An Analysis of the Subject Dimension of Comprehensive and Deepening Reform

The “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-Path Modernization” (hereinafter referred to as the “Decision”), adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, explicitly emphasizes that further comprehensively deepening reform must implement the major principle of adhering to a people-centered approach, stating: “Adhere to a people-centered approach, respect the principal position and pioneering spirit of the people, respond to the calls of the people with reform measures, ensuring that reform is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people.” [1]1 The Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC, held in December 1978, marked the beginning of China’s reform and opening-up policy. As early as the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform” adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC, this principle was summarized from an empirical level, holding that comprehensively deepening reform must “adhere to a people-oriented approach, respect the principal position of the people, give play to the pioneering spirit of the masses, and closely rely on the people to promote reform.” [2]2 The 18th National Congress of the CPC, held in November 2012, marked the start of the Xi Jinping era and the official proclamation of the “New Era” of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This indicates that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, by taking “adhering to a people-centered approach” as a major principle for further comprehensively deepening reform, represents a conscious recognition of the valuable experience accumulated since reform and opening up began at the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC, profoundly reflecting that the Party’s understanding of “the people” as the subject of reform has reached a new height.

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》（以下简称《决定》），明确强调进一步全面深化改革需贯彻坚持以人民为中心的重大原则，指出：“坚持以人民为中心，尊重人民主体地位和首创精神，人民有所呼、改革有所应，做到改革为了人民、改革依靠人民、改革成果由人民共享。”[1] 早在党的十八届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》就对这一原则从经验的层面进行了归纳，认为全面深化改革必须“坚持以人为本，尊重人民主体地位，发挥群众首创精神，紧紧依靠人民推动改革”[2]。这表明，党的二十届三中全会将“坚持以人民为中心”作为进一步全面深化改革的重大原则是对党的十一届三中全会以来改革开放积累的宝贵经验的自觉认识，深刻反映了党对“人民”这一改革主体的认识达到新的高度。

I. The People Are the Practical Subject of Comprehensively Deepening Reform

一、人民是全面深化改革的实践主体

Comprehensively deepening reform, as a practical activity aimed at better aligning relations of production with productive forces, the superstructure with the economic base, and national governance with social development, must first answer the question of who is the practical subject carrying out the reform. Both theoretically and empirically, it can be proven that the key to victory in comprehensively deepening reform lies in relying on the masses of the people. In the Marxist view, “people make their own history,” and “organizing the millions of working masses is the most favorable condition for revolution, the deepest source of its victory.” Therefore, the crucial issue in reform practice is how to effectively organize the masses of the people and rely on them to carry out the great practice of reform.

全面深化改革作为一场推动生产关系与生产力、上层建筑与经济基础、国家治理与社会发展更好相适应的实践活动，首先要回答的就是谁来进行改革的实践主体问题。无论从理论层面还是经验层面都可以证明，全面深化改革取得胜利的关键在于依靠人民群众。在马克思主义看来，“人们自己创造自己的历史”，“把千百万劳动群众组织起来，这是革命最有利的条件，这是革命取得胜利的最深的泉源”。因此，在改革实践中关键问题在于，如何把人民群众有效组织起来，依靠人民进行伟大的改革实践。

China’s reform and opening up is the choice of the Party and the people, embodying the will of the vast majority. Thus, reform practice is in essence an “independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority.” As Xi Jinping stated: “The most fundamental reason why reform and opening up has won the heartfelt support and active participation of the broad masses of the people is that, from the very beginning, we deeply rooted the cause of reform and opening up among the masses of the people.” That is to say, the success of China’s reform practice lies precisely in its being led by the Communist Party of China and unified under the masses of the people, effectively combining the Party’s leadership core role of exercising overall leadership and coordinating all parties with respect for the principal position and pioneering spirit of the people. On the one hand, reform practice must uphold the Party’s leadership. “Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization.” History and practice have proven that only by organizing the scattered masses of the people can victory in revolution and reform be achieved. However, since the vast majority cannot organize themselves for reform, it is necessary for the Communist Party, representing the vast majority, to play its leadership core role of exercising overall leadership and coordinating all parties, in order to consolidate the reform initiative energy of the broad masses of the people. Lenin emphasized: “The strength of the working class lies in organization. Without organizing the masses, the proletariat can achieve nothing. An organized proletariat is all-powerful.” Therefore, the prerequisite for relying on the people’s strength in reform practice is to organize and unite the people’s strength through the leadership of the Communist Party of China, so as to better ensure that reform practice proceeds in the correct direction. On the other hand, reform practice must adhere to a people-centered approach. Organizing the masses of the people is meant to unleash the power of the people united. “Nature does not construct any machines, no locomotives, railways, electric telegraphs, self-acting mules, etc. They are products of human industry.” As the creators of material wealth and spiritual wealth and the decisive force in social change, the masses of the people are the main force of reform practice. Without the masses of the people, productive forces cannot develop spontaneously, nor can they spontaneously drive social change. Therefore, only by relying on the main force of the vast majority of the masses of the people can victory in social practice be achieved.

中国的改革开放是党和人民的选择，体现了绝大多数人的愿望。所以，改革实践在本质上是“绝大多数人的，为绝大多数人谋利益的独立的运动”。正如习近平所言：“改革开放之所以得到广大人民群众衷心拥护和积极参与，最根本的原因在于我们一开始就使改革开放事业深深扎根于人民群众之中。”也就是说，中国的改革实践活动之所以成功，关键在于其统领于中国共产党、统一于人民群众，把发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，与尊重人民主体地位和首创精神有机有效结合起来。一方面，改革实践活动必须坚持党的领导。“党的领导是进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的根本保证。”历史和实践证明，只有将分散的人民群众组织起来，才能取得革命和改革的胜利。但是绝大多数人无法自己组织起来改革，就必须有代表绝大多数人的共产党发挥总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，才能将广大人民群众的改革能动力量凝聚起来。列宁强调：“工人阶级的力量在于组织。不组织群众，无产阶级就一事无成。组织起来的无产阶级就无所不能。”所以，改革实践活动依靠人民力量的前提就是要通过中国共产党的领导将人民的力量组织起来、团结起来，以更好地保障改革实践朝着正确的方向运行。另一方面，改革实践活动必须坚持以人民为中心。组织人民群众是为了发挥人民凝聚起来的力量，“自然界没有造出任何机器，没有造出机车、铁路、电报、自动走锭精纺机等等。它们是人的产业劳动的产物”，人民群众作为物质财富、精神财富的创造者和社会变革的决定力量，是改革实践的主体力量。离开了人民群众，生产力不可能自发地向前发展、更不可能自发地推动社会变革。所以，只有依靠绝大多数人民群众的主体力量，才能取得社会实践的胜利。

Looking back at the historical process of reform in our country over more than forty years, it is not difficult to see that the masses of the people have always been the main force upon which reform and development rely. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC, the Chinese Communists, mainly represented by Deng Xiaoping, made a sober judgment of reality and lifted the curtain on China’s reform

纵观我国四十多年以来的改革历史进程，不难发现，人民群众始终是改革发展依靠的主体力量。党的十一届三中全会以后，以邓小平为主要代表的中国共产党人对现实作出清醒判断，拉开了中国改革开放的序幕。而这一历史性决策的根据首先来自小岗村村民的实践探索。所以，邓小平强调“农村搞家庭联产承包，这个发明权是农民的。农村改革中的好多东西，都是基层创造出来，我们把它拿来加工提高作为全国的指导”，这是对人民实践主体作用的肯定。随着我国改革范围的不断扩大以及社会主义市场经济体制改革的需要，邓小平进一步指出“改革开放胆子要大一些，敢于试验”，也深刻反映了我国改革对人民群众主体地位和首创精神的尊重。新时代以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央在广泛听取群众意见和建议、及时总结群众创造的新鲜经验的基础上作出了全面深化改革的决定，开创了我国改革开放的新局面。也正是这样，全面深化改革“实现改革由局部探索、破冰突围到系统集成、全面深化的转变，各领域基础性制度框架基本建立，许多领域实现历史性变革、系统性重塑、整体性重构”[12]。但是，“当前和今后一个时期是以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业的关键时期”[13]。从国内环境来看，中国式现代化面临着“市场体系仍不健全，市场发育还不充分，政府和市场的关系尚未完全理顺，创新能力不适应高质量发展要求，产业体系整体大而不强、全而不精，关键核心技术受制于人状况没有根本改变，农业基础还不稳固，城乡区域发展和收入分配差距仍然较大，民生保障、生态环境保护仍存短板”等问题。从国际环境来看，中国式现代化作为一项崭新的事业，前进道路上也必然会遇到各种风险和挑战，“特别是当前世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，局部冲突和动荡频发，全球性问题加剧，来自外部的打压遏制不断升级，我国发展进入战略机遇和风险挑战并存、不确定难预料因素增多的时期，各种‘黑天鹅’、‘灰犀牛’事件随时可能发生”。这些现实问题都对全面深化改革提出了更高的要求，意味着进一步全面深化改革的所涵盖的领域更加广泛、触及的利益格局更加深刻、涉及的矛盾问题更加尖锐、突破的体制机制的障碍更加艰巨。所以，进一步全面深化改革，更需要依靠广大人民群众的主动参与和积极支持，“充分调动群众推进改革的积极性、主动性、创造性，把最广大人民智慧和力量凝聚到改革上来，同人民一道把改革推向前进”。

II. The People Are the Value Subject of Comprehensively Deepening Reform

二、人民是全面深化改革的价值主体

The starting point and ultimate goal of relying on the masses of the people to advance comprehensive and deepening reform is to serve the masses of the people. This is determined by the inherent nature of the proletarian movement, which is “the movement of the vast majority, in the interests of the vast majority.” Therefore, in the process of advancing comprehensive and deepening reform with institutional construction as the main line and on the track of the rule of law, the value subjectivity of people must be embodied; one cannot “see only institutions and not people.” Because Chinese-path modernization is a socialist modernization that “promotes the well-rounded development of the individual,” and communism, as a higher stage, is also “a social form in which the full and free development of each individual is the fundamental principle.”[17] Consequently, the key issue for comprehensive and deepening reform in taking the people as the value subject is how to create conditions for the free and well-rounded development of the individual, carrying out great reform practices for the sake of the people.

依靠人民群众来推动全面深化改革的出发点和归宿点是为了人民群众。这是由“绝大多数人的，为绝大多数人谋利益”的无产阶级运动的内在规定性所决定的。因此，在以制度建设为主线和法治轨道上推进全面深化改革过程中，必须体现人的价值主体性，不能“只见制度不见人”。因为中国式现代化是“促进人的全面发展”的社会主义现代化，并且作为高级阶段的共产主义也是“以每一个个人的全面而自由的发展为基本原则的社会形式”[17]。所以，全面深化改革以人民作为价值主体的关键问题就在于，如何为人的自由全面发展创造条件，为了人民进行伟大的改革实践。

That the people are the value subject of comprehensive and deepening reform means that “‘value’ as a general concept arises from the relationship between people and the external objects that satisfy their needs.” Apart from the human subject, things have no value whatsoever. Therefore, when humans constitute the sole subject of value, people, as active, sentient beings, always transform the existing world in practical activity according to their own purposive and ideal demands, thereby making the existing world a reality that meets human purposive and ideal needs. In the Marxist view, this purposive and ideal demand of people is in fact the value pursuit of the people as the subject of human social and historical activity, namely, human liberation based on the free and well-rounded development of each individual. Drawing on the historical context of his own era, Marx examined the actual living conditions of the vast majority of the proletariat in capitalist society and pointed out that people “in their labor do not affirm themselves but deny themselves, do not feel content but unhappy, do not freely develop their physical and mental energies but mortify their flesh and ruin their minds,” and that “the more objects the worker produces, the fewer he can possess, and the more he falls under the domination of his product, capital.” Hence, Marx directed the value pursuit of social and historical development toward communism, viewing communism as the sublation of the state of human alienation and the re-appropriation of human value. In sum, the free and well-rounded development of the individual is the fundamental value purport of Marxism, and this value pursuit can be fully realized only in a communist society composed of an association of free individuals. Therefore, as a transitional stage toward communism, the fundamental value purport of socialism’s reforms is to create conditions for the free and well-rounded development of each individual.

人民是全面深化改革的价值主体，意味着“‘价值’这个普遍的概念是从人们对待满足他们需要的外界物的关系中产生的”，脱离人这一主体，事物就无所谓价值。因此，当人构成了价值的唯一主体时，人作为能动的感性的存在，总是会在实践活动中，按照自己的目的性和理想性要求来变革现实世界，从而使得现存世界成为满足人的目的性和理想性需要的现实。在马克思主义看来，人的这种目的性和理想性要求，实则就是作为人类社会历史活动的主体的人民的价值追求，即建立在每个人自由全面发展基础之上的人类解放。马克思基于自身生活的时代背景，考察了资本主义社会中绝大多数无产阶级的现实生活，指出人们“在自己的劳动中不是肯定自己，而是否定自己，不是感到幸福，而是感到不幸，不是自由地发挥自己的体力和智力，而是使自己的肉体受折磨、精神遭摧残”，并且“工人生产的对象越多，他能够占有的对象就越少，而且越受自己的产品即资本的统治”。因此，马克思将社会历史发展的价值追求诉诸共产主义，认为共产主义是对人的异化状态的扬弃，是对人的价值的重新占有。总体而言，人的自由全面发展是马克思主义的根本价值旨趣所在，这一价值追求只有在由自由人联合体组成的共产主义社会中才能得以充分彰显。因此，社会主义作为向共产主义过渡的阶段形式，其改革的根本价值旨趣就在于为实现每个人自由而全面的发展创造条件。

Taking the people as the value subject in comprehensive and deepening reform means regarding the people as the end of reform and creating favorable objective and subjective factors for the free and well-rounded development of the individual. With respect to the transformation of objective factors by reform, this is mainly manifested in further raising the level of development of the productive forces, thereby providing favorable social conditions for the free and well-rounded development of the individual. Consequently, China’s reforms have always prominently emphasized taking economic construction as the central task and leveraging the牵引作用 (leading role) of economic system reform. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee [n1], China’s economic system reform went through a process from “planned economy as the mainstay, market regulation as a supplement” to a “planned commodity economy” combining planning and market, and then to “enabling the market to play a basic role in resource allocation under the socialist state’s macroeconomic regulation.” During this period, China achieved rapid development from a relatively backward state of productive forces to becoming the world’s second-largest economy. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC [n2], economic system reform has been advanced steadily in breadth and depth, handing over to the market matters that the government should not manage, promoting resource allocation to maximize benefits and efficiency, further clarifying the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, creating a miracle of rapid economic development, and achieving a substantial leap in national economic strength. At the same time, a system of whole-process people’s democracy has been established and improved, embodying the people being masters of the country in all aspects of national political life and social life; institutional mechanisms for cultural undertakings and cultural industries have been established and improved, promoting cultural prosperity and enriching the people’s spiritual and cultural life. History and practice have proven that the fundamental purpose of our comprehensive and deepening reform is not simply the quantitative accumulation of productive forces, but rather to earnestly answer the question of the starting point and ultimate goal of “development for the people.” At the same time, comprehensive and deepening reform also creates favorable subjective factors for the free and well-rounded development of the individual. As Marx said: “Production not only produces an object for the subject, but also a subject for the object.”[21] That is to say, people can, on the one hand, take the material results obtained through practical activity as an extension of their bodily organs to enhance their capacity for physical labor, and on the other hand, take spiritual products as an extension of their subjective conscious capacity to enhance their capacity for mental labor. Only in this way can there continuously emerge broad masses of the people who possess ideals and convictions, are courageous in innovation, and are self-reliant and self-strengthening.

全面深化改革以人民作为价值主体，就是要将人民看作是改革的目的，为人的自由而全面发展创造有利的客观因素和主观因素。就改革对客观因素的变革而言，主要表现为进一步提升生产力的发展水平，为人的自由全面发展提供良好的社会条件。因此，中国的改革始终突出强调要以经济建设为中心，发挥经济体制改革牵引作用。党的十一届三中全会以后，我国经济体制改革经历了从以“计划经济为主，市场调节为辅”到计划和市场相结合的“有计划的商品经济”再到“使市场在社会主义国家宏观调控下对资源配置起基础性作用”的过程。这一时期，我国实现了从生产力相对落后的状况到经济总量跃居世界第二的快速发展。党的十八大以来，积极稳妥从广度和深度上推进经济体制改革，把政府不该管的事交给市场，推动资源配置实现效益最大化和效率最大化，进一步明确市场在资源配置中的决定性作用，创造出了经济快速发展奇迹，实现了国家经济实力大幅跃升。同时，建立健全全过程人民民主制度体系，把人民当家作主体现到国家政治生活和社会生活各方面；建立健全文化事业、文化产业发展体制机制，推动文化繁荣，丰富人民精神文化生活。历史和实践证明，我们的全面深化改革的根本目的不是单纯为了生产力的量的积累，而是要切实回答“发展为了人民”的出发点和归宿问题。与此同时，全面深化改革也为人的自由而全面发展创造了有利的主观因素。正如马克思所言：“生产不仅为主体生产对象，而且也为对象生产主体。”[21] 也就是说，人们可以一方面把通过实践活动所取得物质结果作为身体器官的延伸，以增强自己体力劳动的能力，另一方面把精神产品作为主体意识能力的延伸，以增强自己脑力劳动的能力，这样才能不断涌现出有理想信念、勇于创新、自立自强的广大人民群众。

III. The People Are the Interest Subject of Comprehensive and Deepening Reform

三、人民是全面深化改革的利益主体

The value purport of comprehensive and deepening reform “for the people” can attain actuality only through the realization of the people’s interests, and only by fully safeguarding the interests of the masses of the people can the subjective force of the broad masses be further stimulated and reliance on the people be better achieved. Marxism holds that “everything people strive for is related to their interests.” Since the people, as a collective concept, are composed of numerous specific individuals, this inevitably involves the question of the relationship between individual interests and the overall interest among subjects. Therefore, the key issue for comprehensive and deepening reform in taking the people as the interest subject is how to correctly handle the contradictory relationship between overall interest and individual interests, so that the fruits of reform are shared by the people.

全面深化改革“为了人民”的价值旨趣，只有通过人民利益的实现才能获得现实性，同时也只有充分保障人民群众的利益，才能进一步激发广大群众的主体力量，更好地依靠人民。马克思主义认为，“人们为之奋斗的一切，都同他们的利益相关”。而人民作为一个集合概念，是由多数具体的个体组成的，其中必然涉及主体之间的个体利益和整体利益之间关系问题。因此，全面深化改革以人民作为利益主体的关键问题就在于，如何正确处理整体利益和个体利益之间的矛盾关系，做到改革成果由人民共享。

People’s interests are closely related to people’s needs. From a vertical dimension, the levels of people’s needs are constantly rising. Engels divided the levels of people’s needs into survival needs, enjoyment needs, and development needs, and believed that in the new social system, “under conditions in which everyone must work, everyone will equally and increasingly obtain the means of subsistence, the means of enjoyment, and the means for the development and expression of all physical and intellectual faculties.” [n] From a horizontal dimension, people’s needs are rich and varied. According to the different needs of subjects, interests can be divided into individual interests, collective interests, national interests, etc., and can also be divided into material interests, social interests, spiritual interests, etc. Faced with different interest subjects and the interests of different subjects, Marx and Engels pointed out in the *Communist Manifesto* that “the proletarian movement is the independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority,” and held that “the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all,” which both clarifies the status of the masses as the subject of interests and provides the methodological principles for correctly handling the contradictory relationship between overall interests and individual interests. “Each” is the individual standpoint, and “all” is the overall standpoint. The fundamental purpose of Marx and Engels’ emphasis on the priority of the individual standpoint is to distinguish it from the “illusory community” in history that, divorced from actual individual interests, deprived the majority of their freedom in the name of “common interests.” However, Marx and Engels did not thereby negate the overall standpoint, holding that “only within the community has each individual the means of cultivating his gifts in all directions; hence personal freedom becomes possible only within the community.” This indicates that individual interests and overall interests are dialectically unified: only after the interests of each individual are fully guaranteed can they more actively and proactively promote social development and progress, and at the same time, the realization of each individual’s interests is inseparable from the overall development and progress of society. Therefore, Mao Zedong further pointed out that “the basic principle of Marxism-Leninism is to enable the masses to recognize their own interests and to unite and fight for their own interests” [27]; Xi Jinping also further emphasized that comprehensive and deepening reform in the New Era, “if it cannot bring tangible benefits to the people, if it cannot create a fairer social environment, or even leads to more unfairness, then reform loses its meaning and cannot be sustained” [28]. It can be seen that Marxism has always had a distinct people-oriented dimension. Although it faces the different interest needs of different subjects in the process of advancing social development, it can correctly handle the contradictory relationship between overall interests and individual interests, always taking the masses as the subject of interests.

人的利益与人的需要密切相关。从纵向维度来看，人的需要的层次是不断提高的。恩格斯将人的需要层次分别划分为生存需要、享受需要和发展需要，并且认为在新的社会制度中，“在人人都必须劳动的条件下，人人也都将同等地、愈益丰富地得到生活资料、享受资料、发展和表现一切体力和智力所需的资料”。从横向维度来看，人的需要是丰富多变的。根据不同的主体需要，既可以将利益划分为个人利益、集体利益、国家利益等，还可以将利益划分为物质利益、社会利益、精神利益等。面对不同的利益主体以及不同主体的利益，马克思恩格斯在《共产党宣言》中指出“无产阶级的运动是绝大多数人的，为绝大多数人谋利益的独立的运动”，并且认为“每个人的自由发展是一切人的自由发展的条件”，既明确了人民群众的利益主体地位，同时也提供了正确处理整体利益和个体利益之间矛盾关系的方法原则。“每个人”是个体立场，“一切人”是整体立场，马克思恩格斯之所以强调个体立场的前提性，根本目的是同历史上脱离实际的单个利益，以“共同利益”的名义剥夺多数人的自由的“虚幻的共同体”相区别。但是，马克思恩格斯并没有就此否定整体立场，认为“只有在共同体中，个人才能获得全面发展其才能的手段，也就是说，只有在共同体中才可能有个人自由”。这表明个体利益和整体利益之间是辩证统一的：只有每一个人的利益得到充分保障之后，才能更加积极主动地推动社会的发展进步，同时每一个人利益的实现也离不开整体社会的发展进步。所以，毛泽东进一步指出“马克思列宁主义的基本原则，就是要使群众认识自己的利益，并且团结起来，为自己的利益而奋斗”[27]；习近平也进一步强调新时代的全面深化改革“如果不能给老百姓带来实实在在的利益，如果不能创造更加公平的社会环境，甚至导致更多不公平，改革就失去意义，也不可能持续”[28]。可以看出，马克思主义始终具有鲜明的人民向度，在推进社会发展的进程中虽然面临着不同主体的不同利益需要，但是能够正确处理整体利益与个体利益之间的矛盾关系，始终以人民群众作为利益主体。

Taking the people as the subject of interests in comprehensive and deepening reform means focusing on resolving the principal contradiction of society, correctly handling the dialectical relationship between overall interests and individual interests, and ensuring that the fruits of reform are shared by the people. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, based on the new realities of China’s current development and accurately grasping the new changes in the people’s needs, made the historical judgment of the transformation of China’s principal social contradiction, holding that China’s principal social contradiction has transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. This judgment indicates that the practice of comprehensive and deepening reform in the New Era is to take the people’s needs for a better life as the practical focus to transform the factors of unbalanced and inadequate development, and on the basis of satisfying the people’s material interests, further satisfy the people’s interests in politics, spirit, culture, ecology, and other aspects. Therefore, comprehensive and deepening reform in the New Era always “plans and advances reform from the perspective of the people’s overall interests, fundamental interests, and long-term interests” [29]. For example, whole-process people’s democracy is a specific institutional form to ensure that the people are the masters of the country. It emphasizes whole-process participation in its practical form, which contains respect for and trust in the individual’s ability to participate politically, thereby providing effective conditions for realizing that the people are the masters of the country. The “people’s logic” of the socialist market economy system requires that the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation, but not the entire role; the regulatory role of the government, the “visible hand,” must be brought into play to compensate for market failures, prevent polarization, promote sustainable development, and advance common prosperity. Therefore, the practice of reforming the socialist market economy system not only fully unleashes the free individuality of individuals in economic activities, safeguarding individual interests, but also better brings into play the government’s macro-regulatory role in economic activities, safeguarding the overall interests of the people.

全面深化改革以人民作为利益主体，就是要以解决社会主要矛盾为重点，正确处理整体利益和个体利益的辩证关系，做到改革成果由人民共享。党的十九大报告根据中国目前发展的新实际，准确把握人民需求的新变化，作出了我国社会主要矛盾转化的历史性判断，认为我国社会主要矛盾已经转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾。这一论断表明，新时代全面深化改革的实践就是要把人民对美好生活的需要作为实践的着力点以变革不平衡不充分的发展因素，在满足人民物质利益的基础上进一步满足人民在政治、精神、文化、生态等方面的利益。因此，新时代全面深化改革总是“从人民整体利益、根本利益、长远利益出发谋划和推进改革”[29]。正如，全过程人民民主是保障人民当家作主的具体制度形式，在实践形态上强调全过程参与，其中蕴含着对人民个体政治参与能力的尊重与信任，从而为实现人民当家作主提供了有效的条件。社会主义市场经济体制的“人民逻辑”要求市场在资源配置中起决定性作用并不是起全部作用，要发挥政府这只“看得见的手”的调控作用，弥补市场失灵，防止两极分化，推动可持续发展，促进共同富裕。因此，社会主义市场经济体制改革的实践既充分发挥了个体在经济活动中的自由个性保障了个体利益，但同时也更好地发挥了政府在经济活动中的宏观调控作用保障了人民的整体利益。

IV. The People Are the Evaluation Subject of Comprehensive and Deepening Reform

四、人民是全面深化改革的评价主体

In the process of comprehensive and deepening reform, whether the people’s interests are truly realized must be evaluated by the people. Regarding this issue, Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: “Whether reform and development are successful or not, the ultimate criterion for judgment is whether the people have jointly enjoyed the fruits of reform and development.” That is to say, our reform is oriented toward solving the urgent, difficult, anxious, and expectant problems of the masses, enhancing the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security. Whether this is ultimately achieved can only be decided by the masses. This indicates that the key issue in taking the people as the evaluation subject of comprehensive and deepening reform is how to improve and perfect the evaluation mechanism of the masses, effectively promoting reform, development, and stability.

在全面深化改革过程中，人民的利益是否真正得到实现，需要由人民来评价。针对这一问题，习近平深刻指出：“改革发展搞得成功不成功，最终的判断标准是人民是不是共同享受到了改革发展成果。” 也就是说，我们改革以人民群众急愁难盼的问题为导向，增强人民群众的获得感、幸福感、安全感，最终是否实现只能由人民群众说了算。这表明，全面深化改革以人民作为评价主体的关键问题就在于，如何健全完善人民群众的评价机制，有效促进改革发展稳定。

First, respect the people’s capacity for evaluation. “Only when the masses know everything, can judge everything, and consciously do everything, does the state have strength.” [n] And this capacity of the masses to judge everything stems from the people’s status as the subject of practice, the subject of value, and the subject of interests formed in the process of reform. First, as the subject of practice, the people have accumulated rich practical experience, making their evaluation more realistic. The people are at the forefront of reform, having the deepest understanding of the stage and degree of development of China’s reform, and have accumulated rich practical experience and wisdom in the long-term reform. Therefore, when judging whether reform decisions have been implemented and are realistic, the people have the greatest say. Second, as the subject of value, the rich humanistic implications contained in the people make their evaluation more value-laden. Generally speaking, it is believed that as long as productive forces have developed, society has progressed, and reform has succeeded. However, this view only provides a regular explanation of reform without a value explanation. The serious consequence is that money becomes the measure of all things. Therefore, adhering to the people’s status as the subject of value is conducive to enhancing the value dimension of reform evaluation, making the evaluation both scientific and value-laden, and effectively avoiding falling into the trap of “economic determinism.” Third, as the subject of interests, the direct and tangible interests obtained by the people make their evaluation more objective. As the beneficiaries of the fruits of reform, the people can directly and truly feel whether they have gained benefits and how much benefit they have gained. Moreover, from a quantitative perspective, the people constitute the vast majority of society. Evaluations made by the vast majority based on the tangible interests they have obtained can minimize the subjectivity and arbitrariness brought by evaluation to the greatest extent, thereby making a more objective evaluation of the fruits of reform. Therefore, in further comprehensively deepening reform, we must fully trust the people’s capacity for evaluation, follow the mass line of the Party in the New Era, embed reform measures deeply among the people, and let the people evaluate and let the people score.

首先，尊重人民群众的评价能力。“只有当群众知道一切，能判断一切，并自觉地从事一切的时候，国家才有力量。” 而人民群众这种能够判断一切的评价能力则来源于人民在改革过程中形成的实践主体地位、价值主体地位以及利益主体地位。一是人民作为实践主体，其积累的丰富实践经验，使得评价更具现实性。人民身处改革的最前沿，对于我国改革的发展阶段、发展程度感悟最深，在长期的改革中积累了丰富的实践经验和智慧。因此，判断改革决策是否落地、是否现实，人民最有话语权。二是人民作为价值主体，其蕴含的丰富人学意蕴，使得评价更具价值性。通常而言，认为只要生产力发展了，社会就进步了，改革就成功了，但是这种观点对改革的评价只有规律性的解释而没有价值性的解释，所带来的严重后果就是金钱成为衡量一切的标准。因此，坚持人民的价值主体地位，有利于增强改革评价的价值性，使得评价兼具科学性和价值性，有效避免陷入“经济决定论”的陷阱之中。三是人民作为利益主体，其获得的直接现实利益，使得评价更具客观性。人民作为改革成果的享有者，能够直接、真实地感受到自己是否获得实惠、获得多大的实惠，并且从量的规定性来看，人民又是社会中的绝大多数。从绝大多数人根据自身所获得的切实利益作出的评价才能最大程度地降低评价带来的主观性和任意性，从而对改革的成果作出更加客观的评价。所以，在进一步全面深化改革中，我们要充分相信人民群众的评价能力，走好新时代党的群众路线，将改革举措深入到人民群众中去，让人民来评价、让人民来打分。

Second, improve the positive incentive mechanism for evaluation. In the face of the problem of insufficient evaluation motivation that has emerged in the current reform process, safeguarding interests is particularly important. If Party committees and governments at all levels can promptly respond to the evaluations of the people and further transform the people’s opinions and suggestions into measures for deepening reform comprehensively, this will create effective positive incentives for the people. Because in this process, the people’s need for respect is effectively satisfied, which can further stimulate the people’s enthusiasm and initiative in evaluation. Therefore, this requires leading cadres to view the people’s evaluation results of reform with a dialectical perspective and to respond to the people’s evaluations in a timely manner. For positive evaluations that emerge in the reform process, it is necessary to summarize them promptly and transform them into valuable experience for further deepening reform comprehensively; for prominent problems strongly reflected by the people that emerge in the reform process, it is necessary to reflect on them promptly and transform them into the main direction of attack for further deepening reform comprehensively. Hence, the *Decision*[5]5 The *Decision* refers to the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-Path Modernization,” adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC in July 2024. summarizes the valuable experience of reform and opening up, especially the comprehensive deepening of reform in the New Era, from six aspects, and specifies the main direction of attack for further deepening reform comprehensively from seven aspects. This is a concentrated manifestation of respect for the people’s subject status in evaluation.

其次，健全评价的正向激励机制。面对当前改革过程中出现的评价动力不足的问题，利益保障显得尤为重要，如果各级党委和政府能够及时对人民群众的评价作出反映，并且将人民群众的意见和建议进一步转化为全面深化改革的措施，就能对人民群众形成有效的正向激励。因为在这一过程中，人民被尊重的需求得到有效满足，能够进一步激发人民评价的积极性和主动性。所以，这要求领导干部们要以辩证的眼光看待人民对改革的评价结果，及时对人民的评价作出回应。针对改革过程中的积极评价，需及时总结，将其转化为进一步全面深化改革的宝贵经验；针对改革过程中出现的人民群众反映强烈的突出问题，需及时反思，将其转化为进一步全面深化改革的主攻方向。所以，《决定》从六个方面总结了改革开放以来特别是新时代全面深化改革的宝贵经验，从七个方面指明了进一步全面深化改革的主攻方向，这是对人民评价主体地位尊重的集中体现。

Finally, eliminate the institutional drawbacks that hinder evaluation. Taking the people as the subject of evaluation in deepening reform comprehensively is meant to better bring into play the people’s role in evaluation, and the key to this lies in eliminating all institutional drawbacks that hinder the people’s evaluation, ensuring that the people can effectively evaluate all aspects of deepening reform comprehensively. “Deepening reform comprehensively involves the overall work of the Party and the state, involves all fields of economic and social development, and involves many major theoretical and practical issues; it is a complex systemic project.”[6]6 Xi Jinping, “Explanatory Notes on the ‘Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform’,” November 9, 2013, in *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, vol. 1, 2nd ed. (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2018), p. 74. Such a complex systemic project requires unimpeded evaluation channels, ensuring that the people can promptly convey their opinions and suggestions on deepening reform comprehensively. The people do not evaluate for the sake of evaluation, but rather to be able to promptly transform their opinions and suggestions into experience and measures for further deepening reform comprehensively. Therefore, whether evaluation channels are unimpeded is the “last kilometer” of the success of the people’s evaluation. It is necessary to dare to eliminate the institutional drawbacks that hinder the people’s timely evaluation, and to advance online evaluation channels and offline evaluation channels simultaneously. On the one hand, efforts should be made from the “quantity” of evaluation channels, innovating online and offline evaluation platforms. Especially for deepening reform comprehensively in the New Era, the role of online evaluation is increasingly important. It is necessary to seize the opportunity of the new round of technological revolution, make full use of modern network technology, provide diversified online evaluation platforms, collect the opinions and suggestions of the people to the greatest extent, so as to listen to the voices of the masses from all aspects and all fields, and enhance the comprehensiveness of evaluation. On the other hand, efforts should be made from the “quality” of evaluation channels, ensuring that the people’s opinions and suggestions for evaluation can be promptly and accurately conveyed to the corresponding work departments, simplifying the procedures and formalities for conveying evaluations, so as to listen to the people’s opinions and suggestions on new measures and new situations that emerge in the reform process, and enhance the effectiveness of evaluation.

最后，破除阻碍评价的机制弊端。全面深化改革以人民作为评价主体，是为了更好地发挥人民的评价作用，而这关键在于破除一切阻碍人民评价的体制机制弊端，确保人民能够有效地对全面深化改革的各个方面进行评价。“全面深化改革涉及党和国家工作全局，涉及经济社会发展各领域，涉及许多重大理论问题和实际问题，是一个复杂的系统工程。”[32] 这么复杂的系统工程需要评价渠道的畅通无阻，确保人民能够及时地传达对全面深化改革的意见和建议。人民不是为了评价而评价，而是为了能够将自己的意见和建议及时转化为进一步全面深化改革的经验和措施。因此，评价渠道是否畅通，是人民评价是否成功的“最后一公里”，要敢于破除妨碍人民及时评价的体制机制弊端，一体推进线上评价渠道和线下评价渠道同时发力。一方面要从评价渠道的“量”上发力，创新线上线下评价平台。特别是对于新时代全面深化改革而言，线上评价的作用越发重要，要抓住新一轮科技革命的机遇，充分利用现代网络技术，提供多样化的线上评价平台，最大限度收集人民群众的意见和建议，以便听取来自各个方面、各个领域群众的声音，增强评价的全面性。另一方面要从评价渠道的“质”上发力，保障人民群众评价的意见和建议能够及时、准确地传达到相应的工作部门，简化评价传达的流程和手续，以便听取人民群众对于改革过程出现的新措施、新情况的意见和建议，增强评价的实效性。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗