Zhang Yaxuan: Empowering the Development of New Quality Productive Forces Through a Culture of Innovation
On June 1, 2024, the journal Qiushi published a significant article by General Secretary Xi Jinping titled "Developing New Quality Productive Forces is the Intrinsic Requirement and an Important Focus of Promoting High-Quality Development." It emphasized that to promote the development of new quality productive forces, one must "do a good job on the great essay of innovation." [1] History proves that the progress of an era is inseparable from the reconstruction of culture, and economic and social development cannot occur without cultural guidance. The formation of new quality productive forces is not merely an economic or technical process, but rather a process of cultural reshaping. The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed to "foster a culture of innovation, promote the spirit of scientists, cultivate a positive academic style, and create an atmosphere for innovation," providing the basic follow-through for promoting a cultural environment conducive to the development of new quality productive forces on the new journey of the New Era. In its essence, a culture of innovation is a complete cultural ecosystem comprising innovative value concepts, institutional arrangements for innovation, and practical norms for innovation, empowering the development of new quality productive forces in an all-round way.
The Innovative Gene of Fine Traditional Chinese Culture is the "Golden Key" to Promoting the Development of New Quality Productive Forces
At the National Science and Technology Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized "persisting in fostering a culture of innovation and inheriting the innovative genes of fine traditional Chinese culture." Cultivating the value concepts of a culture of innovation should take cultural self-confidence as its foundation. The I Ching states, "Daily renewal is called abundant virtue; ceaseless generation is called change." [2] This emphasizes that the spirit of innovation and the encouragement of seeking the new and the transformative are the "genetic code" of Chinese civilization, providing important value guidance for developing new quality productive forces.
Fine traditional Chinese culture emphasizes proactive transformation and innovation. The Book of Changes records: "Heaven and earth undergo revolution, and the four seasons are completed," [3] positing that humans should also follow the laws of nature to weed through the old to bring forth the new—to discard the outmoded and establish the fresh. The development of new quality productive forces is an undertaking that requires bold exploration and resolute transformation; one must eliminate the mindset of "preferring inaction over getting into trouble." In fierce international competition, whoever can open "new tracks" in the exploration of unknown fields will win the advantageous position and the initiative for development. Fine traditional Chinese culture emphasizes dialectical "upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground." The Records of the Grand Historian contains the phrase "following the law and upholding the fundamentals." "Upholding the fundamentals" means following the objective laws of things and adhering to truth and the right path. Developing new quality productive forces must not involve blind advances or a greedy pursuit of speed for the sake of "newness" in technology, economy, or business formats; rather, it requires upholding the "fundamentals" of being talent-based, reform-oriented, and quality-first, adhering to a people-centered approach and always aiming to satisfy the people’s needs for a better life. Fine traditional Chinese culture emphasizes open, integrated innovation. Han Yu’s Explanation on the Promotion of Learning says: "To collect all things and hold them in reserve, waiting to use them without omission—this is the mark of a good physician." [4] Chinese civilization is an open system that develops through mutual exchange and learning. The development of new quality productive forces is an international subject arising under the background of economic globalization. Moving from localized industrial upgrading to a qualitative leap in overall social productive forces requires full utilization of the results of the new round of technological revolution, which is inseparable from high-level opening up and integrated exchange.
Basic Institutions for Comprehensive Innovation are the "Booster" Driving the Development of New Quality Productive Forces
Marxist political economy maintains that the contradictory movement between the productive forces and the relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure, is the fundamental driving force of human social development. Institutional innovation and technological innovation are two sides of the same coin; the former is the key variable influencing the latter and driving the leap-frog development of productive forces. The high-end factors required for developing new quality productive forces often possess "specificity," and specificity means being more sensitive to the transaction costs brought about by the quality of institutions. To this end, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to focus on prominent problems restricting the deep integration of technology and the economy, and—revolving around what innovation should do, who organizes it, and how to support, incentivize, and protect it—to accelerate the construction of basic institutions for comprehensive innovation.
Currently, China's innovation situation still shows a gap relative to the goals of achieving high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening and building a global power in science and technology. In the process of accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, institutional and structural obstacles still exist, such as the uneven distribution of scientific and technological resource inputs, weak coordination of technological innovation, and insufficient systematic layout of strategic technological forces. Building basic institutions for comprehensive innovation requires: first, starting from the investment side to improve the scientific research funding support system, emphasizing subsidies for "bottleneck" [5] core technology projects, and refining fiscal support policies; second, exerting effort on the R&D side to establish and improve integrated platforms for industry, academia, and research, promoting the connection and integration of high-end factors with various innovation chains, and ensuring integrated protection for resource input, talent aggregation, and technical evaluation to reduce coordination costs; third, providing support on the market side by improving institutions for property rights protection, social credit, and market access; and fourth, emphasizing top-level design to lead the construction of a modernized industrial system with technological innovation, strengthening the dominant position of enterprises in technological innovation, and reinforcing the layout of basic research.
Breakthroughs in Original and Disruptive Innovation are the "Pilot" Leading the Development of New Quality Productive Forces
The purpose of forming value concepts and institutional arrangements that support innovation is to ignite the practical engine driving new quality productive forces. As the new round of technological and industrial revolution evolves deeply, disruptive technological innovation has become a "sharp weapon" for major countries to shape international competitive advantages. Currently, the practical mode of innovation in China's technological enterprises generally exhibits characteristics of integrated and imitative innovation, with remaining shortcomings in original and disruptive innovation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has elevated disruptive innovation to the strategic height of achieving high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, emphasizing the need to "make original and disruptive technological innovation achievements emerge in quick succession to cultivate new kinetic energy for developing new quality productive forces." Looking forward, focusing on breakthroughs in original and disruptive innovation capabilities is an important practical criterion for driving new quality productive forces through innovation.
From the source, disruptive technologies require the support of foundational research, especially original foundational research. Under the background of the technological and industrial revolution, competition in science and technology is trending toward the basic and frontier fields. Strengthening investment in basic research, improving innovation support, and reinforcing incentives for originality are the only paths to driving disruptive technological innovation. From the development path, disruptive technological innovation in its early stages is often difficult to identify, carries high risk, and is characterized by strong uncertainty. This requires a long-term perspective, providing fertile soil for its budding and growth through forward-looking policy measures, and creating an atmosphere that encourages innovation and tolerates failure, avoiding quick success and result-oriented pragmatism. From the perspective of results, the achievements of disruptive technology can often bring revolutionary changes to human production and life in a short time. Therefore, we must not only value "zero to one" original innovation but also value the transformation of innovation achievements from "one to one hundred," clearing the "last mile" [6] of technological innovation activities.
The cultivation of a culture of innovation has become an important focus for advancing the cause of innovation and accelerating the development of new quality productive forces. Taking culture as the soul and innovation as the wings, while keeping a close pulse on the High-Quality Development of the era, "doing a good job on the great essay of innovation," and creating a cultural environment conducive to innovation will help innovation become a common practice throughout society. This can effectively coalesce and exert the endogenous driving force for developing new quality productive forces, injecting powerful momentum into the grand goal of building a strong country.
(Author's affiliation: School of Marxism, Xi'an International Studies University) Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net (cssn.cn) Web Editor: Huihui