Firmly Guard the Bottom Line of Economic Security

The Central Economic Work Conference clearly stated that we must adhere to the benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security, promoting high-level security through high-quality development, and ensuring high-quality development with high-level security, so that development and security achieve dynamic balance and mutual reinforcement. Economic security is the foundation of national security and an important component of the holistic approach to national security. Only by effectively integrating the Party’s leadership into all aspects and the entire process of national economic work, accurately grasping the basic characteristics of economic security, deepening the understanding of the laws governing economic security, and enhancing the sense of responsibility and mission, can we continuously improve the level of economic security and achieve a benign interaction and dynamic balance between high-quality development and high-level security.

中央经济工作会议明确指出，必须坚持高质量发展和高水平安全良性互动，以高质量发展促进高水平安全，以高水平安全保障高质量发展，发展和安全要动态平衡、相得益彰。经济安全是国家安全的基础，是总体国家安全观的重要组成部分。只有切实把党的领导贯穿到国家经济工作各方面全过程，准确把握经济安全的基本特征，深化对经济安全的规律性认识，增强责任感和使命感，才能不断提高经济安全水平，实现高质量发展和高水平安全的良性互动与动态平衡。

Grasp the characteristic of stability, adhere to seeking progress while maintaining stability

把握稳定性特征，坚持做到稳中求进

Stability is the primary characteristic of a country’s economic security. Only when a country maintains the stability of economic development, without severe fluctuations or loss of control, can economic security be guaranteed. For an economy as large as ours, maintaining stable economic operation is crucial for building a solid economic security barrier.

稳定性是一个国家经济安全的首要特征。一个国家只有保持经济发展的稳定性，不出现剧烈波动或者失控情况，经济安全才有保障。对于我们国家这么大的经济体而言，保持经济平稳运行对于筑牢经济安全屏障至关重要。

To grasp the prominent characteristic of stability in economic security, first, we must adhere to seeking progress while maintaining stability. Seeking progress while maintaining stability, as the general tone of work, is the methodology for doing economic work well. Faced with unprecedented risks and challenges, economic work particularly needs to emphasize seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing the new before abolishing the old. Stability is the overall situation; we must seek progress on the premise of maintaining the overall stability of the economic and social situation, focusing on stabilizing economic operations, ensuring that growth, employment, and prices do not experience major fluctuations, and ensuring that finance does not face regional systemic risks. The general direction must be stable, policies and guidelines must be stable, and strategic deployments must be stable. On the basis of holding the foundation and stabilizing the position, we must actively forge ahead, focusing on adjusting the economic structure and deepening reform and opening up, ensuring that the transformation of the economic development model and innovation-driven development achieve new results. “Stability” and “progress” should promote each other, achieving stability through progress and promoting stability through progress.

把握经济安全突出的稳定性特征，一是要坚持稳中求进。稳中求进作为工作总基调，是做好经济工作的方法论。面对前所未有的风险与挑战，经济工作尤需强调稳中求进、以进促稳、先立后破。稳是大局，要在保持经济社会大局稳定的前提下谋进，重点放在稳定经济运行上，确保增长、就业、物价不出现大的波动，确保金融不出现区域性系统性风险。大方向要稳，方针政策要稳，战略部署要稳。要在守住根基、稳住阵脚的基础上积极进取，重点放在调整经济结构和深化改革开放上，确保经济发展方式转变和创新驱动发展取得新成效。“稳”和“进”要相互促进，做到以稳求进、以进促稳。

Second, we must correctly handle the relationship between reform, development, and stability. Reform, development, and stability are the three important fulcrums of China’s socialist modernization. Grasping and handling the relationship between them is of overall significance for ensuring national economic security. We must always adhere to the organic unity of reform, development, and stability, unifying the intensity of reform, the speed of development, and the degree of social acceptability, and taking the improvement of people’s lives as the point of integration for correctly handling the relationship between reform, development, and stability. We must enhance the coordination of measures related to reform, development, and stability, enhance the balance, coordination, and inclusiveness of development, adhere to establishing the new before abolishing the old, promote reform and development while maintaining social stability, and promote social stability through reform and development.

二是要正确处理改革发展稳定关系。改革发展稳定是我国社会主义现代化建设的三个重要支点。把握和处理好它们之间的关系，对确保国家经济安全具有全局性意义。要始终坚持改革发展稳定的有机统一，把改革力度、发展速度和社会可承受程度统一起来，把改善人民生活作为正确处理改革发展稳定关系的结合点。要增强改革、发展、稳定相关措施的协调性，增强发展平衡性、协调性、包容性，坚持先立后破，在保持社会稳定中推进改革发展，通过改革发展促进社会稳定。

Third, we must promote the effective improvement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity in the economy. High-quality development is the unity of quality and quantity. We must coordinate the relationship between quality and quantity, not simply judge success by the growth rate of gross domestic product, nor be swayed by fluctuations in short-term economic indicators, but instead continuously shape new competitive advantages and consolidate the material and technological foundation for improving quality and increasing efficiency. We must strengthen counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments of macro policies, maintain the continuity, stability, and sustainability of macro policies, and keep economic operations within a reasonable range. We must increase the intensity of macro policy regulation, focus on expanding domestic demand, boosting confidence, and preventing risks, to achieve development that is of higher quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable, and safer.

三是要推动经济实现质的有效提升和量的合理增长。高质量发展是质和量的统一。要统筹好质与量的关系，不简单以生产总值增长率论英雄，不被短期经济指标的波动所左右，而是要不断塑造新的竞争优势，夯实提质增效的物质技术基础。要强化宏观政策逆周期和跨周期调节，保持宏观政策连续性、稳定性、可持续性，保持经济运行在合理区间。要加大宏观政策调控力度，着力扩大内需、提振信心、防范风险，实现更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续、更为安全的发展。

Grasp the characteristic of strategy, identify the correct direction of development

把握战略性特征，找准发展正确方向

Economic security is a fundamental interest of a country, with clear institutional arrangements, strategic planning, and development direction, and has obvious strategic characteristics. Only by maintaining strategic focus can a country’s economic development grasp the general trend, maintain the continuity and stability of policies and guidelines, maintain perseverance and tenacity to firmly advance in the correct direction, promote sustained and healthy economic development, and safeguard national economic security.

经济安全是一个国家的根本利益所在，有明确的制度安排、战略规划和发展方向，具有明显的战略性特征。只有保持战略定力，一国经济发展才能把握大势、保持方针政策的连续性稳定性，才能保持恒心和韧劲坚定沿着正确方向前进，推动经济持续健康发展，维护国家经济安全。

To grasp the prominent strategic characteristic of economic security, first, we must adhere unwaveringly to taking economic construction as the central task. Development is the greatest security; ensuring economic security first lies in promoting economic development. Development remains the Party’s top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country. We must adhere to high-quality development as the absolute principle of the New Era, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, promote high-quality development with new atmosphere and new actions to achieve new results, and enhance our country’s viability, competitiveness, development capacity, and sustainability amidst various foreseeable and unforeseeable storms and turbulent waves.

把握经济安全突出的战略性特征，一是要坚持以经济建设为中心不动摇。发展是最大的安全，确保经济安全首先在于推动经济发展。发展仍然是我们党执政兴国的第一要务。必须把坚持高质量发展作为新时代的硬道理，完整、准确、全面贯彻新发展理念，加快构建新发展格局，以新气象新作为推动高质量发展取得新成效，在各种可以预见和难以预见的狂风暴雨、惊涛骇浪中增强我国的生存力、竞争力、发展力、持续力。

Second, we must uphold and improve the basic socialist economic system. The basic socialist economic system is an important pillar of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. To strengthen national economic security guarantees, we must uphold and improve the basic socialist economic system, adhere to the direction of socialist market economy reform, unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy, unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy, adhere to the distribution system with distribution according to work as the mainstay and multiple forms of distribution coexisting, and continuously improve the socialist market economy system. In response to various noises and voices in society that question our basic economic system, shake the direction of market economy reform, and deny the status and role of the private economy, we must unambiguously clarify our stance and fundamentally rectify the source.

二是要坚持和完善社会主义基本经济制度。社会主义基本经济制度是中国特色社会主义制度的重要支柱。强化国家经济安全保障，必须坚持和完善社会主义基本经济制度，坚持社会主义市场经济改革方向，毫不动摇巩固和发展公有制经济，毫不动摇鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展，坚持按劳分配为主体、多种分配方式并存，不断完善社会主义市场经济体制。针对社会上质疑我国基本经济制度、动摇市场经济改革方向、否定民营经济地位作用的各类杂音噪音，要毫不含糊地亮明态度、正本清源。

Third, we must adhere to a people-centered approach. Public support is the greatest politics. National peace and the people’s safety are the most basic and common aspirations of the people. Economic security is a basic condition for winning public support, consolidating political power, and stabilizing society. We must closely integrate the maintenance of economic security with meeting the people’s needs for a better life, organically combine it with creating a high quality of life, mobilize the initiative and creativity of all parties, create good conditions for the people’s survival and development and a stable production and living environment, and gather the mighty force to safeguard national economic security.

三是要坚持以人民为中心。民心是最大的政治。国泰民安是人民群众最基本、最普遍的愿望。经济安全是赢得民心、巩固政权、稳定社会的基本条件。要把维护经济安全同满足人民美好生活需要紧密结合起来，与创造高品质生活有机结合起来，调动各方面积极性、创造性，为人民创造良好生存发展条件和安定生产生活环境，汇聚起维护国家经济安全的磅礴力量。

Grasp the characteristic of dynamism, ensure security in key areas

把握动态性特征，确保重点领域安全

Dialectical materialism holds that motion is the fundamental attribute of matter, and all things in the world are in eternal motion, change, and development. The various factors affecting economic security are also in constant motion and change. Economic security has been deeply integrated into and profoundly affects all fields and the entire process of economic and social development, involving more and more areas, with its connotation continuously enriching and expanding. Our country’s economic security has become more dynamic. It is necessary to clarify the key directions for economic security capacity building, precisely focus on the major and critical issues facing the maintenance of economic security, and strive to ensure that every step in solving economic problems, responding to economic risks, and maintaining economic security hits the mark and grasps the key points. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “Strengthen security capacity building in key areas, ensure the security of grain, energy resources, and important industrial and supply chains” and “Enhance the ability to prevent and resolve major risks, strictly guard against systemic security risks.” This requires that in maintaining economic security, we must focus on key points, grasp the main line and bring along the rest, distinguish priorities and urgency, highlight the most important among priorities, and ensure the security of key areas and critical links.

唯物辩证法认为，运动是物质的根本属性，世界上的一切事物都处于永恒的运动、变化和发展之中。影响经济安全的各种要素也是不断运动变化的。经济安全已深深融入并深刻影响经济社会发展的各领域、全过程，涉及的领域越来越多，其内涵不断丰富和扩大，我国经济安全更具动态性，必须明确经济安全能力建设的重点方向，精准聚焦维护经济安全面临的重大问题和关键问题，力争使解决经济问题、应对经济风险、维护经济安全的每一步都踩在点子上、抓到要害处。习近平总书记指出，“加强重点领域安全能力建设，确保粮食、能源资源、重要产业链供应链安全”“提高防范化解重大风险能力，严密防范系统性安全风险”。这要求我们维护经济安全，必须聚焦重点，抓纲带目，区分轻重缓急、突出重中之重，确保重点领域和关键环节的安全。

To grasp the prominent dynamic characteristic of economic security, first, we must deeply recognize that grain security is an important foundation of national economic security. “When the granaries are full, the world is at peace.” Grain security is the “ballast stone” for economic development and social stability. We must always keep the string of grain security taut, always adhere to the national grain security strategy of primarily relying on ourselves, basing on domestic production, ensuring production capacity, moderate imports, and technological support, implement the strategy of storing grain in the land and storing grain in technology, resolutely hold the red line of 1.8 billion mu [1]1 The “red line of 1.8 billion mu” refers to a policy target set by the Chinese government to maintain a minimum of 1.8 billion mu (approximately 120 million hectares) of arable land to ensure national food security. of arable land, use Chinese seeds to ensure Chinese grain security, firmly hold the Chinese people’s rice bowl in their own hands, firmly grasp the initiative in grain security, and steadfastly follow the path of grain security with Chinese characteristics.

把握经济安全突出的动态性特征，一是要深刻认识粮食安全是国家经济安全的重要基础。“仓廪实，天下安”。粮食安全是经济发展、社会稳定的“压舱石”。要始终绷紧粮食安全这根弦，始终坚持以我为主、立足国内、确保产能、适度进口、科技支撑的国家粮食安全战略，落实藏粮于地、藏粮于技战略，坚决守住18亿亩耕地保护红线，用中国种子保障中国粮食安全，把中国人的饭碗牢牢端在自己手中，牢牢把住粮食安全主动权，坚定走好中国特色的粮食安全之路。

Second, we must deeply understand that energy is the lifeblood of the national economy. Energy security is a comprehensive and strategic issue related to national economic and social development, and it is of paramount importance to national prosperity, improvement of people’s lives, and long-term social stability. Grasping energy means grasping the “ox nose” [2]2 “Ox nose” (牛鼻子) is a Chinese idiom meaning the key or crucial point that controls a situation. of national development and security strategy. As a major manufacturing country, to develop the real economy, China must hold the energy “rice bowl” in its own hands. It is necessary to implement a new energy security strategy, promote a revolution in energy consumption, energy supply, energy technology, and the energy system, strengthen strategic resource and energy reserves, accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system, comprehensively enhance emergency support capabilities, strengthen international energy cooperation in all aspects, consolidate the foundation of domestic energy production, ensure the security of coal supply, and promote China’s transition from a major energy country to a powerful energy country.

二是要深刻认识能源是国民经济的命脉。能源安全是关系国家经济社会发展的全局性、战略性问题，对国家繁荣发展、人民生活改善、社会长治久安至关重要。抓住能源就抓住了国家发展和安全战略的“牛鼻子”。我国作为制造业大国，要发展实体经济，能源的饭碗必须端在自己手里。要实施能源安全新战略，推动能源消费革命、能源供给革命、能源技术革命、能源体制革命，加强战略资源能源储备，加快规划建设新型能源体系，全面提升应急保障能力，全方位加强能源国际合作，夯实国内能源生产基础，保障煤炭供应安全，推动我国从能源大国向能源强国迈进。

Third, we must deeply understand that key core technologies are the instruments of the state [3]3 “Instruments of the state” (国之重器) refers to strategic assets or tools of national importance, such as advanced technologies or military hardware.. Technological innovation is the main battlefield of international strategic games. The security and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain are the foundation for building a new development pattern and the cornerstone for stabilizing the overall macroeconomic situation. It is necessary to ensure the security and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain, strive to achieve scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, resolutely win the battle for key core technologies, quickly reverse the passive situation of being controlled by others in key core technologies, move against the trend in crises, take the initiative in competition, and improve the ability to use science and technology to maintain economic security.

三是要深刻认识关键核心技术是国之重器。科技创新是国际战略博弈的主要战场。产业链供应链安全稳定是构建新发展格局的基础，是稳定宏观经济大盘的根基。要确保产业链供应链安全稳定，努力实现科技自立自强，坚决打赢关键核心技术攻坚战，尽快扭转关键核心技术受制于人的被动局面，在危机中逆势而上，在竞争中占据主动，提高运用科学技术维护经济安全的能力。

Fourth, we must deeply understand that financial security is the core of national economic security. Finance is an important core competitiveness of the country, and financial security is an important foundation for a country to achieve stable and healthy economic development. It is necessary to fully understand the important position and role of finance in economic development and social life, earnestly take the maintenance of financial security as a major matter in governing the country, and ensure the safe, efficient, and stable operation of finance in the process of promoting finance to better serve the real economy, preventing and defusing financial risks, and deepening financial reform. It is necessary to comprehensively strengthen financial supervision, place the prevention and control of financial risks in a more important position, effectively improve the effectiveness of financial supervision, bring all financial activities into supervision according to law, comprehensively strengthen institutional supervision, behavioral supervision, functional supervision, penetrating supervision, and continuous supervision, eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, strictly enforce the law and dare to take tough action, severely crack down on illegal financial activities, and firmly hold the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks.

四是要深刻认识金融安全是国家经济安全的核心。金融是国家重要的核心竞争力，金融安全是一个国家实现经济平稳健康发展的重要基础。必须充分认识金融在经济发展和社会生活中的重要地位和作用，切实把维护金融安全作为治国理政的一件大事，在促进金融更好为实体经济服务、防范化解金融风险、深化金融改革过程中确保金融安全高效稳健运行。要全面加强金融监管，把防控金融风险放到更加重要的位置，切实提高金融监管有效性，依法将所有金融活动全部纳入监管，全面强化机构监管、行为监管、功能监管、穿透式监管、持续监管，消除监管空白和盲区，严格执法、敢于亮剑，严厉打击非法金融活动，牢牢守住不发生系统性金融风险底线。

Grasp the characteristic of interconnectedness, firmly establish a systems concept

把握关联性特征，牢固树立系统观念

Economic phenomena and economic processes are complex and diverse. Economic security involves security fields such as resources, energy, industry, finance, and science and technology. These fields are interdependent, mutually influential, and interpenetrating, forming complex linkages. Therefore, economic security has increasingly prominent characteristics of interconnectedness, coupling, and systematicity, often affecting the whole body when one part is touched [4]4 “Affecting the whole body when one part is touched” (牵一发而动全身) is a Chinese idiom meaning that a small change in one part can affect the entire system.. This prominent interconnectedness means that economic security is not the security of a single aspect or a single field, nor the security of a certain element at a certain time, but the overall security of the entire domain; it is not just an economic requirement, but a general requirement for all aspects of economic and social development.

经济现象和经济过程纷繁复杂，经济安全涉及资源、能源、产业、财政、金融、科技等安全领域，这些领域之间又存在相互依存、相互影响、相互渗透的复杂联动关系。因此，经济安全具有日益突出的关联性、耦合性、系统性，往往牵一发而动全身。这一突出的关联性意味着经济安全不是某单一方面、单个领域的安全，也不是某个时段某一要素的安全，而是全域整体上的安全；不只是一个经济要求，而是对经济社会发展全方位的总要求。

To grasp the prominent characteristic of interconnectedness in economic security, first, we must deeply understand that national economic security is a category spanning all time and all systems. The internal and external factors affecting China’s economic security are more complex than at any time in history, exhibiting significant composite, multi-level, multi-faceted, and multi-variable characteristics. It is a comprehensive, three-dimensional structure that penetrates and runs through the entire field and entire process of Chinese-path modernization practice. Economic security issues must be understood from an overall and holistic perspective. It is necessary to strengthen research on the interconnectedness, systematicity, and feasibility of work in the field of economic security, strengthen forward-looking thinking, holistic planning, and overall advancement, treat economic security and the promotion of high-quality economic development, the construction of a new development pattern, the building of a high-standard market system, the implementation of high-level opening up, and the improvement of people’s well-being as a whole, enhance the comprehensiveness, integrity, and synergy of the construction of the economic security system, and ensure full-domain linkage and three-dimensional efficiency.

把握经济安全突出的关联性特征，一是要深刻认识国家经济安全是全时空全系统的范畴。影响我国经济安全的内外因素比历史上任何时候都要复杂，呈现出显著的复合型、多层次、多方面、多变量特点，是一个综合性的立体化结构，渗透并贯穿于中国式现代化实践的全领域、全过程，必须从全局、整体的角度把握经济安全问题。要加强经济安全领域工作的关联性、系统性、可行性研究，加强前瞻性思考、全局性谋划、整体性推进，把经济安全和推动经济高质量发展、构建新发展格局、建设高标准市场体系、实行高水平对外开放、增进民生福祉等作为一个整体来把握，增强经济安全体系建设的全面性、整体性、协同性，确保全域联动、立体高效。

Second, we must effectively prevent the chain linkage of various risks. The economic risks facing China are multifaceted, and the linkage effects of various threats and challenges affecting China’s economic security are obvious. The systems concept is a fundamental way of thinking and working. It is necessary to apply the systems concept to prevent the evolution, transmission, superposition, and escalation of various risks, build a full-domain linkage, three-dimensional and efficient national economic security protection system, actively prevent and respond to the challenges of complex and changing internal and external environments, strive to resolve risks at the source, prevent small risks from evolving into large risks, prevent individual risks from evolving into comprehensive risks, prevent local risks from evolving into regional or systemic risks, prevent economic risks from evolving into social and political risks, and prevent international risks from evolving into domestic risks.

二是要有效防范各种风险的连锁联动。我国面临的经济风险是多方面的，影响我国经济安全的各种威胁和挑战联动效应明显。系统观念是具有基础性的思想和工作方法。要运用系统观念，防止各种风险的演化、传导、叠加、升级，构建全域联动、立体高效的国家经济安全防护体系，积极防范应对内外环境复杂多变的挑战，力争把风险化解在源头，不让小风险演化为大风险，不让个别风险演化为综合风险，不让局部风险演化为区域性或系统性风险，不让经济风险演化为社会政治风险，不让国际风险演化为国内风险。

Third, we must adhere to coordinating development and security. Security is the foundation of development, and stability is the prerequisite for prosperity. Coordinating development and security is a major principle of our Party in governing the country. Facing the complex and changing domestic and international environment, it is necessary to coordinate the two major tasks of development and security, plan and deploy national economic security together with economic and social development, accelerate the construction of a new security pattern that is compatible with the new development pattern, consider security factors more in development, ensure the new development pattern with the new security pattern, and ensure high-quality development with high-level security. In this process, it is necessary to be good at using development achievements to consolidate the strength foundation of national security, and also good at shaping a security environment conducive to economic and social development, promote security through development, ensure development with security, and strive to build a long-term stable situation and achieve long-term governance.

三是要坚持统筹发展和安全。安全是发展的基础，稳定是强盛的前提。统筹发展和安全，是我们党治国理政的一个重大原则。面对复杂多变的国内外环境，要统筹好发展和安全两件大事，把国家经济安全同经济社会发展一起谋划、一起部署，加快构建与新发展格局相适应的新安全格局，在发展中更多考虑安全因素，以新安全格局保障新发展格局，以高水平安全保障高质量发展。在这一过程中，既要善于运用发展成果夯实国家安全的实力基础，又要善于塑造有利于经济社会发展的安全环境，以发展促安全、以安全保发展，努力建久安之势、成长治之业。

(The author is a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center of Guangdong Province and Vice President of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences)

（作者系广东省习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员、广东省社会科学院副院长）

Online Editor: Zhang Fujun

网络编辑：张福军