Ding Yuanzhu: Improving the Quality of Life of the People within the Construction of Chinese-path Modernization: Internal Requirements and Practical Orientations

Based on China's national conditions and the goal of meeting the people’s aspiration for a better life, the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) emphasized five basic characteristics of Chinese-path modernization: a massive population, common prosperity for all, material and cultural-ethical advancement, harmony between humanity and nature, and following the path of peaceful development. Centering on the main thread of Chinese-path modernization, Part IX of the 20th Party Congress report designates "improving the people’s well-being and enhancing the quality of life" as a new task and requirement for the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups. This task is set as we embark on a new journey to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance toward the Second Centenary Goal ^[1], particularly during the crucial opening period of the next five years.

This builds upon the "improvement of the quality of people’s lives and the enhancement of social construction" proposed in the 2020 Recommendations of the Central Committee of the CPC for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, as well as the 2021 Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, which proposed "improving the people’s well-being and enhancing the level of collaborative governance based on social co-governance and shared benefits." It further emphasizes "people’s well-being" and "quality of life" in a manner adapted to the requirements of Chinese-path modernization. The common prosperity for all, the coordination of material and cultural-ethical civilizations, and the harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature emphasized by Chinese-path modernization are all centrally reflected in the improvement of the people's quality of life. Deeply understanding the formulation and conceptual connotation of "quality of life" in the 20th Party Congress report is of great significance for deepening the understanding of the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization and promoting its construction.

Improving the Quality of People's Life is an Intrinsic Requirement of Chinese-path Modernization

Quality of life integrates economic, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. It is a developmental dimension commonly used by all countries to measure the level of economic development and the stage of social development. It refers to the standard of material life enjoyed by people and their subjective feelings and satisfaction regarding material enjoyment, encompassing both objective and subjective quality of life.

First, objective quality of life refers to the level of economic and social development and the resulting economic income, as well as the various services, including public services, that people obtain based on that development. Subjective quality of life refers to people's subjective perceptions and satisfaction with the level of economic development, their income, and the various services they receive. As the ultimate goal of economic and social development, satisfaction is achieved through economic income and services, with objective acquisition and subjective perception finding their final expression in the individual.

Second, quality of life is a comprehensive concept integrating economic, social, cultural, and spiritual elements. Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate in economics from India, articulated the subjectivity and complexity of quality of life: "You could be well-off but not healthy. You could be healthy but not able to lead the life you want. You could lead the life you want but not be happy. You could be happy but not have much freedom. Or you could have much freedom but not have achieved much." Through this statement, Sen reveals the internal logic and characteristics of quality of life.

Third, quality of life reflects the living characteristics of individuals and groups. Individual quality of life is a person's perception of their own physical and mental health and the economic and social environment, their life satisfaction, and their feedback behavior toward society. At the individual level, this primarily includes economic income, physical health, family relations, neighborhood relations, work conditions, leisure, and so on. Because each individual’s pursuits, values, cultural background, and institutional environment differ, their psychological perceptions of the same thing vary. However, there is also generality; for example, almost every individual pursues comfortable living conditions, higher income levels, and more opportunities for self-development. Individuals cannot exist apart from society. Classical Marxist writers argued that the essence of man is the ensemble of social relations. The improvement of individual quality of life is the result of the joint efforts of the individual, the government, and society.

Group quality of life is the general expression of the collective life quality of a certain group. A "group" can refer to a collective with shared characteristics, such as women, children, and people with disabilities, or a collective living in a specific area, such as community residents, urban residents, rural residents, or citizens of a specific country. Improving the people's quality of life must start with the most immediate and practical interests that concern the people most ^[2], understanding their actual lives and subjective feelings. At the same time, it is necessary to understand the living conditions and subjective feelings of various social groups. Individual and group quality of life are interconnected yet possess distinct characteristics; the former is the foundation of the latter, while the latter is the collective manifestation of the former.

Quality of life reflects the degree and level of well-rounded human development. The report to the 20th Party Congress states: "We have continued to enrich the material base for modernization and consolidate the material conditions for the people’s happy lives, while also vigorously developing advanced socialist culture, strengthening education in ideals and convictions, inheriting Chinese civilization, and promoting all-round material abundance and the well-rounded development of the individual." This further clarifies that Chinese-path modernization must emphasize "all-round material abundance and well-rounded development of the individual."

Placing these two in parallel demonstrates the CPC's scientific judgment of the new stage of Chinese-path modernization and its high regard for the significance of well-rounded development, representing the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. Classical Marxist writers placed great importance on the well-rounded development of the individual, proposing theories on its connotation and its status as an inevitable trend in human social development.

Marxist theory on well-rounded development can be divided into three interconnected levels. The first and most basic level is the all-round development of the human body and spirit. Marx and Engels studied individuals engaged in productive labor and other social practices under specific historical conditions and social relations. Critically absorbing Western philosophical doctrines on the mind-body relationship, they revealed the basic social characteristics that distinguish humans from animals, viewing the human being as a unity of body and spirit. They also discussed the role of consciousness, thinking, emotion, and will in guiding and regulating production and social practice, understanding spiritual development as the coordinated development of intellect, morality, aesthetics, cognition, emotion, and will. Healthy physical and spiritual development serves as the foundation for social practice.

The second level concerns human activity, primarily the capacity for productive activity. This capacity is a structure arising from the unity of body and spirit. The multifaceted development of human capabilities is a concrete manifestation of the degree of well-rounded development. Marx noted that only by developing the productive forces and creating the material conditions for production "can the real basis be created for a higher form of society, a society in which the full and free development of every individual forms the ruling principle."

The third level is the comprehensive, sufficient, and free development of the human body and spirit—the highest expression of human development and the noble ideal of self-actualization. Specifically, free development is reflected in three areas: the use of leisure time, the free choice of occupation, and the free disposal and control of society, nature, and oneself. Subjective feelings stem from sharing in economic and social development on the one hand, and from free choice—including the choice of time and self-development—on the other.

In evaluating quality of life, leisure time is a vital metric for assessing free choice and self-development. In a society that takes pure economic growth as its goal, where everyone is hurried and struggling for livelihood and material goods, there can be no high quality of life. The 20th Party Congress report, by paralleling "material abundance" with "well-rounded development," integrates basic Marxist principles with the reality of Chinese-path modernization, inheriting and developing Marxist theory.

The improvement of quality of life is an inevitable result of Chinese-path modernization. It is an inherent requirement of reaching a certain stage of economic and social development. First, China's development has entered a new stage. In 2022, China’s total economic output exceeded 120 trillion yuan, per capita disposable income reached 36,883 yuan, and per capita GDP reached 85,698 yuan. As noted in the Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century, since the 18th National Congress, the balance, coordination, and sustainability of China’s economic development have been significantly enhanced. China’s economy has embarked on a path of higher quality, more efficient, more equitable, more sustainable, and more secure development.

Second, improving the quality of life is an inevitable choice once economic development reaches a certain level. W.W. Rostow proposed the theory of stages of economic growth. In his 1960 book, The Stages of Economic Growth, he divided economic development into five stages: traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, the drive to maturity, and the age of high mass-consumption. Rostow later added a new stage in his 1971 book, Politics and the Stages of Growth: the "search for quality" stage. According to his theory, as a society enters this stage, the leading sectors shift from industrial durables to the service sector, and improving "quality of life" becomes the central content of development. "Take-off" and the "search for quality" are the two most important "mutations" in the process of social development. Although humans pursue quality of life at every stage, the methods, content, and focus change.

Third, economic growth itself is neither good nor bad, but the results it brings to humanity can be judged. In this sense, the quality of life of all people should be the standard for evaluation. Following the requirement that Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all, we must examine economic growth through the lens of the well-being it brings to the people. Quality of life is, in this sense, a form of "economic self-awareness." Amartya Sen pointed out that the standard of living is not merely a level of opulence, though it is affected by it. In implementing policy, we should manage the relationship between growth and well-being to ensure development benefits all.

Fourth, quality of life depends on both material and spiritual life.

The satisfaction of material life is the most fundamental of human needs. In the era of globalization and information, the impact of individual capability and educational attainment on one's ability to secure an advantageous position and higher economic income in market competition is constantly increasing; consequently, demand for science, technology, and culture shows a trend of daily growth. To improve the quality of life for the masses, we must not only focus on material-cultural and spiritual-cultural needs, but also devote more resources and energy to promoting well-rounded human development. We must commit to improving the capabilities, cultural literacy, and moral character of all members of society, as well as transforming their mental outlook. The concept of quality of life is closely linked to that of well-being. Well-being consists of the goods and services that satisfy people's basic needs and provide life security. Subjective well-being is an intrinsic element of the quality of life and a fundamental requirement of social policy. We must understand people's attitudes toward their quality of life through the cognition and judgment of their subjective experiences, adjusting social policies in a timely manner to satisfy their needs for a better life.

Coordinating the Objectivity and Subjectivity of Quality of Life

Quality of life is a state of living that unifies subjectivity and objectivity. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress proposed: "We will ensure that the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security are more substantial, better settled, and more sustainable, and that new progress is made in achieving common prosperity." This requires us to constantly improve the people's mental outlook while developing the economy and raising their material standard of living.

First, we must persist in the organic unity of the subjectivity and objectivity of the quality of life. Party organizations and governments at all levels must formulate economic and social development strategies and policies based on full and in-depth investigation and research into the needs of the masses. Through whole-process people's democracy, they should encourage the masses to participate extensively in political, economic, social, and cultural management. This will achieve an effective supply of various material and spiritual products—including public goods and services—to ensure the realization of the goal of improving the quality of life for the masses.

Second, we must treat the "sense of happiness" (幸福感) ^[3] as an important indicator for evaluating the quality of life. In recent years, the "sense of happiness" has been a frequent concept in social discussions regarding people's livelihoods, well-being, and quality of life. It represents people's aspirations for a better life and their evaluation of social life, including happy and pleasant emotional experiences, the degree of life satisfaction, and unpleasant moods or emotions. As one of the comprehensive indicators for measuring the quality of life of individuals and groups, the sense of happiness is a "barometer" reflecting the social mindset. It is a subjective feeling, but also represents one's total investment in and enjoyment of life. The academic community incorporates happiness into the broader study of "subjective feelings" and "quality of life." The causes of the sense of happiness can be analyzed from both objective and subjective factors. Objective factors involve both external and internal aspects. External objective factors mainly include the economic environment, social support (e.g., formal and informal social support), and environmental conditions (e.g., natural and man-made environments). Internal (individual) objective factors primarily include personal health status, education level, income level, social relations, age, gender, and so on. Subjective factors affecting the sense of happiness are mainly personality traits, self-efficacy, cognitive patterns, and coping styles.

In the construction of Chinese-path modernization, we must organically combine objective measurement with subjective evaluation. Improving the quality of life for the masses requires adhering to the organic unity of subjective evaluation and objective measurement; this is an important policy tool for grounding the goal of improving quality of life in reality. Regarding the measurement and evaluation of quality of life, we must, on one hand, fully evaluate the capacity to supply material products and various services based on economic and social development; on the other hand, we must consider the feelings and requirements of the masses. Erik Allardt, a professor at the University of Helsinki in Finland, raised a methodological question regarding the measurement of quality of life: "A basic problem in the construction of all social indicators is whether we should rely on objective measures of external conditions or on subjective evaluations by individual citizens when assessing the level of human welfare." It is generally believed that "subjective well-being is an attitude composed of two basic dimensions: cognition and emotion." In practice, the evaluation of quality of life must coordinate both the objective and the subjective, which is also the common practice internationally.

Furthermore, people's quality of life is related both to material conditions and to subjective life satisfaction; neither side alone constitutes a sufficient condition for reflecting the level of quality of life—they are merely necessary conditions. Only by organically combining the evaluations of both can we reflect the actual state of the quality of life.

Finally, under the guidance of the New Development Philosophy ^[4], governments at all levels need to consider the quality of life of the whole society from the height of history and overall social development, rather than focusing solely on the happiness of certain individuals. Quality of life involves the happiness index and social order, and it inevitably involves individual living conditions and consumer culture. In real life, individual consumer desires are endless; in fact, individual needs are often not entirely self-determined but are more often dominated by the market. The government, representing the interests of the whole society, must transcend the well-being of single individuals or interest groups. It must distinguish itself from the market and focus on a more long-term, macroscopic, holistic, and comprehensive group well-being and quality of life. If the whole society, including the government, considers only the happiness of certain individuals, the quality of life of the entire society will be greatly compromised. A form of well-being centered only on individual happiness would make people greedy and selfish, and even jeopardize the future of generations to come.

We must continuously explore the various factors affecting the people's quality of life in the process of Chinese-path modernization. Improving the quality of life is an important subject in advancing Chinese-path modernization. First, looking at the history and related policies of quality of life, we find several modes of evaluation, such as people's perceptions of social well-being, quality of life, physical health, mental health, and cultural quality. We also see how materialism and individualism affect the quality of life for individuals and society, and the progress and adaptations in measurement methods. Generally, people measure quality of life using objective quality of life, subjective quality of life, or life satisfaction. Quality of life means not only having a good life but also possessing meaning in life, realizing human potential, and perceiving the value of life. As mentioned earlier, individual and subjective quality of life depends on an individual's genes, environment, choices, the social environment in which they survive, and the combination of these factors. Genes primarily affect well-being through personality, but the influence of genes is not static; it changes as the environment changes. One's upbringing, personal experiences, and even living environment can transform personality and individual quality of life.

Second, we must continue to deeply investigate the various factors affecting quality of life. Research has found that the following aspects can improve people's quality of life: a perfect marriage, the company of good friends, a well-paying job, sufficient savings, delicious food, physical exercise, adequate sleep, leisure and ease, and being full of spirit. Additionally, optimism, mutual trust, self-esteem, self-reliance and self-improvement, a sense of gratitude, a spirit of friendly living, clear work goals, a sense of belonging, and a positive worldview also make people feel happier. These components of a happy life depend not only on individual choices but also on social conditions and government policies. Some believe that strong, rapid economic development and income growth are the overriding goals and responsibilities, and that wealth is the solid foundation for a high-quality life. However, history and reality have proven that the growth of wealth does not automatically bring about an improvement in the quality of life or well-being. Quality of life depends on many factors, including individual conditions and the social environment. In this sense, it is easier to understand why comprehensively advancing Chinese-path modernization must adhere to the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan"—that is, promoting the coordinated development of economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization.

Resolving Key and Difficult Issues in Enhancing Well-being and Improving Quality of Life in the New Development Stage

We must comprehensively and profoundly grasp the connotations and requirements of high-quality development. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress incorporated "enhancing the people's well-being and improving their quality of life" into the overall layout of Chinese-path modernization. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has adhered to a people-centered approach, continuously realizing the people's aspirations for a better life. The 19th National Congress proposed "constantly satisfying the people's ever-growing needs for a better life." This has greatly enriched the connotations of social policy with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese spirit. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must always keep the fundamental interests of the broadest possible range of people in mind, unswervingly enhance the people's well-being, and closely integrate high-quality development with meeting the people's needs for a better life, so as to promote the organic integration and mutual reinforcement of prioritizing ecology, promoting high-quality development, and creating high-quality life."

The close integration of economic development with the improvement of people's livelihoods is the concentrated expression of the CPC's implementation of the people-centered development philosophy. From Comrade Mao Zedong's proposal to build a great socialist country, to Comrade Deng Xiaoping's "three-step" development strategy ^[5] for China's modernization, to Comrade Jiang Zemin's goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and then to Comrade Hu Jintao's struggle to win new victories in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the Party Central Committee has always persisted in the principle of putting the people first. Since the 18th National Congress, our Party has always kept the fundamental interests of the broadest possible range of people in mind and unswervingly enhanced the people's well-being. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, based on the New Development Stage ^[6], put forward the major decision to "closely integrate high-quality development with meeting the people's needs for a better life," reflecting the CPC's deliberate and "advancing with the times" pursuit of guaranteeing and improving people's livelihoods during development. Through the practical action of continuous struggle, our Party has delivered on its solemn promise that "the people's aspiration for a better life is our goal." Improving the quality of life for the people is an inherent requirement for China to achieve high-quality development in the New Development Stage.

We must focus on the key points for enhancing well-being and improving the quality of life. From the perspective of happiness economics, income, employment, and prices have a significant impact on people's sense of happiness. Therefore, to improve the quality of life in the New Development Stage, we must base our work on reality, observe the people's livelihoods, care for their sentiments, achieve high-quality development, strive to expand employment, and create conditions to encourage and support household consumption.

First, we must continuously enhance the social resilience of residents. We should focus on the impact of people's health, future employment, digital development, and intensifying climate change on the quality of life, pushing the enhancement of well-being and quality of life to new heights. One aspect is to pay attention to the impact of the pandemic and continuously improve relevant institutional construction. In human history, while pandemics and disasters have brought serious negative impacts, they have also facilitated some positive events—for example, the convening of the first International Sanitary Conference and the establishment of international courts, both of which promoted the refinement of the international order. Currently, the national pandemic prevention and control situation is generally positive, having smoothly entered the stage of routine prevention and control under "Class B management" ^[7]. However, the global pandemic is still prevalent, and the virus is constantly mutating. During this critical period, we must pay attention to people's quality of life, especially their inner worlds, because "unlike patients with physical diseases, the hearts of patients with mental illnesses often hide traumas invisible to the naked eye of non-professionals." "One of the characteristics of infectious diseases is that they trigger fear, anxiety, and mass hysteria, challenging social cohesion and the ability of people to manage crises together. Infectious diseases cause social division and individual trauma." Some scholars, after studying the impacts of historical pandemics, found that the impact of some pandemics on economic development can last for decades, significantly reducing economic efficiency, and pandemics may appear periodically in different regions. In view of this, we must currently "keep a close eye on key links, manage and control at-risk personnel, and further advance and implement work on the basis of existing efforts. We must strengthen the construction of pandemic monitoring and routine early warning capabilities, improve the pandemic monitoring system and information reporting system, and issue timely and accurate warnings and take necessary emergency prevention and control measures."

Second, we must continuously strengthen the confidence to overcome difficulties and improve the ability to respond to unexpected challenges and risks.

Economic recovery depends largely on people’s confidence in overcoming various risks. Only by continuously strengthening confidence is it possible to expand consumption. In the internet age, incidents involving individuals or groups spread rapidly through social networks and are even amplified; the degree and speed of this amplification are unprecedented, and their impact manifests with greater intensity. The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasized the need to bolster the ambition, grit, and backbone ^[8] of the whole Party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups; to refuse to be led astray by fallacies, fear no ghosts, and withstand pressure ^[9]; to advance in the face of difficulties and meet challenges head-on; to coordinate development and security; to strive to overcome all difficulties and challenges on the road ahead; and to rely on tenacious struggle to open up new horizons for our cause. We should keep in mind that "empty talk harms the nation, while hard work prospers the country" ^[10], remain firm in our confidence, stay united in heart and mind, immerse ourselves in hard work, and forge ahead with courage.

Third, we must drive the Chinese economy forward against the prevailing winds of global downward pressure to promote development and increase employment.

First, we must further leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation while ensuring the government plays its role better, promoting a more effective integration of an efficient market and a capable government. Second, we must vigorously support the development of private enterprises, promote cooperation among multiple stakeholders, and find more solutions for private enterprise development within increasingly connected and competitive domestic and international markets. We must give full play to the irreplaceable role of private enterprises in driving development, promoting innovation, increasing employment, improving people's livelihoods, and expanding opening-up. Finally, we must persist in coordinating development and security, formulating strategies and measures that account for both the short and long term.

Fourth, we must focus on special groups and actively respond to population aging.

Population aging in China exhibits distinct characteristics: the elderly population is massive in scale, the aging process is accelerating significantly, there are clear urban-rural disparities in aging levels, the quality (education/health) of the elderly population is continuously improving, and "young-old" individuals (those recently retired) account for more than half of the total elderly population. Consequently, it is difficult for China to simply copy the experiences of other countries. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken a holistic view, assessed the situation, and made major strategic deployments, proposing the "National Strategy for Actively Responding to Population Aging." We must adhere to the Party’s leadership over the overall situation, persist in the concept of "active aging," and create a community for elderly society governance characterized by extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits ^[11]. We must implement comprehensive measures to address reproductive pressure and population aging.

The second major dimension is promoting high-quality employment. We must consistently adhere to the employment-first strategy and continuously improve the quality of employment.

First, employment is the foundation of the people's livelihood. It is a vital factor affecting quality of life because "worklessness leads to isolation, and this isolated state of living makes it difficult or impossible to lead a satisfying life. However, the significant decrease in happiness levels caused by unemployment is not limited to loss of income. In fact, even if the reduced income or other losses directly associated with unemployment are compensated or offset, anxiety still arises during the process of unemployment." Employment issues are both objective problems and sources of subjective issues. We must unswervingly implement the employment-first strategy, placing employment at the forefront of economic and social development and continuously expanding employment capacity. In 2023, we must prioritize grasping development, stabilizing employment, and promoting job creation; we must implement employment service policies across the board, improve laborer skills, ensure employment stability, and pay particular attention to the employment of key social groups.

Second, we must urgently study the impact of the internet and artificial intelligence (AI) on employment. Not only in China but worldwide, "the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent social distancing measures caused a sudden acceleration in the process of innovation and technological change. Chatbots (often using the same voice recognition technology as Amazon’s AI assistant Alexa) and other software that can replace general human labor are being rapidly implemented. These innovative applications, triggered by necessity (such as the need for hygiene measures), will quickly lead to the loss of thousands or even millions of jobs." The academic community needs to conduct follow-up research on these new domestic and international employment trends, and practitioners should use AI reasonably under the premise of ensuring the improvement of the quality of life for all members of society. For example, digital technology will provide technical support for new medical models. Based on various high-quality data, doctors—assisted by AI—can significantly improve diagnostic accuracy using their own expertise and patient records. Many surgeries can be performed by robots, and robots can also undertake certain nursing tasks, such as reminding patients to take medication. These will change the model and structure of medical services and have a profound impact on related employment.

Third, in the face of the challenges posed by the technological revolution, we must accelerate the reform of the education system. Education reform and innovation are key to facing the impact of AI. Informatization and globalization have accelerated profound changes in the global economic landscape. Data from various countries show that technological progress is the fundamental reason for the decline in skill levels and wages in developed economies; those who benefit from technological progress are mainly laborers with higher education levels. The issue of education will be the key and core issue in the era of technological innovation. For both developed and developing countries, education is a fundamental issue. Developing countries need to be even more unswerving in promoting education reform and cultivating a team of scientific researchers with innovative thinking and strong developmental capabilities.

Fourth, we must pay close attention to the employment and life issues of the younger generation. We need to further strengthen social interaction, promote sustained and stable economic development, and solve employment problems, especially for the younger generation. Among all age groups, we must pay special attention to "Generation Z's" views on economic prospects, strive to increase their job opportunities, enhance their confidence, and create a level playing field for the younger generation. At the same time, within high-quality development, while raising material living standards, we should create a vibrant spiritual and cultural environment to avoid "involution" ^[12] to the greatest extent possible.

The third major dimension is expanding consumer demand on the basis of increasing income levels.

Whether expanding employment or expanding consumption, we must ensure steady, healthy, and sustainable economic development. First, we must increase the income of all social members, strive to increase the income of low-income groups, expand the size of the middle-income group, and ensure that the growth of per capita disposable income is basically synchronized with economic growth. To increase income, the key is to continuously promote high-quality development. We must seize upon the prominent contradiction of insufficient total demand currently facing economic operations, prioritize the recovery and expansion of consumption, accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, increase efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, and comprehensively promote the rural revitalization strategy to prevent any large-scale return to poverty ^[13]. Second, expanding consumption requires stabilizing and expanding employment while maintaining steady growth in resident income. Third, targeting different groups, we should improve the mechanism for reasonable wage growth, increase the share of labor remuneration in the primary distribution ^[14], refine the mechanism where innovation factors participate in distribution, and increase property income through multiple channels. Finally, we must further improve the income distribution system. According to the requirements of the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, we must correctly handle the relationship between primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution ^[15]; guide and support enterprises, social organizations, and individuals who are willing and able to participate in philanthropic causes; and encourage and support the development of internet-based charity.

Second, regarding consumption, it is necessary to study the "consumption dilemma" that emerged in Japan after it entered the stages of aging and a declining birthrate. Matsuda Kyuichi, chairman of the Japan Market Resource Institute, believes that "the 'consumption aversion' (嫌消费) brings more than just negative impacts. The result of this generation's restricted spending is an increase in savings. As society ages and the income of the elderly decreases, the depletion of assets like deposits will lead to a lower savings rate, which in turn leads to insufficient capital for investment in hardware like equipment." Japan's experience and lessons show that declining birthrates and reduced consumption by the younger generation affect long-term economic growth trends. Meanwhile, with the arrival of the information society and the smart society, people's consumption patterns are also changing, all of which will impact sustained economic growth. We should encourage the younger generation to strive upward, as "diligence, in particular, is highly valued as a value and ethic that supports social development."

Conclusion

The road ahead will not be all plain sailing; Chinese-path modernization is by no means something that can be achieved "easily with the beat of drums and the clang of gongs" ^[16]. General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out in the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC: "We must increase our awareness of potential dangers, adhere to bottom-line thinking, stay alert to dangers even in times of calm, and prepare for rainy days. We must be ready to withstand major tests of high winds, surging waves, and even perilous stormy seas." On the path ahead, we must firmly grasp the following major principles: upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership; persisting in the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics; adhering to a people-centered development philosophy; continuing to deepen reform and opening-up; and persisting in carrying forward the spirit of struggle ^[17]. These "Five Major Principles" are a call to action issued by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to the entire Party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to forge ahead on the "new journey," based on the overall strategic context of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world’s profound changes unseen in a century. They serve as our fundamental follows ^[18] for building a modern socialist country in all respects, achieving the Second Centenary Goal ^[19], and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Simultaneously, they point the way for us to continuously improve the people’s quality of life during the new development stage ^[20] and the construction of Chinese-path modernization.

Source: Frontiers (学术前沿) November 8, 2024 Web Editor: Jing Mu