Deeply Understand and Grasp the Basic Connotations of New Quality Productive Forces

General Secretary Xi Jinping has produced a series of important expositions on developing new quality productive forces, emphasizing that “they are driven by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading, with the leap in workers, means of labor, subjects of labor and their optimized combination as their basic connotation.” [1]1 The “Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC” refers to the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held in July 2024, which focused on further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-Path modernization. The “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-Path Modernization” adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC [2] made important arrangements for improving the systems and mechanisms for developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, emphasizing “promoting the optimized combination and renewed leap of workers, means of labor, and subjects of labor.” To accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, it is necessary to deeply understand and grasp their basic connotations.

习近平总书记围绕发展新质生产力作出一系列重要论述，强调“它由技术革命性突破、生产要素创新性配置、产业深度转型升级而催生，以劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象及其优化组合的跃升为基本内涵”。党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》对健全因地制宜发展新质生产力体制机制作出重要部署，强调“推动劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象优化组合和更新跃升”。加快发展新质生产力，需深入理解和把握其基本内涵。

New and Higher Requirements for Workers, Means of Labor, and Subjects of Labor

对劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象提出新的更高要求

New quality productive forces are an advanced state of productive forces in which innovation plays a leading role and which conforms to the new development concept, placing new and higher requirements on workers, means of labor, and subjects of labor.

新质生产力是创新起主导作用，符合新发展理念的先进生产力质态，对劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象都提出了新的更高要求。

New quality productive forces are mainly driven by revolutionary technological breakthroughs and are themselves green productive forces. Developing new quality productive forces requires accelerating the green transformation of the development model and speeding up the innovation and application of green science and technology and advanced green technologies. Consequently, workers must have a cognitive reserve of knowledge in areas such as intelligent technology and green technology, master the practical skills to break away from traditional economic growth models and paths of productive forces development, and maintain a high degree of consciousness in adhering to green development. It is necessary to deepen comprehensive education reform to more effectively integrate multiple forces and pool various resources to cultivate workers suited to the development of new quality productive forces; and to deepen the reform of the systems and mechanisms for talent development to enhance workers’ enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity in engaging in the practice of developing new quality productive forces.

新质生产力主要由技术革命性突破催生而成，本身也是绿色生产力。发展新质生产力必须加快发展方式绿色转型，加快绿色科技创新和先进绿色技术推广应用，因而要求劳动者在认知上具有智能科技和绿色科技等知识储备，掌握摆脱传统经济增长方式和生产力发展路径的实践技能，并保持对坚持绿色发展的高度自觉。要通过深化教育综合改革，更为有效地整合多方力量，集聚各种资源，培育适应新质生产力发展的劳动者；通过深化人才发展体制机制改革，提高劳动者投身发展新质生产力实践的积极性、主动性、创造性。

The renewal and upgrading of the means of labor are mainly reflected in labor tools. On the one hand, existing labor tools can be improved through the application of intelligent technologies to achieve higher product quality, lower production costs, and energy conservation and consumption reduction. On the other hand, new science and technology can be used to develop green and intelligent new labor tools and their supporting production processes. For some discarded labor tools, intelligent technologies can be applied to conduct precise and rapid data analysis and value assessment of their manufacturing material properties, energy consumption in the manufacturing process, and disassembly and recycling benefits, thereby promoting their recycling and reuse and turning waste into treasure. Currently, the cross-integration of information technology with biotechnology, new energy technology, and new materials technology is triggering a cluster of technological breakthroughs characterized by greenness, intelligence, and ubiquity. It is necessary to seize the opportunities brought by the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, improve incentive mechanisms and policy systems conducive to green and low-carbon development, and promote the integrated application of intelligent and ecological technologies in the means of labor, especially labor tools.

劳动资料的革新升级主要体现在劳动工具上。一方面，对既有劳动工具，可以通过智能化技术的应用，达到提高产品质量、降低生产成本、实现节能降耗的目的。另一方面，可以利用新科技研发绿色化、智能化的新型劳动工具及其配套生产工艺。对一些废置劳动工具，可以应用智能技术对其制造材料属性、制造过程能耗、拆解回收效益等进行精准迅捷的数据分析和价值考量，从而促进其回收再利用，实现变废为宝。当前，信息技术与生物技术、新能源技术、新材料技术等交叉融合，正在引发以绿色、智能、泛在为特征的群体性技术突破，要抓住新一轮科技革命和产业变革带来的机遇，完善有利于绿色低碳发展的激励机制和政策体系，促进智能技术、生态技术等在劳动资料特别是劳动工具改进上的融合应用。

From the perspective of subjects of labor, facing the reality of tightening constraints on natural resources, developing new quality productive forces must focus on ecological protection and improving the intensive and economical use of resources. For the development of natural resources, the impact on the natural ecology should be a key concern. For the utilization of natural resources, the emphasis should be on making good use of green and intelligent labor tools and their supporting production processes to minimize the consumption of natural resources in labor production. For output, while reducing pollutant emissions, more high-quality green products and ecological products should be provided. Deeply integrate big data into the entire process of natural resource use, and leverage the powerful computing and reasoning capabilities of artificial intelligence to empower the efficient development and utilization of natural resources. Optimize the pattern of territorial space development and protection, promote the economical, intensive, and circular use of resources, and improve the standard system and value realization mechanism for ecological products.

从劳动对象的角度看，面对自然资源约束趋紧的现实，发展新质生产力必须注重生态保护和提高资源节约集约利用水平。对于自然资源开发，应重点关注对自然生态的影响。对于自然资源利用，重在善用绿色、智能的劳动工具及其配套生产工艺，最大限度地减少劳动生产对自然资源的消耗。对于产出，在减少污染物排放的同时，提供更多高质量的绿色产品和生态产品。将大数据深度融入自然资源使用全过程，借助人工智能高超的计算、推理能力，赋能自然资源的高效开发利用。优化国土空间开发保护格局，促进资源节约集约和循环利用，完善生态产品标准体系和价值实现机制。

Providing Institutional Guarantees and Strong Impetus for Optimized Combination and Renewed Leap

为促进优化组合和更新跃升提供制度保障和强大动力

Cultivating and developing new quality productive forces requires not only that each factor individually moves toward the “new” and raises the “quality,” but also that synergy and efficiency are enhanced through the optimization of the allocation of these factors. Redundancy or insufficiency of workers, idleness or overloading of means of labor, hoarding or shortage of subjects of labor, low levels of scientific and technological innovation, or poor transformation of achievements will inevitably cause mismatch and waste among labor factors, reducing the overall effectiveness and ecological efficiency of labor production. Relations of ownership, labor relations, and distribution relations, as relations of production, dynamically react upon productive forces, affecting the allocation state, functional performance, and overall effectiveness of labor factors. It is necessary to further deepen the reform of the economic system, improve the basic socialist economic system, promote the strengthening, improvement, and expansion of state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises, encourage the growth and strengthening of private enterprises, guide the accelerated transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the healthy and orderly development of emerging industries, and the forward-looking layout of future industries, continuously enhance the vitality of business entities, and provide institutional guarantees and strong impetus for the optimized combination and renewed leap of workers, means of labor, and subjects of labor. Further improve the scientific and technological innovation system, encourage cooperation between enterprises and higher education institutions and research institutes, smooth the transformation channel of scientific and technological achievements, especially disruptive and cutting-edge technologies, into practical productive forces, and fully leverage the role of scientific and technological innovation in the optimized combination and renewed leap of workers, means of labor, and subjects of labor. Accelerate the construction of a unified national market, build a more complete system and mechanism for market-based allocation of factors, and remove blockages and bottlenecks that constrain the development of new quality productive forces. Improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, build harmonious labor relations, and make good use of digital intelligent technologies to achieve efficient linkage of labor factors. Further improve the mechanism for factors to participate in income distribution, focus on revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading, and stimulate the vitality of production factors such as labor, knowledge, technology, management, capital, and data.

培育和发展新质生产力，不仅需要诸要素各自向“新”提“质”，而且需要通过诸要素配置的优化来协同增效。劳动者冗余或不足，劳动资料闲置或超荷，劳动对象囤积或短缺，科技创新水平不高或成果转化不畅，势必造成劳动要素之间的不匹配和浪费，降低生产劳动的整体效能和生态效率。所有制关系、劳动关系、分配关系等作为生产关系，能动地反作用于生产力，影响着劳动要素的配置状态、功能表现和整体效能。要进一步深化经济体制改革，完善社会主义基本经济制度，推动国有资本和国有企业做强做优做大，促进民营企业发展壮大，引导传统产业加快转型升级、新兴产业健康有序发展、未来产业前瞻布局，持续增强经营主体活力，为劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象优化组合和更新跃升提供制度保障和强大动力。进一步完善科技创新体系，鼓励企业与高等院校、科研院所合作，畅通科技成果特别是颠覆性技术和前沿技术向现实生产力的转化通道，充分发挥科技创新在劳动者、劳动资料、劳动对象优化组合和更新跃升上的作用。加快全国统一大市场建设，构建更加完善的要素市场化配置体制机制，打通束缚新质生产力发展的堵点卡点。完善中国特色现代企业制度，构建和谐劳动关系，善用数字智能技术实现劳动要素的高效链接。进一步健全要素参与收入分配机制，聚焦技术革命性突破、生产要素创新性配置、产业深度转型升级，激发劳动、知识、技术、管理、资本和数据等生产要素活力。

From the perspective of basic connotation, developing new quality productive forces in light of local conditions requires, while emphasizing the coordination of urban and rural regional development, promoting each locality to selectively develop new industries, new models, and new drivers of growth based on its resource endowments, industrial foundations, and scientific research conditions. Improve fiscal, tax, financial, investment, and pricing policies and standard systems that support green development, promote market-based allocation reform of factors, facilitate the concentration of various advanced production factors toward the development of new quality productive forces, and form growth poles and power sources for cultivating new quality productive forces in various localities.

从基本内涵的角度看，因地制宜发展新质生产力，需在重视城乡区域发展协调性的同时，促进各地根据资源禀赋、产业基础、科研条件等，有选择地推动新产业、新模式、新动能发展。完善支持绿色发展的财税、金融、投资、价格政策和标准体系，推动要素市场化配置改革，促进各类先进生产要素向发展新质生产力集聚，在各地形成培育新质生产力的增长极和动力源。

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧