Wu Wen: Accelerating the Formation of New Quality Productive Forces Is Vital to the Overall Situation of Chinese Modernization
Since the beginning of the New Era, we have developed and expanded strategic emerging industries including next-generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, new energy vehicles, green environmental protection, aerospace, and marine equipment. We have planned and laid out future industries including brain-inspired intelligence, quantum information, genetic technology, future networks, deep-sea and aerospace development, hydrogen energy, and energy storage. These efforts have effectively promoted the deep integration of the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence with the real economy, accelerating the digitalization, networking, and intelligent transformation of the three strata of industry [1]. From the Shenzhou spacecraft in flight and the Jiaolong submersible in the deep, to the Chang'e lunar probe, Mozi satellite communications, the Beidou satellite network, the Tianyan radio telescope's sky surveys, and the Tianwen Mars exploration—new quality productive forces are continuously emerging across our nation.
Accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces is vital to the overall situation of Chinese-path modernization. New quality productive forces serve as a prominent hallmark of socialism with Chinese characteristics entering the New Era; they are the fundamental driving force for high-quality development, the core guarantee for stabilizing the new development landscape [2], and the practical fruit of a new leap in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxist theory, demonstrating the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Whoever can release the momentum of innovation to a greater extent will be able to accelerate the formation of new quality productive forces and lead world development
Innovation is the inexhaustible propellant for the development and progress of a nation and a people. In today’s world, the extensive economic growth model driven by the quantity of factor inputs has entered a bottleneck period; meanwhile, the intensive economic development model driven by innovation is expected to push the global economy toward recovery. Concurrently, global scientific and technological innovation has entered a period of unprecedented intensity and activity, as a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is restructuring the global innovation map and reshaping the global economic structure. Whoever can release the momentum of innovation to a greater extent will be able to accelerate the formation of new quality productive forces and lead world development. We must persist in the principle that technology is the primary productive force, innovation is the primary driver, and talent is the primary resource. We must thoroughly implement the strategy for invigorating China through science and education, the innovation-driven development strategy, and the strategy on developing a quality workforce. We must open up new fields and tracks for development, create new momentum and advantages, and cultivate the fertile soil for the growth of new quality productive forces.
Therefore, we must accelerate the construction of a high-quality education system, develop quality-oriented education, and strengthen the building of basic, emerging, and interdisciplinary subjects. We must deepen comprehensive reform in the field of education, improve school management and educational evaluation systems, and promote the spirit of educators in the New Era. We must improve the scientific and technological innovation system, uphold the central position of innovation in the overall situation of our country’s modernization drive, improve the new-type whole-nation system [3], strengthen national strategic technological forces, and optimize the allocation of innovation resources. We must deepen the reform of the science and technology system, deepen the reform of science and technology evaluation, promote the spirit of scientists, cultivate a culture of innovation, and create an atmosphere for innovation. We must concentrate resources to carry out original and pioneering scientific and technological research, resolutely win the battle for key core technologies, and enhance our capacity for independent innovation. We must strengthen the dominant position of enterprises in technological innovation, leverage the leading and supporting roles of backbone technology enterprises, and improve the level of transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. We must cultivate a large number of high-quality talents who possess both professional competence and political integrity, and respect labor, knowledge, talent, and creativity. We must deepen the reform of the systems and mechanisms for talent development, build a massive, well-structured, and high-quality workforce, give full play to the active human factor in innovation, and enhance the ability to master new quality productive forces.
New quality productive forces emerge in scenarios of uncoordinated and unbalanced development and can promote a comprehensive rebalancing
Coordination is an internal requirement for the sustained and healthy development of society and the economy, and it is a key advantage of socialist relations of production and productive forces. The concept of coordinated development focuses on the overall efficiency of development; by suppressing the "Short-barrel Effect" [4] mechanism, it achieves the precise and balanced development of productive forces, fixes weak links, and resolves constraints. Marxism has always emphasized the concept of coordination. When discussing the role of cooperation, Marx pointed out: "the mechanical sum of the forces of separate isolated workers... differs with the social force that is developed when many hands take part simultaneously in the joint performance of the same undivided operation." It is thus evident that in micro-level production and labor scenarios, coordination itself is a source of productive forces. At the industrial level, Marxist political economy reveals the role of organic structural balance between production departments and the coordination of value exchange for steady economic development. At the level of principles, Marxism tells us that material production is the decisive factor in social and historical development, but relations of production can also react upon productive forces, and the superstructure can react upon the economic base. Therefore, the development of productive forces must be coordinated with the transformation of relations of production. Guiding the development of new quality productive forces with Marxism requires us to possess a systems perspective, observing the contradictory movement between productive forces and relations of production in conjunction with the contradictory movement between the economic base and the superstructure. We must observe the basic contradictions of society as a whole and grasp the growth laws of new quality productive forces with the logic of universal connection, allowing new quality productive forces to become a coordinated force for development.
The development of productive forces is the cornerstone for resolving the principal contradiction in society [5]. New quality productive forces emerge precisely in scenarios of uncoordinated and unbalanced development to promote a comprehensive rebalancing. Through the development of new quality productive forces, we must coordinate the relationship between the local and the whole in terms of space, and the relationship between the present and the long-term in terms of time. In the process of coordinating supply-side structural reform and the hierarchical improvement of the demand side, we must promote the simultaneous development of new-type industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization. We must balance the layout of the growth space for new quality productive forces and achieve coordinated development at a new level of progress.
Accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces means accelerating the green transformation of productive forces
Green development is an inevitable requirement for the construction of ecological civilization. It represents the direction of today's technological and industrial transformation and is the most promising field of development. Human production and life must respect, conform to, and protect nature; otherwise, we will face nature's retribution. When criticizing the capitalist logic of production, Engels cautioned: "Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us." New quality productive forces are green productive forces. This means our understanding of productive forces must rise from "the ability of humans to transform nature" to "the ability for harmonious coexistence between man and nature," moving beyond the oppositional framework of subject-object dichotomy and into the realm of the harmonious concept of "the unity of heaven and humanity" [6]. Green new quality productive forces mean that our understanding of natural laws is deeper, enabling us to guide our actions more consciously by these laws, moving gradually from the "realm of necessity" to the "realm of freedom," allowing humanity to advance toward a developed ecological civilization on the foundation of industrial civilization.
In persisting with green development, we must abandon development models that damage or even destroy the ecological environment and reject short-sighted practices that sacrifice the environment for temporary economic growth. We must follow the general direction of the contemporary technological revolution and industrial transformation, seize the huge developmental opportunities brought by green transformation, rely on technological innovation to solve green development problems, and consciously promote green, circular, and low-carbon development. In handling the relationship between development and emissions reduction, we must plan holistically, ensuring energy security, industrial and supply chain security, and food security while reducing carbon, thereby ensuring the normal life of the masses. Accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces also means accelerating the green transformation of productive forces. We should leverage the traction of green finance, support the green transformation of manufacturing, and guide the real economy toward a greener and cleaner direction, allowing a good ecological environment to become the support for sustainable economic and social development.
The "Newness" of new quality productive forces exists not only domestically, but even more so on an international scale
Openness brings progress, while closure leads to backwardness. Socialist construction must absorb the finest fruits of all human civilizations and must persist in openness. Promoting reform and development through openness is an important "magic weapon" for the continuous achievements of our country's development and a vital mechanism for promoting the progress of our productive forces. The "newness" of new quality productive forces refers not only to the domestic scope but even more to the international scope. China’s development cannot be separated from the world, and the world’s development cannot be separated from China. The optimal fusion and fission of production factors to form new quality productive forces take place on an international scale. Under conditions where globalization, informatization, and networking are progressing deeply, innovation factors are more open and mobile; one cannot engage in innovation behind closed doors. We must persist in combining "bringing in" with "going out," actively integrating into the global innovation network, and comprehensively improving the level of international cooperation in our country's technological innovation. We must persist in openness and inclusiveness, dismantle all barriers hindering the development of productive forces, guide and promote the healthy development of globalization, allow capital and technology to flow more freely, implement more open policies for introducing innovative talents, and gather the world’s best minds to use them.
On the surface, economic globalization appears to be the widespread global flow of goods, capital, and information, but in essence, the power dominating this flow is talent and the capacity for technological innovation. We must enhance our ability to lead the global flow of goods, capital, and information, and strengthen our power to participate in the formulation of global economic, financial, and trade rules, conducting international economic and technological innovation cooperation at a higher level. We are actively promoting the construction of an open and interconnected world economy, gathering the interactive synergy of advanced production factors worldwide, and widening the space for the common development of the global economy. Through open-type production and construction such as the Belt and Road Initiative, we promote the interconnection of the world economy. This is not just building roads and bridges; it is not merely a flat or single-line connection, but an all-round, multi-dimensional, and network-like "Great Interconnection"—a vibrant, open system based on collective consultation and contribution. The open nature of new quality productive forces means that China will inevitably play a better role as an engine of the world economy.
The shared nature of new quality productive forces requires that technological progress follow a path of universal benefit
Development for the people, development relying on the people, and the fruits of development shared by the people—this is the fundamental purpose of China's promotion of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and it is also our fundamental purpose in developing new quality productive forces. We often regard the development of productive forces primarily as a means to improve efficiency, while leaving equity primarily to distribution policies. The brilliance of Marxist political economy, however, lies in viewing the links of "production, distribution, circulation, and consumption" as a cyclical, mutually embedded process of connection. Under socialist conditions, sharing is not only about distribution but also about the development of productive forces. The working class is the leading class of our country, the representative of our country's advanced productive forces and relations of production, the most solid and reliable class basis of our Party, and the main force in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and in persisting with and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. The sharing of development fruits will mobilize the enthusiasm of production subjects to the greatest extent and promote the innovation of productive forces.
The shared nature of new quality productive forces requires that technological progress follow a path of universal benefit. We must focus on major people's livelihood issues such as the prevention and control of major diseases, food and drug safety, and population aging. We must significantly increase the supply of public technology so that the people enjoy a more livable living environment, better medical and health services, and safer food and medicine. We must rely on technological innovation to build a low-cost, wide-coverage, and high-quality public service system. We must strengthen the supply of inclusive and public technology, develop low-cost disease prevention and control and telemedicine technologies, and achieve the inclusive sharing of high-quality medical and health resources. We must develop information network technology to eliminate the digital divide between different income groups and regions, and strive to achieve the equalization of high-quality cultural and educational resources. Shared new quality productive forces will surely promote a more comprehensive sharing by all people and push for more obvious substantive progress in achieving common prosperity for all.