Hong Yinxing: Comprehending the New Realm of Political Economy of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Editor’s Note Recently, the first volume of the Selected Economic Works of Xi Jinping (hereafter referred to as the Selected Works) was published and distributed. This is a major event both in the political and economic life of our country and in the ideological and theoretical circles. The Selected Works contains 74 of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s most important and fundamental works regarding economic construction from November 2012 to December 2024. It systematically reflects the innovative practice and the evolution of continuous enrichment and development of the Party Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, as it unceasingly promotes the Sinicization and modernization of Marxist political economy, elevating practical experience into systematized scientific theory. It provides an authoritative textbook for the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country to study and implement Xi Jinping economic thought in depth. To promote a comprehensive and systematic study of the Selected Works, this journal has invited two scholars to conduct a study of its contents from different perspectives, grasping the theoretical essence of Xi Jinping economic thought through deep study and subtle comprehension.
Within Xi Jinping economic thought, Marxist political economy occupies an extremely important position. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Learning and comprehending the basic principles and methodology of Marxist political economy helps us master a scientific method of economic analysis, understand the process of economic movement, grasp the laws of economic development, improve our ability to manage the socialist market economy, and accurately answer the theoretical and practical questions of our country’s economic development." In the article "Continuously Opening Up New Realms for Contemporary Chinese Marxist Political Economy," General Secretary Xi Jinping expounded on how our Party, based on the new practices of reform and opening up since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee [1], has further enriched and developed important theoretical achievements in Marxist political economy. "These theoretical achievements were not discussed by the classical Marxist writers, nor did we have practice or understanding in these areas before the reform and opening up. They constitute a political economy that adapts to the national conditions of contemporary China and the characteristics of the era. They have not only powerfully guided the practice of our country’s economic development but have also opened up new realms for Marxist political economy." A comprehensive and systematic study of the first volume of the Selected Economic Works of Xi Jinping allows for a profound understanding that Xi Jinping economic thought has opened up a new realm of Chinese-path socialist political economy, making important original contributions to the enrichment and development of Marxist political economy, and providing a sharp ideological weapon for promoting high-quality development, scientifically responding to major risks and challenges, and comprehensively building a modern socialist country.
Upholding the Value Pursuit of a People-Centered Approach
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "We must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy. Development for the people is the fundamental position of Marxist political economy." This people-centered approach is reflected in every aspect of Chinese-path socialist political economy. First, it takes the realization of the interests of the vast majority as its goal, enhancing the people's well-being and promoting well-rounded human development. Second, the grand blueprint for achieving socialist modernization fully embodies this people-centered value pursuit: when modernization is basically achieved, the people’s lives should be more affluent; when modernization is fully achieved, the people’s lives should be happier and healthier. This is a developmental process aimed at raising the people’s standard of living. Finally, common prosperity is the essential characteristic of socialism and the common expectation of the masses. Achieving the Long-Range Objectives through 2035 [2] for basically realizing socialist modernization requires that "more obvious and substantive progress be made in the common prosperity of all people."
To open up a new realm of Chinese-path socialist political economy, one must persist in a problem-oriented approach—that is, one must adapt to the needs of advancing the process of Chinese-path modernization, respond to the expectations of the people and social anticipations, go where the problems are, and properly answer the "questions posed by the people." Specifically, focusing on new problems encountered in practice, deep-seated issues in reform, development, and stability, and the "urgent, difficult, and anxious" problems of the masses [3], and continuously proposing new concepts, new ideas, and new methods that truly solve these problems, has become the focal point of research in Chinese-path socialist political economy. Adhering to a people-centered, problem-oriented approach first requires taking the transformation of the principal contradiction in society during the new development stage as the guide. Currently, the principal contradiction in our society has been transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. This transformation indicates that overcoming unbalanced and inadequate development to meet the people’s ever-growing need for a better life has become the core focus of development. Second, one must take the advancement of Chinese-path modernization as the problem orientation. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development. In summary, "the ultimate goal of modernization is to realize the free and well-rounded development of the individual."
Improving the Ownership Structure Where Public Ownership is the Mainstay and Diverse Forms of Ownership Develop Together
The study and analysis of economic systems is the core content of Marxist political economy. The basic socialist economic system involves the coexistence of public ownership as the mainstay alongside various forms of ownership, the coexistence of distribution according to work as the mainstay alongside multiple modes of distribution, and the socialist market economy system. Improving the ownership structure is mainly reflected in adhering to and implementing the "Two Unswervinglys" [4].
First is unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector of the economy. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "The mainstay status of public ownership cannot be shaken, and the leading role of the state-owned economy cannot be shaken. This is the institutional guarantee for the people of all ethnic groups in our country to share the fruits of development, and it is also an important guarantee for consolidating the Party’s governing position and upholding our country’s socialist system." Public ownership as the mainstay means that public assets hold a dominant position in total social assets and that the state-owned economy controls the lifeblood of the national economy, thereby institutionally embodying the people-centered development philosophy, implementing the requirements of socialist fairness and justice, and realizing the sharing of development fruits by all people.
Second is unswervingly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted, "Our country’s private economy has become an indispensable force for promoting development, the main field for entrepreneurship and employment, an important subject for technological innovation, and a major source of national tax revenue." He required "optimizing the development environment for private enterprises, protecting the property rights of private enterprises and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, and promoting the growth of the private economy."
Extending the study of ownership issues into the field of property rights is an innovative development of Chinese-path socialist political economy. Based on the "Two Unswervinglys," General Secretary Xi Jinping further proposed the "Two Inviolabilities" of the property rights of the public sector and the property rights of the non-public sector. At the 19th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping required that "economic structural reform must focus on improving the property rights system and the market-based allocation of factors of production." Improving the property rights system includes: establishing a modern property rights system with clear ownership and well-defined responsibilities; shifting the management of state-owned assets from "managing assets" to "managing capital"; promoting the "separation of three rights" (ownership, contracting rights, and management rights) for agricultural land; and making mixed ownership a form of realization for the basic economic system.
How to regulate and guide the healthy development of capital under the socialist system is a major theoretical and practical issue that Chinese-path socialist political economy must study and resolve. Since we are developing a socialist market economy, various forms of capital, including public and private capital, will inevitably emerge. This requires regulating capital behavior, promoting its benefits while mitigating its harms, ensuring that "capital tycoons" do not act recklessly, while also leveraging capital's function as a factor of production. On one hand, we support and guide the regulated and healthy development of capital, promote the sound and common development of all types of capital, and give play to its role in developing productive forces, creating social wealth, and improving people’s well-being. On the other hand, we must strengthen effective supervision of capital in accordance with the law to prevent the "barbaric growth" of capital.
Improving the Distribution System Where Distribution According to Work is the Mainstay and Diverse Modes of Distribution Coexist
The distribution system formed during the reform—where distribution according to work is the mainstay and diverse modes of distribution coexist—has fully mobilized and incentivized the input of different factor owners, allowing the vitality of all labor, knowledge, technology, management, and capital to burst forth, and allowing all sources of social wealth to flow freely. On this basis, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed, "Promote common prosperity in high-quality development, correctly handle the relationship between efficiency and fairness, and construct a basic institutional arrangement in which primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution are coordinated and integrated."
First is the improvement of the three distributions. In the primary distribution stage, the relationship between fairness and efficiency must be handled well, increasing the proportion of labor compensation in the primary distribution and ensuring that the growth of labor compensation is synchronized with the increase in labor productivity. This is the foundation for balancing fairness and efficiency. Government-led redistribution plays a guiding role in common prosperity, requiring the improvement of redistribution mechanisms such as taxation, social security, and transfer payments. Importance should also be placed on the role of tertiary distribution, developing social welfare undertakings such as charities and establishing mechanisms where those who get rich first help those who lag behind. This serves as a beneficial supplement to promoting common prosperity.
Second, in the process of production factors participating in income distribution, while laborers obtain labor income, they should also be able to obtain more income from other factors. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "Explore multiple channels to increase the factor-based income of the middle- and low-income masses, and increase the property income of urban and rural residents through multiple channels." Practical paths include: improving the income level of middle- and low-income groups through the ownership and yield rights of factors such as land and capital; increasing investment in human capital to enhance the knowledge and skills of laborers; and giving full play to their technical and managerial expertise. This ensures that laborers do not only receive direct labor income but can also receive income from technology and management.
Third is the implementation of the employment-first strategy. Employment is the foundation of the people's livelihood, and high-quality, full employment is the cornerstone of realizing common prosperity. To promote high-quality, full employment, first, capital remains a basic condition for employment; thus, stabilizing employment requires stabilizing capital. Second, addressing the issues of employment and unemployment caused by the application of new technologies under digital economy conditions, it must be clearly emphasized that the direction of technological progress should lean more toward industrial upgrading and areas beyond human reach, rather than toward replacing labor in existing jobs. At the same time, education and training for low-skilled laborers should be strengthened to enable them to meet the skill requirements of the digital economy era.
Fourth is encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "smooth the channels for upward mobility, create opportunities for more people to become wealthy, and form a developmental environment in which everyone participates." This involves improving the labor market to promote the smooth and upward mobility of labor within the market, as well as providing opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Further Improving the Socialist Market Economy System
The relationship between the government and the market is the core content of our country's economic structural reform and the core of research into economic adjustment mechanisms in Chinese-path socialist political economy. The combination of an "efficient market" and a "competent government" is a "world-class economic problem" that needs to be solved in practice. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed the proposition of "allowing the market to play the decisive role in resource allocation and better playing the role of the government," which opened up a new realm for the analysis of economic operations in Marxist political economy.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "Both theory and practice prove that market allocation of resources is the most efficient form. Market-determined resource allocation is a general law of the market economy; a market economy is essentially an economy in which the market determines the allocation of resources." The 19th CPC National Congress identified "improving the property rights system and the market-based allocation of factors" as two key reform priorities for accelerating the improvement of the socialist market economy system. The 20th CPC National Congress proposed "improving the basic systems of the market economy, such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee’s requirement for a high-standard socialist market economy system is to be "both 'dynamic/unfettered' [放得活] and 'manageable/under control' [管得住]." The path to being "dynamic" is: strengthening the protection of property rights and intellectual property rights, building a high-standard market system, improving the fair competition system, stimulating the vitality of market entities, and allowing all sources of strength conducive to the development of social productive forces to gush forth. Being "manageable" requires further improving macro-control mechanisms. Scientific macro-control and effective government governance are inherent requirements for leveraging the advantages of the socialist market economy system. Supply and demand are two basic aspects of the internal relations of a market economy. An original contribution of Xi Jinping economic thought is the clarification that the supply side and the demand side are the two basic means of managing and regulating the macro-economy, proposing that "whether economic policy focuses on the supply side or the demand side should be decided based on a country's macroeconomic situation." The approach of deepening demand-side reform in coordination with supply-side reform embodies the combination of long-term and short-term goals for regulating development.
Theoretical Innovation in Economic Development for Promoting High-Quality Development
How to drive economic development is a critical component of Marxist political economy. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "The purpose of studying Marxist political economy is to better guide the practice of our country's economic development. We must both adhere to its basic principles and methodology, and, more importantly, integrate them with the reality of our country's economic development to continuously form new theoretical outcomes." The original and signature contributions of Xi Jinping Economic Thought to the developmental theory of Marxist political economy are prominently embodied in the four "News": the New Development Stage, the New Development Philosophy, the New Development Pattern, and new quality productive forces.
The New Development Stage. Our country has entered the New Development Stage—that is, the stage in which economic development transitions from high-speed growth to high-quality development. Related issues of economic development have thus become the problem-oriented focus of research in socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "Development must be scientific development that follows economic laws, and must be sustainable development that follows natural laws." In the stage of high-quality development, what we require is development characterized by quality, efficiency, and sustainability; it is development supported by high-quality full employment and the improvement of labor productivity, return on investment, and resource allocation efficiency.
The New Development Philosophy. Based on the scientific judgment that our country has entered the New Development Stage, General Secretary Xi Jinping originally proposed the New Development Philosophy of Innovation, Coordination, Greenery, Openness, and Sharing, answering a series of theoretical and practical questions regarding the purpose, impetus, methods, and paths of development. Consistently, accurately, and comprehensively implementing the New Development Philosophy has become the inevitable path to achieving high-quality development. Within this framework: innovative development focuses on solving the problem of the impetus for development, becoming the primary driver of high-quality development; coordinated development characterizes the form of high-quality development, focusing on solving the problem of unbalanced development; green development is the internal requirement and defining hue of high-quality development, focusing on the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature; open development requires constructing a more dynamic open economic system, focusing on solving the problem of internal-external linkage in development; shared development is the fundamental purpose of high-quality development, focusing on the problem of social equity and justice. These five developmental philosophies constitute an interconnected and mutually reinforcing ensemble; they are the scientific guidance for steering our country's economic and social development toward the stage of high-quality development.
The New Development Pattern. Facing changes unseen in a century [5], General Secretary Xi Jinping opportunely proposed "constructing a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the mainstay and the domestic and international dual cycles promoting each other." This new development pattern is proposed based on changes in our country’s development stage, environment, and conditions; it is a strategic choice to reshape our country’s new advantages in international cooperation and competition. Taking the domestic cycle as the mainstay means allowing production, distribution, circulation, and consumption to rely more on the ultra-large-scale domestic market, enhancing the adaptability of the supply system to domestic demand, and reflecting the endogenous nature of growth. Under the New Development Pattern, our country’s opening-up has also entered a New Era; we must fully utilize the advantages of our ultra-large-scale domestic market to improve the level of the open economy across a wider scope, in broader fields, and at deeper levels, implementing high-level policies for trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.
New quality productive forces. As an original concept proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, new quality productive forces match the new drivers of the development of productive forces. New quality productive forces are the state of advanced productive forces where innovation plays the leading role, breaking away from traditional economic growth modes and development paths for productive forces. They are characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality, aligning with the New Development Philosophy. The concept and theory of new quality productive forces represent a major breakthrough in Marxist theories of productive forces. First, new quality productive forces are primarily catalyzed by revolutionary technological breakthroughs. Scientific and technological innovation can spawn new industries, new models, and new drivers; it is the core element for developing new quality productive forces. Second, the basic connotation of new quality productive forces is the qualitative leap in laborers, means of labor, objects of labor, and their optimal combination. Third, new quality productive forces rely on new technology and find their footing in new industries, reflecting the deep integration of scientific innovation and industrial innovation. Developing new quality productive forces requires the timely application of scientific and technological innovation achievements to specific industries and industrial chains, transforming and upgrading traditional industries, nurturing and expanding emerging industries, planning and constructing future industries, and improving the modernized industrial system. Finally, it involves establishing new types of relations of production. To develop new quality productive forces, we must further comprehensively deepen reform and form new types of relations of production that adapt to them. The main directions of reform are: first, constructing institutional mechanisms that comprehensively support scientific and industrial innovation. Second, recognizing that education, technology, and talent are the foundational and strategic supports for forming new quality productive forces; the focus of building new relations of production lies in the integrated advancement of the reform of institutional mechanisms for education, technology, and talent, building highlands of talent and innovation. Third, improving the mechanism for factor distribution to better reflect the market value of knowledge, technology, and talent, thereby stimulating the vitality and creativity of various factors of innovation.