Wang Peng: Coordinate Development and Security to Better Serve the Overall Work of the Party and the Country
At present, our country's development has entered a period where strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges, and where uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. Coordinating development and security, and achieving a benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security, is a major principle that must be firmly grasped based on the new development stage [1]. As the vital backbone of the national economy, the operations and development of central enterprises [2] relate not only to the economic lifelines but also directly to national security. Recently, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions on the work of central enterprises, explicitly requiring them to better serve the overall work of the Party and the state on the new journey, and particularly emphasizing the need to "coordinate development and security, effectively prevent and defuse risks, and continuously consolidate the foundation for the safe development of enterprises." Deeply exploring the concrete practices of central enterprises in key security fields, the underlying logic of their role as the backbone and pillar, and their future mission and direction is of great practical significance for fortifying national security barriers and advancing Chinese-path modernization at this new starting point.
I
Central enterprises are distributed across important industries and key fields related to national security, the lifelines of the national economy, and the national economy and people's livelihood [3]. In recent years, central enterprises have continuously enhanced their awareness of potential dangers, focused on preventing and defusing major risks, and effectively played an irreplaceable role in providing basic guarantees and strategic support in key security fields, translating the strategic requirements of coordinating development and security into concrete actions.
In the field of food security, central enterprises undertake the strategic task of ensuring the supply of primary products, constructing a full industrial chain system from the field to the table, and ensuring that national grain reserves are real in quantity, good in quality, and safe in storage through the construction of high-standard granaries and intelligent warehouse management. In the field of energy security, central enterprises have gone all out to increase production and ensure supply, increasing domestic oil and gas exploration and development and the clean and efficient utilization of coal, while actively deploying new energy and participating in the construction of a new type of energy system to ensure a stable supply for national energy demands. In the field of the stability and security of industrial and supply chains, central enterprises are key nodes in maintaining industrial resilience; through technological innovation, they enhance the resilience of industrial and supply chains, optimize the development environment for these chains, and ensure their stability and security. In the field of national financial security, central enterprises play a prominent role in serving the real economy and preventing and controlling financial risks. They strictly implement macroeconomic policies and perform the functions of economic "shock absorbers" and social "stabilizers," providing a stable financial environment for the market. In the field of national network and information security, central enterprises continue to build secure and reliable information infrastructure, making progress in tackling core network security technologies and jointly guarding national cyberspace security. In the field of ecological and environmental security, central enterprises take the lead in promoting green transformation and implementing large-scale energy-saving and carbon-reduction renovations, contributing strength to winning the tough battle against pollution [4].
II
It can be seen from this that central enterprises are not ordinary market entities; their operations are deeply integrated into national strategy, and they possess the ability to mobilize resources and tackle fortifications at critical moments. They are the most reliable force for safeguarding national core interests and responding to major risks and challenges. The reason central enterprises can play an important pillar role in coordinating development and security is determined by their unique strategic attributes and comprehensive capabilities.
From the dimension of domestic construction and economic development, central enterprises are the important material basis for socialism with Chinese characteristics. Their property rights attributes and governance structures dictate that national strategic goals and public interests must be placed in a position of primary importance. This enables central enterprises to transcend simple profit targets and carry out long-term layouts and continuous investment in strategic and fundamental fields that involve long investment cycles and high risks but are vital to the national economy and people's livelihood. Meanwhile, central enterprises are usually giant in scale and complete in system, possessing strong resource mobilization and cross-industry coordination capabilities, enabling them to quickly form a combined force to respond to systemic risks when the state requires it. This fundamental attribute of state ownership and serving the people is an important prerequisite for central enterprises to undertake the heavy responsibility of secure development.
From the dimension of international cooperation and major-country competition, central enterprises are the key carriers for the state's participation in global competition and global governance. At present, with the rise of protectionism and unilateralism, the risks and challenges facing the world economy are increasing, and global industrial and supply chains face the risk of restructuring. As the "national team" of the Chinese economy, central enterprises play a leading role in participating in the formulation of international economic and trade rules, securing the supply of overseas resources, and maintaining the security of cross-border infrastructure. By implementing major cooperation projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative through market-based methods, they have not only promoted common development but also effectively safeguarded the country's overseas interests and strategic security in a complex geopolitical environment, enhancing our country's initiative and influence in the international economic system.
From the dimension of technological development and industrial upgrading, central enterprises are the leading force for breaking through key core technologies and maintaining industrial security. High-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening are both the strategic support for national development and the fundamental guarantee for national security. The research and development of many cutting-edge technologies involving national security requires large investments, long cycles, and carries high risks, necessitating systematic organization and intensive assault. Relying on their advantages in capital, talent, and industrial chains, central enterprises have the capacity to organize large-scale innovation consortia to implement major technological projects in key fields such as aerospace, deep sea, energy resources, and information communication, promoting the deep integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain. This core role in leading industrial upgrading and tackling "chokehold" problems [5] is difficult for other types of enterprises to replace.
III
During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period [6], profound changes in the domestic and international environment place higher requirements on coordinating development and security. Central enterprises need to follow the decision-making arrangements of the Party Central Committee, further clarify their position, find the right orientation, plan systematically, and apply precise force to comprehensively improve their core capabilities in serving national strategy and better fulfill their responsibilities and missions.
Uphold the leadership of the Party and lead reform and development by strengthening political guarantees. Upholding the leadership of the Party and strengthening Party building are the glorious traditions and unique advantages of central enterprises. It is necessary to integrate Party leadership into all links of corporate governance comprehensively, systematically, and as a whole, embedding enterprise Party organizations into the corporate governance structure. We must advance comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in depth, create a clean and upright political ecosystem, and lead and guarantee high-quality development with high-quality Party building, ensuring that central enterprises always maintain the correct political direction amidst the complex situation of reform and development, providing the fundamental political guarantee for fulfilling the responsibilities and missions endowed by the New Era.
Focus on primary responsibilities and core businesses, and demonstrate greater achievements in serving the overall national situation. Central enterprises must consciously align their primary responsibilities and core businesses with national strategic needs and plan their own development within the overall framework of national development. This means actively integrating into major strategies such as coordinated regional development, new-type urbanization, and rural revitalization, reflecting the national will in all stages of planning, investment, construction, and operation. Particularly in tasks such as advancing major infrastructure construction and guaranteeing the supply of energy and resources, they should play an irreplaceable professional advantage and backbone role, providing strong support for the high-quality development of the economy and society.
Based on the real economy, play an active role in fortifying industrial foundations. Maintaining the self-controllability and resilience of industrial and supply chains is an urgent task in coordinating development and security. Central enterprises must not only consolidate and improve in traditional advantageous fields related to the national economy and people's livelihood but also actively deploy and develop strategic emerging industries and future industries. Efforts should be made to shore up weaknesses and forge strengths, enhancing self-controllability in key links by building industrial ecosystems and uniting upstream and downstream enterprises. Through their own transformation, upgrading, and industrial leadership, they should drive the Chinese industrial system as a whole toward the mid-to-high end of global value chains, constructing a modern industrial defense line against external shocks.
Strengthen innovation-driven development and courageously shoulder heavy burdens in achieving high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. Central enterprises must place technological innovation at the core, continue to increase R&D investment, and strengthen applied basic research and frontier technology exploration. They should concentrate forces to tackle key core technologies, improve the supply quality of key generic technologies, and have the courage to challenge major scientific questions and engineering technical hurdles. By promoting the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, they should strive to realize the transformation from "following" to "running alongside" and then to "leading" in more fields, fundamentally enhancing the independence, autonomy, and security of our country's development.
Optimize business philosophies and consolidate the foundation for the safe development of enterprises while effectively preventing risks. The concept of secure development should be integrated throughout the entire process of corporate decision-making and business management. This requires central enterprises to firmly establish bottom-line thinking in domestic and international market expansion and major investment operations, and to establish and improve a comprehensive risk management system covering fields such as strategy, investment, finance, law, and overseas operations. They must improve their ability to accurately identify and effectively defuse risks, especially in participating in international competition and cooperation, enhancing their ability to prevent and defuse various risks such as geopolitical, economic, and financial risks. They must resolutely hold the bottom line of preventing the occurrence of major risks, achieving a benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security.
Deepen reform efforts and stimulate endogenous momentum by improving the governance system. Improving the core competitiveness of central enterprises is an inherent requirement for better serving national security strategies. Central enterprises should aim at building world-class enterprises, continue to deepen the reform of state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises, improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, and refine a corporate governance structure with statutory rights and responsibilities, transparency, coordinated operation, and effective checks and balances. Efforts should be made to resolve deep-seated institutional and mechanistic problems that constrain corporate development, taking the lead in optimizing the layout of the state-owned economy and improving the efficiency of state-owned assets supervision, so as to fully stimulate the vitality, creativity, and market competitiveness of enterprises through reform.