A Philosophical Interpretation of High-Quality Development

Promoting high-quality development cannot be separated from the scrutiny and reflection provided by Marxist philosophy. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “High-quality development is the theme of China’s economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and even longer, and it bears on the overall situation of China’s socialist modernization.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC,” November 2019. Marxist philosophy, as the wisdom of learning, on the one hand enables us to understand high-quality development from a macroscopic and holistic perspective, and on the other hand allows us to penetrate phenomena and deeply grasp the essence and laws of high-quality development. Marxist philosophy grasps high-quality development through three logical dimensions: the epistemological dimension, the axiological dimension, and the methodological dimension. These reflections from different angles enable us to obtain a clear and profound understanding of why high-quality development must be achieved on the new journey of the New Era and how to achieve it, thereby providing basic theoretical reference for realizing high-quality development.

推进高质量发展，离不开来自马克思主义哲学的审视观照。习近平总书记指出：“高质量发展是‘十四五’乃至更长时期我国经济社会发展的主题，关系我国社会主义现代化建设全局。”作为智慧之学的马克思主义哲学，一方面能使我们从宏观的、整体性角度认识高质量发展，另一方面能使我们透过现象而深入了解高质量发展的本质和规律。马克思主义哲学把握高质量发展存在着三种逻辑维度：认识论的维度、价值论的维度和方法论的维度。这几种不同角度的反思，能使我们对新时代新征程为什么要实现高质量发展以及如何实现高质量发展等问题获得一种清晰而深刻的认识，从而为实现高质量发展提供基本的理论参照。

An Epistemological Interpretation of High-Quality Development

关于高质量发展的认识论解读

The epistemological dimension is manifested as grasping high-quality development through conceptual means, primarily answering the question of what kind of development today’s China is to achieve. First, it understands development from the perspective of quality, elucidates the historical inevitability of the emergence of high-quality development, and reveals the internal dynamic mechanism of its generation. Second, it reveals that today’s China can only achieve high-quality development, thereby establishing the ontological status of high-quality development, and further forming a societal consensus on high-quality development.

认识论的维度，体现为以观念的方式把握高质量发展，主要回答当今中国要实现什么样的发展的问题。其一，从质量角度认识社会发展，阐释高质量发展出场的历史必然性，揭示其生成的内在动力机制；其二，揭示当今中国的发展只能是高质量发展，以确立高质量发展的本体性地位，进而在全社会形成关于高质量发展的共识。

Quality is an inherent determination of all things. In the practice of social development, there exist movement forms of high-quality development and low-quality development. It is precisely in the contradictory movement of high-quality development and low-quality development that the social system, governed by the law of the mutual transformation of quality and quantity, generally presents a practical trajectory from low-quality development to high-quality development, then to new low-quality development and new high-quality development.

质量是一切事物固有的规定性。在社会发展实践中存在着高质量发展和低质量发展的运动形态。正是在高质量发展和低质量发展的矛盾运动中，社会系统受质量互变规律的支配，总体上呈现出了由低质量发展到高质量发展再到新的低质量发展和新的高质量发展这样一种现实进路。

From the perspective of Marxist philosophy, the leap from low-quality development to high-quality development is driven by two main dynamic mechanisms. First, the demand-driven mechanism. From the perspective of the development subject, when lower-level needs are satisfied, new higher-level needs emerge. These new higher-level needs require higher-quality development to be met. This is the driving effect stimulated by changes in human needs. Second, the problem-forcing mechanism. From the perspective of economic and social development itself, after low-quality development persists for a period, it often generates a series of problems that can only be effectively resolved through the transformation and upgrading of development itself, especially a leap in quality. It is based on the above positive and negative driving forces that the emergence of high-quality development possesses objective inevitability.

在马克思主义哲学看来，由低质量发展向高质量发展的跃进，背后的动力机制主要表现为两种：其一，需求驱动机制。从发展主体角度看，当较低层次的需求满足之后，还会产生新的更高层次的需求。新的更高层次需求就需要更高质量的发展予以满足。这是人的需求变化所激发的驱动效应。其二，问题倒逼机制。从经济社会发展本身来看，质量较低的发展在持续了一段时间之后，往往会产生一系列问题，需要通过发展本身的转型升级特别是在质量上的跃升才能有效解决。正是基于上述正反两方面的驱动力量，高质量发展的出场就具有了客观必然性。

Promoting high-quality development is undoubtedly the result of the contradictory movement of economic and social development itself and possesses historical inevitability. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, “We must bear in mind that high-quality development is the absolute principle in the New Era.” [2]2 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Central Economic Work Conference,” December 2023. Adhering to high-quality development and regarding it as the “absolute principle in the New Era” is our Party’s scientific answer to the question of what kind of development to achieve, meeting the requirements of the times, and is another “awakening” of our Party’s concept regarding development. This conceptual awakening requires us to establish the ontological status of high-quality development in the New Era. In other words, high-quality development is an “ontological” thing that we must jointly recognize in ideology and firmly “lock onto” in practice in the New Era. It is the most fundamental practical pursuit of the people of the whole country in the New Era. This “fundamental pursuit” requires us to form a consensus on high-quality development, unify our conceptual understanding of development onto high-quality development, and draw the largest “concentric circle” for high-quality development. [3]3 “Concentric circle” (同心圆) is a metaphor used in Chinese political discourse to denote unity of purpose and shared goals around the Party’s leadership.

推动高质量发展，无疑是经济社会发展自身矛盾运动的结果，具有历史的必然性。习近平总书记强调，“我们必须牢记高质量发展是新时代的硬道理”。坚持高质量发展并将其视为“新时代的硬道理”，是我们党对实现什么样的发展这一问题符合时代要求的科学回答，也是我们党在发展问题上的又一次理念“觉醒”。这一理念觉醒要求我们必须确立起新时代关于高质量发展的本体性地位。换言之，高质量发展是新时代我们在思想观念上必须共同认定和在实践中必须牢牢“锁定”的一个“本体性”的东西，是新时代全国人民最为根本的实践追求，这种“根本追求”就要求我们形成关于高质量发展的共识，把关于发展的观念认识统一到高质量发展上来，画好高质量发展的最大“同心圆”。

An Axiological Interpretation of High-Quality Development

关于高质量发展的价值论解读

The axiological dimension is manifested as grasping high-quality development through value means, primarily answering the question of the functional significance of high-quality development, that is, why we must achieve high-quality development, aiming to reveal the common benefit of high-quality development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, “High-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects,” and “we must take meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life as the starting point and ultimate goal, and continuously transform development achievements into quality of life, constantly enhancing the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security.” [4]4 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the 20th National Congress of the CPC,” October 2022. It can be seen that the high-quality development we pursue has distinct legitimacy and rationality. High-quality development conforms to the common interests of the people of the whole country and holds important axiological significance for realizing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

价值论的维度，体现为以价值的方式把握高质量发展，主要回答高质量发展的功能意义问题，即我们为什么要实现高质量发展，旨在揭示高质量发展所具有的共利性。习近平总书记强调，“高质量发展是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务”，“必须以满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要为出发点和落脚点，把发展成果不断转化为生活品质，不断增强人民群众的获得感、幸福感、安全感”。可见，我们所追求的高质量发展具有鲜明的正当性与合理性。高质量发展，符合全国人民的共同利益，对实现强国建设、民族复兴伟业具有重要的价值论意义。

High-quality development is the unity of ends and means. The major teleological function of high-quality development mainly lies in the fact that “high-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects.” On the one hand, building a modern socialist country in all respects means pursuing and implementing high-quality development in all aspects and all regions, making the realization of high-quality development a routine practice and normal manifestation of Chinese-path modernization. On the other hand, only through high-quality development can the Chinese characteristics and essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization be realized or manifested, and various risks and challenges encountered in the process of Chinese-path modernization be calmly addressed.

高质量发展是目的和手段的统一。高质量发展的重大目的性功能，主要在于“高质量发展是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的首要任务”。一方面，全面建设社会主义现代化国家就是要追求并落实于方方面面、所有地区的高质量发展，使实现高质量发展成为中国式现代化的常规性做法和常态性表现；另一方面，只有在高质量发展中，才能实现或彰显中国式现代化的中国特色和本质要求，并从容应对中国式现代化进程中遇到的各种风险挑战。

Besides its teleological function, high-quality development also has an instrumental function or instrumental rationality significance, that is, high-quality development is the basic means or pathway to resolve the principal contradiction in Chinese society in the New Era. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “At present, the principal contradiction in Chinese society has transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. The contradictions and problems in development are concentrated in the quality of development. This requires us to place the issue of development quality in a more prominent position and strive to improve the quality and efficiency of development.” [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Central Economic Work Conference,” December 2020. It can be seen that only through high-quality development can the problem of “unbalanced and inadequate development” be truly resolved, thereby better meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life.

高质量发展除了目的性功能外，还具有手段性功能或工具理性意义，即高质量发展是解决新时代我国社会主要矛盾的基本手段或途径。习近平总书记指出：“当前，我国社会主要矛盾已经转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾，发展中的矛盾和问题集中体现在发展质量上。这就要求我们必须把发展质量问题摆在更为突出的位置，着力提升发展质量和效益。”可见，只有通过高质量发展才能真正解决“不平衡不充分的发展”的问题，进而更好满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要。

A Methodological Interpretation of High-Quality Development

关于高质量发展的方法论解读

High-quality development is not only a theoretical form but also a practical form, that is, promoting high-quality development must be implemented in people’s actions, thereby forming a relational form of mastering high-quality development through practical means. The foundational role of social practice for high-quality development enlightens us that to achieve high-quality development, we must be down-to-earth and work hard.

高质量发展既是一种理论形态，更是一种实践形态，即推进高质量发展要落实到人们的行动上，由此形成了以实践方式掌握高质量发展的关系形态。社会实践对于高质量发展所具有的基础作用启示我们，要实现高质量发展必须脚踏实地、埋头苦干。

To promote high-quality development in practice, the methodological question of how to achieve high-quality development must be resolved, that is, to clarify several principles or requirements for promoting high-quality development from a philosophical perspective.

要在实践中推进高质量发展，必须解决如何实现高质量发展的方法论问题，即明确哲学视域下推进高质量发展的若干原则或要求。

First, we must fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy. [6]6 The “new development philosophy” refers to the five concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing, formally adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee in 2015. In the context of the new development philosophy, high-quality development is development that can well meet the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life, development that embodies the new development philosophy, and development where innovation becomes the primary driving force, coordination becomes an inherent characteristic, green becomes a universal form, openness becomes the inevitable path, and sharing becomes the fundamental goal. Therefore, we must adhere to the guidance of the new development philosophy to promote high-quality development. Second, accelerate the development of new quality productive forces. Productive forces are the material foundation of social development and the decisive force driving social development. New quality productive forces, characterized by innovation and high quality, become the material foundation for promoting high-quality development. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “High-quality development requires new theories on productive forces to guide it, and new quality productive forces have already taken shape in practice and demonstrated their strong driving and supporting force for high-quality development.” [7]7 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the 20th Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, First Meeting,” May 2023. In the new stage of development, we must organically unify the promotion of high-quality development and the development of new quality productive forces, supporting the realization of high-quality development through the development of new quality productive forces. Finally, adhere to the problem-oriented approach, and promote high-quality development in the process of overcoming development problems. The traditional development model, in the process of its advancement, has generated a series of problems, making traditional development generally manifest as a higher-cost development. Thus, to resolve the many costs or problems in development, it is necessary to move from high-cost, low-quality development to low-cost, high-quality development. Solving practical development problems is the fundamental entry point for us to promote high-quality development.

首先，要完整、准确、全面贯彻新发展理念。在新发展理念的语境下，高质量发展，就是能够很好满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的发展，是体现新发展理念的发展，是创新成为第一动力、协调成为内生特点、绿色成为普遍形态、开放成为必由之路、共享成为根本目的的发展。因而，我们要坚持以新发展理念为指导推动高质量发展。其次，加快发展新质生产力。生产力是社会发展的物质基础，是推动社会发展的决定性力量，具有创新性、高质性等特征的新质生产力则成为推动高质量发展的物质基础。习近平总书记指出，“高质量发展需要新的生产力理论来指导，而新质生产力已经在实践中形成并展示出对高质量发展的强劲推动力、支撑力”。在新发展阶段，必须把推进高质量发展和发展新质生产力有机统一起来，以新质生产力的发展支撑高质量发展的实现。最后，坚持问题导向，在对发展问题的克服中推进高质量发展。传统的发展模式在推进过程中，产生了一系列问题，使得传统发展在总体上表现为一种较高代价的发展，这样，要解决发展中的诸多代价或问题，需要从高代价、低质量的发展向低代价、高质量的发展迈进。解决现实的发展问题是我们推进高质量发展的根本切入点。

Online Editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗