Li Yuyan: Gathering the Powerful Strength of Chinese Modernization through High-Quality Labor and Creation
Labor creates happiness, and struggle forges great undertakings. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "high-quality development is inseparable from high-quality labor creation" and that we must "focus on promoting high-quality development, and mobilize and inspire the broad masses of employees and working people to establish merit, start careers, and engage in innovation and creation." High-quality labor creation runs through the entire process of Chinese-path modernization; it profoundly aligns with the people-centered value foundation, constructs the power engine for high-quality development, and points toward the realization of common prosperity and the well-rounded development of the individual. Currently, China is in a critical period for advancing Chinese-path modernization. Only by using high-quality labor creation as the link to gather the trickling efforts of hundreds of millions of laborers can we form a majestic force to continuously push Chinese-path modernization forward.
High-quality labor creation manifests the essential requirements of a people-centered approach
A society’s attitude toward labor and laborers essentially regulates the nature and boundaries of its modernization. Chinese-path modernization persists in being people-centered, and its ultimate destination is the realization of the free and well-rounded development of the individual. In this context, high-quality labor creation is a vivid practice of the Sinicization and modernization of the Marxist view of labor, achieving an organic unity of the subject’s attributes, the quality of the process, and the value orientation.
Labor is the unfolding of the human species-essence; it is "free, conscious activity," and the objectification of essential human powers reveals the authentic state of labor as the externalization of the subject’s creativity. In the old style of modernization dominated by the logic of capital, labor was often alienated into a mere means of making a living, leading to the obscuring of the laborer’s subjectivity and alienation from the spiritual world. High-quality labor creation in the context of Chinese-path modernization promotes the return of labor to the authentic state of the objectification of essential human powers. In terms of connotation, it transcends the simple repetition of physical exertion and moves toward a deep integration of knowledge-based, skill-based, and innovative labor. In terms of attitude, it rejects the old model of extensive and perfunctory work, advocating instead for the craftsmanship spirit of striving for perfection and pursuing excellence. In terms of efficiency, it eliminates ineffective internal friction [1] and focuses on effective output that responds to the real needs of society and promotes overall progress.
High-quality labor creation fully reflects the initiative and creativity of laborers and manifests their subjective dignity. It is by no means the exclusive domain of specific positions but is a universal pursuit covering all legal fields of labor. Whether it is a rural teacher rooted in the classroom, a community worker deeply tilling the grid [2], or a laborer in new forms of employment [3] traversing streets and alleys, all are confirming their self-worth through professional and refined labor practices. This form of labor, which integrates individual value into the overall situation of national development, is a micro-level reflection of the institutional advantage that "development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people," highlighting the distinct character of Chinese-path modernization that distinguishes it from Western modernization.
High-quality labor creation is the core engine driving high-quality development
From the perspective of political economy, labor is the sole source of value creation, but the value that complex labor can create increases at a geometric rate. The core essence of high-quality labor creation is precisely to promote the transformation of labor forms from factor-input types to innovation-driven types, achieving a leap in the quality and efficiency of labor.
Currently, new quality productive forces are accelerating their formation. The core hallmark of new quality productive forces is a significant increase in total factor productivity, and its primary element is a high-quality workforce. New quality productive forces do not fall from the sky; they are condensed in the continuous optimization of micro-processes by industrial workers, nurtured in the independent breakthroughs of scientific research teams on key core technologies, and manifested in the intelligent reshaping of algorithmic models and industrial ecosystems by digital laborers. By the conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan [4], the total number of skilled laborers in China exceeded 220 million. Facing the structural demands of industrial upgrading, we must use high-quality labor creation to continuously bridge the gap between talent supply and technological iteration, providing strong support for leapfrog breakthroughs in fields such as manned spaceflight, deep-sea exploration, and quantum information. In the era of the digital economy, the boundaries of high-quality labor creation are constantly extending. From the precise operation and maintenance of smart agriculture to the technological iteration of advanced manufacturing, and from the brand expansion of cross-border e-commerce to the experience upgrades of modern services, new forms of labor are achieving a virtuous cycle of "technology-industry-talent" through knowledge spillovers, technological integration, and organizational innovation.
To keep this engine running continuously, high-quality labor creation must be placed in a prominent position in national strategy. First, we must deepen the integrated reform of the systems and mechanisms for education, technology, and talent, taking vocational education as the foundational project for cultivating "Great Country Craftsmen" [5]. Second, we must extensively carry out labor and skills competitions, improve the mechanisms for training, utilizing, evaluating, and incentivizing skilled personnel, and smooth the career paths for technical workers. Third, we must improve the distribution mechanism that reflects the value of innovative factors such as knowledge and technology, making "more pay for more work, more pay for higher skills, and more pay for innovators" an institutional norm. When every laborer can refine their skills and release their potential on a professional track, the endogenous power of high-quality development will surely continue to emerge.
Promoting well-rounded human development and achieving common prosperity for all people is inseparable from high-quality labor creation
Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important feature of Chinese-path modernization. Without high-quality labor creation, there can be no sustainable sharing; without a general improvement in the capabilities of laborers, true common prosperity is difficult to achieve. High-quality labor creation is precisely the practical path that links wealth accumulation with rational distribution, and material abundance with spiritual richness.
From the dimension of wealth generation, the entry of a super-large-scale population as a whole into a modern society puts forward systemic requirements for the scale, structure, and quality of wealth creation. In recent years, China's overall labor productivity has maintained steady growth, which is a direct proof that high-quality labor creation provides a solid foundation for household income growth and macroeconomic resilience. High-quality labor creation promotes the transition of production methods toward high-value-added links, accumulating a more robust material foundation for common prosperity.
From the dimension of distributive justice, the foundation of common prosperity lies in being "common," and its root lies in "joint construction." Persisting with distribution according to work as the mainstay [6] and increasing the proportion of labor remuneration in primary distribution is, in essence, an acknowledgment of the differences in labor value, allowing high-quality laborers who create greater social wealth to receive matching rewards. China's continuous improvement of the vocational skill level system and exploration of new mechanisms for the salary distribution of technical workers have not only effectively expanded the size of the middle-income group but also stimulated the endogenous upward and virtuous motivation of the whole society through institutionalized value feedback, forming a virtuous cycle of "creation–sharing–re-creation."
Even more profound is that high-quality labor creation points toward the well-rounded development of the individual. Chinese-path modernization emphasizes the coordination of material and spiritual civilizations, and high-quality labor creation is the core arena for cultivating professional ethics, shaping a spirit of struggle, and achieving spiritual wealth. In the practice of overcoming technical difficulties and the exploration of optimizing service processes, laborers not only update their knowledge structures and improve their professional skills but also temper their will and sublimate their realm of thought through value creation. Growing from ordinary technicians to chief technicians, and from "new farmers" to "prosperous farmers," laborers complete self-transcendence while contributing to society. This resonance between "enriching the pocket" and "enriching the mind" [7] consolidates a profound and lasting spiritual foundation for achieving common prosperity for all people.
Chinese-path modernization is achieved through action, not through waiting. High-quality labor creation, with its distinct value color, strong power efficiency, and clear goal orientation, constitutes a solid support for advancing the great undertaking of building a strong country and national rejuvenation. On the new journey, we must vigorously carry forward the spirit of model workers, the spirit of labor, and the spirit of craftsmanship, improve the system for protecting laborers' rights and interests, and foster a social trend of respecting labor, advocating skills, and encouraging innovation. Let high-quality labor creation become a common practice throughout society, so that every laborer can pursue excellence in ordinary positions and anchor their coordinates in the tide of the times, gathering the contributions of hundreds of millions of people into an unstoppable force for advancing Chinese-path modernization.