪烁着理论光芒，呈现出重要时代价值。

I. The Historical Background of the Formation of Mao Zedong’s Thought on Comprehensive Balance of the National Economy

一、毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想形成的时代背景

After the founding of New China, the focus of the work of the Communist Party of China shifted to the field of economic construction. In the 1950s and 1960s, the domestic and international situation was volatile, and coupled with the Party’s lack of systematic experience in socialist economic construction, the growth rate of the national economy experienced violent fluctuations. Mao Zedong’s thought on comprehensive balance of the national economy emerged precisely against this backdrop.

新中国成立后，中国共产党的工作重心转移到经济建设领域。20世纪五六十年代，国内外形势变化多端，加之我们党在社会主义经济建设方面缺乏系统经验，导致国民经济增长率剧烈波动。毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想正是在这样的背景下孕育而生。

The founding of New China and the establishment of the new political power provided a crucial superstructural guarantee for New China’s economic construction. In June 1950, the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Party [1]1 The Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the CPC was held in June 1950, focusing on economic recovery and land reform in the early years of the People’s Republic. formulated the policy line and action program for the three-year period of economic recovery. During the session, Mao Zedong delivered a written report titled “Fight for a Fundamental Improvement in the Financial and Economic Situation of the Country,” which deeply analyzed the domestic and international situation and the achievements of various economic work since the founding of New China. It pointed out that the Party and government should continue to complete the nationwide land reform, rationally adjust existing industry and commerce, and substantially reduce the funds needed for state institutions, in order to realize the Party’s central task for this period—achieving a fundamental improvement in the country’s financial and economic situation within three years.

新中国成立，新政权的建立为新中国的经济建设提供了至关重要的上层建筑保障。1950年6月，党的七届三中全会为三年经济恢复时期制定了政策路线和行动纲领。会议期间，毛泽东作了《为争取国家财政经济状况的基本好转而斗争》为题的书面报告，深刻分析了国内外形势和新中国成立以来各项经济工作取得的成果，指出党和政府要继续完成全国土地改革，合理调整现有工商业，大规模削减国家机构所需经费，以实现党在这一时期的中心任务——用三年时间实现国家财政经济状况的根本好转。

After economic recovery and construction from 1949 to 1953, industrial and agricultural production showed marked improvement, the people’s living standards and government fiscal revenue increased significantly, and national infrastructure construction began to take shape. The total agricultural output value of the country rose from 32.6 billion yuan in 1949 to 46.1 billion yuan in 1952, a cumulative increase of 41.4%; in 1952, the total industrial output value reached 34.9 billion yuan, exceeding the historical peak of 1936 and increasing nearly 2.5 times compared with 1949. By the end of 1953, national fiscal revenue was more than three times that of 1950, the fiscal revenue and expenditure system was gradually improved, ending the long-term imbalance of fiscal revenue and expenditure that had characterized old China before 1949. In terms of infrastructure construction, from 1950 to 1952, state fiscal expenditure on capital construction totaled more than 8.6 billion yuan.

经过1949年到1953年的经济恢复和建设，工农业生产有了明显起色，人民生活水平、政府财政收入显著提高，国家基础设施建设初具规模。全国农业总产值从1949年的326亿元上升到1952年的461亿元，累计增加41.4%；1952年工业总产值达到349亿元，超过1936年的历史最高水平，较1949年增长近2.5倍。截至1953年底，国家财政收入较1950年已多三倍有余，财政收支体系逐步完善，结束了1949年以前的旧中国长期财政收支不平衡的局面。在基础设施建设方面，1950年到1952年，国家财政用于基本建设的支出累计超过86亿元。

In 1958, the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Party [2]2 The Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CPC, held in May 1958, formally adopted the “General Line for Socialist Construction” and endorsed the Great Leap Forward. confirmed the general line of socialist construction—“Go all out, aim high, and achieve greater, faster, better, and more economical results in building socialism”—reflecting the broad masses’ strong desire to change the backward state of China’s economic, social, and cultural development. At the same time, the “Great Leap Forward” and the “People’s Commune” movements were launched in full swing amid criticism of “opposing rash advance.” [3]3 “Opposing rash advance” (反冒进) refers to a policy stance in 1956-57 that cautioned against overly rapid economic growth, later criticized by Mao as insufficiently ambitious. However, the “Three Years of Natural Disasters” [4]4 The “Three Years of Natural Disasters” (1959-1961) refers to a period of severe economic hardship and famine in China, attributed to a combination of adverse weather, policy failures, and the Great Leap Forward. beginning in 1959 dealt a heavy blow to the national economy. After 1962, national economic adjustment work was carried out nationwide, effectively rectifying the economic chaos of the Great Leap Forward period and achieving the recovery and development of the national economy. Overall, during this stage, China’s national economic growth rate experienced violent fluctuations.

1958年党的八届二中全会确认了“鼓足干劲，力争上游，多快好省地建设社会主义”的社会主义建设总路线，反映了广大人民群众希望改变我国经济社会文化发展落后面貌的强烈愿望。同时，“大跃进”与“人民公社化”运动也在批评“反冒进”的过程中全面展开。但是，1959年开始的“三年自然灾害”给国民经济造成重创。1962年后，国民经济调整工作在全国展开，有效整顿了“大跃进”时期的经济混乱局面，实现了国民经济的恢复和发展。总的来看，在这一阶段，我国国民经济增长率经历了剧烈波动。

II. The Connotation and Essence of Comprehensive Balance of the National Economy

二、国民经济综合平衡的内涵和本质

For a long period after the founding of New China, the Communist Party of China had been exploring how to lead socialist economic construction. The violent fluctuations in the national economic growth rate required the Party’s main leaders to seek theoretical solutions and clarify policy ideas. It was against this backdrop that Mao Zedong’s thought on comprehensive balance of the national economy emerged.

新中国成立后很长一段时间内，中国共产党一直在探索怎样领导社会主义经济建设。国民经济增长率的剧烈波动，要求我们党的主要领导人寻求理论解决办法和明确政策思路。正是在这一背景下，毛泽东国民经济综合平思想得以产生。

(I) Contradiction and Balance in the Philosophical Sense

（一）哲学意义上的矛盾与平衡

Mao Zedong’s understanding of “balance” originated from “contradiction.” In “On Contradiction,” Mao Zedong pointed out the universality and absoluteness of contradiction: “One is that contradiction exists in the process of development of all things; the other is that in the process of development of each thing, there is a movement of contradiction from beginning to end.” Mao Zedong believed that the fundamental cause of the movement of things lies in the internal contradictory struggle within things. “The movement of all things takes two states, a state of relative rest and a state of conspicuous change. Both states are caused by the struggle between the two contradictory elements contained within the thing itself.” Therefore, “what we see in daily life, such as unity, solidarity, combination, harmony, equilibrium, stalemate, deadlock, rest, constancy, balance, cohesion, attraction, etc., are all manifestations of things in the state of quantitative change. And the decomposition of the unity, the destruction of states such as solidarity, combination, harmony, equilibrium, stalemate, deadlock, rest, constancy, balance, cohesion, attraction, etc., and their change into opposite states, are all manifestations of things in the state of qualitative change, in the change from one process to another.” That is to say, balance is a manifestation of the internal contradictory movement of things in a state of relative rest; it does not mean absolute rest, but rather that things are in a state of “quantitative change.” Conversely, the breaking of balance indicates that things are in a state of “qualitative change.” It is in this sense that Mao Zedong pointed out: “So-called balance is the temporary, relative unity of opposites.”

毛泽东对“平衡”的理解源于“矛盾”。在《矛盾论》中，毛泽东指出了矛盾的普遍性和绝对性：“其一是说，矛盾存在于一切事物的发展过程中；其二是说，每一事物的发展过程中存在着自始至终的矛盾运动。”毛泽东认为，事物运动的根本原因在于事物内部的矛盾斗争。“无论什么事物的运动都采取两种状态，相对地静止的状态和显著地变动的状态。两种状态的运动都是由事物内部包含的两个矛盾着的因素互相斗争所引起的。”因此，“我们在日常生活中所看见的统一、团结、联合、调和、均势、相持、僵局、静止、有常、平衡、凝聚、吸引等等，都是事物处在量变状态中所显现的面貌。而统一物的分解，团结、联合、调和、均势、相持、僵局、静止、有常、平衡、凝聚、吸引等等状态的破坏，变到相反的状态，便都是事物在质变状态中、在一种过程过渡到他种过程的变化中所显现的面貌”。这就是说，平衡是事物内部矛盾运动处在相对静止状态的一种表现，不意味着绝对的静止，而意味着事物正处“量变”状态。反之，平衡被打破，则表明事物正处“质变”状态。正是在这个意义上，毛泽东指出：“所谓平衡，就是矛盾的暂时的相对的统一。”

In the socio-economic field, contradiction is also universal, which means that “imbalance” is a normal state. In commenting on the views in Chapter 26 of the Soviet *Political Economy Textbook* (The Law of Planned, Proportionate Development of the National Economy) regarding the superiority of the socialist planned economy and the post-war capitalist economic crisis, Mao Zedong pointed out: “The contradictions and imbalances between the productive forces and the relations of production, and between the relations of production and the superstructure, are absolute. The adaptation of the superstructure to the relations of production, and of the relations of production to the productive forces, or the achievement of balance between them, is always relative. Of the two aspects of the contradiction between balance and imbalance, imbalance is absolute and balance is relative. If there were only balance and no imbalance, the productive forces, the relations of production, and the superstructure could not develop; they would become fixed. Contradiction, struggle, and decomposition are absolute; unity, consistency, and solidarity are relative and conditional.”

在社会经济领域，矛盾也普遍存在，这就意味着“不平衡”是一种常态。在评论苏联《政治经济学教科书》第二十六章（国民经济有计划按比例发展的规律）关于社会主义计划经济的优越性和战后资本主义经济危机的观点时，毛泽东指出：“生产力和生产关系之间、生产关系和上层建筑之间的矛盾和不平衡是绝对的。上层建筑适应生产关系，生产关系适应生产力，或者说它们之间达到平衡，总是相对的。平衡和不平衡这个矛盾的两个侧面，不平衡是绝对的，平衡是相对的。如果只有平衡，没有不平衡，生产力、生产关系、上层建筑就不能发展了，就固定了。矛盾、斗争、分解是绝对的，统一、一致、团结是相对的，有条件的。”

(II) The Rich Connotation of Comprehensive Balance of the National Economy

（二）国民经济综合平衡的丰富内涵

Beyond purely philosophical speculation, comprehensive balance of the national economy has two main specific meanings.

超出纯粹哲学思辨，国民经济综合平衡主要有两个具体含义。

First, comprehensive balance of the national economy is not a simple symmetrical balance, but a comprehensive balance. Symmetrical balance refers to a balance formed by the opposing forces or factors of the two sides or multiple sides of a contradiction, manifested as the two sides or multiple sides being evenly matched, locked in a stalemate, or equal in magnitude. Comprehensive balance is different; it is a balance formed by the coordination and cooperation of the two sides or multiple sides of a contradiction, manifested as the two sides or multiple sides being coordinated, organically combined, appropriately proportioned, and structurally balanced. In this sense, comprehensive balance of the national economy refers to maintaining the coordination, organic combination, appropriate proportion, and structural balance among the various departments, industries, regions, and links of the national economy. Therefore, to maintain comprehensive balance of the national economy, it is necessary to achieve balance between supply and demand, accumulation and consumption, long-term and short-term, and the whole and the part; it is necessary to promote the coordination and balance among various industrial sectors, different regions, urban and rural areas, and domestic and foreign economic activities. In fact, among the ten pairs of contradictions selected by Mao Zedong in “On the Ten Major Relationships,” [5]5 “On the Ten Major Relationships” is a 1956 speech by Mao Zedong outlining ten key contradictions in socialist construction, including those between industry and agriculture, coastal and inland regions, and central and local authorities. many involve comprehensive balance of the national economy, such as: the relationship between heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture; the relationship between coastal industry and inland industry; the relationship between economic construction and national defense construction; the relationship between the state, production units, and individual producers; the relationship between the central authorities and local authorities; and so on. These contradictions reflect different aspects and dimensions of comprehensive balance of the national economy, and maintaining their balance becomes an important part of maintaining comprehensive balance of the national economy.

第一，国民经济综合平衡不是单纯的对称性平衡，而是综合性平衡。对称性平衡指矛盾双方或者诸方由于正反力量或正反因素相当于形成的一种平衡，表现为矛盾双方或诸方势均力敌、相持不下、等量齐观。综合性平衡则不同，它是由矛盾双方或诸方协调配合而形成的平衡，表现为矛盾双方或诸方协调一致、有机组合、比例恰当和结构均衡。在这个意义上，国民经济综合平衡就指保持国民经济的各部门、各行业、各地区、各环节的协调一致、有机组合、比例恰当和结构均衡。因此，保持国民经济的综合平衡，就要实现供给和需求、积累和消费、长期和短期、整体和局部的平衡，就要促使国民经济中的各产业部门、各不同区域、城市农村、对内对外经济活动的协调和平衡。实际上，毛泽东《论十大关系》所选取的十对矛盾，有多项都涉及国民经济综合平衡，譬如：重工业和轻工业、农业的关系；沿海工业和内地工业的关系；经济建设和国防建设的关系；国家、生产单位和生产者个人的关系；中央和地方的关系；等等。这些矛盾反映出国民经济综合平衡的不同侧面和维度，而保持它们的平衡，就成为保持国民经济综合平衡的重要内容。

Second, comprehensive balance of the national economy is a dynamic balance. Dynamic balance refers to a state of balance maintained in motion, which differs from static balance. Comprehensive balance of the national economy is not an absolute balance between supply and demand, accumulation and consumption, the long term and the short term, or the whole and the parts; rather, it is a relative balance maintained in constant motion—that is, balance is sought amid imbalance. Mao Zedong pointed out: “Balance is spoken of in relation to imbalance. If there were no imbalance, what balance would there be? The development of things is always unbalanced, and therefore there is a demand for balance. The contradiction between balance and imbalance exists in all aspects, all departments, and all links of every department; it is constantly generated and constantly resolved.” In the course of socialist economic development, because this kind of disproportional imbalance frequently appears, it demands that we develop proportionally and achieve comprehensive balance of the national economy.

第二，国民经济综合平衡是一种动态平衡。动态平衡指在运动中保持的平衡状态，不同于静态平衡。国民经济综合平衡并不是供给与需求、积累与消费、长期和短期、整体和局部的绝对平衡，而是在不断运动中保持相对平衡，即在不平衡中求得平衡。毛泽东指出：“平衡是对不平衡来说的，没有了不平衡，还有什么平衡？事物的发展总是不平衡的，因此有平衡的要求。平衡和不平衡的矛盾，在各方面、各部门、各个部门的各个环节都存在，不断地产生，不断地解决。”在社会主义经济发展过程中，由于经常出现这种不按比例的不平衡情况，才要求我们按比例发展，实现国民经济综合平衡。

(3) The contradiction of national economic imbalance is in essence a contradiction among the people

（三）国民经济不平衡矛盾本质上属于人民内部矛盾

To achieve comprehensive balance of the national economy, it is necessary to resolve the contradiction of national economic imbalance, but this must be premised on an accurate understanding of the essence of that contradiction. Socialist relations of production are compatible with the development of the productive forces, but at a given stage the relations of production are not yet perfect and may come into contradiction with the development of the productive forces.

要实现国民经济综合平衡，就必须解决国民经济不平衡的矛盾，但这必须以准确认识国民经济不平衡矛盾的本质为前提。社会主义生产关系是与生产力发展相适应的，但特定阶段生产关系还不完善，可能与生产力的发展相矛盾。

The contradiction of national economic imbalance is in fact the contradiction between imperfect relations of production and the development of the productive forces. Reflected at the level of consciousness, it is the contradiction between the subjective understanding of production development and the objective economic laws. Mao Zedong held that this contradiction is unique to socialist countries and is a “contradiction among the people.” “We still lack experience in economic construction, because we have been at it for only seven years and need to accumulate experience. In revolution we also had no experience at the start; we turned somersaults, gained experience, and only then achieved nationwide victory. … It must be understood that on this question there exists a contradiction, namely, the contradiction between the objective laws of socialist economic development and our subjective understanding; this must be resolved in practice. This contradiction will also manifest itself as a contradiction between people—that is, the contradiction between those who reflect the objective laws more correctly and those who reflect them less correctly; therefore it is also a contradiction among the people. All contradictions exist objectively; our task is to reflect and resolve them as correctly as possible.”

国民经济不平衡的矛盾，实际上是生产关系不完善与生产力发展间的矛盾。反映在意识层面，就是对生产发展主观认识和客观经济规律的矛盾。毛泽东认为，这种矛盾为社会主义国家特有，是“人民内部矛盾”。“经济建设我们还缺乏经验，因为才进行七年，还需要积累经验。对于革命我们开始也没有经验，翻过斤斗，取得了经验，然后才有全国的胜利。……必须懂得，在这个问题上是存在着矛盾的，即社会主义社会经济发展的客观规律和我们主观认识之间的矛盾，这需要在实践中去解决。这个矛盾，也将表现为人与人之间的矛盾，即较正确地反映客观规律的人与较不正确地反映客观规律的人的矛盾，因此也是人民内部的矛盾。一切矛盾都是客观存在的，我们的任务在于尽可能正确地反映它和解决它。”

The contradiction of national economic imbalance belongs to the category of contradictions among the people, which requires us to understand the issue of comprehensive balance of the national economy from the perspectives of relations between people, relations between classes, and relations between the collective and the individual. “Under the present conditions in our country, the so-called contradictions among the people include contradictions within the working class, contradictions within the peasant class, contradictions within the intelligentsia, contradictions between the two classes of workers and peasants, contradictions between workers and peasants on the one hand and the intelligentsia on the other, contradictions between the working people and the national bourgeoisie, contradictions within the national bourgeoisie, and so on. Our people’s government is a government that truly represents the interests of the people and serves the people, but it too has certain contradictions with the masses. These contradictions include contradictions between state interests, collective interests, and individual interests; contradictions between democracy and centralism; contradictions between leaders and the led; and contradictions between the bureaucratic style of certain state functionaries and the masses. These contradictions are also a type of contradiction among the people. Generally speaking, contradictions among the people are contradictions on the basis of the fundamental identity of the people’s interests.”

国民经济不平衡的矛盾属于人民内部矛盾，就要求我们从人与人之间的关系、阶级与阶级之间关系、集体和个人之间关系等层面出发，理解国民经济综合平衡问题。“在我国现在的条件下，所谓人民内部的矛盾，包括工人阶级内部的矛盾，农民阶级内部的矛盾，知识分子内部的矛盾，工农两个阶级之间的矛盾，工人、农民同知识分子之间的矛盾，工人阶级和其他劳动人民同民族资产阶级之间的矛盾，民族资产阶级内部的矛盾，等等。我们的人民政府是真正代表人民利益的政府，是为人民服务的政府，但是它同人民群众之间也有一定的矛盾。这种矛盾包括国家利益、集体利益同个人利益之间的矛盾，民主同集中的矛盾，领导同被领导之间的矛盾，国家机关某些工作人员的官僚主义作风同群众之间的矛盾。这种矛盾也是人民内部的一个矛盾。一般说来，人民内部的矛盾，是在人民利益根本一致的基础上的矛盾。”

Since the contradiction of national economic imbalance is in essence a contradiction among the people, the method for resolving this contradiction is essentially the method for resolving contradictions among the people: unity—criticism—unity. [6]6 “Unity—criticism—unity” refers to the method of resolving contradictions among the people by starting from the desire for unity, distinguishing right from wrong through criticism or struggle, and thereby achieving a new unity on a new basis. Concretely applied to the work of national economic management, this means that economic decisions must “come from the masses and go to the masses.” [7]7 “From the masses, to the masses” is a formulation of the mass line, meaning that the Party gathers scattered and unsystematic ideas from the masses, turns them into concentrated and systematic ideas, then takes them back to the masses for explanation and implementation, and tests their correctness in the masses’ practice. That is to say, the formulation and implementation of the national economic plan must proceed from the grassroots frontline, and the economic plan must be fed back and revised in the practice of economic construction, thereby implementing the national economic plan dynamically and achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy.

既然国民经济不平衡的矛盾在本质上属于人民内部矛盾，那么本质上解决这一矛盾的方法就是解决人民内部矛盾的方法：团结—批评—团结。具体到国民经济管理工作中，就是要让经济决策“从群众中来，到群众中去”。也就是说，国民经济计划的编制和实施，必须从基层一线出发，在经济建设实践中反馈和修正经济计划，由此在动态中实施国民经济计划，实现国民经济综合平衡。

III. Pathways for achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy under different economic systems

三、不同经济体制实现国民经济综合平衡的途径

The achievement of comprehensive balance of the national economy takes different forms under capitalism and socialism. The capitalist mode of production forcibly realizes this balance through economic crises; in essence, it is only a passive balance of supply and demand. The socialist mode of production, based on public ownership of the means of production, has economic decision-making departments formulate economic plans, and micro-level entities such as state-owned enterprises and people’s communes implement those plans; thus it can develop in a planned and proportionate manner, promoting an active and comprehensive balance of the national economy. However, Mao Zedong also pointed out that this does not mean that under socialist conditions comprehensive balance of the national economy is an absolute static balance. In reality, comprehensive balance of the national economy under socialism remains a relative dynamic balance, and the resulting pattern of national economic growth—manifested as “advancing in wave-like motion”—consequently implies that periodic “surges” will occur in the course of national economic development.

国民经济综合平衡的实现，在资本主义和社会主义体制下具有不同形式。资本主义生产方式通过经济危机的方式强制性地实现这种平衡，本质上只是一种被动的供需平衡。社会主义生产方式以生产资料公有制为基础，由经济决策部门制订经济计划，国营企业、人民公社等微观载体实施经济计划，因而能够有计划按比例发展，促成国民经济主动、综合平衡。但是毛泽东也指出，这并不意味着在社会主义条件下，国民经济综合平衡就是一种绝对静态平衡。实际上，社会主义国民经济综合平衡仍是一种相对动态平衡，由此形成的国民经济增长模式——表现为“波浪式前进”，并因而意味着国民经济发展过程中会出现阶段性“突击”。

(1) Balance and imbalance under the capitalist mode of production

（一）资本主义生产方式中的平衡与不平衡

Under the capitalist mode of production, national economic imbalance is a normal state and is only temporarily resolved through economic crises. Marxist political economy holds that the contradiction between private ownership of the means of production and socialized large-scale production is inherent in the capitalist mode of production. In actual economic activity, this contradiction takes on an external form: capitalist production, in its relentless pursuit of profit, expands uncontrollably, while the total social demand, sustained by the consumption capacity of the broad masses, continuously shrinks. This is because the capitalist mode of production inevitably widens the income gap between capital and labor, and workers with lower incomes find it difficult to absorb large quantities of products; the market is always in a state where the supply side has excess products while the demand side suffers from sluggish consumption. Under the capitalist mode of production, the national economy always appears in a state of imbalance. When this imbalance develops to the point of threatening the entire economic system, it can only be passively corrected through economic crises.

在资本主义生产方式下，国民经济不平衡是一种常态，往往通过经济危机的方式得到暂时解决。马克思主义政治经济学认为，生产资料私人所有制和社会化大生产之间的矛盾是资本主义生产方式固有的。在现实经济活动中，这一矛盾取得了外在的表现形式，也即资本主义生产总在追逐利润中不受控制地不断扩张，同时以社会大众消费能力作为支撑的社会总需求却在不断萎缩。这是因为资本主义生产方式必然导致劳资双方的收入差距拉大，而收入较低的工人难以消化大量产品，市场始终处在一种供给侧产品过剩而需求侧消费不振的状态。在资本主义生产方式下，国民经济总呈现出一种不平衡状态。这种不平衡状态发展到威胁整个经济体系时，就只能通过经济危机的方式被动纠正。

In this regard, commenting on the views in Chapter 26 of the Soviet textbook *Political Economy* (on the law of planned, proportionate development of the national economy) concerning the proportions and balance of socialist and capitalist economic development, Mao Zedong pointed out: “This passage is written incorrectly; it denies both a certain kind of balance under the capitalist system and a certain kind of imbalance under the socialist system. In the development of capitalist technology, there are aspects of imbalance and also aspects of balance. The problem is that this balance and imbalance of theirs differ in nature from the balance and imbalance under the socialist system.”

对此，在评论苏联《政治经济学教科书》第二十六章（国民经济有计划按比例发展的规律）关于社会主义经济和资本主义经济发展的比例和平衡问题的观点时，毛泽东指出：“这段写得不对，既否认了资本主义制度下的某种平衡，也否认了社会主义制度下的某种不平衡。资本主义技术的发展，有不平衡的方面，也有平衡的方面。问题是他们这种平衡和不平衡，同社会主义制度下的平衡和不平衡，在性质上不同。”

(2) The foundation and guarantee for achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy under socialist conditions

（二）社会主义制度条件下实现国民经济综合平衡的基础和保证

Under the socialist system, the reason the national economy can achieve balance to a relatively greater extent, Mao Zedong believed, is: “The economy of a socialist country can develop in a planned and proportionate manner, allowing imbalance to be regulated, but imbalance does not disappear. ‘Things are not all alike; that is the nature of things.’ [8]8 “Things are not all alike; that is the nature of things” is a classical Chinese saying from *Mencius*, used here to affirm the inevitability of imbalance. Because private ownership has been eliminated, the economy can be organized in a planned way, so it becomes possible to consciously grasp and utilize the objective law that imbalance is absolute and balance is relative, thereby creating many relative balances.” This clearly points to the two foundations for achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy under the socialist mode of production: first, public ownership of the means of production; second, planned organization of the economy, i.e., “planned and proportionate development.”

在社会主义制度下，国民经济之所以能够比较多地实现平衡，毛泽东认为原因在于：“社会主义国家的经济能够有计划按比例地发展，使不平衡得到调节，但是不平衡并不消失。‘物之不齐，物之情也。’因为消灭了私有制，可以有计划地组织经济，所以就有可能自觉地掌握和利用不平衡是绝对的、平衡是相对的这个客观规律，以造成许多相对的平衡。”这就明确指出了社会主义生产方式实现国民经济综合平衡的两大基础：一是生产资料公有制，二是有计划地组织经济即“有计划按比例发展”。

After the basic completion of China’s socialist transformation, the degree of public ownership of the means of production increased substantially, and the various sectors of the national economy formed a unified whole. State-owned enterprises, collective cooperatives, and people’s communes of a public-ownership nature became the micro-level carriers of the national economy. This enabled the state to formulate plans in accordance with objective economic laws, guide production, and maintain relative balance across all dimensions of the national economy. Therefore, Mao Zedong pointed out: “Our country makes an economic plan every year, arranges an appropriate proportion between accumulation and consumption, and seeks balance between production and demand… After a year, taken as a whole, this balance is broken by the struggle of contradictions, this unity changes, balance becomes imbalance, unity becomes disunity, and a second year’s balance and unity are needed. This is the superiority of our planned economy.”

我国社会主义改造基本完成后，生产资料公有制程度大幅提高，国民经济各部门形成一个统一的整体，公有制性质的国营企业、集体合作社、人民公社成为国民经济的微观载体，这使国家可依据客观经济规律制定计划，指导生产，使国民经济各维度保持相对平衡。因此，毛泽东指出：“我国每年作一次经济计划，安排积累和消费的适当比例，求得生产和需要之间的平衡……过了一年，就整个说来，这种平衡就被矛盾的斗争所打破了，这种统一就变化了，平衡成为不平衡，统一成为不统一，又需要作第二年的平衡和统一。这就是我们计划经济的优越性。”

Public ownership of the means of production and the planned organization of the economy both belong to the category of the economic base, but studying the economic base must also be linked to the superstructure. From the perspective of the superstructure, the key reason why the socialist mode of production can achieve comprehensive balance of the national economy lies in the public-ownership economic carriers and economic management institutions established under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Therefore, Mao Zedong criticized the Soviet *Political Economy Textbook* for downplaying the role of Party organizations: “The textbook places Party organizations after local economic organs; local economic organs become the head, and they are directly managed by the central government. This prevents local Party organizations from taking the lead locally. If Party organizations do not take the lead, it is impossible to fully mobilize all positive forces and give full play to broad initiative locally.”

生产资料公有制和有计划地组织经济都属于经济基础范畴，但研究经济基础又必须联系上层建筑。从上层建筑看，社会主义生产方式之所以能够实现国民经济综合平衡，关键在于在中国共产党的领导下建立的公有制经济载体和经济管理机构。因此，毛泽东批评苏联《政治经济学教科书》淡化了党组织的作用：“教科书把党组织放在地方经济机关之后，地方经济机关成了头，它又是由中央政府直接管理，这就使地方党组织不能在当地挂帅。党组织不挂帅，要在当地充分动员一切积极力量，发挥广泛主动性，是不可能的。”

(III) The Means of Achieving Comprehensive Balance of the National Economy under the Conditions of the Socialist System

（三）社会主义制度条件下实现国民经济综合平衡的手段

On the basis of establishing the dominant position of public ownership and planned, proportionate development, achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy also requires some specific means. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Party Central Committee determined the general policy for developing the national economy: “Take agriculture as the foundation and industry as the leading factor, and arrange the national economy in the order of agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry.” The theoretical basis of this policy is the law of the priority growth of the means of production, but proposing the priority development of heavy industry itself raises the question of how to maintain comprehensive balance of the national economy.

在确立公有制主体地位和有计划按比例发展的基础上，实现国民经济综合平衡还需要一些具体手段。20世纪50至60年代，党中央确定了发展国民经济总方针：“以农业为基础，以工业为主导，按农轻重的次序安排国民经济”。该方针理论基础是生产资料优先增长的规律，但提出优先发展重工业，这本身就设置了如何保持国民经济综合平衡的问题。

On this, Mao Zedong elaborated: “We concretize the formula for the priority growth of the means of production as: under the condition of giving priority to the development of heavy industry, implement several simultaneous developments; within each simultaneous development, there is a leading aspect. For example, between the central and local, the central is the leading aspect; between industry and agriculture, industry is the leading aspect.” The idea of “several simultaneous developments” actually points to the means of achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy under the socialist system.

对此，毛泽东进行了阐述：“我们把生产资料优先增长的公示具体化为：在优先发展重工业的条件下，实行几个同时并举；每一个并举中间，又有主导的方面。例如，中央和地方，以中央为主导；工业与农业，以工业为主导。” “几个同时并举”的思想，实际上指明了社会主义制度下实现国民经济综合平衡的手段。

First, simultaneous development of industry and agriculture. Mao Zedong proposed: “Our formulation is, under the condition of giving priority to heavy industry, to develop industry and agriculture simultaneously. So-called simultaneous development does not deny the priority growth of heavy industry, nor does it deny that industry develops faster than agriculture; at the same time, simultaneous development does not mean using equal force.” Clearly, the “simultaneous development” here profoundly embodies Mao’s dialectical thinking on “balance.” Comprehensive balance of the national economy is not an equal and uniform balance, but a comprehensive balance achieved through coordination and cooperation among all parties; simultaneous development of industry and agriculture does not require investing equal resources in industry and agriculture, but rather forming a coordinated and cooperative structure between them. On the one hand, steel, agricultural machinery, and chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as industrial products, can greatly promote agricultural technological transformation and increase labor productivity. On the other hand, agriculture is not only an important source of raw materials for light industry but also an important source of accumulation. The countryside provides a vast market for heavy industry; conversely, agriculture contributes a portion of its labor products to support industry, enabling the national economy to achieve industrialization in a relatively short period. On this, Mao Zedong pointed out: “Therefore, in a certain sense, it can be said that agriculture is industry. We must persuade industrial departments to face the countryside and support agriculture. To do industrialization well, we should do this.”

一是工农业并举。毛泽东提出：“我们的提法是在优先发展重要的条件下，发展工业和发展农业同时并举。所谓并举，并不否认重工业优先增长，不否认工业发展快于农业；同时，并举也并不是要平均使用力量。”很显然，这里的“并举”深刻体现了毛泽东有关“平衡”的辩证思维。国民经济综合平衡并不是等量齐观的对等平衡，而是各方协调配合的综合平衡；工农业并举并不是要求在工业和农业投入等量资源，而是要让工农业形成协调配合的结构。一方面，作为工业产品的钢铁、农业机械、化肥农药，能够极大促进农业技术改造、提升劳动生产率；另一方面，农业不仅是轻工业原料的重要来源，也是积累的重要来源。农村为重工业提供了广阔市场；反过来，农业拿出一部分劳动成果支援工业，使国民经济能够在比较短的时间里实现工业化。对此，毛泽东指出：“因此，在一定的意义上可以说，农业就是工业。要说服工业部门面向农村，支援农业。要搞好工业化，就应当这样做。”

Second, simultaneous development of central and local authorities. Even within the planned economic system, there exists the relationship between unified central decision-making and local autonomous decision-making. After the preliminary establishment of the basic socialist economic system, how to give play to local autonomy and initiative in economic development, how to expand local autonomy on the basis of strengthening centralized and unified leadership by the central government, and how to promote local economic development constituted an important issue considered by Mao Zedong and other central leaders during this period. In *On the Ten Major Relationships*, Mao Zedong set forth the basic principle for handling the relationship between central and local authorities: “The relationship between the central and local authorities is also a contradiction. To resolve this contradiction, what we must currently pay attention to is, under the premise of consolidating the centralized and unified leadership of the central government, to appropriately expand the powers of local authorities, give them more independence, and let them do more things. This is relatively beneficial for building our powerful socialist country.” In March 1957, the Third Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CPC [9]9 The Third Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CPC was held in Beijing from September 20 to October 9, 1957. It discussed and approved the three draft documents on reforming the economic management system mentioned in the text, which aimed to delegate some central economic powers to local governments. adopted three draft documents: *Regulations on Improving the Industrial Management System*, *Regulations on Improving the Commercial Management System*, and *Regulations on Dividing the Authority over Financial Management between the Central and Local Governments*, which were implemented starting in 1958. The central theme of these three documents was to expand local economic autonomy, including planning authority, enterprise jurisdiction, material distribution authority, approval authority for capital construction projects, investment and credit management authority, fiscal and taxation authority, and labor jurisdiction. The essence of simultaneous development of central and local authorities is to fully mobilize the initiative of both the central government and local governments, and to base the comprehensive balance of the national economy on a foundation of both “unification” and “delegation.” On the one hand, management powers are delegated to local authorities; on the other hand, centralized leadership and unified arrangements by the central government are strengthened. This is the concrete application of democratic centralism in economic construction, which can both ensure national priorities and meet local needs.

二是中央地方并举。即使在计划经济体制中，也存在中央统一决策和地方自主决策的关系问题。在社会主义基本经济制度初步建立后，如何发挥地方在经济发展上的自主性、积极性，如何在加强中央集中统一领导的基础上扩大地方自主权，推动地方经济发展，构成这一时期毛泽东等中央领导人考虑的重要问题。在《论十大关系》中，毛泽东提出了处理中央和地方关系的基本准则：“中央和地方的关系也是一个矛盾。解决这个矛盾，目前要注意的是，应当在巩固中央统一领导的前提下，扩大一点地方的权力，给地方更多的独立性，让地方办更多的事情。这对我们建设强大的社会主义国家比较有利。”1957年3月，党的八届三中全会通过了《关于改进工业管理体制的规定》《关于改进商业管理体制的规定》《关于划分中央与地方对财政管理权限的规定》三个草案，并从1958年开始执行。这三个文件的中心议题是扩大地方经济自主权，包括计划权、企业管辖权、物资分配权、基本建设项目审批权、投资和信贷管理权、财政权和税收权、劳动管辖权。中央和地方并举实质就是充分调动中央政府和地方政府两个方面的积极性，把国民经济综合平衡建立在既“统”又“放”的基础上，一方面向地方下放管理权力，另一方面又加强中央集中领导和统一安排。这是民主集中制在经济建设中的具体运用，既可以保证全国重点，又可以照顾地方需要。

Third, simultaneous development of large, medium, and small enterprises and simultaneous development of indigenous and foreign methods. The simultaneous development of central and local authorities actually leads to the simultaneous development of large, medium, and small enterprises and the simultaneous development of “indigenous” and “foreign” methods, because giving play to local initiative must rely on small and medium-sized enterprises and indigenous production methods. Relying solely on large enterprises and foreign production methods would mobilize very limited resources and make it impossible to achieve comprehensive balance of the national economy on a broader level. Therefore, Mao Zedong pointed out: “Mechanization must be discussed, but not excessively. Talking too much about mechanization and automation will make people look down on semi-mechanization and indigenous production methods. There was such a deviation in the past; everyone unilaterally pursued new technology and new machinery, pursued large scale and high standards, and looked down on indigenous, half-indigenous and half-foreign methods, and looked down on small and medium ones. Only after proposing the combination of indigenous and foreign methods and the simultaneous development of large and small was this deviation overcome.”

三是大中小型企业并举和土洋并举。中央和地方并举，实际上已经引出了大中小型企业并举和“土洋”并举，因为发挥地方积极性，就必须依靠中小型企业和土法生产。单纯依靠大型企业和洋法生产，调动的资源将十分有限，无法在更广的层面上实现国民经济综合平衡。因此，毛泽东指出：“机械化要讲，但也不要讲的过头。机械化、自动化讲得过多了，会使人们看不起半机械化和土法生产。过去就曾经有过这样的偏向，大家都片面追求新技术、新机器，追求大规模、高标准，看不起土的、半洋半土的，看不起中小的。提出洋土结合、大中小并举后，这个偏向才被克服。”

Fourth, simultaneous development of coastal and inland areas. Comprehensive balance of the national economy also includes the spatial balance of productive forces. Therefore, coordinating the relationship between coastal industry and inland industry became one of the important contents of achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy. In the early days of the founding of New China, 70% of China’s industry was distributed in coastal areas, while inland industrial development was relatively weak. On this, Mao Zedong pointed out in *On the Ten Major Relationships*: On the one hand, in terms of increments, “most new industries should be located in the interior so that the industrial layout is gradually balanced and conducive to war preparedness; this is beyond doubt. But some new factories and mines can also be built in coastal areas, and some can be large-scale”; on the other hand, on the basis of existing industry, “making good use of and developing the old industrial base in coastal areas can give us more strength to develop and support inland industry.”

四是沿海与内地并举。国民经济综合平衡还包括生产力在空间上的平衡，因此，协调沿海工业和内地工业的关系，成为实现国民经济综合平衡的重要内容之一。新中国成立之初，我国工业的70%分布在沿海地区，内地工业发展较为薄弱。对此，毛泽东在《论十大关系》中就指出：一方面，在增量上，“新的工业大部分应当摆在内地，使工业布局逐步平衡，并且利于备战，这是毫无疑义的。但是沿海也可以建立一些新的厂矿，有些也可以是大型的”；另一方面，在原有的工业基础上，“好好地利用和发展沿海的工业老底子，可以使我们更有力量来发展和支持内地工业”。

(IV) Comprehensive Balance and the Growth Model of the National Economy

（四）综合平衡与国民经济增长模式

The thought of comprehensive balance of the national economy indicates the typical mode of national economic growth under socialist conditions. Mao Zedong summarized this as “advancing in wave-like fashion,” which is essentially a form of “unbalanced growth.” In his evaluation of the Soviet *Political Economy Textbook*, Mao pointed out: “The textbook does not touch upon the wave-like advance of socialist production development. To say that the development of the socialist economy has no waves at all is inconceivable. The development of anything is not a straight line, but spirals upward, that is, develops in wave-like fashion.” It is precisely in this sense that Mao emphasized the importance of “assaults” [10]10 “Assaults” (突击, tūjī) refers to intensive, short-term campaigns or drives to rapidly increase production or complete tasks, a common method in Mao-era economic management., stating: “To completely deny assaults and the need to meet deadlines is too absolute. … Assaults cannot be completely negated. … In nature, gentle breezes and fine rain, violent storms, the rise and fall of waves, are a unity of opposites. In the technological revolution in production, the issue of assaults often arises. For example, in a certain workshop of a factory, after a technological innovation, production develops greatly, but other workshops cannot keep up, so an assault is needed. Agricultural production must seize the season, and opera must have climaxes. To negate assaults is in fact to deny climaxes.”

国民经济综合平衡思想指明了社会主义条件下国民经济增长的典型模式，毛泽东将其概括为“波浪式前进”，本质上是一种“非均衡增长”。毛泽东在评价苏联《政治经济学教科书》时指出：“教科书没有接触到社会主义生产发展的波浪式前进。说社会主义经济的发展一点波浪也没有，这是不可能设想的。任何事物的发展都不是直线的，而是螺旋式地上升，也就是波浪式发展。”正是在这个意义上，毛泽东强调了“突击”的重要意义，认为：“根本否认突击，赶任务，讲得太绝对了。……不能完全否定突击。……在自然界中，和风细雨和疾风暴雨，波浪的起和伏，是对立的统一。在生产方面的技术革命，也常常发生突击的问题。比如，一个工厂里的某一个车间，技术革新之后生产大发展，其他车间跟不上，就需要突击。农业生产要抢季节，唱戏要有高潮。否定了突击，实际上是不承认高潮。”

Here, Mao put forward his view on the mode of national economic growth: this growth mode is an “economic cycle” with both peaks and troughs. Therefore, comprehensive balance of the national economy does not mean balanced growth; concentrated investment and construction over a period of time are very necessary. This view of Mao Zedong coincided with the unbalanced growth theory (unbalanced growth theory) proposed by development economist Albert Hirschman and others in the 1950s. For most developing countries, to break out of the poverty cycle and low-income trap, it is necessary to concentrate investment in certain leading industries, thereby driving the development of all industrial sectors of the national economy. The difference is that Hirschman’s view was: if it is government investment, it should first be invested in infrastructure industries; if it is private investment, it should first be invested in manufacturing. In Mao’s view, heavy industry was the breakthrough point and detonation point for unbalanced growth—more specifically, with steel and machinery as the core, electricity, fuel, and transportation as the focus, prioritizing the development of infrastructure and energy industries around the equipment manufacturing industry. By prioritizing the development of the heavy industry industrial chain, all sectors of the national economy would be driven, promoting the development of the entire national economy.

在这里，毛泽东提出了对国民经济增长模式的看法：这种增长模式是一种既有波峰又有波谷的“经济周期”，因此，国民经济综合平衡并不意味着均衡增长，一段时期的集中投资和建设是十分有必要的。毛泽东这一看法与20世纪50年代发展经济学家阿尔伯特·赫希曼（Albert Hirschman）等人提出的不平衡增长理论（非均衡增长理论）不谋而合。对于大多数发展中国家而言，要想从贫困循环和低收入陷阱中突围，就要对某些主导产业集中进行投资，并由此带动整个国民经济产业部门的发展。只不过，赫希曼的观点是：如果是政府投资，应首先投入基础设施行业，如果是私人投资，应首先投入制造业。而在毛泽东看来，重工业是非均衡增长的突破口和爆发点——更具体地说，就是以钢铁、机械为核心，以电力、燃料和运输为重点，围绕装备制造业，优先发展基础设施和能源行业，通过优先发展重工业产业链，把国民经济的各个部门都带动起来，促成整个国民经济的发展。

IV. The Contemporary Value of Mao Zedong’s Thought on Comprehensive Balance of the National Economy

四、毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想的时代价值

Since reform and opening up, China’s economy has achieved rapid growth, creating a rare economic development miracle. In recent years, China’s economic growth rate has tended to slow down, and economic development has entered a new normal. Under the influence and effect of various domestic and international factors, China’s national economic growth has experienced fluctuations. To achieve comprehensive balance of the national economy and promote stable economic growth, the Party Central Committee has successively implemented a series of policy measures: supply-side structural reform, expanding domestic demand, strengthening demand-side management, building a new development paradigm, and creating a unified national market. Compared with the planned economy period, the institutional foundation and micro-level carriers of China’s economic development have undergone significant changes. However, the essence of Mao Zedong’s thought on comprehensive balance of the national economy still radiates theoretical brilliance and possesses important contemporary significance.

改革开放以来，中国经济实现了快速增长，创造了罕见的经济发展奇迹。近年来，我国经济增速趋于放缓，经济发展进入新常态。在国内外多种因素的作用和影响下，我国的国民经济增长出现波动。为实现国民经济综合平衡，促进经济稳定增长，党中央也先后实施了一系列政策举措：供给侧结构性改革、扩大内需、加强需求侧管理、构建新发展格局、打造全国统一大市场等。与计划经济时期相比，我国经济发展的体制基础和微观载体已发生很大变化，但是，毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想的精髓仍然闪烁着理论光芒，具有重要时代意义。

(I) Achieving Dynamic Balance of Supply and Demand through the Organic Combination of Supply-Side Structural Reform and the Strategy of Expanding Domestic Demand

（一）以供给侧结构性改革和扩大内需战略的有机结合实现供需动态平衡

Regarding the balance of the national economy as a dynamic balance rather than a static balance is an important component of Mao Zedong’s thought on comprehensive balance of the national economy. Under market economy conditions, the balance of supply and demand is the basic guarantee for national economic development. In Western economic theory, the main target of national macroeconomic regulation and control policies is aggregate social demand. Monetary policy, fiscal policy, and other means are typically used to intervene in consumption demand, investment demand, government purchase demand, and net export demand, achieving macroeconomic regulation goals such as price stability, full employment, economic growth, and balance of payments equilibrium. Regarding aggregate social supply, Western economics generally believes it depends on the potential productivity level of the economy, and the effect of implementing policy intervention is not obvious.

把国民经济平衡看作动态平衡而非静态平衡，是毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想的重要内容。市场经济条件下，供给和需求的平衡是国民经济发展的基本保障。在西方经济学理论中，国家宏观调控政策的主要对象是社会总需求，通常采用货币政策、财政政策等手段干预消费需求、投资需求、政府购买需求和净出口需求，实现通货稳定、充分就业、经济增长和国际收支平衡等宏观经济调控目标。对于社会总供给，西方经济学一般认为其取决于经济体的潜在生产力水平，实施政策干预效果并不明显。

However, from the requirements of comprehensive balance of the national economy, supply and demand are themselves a pair of contradictions, and the movement of contradictions is necessarily bidirectional; there is no change or movement of supply or demand alone. Government macroeconomic regulation and control policies must focus on both supply and demand simultaneously, achieving dynamic balance in the process of supply-demand interaction. Xi Jinping emphasized: “Abandoning the demand side to talk about the supply side, or abandoning the supply side to talk about the demand side, is one-sided. The two are not a relationship of substitution where one is either/or or one goes and the other stays, but rather they need to cooperate with each other and be promoted in a coordinated manner.”

但是，从国民经济综合平衡的要求看，供需本身就是一对矛盾，而矛盾的运动必然是双向的，不存在供给或需求单独一方的变化和运动。政府宏观调控政策必须同时着眼于供给和需求，在供需互动的过程中实现动态平衡。习近平强调：“放弃需求侧谈供给侧或放弃供给侧谈需求侧都是片面的，二者不是非此即彼、一去一存的替代关系，而是要相互配合、协调推进。”

On the one hand, as socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a New Era, China’s economic development presents a “new normal,” manifested as a “three-phase superposition” [11]11 “Three-phase superposition” (三期叠加, sān qī diéjiā) is a Chinese official term describing the simultaneous occurrence of a growth-rate shift, structural adjustment pains, and digestion of earlier stimulus policies, characterizing the economic “new normal” after 2012. of a period of shifting growth rates, a period of painful structural adjustments, and a period of digesting previous stimulus policies. From an internal structural perspective, China’s economy has experienced three major imbalances: structural supply-demand imbalance in the real economy, imbalance between the virtual economy and the real economy, and imbalance between the real estate economy and the real economy. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the international economic situation and the new normal of economic development, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core made the strategic decision to implement “supply-side structural reform.” This requires starting from the supply side of the economic chain, primarily by optimizing factor allocation and adjusting the production structure to improve the quality and efficiency of the supply system, promote economic growth, achieve industrial transformation and upgrading, and lay the foundation for high-quality development. In this regard, the 2017 Central Economic Work Conference deployed eight key tasks around “promoting high-quality development,” the first of which was “deepening supply-side structural reform.”

一方面，中国特色社会主义进入新时代，我国经济发展呈现“新常态”，表现为增长速度换挡期、结构调整阵痛期、前期刺激政策消化期“三期叠加”。从内部结构来看，中国经济出现三大失衡——实体经济结构性供需失衡、虚拟经济与实体经济失衡、房地产经济与实体经济失衡。在综合研判国际经济形势和经济发展新常态的基础上，以习近平同志为核心的党中央作出了实施“供给侧结构性改革”的战略举措。这就要求从经济链条的供给端入手，主要通过优化要素配置和调整生产结构来提高供给体系的质量和效率，推动经济增长，实现产业转型升级，为高质量发展奠定基础。对此，2017年中央经济工作会议围绕“推动高质量发展”部署了八项重点工作，第一项就是“深化供给侧结构性改革”。

On the other hand, affected by changes in the international and domestic economic situation in recent years, the international economic cycle with markets and resources on both ends has significantly weakened in momentum. The importance of the domestic cycle has become apparent, and domestic demand has become a key side of the comprehensive balance of the national economy. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the slowdown in residents’ income growth and future expectations, China’s demand side has recovered relatively slowly compared to the supply side. The importance and urgency of strengthening demand-side management and expanding domestic demand have become increasingly prominent. In July 2023, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee pointed out, “The current economic operation faces new difficulties and challenges, mainly insufficient domestic demand” and “we must actively expand domestic demand, leverage the fundamental role of consumption in driving economic growth, expand consumption by increasing residents’ income, drive effective supply through terminal demand, and organically combine the implementation of the strategy of expanding domestic demand with deepening supply-side structural reform.” This indicates that insufficient domestic demand has become a prominent contradiction in China’s current economic operation, which must be taken seriously. It is necessary to manage consumption demand, investment demand, government purchase demand, and net export demand, effectively expand demand, and form a higher-level dynamic balance of “demand driving supply, supply creating demand.”

另一方面，受近年来国际国内经济形势变化影响，市场和资源两头在外的国际经济循环在动能上明显减弱，国内大循环的重要性显现出来，国内需求成为国民经济综合平衡的关键一侧。特别是新冠疫情后，受居民收入增长放缓和未来预期的影响，我国需求侧相较于供给侧而言恢复相对缓慢，加强需求侧管理、扩大内需的重要性和紧迫性已经愈发凸显。2023年7月，中央政治局会议指出，“当前经济运行面临新的困难挑战，主要是国内需求不足”“要积极扩大国内需求，发挥消费拉动经济增长的基础性作用，通过增加居民收入扩大消费，通过终端需求带动有效供给，把实施扩大内需战略同深化供给侧结构性改革有机结合起来。”这表明，国内需求不足已成为我国当前经济运行的突出矛盾，必须高度重视，要对消费需求、投资需求、政府购买需求和净出口需求进行管理，切实有效扩大需求，形成“需求牵引供给，供给创造需求”的更高水平动态平衡。

(II) Promoting the Active Shift from Macroeconomic Regulation and Control to Macroeconomic Governance

（二）推动宏观经济调控积极转向宏观经济治理

Although supply and demand play important roles in national economic development, it does not mean that comprehensive balance of the national economy equals their symmetrical balance. Besides handling the balance of supply and demand, it is necessary to at least handle the balance between accumulation and consumption, long-term and short-term, and the whole and the part. Therefore, achieving comprehensive balance of the national economy cannot be a single policy of regulating supply and demand, but rather a macroeconomic governance system composed of multiple types of policies.

虽然供给和需求在国民经济发展中扮演着重要角色，但并不意味着国民经济综合平衡就等于两者的对称性平衡。除了处理好供需平衡，至少还要处理好积累和消费、长期和短期、整体和局部的平衡。因此，实现国民经济综合平衡不可能是单一的供给和需求调节政策，而是一个由多种类型政策构成的宏观经济治理体系。

Under market economy conditions, the comprehensive balance of the national economy includes at least the following three aspects. First, at the macro level, the comprehensive balance of the national economy encompasses the coordinated planning of the four links of production, circulation, distribution, and consumption; the matching of aggregate social supply and aggregate social demand, including the balance between long-term development and short-term growth, consumption and construction, and investment and accumulation. Second, at the meso level, comprehensive balance includes the balance of industrial sectors, regional balance, urban-rural balance, and the balance between internal and external factors. Third, at the micro level, comprehensive balance includes the balance of interests among various economic agents, such as the balance among economic agents of different ownership forms and the balance among the state, collectives, and individuals. The superposition and coupling of these various levels constitute the complex system of the comprehensive balance of the national economy.

在市场经济条件下，国民经济综合平衡至少包括以下三个方面。第一，在宏观层面上，国民经济综合平衡包括生产、流通、分配和消费四个环节之间的统筹协调；社会总供给和社会总需求之间的匹配，包括长期发展和短期增长、消费和建设、投资和积累之间的平衡。第二，在中观层面上，综合平衡包括产业部门平衡、区域平衡、城乡平衡以及对内外平衡。第三，在微观层面上，综合平衡包括各种经济主体间的利益平衡，如不同所有制经济主体间的平衡和国家、集体、个人间的平衡等。各个层面叠加耦合，构成国民经济综合平衡的复杂体系。

Since the comprehensive balance of the national economy cannot be simply equated with the aggregate balance of social supply and demand, the fiscal and monetary policies of Western capitalist countries can only solve part of the problem. To dynamically achieve the comprehensive balance of the national economy, it is necessary to promote the transformation from macroeconomic regulation to macroeconomic governance. In this regard, the report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC [12]12 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022, at which Xi Jinping delivered a proposed: “Improve the macroeconomic governance system, give play to the strategic guiding role of national development plans, strengthen the coordination and cooperation of fiscal and monetary policies, focus on expanding domestic demand, and enhance the foundational role of consumption in economic development and the key role of investment in optimizing the supply structure.” In terms of content, China’s macroeconomic governance policy system includes seven aspects: first, macro policies, composed of fiscal and monetary policies; second, structural policies, composed of industrial and science and technology policies; third, micro policies, composed of market order governance policies and market entity activation policies; fourth, reform policies, composed of two-way reform policies for enterprises and the government, policies to improve the relationship between the government and the market, and policies to promote institutional improvement; fifth, livelihood policies, composed of employment promotion policies, livelihood security policies, basic public services, and employment policies; sixth, regional policies, composed of major regional strategic initiatives and coordinated development; and seventh, science and technology policies, composed of policies to strengthen the national strategic scientific and technological force, consolidate the innovation position of market entities, and reform the science and technology management system. The coverage of these seven aspects of macroeconomic governance policies far exceeds the fiscal and monetary policies of Western capitalist countries, and their governance goal is to achieve the comprehensive, dynamic, and systemic balance of the national economy.

由于国民经济综合平衡不能简单地等同于社会总供需平衡，西方资本主义国家的财政政策和货币政策只能解决部分问题。要动态实现国民经济综合平衡，就必须推动宏观经济调控向宏观经济治理的转变。对此，党的二十大报告提出：“健全宏观经济治理体系，发挥国家发展规划的战略导向作用，加强财政政策和货币政策协调配合，着力扩大内需，增强消费对经济发展的基础性作用和投资对优化供给结构的关键作用。”从内容上来看，我国宏观经济治理政策体系包括七方面内容：一是宏观政策，由财政政策和货币政策组成；二是结构政策，由产业政策和科技政策组成；三是微观政策，由市场秩序治理政策和市场主体激活政策组成；四是改革政策，由企业和政府双向改革政策、完善政府与市场关系和推动制度完善政策组成；五是民生政策，由就业促进政策、民生保障政策、基本公共服务和就业政策组成；六是区域政策，由区域重大战略举措和协调发展组成；七是科技政策，由加强国家科技战略力量、巩固市场主体创新地位、改革科技管理体制等政策组成。七方面的宏观经济治理政策的覆盖面，远超西方资本主义国家的财政政策和货币政策，其治理目标是实现国民经济综合平衡、动态平衡、系统平衡。

(III) The comprehensive balance of the national economy must rely on solid leadership forces, institutional guarantees, and micro-level carriers

（三）国民经济综合平衡必须依靠坚实的领导力量、制度保障和微观载体

Mao Zedong’s thought on the comprehensive balance of the national economy still holds significant practical relevance under the conditions of the socialist market economy.

毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想在社会主义市场经济条件下仍具有重要现实意义。

The centralized and unified leadership of the Communist Party of China is the political guarantee and organizational force for achieving the comprehensive balance of the national economy. The “Plan for Deepening the Reform of Party and State Institutions” reviewed and approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC [13] changed the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs into the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms and the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, respectively, making them decision-making bodies for major work, ensuring the Party Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership over major work in the economic field, and more fully exerting the Party’s core leadership role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. This is an important prerequisite for achieving the comprehensive balance of the national economy. The Party Central Committee proposes suggestions for formulating the five-year plans for national economic and social development and the fifteen-year vision goals. The Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs analyzes and studies the economic situation quarterly, and the Central Economic Work Conference is held at the end of each year to summarize the year’s economic work and arrange the next year’s economic work. The Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms holds meetings irregularly to review and approve policy documents on economic system reform. These mechanisms and practices play an extremely important role in coordinating the forces of all parties and achieving the comprehensive balance of the national economy.

中国共产党的集中统一领导是实现国民经济综合平衡的政治保障和组织力量。党的十九届三中全会审议通过的《深化党和国家机构改革方案》，将中央全面深化改革领导小组、中央财经领导小组分别改为中央全面深化改革委员会、中央财经领导委员会，成为重大工作决策机构，保障了党中央对经济领域重大工作的集中统一领导，以更充分发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用。这是实现国民经济综合平衡的重要前提。党中央对制订国民经济和社会发展五年规划和十五年远景目标提出建议。中央财经委员会每季度分析研究经济形势，每年底召开中央经济工作会议，对年度经济工作进行总结，并对下一年度经济工作进行安排。中央全面深化改革委员会不定期召开会议，审议通过关于经济体制改革的政策文件。这些机制和做法对于统揽各方力量，实现国民经济综合平衡有极重要的作用。

Under the conditions of the socialist market economy, the institutional guarantee for the comprehensive balance of the national economy is the basic socialist economic system, and the micro-level carriers are market business entities with public ownership as the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership developing together. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC [14] proposed: The basic socialist economic systems, including the common development of public ownership as the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership, the coexistence of distribution according to work as the mainstay and multiple modes of distribution, and the socialist market economy system, both reflect the superiority of the socialist system and are compatible with the level of development of social productive forces in the primary stage of socialism in our country, and are a great creation of the Party and the people. Ensuring the comprehensive balance of the national economy requires a solid micro-foundation: whether macroeconomic governance policies can take effect depends on whether micro-level economic entities can respond to policy calls and follow policy guidance. On the one hand, it is necessary to unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy, strengthen, improve, and expand state-owned enterprises, enable the public sector of the economy and state-owned enterprises to assume more social responsibilities, achieve greater social functions, realize their role in “counter-cyclical adjustment,” and consolidate their status as the “ballast stone,” “anchor,” and “pillar” in the comprehensive balance of the national economy. On the other hand, it is necessary to unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy, strengthen, improve, and expand private enterprises, leverage the characteristics of the non-public sector’s economic system and mechanism being sensitive, flexible, and quick to respond, let the market play a decisive role in resource allocation, better play the role of the government, and make them the “wind vane,” “barometer,” and “lubricant” for the comprehensive balance of the national economy.

在社会主义市场经济条件下，国民经济综合平衡的制度保障是社会主义基本经济制度，微观载体是以公有制为主、多种所有制共同发展的市场经营主体。党的十九届四中全会提出：公有制为主、多种所有制经济共同发展，按劳分配为主体、多种分配方式并存，社会主义市场经济体制等社会主义基本经济制度，既体现了社会主义制度优越性，又同我国社会主义初级阶段社会生产力发展水平相适应，是党和人民的伟大创造。保证国民经济综合平衡，必须有坚实的微观基础：宏观经济治理政策能否发挥作用，依赖于微观经济主体能否响应政策号召，遵循政策导向。一方面，要毫不动摇地巩固和发展公有制经济，做强做优做大国有企业，令公有制经济和国有企业承担更多社会责任，实现更大社会功能，实现其“逆周期调节”的作用，巩固其在国民经济综合平衡中的“压舱石”“定盘星”“顶梁柱”地位。另一方面，要毫不动摇地鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展，做强做优做大民营企业，发挥非公有制经济体制机制敏感、灵活、反应快的特点，让市场在资源配置中起决定性作用，更好发挥政府作用，使其成为国民经济综合平衡的“风向标”“晴雨表”“润滑剂”。

Planned and proportionate development still plays an extremely important role in the socialist market economy system. Since reform and opening up, major changes have taken place in national economic planning work, shifting from the original focus on mandatory plans to a focus on guiding plans, aiming to give play to the foundational and decisive role of the market in resource allocation. The name of the national economic plan has also been adjusted to the five-year plan for national economic and social development. In terms of planning indicators, there are both binding indicators and anticipatory indicators; in terms of planning means, both economic means and administrative and legal measures are emphasized; in terms of planning institutions, a planning formulation and implementation system has gradually formed with the Party Central Committee as the core leader, the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs as the specific leading unit, the National Development and Reform Commission taking the lead, the People’s Bank of China, the Ministry of Finance, and other ministries and commissions of the State Council coordinating, and central and local governments cooperating. Currently, the five-year plan for national economic and social development has become an important means of achieving the comprehensive balance of the national economy.

有计划按比例发展在社会主义市场经济体制中仍然发挥着极为重要的作用。改革开放以来，国民经济计划工作发生了重大变化，由原先的指令性计划为主转变为指导性计划为主，着眼于发挥市场在资源配置中的基础性和决定性作用。国民经济计划名称也调整为国民经济和社会发展五年规划。在规划指标上，既有约束性指标，也有预期性指标；在规划手段上，既强调经济手段，也包括行政和法律措施；在规划机构上，逐步形成以党中央为核心领导，中央财经委员会为具体领导单位，国家发改委牵头，中国人民银行、财政部等国务院各部委统筹协调、中央和地方政府协同配合的规划编制和实施体系。当前，国民经济和社会发展的五年规划已成为实现国民经济综合平衡的重要手段。

Mao Zedong’s economic thought is an important component of the political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The essence of Mao Zedong’s thought on the comprehensive balance of the national economy provides reliable guidance for current macroeconomic governance. Since reform and opening up, with the large-scale introduction of Western economic theories into China, the macroeconomic regulation theory centered on aggregate social demand management once became the main basis for formulating economic management policies in our country. However, as China’s economic development has entered the new normal, more and more economic practices show that relying solely on macroeconomic regulation cannot solve the deep-seated problems of China’s economic development. Theoretically, this requires the macroeconomic regulation theory to shift to a macroeconomic governance theory with broader coverage and stronger systemic nature—Mao Zedong’s thought on the comprehensive balance of the national economy precisely provides important theoretical resources for this transformation. The transformation from macroeconomic regulation to macroeconomic governance is a typical case of constructing an independent knowledge system for the political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Its policy requirements are: under the conditions of the socialist market economy, adhere to the Party’s centralized and unified leadership over economic work, base on the coordinated planning of supply-side structural reform and the strategy of expanding domestic demand, adhere to the Two Unswervinglies [15], strengthen, improve, and expand state-owned enterprises, promote the growth and expansion of the private economy, provide micro-level carriers for macroeconomic governance, provide flexible momentum for national economic growth, and achieve the comprehensive balance of the national economy in the process of unbalanced growth.

毛泽东经济思想是中国特色社会主义政治经济学的重要组成部分，毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想的精髓为当下的宏观经济治理提供了可靠指引。改革开放以来，随着西方经济学理论被大量引入国内，以社会总需求管理为核心的宏观经济调控理论一度成为我国制订经济管理政策的主要依据。然而，随着我国经济发展进入新常态，越来越多的经济实践表明仅仅依靠宏观调控无法解决我国经济发展的深层次问题。在理论上，这就要求宏观调控理论转向覆盖面更广、系统性更强的宏观经济治理理论——毛泽东国民经济综合平衡思想恰恰为这个转变提供了重要的理论资源。从宏观调控到宏观治理的转变，是构建中国特色社会主义政治经济学自主知识体系的典型案例，它的政策面要求是：在社会主义市场经济条件下，坚持党对经济工作的集中统一领导，立足统筹协调供给侧结构性改革和扩大内需战略，坚持两个毫不动摇，做强做优做大国有企业，促进民营经济发展壮大，为宏观经济治理提供微观载体，为国民经济增长提供灵活动力，在非均衡增长过程中实现国民经济综合平衡。

(Author’s brief introduction: Zhou Shaodong, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Wuhan University, Young Top-Notch Talent of the National “Ten Thousand Talents Plan”)

（作者简介：周绍东，武汉大学马克思主义学院教授，博士生导师，国家“万人计划”青年拔尖人才）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心