Deng Xiaoping’s Exploration of and Contribution to the Theory of Chinese-Path Modernization

As the chief architect of China’s reform and opening up and socialist modernization, Deng Xiaoping put forward a series of theories concerning socialist modernization, making important historical contributions to constructing the basic framework of the theory of Chinese-path modernization and deepening understanding of related issues. A comprehensive summary of these contributions holds significant theoretical and practical meaning for building the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization and advancing Chinese-path modernization.

邓小平作为我国改革开放和社会主义现代化建设的总设计师，提出了一系列有关社会主义现代化建设的理论，为构建中国式现代化理论的基本框架、深化相关问题的认识做出了重要的历史贡献。全面总结这些贡献，对构建中国式现代化理论体系、推进中国式现代化具有重要的理论和实践意义。

I. Putting Forward the Concept of “Chinese-Path Modernization,” Deepening Understanding of the Universality and Particularity of Modernization

一、提出“中国式的现代化”概念，深化了对现代化普遍性与特殊性的认识

The history of modernization is very ancient, but research on the concept and theory of “modernization” began relatively late. For most of the period before the 20th century, the term “modernization” was merely mentioned, not treated as a specialized academic concept; its connotation was vague, roughly meaning becoming modern or acquiring modern characteristics. As for what these characteristics were, apart from “more progressive” or the occasional mention of “industrialization,” there was no detailed explanation. It was not until the emergence of classical modernization theory in the 1950s that modernization first became an object of academic research.

现代化的历史很古老，但“现代化”概念及理论的研究起步较晚。“现代化”一词在20世纪以前的大多数时候只是被提及，而未被当作专门的学术概念，内涵模糊，大致是指变得现代了、具有了现代的特征，至于这些特征是什么，除了“更进步”，或偶然提及“工业化”之外，并无细说。直到20世纪50年代经典现代化理论出现，现代化才首次成为学术研究的对象。

Modernization is a universal process originating in Western Europe and gradually spreading to all parts of the world; the modernization of each country is a particular manifestation within universal modernization. Yet from the time modernization entered the public view and was studied as an academic concept, this universal concept had already been internally prefixed with “capitalist.” After World War II, in order to promote American theories and institutions to the world, especially to third-world countries that had just achieved national independence and were seeking development paths, the United States specially supported a group of academic institutions researching modern social development and scholars of social science theoretical research, tasking them with summarizing the basic laws of Western modernization modeled on the United States, so as to provide theoretical reference for third-world countries. This gave birth to the school of classical modernization theory. Classical modernization theory viewed human modernization as a linear stage of development, summarized the characteristics of each development stage, and formulated measurement indicators for modernization in various fields such as economy, politics, and culture. Against the international backdrop of the time, Western developed countries possessed strong comprehensive national power and served as successful models. Coupled with the intentional support and promotion of Western government authorities, classical modernization theory became fashionable for a time. People once believed that modernization was indeed Westernization, and that only by becoming like Western developed countries and completely following the path of Western developed countries could one be engaged in modernization and truly achieve modernization. Therefore, for a long time, the discourse on modernization was monopolized by the West, the notion that “modernization = Westernization” was widely prevalent, and universal modernization was equated with the particular form of capitalist modernization.

现代化是一个由西欧发源逐渐扩展到世界各地的普遍进程，各国现代化都是作为普遍性的现代化中的一个特殊表现。但自现代化进入大众视野，作为学术概念被研究起，这一普遍性概念已被内在地增加了“资本主义”的前缀。二战之后，美国为了向世界尤其是刚刚实现民族独立谋求发展路径的第三世界国家推广美国的理论和制度，专门支持了一批研究现代社会发展的学术机构和社会科学理论研究的学者，让他们总结以美国为蓝本的西方现代化的基本规律，为第三世界国家提供理论参考，由此诞生了经典现代化理论流派。经典现代化理论将人类现代化看作一个线性的发展阶段，总结了各个发展阶段的特征，制订了经济、政治、文化等各领域现代化的衡量指标。在当时的国际背景下，西方发达国家综合国力强盛，是很好的成功典范，加上西方国家官方政府的有意支持推广，经典现代化理论风靡一时。人们一度认为，现代化确实就是西方化，只有变成西方发达国家那样，完全按照西方发达国家的路去走，才是在进行现代化，才能真正实现现代化。因此，长期以来，现代化话语被西方垄断，“现代化=西方化”的观念广泛流行，具有普遍性的现代化被等同为资本主义现代化这一特殊形态。

Against the international atmosphere that generally took Western modernization as the standard, Deng Xiaoping creatively put forward the concept of “Chinese-path modernization.” On March 21, 1979, during a meeting with a foreign delegation, he stated, “The goal we have set is to achieve the four modernizations by the end of this century. Our concept is different from that of the West; for the time being, I will use a new term, called Chinese-style four modernizations. Our current technological level is still at your level of the 1950s. If by the end of this century we can reach your level of the 1970s, that would be quite remarkable.” [1]1 “Four modernizations” refers to the goals, set in the 1960s and reaffirmed by Deng Xiaoping, of modernizing agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology. On March 23, he further refined the expression: “In my conversation with foreigners, I used a new term: Chinese-path modernization.” [2]2 “Left” errors refers to a series of radical, dogmatic policies and movements within the CPC, particularly during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), that prioritized class He subsequently used this concept many times. In December of the same year, during a conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, he again emphasized, “The four modernizations we want to achieve are Chinese-style four modernizations. Our concept of the four modernizations is not a concept like yours, but rather a ‘moderately prosperous society.’” [3]3 The “Two Centenary Goals” are: first, to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the centenary of the CPC (founded in 1921); second, to build China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious by the centenary of the People’s Republic of China (founded in 1949).

邓小平在普遍以西方现代化为圭臬的国际氛围下，创造性地提出了“中国式的现代化”概念。1979年3月21日，他在会见外国代表团时提出，“我们定的目标是在本世纪末实现四个现代化。我们的概念与西方不同，我姑且用个新说法，叫做中国式的四个现代化。现在我们的技术水平还是你们五十年代的水平。如果本世纪末能达到你们七十年代的水平，那就很了不起。”。3月23日，他进一步凝练了表述，“我同外国人谈话，用了一个新名词：中国式的现代化。”之后他多次使用这一概念。同年12月，他在同日本首相大平正芳谈话时又强调，“我们要实现的四个现代化，是中国式的四个现代化。我们的四个现代化的概念，不是像你们那样的现代化的概念，而是‘小康之家’。”

The “Chinese-path modernization” that Deng Xiaoping put forward at this time emphasized primarily that China must, given its own foundation for modernization was not yet solid enough—characterized by a weak base, a large population, and limited arable land—set development goals suited to China’s national conditions, rather than immediately catching up with and surpassing the West. The core connotation of “Chinese-path” at this time was related to Deng Xiaoping’s profound reflection on the “Left” errors that occurred before reform and opening up. In April 1985, during a conversation with foreign leaders, he mentioned that Mao Zedong’s methods for developing productive forces in leading China’s socialist construction “were not all correct,” and “for example, launching the ‘Great Leap Forward’ and the People’s Commune did not act in accordance with the laws of social and economic development.” [4]4 The new “Two-Step” strategy from the 19th National Congress: from 2020 to 2035, basically realize socialist modernization; from 2035 to the middle of the 21st century, build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. In June 1988, he also pointed out, “From the second half of 1957 onward, we committed ‘Left’ errors. In general, this meant being closed to the outside world, taking class struggle as the key link domestically, neglecting the development of productive forces, and formulating policies that exceeded the primary stage of socialism.” [5]5 The “four modernizations” (四个现代化) refers to the goals of modernizing agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, first proposed by Zhou Enlai in 1964 and later championed by Deng Xiaoping as the core of China’s modernization drive. Combining these reflections, it can be seen that his proposal of “Chinese-path” mainly emphasized that modernization construction must follow the laws of social and economic development, that the development goals set must not exceed the primary stage of socialism, and that it was necessary to seek truth from facts and conform to China’s actual conditions. It was necessary to lower the original assumptions and accomplish somewhat lower goals, but this could allow for more stable steps and faster progress, thereby avoiding a recurrence of the radical tendency to seek quick results.

邓小平此时提出的“中国式的现代化”重点强调的是，中国必须结合自身现代化基础还不够坚实的特点——底子薄、人口多、耕地少，制定符合中国国情的发展目标，而不是立刻赶超西方。这时的“中国式”的核心内涵与邓小平对改革开放前出现的“左”的错误的深刻反思有关。1985年4月，他在同外国领导人谈话时，提到了毛泽东在领导中国社会主义建设时发展生产力的方法“不都是对头的”，“例如搞‘大跃进’、人民公社，就没有按照社会经济发展的规律办事”。1988年6月，他也指出，“从一九五七年下半年开始，我们就犯了‘左’的错误。总的来说，就是对外封闭，对内以阶级斗争为纲，忽视发展生产力，制定的政策超越了社会主义的初级阶段。”结合这些反思可看出，他提出“中国式”主要是强调现代化建设需遵循社会经济发展规律、制定的发展目标不能超越社会主义的初级阶段，必须实事求是，符合中国实际情况。要降低原来的设想，完成较低一些的目标，但是可以步子稳一些、速度快一些，从而避免再次出现急于求成的激进倾向。

Classical modernization theory also summarized the stages of development that various countries must go through on the path to modernization. For example, economist Walt Rostow divided the sequence that human modernization must undergo into five stages: traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity, and age of high mass consumption; sociologist Marion Levy summarized nine measurement indicators, including specialization of organization, interdependence, and focus of relationships, to distinguish relatively modernized societies from relatively non-modernized societies. These theoretical explorations summarized some common characteristics of modern society and have a certain degree of rationality and reference value, but the coordinate axes chosen by these theories were mostly Western developed capitalist countries. Deng Xiaoping, by contrast, took communism, socialism, and the primary stage of socialism as the coordinate axes for China’s modernization. He emphasized, “Socialism itself is the primary stage of communism, and China is in the primary stage of socialism, that is, the stage of underdevelopment. Everything must proceed from this reality and formulate plans based on this reality.” [6]6 The New Economic Policy (NEP) was a temporary retreat from war communism introduced by Lenin in 1921, allowing limited private trade and small-scale capitalism to revive the Soviet economy after the civil war, before being abandoned under Stalin in the late 1920s.

经典现代化理论也为各个国家走向现代化要经历的发展阶段做了总结，比如，经济学家罗斯托将人类现代化要经历的顺序划分为传统社会、起飞前提条件、起飞、走向成熟、大众高消费时代这五个阶段；社会学家列维总结了9项衡量指标包括组织的专业化、相互依赖性、关系重点等来划分相对现代化社会和相对非现代化社会。这些理论探索总结了现代社会的一些共性特征，有一定合理之处和借鉴意义，但是这些理论选择的坐标轴大多是西方发达资本主义国家。邓小平则是以共产主义、社会主义、社会主义初级阶段作为中国的现代化的坐标轴。他强调，“社会主义本身是共产主义的初级阶段，而我们中国又处在社会主义的初级阶段，就是不发达的阶段。一切都要从这个实际出发，根据这个实际来制订规划。”

Universality resides in particularity; we cannot find in reality a completely universal model of modernization, but only see specific modernized countries one by one. The universality of modernization is highly abstracted and generalized from each specific model of modernization. Therefore, no model can claim to be universally applicable and valid for all, and no model can serve as a standard for judging the merits of other countries. The particularity that supports universal content is very rich in its internal differentiation, containing many differences. Deng Xiaoping’s proposal of the concept of Chinese-path modernization indicated that he had already recognized that socialist modernization and capitalist modernization are both two particular forms, and that China could have its own pace, path, and goals.

普遍性寓于特殊性之中，我们无法在现实中找到一个具有完全普遍性的现代化模式，而只看到一个个具体的现代化国家，现代化的普遍性是从每个具体的现代化模式中高度抽象和概括出来的。因此，没有哪种模式可以声称自己是具有普世性的、放之四海皆准的，也没有哪种模式可以作为衡量他国优劣的标准。作为普遍性内容支撑的特殊性，在其内部的分化是非常丰富的，存在诸多差异。邓小平提出中国式的现代化概念，就是已经看出，社会主义现代化和资本主义现代化都是两种特殊，中国可以有自己的节奏、路径和目标。

Particularity cannot be separated from universality; particularity can, under certain conditions, transform into universality and enrich the content of universality. On the one hand, Deng Xiaoping emphasized the particularity of Chinese-path modernization, but he did not disregard universality and break away from the track of world modernization; instead, he always stressed the need to develop productive forces, develop science and technology, and learn from and draw on the advanced achievements of all countries in the world. On the other hand, Deng Xiaoping proposed that in the future, the successful experience of Chinese-path modernization should be summarized to contribute to the cause of human modernization. He once said, “When the four modernizations are achieved and the national economy has developed, our contribution to humanity, especially to the third world, may be a bit greater.” [7]7 Deng Xiaoping, “We Can Develop a Market Economy,” Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. 2, November 1979. This remark was made during a conversation with foreign guests.

特殊性离不开普遍性，特殊性可以在一定条件下转化为普遍性，丰富普遍性的内容。一方面，邓小平强调中国式现代化的特殊性，但没有置普遍性于不顾，脱离世界现代化的轨道，而是始终强调要发展生产力、发展科学技术、学习借鉴世界各国先进文明成果。另一方面，邓小平提出要在未来总结中国式现代化的成功经验，为人类现代化事业做出贡献。他曾说，“到实现了四个现代化，国民经济发展了，我们对人类特别是对第三世界的贡献可能会多一点。”

II. Putting Forward the Goal of Common Prosperity, Deepening Understanding of the Essential Requirements of Chinese-Path Modernization

二、提出共同富裕的目标，深化了对中国式现代化本质要求的认识

Modernization is not only a naturally occurring objective historical process but also a value goal actively pursued by countries around the world. Achieving modernization means that human society bids farewell to poverty, ignorance, conservatism, and isolation, and ushers in national strength, social progress, and the free and comprehensive development of individuals. Traditional agricultural societies usually aim to meet the subsistence needs of individual households, lacking the internal impetus to consciously pursue innovation in productive forces. Moreover, agricultural production is constrained by the natural environment, resulting in relative scarcity of material wealth. The abundance of material life brought about by the development of productive forces and changes in relations of production is one of the important markers of human modernization. At the same time, modernization also implies the equalization of individuals. Marx pointed out that through political revolution, the hierarchical system produced by human society under feudalism was abolished; the original class distinctions became private differences in life without a political nature, and individuals were able to break free from the former communities of family, clan, guild, etc., becoming citizens with equal rights in civil society. The principle of equality inherently requires that members of society share the fruits of modern civilization. However, Marx discovered that under the capitalist system, social wealth and the poverty of workers accumulate simultaneously. The material and spiritual wealth brought by modernization is not equally enjoyed by the whole of society but benefits only a minority of capitalists, with a huge gap between capitalists and workers. “The more the worker produces, the less he has to consume; the more value he creates, the more worthless and degraded he becomes; the more perfect the worker’s product, the more deformed the worker himself; the more civilized the worker’s object, the more barbaric the worker becomes”; “Labor produces marvels for the rich, but it produces destitution for the worker.” [1]1 “Four modernizations” refers to the goals, set in the 1960s and reaffirmed by Deng Xiaoping, of modernizing agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology. Tracing this to its source, capitalist modernization is dominated by the logic of capital. To expand itself, capital becomes personified in the capitalist, manipulating all aspects of the capitalist state’s economy, politics, and culture. The state apparatus becomes a committee managing the common affairs of the bourgeoisie, serving the interests of capital, allowing a minority of capitalists to possess the majority of society’s wealth.

现代化不仅是一个自然而然发生的客观历史进程，还是一个世界各国积极追求的价值目标，实现现代化意味着人类社会告别了贫穷、愚昧、保守、封闭，迎来的是国力强盛、社会进步、人的自由全面发展。传统农业社会通常以满足一家一户的生活需求为目的，缺少自觉追求生产力革新的内在动力，加之农业生产受制于自然环境，物质财富相对匮乏。由生产力发展、生产方式变革带来的物质生活富裕，是人类现代化的重要标志之一。与此同时，现代化也意味着个人层面的平等化。马克思曾指出，经由政治革命，人类在封建社会中产生的等级制度被废除，原来的等级差别变成了没有政治性质的私人生活的差别，个人得以脱离曾经的家庭、宗族、行会等共同体，成为同在市民社会中拥有平等权利的市民。平等理念内在要求社会成员能共享现代文明进步的成果。但马克思发现，在资本主义制度下，社会财富和工人的贫困是在同时累积的，现代化带来的物质财富和精神财富并不会让全社会平等享有，而只惠及少数资本家，资本家与工人之间存在巨大贫富差距。“工人生产得越多，他能够消费的越少；他创造的价值越多，他自己越没有价值、越低贱；工人的产品越完美，工人自己越畸形；工人创造的对象越文明，工人自己越野蛮”，“劳动为富人生产了奇迹般的东西，但是为工人生产了赤贫”。究其根源，资本主义现代化是由资本逻辑主导的，资本为扩张自身，化身为人格化的资本家，操纵资本主义国家的经济、政治和文化等各个方面，国家政权成为管理资产阶级共同事务的委员会，服务于资本的利益，让少数资本家占有了社会大部分财富。

Therefore, modernization can bring prosperity, but it does not necessarily bring common prosperity. The realization of common prosperity is only possible under the socialist system. Chinese-path modernization, as a socialist modernization, inherently contains the requirements and conditions for achieving common prosperity. Deng Xiaoping repeatedly emphasized that Chinese-style modernization must achieve common prosperity for all the people and must not lead to polarization. “The goal of socialism is to make all the people prosperous, not to create polarization. If our policies lead to polarization, then we have failed.” “The greatest superiority of socialism is common prosperity, which is something that embodies the essence of socialism.” Therefore, Chinese-style modernization must be socialist modernization, with socialism providing the institutional guarantee for achieving common prosperity. China’s national condition of a large population determines that even if it took the capitalist road, it might be possible for a few tens of millions or over a hundred million people to achieve modernization, like in the UK or the US, but this would still be a relatively small portion. The result would be that a small minority controls most of the wealth, dominating and exploiting the remaining population. China’s per capita income would not increase, and it still could not be called a modernized country.

因此，现代化会带来富裕，但不一定带来共同富裕，共同富裕的实现只有在社会主义制度下才是可能的。中国式现代化作为社会主义的现代化，内在包含了实现共同富裕的要求和条件。邓小平多次强调，中国式的现代化必须要实现全体人民共同富裕，而不能导致两极分化，“社会主义的目的就是要全国人民共同富裕，不是两极分化。如果我们的政策导致两极分化，我们就失败了”，“社会主义最大的优越性就是共同富裕，这是体现社会主义本质的一个东西。”因此，中国式的现代化必须是社会主义的现代化，要以社会主义为实现共同富裕提供制度保证。中国人口多的国情决定了，即使走了资本主义道路，有可能像英国、美国那样让几千万人、一亿多人实现现代化，也还只是相对很小的一部分，结果是一小部分人掌握大部分的财富，支配剥削剩下的人口，中国的人均收入无法提升，依然不能称为一个现代化国家。

To achieve common prosperity, “prosperity” must come first; common poverty is unacceptable. Prosperity is not only an inherent requirement of socialist modernization but also a prerequisite for realizing “common” prosperity. “It is wrong to develop production without improving living standards; similarly, it is wrong to want to improve living standards without developing production, and it is impossible.” Therefore, Deng Xiaoping resolutely opposed the fallacies of “poor socialism” and “poor communism,” emphasizing the development of productive forces as the fundamental task. Secondly, “common” prosperity is required, but it does not mean simultaneous or uniform prosperity. It is necessary to allow some regions and some people to become prosperous first, but the first to prosper must drive the later ones. “The concept of common prosperity is put forward as follows: some regions have the conditions to develop first, some regions develop more slowly, and the regions that develop first drive the regions that develop later, ultimately achieving common prosperity.” This concept is also reflected in the distribution of personal income. Deng Xiaoping emphasized that egalitarianism must not be practiced; distribution according to work must be implemented, with more pay for more work, a reasonable widening of income gaps, and the mobilization of the people’s enthusiasm.

要实现共同富裕，首先要“富裕”，而不能共同贫穷。富裕不仅是社会主义现代化的内在要求，也是实现“共同”富裕的前提。“发展生产，而不改善生活，是不对的；同样，不发展生产，要改善生活，也是不对的，而且是不可能的。”因此，邓小平坚决反对“穷社会主义”“穷共产主义”的谬论，强调把发展生产力作为根本任务。其次，要“共同”富裕，但又不是同步、不是整齐划一。要允许一部分地区和人群先富裕起来，但先富要带动后富。“共同富裕的构想是这样提出的：一部分地区有条件先发展起来，一部分地区发展慢点，先发展起来的地区带动后发展的地区，最终达到共同富裕。”这一理念还体现在个人收入分配上，邓小平强调不能搞平均主义，要实行按劳分配，多劳多得，合理拉开收入差距，调动人民群众的积极性。

III. Formulating the “Three-Step” Development Strategy, Clarifying the Strategic Arrangement for Chinese-Path Modernization

三、制订“三步走”发展战略，明确了中国式现代化的战略安排

Achieving development goals step by step and in stages is a valuable experience of the Communist Party of China, which helps to clarify development goals and directions, accomplish them progressively, and achieve stable, healthy, and rapid national development. Before reform and opening up, the Party had already formulated strategic steps for China’s socialist modernization. In December 1964, in the “Report on the Work of the Government” at the First Session of the Third National People’s Congress, Zhou Enlai formally proposed the goal of the “Four Modernizations” [2]2 “Left” errors refers to a series of radical, dogmatic policies and movements within the CPC, particularly during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), that prioritized class and, based on this, proposed the “Two-Step” strategy starting from the “Third Five-Year Plan”: “The first step is to establish an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system; the second step is to comprehensively realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, enabling China’s economy to be at the forefront of the world.” In 1975, at the First Session of the Fourth National People’s Congress, Zhou Enlai reiterated this strategy and specified the time nodes as “before 1980” and “within this century.” After reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping first reiterated the “Two-Step” strategy. Then, based on China’s actual conditions and economic development changes, he gradually proposed concepts such as “Chinese-style modernization” and “a moderately prosperous society,” as well as a new “Two-Step” strategy. After a period of observation and reflection, he further proposed the “Three-Step” strategy. Ultimately, based on Deng Xiaoping’s conception, the 13th National Congress of the CPC in 1987 formally established the “Three-Step” strategic steps: “The strategic deployment for China’s economic construction is roughly divided into three steps. The first step is to double the gross national product (GNP) compared to 1980 and solve the problem of food and clothing for the people. This task has been basically completed. The second step is to double the GNP again by the end of this century, so that the people’s standard of living reaches a moderately prosperous level. The third step is to reach the per capita GNP level of moderately developed countries by the middle of the next century, so that the people’s life is relatively well-off and modernization is basically realized.”

按步骤、分阶段逐步实现发展目标是中国共产党的一个宝贵经验，这有利于明确发展目标和发展方向并循序渐进地完成，实现国家平稳健康快速发展。在改革开放前，党就对我国的社会主义现代化建设制定了战略步骤。1964年12月，周恩来在三届人大一次会议的《政府工作报告》中正式提出了“四个现代化”的目标，并依此提出了自“三五”计划开始的“两步走”战略：“第一步，建立一个独立的比较完整的工业体系和国民经济体系；第二步，全面实现农业、工业、国防和科学技术的现代化，使我国经济走在世界的前列。”1975年在四届全国人大一次会议上，周恩来又重申了这一战略，并将时间节点分别明确为“1980年以前”和“本世纪内”。改革开放后，邓小平先是重申了“两步走”的战略，之后根据我国实际情况和经济发展变化，又逐渐提出了“中国式的现代化”“小康社会”等概念，以及新的“两步走”战略，经过一段时间的观察和思考，又提出了三步走战略。最终，基于邓小平的构想，1987年党的十三大正式确立了“三步走”战略步骤：“我国经济建设的战略部署大体分三步走。第一步，实现国民生产总值比1980年翻一番，解决人民的温饱问题。这个任务已经基本实现。第二步，到本世纪末，使国民生产总值再增长一倍，人民生活达到小康水平。第三步，到下个世纪中叶，人均国民生产总值达到中等发达国家水平，人民生活比较富裕，基本实现现代化。”

This new “Three-Step” strategic arrangement was proposed by Deng Xiaoping based on his reflection on the previous overly ambitious development strategy that had failed to fully consider the economic gap between China and Western developed countries. It was more in line with the laws of China’s modernization construction, more achievable and operable, and laid an important foundation for China to further clarify the strategic steps of socialist modernization, conducive to the steady progress of Chinese-path modernization. Subsequently, China’s modernization construction basically followed the steps of this “Three-Step” strategy and was continuously updated and improved on this basis. In 2000, we completed the second step on schedule, with “the people’s standard of living reaching a moderately prosperous level on the whole.” Then, in 2002, the 16th National Congress of the CPC put forward the goal of “building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.” In 2012, the 18th National Congress of the CPC clearly proposed the “Two Centenary Goals.” [3]3 The “Two Centenary Goals” are: first, to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the centenary of the CPC (founded in 1921); second, to build China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious by the centenary of the People’s Republic of China (founded in 1949). In 2017, the 19th National Congress of the CPC further refined this, making a new “Two-Step” strategic arrangement. [4]4 The new “Two-Step” strategy from the 19th National Congress: from 2020 to 2035, basically realize socialist modernization; from 2035 to the middle of the 21st century, build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. In this process, our Party’s formulation of the strategic arrangement for Chinese-path modernization has become increasingly clear, definite, scientific, tangible, and feasible. The theory concerning the strategic arrangement for Chinese-path modernization has also become an important component of the theoretical system of Chinese-path modernization.

这一新的“三步走”战略安排是邓小平基于对先前未能充分考虑我国与西方发达国家经济差距而制定的冒进的发展战略的反思提出的，更加贴合中国现代化建设的规律，更具有可实现性和操作性，为我国之后进一步明确社会主义现代化的战略步骤奠定了重要基础，有利于中国式现代化的稳步前进。之后我国的现代化建设基本依循这个“三步走”的步骤前进，并在此基础上不断更新完善。2000年时我们如期完成了第二步的目标，“人民生活总体上达到了小康水平”，之后2002年党的十六大就提出了“全面建设小康社会”的奋斗目标，2012年党的十八大明确提出“两个一百年”奋斗目标，2017年党的十九大又进一步细化，做出新的“两步走”战略安排。在此过程中，我们党关于中国式现代化战略安排的制定愈发清晰、明确、科学、可感可行，有关中国式现代化的战略安排的理论也成为中国式现代化理论体系中的一个重要组成部分。

IV. Proposing that “Science and Technology Constitute a Primary Productive Force,” Highlighting the Importance of Science and Technology for Modernization

四、提出“科学技术是第一生产力”，凸显科学技术对现代化的重要性

Science and technology are important factors driving modernization. Modernization is the process of humanity’s transition from a traditional agricultural society to a modern industrial society. The emergence and development of modern productive forces and the corresponding generation of relations of production are the fundamental causes of this transition and the original driving force of modernization. “The hand-mill gives you society with the feudal lord; the steam-mill gives you society with the industrial capitalist.” The innovation from the hand-mill to the steam-mill is the result of the combination of science and technology with factors such as the means of labor, the objects of labor, and the workers within the productive forces. Marx pointed out that when the modern factory system is combined with the machine production of large-scale industry, it produces “a sudden and leapfrog capacity for expansion.” On the one hand, machines can greatly increase production efficiency, directly increasing the output of raw materials. On the other hand, the cheapness of machine-made products and the revolution in transportation and communications are weapons for capturing foreign markets, destroying the handicraft products of foreign markets, and causing the world to form an international division of labor centered on machine production, thereby promoting the modernization process of the entire world.

科学技术是推动现代化的重要因素。现代化是人类从传统农业社会向现代工业社会的转变过程。现代生产力的出现、发展及相应生产方式的产生，是造成这一转变的根本原因，是现代化的原初动力。“手推磨产生的是封建主的社会，蒸汽磨产生的是工业资本家的社会。”而从手推磨到蒸汽磨的革新，是科学技术与生产力中的劳动资料、劳动对象和劳动者等因素结合的结果。马克思曾指出，当现代工厂制度与大工业的机器生产结合起来时，就会产生“一种突然地跳跃式地扩展的能力”。一方面，机器能极大提高生产效率，直接增加原料生产。另一方面，机器产品的便宜和交通运输业的变革是夺取国外市场的武器，摧毁国外市场的手工业产品，让世界形成一个以机器生产为中心的国际分工体系，推动整个世界的现代化进程。

By the 1970s and 1980s, science and technology gradually became the concentrated expression and main indicator of advanced productive forces in the modernization process, rising to become the primary productive force. Science and technology were not the primary productive force from the outset. There are many factors that drive the development of productive forces, including improvements in the quality of the labor force, the equipping and upgrading of production equipment, increases in capital investment, and the expansion of factory premises. Some scholars have pointed out that “before the 19th century, although science and technology played a role in the growth of productive forces, it was far less significant than the role played by increasing the labor force, equipment, and capital. By the early 20th century, only 5% to 20% of industrial growth in developed countries came from scientific and technological progress. After the end of the Second World War, the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to economic growth increased rapidly. After the 1970s, the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to economic growth in developed countries had reached 60% to 80%.” This change is closely related to the rise of the third scientific and technological revolution. In this new wave of scientific and technological revolution, not only has the pace of development of science and technology been rapid, but the transformation cycle from invention to application has also been greatly shortened, exerting an unprecedented and profound impact on the development of social productive forces.

到了20世纪七八十年代，科学技术逐渐成为现代化进程中先进生产力的集中表现和主要标志，跃升为第一生产力。科学技术并非一开始就是第一生产力。推动生产力发展的要素有很多，包括劳动力素质的提升、生产设备的配备与更新、资金投入的增加、厂房的扩大等。有学者指出，“19世纪以前，科学技术在生产力增长中虽然也起作用，但远远赶不上增加劳动力、设备、资金所起的作用。到20世纪初，发达国家的工业生产增长也只有5%到20%来自科技进步。第二次世界大战结束以后，科技进步在经济增长中的贡献率提高很快。在20世纪70年代以后，发达国家的经济增长科技进步的贡献率已达60%到80%。”这一变化与第三次科技革命兴起密切相关。在这新一轮的科技革命浪潮中，科学技术不仅发展速度快，从发明到应用的转化周期也大大缩短，对社会生产力的发展产生了前所未有的深远影响。

Deng Xiaoping keenly captured this historic major change and ultimately put forward the major thesis that “science and technology are the primary productive force.” As early as March 1978, he had already realized that in the contemporary world, “what accounts for the tremendous development of social productive forces and the substantial increase in labor productivity? The most important factor is the power of science and the power of technology.” Therefore, he emphasized that science and technology themselves are productive forces, and elevated the modernization of science and technology to a key and primary position within the “four modernizations,” [5]5 The “four modernizations” (四个现代化) refers to the goals of modernizing agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, first proposed by Zhou Enlai in 1964 and later championed by Deng Xiaoping as the core of China’s modernization drive. pointing out that “the key to the four modernizations is the modernization of science and technology. Without modern science and technology, it is impossible to build modern agriculture, modern industry, or modern national defense.” The rapid changes of the times led Deng Xiaoping to realize that merely emphasizing that “science and technology are productive forces” could no longer highlight the extreme importance of science and technology in the contemporary era. Thus, in September 1988, Deng Xiaoping further proposed that “science and technology are the primary productive force,” and subsequently emphasized that China must secure a place in the world’s high-tech fields.

邓小平敏锐捕捉到了这一历史性的重大变化，并最终提出了“科学技术是第一生产力”这一重大论断。在1978年3月，他就已经意识到，当今世界“社会生产力有这样巨大的发展，劳动生产率有这样大幅度的提高，靠的是什么？最主要的是靠科学的力量、技术的力量。”因此，他强调科学技术本身就是生产力，并将科学技术的现代化提到了“四个现代化”中的关键和首要位置，指出“四个现代化，关键是科学技术的现代化。没有现代科学技术，就不可能建设现代农业、现代工业、现代国防。”而时代变化之迅速，让邓小平意识到仅仅强调“科学技术是生产力”已经不能突显科技在当代的极端重要性了。于是在1988年9月，邓小平进一步提出“科学技术是第一生产力”，随后还强调中国必须在世界高科技领域占有一席之地。

This major thesis of Deng Xiaoping grasped that the fundamental driving force of modernization lies in the innovation of productive forces and the principle that science and technology are productive forces. On this basis, combined with new changes in the contemporary world, it achieved theoretical innovation, thereby enabling China to catch up with the times in great strides and achieve tremendous achievements in modernization construction.

邓小平的这一重大论断把握住了推动现代化的根本动力在于生产力的革新以及科学技术是生产力的原理，在此基础上，结合当今世界的新变化实现了理论创新，从而让中国大踏步赶上了时代，取得现代化建设的巨大成就。

V. Implementing Opening Up, Integrating Chinese-Path Modernization into Globalization

五、实行对外开放，将中国式现代化融入全球化

Modernization accompanies globalization and is a world-historical process. Human modernization began in the West. The process of the development and expansion of Western modernization is a process in which capitalist capital, technology, personnel, institutions, and culture flowed, spread, and expanded to the world, impacting the feudal systems of backward countries and nations, and drawing them into the wave of world modernization. Before the 16th century, human history was still only regional history and national history. After the emergence of capitalism, “the need for a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere.” The world was gradually linked into a whole, forming a world market in which various countries and nations merged and depended on each other. Regional political, economic, ideological, and scientific-technological changes acquired worldwide influence, and human history moved toward world history.

现代化伴随着全球化，是一个世界历史进程。人类现代化从西方开始，西方现代化发展壮大的过程就是一个资本主义的资金、技术、人员、制度和文化等向世界流动、传播、扩张，并冲击落后国家和民族的封建制度，将其卷入世界现代化浪潮中的过程。在16世纪以前，人类历史还只是区域史、民族史。资本主义出现后，“不断扩大产品销路的需要，驱使资产阶级奔走于全球各地。它必须到处落户，到处开发，到处建立联系。”世界逐渐被串联成一个整体，形成一个各个国家和民族相互融合依赖的世界市场，地域性的政治、经济、思想、科技变革具有了世界性影响，人类历史走向世界历史。

Globalization is an objective historical process, an external manifestation of the evolution of world modernization, and an inevitable requirement for the progress of human civilization. No country can refuse it, otherwise it will mostly fall into poverty and backwardness. This is because “in human society, there exists a repetition effect and a law of diminishing returns for closed behavior, that is, nations or states in a state of isolation and self-seclusion do everything ‘alone,’ every invention and creation is ‘started from scratch’ or ‘started anew,’ and their ‘innovation’ often consists of retreading the difficult path others have already walked, with the result that they do not change their status as historical laggards.” The establishment of the world market allows resources such as capital, labor, and technology to flow freely and widely internationally, and various countries complement each other’s advantages, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency and promoting economic growth. For economically backward countries, they can take the existing advanced achievements of human civilization as a starting point, learn from others’ strong points to offset their weaknesses, and achieve leapfrog development.

全球化是一个客观历史进程，是世界现代化演进的外在表现，也是人类文明进步的必然要求，不容任何国家拒绝，否则多会陷入贫穷落后。因为“在人类社会中存在着封闭行为的重复效应和衰减规律，即处于闭关自守状态的民族或国家一切都是‘单独进行’的，每一种发明和创造都是‘从头开始’或‘重新开始’，其‘创新’也往往是把别人走过的艰辛之路重走一遍，结果并未改变其历史落伍者的地位。”世界市场的建立让资金、人力、技术等资源在国际自由广泛流动，各个国家优势互补，从而能够提高资源利用效率，促进经济增长。对经济落后国家来说，可以人类已有的先进文明成果为起点，在此基础上取长补短，实现跨越式发展。

However, due to differences in systems, ideologies, and interests, after the Second World War, the countries of the socialist camp maintained a certain distance from the capitalist world market for a relatively long period, establishing a relatively closed economic system. Stalin believed that the Second World War had led to the opposition between the capitalist and socialist camps, that the original “single, all-embracing world market had disintegrated,” forming “two parallel and also mutually opposed world markets,” and that the mutual assistance and cooperation of the socialist camp would enable its industry to achieve rapid development, soon no longer needing to import goods from capitalist countries. Dominated by this concept, the Soviet Union gradually severed most of its economic ties with Western countries. Influenced by the Soviet model and the international situation, as well as changes in China’s national conditions, before reform and opening up, China implemented a relatively closed planned economic system, and opening up to the outside world was relatively limited. “Even if the planned economic system sometimes carried out relatively large-scale foreign trade, such actions were highly random and difficult to sustain. For example, in the 1950s, China also carried out relatively large-scale foreign trade, but such trade was very irregular and one-sided, that is, mainly trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, rather than trading with all corresponding countries based on the principle of comparative advantage.” At the same time, there was very little study of advanced foreign culture and science and technology, which caused China to miss the opportunity presented by the new round of the scientific and technological revolution in the 1960s.

然而由于制度、意识形态和利益的分歧，在第二次世界大战后，社会主义阵营的国家在较长时间里都与资本主义世界市场保持着一定距离，建立的经济体系相对封闭。斯大林认为，二战导致了资本主义和社会主义阵营的对立，原有的“统一的无所不包的世界市场瓦解了”，形成了“两个平行的也是互相对立的世界市场”，而社会主义阵营的互助合作，将使其工业获得高速发展，很快就不再需要从资本主义国家输入商品。在这种观念主导下，苏联逐渐中断了与西方国家的大部分经济联系。受苏联模式和国际局势的影响，以及我国国情的变化，在改革开放前，我国实行的是相对封闭的计划经济体制，对外开放比较局限。“即便有时计划经济体制也在开展较大幅度的对外贸易，但这种举动的随机性很强，难以持续下去。比如，中国在20世纪50年代也曾进行过较大幅度的对外贸易，但这种贸易很不规则，是一面倒，即主要是对苏联和东欧国家进行贸易，而不是根据比较利益原则同相应的所有国家进行贸易。”与此同时，对国外先进文化和科学技术的学习也很少，这使得中国错失了20世纪60年代新一轮科技革命的先机。

After reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping keenly observed the trend of the times of globalization and its historical value, and proposed the implementation of the policy of opening up. He pointed out that the world today is an open world, and repeatedly emphasized that China cannot build its development behind closed doors. He believed that China cannot be separated from the world, otherwise it would be cut off from information and miss the development opportunities brought by the world technological revolution. For China to achieve modernization, it must actively integrate into the world and absorb and learn from the outstanding achievements of world civilization. He pointed out, “To achieve modernization, we must have a correct open foreign policy. We will achieve the four modernizations mainly through our own efforts, our own resources, and our own foundation, but it is impossible without international cooperation. We should make full use of the world’s advanced achievements, including the funds that the world can provide, to accelerate the construction of the four modernizations.”

改革开放后，邓小平敏锐地洞察了全球化这一时代潮流及其历史价值，提出实行对外开放政策。他指出，现在的世界是开放的世界，并多次强调，中国不能关起门来搞建设。他认为，中国不能脱离世界，否则信息闭塞，错失世界技术革命带来的发展机遇。中国要实现现代化，必须主动融入世界、吸收借鉴世界优秀文明成果。他指出，“实现现代化必须有一个正确的开放的对外政策。我们实现四个现代化主要依靠自己的努力，自己的资源，自己的基础，但是，离开了国际的合作是不可能的。应该充分利用世界的先进的成果，包括利用世界上可能提供的资金，来加速四个现代化的建设。”

In implementing reform and opening up, it is necessary to adhere to the socialist path. Integration into globalization does not mean drifting with the tide, nor does it mean wholesale Westernization. Globalization is the result of capital’s global expansion, advancing according to the laws of capital’s operation. In order to achieve its own infinite self-expansion, capital must constantly expand outward. On the one hand, capital continuously opens up domestic markets and markets in other regions of the world to absorb surplus products, while simultaneously seeking more cheap, high-quality raw materials to produce more goods; on the other hand, wherever capital goes, it must replace the original local mode of production with the capitalist mode of production. “The more capitalist production develops, the more it has a destructive and disintegrating effect on every older form of production which was mainly directed towards the direct satisfaction of the producer’s own needs and only converted the surplus product into commodities. It makes the sale of products the main concern of people.” [6]6 The New Economic Policy (NEP) was a temporary retreat from war communism introduced by Lenin in 1921, allowing limited private trade and small-scale capitalism to revive the Soviet economy after the civil war, before being abandoned under Stalin in the late 1920s. At this point, the purpose of production is no longer to satisfy people’s material needs, but to obtain surplus value. For the capitalist mode of production to take root, it must comprehensively transform the local economic system, political system, cultural concepts, etc., forming a corresponding economic base and superstructure. Therefore, the process of globalization is also accompanied by the Westernization of some of the countries drawn into it. And because the logic of capital’s movement is to accumulate vast wealth in the hands of a few private individuals, within the entire capitalist camp, an unequal hierarchical system is formed, dominated by the developed Western countries, with the remaining developing countries in a subordinate and dependent position. Scholars of dependency theory have provided a profound analysis of this system. The Brazilian scholar Theotonio dos Santos once pointed out that within the capitalist system, the dominant countries possess technological, trade, financial, and socio-political advantages over the dependent countries, enabling them to impose conditions on the dependent countries, exploit them, and extract part of the surplus produced within their domestic economies, leading to the backwardness of the dependent countries.

实行对外开放，必须坚持社会主义道路。融入全球化，不意味着随波逐流，不是全盘西化。全球化是资本在全球扩张的结果，是按照资本逻辑运行的规律推进的。资本为了实现自身无限增殖，就要不断向外扩张。一方面，资本不断打开本国和世界其他地域的市场来消化剩余产品，同时寻找更多廉价优质的原材料以生产更多产品；另一方面，资本所到之处，皆要以资本主义的生产方式取代当地原有的生产方式。“资本主义的商品生产越发展，它对主要是直接满足自己需要而只把多余产品转化为商品的每一种旧生产形式，就越发生破坏和解体的作用。它使产品的出售成为人们关心的主要事情”。此时，生产的目的不再是满足人们物质需要，而是获取剩余价值。资本主义生产方式要落地生根，就必须全面变革当地的经济制度、政治制度、文化观念等，形成与之相适应的经济基础和上层建筑。因此，全球化过程也伴随着一部分被卷入其中的国家的西方化。而由于资本运动的逻辑是要让大量财富在少数私人手里积累，所以在整个资本主义阵营内部，形成的是一个由西方发达国家主导、剩余发展中国家处于从属和依附地位的不平等的等级体系。依附理论的学者对这一体系有过深刻的剖析。巴西学者多斯桑托斯曾指出，在资本主义体系中，统治国对依附国拥有技术、贸易、资本和社会政治方面的优势，从而使它们得以对依附国强加条件，进行剥削并掠走其国内生产的部分盈余，导致依附国的落后。

Therefore, integration into globalization inevitably faces the risk of being impacted, assimilated, and dominated by the logic of capital, and China is no exception. During the period of reform and opening up, there were constant domestic voices advocating for taking the capitalist path. Faced with this situation, Deng Xiaoping clearly stated that achieving the four modernizations must adhere to the Four Cardinal Principles, [7]7 Deng Xiaoping, “We Can Develop a Market Economy,” Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. 2, November 1979. This remark was made during a conversation with foreign guests. that China’s modernization must uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China and adhere to the socialist path, and that the modernization China seeks to achieve must be socialist modernization. Deng Xiaoping deeply understood the logic of capitalist development and the consequences of Westernization, “because if we do not adhere to socialism, even if we develop, we will end up as nothing more than a vassal state, and it will not even be easy to develop.” “Once

因此，融入全球化就不可避免面临被资本逻辑冲击、同化、支配的风险，中国也不例外。在改革开放期间，国内就不断出现鼓吹走资本主义道路的论调。面对这种情况，邓小平明确提出，实现四个现代化必须坚持四项基本原则，中国的现代化必须坚持中国共产党的领导，坚持走社会主义道路，中国要实现的现代化必须是社会主义的现代化。邓小平深刻洞察了资本主义的发展逻辑以及西方化的后果，“因为如果我们不坚持社会主义，最终发展起来也不过成为一个附庸国，而且就连想要发展起来也不容易。”“一旦中国抛弃社会主义，就要回到半殖民地半封建社会，不要说实现‘小康’，就连温饱也没有保证。”因此，他强调，“只有社会主义才能救中国，只有社会主义才能发展中国。”中国在实行对外开放、积极主动融入世界的过程中，必须坚持走有中国特色的社会主义道路。社会主义是中国实现现代化的制度前提也是必由之路，让中国能够在现代化水平还比较低的情况下，依然保持独立性而不沦为被控制和打压的资本主义强国附庸，从而能够实现小康并进一步建设社会主义现代化强国。

VI. Proposing the Theory of the Socialist Market Economy, Deepening the Understanding of the Relationship between Modernization and the Market Economy

六、提出社会主义市场经济理论，深化了对现代化与市场经济关系的认识

The market economy is a mode of resource allocation. "So-called resource allocation refers to how society allocates limited resources to the production of numerous fields, sectors, products, and services that are needed by society, and does so in the most effective or relatively effective way, generating the best benefits, in order to meet society's needs to the greatest extent." Generally, there are two modes: planning and the market. Market allocation means that, according to the law of value, the flow of resources is determined by changes in supply and demand in the market. When the market serves as the primary mode of resource allocation, it is called a market economy. Therefore, a market is different from a market economy; wherever there is commodity exchange, there is a market, but this does not necessarily mean a market economy already exists.

市场经济是一种资源配置方式。“所谓资源配置就是社会如何把有限的资源配置到社会需要的众多领域、部门、产品和劳务的生产上去，而且配置得最为有效或较为有效，产生最佳的效益，以最大限度地满足社会的需求。”一般有计划和市场两种方式，市场配置就是按照价值规律，由市场中供求的变化来决定资源的流动。当以市场作为资源配置的主要方式时，就叫市场经济。因此，市场不同于市场经济，有商品交换的地方就有市场，但不代表已经有了市场经济。

The market economy is an important phenomenon in the process of modernization and also an important condition for modernization. Commodity exchange and markets already existed in feudal society, but the market had not yet become the primary mode of social resource allocation. At that time, resource allocation was mainly determined by the internal needs of small-scale peasant households. "Every peasant household was almost self-sufficient, directly producing most of its own consumer goods, and thus they obtained their means of subsistence mostly through exchange with nature, rather than through social intercourse." At this time, most of the labor products did not become commodities but were directly consumed internally; commodity exchange existed only as a limited supplement to this natural economy. It was only in modern society that the market economy gained extensive and deep development and became an important condition for modernization. The development of modern productive forces caused society to produce a large number of surplus products available for sale, expanding the market, which in turn stimulated more diverse demands among a wider population, further promoting the development of productive forces. This evolved from manufacture based on handicrafts to large-scale machine industry, extended from the domestic market to the world market, swept away feudal separatism and various man-made obstacles, unleashed human needs and potential, gradually led to the acceptance of concepts of freedom, equality, and independence in commodity exchange, and established modern economic and political systems.

市场经济是现代化进程中重要现象，也是现代化的重要条件。在封建社会已经有商品交换，有市场存在，但市场还未成为社会资源配置的主要方式。这时资源的配置主要由小农家庭内部需要决定。“每一个农户差不多都是自给自足的，都是直接生产自己的大部分消费品，因而他们取得生活资料多半是靠与自然交换，而不是靠与社会交往。”这时劳动产品大部分没有变成商品而直接被内部消化，商品交换仅作为这种自然经济的有限补充存在。到了现代社会，市场经济才获得广泛深入的发展，并成为现代化的重要条件。现代生产力的发展让社会出现大量可售卖的剩余产品，市场随之扩大，刺激了更大范围内人群的更多样化的需求，反过来进一步促进了生产力发展，从工场手工业发展为机器大工业，从国内市场延伸到世界市场，封建割据和形形色色的人为障碍被冲垮，人的需求和潜能被激发，商品交换中的自由、平等和独立的理念逐渐被接受，现代的经济制度和政治制度随之确立。

As a mode of allocation, the market economy always needs to rely on a system to function. Therefore, there has never been a pure market economy; there are only market economies within a certain social system under specific historical conditions. Nor is it unique to capitalism; it is a means that can be utilized by all types of social systems. There are certain historical reasons why people have long tied the market economy to capitalism and opposed it to socialism. First, because human modernization originated in the West, and Western countries achieved modernization by relying on developed capital and markets. It was precisely under the capitalist system that Western capital and markets experienced free, rapid, and large-scale expansion. There is a close symbiotic and mutually presupposing relationship between the market economy and capitalism. Developed commodity exchange continuously strengthened the power of capital, so people easily tied or even equated the concepts of capital, capitalism, and the market economy. Second, the theoretical constructions of some Western scholars and the propaganda of Western media have widely disseminated this erroneous view. For example, the 20th-century Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises explicitly stated, "The market is the center of the capitalist social order; it is the essence of the capitalist system. Therefore, the market is only possible under capitalism; it cannot be 'artificially' simulated under socialism." Third, because the history of socialist modernization is still relatively short, and there was insufficient practical experience in the early stages of modernization, the understanding of this issue was not comprehensive or deep enough. Marx and Engels did not discuss in detail the issue of the market economy during the stage when socialism and capitalism as systems coexist, nor did they leave clear written references for handling the relationship between the two systems. Under Lenin, although the New Economic Policy, which developed the commodity economy, was briefly implemented, it was only a transitional measure towards socialism and quickly ended, without accumulating sufficient experience. Under Stalin's leadership, the Soviet Union established a purely planned economic model, rejecting commodity and monetary relations. China's socialist modernization began on the basis of defeating the opposing imperialism; capital entered China in the form of imperialism, and the market economy is closely linked to capital. The exploitation and oppression caused by the barbaric expansion of capital also contradicted the moral pursuits of socialism. Influenced by these factors, Mao Zedong was very vigilant about the social problems that capital expansion in China might cause and its threat to the socialist system. Under the circumstances where there were still conflicts of interest and ideology between the two social systems, and where capital continued to expand and cause negative impacts, this ideological inertia was difficult to eliminate in the short term.

作为一种配置方式，市场经济总是需要依托一种制度去发挥作用。所以，从来不存在一种纯粹的市场经济，而只有在一定历史条件下在某一种社会制度中的市场经济；它也并不为资本主义独有，而是所有类型的社会制度均可运用的手段。人们之所以长期将市场经济与资本主义绑定起来，而与社会主义对立，有一定的历史原因。首先是因为人类现代化发源于西方，西方国家是凭借发达的资本和市场实现了现代化，也正是在资本主义制度下，西方的资本和市场又得到了自由的、快速的、大规模的扩张。市场经济与资本主义之间存在紧密的共生和互为前提关系，发达的商品交换让资本力量不断壮大，因此人们很容易将资本、资本主义、市场经济这些概念紧紧绑定甚至等同起来。其次，一部分西方学者的理论建构和西方媒体宣传使这种错误观念广泛传播。比如20世纪奥地利经济学大师路德维希·冯·米塞斯就明确提出，“市场乃是资本主义社会秩序的中心，它是资本主义制度的实质。因而只有在资本主义制度下，市场才是可能的；它是不可能在社会主义制度下被‘人为地’模拟的。”第三，由于社会主义现代化历史还比较短，现代化初期实践经验不足，对此问题的理解也就不够全面深入。马克思和恩格斯并未详细探讨过作为制度的社会主义和资本主义并存阶段的市场经济问题，也没有留下处理两种制度之间关系的可供参考的明确文字。在列宁那里，虽然短暂地实行过发展商品经济的新经济政策，但也只是作为一个走向社会主义的过渡措施，并且很快就夭折了，没有积累起足够多的经验。在斯大林领导下，苏联建立的是纯粹的计划经济模式，排斥商品和货币关系。中国社会主义现代化的开启是以打败作为对手的帝国主义为基础的，资本是以帝国主义的面貌进入中国的，而市场经济与资本紧密相联。资本野蛮扩张引发的剥削压迫问题也与社会主义的道德追求相悖。受这些因素影响，毛泽东十分警惕资本在中国扩张可能导致的社会问题及其对社会主义制度的威胁。在两种社会制度还存在利益和理念冲突的情况下，在资本依然不断扩张且造成负面影响的情况下，这种思想惯性在短期内很难消除。

Deng Xiaoping broke people’s traditional cognitive prejudices, proposing that the distinction between capitalism and socialism does not lie in issues such as planning versus the market; there is no fundamental contradiction between socialism and the market economy; the market is merely an economic means and can also serve socialism. These views of Deng Xiaoping reflect his profound and unique understanding of the relationship between socialist modernization and the market economy. First, he saw and pointed out that there is a difference between the market economy and capitalism, and between learning from the strengths of capitalist countries and taking the capitalist road. “The market economy had already sprouted in the feudal society period. Socialism can also practice a market economy. Similarly, learning certain good things from capitalist countries, including management methods, does not mean practicing capitalism. This is socialism using these methods to develop society’s productive forces.” [7]7 Deng Xiaoping, “We Can Develop a Market Economy,” Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. 2, November 1979. This remark was made during a conversation with foreign guests. Whether it is the market economy as an economic means or enterprise management methods, although they are closely related to capitalism, they are not at the same conceptual level. The latter includes relations of production, systems, culture, and other content, while the former is merely a tool for developing productive forces. Second, Deng Xiaoping saw the positive role of the market economy in advancing modernization. On the one hand, implementing a market economy allows China, in the process of participating in international market competition, to quickly understand the latest trends in world economic and technological development, master new achievements, learn new technologies and new concepts, and keep China’s development abreast of the times. “If we do not practice a market economy, we will not even know the information from the world; that is willingly falling behind.” [8]8 Deng Xiaoping, “Seize the Opportunity to Develop the Economy,” Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. 3, December 1990. This remark was made during a conversation with leading comrades of the Party Central Committee. The market economy requires an open and free environment, allowing resources to flow rapidly according to the needs of market entities, achieving the most efficient allocation of resources. It not only promotes openness between domestic regions but also promotes China’s connections and exchanges with the world in production, technology, information, talent, and other aspects. On the other hand, the market economy can greatly stimulate people’s production enthusiasm and promote the development of productive forces. Deng Xiaoping attached great importance to mobilizing the enthusiasm of the broad masses, repeatedly emphasizing the need to give enterprises and peasants autonomy through the means of reform and opening up. Economic entities in the market assume sole responsibility for their profits and losses in free competition, and their economic behavior is directly linked to their own interests. Therefore, production enthusiasm will be greatly enhanced. To gain a market advantage, they will continuously improve production efficiency, ultimately raising the overall production efficiency of society. Scientific knowledge increases dramatically, technological updates accelerate, the quality of laborers continuously improves, social wealth accumulates more and more, people’s living conditions get better and better, and their demands become more vigorous and diverse, stimulating further expansion of production scale and technological investment. In this way, society’s productive forces are created at an unprecedented speed and scale.

邓小平打破人们传统的认知偏见，提出资本主义与社会主义的区分不在于是计划还是市场这样的问题，社会主义和市场经济不存在根本矛盾，市场只是一种经济手段，也可以为社会主义服务。邓小平的这些观点体现出他对社会主义现代化与市场经济关系深刻独到的理解。首先，他看到并指出了，市场经济和资本主义、学习资本主义国家的长处与走资本主义道路存在区别。“市场经济，在封建社会时期就有了萌芽。社会主义也可以搞市场经济。同样地，学习资本主义国家的某些好东西，包括经营管理方法，也不等于实行资本主义。这是社会主义利用这种方法来发展社会生产力。”无论是市场经济这种经济手段还是企业经营管理方法，虽然与资本主义存在密切关系，但并不在同一个概念层次。后者包含了生产关系、制度、文化等内容，而前者只是发展生产力的工具。其次，邓小平看到了市场经济对推进现代化的积极作用。一方面，实行市场经济可以让中国在参与国际市场竞争过程中快速了解世界经济科技发展的最新趋势，掌握新成果学习新技术新理念，让我国的发展跟上时代。“不搞市场，连世界上的信息都不知道，是自甘落后。”市场经济要求拥有开放自由的环境，让资源跟随市场主体需求快速流动，实现资源的最有效配置。它不仅促进国内区域间开放，也促进中国与世界在生产、技术、信息、人才等各方面的联系与交流。另一方面，市场经济可以极大激发人们的生产积极性，促进生产力发展。邓小平非常重视调动广大人民的积极性，多次强调要通过改革、开放的手段给企业、给农民自主权。市场中的经济主体在自由竞争中自负盈亏，经济行为直接与自身利益挂钩，所以生产积极性会极大提升，他们会为了取得市场优势而不断提高生产效率，最终使社会整体的生产效率都得到提高，科学知识剧增、技术更新加快，劳动者素质不断提升，社会财富也越积越多，人们的生活条件越来越好，需求更加旺盛、丰富，刺激生产规模和技术投入的进一步扩大。就这样，社会生产力便以前所未有的速度和规模被创造出来。

Deng Xiaoping’s above-mentioned exploration and contribution to the theory of Chinese-path modernization involve the conceptual condensation of Chinese-path modernization, the essential requirements, strategic arrangements, and the directions and principles to be adhered to in advancing Chinese-path modernization. In addition, Deng Xiaoping also put forward important expositions such as the need to uphold and improve the Party’s leadership to build socialist modernization well, the need to build not only socialist material civilization but also pay attention to cultural-ethical progress, and the need to develop socialist democracy. These have enriched and developed the content of the theory of Chinese-path modernization, deepened the Chinese Communist Party’s understanding of the general laws of modernization and the laws of Chinese-path modernization construction, and laid a solid foundation and had a profound impact on our Party’s subsequent theoretical and practical innovation in modernization.

邓小平上述有关中国式现代化理论的探索与贡献涉及了中国式现代化的概念凝练，推进中国式现代化的本质要求、战略安排以及需坚持的方向、原则等。除此之外，邓小平还提出了要建设好社会主义现代化，必须坚持和改善党的领导，不仅要建设社会主义物质文明还要注重精神文明，要发展社会主义民主等重要论述，这些都丰富和发展了中国式现代化理论的内容，深化了中国共产党对现代化的一般规律、中国式现代化建设规律的认识，为我们党之后的现代化理论创新和实践创新奠定了坚实基础、产生了深远影响。

(Author’s biography: Yu Chunxi, Lecturer at the School of Marxism, Beijing University of Chemical Technology)

（作者简介：喻春曦，北京化工大学马克思主义学院讲师）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心