Marx’s Thought on Modernization and Chinese-Path Modernization

I. Introduction

一、引言

Modernization is the most profound transformation in the process of world development and has received widespread attention and research across multiple academic disciplines. Since the 1960s, modernization theory has explored the process of modernization along several dimensions, including political “democratization,” economic “industrialization,” and spiritual “rationalization.” These theories hold that modernization originated in the political revolution of “civil society” brought about by the Enlightenment, the industrial revolution that replaced biological power with non-biological power, and the cognitive revolution in which human reason recognizes and dominates all laws and rules of nature and society. However, unlike the contingency and regionality of civilizational development in pre-modern societies, capitalism provides the continuity and universality of human social development; the spread of the world market forces backward countries to confront a complex conflict between modernity and tradition. This prevents backward countries from gradually overcoming the limitations on the development of productive forces; instead, their development trajectory takes on a complex and hybrid character. These theories take the modernization of Western European societies as an ideal reference frame, ignoring the complex conflicts faced by backward countries, with the result that blind followers lose their developmental momentum amid political and economic turmoil and the depletion of resources and the environment. How backward countries are to achieve modernization has become a highly challenging question.

现代化是世界发展进程中最为深刻的变革，在多个学科领域受到广泛关注与研究。20世纪60年代以来，现代化理论在政治的“民主化”、经济的“工业化”以及精神的“理性化”等多个维度上探讨现代化进程。这些理论认为，现代化起源于启蒙运动带来的“市民社会”政治革命、以非生物力取代生物力的产业革命以及人类理性认识并支配自然与社会一切规律法则的认知革命。然而，不同于前现代社会中文明发展的偶然性、地域性，资本主义提供了人类社会发展的持续性、普遍性，世界市场的扩散迫使落后国家面临现代与传统的复杂冲突，这使落后国家无法逐步克服生产力发展的限制，而是在发展轨迹上具有复杂、混合的性质。这些理论将西欧社会的现代化作为理想参照系，无视落后国家面临的复杂冲突，致使盲目追随者在政治经济动荡和资源环境耗竭中丧失发展动力。落后国家要如何实现现代化成为一个极具挑战性的问题。

“The only source of a theory can be the rich and vivid reality of life, and its only driving force can be the real demands of solving social contradictions and problems.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 95th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China” (July 1, 2016). Marx, based on the historical practice of 19th-century British capitalism, revealed the general laws of modernization, explained the dual character of capitalist modernization—its progressiveness and its inherent contradictions—and on this basis conceived the social form of scientific socialism, which also became the theoretical foundation and guiding ideology for the Communist Party of China in leading the people toward modernization. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China has integrated the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, successively putting forward strategic concepts such as the “Four Modernizations” [2]2 The “Four Modernizations” refers to the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology, first proposed by Zhou Enlai in 1964 and reaffirmed as a national goal in the late 1970s. and “Chinese-path modernization.” Focusing on the internal contradictions of the social organism, it has continuously carried out institutional design and self-revolution, and with its strong organizational and leadership capacity, it has led the Chinese people in advancing the process of Chinese-path modernization. In 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping declared that China had completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, creating a new path of Chinese-path modernization. As a socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China, Chinese-path modernization “not only shares the common features of modernization in all countries but also has Chinese characteristics based on its own national conditions.” It “has abandoned the Western path of modernization centered on capital, the path of polarized modernization, the path of materialistic expansion, and the old path of external expansion and plunder, expanded the avenues for developing countries to achieve modernization, and provided a Chinese solution for humanity’s exploration of a better social system.” [3]3 Xi Jinping, “Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects” — Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (October 16, 2022).

“一种理论的产生，源泉只能是丰富生动的现实生活，动力只能是解决社会矛盾和问题的现实要求”。马克思根据19世纪英国资本主义的历史实践揭示了现代化的一般规律，说明了资本主义现代化一体两面的进步性与内在矛盾性，并在此基础上构想了科学社会主义的社会形态，这也成为了中国共产党带领人民走向现代化的理论基础与指导思想。新中国成立以来，中国共产党将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，先后提出“四个现代化”与“中国式现代化”等战略构想，着眼于社会有机体的内部矛盾，不断进行体制设计与自我革命，以其强大组织领导能力带领中国人民推进中国式现代化的进程。2021年，习近平总书记宣告，中国已全面建成小康社会，创造了中国式现代化新道路。中国式现代化作为中国共产党领导的社会主义现代化，“既有各国现代化的共同特征，更有基于自己国情的中国特色”，“摒弃了西方以资本为中心的现代化、两极分化的现代化、物质主义膨胀的现代化、对外扩张掠夺的现代化老路，拓展了发展中国家走向现代化的途径，为人类对更好社会制度的探索提供了中国方案”。

This article starts from Marx’s textual analysis of modern society and employs a systematic theoretical framework to explain the generality and particularity of Chinese-path modernization. It first analyzes the thought on modernization in Marx’s texts, clarifying the process by which the modern economic organism, amid contradictions, continuously transforms the mode of production and thereby advances modernization. Second, it elaborates on the process by which the Communist Party of China, taking the resolution of the principal contradiction in society as its central task, continuously transforms relations of production to promote the development of society’s productive forces. Finally, combining Marxist theory with Chinese practice, it summarizes how Chinese practice simultaneously presents the generality of modernization and the particularity of Chinese-path modernization, and it distills the theory of Chinese-path modernization.

本文从马克思文本对现代社会的分析出发，运用系统的理论框架来说明中国式现代化的一般性与特殊性。文章首先分析了马克思文本中的现代化思想，阐明现代经济有机体在矛盾中不断变革生产方式从而推进现代化的过程。其次阐述了中国共产党以克服社会主要矛盾为中心任务，不断变革生产关系以推动社会生产力发展的过程。最后结合马克思主义理论与中国实践，概括了中国实践如何同时呈现出现代化的一般性与中国式现代化的特殊性，并归纳出中国式现代化的理论。

II. The Thought on Modernization in Marx’s Texts

二、马克思文本中的现代化思想

In his works, Marx repeatedly elaborates on the modernity of society and the process of modernization. He takes the industrialization of the mode of production as the essential characteristic that distinguishes modern society from traditional society, and he holds that from the modernization of the mode of production derive transformations at multiple levels, including social relations, political systems, value orientations, and the world market. The economic society is a complex organism in constant motion and containing internal contradictions; the movement of capital, as the dominant mode of production in modern society, should be the starting point for examining the process of social modernization.

马克思在其著作中多次阐述社会的现代性及现代化过程，他将生产方式的工业化作为现代社会区分于传统社会的本质特征，并认为由生产方式的现代化衍生出社会关系、政治制度、价值取向以及世界市场等多个层次的变革。经济社会是一个不断运动、内含矛盾的复杂有机体，作为现代社会占主导的生产方式的资本运动应成为考察社会现代化过程的出发点。

(1) The Essence of Modern Society

(一)现代社会的本质

The modernity of society is elaborated upon multiple times in Marx’s texts. Marx clearly states that the “ultimate aim” of *Capital* is “to lay bare the economic law of motion of modern society.” [4]4 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Preface to the First Edition. The question is: “All economists before Marx talked about society in general; why does Marx speak of ‘modern’ society? In what sense does he use the word ‘modern,’ and by what criterion does he specifically demarcate this modern society?” [5]5 V. I. Lenin, “What the ‘Friends of the People’ Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats” (1894). In other words, among the different levels of modern society, which is the most fundamental level? The answer to this question must start from human practice: “The first premise of all human existence, and therefore of all history,” is that “men must be in a position to live in order to be able to ‘make history.’ But life involves before everything else eating and drinking, a habitation, clothing and many other things. The first historical act is thus the production of the means to satisfy these needs, the production of material life itself.” [6]6 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, *The German Ideology* (1845–1846). With the development of the productive forces that satisfy human material needs, there arise “definite forms of exchange and consumption,” and upon these are built “corresponding social institutions, corresponding families, estates or class organizations,” as well as “corresponding political states.” [7]7 Ibid. That is to say, Marx “singles out the economic sphere from the various spheres of social life, and from all social relations he singles out the relations of production as the basic, primary relations that determine all other relations.” [8]8 V. I. Lenin, “What the ‘Friends of the People’ Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats” (1894). The transformations at the levels of social relations, political systems, value orientations, and the world market all have their roots in the transformations occurring at the most fundamental level—the mode of production.

社会的现代性在马克思文本中得到多次阐发。马克思明确指出，《资本论》的“最终目的就是揭示现代社会的经济运动规律”。问题在于，“马克思以前的所有经济学家都谈论一般社会，为什么马克思却说‘现代’社会呢?他在什么意义上使用‘现代’一词，按什么标志来特别划出这个现代社会呢?”换句话说，现代社会的不同层次当中，什么是最基本的层次呢?对这一问题的回答要从人类实践出发:“一切人类生存的第一个前提，也就是一切历史的第一个前提”是“人们为了能够‘创造历史’，必须能够生活。但是为了生活，首先就需要吃喝住穿以及其他一些东西。因此第一个历史活动就是生产满足这些需要的资料，即生产物质生活本身”。随着满足人类物质生活需要的生产力的发展，产生了“一定的交换和消费形式”，在其上又建立“相应的社会制度、相应的家庭、等级或阶级组织”以及“相应的政治国家”。也就是说，马克思“从社会生活的各种领域中划分出经济领域，从一切社会关系中划分出生产关系，即决定其余一切关系的基本的原始的关系”，社会关系、政治制度、价值取向以及世界市场等层次的变革，根源都在于生产方式这一最基本的层次上发生的变革。

The hallmark of modern society is the capitalist mode of production, and large-scale machine industry is the material foundation of modern capitalist society. When Marx uses the word “modern,” he does not merely describe the “present” in a temporal sense, but indicates a specific historical meaning. For example, he points out that “the Asiatic, ancient, feudal and modern bourgeois modes of production may be designated as epochs marking progress in the economic development of society,” [9]9 Karl Marx, *A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy*, Preface (1859). thereby taking the transformation of the mode of production as the sign of the formation of a new social form. The small-peasant mode of production “excludes the concentration of the means of production, also co-operation, division of labour within the same production process, the social control and regulation of nature by society, and the free development of the social productive forces.” [10]10 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Chapter 29. The process of forming the modern mode of production is the process of breaking through the limitations of the small-peasant mode of production; it strives to achieve the greatest possible degree of co-operation based on the division of labour, thereby capturing the social labour productivity that arises from co-operation. To realize this co-operation, scattered means of production are concentrated, and workers are assembled within a certain geographical space. The large-scale system of machinery, as the technical foundation, conveniently achieves the scientific decomposition and continuous arrangement of the production process. On the basis of the factory system, “this mode of production acquires a flexibility, a capacity for sudden, leaping expansion,” [11]11 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Chapter 13. harnessing natural forces and achieving a great development of social labour productivity. On the material foundation of large-scale machine industry, “the modern relations of production, i.e., capital,” “the modern mode of production,” “modern industry,” “modern economic relations,” and even “modern society” are formed. Because capital ceaselessly pursues surplus value, modern industry “never looks upon and treats the existing form of a given production process as the definitive one,” [12]12 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Chapter 15. but instead continuously revolutionizes the technical basis of production. Consequently, the skills of the worker and the social combination of the labour process are also constantly revolutionized, giving rise to new forms of the division of labour, new productive forces, new material foundations, and new forms of politics, law, and culture are continuously generated.

现代社会的标志是资本主义生产方式，机器大工业是现代资本主义社会的物质基础。马克思在使用“现代”一词时，并非仅在时间意义上描述“当下”，而是表示某种特定的历史含义，例如他指出“亚细亚的、古代的、封建的和现代资产阶级的生产方式可以看做是经济的社会形态演进的几个时代”，就是在将生产方式的变革作为新的社会形态形成的标志。小农生产方式“排斥生产资料的积聚，也排斥协作，排斥同一生产过程内部的分工，排斥社会对自然的社会统治和社会调节，排斥社会生产力的自由发展”。现代生产方式形成的过程，就是突破小农生产方式局限性的过程，它力图实现最大程度的基于分工的协作，从中获取协作的社会劳动生产力。为了实现这种协作，分散的生产资料被积聚起来，人员集中到一定的地理空间中。大规模的机器体系作为技术基础，方便地实现了生产过程的科学分解与连续性安排，在工厂制度的基础上，“这种生产方式就获得一种弹性，一种突然地跳跃式地扩展的能力”，掌握了自然力，获得了社会劳动生产力的大发展。在机器大工业的物质基础上，“现代生产关系，即资本”，“现代生产方式”“现代工业”“现代的经济关系”乃至“现代社会”得以形成。由于资本无穷尽地追求剩余价值，现代工业“从来不把某一生产过程的现存形式看成和当作最后的形式”，而是不断地变革生产的技术基础，工人的技能和劳动过程的社会结合从而也不断地发生着革命，产生新的分工形式、新的生产力、新的物质基础，政治、法律、文化等等也不断生成新的形式。

It is worth noting that the decisive factor in the historical process is ultimately the material production and reproduction of real life, but various factors of the superstructure can also influence the course of historical struggle. For example, the use of state power, “that is, of concentrated, organized social force, to hasten, as in a hothouse, the transformation of the feudal mode of production into the capitalist mode of production, and to shorten the transition.” [13]13 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 1, Chapter 31: “Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist.” The quotation is from the English edition (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1887), as translated by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling. Another example: “The first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class … to use its political supremacy to wrest, by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class, and to increase the total of productive forces as rapidly as possible.”

值得注意的是，历史过程中的决定性因素归根到底是物质的生产与再生产，但上层建筑的各种因素也能影响历史斗争的进程。例如，利用国家权力，“也就是利用集中的、有组织的社会暴力，来大力促进从封建生产方式向资本主义生产方式的转化过程，缩短过渡时间”。又例如，“工人革命的第一步就是使无产阶级上升为统治阶级……利用自己的政治统治，一步一步地夺取资产阶级的全部资本，把一切生产工具集中在国家即组织成为统治阶级的无产阶级手里，并且尽可能快地增加生产力的总量”。

(2) Characteristics of Modern Society

(二)现代社会的特征

In works such as the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx and Engels expounded on the characteristics of modern society around transformations at multiple levels, including the mode of production, social relations, political system, value orientation, and the world market.

马克思、恩格斯在《共产党宣言》等著作中，围绕着生产方式、社会关系、政治制度、价值取向以及世界市场等多个层次的变革，展开了对现代社会特征的论述。

First is the emergence and spread of modern productive forces and relations of production. “The bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together.” The continuous expansion of the market and the constant increase in demand spurred the innovation of instruments of production, transformed the organizational structure of industrial production, greatly conquered and harnessed the forces of nature, and played a huge role in promoting material production. With the immense development of the means of production and exchange, the feudal or guild relations of production could no longer meet the new demand brought by the new market; they became fetters binding production. At this point, only “free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted to it, and by the economical and political sway of the bourgeois class” could match the development of the new productive forces. Thus, the means of production were concentrated, populations were concentrated, and the machine-driven factory organized the labor of modern society. The bourgeoisie, using the labor of the proletariat, constantly increased its capital, and “society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps,” in which the proletariat “has lost all objective conditions; it exists only as a subjective being.” [14]14 The phrase “he only exists subjectively” is from Marx’s *Grundrisse* (Notebook IV, “The Chapter on Capital”), referring to the condition of the proletariat stripped of all objective conditions of labor.

首先是现代生产力与生产关系的萌芽和普及。“资产阶级在它的不到一百年的阶级统治中所创造的生产力，比过去一切世代创造的全部生产力还要多，还要大。”市场的不断扩大与需求的不断增加催生着生产工具的革新，改造了工业生产的组织结构，极大地征服和利用了自然力，对物质生产起到了巨大的推动作用。随着生产资料与交换手段的极大发展，封建的或行会的生产关系无法再满足新市场带来的新增需求，变成了束缚生产的桎梏。此时，只有“自由竞争以及与自由竞争相适应的社会制度和政治制度、资产阶级的经济统治和政治统治”才能匹配新的生产力发展。于是，生产资料集中起来，人口密集起来，机器大工厂组织了现代社会的劳动。资产阶级利用无产阶级的劳动不断增加自己的资本，“整个社会日益分裂为两大敌对的阵营”，其中，无产阶级“完全丧失了客体条件，他只是在主体上存在着”。

The constant revolution of the modern mode of production continuously modernizes all social relations. With the intensification of capital competition, the bourgeoisie, in order to survive, must constantly revolutionize the existing instruments of production, promote and improve the use of machinery, and the wages and employment of workers become increasingly insecure. With the constant revolutionizing of the instruments of production and the relations of production, “all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned.”

现代生产方式的不断变革使一切社会关系也不断现代化。随着资本竞争的不断加剧，资产阶级为了自身的生存必须不断地革新已有的生产工具，推广并改良机器的使用，劳动者的工资与就业也愈来愈没有保障。随着生产工具和生产关系的不断革命化，“一切新形成的关系等不到固定下来就陈旧了。一切等级的和固定的东西都烟消云散了，一切神圣的东西都被亵渎了”。

Thus, a rationalist modern value orientation is formed. The relations of production in modern society cut the bonds of feudal ties; the establishment of social relations depends on considerations of monetary relations. The various “feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations” of traditional society are destroyed and replaced by “naked self-interest” and “callous ‘cash payment’.” Rationalist values based on monetary relations become the mainstream value orientation of modern society. “Man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.”

由此，形成了理性主义的现代价值取向。现代社会的生产关系斩断了封建羁绊的束缚，社会关系的建立取决于对货币关系的考量，传统社会中种种“封建的、宗法的和田园诗般的关系”都被“赤裸裸的利害关系”、“冷酷无情的‘现金交易’”所破坏和取代，建立在货币关系上的理性主义价值成为现代社会的主流价值取向，“人们终于不得不用冷静的眼光来看他们的生活地位、他们的相互关系”。

The modern mode of production and exchange corresponds to a new form of power distribution, and the modern political system of the bourgeoisie is established accordingly. The mode of production of machine-driven large-scale industry brought about the concentration of the means of production and the accumulation of property, and politics also began to centralize. When machine-driven large-scale industry was established and the world market was formed, the power of the bourgeoisie overwhelmed all feudal forces. In the modern representative state, it seized exclusive political domination, making democratic ideas deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. However, formal equality cannot conceal substantive domination by capital; the state power in capitalist society essentially becomes “a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.”

现代的生产与交换方式对应着新的权力分配形式，现代资产阶级的政治制度也随之建立。机器大工业的生产方式带来了生产资料的集中与财产的聚集，政治也开始集中。当机器大工业建立、世界市场形成，资产阶级的力量压倒了一切封建的力量，在现代的代议制国家里夺取了独占的政治统治，使民主观念深入人心。然而，形式上的平等并不能掩盖实质上的资本支配，资本主义社会的国家政权实质上成为“管理整个资产阶级的共同事务的委员会”。

The bourgeoisie not only establishes the modern mode of production within its own country but also brings about transformation on a global scale, forming a modern world market. To expand the market for its products, the bourgeoisie constantly establishes connections all over the world, breaking down all national, self-sufficient, and闭关自守 [15]15 闭关自守 (bì guān zì shǒu): a four-character idiom meaning “to close the country to international intercourse” or “self-seclusion.” traditions, replacing them with comprehensive mutual intercourse and mutual dependence. In a word, the bourgeoisie “compels all nations … to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image.”

资产阶级不仅在本国建立起现代化的生产方式，还带来了全世界范围内的变革，形成现代的世界市场。为了扩大产品的销路，资产阶级不断在全球各地建立联系，打破一切国家、一切民族自给自足和闭关自守的传统状态，代之以全面的互相往来与互相依赖。由此，资产阶级“迫使一切民族……采用资产阶级的生产方式；它迫使它们在自己那里推行所谓的文明，即变成资产者”。一句话，资产阶级“按照自己的面貌为自己创造出一个世界”。

(3) The Laws of Motion of Modern Society

(三)现代社会的运动规律

The laws of motion of modern society in Marx’s texts can be summarized as: “the present society is no solid crystal, but an organism capable of change, and constantly engaged in a process of change.” [16]16 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 1, Preface to the First German Edition (1867). To analyze modernization is to analyze the continuous generation and motion of the capitalist mode of production.

马克思文本中现代社会的运动规律可以概括为，“现在的社会不是坚实的结晶体，而是一个能够变化并且经常处于变化过程中的有机体。”分析现代化，就是分析资本主义生产方式的不断生成与运动。

Society is an organic totality; the grasp of the laws of motion of the modern economy must proceed from the level of the totality. The so-called organic totality is a totality in which internal elements are interconnected and in constant motion. The constituent elements of the totality are like the organs of a biological organism; they can only maintain themselves through the operation of the totality. The laws of motion of the elements are subordinate to the laws of motion of the totality, and the elements influence and constrain each other. Therefore, one must never “separate the various links of the social system” or “turn the various links of society into so many separate societies appearing one after the other” for understanding. [17]17 Karl Marx, *The Poverty of Philosophy* (1847), Chapter 2, Section 1: “The Method.” The motility of the social organism is manifested in the constant growth of productive forces, the constant destruction of social relations, and the constant formation of ideas and institutions. All ideas and categories are historical and transitory products. This is because the needs of human material life, the activities to satisfy needs, and the tools used to satisfy needs constantly give rise to new needs. To meet new needs, social productive forces constantly develop; at the same time, people constantly change their mode of production and all social relations. The conflict and evolution of social relations in turn cause changes in the vast superstructure, maintaining human intercourse and the corresponding mode of production as they move forward.

社会是一个有机总体，对现代经济体运动规律的把握必须从总体的层次出发。所谓有机总体，就是内部要素相互联系、不断运动的总体。总体的各个组成要素如同生物有机体的各个器官，只有在总体的运转下才得以维持自身，要素运动的规律服从于总体运动的规律，要素之间相互影响、相互制约。因此，决不可以将“社会体系的各个环节割裂开来”，“把社会的各个环节变成同等数量的依次出现的单个社会”去理解。社会有机体的运动性体现在生产力不断增长、社会关系不断破坏、观念与制度不断形成，一切观念与范畴都是历史的、暂时的产物。这是因为人类物质生活的需要、满足需要的活动以及为满足需要而用的工具不断引发新的需要，为满足新的需要，社会生产力不断发展，与此同时，人们也不断改变自己的生产方式和一切社会关系。社会关系的冲突和演变又引起庞大上层建筑的变化，维持人的交往以及相应的生产方式向前发展。

The driving force for the constant transformation of the social organic totality is its inherent internal contradictions. “The development of the contradictions of a given historical form of production is the only historical way in which that form is dissolved and a new one is formed.” [18]18 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 1, Chapter 32: “Historical Tendency of Capitalist Accumulation.” The various elements of the totality internally constrain each other, but externally they may not necessarily “find” a compatible relationship with each other. This “inner necessity of the whole, which exists as an independent whole, and the existence of the whole as various mutually independent elements” constitutes the basis of various contradictions. [19]19 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse* (1857–1858), Notebook I, “The Chapter on Money.” Fundamentally, the driving force for the forward development of the socio-economic base comes from the inherent contradictions in a specific mode of production and the overcoming of these contradictions. Because the development of productive forces brings about the division of labor, cooperation, and corresponding changes in relations of production, tension arises between the original relations of production and the existing productive forces, and a conflict emerges between the interests of the individual and the common interests of individuals in mutual intercourse. Only by promoting the continuous adaptation of relations of production to changes in productive forces can the economic organism continuously resolve existing contradictions and continuously generate new forms.

社会有机总体不断变革的动力是其内部的固有矛盾。“一种历史生产形式的矛盾的发展，是这种形式瓦解和新形式形成的惟一的历史道路”。总体的各个要素之间在内部互相制约，在外部却不一定能“寻求得到”与彼此间的适配关系，这种“联系在一起的一个整体的内在必然性，和这个整体作为各种互不相关的独立要素而存在”构成了种种矛盾的基础。从根本上来说，社会经济基础向前发展的动力来自特定生产方式中固有的矛盾和对这种矛盾的克服。因为生产力的发展带来分工协作和相应生产关系的变化，原有生产关系与现有生产力之间产生张力，单个人的利益与互相交往的个人之间的共同利益发生冲突。只有推动生产关系不断适应生产力的变化，经济有机体才能不断化解现有的矛盾、不断生成新的形态。

The organism of modern society is in constant motion and development under the propulsion of contradictions. Owing to the separation of the use-value and exchange-value of commodities in the process of capital’s movement, “the universal connection and all-round dependence of production and consumption grow together with the mutual independence and indifference of consumers and producers,” and there is a continuous contradictory movement between the supply of and demand for commodities. The realization of commodity value encounters obstacles, and if this “dangerous leap” fails repeatedly, it accumulates into large-scale crises. To delay or avoid crises, social production must constantly renew its means to cater to new social needs. Since the production of different sectors is closely linked as stages of a single total production process, “a change in the mode of production in one branch of industry causes a change in other branches of industry,” and the transformation of one or several sectors continuously spreads to the totality of production, even triggering transformations of the economic totality and the social totality as a whole; the relations of production thereby gradually transcend the old social premises and take on new historical forms. Thus, the social organism continuously “creates from within itself the organs it still lacks.”

现代社会的有机体在矛盾推动下不断运动发展。由于资本运动过程中商品使用价值与交换价值的分离，“生产和消费的普遍联系和全面依赖随着消费者和生产者的相互独立和漠不关心而一同增长”，商品的供给与需求之间存在着持续的矛盾运动。商品价值的实现受到阻碍，而这种“惊险的跳跃”若一再失败，就会积累成为大规模的危机。为延缓或避免危机，社会生产必须不断更新其手段，以迎合新的社会需要。由于不同部门的生产都作为一个生产总过程的阶段而紧密联系在一起，“一个工业部门生产方式的变革，会引起其他部门生产方式的变革”，单个或多个部门的变革不断扩散至生产总体，乃至于引发经济总体与社会总体的变革，生产关系得以逐步超越旧的社会前提、采取新的历史形式。由此，社会有机体不断地“把自己还缺乏的器官从社会中创造出来”。

With the development of capitalism, individual, scattered means of production are transformed into social, concentrated means of production, and the cooperative forms of the labor process, which expand in scale, increasingly develop. When the concentration of the means of production and the socialization of labor reach a certain degree, they come into contradiction with the capitalist private ownership of the conditions and results of labor. To resolve the various ills brought about by the inherent contradictions of capitalism, it is necessary to establish, on the ruins of capitalist private ownership, a social ownership by which “the people expropriate the few usurpers,” and gradually form a free association of individuals in which “the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” It is precisely by drawing on the general laws of capitalist modernization expounded by Marx, gaining inspiration from his thought on scientific socialism, and inheriting the legacy of capitalist modernization while striving to transcend its historical limitations, that the Communist Party of China has achieved the sublation and transcendence of capitalist modernization.

随着资本主义的发展，个人的、分散的生产资料转化为社会的、积聚的生产资料，规模不断扩大的劳动过程的协作形式也日益发展，当生产资料集中到一定程度、劳动社会化到一定程度，便与劳动条件、劳动成果都属于私人的资本主义所有制相矛盾。为解决资本主义内在矛盾带来的种种弊病，必须在资本主义所有制的废墟上建立“人民群众剥夺少数掠夺者”的社会所有制，逐步形成“每个人的自由发展是一切人的自由发展的条件”的自由人联合体。中国共产党正是借鉴了马克思所论述的资本主义现代化一般规律，并从其科学社会主义思想中获得启发，在继承资本主义现代化遗产的同时力图超越其历史局限，才实现了对资本主义现代化的扬弃和超越。

III. From the Four Modernizations to Chinese-Path Modernization

三、从四个现代化到中国式现代化

Since modern times in China, from the Self-Strengthening Movement’s “learning the superior technology of the barbarians to control them,” to the Hundred Days’ Reform’s “building the nation on industry,” to Sun Yat-sen’s “saving the nation through industry,” none succeeded in providing the complex system of the economic organism with a fundamental material foundation and operational impetus; the attempt to replicate the established results of the Western industrial revolution in China was doomed to fail. When discussing modernization, “one cannot fail to distinguish between modernization permitted by imperialism and modernization achieved through independence and self-reliance.” [20]20 A reference to Mao Zedong’s distinction between modernization under imperialist domination and modernization achieved independently, reflecting the CPC’s insistence on national sovereignty. China’s modernization strategy has undergone multiple adjustments and deepening. From the “Four Modernizations” in the early years of the founding of New China, to the “Chinese-style Four Modernizations” after reform and opening up, and then to the “synchronization of the Four Modernizations” and “Chinese-path modernization,” the Communist Party of China has consistently adhered to focusing on China’s specific national conditions, developing all aspects of modernization in parallel, and continuously advancing institutional changes that adapt to the development of productive forces, so that the mode of production meets constantly changing social needs. Through the socialist transformation and the planned economic system, an independent industrial system was established; through the transition to a socialist market economic system, a smooth economic transition and rapid growth were achieved; and through targeted poverty alleviation, the historical task of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects was completed.

中国近代以来，从洋务运动的“师夷长技以制夷”，到维新变法的“以工立国”，再到孙中山的“实业救国”，都没能给经济有机体的复杂系统带来根本的物质基础与运行动力，将西方产业革命的既定结果复制到中国的尝试注定失败。讲现代化，“不能不区别帝国主义所允许范围内的现代化和独立自主的现代化”。新中国的现代化战略历经多次调整深化，从新中国成立初期的“四个现代化”到改革开放后的“中国式的四个现代化”，再到“四化同步”与“中国式现代化”，中国共产党始终坚持着眼于中国具体国情，并联式发展现代化的各个方面，不断推进适应生产力发展的体制变革，使生产方式适应不断变化的社会需要。通过社会主义改造与计划经济体制，建立起独立自主的工业体系；通过向社会主义市场经济体制转轨，促成经济的平稳过渡与快速增长；推进精准脱贫，完成了全面建成小康社会的历史任务。

(1) The Four Modernizations

(一)四个现代化

In the late 19th century, the Qing government successively promoted the Self-Strengthening Movement and the Hundred Days’ Reform, developing a certain amount of military industry and modern transportation, and a number of private manufacturing enterprises emerged. However, the Qing government was unable to bear the organizational function of social transformation; major decisions were slow, and enterprise production remained inefficient. After the 20th century, the turmoil caused by imperialist forces and warlord separatism could not support the coordinated development of domestic industry, and the rate of domestic capital accumulation actually slowed. Amid internal and external troubles, the debate between “building the nation on agriculture” and “building the nation on industry” within the discourse of “modernization” became a hot topic among Chinese people of vision and integrity. The Chinese Communists clearly pointed out: “The main reason for China’s backwardness is the lack of modern industry.” [21]21 Quotation from Mao Zedong, “On Coalition Government” (1945), emphasizing the role of modern industry in national development. More importantly, the Chinese Communists recognized that the fundamental obstacle to the development of China’s national industry was the semi-colonial and semi-feudal social system. Under bureaucratic oppression and imperialist control, only by “eliminating the exploitation and oppression of the landlord class and the bureaucratic bourgeoisie (the big bourgeoisie), changing the comprador feudal relations of production, liberating the fettered productive forces,” and breaking the contradiction between the old relations of production and the development of productive forces, could China’s modernization process be formally initiated.

19世纪后期，清政府先后推行自强运动与维新变法，发展了一定的军事工业与现代交通运输事业，出现了一批民营制造业。但清政府无力承担社会变革的组织功能，重大决策缓慢，企业生产依旧低效。20世纪后，帝国主义势力与军阀割据造成的动乱无以支撑国内工业的统筹发展，国内资本积累速度反而减慢。内忧外患之下，“现代化”的“以农立国”与“以工立国”之争成为当时国内仁人志士议论的热门话题。中国共产党人明确指出:“中国落后的原因，主要的是没有新式工业”。更重要的是，中国共产党人认识到中国民族工业发展的根本阻碍是半殖民地半封建的社会制度，在官僚压迫与帝国主义掌控之下，只有“消灭地主阶级和官僚资产阶级(大资产阶级)的剥削和压迫，改变买办的封建的生产关系，解放被束缚的生产力”，破除旧时代的生产关系与生产力发展之间的矛盾，才能正式开启中国的现代化进程。

Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people successively completed the New Democratic Revolution and the Socialist Revolution, clearing away the obstacles of the old system for modernization. Between 1949 and 1952, China carried out the largest land reform movement in world history, completely abolishing feudal land ownership. Under the leadership of the socialist state-owned economy, various economic sectors—including semi-socialist cooperative economies, private capitalist economies, individual economies, and state-capitalist economies formed by cooperation between state capital and private capital—were organized to cooperate and divide labor. In December 1953, Mao Zedong established that the essence of the Party’s general line for the transition period was “to make socialist ownership of the means of production the sole economic foundation of our state and society,” and pointed out: “We must do this because only by completing the transition from private ownership of the means of production to socialist ownership can we facilitate the rapid development of social productive forces.” [22]22 From Mao Zedong’s remarks on the general line for the transition period (1953), outlining the goal of socialist transformation. The socialist transformation of ownership had to be carried out faster than industrialization, so as to surpass the limitations of the level of development of productive forces. Proceeding from this understanding, the Communist Party of China implemented, in an extremely short period, the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts, and capitalist industry and commerce, establishing a planned economic system based on public ownership. In 1956, the Eighth National Congress of the Party declared that “the socialist social system has been basically established in our country,” and that the principal contradiction in the country had become “the contradiction between the people’s demand for building an advanced industrial country and the reality of a backward agricultural country” and “the contradiction between the people’s need for rapid economic and cultural development and the current inability of the economy and culture to meet that need.” [23]23 The Eighth National Congress of the CPC (1956) formally declared the establishment of socialism in China and redefined the principal contradiction.

中国共产党领导全国人民先后完成了新民主主义革命、社会主义革命，为现代化发展铲除了旧制度的障碍。1949—1952年间，中国完成了世界历史上规模最大的土地改革运动，彻底消灭了封建土地所有制，在具有社会主义性质的国营经济的领导下，组织了半社会主义性质的合作社经济、私人资本主义经济、个体经济、国家资本同私人资本合作的国家资本主义经济等各种经济成分分工合作。1953年12月，毛泽东确立党在过渡时期总路线的实质为“使生产资料的社会主义所有制成为我国国家和社会的唯一的经济基础”，并指出“我们所以必须这样做，是因为只有完成了由生产资料的私人所有制到社会主义所有制的过渡，才利于社会生产力的迅速向前发展”。必须使社会主义的所有制改造快于工业化而进行，以越过生产力发展水平的限制。从这个认识出发，中国共产党在极短的时间内实施了对农业、手工业和资本主义工商业的社会主义改造，确立了以公有制为基础的计划经济体制。1956年，党的八大宣布，“社会主义的社会制度在我国已经基本上建立起来了”，国内的主要矛盾已经转变为“人民对于建立先进的工业国的要求同落后的农业国的现实之间的矛盾”和“人民对于经济文化迅速发展的需要同当前经济文化不能满足人民需要的状况之间的矛盾”。

Land reform and the collectivization of agriculture ensured the initial source of funds for industrial accumulation. “The agricultural labor productivity that exceeds the individual needs of the laborers is the foundation of all societies.” [24]24 Quotation from Marx, *Capital*, Volume III, on the foundational role of agricultural productivity. After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong proposed that “the industrialization of the country can succeed only with the assistance of the peasants,” and that “the relations of production of individual ownership are in complete conflict with large-scale supply.” [25]25 From Mao Zedong’s writings on agricultural cooperativization (1955), stressing the need for collective ownership to support industrialization. In concrete practice, this meant implementing the unified purchase and marketing of agricultural products and guiding peasants toward cooperativization. On the one hand, it united the poor peasants and lower-middle peasants, who constituted 60–70% of the peasantry, using cooperation to promote the development of agricultural productive forces; on the other hand, cooperativization meant that the state no longer needed to conduct transactions with millions upon millions of individual peasants, drastically reducing transaction costs between administrative organs and cooperative organizations, transferring agricultural surplus to the cities, resolving the tension in grain supply and marketing, and ensuring an adequate supply of industrial raw materials. Under the effect of a series of policy tools, the transfer of agricultural surplus to the urban sector as a percentage of total agricultural output rapidly increased from below 10% in the early 1950s to around 20% after the 1960s, providing important support for the establishment of the material foundation of industry.

土地改革与农业集体化改造确保了工业积累的初始资金来源。“超过劳动者个人需要的农业劳动生产率，是全部社会的基础”。新中国成立后，毛泽东提出“国家工业化又要靠农民的援助才能成功”，并且，“个体所有制的生产关系与大量供应是完全冲突的”。从具体实践来看，就是要进行农产品统购统销，引导农民向合作化方向发展。一方面，使占农民60%~70%的贫农和下中农联合起来，以协作促进农业生产力发展；另一方面，合作化使得国家不需要和千千万万个农民进行交易，行政机构与合作化组织之间的交易成本大幅度下降，将农业剩余向城市转移，解决粮食供销紧张的问题，使工业原料得到充分供应。在一系列政策工具的作用下，农业剩余向城市部门转移占农业总产出的百分比从20世纪50年代初的低于10%迅速增加到60年代后的20%左右，为工业物质基础的建立提供了重要支撑。

On the basis of the completion of the socialist transformation, the Communist Party of China, following the systematic construction line of the “four modernizations,” led the nation’s industrial construction. In the early days of the founding of New China, the outbreak of the Korean War and the blockade imposed on China by the developed countries made the central authorities aware of the urgency of developing the military industry, believing it necessary to “ensure the completion of major projects that play a decisive role for the country and can rapidly strengthen the nation’s industrial base and national defense capabilities.” Under the program of giving priority to the development of heavy industry, New China’s modernization construction followed a systematic concept. In 1954, the central authorities first proposed the “four modernizations” strategy, namely, “building a powerful modern industry, modern agriculture, modern transportation, and modern national defense” in order to “shake off backwardness and poverty.” During the period of the First Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government, with the help of Soviet technical assistance and trade cooperation, gradually formulated the “156 Projects” construction plan to coordinate the production of various products. However, after 1959, relations between China and the Soviet Union deteriorated, and the Soviet side’s “stranglehold” on key core technologies caused the development of the “two bombs, one satellite” [26]26 The “two bombs, one satellite” (两弹一星) refers to China’s development of nuclear bombs (atomic and hydrogen), missiles, and artificial satellites, a major national defense and technology project from the 1950s to the 1970s. and other work to fall into difficulty. Against this backdrop, the importance of science and technology and national defense in the national modernization strategy was rapidly elevated. In 1957, building “modern science and culture” was included in the modernization goals; in 1964, “science and culture” was replaced by “science and technology.” At the start of the Third Five-Year Plan in 1966, the main task of national economic development became “to build China into a powerful socialist country with modern agriculture, modern industry, modern national defense, and modern science and technology within a not-too-long historical period.” Under the guidance of the “four modernizations” strategy, the Chinese government invested substantial funds in developing various new types of weapons such as the “two bombs, one satellite,” supported the research and development of various heavy machinery and precision instruments, and developed the chemical and electrical industries, providing a strong guarantee for the establishment of a complete and independent industrial system in China.

在社会主义改造完成的基础上，中国共产党遵循“四个现代化”的系统建设路线，领导了全国的工业建设。新中国成立初期，朝鲜战争的爆发与发达国家对中国的封锁使中央意识到军事工业发展的迫切性，认为需要“确保那些对国家起决定作用的，能迅速增强国家工业基础与国防力量的主要工程的完成”。在重工业优先发展的纲领下，新中国的现代化建设遵循系统观念。1954年，中央首次提出“四个现代化”战略，即“建设起强大的现代化的工业、现代化的农业、现代化的交通运输业和现代化的国防”以“摆脱落后和贫困”。“一五”计划时期，中国政府借助苏联的技术协助与贸易合作，逐步制定“156项”建设计划，协调各方面产品生产。然而，1959年后中苏交恶，苏方在关键核心技术上的“卡脖子”使“两弹一星”研发等工作陷入困境。在此背景下，科技与国防在国家现代化战略中的重要性被迅速拔高。1957年，建设“现代科学文化”被列入现代化目标；1964年，“科学文化”被“科学技术”取代。1966年“三五”计划开始，国民经济发展的主要任务成为“在不太长的历史时期内，把我国建设成为一个具有现代农业、现代工业、现代国防和现代科学技术的社会主义强国。在“四个现代化”战略的指导下，中国政府投入大量资金研发“两弹一星”等各类新式武器，支持研发各类重型机器、精密仪器，发展化工行业、电气行业，为中国完整、自主工业体系的建立提供了有力保障。

In the first half of the 20th century, China was still a backward agricultural country with scarce resources and a poor people. Establishing an industrial material base in a short period was crucial for the modernization of society. On the basis of the socialist planned economy system, the planning and practice of the “four modernizations” prevented China from being forced to become dependent on other countries, greatly ensuring the sustainability of accumulation. From 1953 to 1978, the average annual growth rate of China’s total industrial and agricultural output value was 8.2%, of which the average annual growth rate of total industrial output value was 11.4%, and the average annual growth rate of national income was 6%. Production in sectors such as steel, automobiles, electronics, and chemicals reached a certain scale; railway and highway trunk lines spanning the east, west, north, and south of the country were completed; and national defense, scientific and technological construction, and natural science research all made significant progress. By 1978, a relatively complete and independent industrial system had been formed in China, and the material foundation of the modern economic organism had been initially established.

20世纪上半叶，中国还是一个资源短缺、人民贫困的落后农业国，在短期内建立工业物质基础对于社会的现代化至关重要。在社会主义计划经济体制的基础上，“四个现代化”的规划与实践使中国不至于被迫依附其他国家，极大保证了积累的可持续性。1953年到1978年，中国工农业总产值年均增长率为8.2%，其中工业总产值年平均增长率为11.4%，国民收入年均增长率为6%。钢铁、汽车、电子、化工等部门的生产达到一定规模，建成了贯穿全国东西南北的铁路与公路干线，国防与科技建设与自然科学研究都取得长足进展。到1978年，在中国已经形成较为完整、独立的工业体系，现代经济有机体的物质基础初步建立。

(2) Chinese-Style Modernization

(二)中国式的现代化

The establishment of the basic socialist economic system and the planned economy system promoted the rapid replacement of relations of production and the great development of productive forces. The “four modernizations” strategy established the necessary material foundation for the development of the social organism. However, the contradictions inherent in the planned economy system gradually became apparent: the economy’s ability to circulate spontaneously was low, unable to support the release of production capacity and the improvement of people’s living standards. At the same time, the development model prioritizing heavy industry led to an imbalance in the national economy, with over-accumulation in industry and a shortage of consumer goods. China’s socialist modernization process reached a historical turning point.

社会主义基本经济制度与计划经济体制的建立推动了生产关系的迅速更替和生产力的大发展，“四个现代化”战略为社会有机体的发展建立了必要的物质基础。然而计划经济体制蕴含的矛盾也逐渐显现，经济自发循环能力低下，无以支撑生产能力的释放与人民生活水平的提高。同时，重工业优先的发展模式使国民经济比例失调，工业积累过剩而消费品短缺。中国的社会主义现代化进程来到了历史的转折点。

In 1979, Deng Xiaoping clearly emphasized that the principal contradiction in Chinese society at that time was “the low level of development of productive forces, which was far from meeting the needs of the people and the state,” and resolving this principal contradiction was the central task of the entire Party and the entire people. Centered on this central task, it was necessary to “engage in construction” and to “suit China’s conditions and blaze a path of Chinese-style modernization.” In March, Deng Xiaoping stated: “The goal we have set is to achieve the four modernizations by the end of this century. Our concept is different from the West’s… it is called Chinese-style four modernizations.” In October, Deng Xiaoping further pointed out: “Chinese-style modernization means lowering the standard a bit.” At the end of the same year, when meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Deng Xiaoping stated: “Our concept of the four modernizations… is a ‘moderately prosperous society.’” On this basis, the goal of Chinese-style modernization evolved into a more prudent and pragmatic “three-step” strategy: the first step was to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people; the second step was to double the gross national product by the end of the 20th century, bringing the people’s living standards to a moderately prosperous level; the third step was to reach the level of moderately developed countries in per capita gross national product by the middle of the 21st century, basically realizing modernization. Compared with the “four modernizations,” “Chinese-style modernization” also focused on developing all aspects of the economy and society in a parallel manner, but it was more suited to China’s national conditions and creatively proposed the goal of building a moderately prosperous society.

1979年，邓小平明确强调，当时中国社会的主要矛盾是“生产力发展水平很低，远远不能满足人民和国家的需要”，解决这个主要矛盾是全党和全国人民的中心任务。围绕着这一中心任务，必须“搞建设”，必须“适合中国情况，走出一条中国式的现代化道路”。3月，邓小平提出:“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……叫做中国式的四个现代化。”10月，邓小平又指出，“中国式的现代化，就是把标准放低一点。”同年年底，邓小平在会见日本首相时指出:“我们的四个现代化的概念……是‘小康之家’。”在此基础上，中国式现代化的目标演变成更为审慎、务实的“三步走”，第一步是解决人民温饱问题，第二步是到20世纪末国民生产总值再增长一倍，人民生活达到小康水平，第三步是到21世纪中叶时人均国民生产总值达到中等发达国家水平，基本实现现代化。与“四个现代化”相比，“中国式的现代化”同样着眼于并联式地发展经济社会的各个方面，但更加适合中国国情，创造性地提出了建设小康社会的目标。

How to overcome the principal contradiction of society and blaze a path of Chinese-style modernization? Generally speaking, it was to “greatly raise the productive forces” and “change in many respects the relations of production and the superstructure that are incompatible with the development of the productive forces, and change all management methods, modes of activity, and ways of thinking that are incompatible.” Deng Xiaoping pointed out: “At present, the power of economic management in our country is too centralized. It should be boldly delegated in a planned way; otherwise, it will not be conducive to fully mobilizing the initiative of the four aspects—the state, localities, enterprises, and individual workers—nor to implementing modernized economic management and raising labor productivity. … It is necessary, under the condition of unified understanding, unified policy, unified plan, unified command, and unified action, to grant more autonomy in economic planning, finance, foreign trade, and other aspects.” In simple terms, it meant that “socialism can also practice a market economy,” and it was necessary to carry out, in a planned, step-by-step, and orderly manner, the institutional transformation toward a transition to a socialist market economy.

如何克服社会的主要矛盾，走出一条中国式的现代化道路呢?总的来说，就是“大幅度地提高生产力”，“多方面地改变同生产力发展不适应的生产关系和上层建筑，改变一切不适应的管理方式、活动方式和思想方式”。邓小平指出:“现在我国的经济管理体制权力过于集中，应该有计划地大胆下放，否则不利于充分发挥国家、地方、企业和劳动者个人四个方面的积极性，也不利于实行现代化的经济管理和提高劳动生产率。……有必要在统一认识、统一政策、统一计划、统一指挥、统一行动之下，在经济计划和财政、外贸等方面给予更多的自主权。”简单来说，就是“社会主义也可以搞市场经济”，要有计划、有步骤、有秩序地开展向社会主义市场经济转轨的体制变革。

In the early stages of reform, with the gradual relaxation of market access and the gradual lifting of price controls, various economic entities in the industrial and agricultural sectors quickly filled the gaps in the state’s blank fields and organized competition, which greatly mobilized the potential of social production. Light industry developed rapidly, subsequently releasing upstream industrial capacity. By the end of the 1980s, the rudiments of China’s market economy system had been initially established, the problem of food and clothing for residents had been basically solved, and production mainly of durable consumer goods quickly reached the upper limit of growth. Subsequently, the central government continued to promote institutional changes in various aspects such as fiscal and taxation, finance, and trade, and deepened the reform of state-owned enterprises. The tax-sharing system reform [27]27 The tax-sharing system reform (分税制改革), implemented in 1994, restructured fiscal relations between the central and local governments, assigning specific tax revenues to each level to strengthen central fiscal capacity and local incentives. promoted after the 1990s not only strengthened the central government’s macro-control capacity but also created new incentives for local growth. To attract investment, local governments promoted infrastructure construction and established industrial parks, developing private enterprises and introducing foreign-invested enterprises. With the lifting of restrictions on farmers entering cities and a large number of layoffs of former state-owned enterprise employees, a large surplus labor force flowed into urban industries, and the output of light industry increased rapidly. In 1998, China completely bid farewell to the era of shortage; residents’ consumption shifted from subsistence to quality-oriented consumption, and basic durable consumer goods began to be upgraded. Entering the 21st century, starting with China’s accession to the WTO, China deeply integrated into the global production network. Relying on the factor advantages within the Chinese market, it introduced foreign capital and technology and exported processed trade goods, gradually forming a supply-demand structure of large-scale production and large-scale export. Under the wave of a new round of technological revolution, the report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC proposed promoting “the deep integration of informatization and industrialization, the positive interaction between industrialization and urbanization, and the mutual coordination of urbanization and agricultural modernization, and promoting the synchronous development of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization.” The strategic connotation of parallel modernization was once again expanded and deepened.

改革初期，随着市场准入的逐步放开与价格管制的逐步解除，工农业部门各经济主体迅速填补国家空白领域并组织竞争，这极大地调动了社会生产的潜力。轻工业迅速发展，继而释放上游工业产能。到20世纪80年代末，中国市场经济体制的雏形已初步建立，居民温饱问题已基本得到解决，以耐用消费品为主要产品的生产很快达到增长的上限。随后，中央政府持续推进财税、金融与贸易等各个方面的体制变革，深化国有企业改革。20世纪90年代后推进的分税制改革不仅加强了中央的宏观调控能力，也为地方增长创造了新的激励。地方政府为了招商引资，推进基础设施建设并设立产业园区，发展民营企业、引进外资企业。随着农民进城限制被打破、原国有企业员工大量下岗，大量剩余劳动力流入城镇工业，轻工业产量迅速增加。1998年，中国彻底告别短缺时代，居民温饱型消费转向质量型消费，基础耐用消费品开始升级换代。进入21世纪后，中国以加入WTO为起点，深度融入全球生产网络，依靠中国市场内部的要素优势，引进外资与技术、输出加工贸易品，逐渐形成大规模生产、大规模出口的供需结构。在新一轮科技革命浪潮下，党的十八大报告提出，推动“信息化和工业化深度融合、工业化和城镇化良性互动、城镇化和农业现代化相互协调，促进工业化、信息化、城镇化、农业现代化同步发展”，并联式发展现代化的战略内涵再一次拓展深化。

Under the guidance of the Chinese-path modernization strategy, the Chinese government has achieved the great miracle of rapid economic growth under the conditions of a socialist market economy. By the end of the 20th century, China’s industrial sectors already covered all categories of mining and manufacturing in the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities. In 2012, grain output had increased by 93.5 percent compared with 1978. National income rose substantially, and the Engel coefficients of both urban and rural residents fell by more than 20 percentage points. From 1978 to 2012, China maintained a period of rapid growth lasting more than three decades, with an average annual GDP growth rate of 9.8 percent; “the people’s standard of living reached a comfortable level on the whole,” and the phased strategic objectives of Chinese-path modernization were smoothly achieved.

在中国式现代化战略的指导下，中国政府实现了在社会主义市场经济条件下实现经济高速增长的伟大奇迹。到20世纪末时，中国工业行业已覆盖联合国《全部经济活动国际标准产业分类》中所有工矿业门类。2012年，粮食产量比1978年增长93.5%。国民收入大幅提高，城镇与农村居民恩格尔系数均下降超20个百分点。1978年至2012年，中国维持了三十余年的高速增长期，GDP年均增长9.8%，“人民生活总体上达到小康水平”，顺利实现了中国式现代化的阶段性战略目标。

(3) Completing the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects

(三)全面建成小康社会

Reform and opening up set in motion China’s rapid economic growth, but under the large-scale production mode that dominated this period, relatively cheap domestic labor costs supported a production-consumption structure of “two ends abroad, large imports and large exports.” [28]28 “Two ends abroad, large imports and large exports” (两头在外、大进大出) refers to an export-oriented development model in which raw materials and components are imported from abroad, processed or assembled in China, and the finished products are then exported to foreign markets. Economic development still suffered from problems of imbalance, incoordination, and unsustainability. By the end of 2012, China still had 98.99 million rural poor, and there remained enormous room for growth in domestic consumer demand. Under the extensive development model, “the carrying capacity of the environment had reached or was approaching its upper limit.” After the international financial crisis, the world economy recovered sluggishly, protectionism was widespread, and reliance on exports created enormous external risks. To smoothly advance Chinese-path modernization, it was necessary to transition from “a comfortable life on the whole” to “a moderately prosperous society in all respects,” and to focus on achieving balanced, coordinated, and sustainable development.

改革开放启动了中国经济的高速增长，但在这一时期内占主导的大规模生产方式下，相对低廉的国内劳动力成本支撑了“两头在外、大进大出”的生产消费结构，经济发展仍存在不平衡、不协调、不可持续的问题。截至2012年底，中国仍有9899万农村贫困人口，国内消费需求增长还存在巨大空间。粗放型发展下“环境承载能力已经达到或接近上限”。国际金融危机后世界经济复苏乏力，保护主义普遍，依赖出口造成巨大外部风险。为顺利推进中国式现代化，必须从“总体小康”向“全面小康”过渡，着力实现平衡、协调、可持续的发展。

To complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the Party Central Committee adopted a series of major measures. First, to address the most prominent shortcoming of rural poverty, it implemented a targeted poverty alleviation strategy, with a cumulative investment of nearly 1.6 trillion yuan from fiscal funds at all levels specifically for poverty reduction. By 2021, according to the current standard, “all 98.99 million rural poor had been lifted out of poverty, all 832 impoverished counties had been removed from the poverty list, all 128,000 impoverished villages had been removed from the list, and regional overall poverty had been resolved.” Second, to address the shortcoming in ecological progress, the central government successively revised the Ambient Air Quality Standards, issued the “Ten Measures for Air Pollution Control,” and printed and distributed the Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Battle for a Blue Sky. By February 2021, the steel industry had completed ultra-low emission transformation of 620 million tons of production capacity; from 2017 to 2020, the share of coal in national energy consumption fell from 60.4 percent to about 57 percent. Finally, under unfavorable external conditions such as the rise of trade protectionism, the central government adhered to “making the expansion of domestic demand a long-term strategic policy for economic development, giving full play to the fundamental role of consumption and the key role of investment,” raising consumption capacity, stabilizing consumption expectations, enhancing consumption willingness, improving the consumption environment, and raising the quality and efficiency of investment, thereby maintaining stable economic growth.

为了全面建成小康社会，党中央采取了一系列重大举措。首先，为了解决农村贫困这一最突出的短板，实施精准脱贫战略，各级财政专项扶贫资金累计投入近1.6万亿元。到2021年时，按照现行标准，“9899万农村贫困人口全部脱贫，832个贫困县全部摘帽，12.8万个贫困村全部出列，区域性整体贫困得到解决”。其次，针对生态文明建设的短板，中央先后修订《环境空气质量标准》、出台“大气十条”、印发《打赢蓝天保卫战三年行动计划》。截至2021年2月，钢铁行业超低排放改造产能6.2亿吨；2017—2020年，全国煤炭消费比重由60.4%降至57%左右。最后，在贸易保护主义抬头等不利外部条件下，中央坚持“把扩大内需作为经济发展的长期战略方针，充分发挥消费的基础作用和投资的关键作用”，提高消费能力、稳定消费预期、增强消费意愿、改善消费环境，提高投资的质量和效益，维持了经济的稳定增长。

In 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping declared that China had achieved the First Centenary Goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. [29]29 The First Centenary Goal is the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in 2021. With this, China embarked on a new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects. [30]30 The Second Centenary Goal is the goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects by the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 2049. The principal contradiction in Chinese society during this period is “the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development.” “Unbalanced and inadequate development is a manifestation of low-quality development,” reflected on the supply side in “severe overcapacity in some industries and sectors, while a large number of key equipment, core technologies, and high-end products still rely on imports,” and on the demand side in “some consumer demands supported by substantial purchasing power cannot be effectively met by domestic supply.” “Demand has changed, but the products supplied have not changed, and quality and services have not kept up.” The currently dominant large-scale production mode adopts assembly-line automated production and vertically integrated management models. Although it can produce large quantities of standardized products at relatively high speed, huge sunk costs make it difficult to switch product lines, and under the “bottleneck” of key technologies and energy resources, industrial upgrading is difficult. This brings about production rigidity and relative overcapacity, making the supply system unable to adapt to “the people’s personalized, diversified, and constantly upgrading needs.” Against the backdrop of sluggish global aggregate demand, the mismatch between supply and demand has brought about trend changes in nine major areas: consumer demand, investment demand, exports and the balance of payments, production capacity and industrial organization, the relative advantages of production factors, the characteristics of market competition, resource and environmental constraints, the accumulation and resolution of economic risks, and the model of resource allocation and macro-control. Economic development has entered a “new normal.”

2021年，习近平总书记宣告，中国实现了全面建成小康社会的第一个百年奋斗目标。由此，中国开启了向全面建成社会主义现代化强国的第二个百年奋斗目标进发的新征程。这一时期中国社会的主要矛盾是“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”。“不平衡不充分的发展就是发展质量不高的表现”，体现为供给侧“一些行业和产业产能严重过剩，同时大量关键装备、核心技术、高端产品还依赖进口”，需求侧“一些有大量购买力支撑的消费需求在国内得不到有效供给”，“需求变了，供给的产品却没有变，质量、服务跟不上”。当前占主导的大规模生产方式采取流水线自动化生产与纵向一体化管理模式，尽管能够以较快速度生产大量标准化产品，但是巨大的沉没成本使产品线转换困难，关键技术和资源能源“卡脖子”下，产业升级困难。这带来生产的僵化与产能的相对过剩，供给体系难以适应“人民群众个性化、多样化、不断升级的需求”。在全球总需求不振的背景下，供给与需求的错配带来消费需求、投资需求、出口和国际收支、生产能力和产业组织方式、生产要素相对优势、市场竞争特点、资源环境和约束、经济风险积累和化解、资源配置模式和宏观调控方式等九大领域中的趋势性变化，经济发展进入“新常态”。

In 2015, in response to the situation where effective supply could not adapt to changes in the aggregate and structure of demand, Xi Jinping pointed out: “The problems facing China’s economic development exist on both the supply and demand sides, but the main aspect of the contradiction is on the supply side,” and proposed the supply-side structural reform strategy, namely, “using reform measures to advance structural adjustment, reduce ineffective and low-end supply, expand effective and medium-to-high-end supply, and enhance the adaptability and flexibility of the supply structure to changes in demand.” In the short term, focusing on the tasks of cutting overcapacity, reducing inventory, deleveraging, lowering costs, and shoring up weaknesses, the central government promoted and implemented a series of measures, such as promoting mergers and reorganizations of enterprises in industries like steel, regulating the real estate market by category and carrying out renovation of shantytown housing, expanding the scope of preferential income tax policies for small and micro enterprises and reducing non-tax burdens, and increasing funds for targeted poverty alleviation and infrastructure construction. In the long term, the central government planned and laid out the construction of a modernized economic system, fully supporting enterprises in “identifying weak links in key core technologies and components, concentrating high-quality resources to tackle key problems together,” and “promoting the rapid flow of various resource factors and the accelerated integration of various market entities, helping market entities to restructure their organizational models,” forming an innovation-led, synergistically developed modern industrial system. On this basis, it promoted the construction of a modernized economic system encompassing multiple systems including the market, income distribution, urban-rural regional development, green development, and all-round opening up, as well as the economic system itself.

2015年，针对有效供给不能适应需求总量和结构变化的情况，习近平指出:“我国经济发展面临的问题，供给和需求两侧都有，但矛盾的主要方面在供给侧”，并提出供给侧结构性改革战略，即“用改革的办法推进结构调整，减少无效和低端供给，扩大有效和中高端供给，增强供给结构对需求变化的适应性和灵活性”。短期内，以推进去产能、去库存、去杠杆、降成本、补短板的任务为重点，中央政府推动实施了一系列措施，例如推动钢铁等行业企业兼并重组、分类调控房地产市场并进行棚户区住房改造、扩大小微企业所得税优惠范围并降低非税负担、扩大专项扶贫与基础设施建设资金等等。长期内，中央政府谋划布局现代化经济体系建设，全力支持企业“找准关键核心技术和零部件薄弱环节，集中优质资源合力攻关”，并“推动各类资源要素快捷流动、各类市场主体加速融合，帮助市场主体重构组织模式”，形成创新引领、协同发展的现代化产业体系，并在此基础上推动包含市场、收入分配、城乡区域发展、绿色发展与全面开放等多个体系以及经济体制在内的现代化经济体系建设。

Under the high-quality development goals of “innovation becoming the primary driving force, coordination becoming an endogenous characteristic, green becoming a universal form, openness becoming a necessary path, and sharing becoming the fundamental purpose,” and by “organically combining the implementation of the strategy of expanding domestic demand with deepening supply-side structural reform,” China is expected to raise its production mode to a new level, resolve unbalanced and inadequate development, continuously meet the people’s personalized, diversified, and constantly upgrading needs, and achieve the long-term goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects.

在“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”的高质量发展目标下，通过“把实施扩大内需战略同深化供给侧结构性改革有机结合起来”，中国有望使生产方式跃升至新的水平，解决发展的不平衡、不充分，不断满足人民群众个性化、多样化不断升级的需求，实现全面建成社会主义现代化强国的远期目标。

Throughout the course of Chinese-path modernization, the Communist Party of China has consistently adhered to integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, transcending narrow capital interests by establishing a basic socialist economic system, and continuously adjusting policies and guidelines according to the principal contradictions of each historical stage. It is precisely for this reason that the Chinese-path modernization path manifests a combination of the general and the particular in modernization, following the common features of modernization in all countries while fully adapting to China’s national conditions and reflecting its national characteristics, thereby creating a new form of human civilization.

在中国式现代化历程中，中国共产党一直坚持将马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，通过建立社会主义基本经济制度超越狭隘的资本利益，并不断根据各个历史阶段的主要矛盾调整政策方针。正因为如此，中国式现代化道路才呈现出现代化一般性与特殊性的结合，遵循各国现代化共同特征，也充分适应中国国情并反映民族特点，创造了人类文明新形态。

IV. The Generality and Particularity of Chinese-Path Modernization

四、中国式现代化的一般性与特殊性

Modernization theory presupposes a priori that capitalism is rational and modern, while other systems are blind and traditional. However, “there exists neither a single model of modernization that is set in stone, nor a universal standard for modernization that applies everywhere.” [31]31 Xi Jinping, “Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects – Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,” October 16, 2022. “The Chinese Communists have deeply recognized that only by integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, and by adhering to the use of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, can they correctly answer the major questions posed by the times and by practice, and can they always maintain the vigorous vitality and exuberant energy of Marxism.” [32]32 Ibid. The path of Chinese-path modernization fully confirms the thought on modernization found in Marx’s texts. At the levels of the mode of production, political system, social relations, value orientation, and the world market, it exhibits the general characteristics of modernization in all countries. At the same time, according to the historical juncture and the principal contradiction, it fully manifests China’s particularity in terms of the leading subject, the basic system, population size, development purpose, civilizational development, ecological construction, and foreign relations. By combining the general and the particular in a sound manner, it breaks down the a priori understanding of modernization. Chinese-path modernization echoes Marx’s thought on scientific socialism, enriches modernization theory, and has successfully opened up a new path for developing countries to achieve modernization.

现代化理论先验地认为，资本主义是理性的、现代的，而其他制度是盲目的、传统的。但是，“世界上既不存在定于一尊的现代化模式，也不存在放之四海而皆准的现代化标准”。“中国共产党人深刻认识到，只有把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，坚持运用辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义，才能正确回答时代和实践提出的重大问题，才能始终保持马克思主义的蓬勃生机和旺盛活力”。中国式现代化道路充分印证了马克思文本中的现代化思想，在生产方式、政治制度、社会关系、价值取向以及世界市场等层次呈现出各国现代化的一般性，又根据历史方位与主要矛盾，在领导主体、基本制度、人口规模、发展目的、文明发展、生态建设以及对外关系等方面充分彰显了中国的特殊性，以一般性与特殊性的良好结合破除了先验的现代化认知。中国式现代化呼应了马克思的科学社会主义思想，丰富了现代化理论，成功为发展中国家走向现代化拓展了新的路径。

(I) The Generality of Chinese-Path Modernization

(一)中国式现代化的一般性

Chinese-path modernization conforms to the thought on modernization in Marx’s texts; it is a multi-level modernization led by the industrialization of the mode of production. At the level of the mode of production, during the period of the planned economy China established heavy-industry sectors with a high degree of equipment self-sufficiency and close input-output linkages. After reform and opening up, light-industry sectors experienced explosive growth, adapting to changes in the consumption structure. The material foundation of Chinese-path modernization was laid here. At the same time, corresponding changes have taken place at the levels of the political system, social relations, value orientation, and the world market. At the level of the political system, the Communist Party of China, as an organized modern political party, continuously updates and improves its governance system, effectively coordinating and promoting economic development. At the level of social relations, a large quantity of labor power has shifted from the agricultural sector to urban non-agricultural sectors, fostering the growth of a sizable group of industrial workers, entrepreneurs, professional technical personnel, and individual business owners. The social mobility of labor power has greatly increased, and extensive social connections and economic interdependence have formed among people. At the level of value orientation, the feudal and outdated values of traditional agricultural society have gradually dissipated. People have begun to use a scientific worldview and methodology to solve problems, developing the spirit of emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, and being realistic and pragmatic, thereby continuously realizing the modernization of people themselves. At the level of the world market, China has engaged in deep technological and trade exchanges with advanced industrial countries. After reform and opening up, it has become deeply integrated into the global political and economic system, continuously optimizing its pattern of opening up. The multi-level coordinated transformation of Chinese-path modernization embodies the characteristic of constant movement of the complex social organism, profoundly echoing the thought on modernization in Marx’s texts.

中国式现代化符合马克思文本中的现代化思想，是以生产方式工业化为其引领的多层次现代化。在生产方式层面，中国在计划经济时期建立起了高度设备自给、投入产出联系紧密的重工业部门，改革开放以后，轻工业部门井喷式发展，适应了消费结构的变化，中国式现代化的物质基础奠定于此。同时政治制度、社会关系、价值取向与世界市场等层面上也在发生相应的变革。在政治制度层面，中国共产党作为组织化的现代政党，不断更新完善其治理体系，有效统筹推动了经济发展。在社会关系层面，大量劳动力从农业部门转移至城镇非农部门，培育起了具有一定规模的产业工人、企业家、专业技术人员和个体工商户群体。劳动力的社会流动性大大增强，人与人之间形成广泛的社会联络与经济依赖。在价值取向层面，传统农业社会封建、陈旧的价值观念逐渐消弭，人们开始运用科学的世界观和方法论解决问题，发展解放思想、实事求是、与时俱进、求真务实的精神，不断实现人的现代化。在世界市场层面，中国与先进工业国进行深度技术与贸易交流，改革开放以后更是深度融入全球政治经济体系，不断优化对外开放格局。中国式现代化多层次的协同变革体现了社会复杂有机体不断运动的特征，深刻呼应马克思文本中的现代化思想。

Chinese-path modernization not only conforms to the laws of modernization in Marx’s texts, but also shares common features with the modernization of other late-developing countries. The most prominent of these is the important role of the state in promoting capital formation and improving the efficiency of capital utilization. As international competition among capitals intensifies, the raw materials and labor power needed for industrialization in late-developing countries are more easily lost. Domestic private capital, wary of investment risks, finds it difficult to raise and plan for large-scale, long-cycle investments. This makes it hard for the initial capital of modern industry in late-developing countries to form. Even after capital is formed, problems such as difficulty in establishing forward and backward industrial linkages and enterprise innovation persist. Among historically late-developing countries, France and Germany relied on industrial banks to finance the development of the steel industry. Japan, Russia, and other countries that began modernization only after the 19th century intervened more forcefully in production, using tools such as taxation to directly transfer income from consumption to investment, organizing corporate debt restructuring, and providing assistance and intervention to specific sectors to help them achieve industrial upgrading. China likewise has a development-oriented government governance system. The central government plans and guides each key step of catch-up modernization, using administrative means or fiscal, monetary, and industrial policies to channel limited construction funds into the important industrial sectors of the current stage. Under a government-enterprise interaction mechanism where government leadership and market regulation operate in parallel in a sound manner, it has, starting from the economic base, developed the modernization of all levels of the social organism in a simultaneous manner.

中国式现代化不仅符合马克思文本中的现代化规律，还与其他落后国家的现代化具有共同特征，其中最醒目的就是国家在推动资本形成与提高资本利用效率中的重要作用。随着资本的国际竞争加剧，落后国家工业化所需原料与劳动力更易流失，国内私人资本忌于投资风险，难以筹措和规划规模大、周期长的投资。这使得落后国家现代工业的初始资本难以形成，资本形成以后，也存在难以建立产业前后向关联、企业创新困难等问题。历史上的后发现代化国家中，法国与德国借助产业银行融资主导钢铁产业发展，19世纪后才开始现代化的日、俄等国则更强有力地介入生产，使用税收等工具直接将收入由消费向投资转移，组织企业债务重组，对特定部门提供援助与干预以帮助其实现产业升级。中国同样存在着一个发展取向的政府治理体系，中央政府规划和引导追赶式现代化的各个关键步骤，通过行政手段或财政、货币、产业政策将有限的建设资金引流至当前阶段的重要产业部门，在政府主导与市场调节良好并行的政企互动机制下，由经济基础出发，并联发展了社会有机体各个层面的现代化。

(II) The Particularity of Chinese-Path Modernization

(二)中国式现代化的特殊性

Although Chinese-path modernization conforms to the thought on modernization in Marx’s texts and shares certain similarities in path with some late-developing countries, it is by no means a replica of any existing model. “Chinese civilization endows Chinese-path modernization with profound foundations.” [33]33 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage,” June 2, 2023. Since ancient times, Chinese civilization has possessed a worldview, view of the world, view of society, and view of morality centered on concepts such as the world being for the common good, the people being the foundation of the state, governing with virtue, discarding the old and establishing the new, appointing people on their merit, the unity of heaven and humanity, unceasing self-renewal, embracing all things with virtue, honoring commitments and cultivating good-neighborly relations, and being kind to neighbors and living in harmony with them. These are highly compatible with the vision of Marx’s scientific socialism. The Communist Party of China has integrated Marx’s thought on modernization with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture. This has enabled Chinese-path modernization to overcome the various contradictions of capitalist modernization at the levels of the leading subject, the basic system, population size, development purpose, civilizational development, ecological construction, and foreign relations, thereby manifesting a particularity that transcends general laws and creating a new model of modernization.

中国式现代化尽管符合马克思文本中的现代化思想，也在路径上与某些后发现代化国家有相似之处，但绝不是对某种现有模式的复刻。“中华文明赋予中国式现代化以深厚底蕴”。中华文明自古以来便有天下为公、民为邦本、为政以德、革故鼎新、任人唯贤、天人合一、自强不息、厚德载物、讲信修睦、亲仁善邻的宇宙观、天下观、社会观、道德观，与马克思的科学社会主义设想高度契合。中国共产党将马克思主义现代化思想与中国具体实际、中华优秀传统文化相结合，使中国式现代化在领导主体、基本制度、人口规模、发展目的、文明发展、生态建设以及对外关系等方面破除了资本主义现代化过程中的种种矛盾，呈现出超越一般规律的特殊性，创立了新的现代化模式。

The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most critical factor in Chinese-path modernization. China has a vast territory and a large population, but its industrial production was backward, and the forces of feudalism, imperialism, and bureaucrat-capitalism were deeply entrenched. A modern social structure based on division of labor and cooperation had not yet been established. If it had been impossible to establish some kind of authoritative force to integrate the loose social order and concentrate resources to transform the existing material means, not only would the modernization process have been difficult to initiate, but society might have fallen into turmoil and crisis. The Communist Party of China successfully integrated society and promoted modernization. This stems from the Party’s high degree of organization, self-awareness, and transformative character. (1) Organization is reflected in the clear authority and strict discipline within the Communist Party of China, and its non-attachment to any specific social group, ensuring a high degree of autonomy in decision-making and the ability to continuously engage in self-revolution. This enabled it to integrate the various forces of Chinese society to carry out revolution, and after coming to power, to deeply penetrate all areas of social operation, ensuring political and macroeconomic stability, and forming a nationwide mobilization for modernization construction. (2) Self-awareness is reflected in the Communist Party of China’s profound historical self-awareness. “The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is secure, the state is tranquil.” [34]34 A classical Chinese political maxim from *The Book of Documents* (《尚书》). The Communist Party of China has inherited the way of governance from the best of traditional Chinese culture, transcending the pursuit of short-term interests with a broad political consciousness. It has consistently adhered to a people-centered value orientation, taking the resolution of the principal contradiction in China’s social development as its central task and historical mission. It has successively achieved national independence, the liberation of the people, and economic development through democratic revolution, social revolution, and institutional transformation, thereby seizing the initiative in the advance of history. (3) Transformative character is reflected in the Communist Party of China’s ability to always formulate lines, principles, and policies according to the historical juncture and stage of development in which the Party and the people’s cause find themselves. Focusing on the needs of the people and changes in the principal social contradiction, it continuously advances the Sinicization of Marxist theory, critically absorbs the advanced experience of other countries, and promotes the political and economic system to continuously overcome defects and achieve dynamic upgrading. “Every major reform has injected new vitality into the development of the Party and the state and added powerful impetus to the progress of the cause.” [35]35 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up,” December 18, 2018. Under its high degree of organization, self-awareness, and transformative character, the leadership of the Communist Party of China ensures the coordination, long-term nature, and innovation of modernization development at all levels of Chinese society. This endows Chinese-path modernization with a particularity that distinguishes it from Western-style modernization, where the leading subject is the capital group.

中国共产党的领导是中国式现代化最关键的因素。中国地域辽阔，人员众多，但是工业生产落后，封建主义、帝国主义、官僚资本主义势力盘根错节，基于分工与协作的现代社会结构尚未建立。如果无法建立起某种权威力量，整合松散的社会秩序，集中资源改造已有的物质资料，不仅现代化进程难以起步，社会还可能陷入动乱和危机。中国共产党成功整合社会并推动了现代化，这源于政党本身的高度组织性、自觉性与变革性。(1)组织性体现在中国共产党内部权威明确、纪律严明，不依附于任何特定社会集团，保证了决策高度自主、能够不断自我革命。这使它能够整合中国社会的各股力量进行革命，并在执政后高度渗透到社会运行的各个领域，确保政治与宏观经济稳定，形成全国上下的现代化建设动员。(2)自觉性体现在中国共产党具有深刻的历史自觉。“民为邦本，本固邦宁”，中国共产党传承了中华优秀传统文化中的为政之道，以宽广的政治意识超脱了对短期利益的追求，始终坚守以人民为中心的价值取向，以解决中国社会发展中的主要矛盾为其中心任务与历史使命，先后通过民主革命、社会革命、体制变革来依次实现民族独立、人民解放与经济发展，掌握历史前进的主动权。(3)变革性则体现在中国共产党能够始终依据党和人民事业所处的历史方位和发展阶段制定路线方针政策，着眼于人民的需要、社会的主要矛盾变化，不断推进马克思主义理论中国化，批判吸收各国先进经验，推动政治经济体制不断克服弊病、实现动态升级，“每一次重大改革都给党和国家发展注入新的活力、给事业前进增添强大动力”。在其高度组织性、自觉性、变革性下，中国共产党的领导保证了中国社会各个层面现代化发展的统筹性、长期性、创新性，使中国式现代化具有了区别于资本集团为领导主体的西方式现代化的特殊性。

The Communist Party of China has led and advanced Chinese-path modernization by establishing the basic system of socialism; socialism is the essential attribute of Chinese-path modernization. “A revolution in the relations of production is caused by a given development of the productive forces. However, a major development of the productive forces always occurs after a change in the relations of production.” [36]36 “All regions of the country are connected under a single system, a unity in diversity” (九州共贯、多元一体) is a classical Chinese expression evoking the historical ideal of a unified multi-ethnic state. Western modernization is modernization under the capitalist system. Through the primitive accumulation of capital, it completed the transformation of property relations into private ownership, giving rise to a capitalist mode of production based on the principles of domination and competition in the economic sphere. On the foundation of private ownership, the possessors of the means of production in agriculture and industry acquired the motive to expand their wealth without limit, constantly raising the productivity of the direct production process and continuously expanding markets to realize commodities, which brought about the universalization of capitalist production. At the beginning of the founding of New China, bureaucratic capital lacked the motive to develop production and

中国共产党通过建立社会主义的基本制度引领推进中国式现代化，社会主义是中国式现代化的本质属性。“生产关系的革命，是生产力的一定发展所引起的。但是，生产力的大发展，总是在生产关系改变以后”。西方的现代化是资本主义制度下的现代化，通过资本的原始积累，完成了产权关系的私有制转型，催生了以经济领域的支配与竞争为原则的资本主义生产方式。在私有制的基础上，农业与工业生产资料的占有者获得了无限扩大其财富的动机，不断提高直接生产过程的生产率，不断扩大市场以实现商品，带来了资本主义生产的普遍化。新中国成立之初，官僚资本并不具备发展生产、积累国民财富的动机，民族资本不成气候。因此，建立社会主义制度，彻底改造农业与工业生产方式，为社会生产力的发展开辟道路，成为中国必然的选择。生产资料公有制下的农业集体生产与工业计划性生产克服了生产的无政府状态，保证重要战略性领域的生产服务于国家现代化的目标。工业基础已经在一定程度上建立以后，社会主义市场经济体制的建立又发掘了社会联系引致的潜在生产力，进一步推进了现代化建设。与社会主义经济制度相结合的，是社会主义的政治制度，中国共产党坚持和完善党的领导制度体系和人民当家做主制度体系，同时坚持和完善党和国家监督体系，坚持发展人民自己参与和管理的全过程人民民主，超越了西方表面民主实则资本主导的“精英民主”，充分体现人民意志、保障了人民的长期利益。

Unlike the modernization of Western countries with limited populations, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population, “all regions of the country are connected under a single system, a unity in diversity.” [36]36 “All regions of the country are connected under a single system, a unity in diversity” (九州共贯、多元一体) is a classical Chinese expression evoking the historical ideal of a unified multi-ethnic state. At the founding of the People’s Republic, the population already exceeded 500 million; today, over 1.4 billion people surpass the total population of all countries that have already achieved modernization. A modernization of such a population scale is unprecedented in world history. A huge population has a dual impact on the modernization process: on the one hand, it means relative resource scarcity and increased difficulty of management; on the other hand, it also implies an abundant labor force and enormous consumption potential from a super-large market. By establishing collective agricultural production under the socialist system, the Communist Party of China organized the rural population, which accounted for nearly 90 percent of the national population, effectively harnessing the immense social productive forces brought about by cooperation and raising substantial funds for industrial development. After reform and opening up, under the development model of “exchanging the market for technology” and export orientation, China utilized a large pool of highly qualified labor, seized opportunities to integrate into global production networks, and drove the development of various industrial sectors. By the New Era, facing problems such as urban-rural and regional disparities and the diminishing demographic dividend, the Communist Party of China set the goals of common prosperity for all the people and high-quality development, in order to avoid the polarization phenomenon that occurred in the modernization process of Western countries, drive up labor productivity, and thus continue to fully exploit the advantages of a huge population while guarding against potential disadvantages.

不同于西方人口规模有限的现代化，中国式现代化是人口规模巨大的现代化，“九州共贯、多元一体”。新中国成立之初人口即在5亿以上，如今的14多亿更是超过已经实现现代化的国家人口的总和，如此人口规模的现代化在世界历史上前所未有。巨大人口规模对现代化进程具有双重影响，一方面是资源的相对紧缺和管理难度的增加，另一方面也意味着充足的劳动力与超大规模市场带来的巨大消费潜力。中国共产党通过建立社会主义制度下的农业集体化生产，组织起接近全国人口90%的农村人口，有效利用了协作带来的巨大社会生产力，为工业发展筹措了大量资金。改革开放后，中国在“以市场换技术”与出口导向的发展模式下，利用大量高素质劳动力，抓住机遇融入全球生产网络，带动了各工业部门发展。到新时代，面临城乡区域差距与人口红利减弱等问题，中国共产党确立了全体人民共同富裕与高质量发展的目标，以规避西方国家现代化进程中的两极分化现象，带动劳动生产率提升，从而继续充分利用人口规模巨大的优势并防范潜在的劣势。

Unlike the modernization of Western countries characterized by polarization, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all the people, “the world is for the common good, the world is a commonwealth.” [37]37 “The world is for the common good, the world is a commonwealth” (天下为公、天下大同) is a classical Confucian ideal from the *Book of Rites* (《礼记》), describing a society governed by public spirit and universal harmony. Western modernization takes capital’s profit-making as its ultimate goal; under the logic of capital accumulation, laborers are dispossessed, wealth is continuously concentrated, and the gap between rich and poor widens. Chinese-path modernization always adheres to a people-centered approach, emphasizing that the fruits of modernization are shared by the people. The essential requirement of socialism is common prosperity, which “is not the prosperity of a few people, nor is it uniform egalitarianism”; this is an important feature of Chinese-path modernization. Since reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China has adhered to public ownership as the mainstay while allowing diverse forms of ownership to develop together, and to distribution according to work as the mainstay while allowing multiple modes of distribution to coexist, constantly seeking a balance between efficiency and fairness. By liberating productive forces and “letting some get rich first to help others get rich later,” it has lifted 700 million rural poor out of poverty. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee has taken forceful measures to safeguard and improve people’s livelihoods, won the battle against poverty, historically resolved the problem of absolute poverty, comprehensively built a moderately prosperous society benefiting over one billion people, and laid a solid foundation for common prosperity.

不同于西方两极分化的现代化，中国式现代化是全体人民共同富裕的现代化，“天下为公、天下大同”。西方的现代化以资本获取利润为最终目标，资本积累的逻辑下劳动者被剥夺、财富不断集中，贫富差距日渐扩大。中国式现代化始终坚持以人民为中心，强调现代化成果由人民共享。社会主义的本质要求是共同富裕，共同富裕“不是少数人的富裕，也不是整齐划一的平均主义”，这是中国式现代化的重要特征。改革开放以来，中国共产党坚持公有制为主体、多种所有制经济共同发展，按劳分配为主体、多种分配方式并存，不断探寻效率与公平的平衡点，通过解放生产力、“先富带后富”，使7亿农村贫困人口摆脱了贫困。党的十八大以来，党中央采取有力措施保障改善民生，打赢脱贫攻坚战，历史性地解决了绝对贫困问题，全面建成了惠及十几亿人口的小康社会，为共同富裕奠定了坚实的基础。

Unlike the modernization of Western countries characterized by the expansion of materialism, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of coordinated development of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, “enriching the people and enhancing their well-being, balancing righteousness and benefit.” [38]38 “Enriching the people and enhancing their well-being, balancing righteousness and benefit” (富民厚生、义利兼顾) draws on traditional Chinese ethical thought, emphasizing both material welfare and moral integrity. In a capitalist economy, the labor of the worker is alienated from the worker himself; commodity fetishism penetrates every field of economic and social life; the human pursuit of happiness is reduced to an insatiable greed for material goods that can never be satisfied; unchecked materialism, hedonism, and egoism run rampant. In advancing Chinese-path modernization, the Communist Party of China, on the one hand, vigorously promotes the development of material civilization based on the progress of social productive forces; on the other hand, it integrates Marxism with China’s fine traditional culture, roots itself in the character of the times and the nation, constructs the core socialist values that integrate the value requirements of the state, society, and citizens, and continuously promotes the coordinated development of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress.

不同于西方物质主义膨胀的现代化，中国式现代化是物质文明和精神文明协调发展的现代化，“富民厚生、义利兼顾”。在资本主义经济当中，劳动者的劳动与其本身相异化，商品拜物教渗透到经济社会的每个领域，人对幸福的追求化约为对物质资料无法满足的贪婪，无节制的物质主义、享乐主义与利己主义泛滥。中国共产党在推进中国式现代化的过程中，一方面大力推进以社会生产力进步为基石的物质文明发展，另一方面，将马克思主义与中国优秀传统文化相结合，根植于时代性、民族性，构建国家、社会、公民价值要求融为一体的社会主义核心价值观，不断推进物质文明与精神文明的协调发展。

Unlike the modernization of Western countries characterized by polluting first and treating later, and by shifting pollution abroad, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, “the unity of heaven and humanity, the coexistence of all things.” [39]39 “The unity of heaven and humanity, the coexistence of all things” (天人合一、万物并育) is a classical Chinese philosophical concept, particularly associated with Confucianism and Daoism, stressing the harmonious interdependence of nature and human society. In the early period of China’s modernization drive, due to rapid and extensive economic development, it also experienced, like the West, problems of over-exploitation of resources and environmental damage, creating a clear shortcoming in the modernization effort. The 17th National Congress of the CPC [40]40 The 17th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2007; it formally enshrined the Scientific Outlook on Development in the Party Constitution and first raised the goal of building an ecological civilization. first proposed building an ecological civilization, implementing the requirements of the Scientific Outlook on Development for the protection of resources and the environment. Since the New Era, Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed the need to correctly handle the relationship between economic development and ecological environmental protection, so that a sound ecological environment becomes a growth point for the people’s quality of life. Under the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” the Communist Party of China continuously promotes the transformation of the development model from high energy consumption and high emissions to innovation-driven, accelerates pollution control and ecological restoration, builds an institutional system for ecological civilization, promotes the realization of modernization characterized by harmony between humanity and nature, and seeks a long-term balance between economic development and ecological protection.

不同于西方先污染后治理与污染转嫁的现代化，中国式现代化是人与自然和谐共生的现代化，“天人合一、万物并育”。在中国现代化建设的早期，由于经济快速、粗放式发展，也与西方一样产生了资源过度开发与环境破坏的问题，造成现代化建设的明显短板。党的十七大首次提出建设生态文明，贯彻落实科学发展观对资源环境保护工作的要求。新时代以来，习近平多次强调要正确处理经济发展和生态环境保护的关系，让良好生态环境成为人民生活的增长点。在“绿水青山就是金山银山”的理念下，中国共产党不断推动发展模式由高耗能、高排放向创新驱动转型，加快污染治理与生态修复，建设生态文明制度体系，推动实现人与自然和谐共生的现代化，在经济发展与生态保护之间寻求长期的平衡。

Unlike the modernization of Western countries characterized by external expansion and plunder, Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a path of peaceful development, “cherishing people from afar, harmonizing all nations.” [41]41 “Cherishing people from afar, harmonizing all nations” (怀柔远人、和谐万邦) is a classical expression from the *Book of Documents* (《尚书》), reflecting the traditional Chinese ideal of peaceful international relations. Western modernization was accompanied by imperialist colonial plunder; some late-developing modernizing countries achieved development by becoming dependent on other countries. The Communist Party of China, leading the Chinese people, has forged a development path that combines independence and self-reliance with opening up to the outside world. In the early 20th century, imperialist countries extracted super-profits from their colonies through military means to support domestic capital accumulation, destroying the development of national industries in the colonies. After the Second World War, means such as manipulating trade rules and establishing monetary hegemony entered the toolbox of developed capitalist countries for implementing neo-colonialism. Unlike this, China accumulated initial industrial funds peacefully, raised social productive forces through agricultural collectivization, and planned the transfer of agricultural surplus to industry; at the same time, it prioritized the development of heavy industry, quickly achieving national defense and economic independence and self-reliance, thus avoiding being forced onto a path of dependent development. After reform and opening up, China adhered to the unity of independence and self-reliance with opening up, continuously developing peaceful relations and universal interdependence with all nations of the world. Since the New Era, China has planned and implemented strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative to promote Eurasian economic integration, and has provided aid and built infrastructure in African countries and elsewhere, without imposing conditions or plundering, continuously promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind that is mutually beneficial, win-win, and pluralistically balanced, providing new ideas for improving the reform of the global governance system.

不同于西方对外扩张掠夺的现代化，中国式现代化是走和平发展道路的现代化，“怀柔远人、和谐万邦”。西方的现代化伴随着帝国主义的殖民掠夺，一些后发现代化国家则是依附于他国实现发展，而中国共产党领导中国人民走出了一条独立自主与对外开放相结合的发展道路。20世纪初，帝国主义国家通过军事手段提取殖民地的超额利润来供养国内的资本积累，摧毁了殖民地的国民工业发展；第二次世界大战以后，操控贸易规则、建立货币霸权等手段又进入了发达资本主义国家实施新殖民主义的工具箱。不同于此，中国以和平方式积累工业初始资金，通过农业集体化提高社会生产力，并规划农业剩余向工业转移；与此同时优先发展重工业，快速实现了国防与经济的独立自主，避免被迫走向依附性发展。改革开放以后，中国坚持独立自主与对外开放相统一，持续和平发展与世界各民族的普遍依赖关系。新时代以来，中国则规划实施“一带一路”等战略以促进欧亚经济一体化，并在非洲等国提供援助、建设基础设施，不强加、不掠夺，持续推动构建互利共赢、多元平衡的人类命运共同体，为完善全球治理体系变革提供了新的思路。

(III) The Theory of Chinese-Path Modernization

(三)中国式现代化理论

Chinese-path modernization both embodies the general characteristics of modernization in all countries and, through its adaptation to the external environment, its own national conditions, and the historical stage, presents a Chinese particularity. Guided by Marx’s thought on modernization, Chinese-path modernization actively sublates the capitalist social formation, breaks the “Eurocentrism” tendency in modernization theory, and proves that there is no absolutely correct and universally applicable model of modernization. By effectively integrating the general and the particular aspects of modernization, Chinese-path modernization has formed the theory of Chinese-path modernization, providing inspiration for developing countries to advance their own modernization.

中国式现代化既体现了各国现代化的一般性，同时又由于对外界环境、自身国情、历史阶段的适应，呈现出中国的特殊性。中国式现代化以马克思的现代化思想为指导，积极扬弃资本主义社会形态，打破了现代化理论的“欧洲中心论”倾向，证明了不存在某种绝对正确和普适的现代化模式。中国式现代化良好整合现代化一般与特殊的过程，形成了中国式现代化理论，为发展中国家推进现代化提供了启示。

The first step of Chinese-path modernization is to establish an independent and complete industrial system, forming the material foundation of the social organism. Although backward countries possess historical initiative in their choice of path regarding social formation, mode of production, and so on, they cannot bypass the level of social productive forces already attained by developed countries; they must first establish a certain industrial material foundation. If large-scale machine industry cannot “proceed from itself to create and multiply its own presuppositions” and initiate the cycle of industrial production, it is impossible to organize the modern labor system of large-scale human cooperation or to overcome the limitations of small-peasant production methods. However, the interaction between inefficient market allocation and the accumulation of backward demand makes upstream industrial sectors a convergence point of market imperfections. The Communist Party of China (CPC) mobilized the broad masses of working people to the greatest extent, broke through the market logic of the bourgeoisie, and ensured that limited resources were concentrated in key upstream areas. By “seizing political power, then solving the problem of ownership, and then greatly developing the productive forces,” the CPC organized collective agricultural production and planned industrial production under the socialist system. In this process, collective agricultural production not only brought about social productive forces achieved through cooperation but also, while ensuring the livelihood of peasants, greatly reduced the transaction costs between the state and the peasants, enabling the transfer of agricultural surplus to the industrial sector. The share of domestic accumulation in net domestic product rose from 1.7% in 1933 to over 20% during the First Five-Year Plan period [42]42 The First Five-Year Plan (1953–1957) was the first comprehensive national economic plan of the People’s Republic of China, focusing on the development of heavy industry and the establishment of a socialist industrial base.. At the same time, state administrative power directly extended the organizational principle inherent in individual factories to the national level, achieving the organization and planning of social production. The “Four Modernizations” strategy [43]43 The Four Modernizations were a set of goals announced by Zhou Enlai in 1964 and reaffirmed in 1975, aiming to modernize agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology. prioritized the development of major heavy industrial sectors, which further stimulated the technological externalities of heavy industrial production. The complete range of heavy industrial products laid the foundation for the roundabout production of light industrial products in the later period. By establishing a planned economic system based on单一公有制 (单一公有制), the CPC successfully built a domestic large-scale machine industry system under the premise of peaceful accumulation, providing a solid material foundation for modernization.

中国式现代化的第一步是建立独立完整的工业体系，形成有机体的物质基础。尽管落后国家在社会形态、生产方式等路径选择上具有历史主动性，但无法绕过发达国家已经达到的社会生产力水平，必须先建立一定的工业物质基础。如果不能使机器大工业“从它自身出发，自己创造出保存和增殖自己的前提”，启动工业生产的循环，就无法组织起大规模人类协作的现代劳动体系、克服小农生产方式的局限。然而，市场配置低效与后向需求累积之间的交互，使上游工业部门成为市场不完善的汇点。中国共产党最大限度动员广大劳动人民，破除了资产阶级的市场逻辑，确保有限资源集中于上游关键领域。通过“夺取政权，然后解决所有制问题，再大大发展生产力”，中国共产党组织起社会主义制度下的农业集体生产与工业计划生产。在这个过程中，农业集体生产不仅带来了通过协作实现的社会生产力，还在保障农民生活的前提下，极大地压缩了国家与农民的交易成本，使农业剩余向工业部门转移，国内积累占国内生产净值的比重从1933年的1.7%上升到“一五时期”的20%以上。同时，国家行政权力直接将个别工厂所具有的组织性原则扩大到国家层面上加以应用，实现了社会生产的组织性计划性。“四个现代化”战略优先发展各大重工业部门，更是激发了重工业生产的技术外部性，完整的重工业产品种类为后期轻工业产品的迂回生产奠定了基础。通过建立单一公有制的计划经济体制，中国共产党在和平积累的前提下顺利建立起国内的机器大工业体系，为现代化提供了坚固的物质基础。

The second step of Chinese-path modernization is to deepen universal social intercourse and release the total productive forces. Under the planned economic system, the state’s possession of most industrial means of production could rapidly develop productive forces through economies of scale. However, once the industrial foundation was established, the drawbacks of the original mode of production in hindering the expansion of the division of labor began to emerge. Marx pointed out that the social productive forces existing in the form of a totality must be released through private ownership in the process of universal intercourse and extensive division of labor: “Individuals must appropriate the existing totality of productive forces, not only to achieve their self-activity but, fundamentally, to ensure their own survival. This appropriation is first of all conditioned by the object to be appropriated, that is, by the productive forces which have developed into a definite totality and which exist only within the scope of universal intercourse. Hence, for this reason alone, appropriation must have a universal character corresponding to the productive forces and intercourse.” More specifically, although under private ownership there is the expropriation of the products of labor, and workers are completely “subordinated to the division of labor” and “placed in a relationship of mutual dependence,” having to rely on the totality of productive forces existing in the form of things to produce the necessities of their own survival, this “dependence on things” also brings about increasingly universal social connections among people. “This mutual dependence is expressed in the constant necessity for exchange and in exchange value as the universal mediator,” forming a system of “universal social metabolism, universal relations, all-sided needs, and universal capacities.” Under mutually conditional exchange and division of labor, “the common activity of different individuals produces a social force, that is, a multiplied productive force.” Therefore, a country’s experience of the social formation based on “dependence on things” is an objective law of historical development that is difficult to transcend in the process of modernization. Once the heavy industrial system has been established, to prevent resources from being concentrated in a few sectors and generating large amounts of surplus capacity, it is necessary to promote spontaneous coordination and spontaneous connections among economic agents, establish a circulation system for the social production process, and form an industrial system with forward and backward linkages. By gradually advancing the transformation of relations of production and delegating autonomy in economic activities to competitive, non-strategic sectors, the CPC both fully tapped the total productive forces that exist only within universal social intercourse and avoided the economic fluctuations and polarization between rich and poor that would have resulted from large-scale privatization in key areas. By establishing a socialist market economy system, the CPC promoted the deepening of universal social intercourse, releasing the total productive forces inherent in the social organism, and thus smoothly advancing the process of modernization.

中国式现代化的第二步是深化普遍的社会交往，释放总和生产力。计划经济体制下国家占有大部分工业生产资料的方式能够利用规模效应快速发展生产力，但随着工业基础建立起来，原有生产方式阻碍分工范围扩大的弊端开始显现。马克思指出，以总和形式存在的社会生产力，必须通过私有制的方式，在普遍交往与广泛分工的过程中被释放:“各个人必须占有现有的生产力总和，这不仅是为了实现他们的自主活动，而且从根本上说也是为了保证自己的生存。这种占有首先受所要占有的对象的制约，即受发展成为一定总和并且只有在普遍交往的范围里才存在的生产力的制约。因此，仅仅由于这一点，占有就必须带有同生产力和交往相适应的普遍性质。”更具体地来说，尽管私有制下存在着劳动产品的剥夺，劳动者完全“屈从与分工”和“被置于相互依赖的关系之中”，必须依赖于以物的形式存在的生产力总和，才能生产出自身生存的需要。但这种“物的依赖性”也带来了人与人之间愈发普遍的社会联系，“这种互相依赖，表现在不断交换的必要性上和作为全面中介的交换价值上”，形成人与人之间“普遍的社会物质变换、全面的关系、多方面的需要以及全面的能力的体系”。在互为条件的交换和分工下，“不同个人的共同活动产生了一种社会力量，即成倍增长的生产力”。因此，一国经历以“物的依赖性”为基础的社会形态，是现代化进程中难以超越的历史发展客观规律。当重工业体系已然建立，为了防止资源集中于少数部门而产生大量过剩产能，必须促进经济主体间自发协调、自发联系，建立社会生产过程的循环体系、形成前后向关联的产业体系。中国共产党通过渐进式推进生产关系变革，在竞争性非战略性领域下放经济活动的自主权，既充分挖掘了这种仅仅在普遍社会交往内才存在的总和生产力，又避免了关键领域大规模私有化带来的经济波动与贫富分化。通过建立社会主义市场经济体制，中国共产党推动深化普遍的社会交往，使社会有机体蕴含的总和生产力得以释放，现代化的进程由此顺利推进。

The third step of Chinese-path modernization is to transform the mode of production and promote high-quality economic development. “Economic development is a spiraling upward process; the ascent is not linear. When quantitative accumulation reaches a certain stage, it must shift to qualitative improvement.” With the development of the socialist market economy and the continuous deepening of the social division of labor, the composition of the elements of the social organism becomes increasingly complex, and contradictions emerge from it in sharper forms. Especially in the stage of imperialism, if a backward country remains in a state of technological dependence for a long time, producing low-value-added products, and its economic development model cannot shift from quantitative expansion to qualitative improvement, then when industries gradually move to countries with lower costs, the squeeze from both external exports and internal consumption will continuously impact the already formed circulation system, and the country’s modernization may “stagnate or even regress.” Therefore, it is necessary to transform the mode of economic development, “no longer simply judging success by the growth rate of GDP,” “promoting sustained and healthy economic development based on improving quality and efficiency,” and “pursuing economic development that is effective, high-quality, and sustainable.” Among these, “the decisive factor determining the destiny of a country is the development of social productive forces and the improvement of labor productivity. Only by continuously advancing scientific and technological innovation, constantly liberating and developing social productive forces, and continuously raising labor productivity can sustained and healthy economic and social development be achieved, and the ‘middle-income trap’ be avoided.” Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC [44]44 The 18th National Congress of the CPC, held in 2012, marked the beginning of Xi Jinping’s leadership and the launch of the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics., the CPC has insisted on promoting high-quality development, continuously advancing supply-side structural reform, striving to improve the quality of the supply system, vigorously promoting scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading, and building a modern industrial system. At the same time, based on the strategic foundation of expanding domestic demand, it has implemented strategies such as coordinated regional development, targeted poverty alleviation, and rural revitalization, so that production, distribution, circulation, and consumption rely more on the domestic market. On the basis of a strong domestic economic circulation system, it has implemented high-level opening up, promoted the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and steadily resolved risks in the industrial and supply chains. Focusing on the unbalanced and inadequate nature of economic development, the CPC has deployed “preemptive moves,” answering at the strategic level how to adjust relations of production and promote the continuous forward development of social productive forces, providing a feasible plan for achieving high-quality economic development and building a modern socialist country.

中国式现代化的第三步是变革生产方式，推动经济高质量发展。“经济发展是一个螺旋式上升的过程，上升不是线性的，量积累到一定阶段，必须转向质的提升”。随着社会主义市场经济的发展与社会分工的不断深化，社会有机体的要素构成愈发复杂，矛盾也以更尖锐的形式从中浮现。尤其在帝国主义阶段，若落后国家长期处于技术依赖状态，生产低附加值产品，经济发展模式不能从量的扩张转向质的提高，那么当产业逐步转移至成本更低的国家，外部出口与内部消费的挤压将持续冲击已形成的循环体系，国家现代化就可能“徘徊不前甚至倒退”。因此，要转变经济发展的方式，“不再简单以国内生产总值增长率论英雄”“立足提高质量和效益来推动经济持续健康发展”“追求有效益、有质量、可持续的经济发展”。其中，“主导国家命运的决定性因素是社会生产力发展和劳动生产率提高，只有不断推进科技创新，不断解放和发展社会生产力，不断提高劳动生产率，才能实现经济社会持续健康发展，避免陷入“中等收入陷阱”。党的十八大以来，中国共产党坚持推动高质量发展，不断推进供给侧结构性改革，着力提升供给体系质量，大力推动科技创新与产业升级，建设现代化产业体系；同时立足扩大内需的战略基点，实施区域协调发展、精准脱贫、乡村振兴等战略，使生产、分配、流通、消费更多依托国内市场；在强大国内经济循环体系的基础上，实行高水平对外开放，推动共建“一带一路”，稳步化解产业链供应链风险。中国共产党着眼于经济发展的不平衡、不充分，部署“先手棋”，在战略层面上回答了如何调整生产关系、促进社会生产力不断向前发展，为实现经济的高质量发展、建成现代化强国提供了可行方案。

V. Conclusion

五、结论

“The theory of Chinese-path modernization is a major theoretical innovation based on China’s national conditions and China’s reality; it embodies the direction of China’s modernization and represents a major innovation in global modernization theory.”[n45] As an organic totality that constantly transforms itself through the movement of contradictions, the modernization process of Chinese society is a process in which, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the principal contradiction of society is overcome through the constant transformation of the mode of production, and social production is driven to meet social needs. In this process, the Communist Party of China, by establishing the basic socialist economic system and the planned economic system prioritizing the development of heavy industry, built an independent and complete industrial system, providing a solid material foundation for the economic organism; by constructing the socialist market economic system, it mobilized the production initiative of economic agents, stimulated universal intercourse among people, and tapped the latent productive forces of social intercourse; through a series of strategies such as targeted poverty alleviation, it achieved the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embarked on a new journey toward the second centenary goal.[n46]

“中国式现代化理论是基于中国国情、中国现实的重大理论创新，体现了我国现代化发展方向，是对全球现代化理论的重大创新”。作为在矛盾运动中不断变革自身的有机总体，中国社会的现代化历程，就是在中国共产党领导下，通过不断变革生产方式克服社会主要矛盾、推动社会生产满足社会需要的过程。在此过程中，中国共产党通过建立社会主义基本经济制度与重工业优先发展的计划经济体制，建立起独立完整的工业体系，为经济有机体提供了坚实的物质基础；通过构建社会主义市场经济体制，调动经济主体生产积极性，激发人与人的普遍交往，挖掘社会交往的潜在生产力；通过精准脱贫等一系列战略，实现了全面建成小康社会的第一个百年奋斗目标，开启了迈向第二个百年奋斗目标的新征程。

The practice of Chinese-path modernization both reflects the common features of modernization in all countries at the levels of the mode of production, political system, social relations, value orientation, and the world market, and embodies China’s specific practice in terms of the leading subject, basic system, population size, development purpose, civilizational development, ecological construction, and external relations. The Communist Party of China is highly organized, self-conscious, and transformative; it always represents the fundamental interests of the masses of the people; according to the historical juncture it occupies and the principal contradiction at different stages, it relies on its powerful organizational and mobilization capacity to continuously improve the superstructure so as to adapt to the development of the economic base, and to continuously adjust the relations of production so as to adapt to the development of the social productive forces. Through social revolution and institutional transformation, the Communist Party of China has promoted the industrialization of the mode of production and induced changes at multiple levels—political, cultural, social, and ecological—so that the social organism circulates and functions effectively and continuously achieves dynamic equilibrium at a higher level. Chinese-path modernization is a socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China, rooted in fine traditional Chinese culture, embodying the advanced essence of scientific socialism, and displaying a new form of human civilization different from Western modernization. Its process both confirms the laws of development of modern society found in Marx’s texts, presenting the generality of modernization in all countries, and embodies the particularity of Chinese-path modernization. This combination of generality and particularity provides a completely new theoretical horizon for the innovation of modernization theory and, moreover, opens up a feasible path for developing countries to realize modernization; it is a great creation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.[n47]

中国式现代化的实践既体现了各国现代化在生产方式、政治制度、社会关系、价值取向以及世界市场等层次的共同特征，又在领导主体、基本制度、人口规模、发展目的、文明发展、生态建设以及对外关系等方面体现了中国的特有实践。中国共产党具有高度组织性、自觉性与变革性，始终代表人民群众根本利益，根据所处历史方位与不同阶段的主要矛盾，以强大组织动员能力，不断完善上层建筑以适应经济基础发展，不断调整生产关系以适应社会生产力发展。通过社会革命与体制变革，中国共产党推动了生产方式的工业化并引致政治、文化、社会、生态文明等多个层面的变革，使社会有机体有效循环运转、不断在更高水平上实现动态平衡。中国式现代化是中国共产党领导的社会主义现代化，植根于中华优秀传统文化，体现了科学社会主义的先进本质，展现了不同于西方现代化的人类文明新形态。其过程既印证了马克思文本中的现代社会发展规律，呈现出各国现代化的一般性，又体现了中国式现代化的特殊性。这种一般性与特殊性的结合为现代化理论创新提供了全新的理论图景，更为发展中国家实现现代化开辟了可行的路径，是马克思主义中国化的伟大创造。

(About the authors: Xie Fusheng, Deputy Director of the National Research Center for the Political Economy of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics at Renmin University of China, Editor-in-Chief and Professor of Renmin University of China Press; Jiang Nan, doctoral student at the School of Economics, Renmin University of China.)

（作者简介：谢富胜，中国人民大学全国中国特色社会主义政治经济学研究中心副主任，中国人民大学出版社总编辑，教授；江楠,中国人民大学经济学院博士研究生 ）

Online editor: Tongxin

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