The Internal Mechanism of Culture Supporting High-Quality Economic Development

Culture concerns the foundation of a nation and its destiny; the strength of a country and a nation is always supported by cultural prosperity. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out in the book *Zhi Jiang Xin Yu* that “any economy cannot be separated from the support of culture: culture endows economic development with profound humanistic values,” “culture endows economic development with extremely high organizational efficiency,” and “culture endows economic development with stronger competitiveness.” Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping, on the basis of deeply grasping the “coordination of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress” in Chinese-path modernization, has pointed out that “in places where culture is highly developed, the economy still leads the way,” and has called for “using culture to empower economic and social development.” These important expositions shine with the truth of dialectical materialism and provide theoretical guidance and an action guide for stimulating the supporting role of culture in economic development and highlighting the cultural genes of economic development in the process of Chinese-path modernization.

文化关乎国本、国运，一个国家、一个民族的强盛，总是以文化兴盛为支撑。习近平同志曾在《之江新语》一书中指出，“任何经济又离不开文化的支撑：文化赋予经济发展以深厚的人文价值”“文化赋予经济发展以极高的组织效能”“文化赋予经济发展以更强的竞争力”。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记在深刻把握中国式现代化“物质文明与精神文明相协调”的基础上，指出“文化很发达的地方，经济照样走在前面”，要求“以文化赋能经济社会发展”。这些重要论述闪耀着唯物辩证法的真理光芒，为在中国式现代化进程中激发文化对经济发展的支撑作用、凸显经济发展的文化基因提供了理论指引和行动指南。

Culture endows economic development with profound humanistic values

文化赋予经济发展以深厚的人文价值

Theoretically, mainstream Western economics has always been under the basic assumption of the “rational economic man,” that is, market entities pursue the maximization of interests under market competition, advocating a material-oriented concept and following the logic of capital. Marxist political economy, standing on the fundamental position of development for the people, not only pursues the expansion of economic scale and the abundance of material products but also focuses on the free and comprehensive development of human beings. It must “see numbers” and “see things,” but even more so “see people.” That is, it emphasizes that any economic growth is meaningless if it violates the value standard of people’s livelihood, well-being, and people’s happiness.

从理论上来说，西方主流经济学始终处在“理性经济人”的基本假设之下，即市场主体在市场竞争下追求利益最大化，推崇的是物本理念，遵循的是资本逻辑。马克思主义政治经济学站在发展为了人民的根本立场，不仅追求经济规模的扩大和物质产品的丰富，而且注重人的自由全面发展，既要“见数”“见物”，更要“见人”，即强调违背了民生福祉与人民幸福这一价值标准，任何经济增长都没有意义。

Historically, China’s cultural tradition has particularly emphasized moral ethics, and the healthy operation of a commodity economy and market economy requires correct value orientation and moral norms. “Enriching the people and benefiting life” emphasizes that enriching the country must take enriching the people as the prerequisite and foundation, reflecting the importance attached to people’s welfare. “Balancing righteousness and benefit” integrates moral norms into economic activities, advocating adherence to morality while pursuing interests. The conscious practice of focusing on harmony between people and harmony between humans and nature in economic activities is a cultural resource for cultivating the concept of sustainable development. In addition, excellent traditional virtues such as propriety, righteousness, and benevolence are the ideological sources of economic concepts such as integrity, equality, and cooperation, and are also the spiritual foundation for the value pursuit of fairness, justice, and common prosperity.

从历史上来看，中国的文化传统尤为注重道德伦理，而商品经济和市场经济的良性运行需要正确的价值导向和道德规范。“富民厚生”强调富国必须以富民为前提和基础，体现了对人民福祉的重视；“义利兼顾”则将道德规范融入经济活动，倡导在追求利益的同时坚守道义。在经济活动中注重人与人和睦相处、人与自然和谐共处的自觉实践，是涵养可持续发展理念的文化资源。此外，礼义、仁爱等优秀传统美德，是诚信、平等、合作等经济理念的思想之源，也是公平正义、共同富裕价值追求的精神底蕴。

After the birth of the CPC, from exploring the Soviet area financial system and economic system during the New Democratic Revolution period, to establishing the socialist economic system after the founding of New China, and then to continuously liberating and developing productive forces after reform and opening up, our Party’s promotion of economic construction and economic governance has always embodied the main line and theme of people-centeredness. In the New Era, the Party Central Committee has adhered to the people-centered development thought, united and led the people to win the battle against poverty, comprehensively promote rural revitalization, promote the healthy development and high-quality development of the private economy, and solidly advance common prosperity, clearly answering the fundamental questions of who development is for, who development relies on, and who shares the fruits of development. For example, in the financial field, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed “actively cultivating financial culture with Chinese characteristics” and elaborated on it from aspects such as “being honest and trustworthy, not crossing the bottom line,” “taking profit with righteousness, not seeking only profit,” “being steady and prudent, not seeking quick success,” “upholding integrity and innovation, not divorcing from the real economy,” and “acting in accordance with the law and regulations, not acting recklessly.” This reflects both the absorption of the essence of excellent traditional Chinese culture such as “valuing trust and keeping promises” and “honor lies in putting righteousness before profit, disgrace lies in putting profit before righteousness,” and the distinctive characteristics of highlighting modern financial elements and financial concepts. It is a reflection of the Second Integration in the financial field, demonstrating the important role of culture in regulating economic activities.

中国共产党诞生后，从新民主主义革命时期探索苏区财政体系和经济制度，到新中国成立后建立社会主义经济制度，再到改革开放后不断解放和发展生产力，我们党推进经济建设、经济治理，始终体现以人为本的主题主线。新时代以来，党中央坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，团结带领人民决胜脱贫攻坚，全面推进乡村振兴，促进民营经济健康发展、高质量发展，扎实推进共同富裕，明确回答了发展为了谁、发展依靠谁、发展成果由谁共享的根本问题。比如，在金融领域，习近平总书记提出“积极培育中国特色金融文化”，并从“诚实守信，不逾越底线”“以义取利，不唯利是图”“稳健审慎，不急功近利”“守正创新，不脱实向虚”“依法合规，不胡作非为”等方面加以精辟阐释，体现出既吸收“重信守诺”“先义而后利者荣，先利而后义者辱”等中华优秀传统文化精髓，又彰显现代金融元素、金融理念的鲜明特色，是“第二个结合”在金融领域的映射，展现出文化在规范经济活动中的重要作用。

Culture endows economic development with extremely high organizational efficiency

文化赋予经济发展以极高的组织效能

Economic development requires solid and extensive power support, among which the supporting role of culture has special significance. Culture significantly affects social consciousness, market behavior, innovation models, and other elements closely related to economic development, greatly influencing the actual effectiveness of economic development. Regional cultural differences are important variables shaping regional economic models and economic development characteristics. Value concepts such as advocating integrity, the spirit of contract, respect for property rights, and win-win cooperation can not only produce order and normative effects on the economic process itself but also stabilize market expectations, reduce transaction costs, and strengthen property rights protection through consensus norms such as ethics and morality, fundamentally improving economic efficiency.

经济发展需要坚实而广泛的动力支持，其中，文化的支撑作用则具有特殊的意义。文化显著影响着人类的社会意识、市场行为、创新模式等与经济发展息息相关的要素，极大影响经济发展的实际成效。地域文化差异是塑造区域经济模式和经济发展特质的重要变量。崇尚诚信、契约精神、尊重产权、合作共赢等价值理念既能对经济过程本身产生秩序规范作用，又能以伦理道德等共识性准则稳定市场预期、降低交易成本、加强产权保护，从根本上提升经济效能。

In this regard, Zhejiang’s development practice is a typical case. Since ancient times, Zhejiang has had a cultural tradition of emphasizing both righteousness and benefit, engaging in both agriculture and commerce, and a spiritual quality of diligent entrepreneurship and inspirational innovation. This regional culture has nurtured the ideological concepts and behavioral patterns of Zhejiang people who are particularly adaptable to the market economy, becoming the spiritual driving force for developing the market economy. One important reason why Zhejiang has achieved today’s achievements is that Zhejiang has a profound cultural heritage, and its cultural tradition is very adaptable to the requirements of the market economy. For example, Ningbo developed the garment industry from “Fengbang tailors”; Wenzhou, because “its goods are fine and its people are good at commerce,” formed characteristic industrial clusters such as leather shoes, low-voltage electrical appliances, lighters, and glasses; and Yiwu, with a small rattle drum, “rattled” out the world’s largest small commodity market.

在这方面，浙江的发展实践就是一个典型的案例。浙江自古就有义利并重、农商并举的文化传统和勤勉创业、励志创新的精神品质。这种地域文化哺育了浙江人特别能适应市场经济的思想观念和行为方式，成为发展市场经济的精神动力。浙江能取得今天这样的成就，一个很重要的原因就在于，浙江有着深厚的文化底蕴，而且文化传统非常适应市场经济的要求。如宁波由“奉帮裁缝”发展出服装产业，温州因“其货纤靡，其人善贾”形成了皮鞋、低压电器、打火机、眼镜等特色产业群，义乌更是以小小的拨浪鼓“拨”出了一个全球最大的小商品市场等。

This spiritual force is also reflected in the internal cohesion and action power of economic organizations or market entities. For example, corporate culture concepts can enhance organizational efficiency, reflected in guiding members’ thinking, enhancing mutual feelings, cultivating teamwork and centripetal force, and stimulating members’ dedication and enterprising spirit. Through intangible cultural atmosphere and group norms, they form a soft constraint on members’ behavior, thereby enhancing the enterprise’s internal cohesion and action power.

这种精神力也体现在经济组织或市场主体内在的凝聚力和行动力上。比如，企业文化理念可以提升组织效能，体现在引领成员思想，增进彼此感情，培养团队合作与向心力，激发成员的奉献精神、进取精神等方面，通过无形的文化氛围与群体准则，对成员的行为形成润物无声的软约束，进而增强了企业内在的凝聚力和行动力。

Culture endows economic development with stronger competitiveness

文化赋予经济发展以更强的竞争力

Marxism holds that productive forces are the ability of humans to transform nature and are the ultimate determining force of development, whose constituent elements mainly include laborers, means of labor, and objects of labor. Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized in *Zhi Jiang Xin Yu*: “Once advanced culture combines with the most active human factor in productive forces, the quality of the labor force will be greatly improved, the breadth and depth of the objects of labor will be greatly expanded, and the ability and quantity of humans to transform nature and obtain wealth will increase geometrically.” Culture cultivates the soul and enlightens the mind. Advanced culture can not only stimulate the enthusiasm and initiative of laborers but also enhance their knowledge level and innovation ability. In the era of the digital economy, laborers especially need to master certain digital skills and possess corresponding digital literacy. The integrated application of emerging technologies such as the new generation of information technology, advanced manufacturing technology, and new material technology has given birth to a large number of smarter, more efficient, lower-carbon, and safer new types of production tools, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, 5G, and cloud computing. The use of new production factors and high-tech tools must be premised on high-quality laborers. At the same time, cultural prosperity greatly enriches the depth of economic development and enhances the resilience of economic development, and the breadth and depth of the cultural industry have been greatly expanded. With the rapid development of networking, intelligence, and digitalization, cultural digitalization and digital culturalization are deeply advanced, which in turn triggers huge changes in the field of cultural production, promotes the overall leap in the level of economic development, and endows economic development with stronger competitiveness.

马克思主义认为，生产力是人类改造自然的能力，是发展的最终决定力量，其组成要素主要包括劳动者、劳动资料和劳动对象。习近平同志曾在《之江新语》中强调：“先进文化与生产力中的最活跃的人的因素一旦结合，劳动力素质会得到极大地提高，劳动对象的广度和深度会得到极大的拓展，人类改造自然、取得财富的能力与数量会成几何级数增加。”文化培根铸魂，文化启智润心。先进文化不仅能激发劳动者的积极性、主动性，而且能提升其知识水平和创新能力。在数字经济时代，劳动者尤其需要掌握一定的数字技能，具备相应的数字素养。新一代信息技术、先进制造技术、新材料技术等新兴技术的融合应用，孕育出一大批更智能、更高效、更低碳、更安全的新型生产工具，如人工智能、区块链、5G、云计算等，而新型生产要素和高科技工具的使用都要以高素质的劳动者为前提。同时，文化的繁荣极大丰富了经济发展的纵深、增强了经济发展的韧性，文化产业的广度和深度得到了极大的拓展。随着网络化、智能化、数字化的快速发展，文化数字化与数字文化化深入推进，进而引发文化生产领域的巨大变革，推动了经济发展水平的整体跃升，赋予了经济发展以更强的竞争力。

On the new journey of the New Era, we should strengthen cultural confidence, adhere to upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, solidly advance the construction of a socialist cultural power, support high-quality economic development with the power of culture, and boost the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We should pay more attention to meeting the diverse, multi-level, and multi-faceted needs and expectations of the people, focus on the coordinated development of material civilization and cultural-ethical progress, and promote the comprehensive development of people and the overall progress of society. We should rely on the edifying, enlightening, and inspiring role of culture, give full play to the cohesive, lubricating, and integrating role of advanced culture, and always adhere to using core socialist values to build consensus and gather strength. We should promote the spirit of entrepreneurship, effectively promote mutual communication among social subjects and the broad formation of social cohesion, better transform cultural power into a strong organizational force for promoting economic development, actively cultivate and develop new quality productive forces, and enhance the competitiveness of economic development.

新时代新征程上，我们应坚定文化自信，坚持守正创新，扎实推进社会主义文化强国建设，以文化的力量支撑经济高质量发展，助推中华民族伟大复兴。要更加注重满足人民群众多样化、多层次、多方面的需求和期盼，注重物质文明和精神文明协调发展，促进人的全面发展、社会全面进步；要依靠文化的熏陶、教化、激励作用，发挥先进文化的凝聚、润滑、整合作用，始终坚持用社会主义核心价值观凝聚共识、汇聚力量；弘扬企业家精神，有力促进社会主体间的相互沟通和社会凝聚力的广泛形成，将文化力更好地转化为推动经济发展的强大组织力，积极培育发展新质生产力，增强经济发展的竞争力。

(Author: Zhu Hongjun, Distinguished Researcher of the Anhui Provincial Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Anhui University of Finance and Economics)

（作者：朱红军，系安徽省中国特色社会主义理论体系研究中心特约研究员,安徽财经大学党委书记、校长）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧