Feng Jikang: A Comprehensive and Accurate Understanding of the Theoretical Contributions and Practical Value of the New Development Philosophy
Concepts are the precursors to action; any specific practice of development is guided by a specific concept of development. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping—with the profound insight, keen judgment, and theoretical creativity of a Marxist statesman, thinker, and strategist—creatively proposed the New Development Concept of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and sharing. During the 2024 National Two Sessions [1], General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the New Development Concept, coordinate the domestic and international spheres, manage urban-rural integration and regional linkage, optimize the layout of productive forces, and strive to promote high-quality development." As the most important and primary component of Xi Jinping's economic thought, the New Development Concept was formed on the basis of a profound summation of domestic and international development experiences and lessons, as well as an incisive analysis of major global development trends. It was proposed to address the prominent contradictions and problems in our country’s development and is based on a scientific synthesis of the practical experience of economic development in socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. It possesses a strong degree of originality and distinction.
Engels noted: "Every new aspect of a science involves a revolution in the technical terms of that science." The New Development Concept profoundly embodies this "revolution in terms" through the original and distinctive concepts within Xi Jinping’s economic thought, marking a new height in our Party's understanding of the laws governing socialist construction. Comprehensively and accurately recognizing the theoretical contributions and practical value of the New Development Concept is of great significance for promoting development that is of higher quality, more efficient, more equitable, more sustainable, and more secure.
The New Development Concept is the Most Important and Primary Component of Xi Jinping’s Economic Thought
Lenin pointed out: "To actually know an object, we must embrace, study, all its sides, all connections and 'mediations'." In studying the Party's innovative theories, one must be familiar with all their aspects, connections, and key points; only then can one achieve a comprehensive, systematic, accurate, and deep integration of the ideas, and subsequently use them to guide work and solve problems.
Since the 18th Party Congress, in the face of a severe and complex international environment and the arduous tasks of domestic reform, development, and stability, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has insisted on observing general trends, planning for the overall situation, and performing substantive work. It has comprehensively strengthened the Party's strategic planning and unified leadership over economic work, continuously deepened its understanding of the laws of economic work, and proposed a series of new concepts, thoughts, and strategies. These have led China's economic development to achieve historical successes and undergo historical transformations, forming Xi Jinping's economic thought. The system of Xi Jinping's economic thought is complete, rich in connotation, broad and profound, and continuously evolving in practice. Among its components, the New Development Concept is the most important and primary content.
The attributes of the New Development Concept and its vital role in practice determine its prominent status within Xi Jinping’s economic thought. Development is the basis and key to solving all our country’s problems; the concept of development is highly strategic, programmatic, and leading in nature, fundamentally determining the effectiveness and even the success or failure of development. As early as 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that in the face of new trends, opportunities, contradictions, and challenges in economic and social development, "we must establish a new development concept and use it to lead our development actions." In 2016, while presiding over the 30th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping vividly illustrated the role of the New Development Concept, noting that "the New Development Concept is the baton and the traffic light." As a "baton" [2], it clarifies the future direction of China's economic and social development, scientifically allocates social resources, and guides coordinated development across all fields. As a "traffic light," it clearly defines what can and cannot be done in economic and social development, safeguarding high-quality development and ensuring the development process moves with "swift but steady steps" [3] without deviating from the correct direction. The 2017 Central Economic Work Conference proposed: "Over the past five years, we have insisted on observing trends, planning for the whole, and doing substantive work, successfully navigating the overall situation of China's economic development, and forming Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in practice, with the New Development Concept as its main content." This further clarified the important position of the New Development Concept. In 2021, at a provincial and ministerial level leading cadres' seminar, General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly stated: "Since the 18th Party Congress, we have proposed many major theories and concepts regarding economic and social development, of which the New Development Concept is the most important and primary."
The New Development Concept defines the guiding principles of China's economic development in the New Era and concentrates the spiritual essence of Xi Jinping’s economic thought. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The New Development Concept is a systematic theoretical system that answers a series of theoretical and practical questions concerning the purpose, power, mode, and path of development. It clarifies major political issues such as our Party's political stance, value orientation, development model, and development path. The whole Party must implement the New Development Concept fully, accurately, and comprehensively." Specifically, the concepts of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and sharing are the concentrated expression of our development logic, direction, and focus. Among them, innovative development focuses on solving the problem of development momentum, stimulating economic vitality, and laying a solid material foundation for the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization. Coordinated development focuses on solving the problem of unbalanced development, compensating for weaknesses, narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas and regions, and promoting a situation where all regions and fields flourish. Green development focuses on the issue of harmony between humanity and nature, protecting our beautiful home and achieving the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Open development focuses on the issue of internal and external linkage, broadening global horizons and expanding development space through win-win cooperation. Shared development focuses on the issue of social equity and justice, constantly meeting the people's needs for a better life and promoting the realization of common prosperity for all. These five concepts guide economic and social practice from different angles, solving development problems and scientifically answering the major question of our time: "For whom do we develop, how do we develop, and what kind of development do we want to achieve?" They are the full embodiment of the essence of Xi Jinping’s economic thought.
The New Development Concept is a Major Innovation in the Sinicization and Modernization of Marxism
Marx pointed out: "Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past." Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which our Party and country are founded. The New Development Concept both inherits the core viewpoints of relevant Marxist ideas and carries out the creative transformation and innovative development of the essence of relevant thoughts in fine traditional Chinese culture, while critically drawing on Western economics, achieving a major innovation in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism.
The New Development Concept is the specific application of the basic principles of Marxism in China, demonstrating the theoretical quality of Marxism in advancing with the times and opening new growth points for Marxism through practical exploration. At the same time, the New Development Concept was proposed in response to the new development situation and to solve prominent problems in China's economic and social development, pushing the development of Marxism in contemporary China to a new level.
Specifically, the concept of innovative development emphasizes that grasping innovation is grasping development, and planning for innovation is planning for the future. It insists on placing innovation at the core of the overall modernization drive, shifting the engine of development from being factor-driven to innovation-driven. This important concept is an innovative development of the Marxist view of science and technology as a driving and revolutionary force. It not only enriches the systematic elements of Marxist thought on social development drivers but also realizes a leap from the summation of historical experience to future strategic layout, vividly demonstrating the contemporary vitality and practical creativity of Marxist thought.
The concept of coordinated development advocates for the correct handling of relationships between urban and rural areas, material and spiritual civilization, and economic and national defense construction. It promotes healthy interaction and coordinated development across all social fields and provides an important methodology for solving the problem of unbalanced development. This concept enriches and develops the Marxist theory of the social organism, breaks the path dependency on a single driver of development, and emphasizes using systems thinking to cultivate multiple growth poles, resolving imbalances through the dimensions of integrity, balance, and synergy.
The concept of green development includes a series of scientific connotations, such as "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [4] and the idea that green development is the defining feature of high-quality development. It finds a balance between economic development and ecological protection, mobilizing the strength of the whole society to promote ecological civilization and build a "Beautiful China." This concept enriches and develops Marxist thought on the relationship between humanity and nature, guiding us toward a civilized development path characterized by expanded production, affluent life, and a sound ecosystem.
The concept of open development emphasizes the important status of opening up to the outside world. It requires active integration into the world economic system, participation in global economic governance, and the continuous expansion of cooperation with all countries. It involves implementing opening up across a broader scope, into more fields, and at a deeper level to build a higher-level open economy. This concept enriches and develops the Marxist thought on "world history," transcends existing views of the state, deepens the understanding of a community with a shared future for humanity, and contributes wisdom to promoting human peace and common prosperity.
The concept of shared development advocates for improving people's well-being as the fundamental purpose of development. It regards sharing by all, comprehensive sharing, joint construction and sharing, and progressive sharing as important measures to achieve social equity and justice. It responds to the people’s new needs for a better life in an all-around way, turning the free and comprehensive development of man from a theoretical vision into a perceptible reality. This concept enriches and develops Marxist thought on social construction, transforming it from a "weapon of criticism" [5] in revolutionary theory into a "practical tool" for construction theory.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The broad and profound fine traditional Chinese culture is our foundation for standing firm amidst the churning waters of world culture." With a profound historical perspective, the New Development Concept creatively transforms and innovatively develops the essence of traditional Chinese ideas such as "discarding the old to bring forth the new" (gegu dingxin), "valuing harmony and the mean" (guihe shangzhong), "the unity of heaven and humanity" (tianren heyi), "harmony among all nations" (xiehe wanbang), and "Great Unity under Heaven" (tianxia datong). This injects cultural power into the New Development Concept.
Specifically, the concept of innovative development inherits and develops the innovative thinking found in fine traditional Chinese culture, such as "Although Zhou is an ancient state, its mission is to renew itself" [6] and "Abolish the old and establish the new" [7]. It constructs a comprehensive innovation framework with technological innovation at its core, encompassing theory, practice, institutions, and culture. At the practical level, it requires continuing the great endeavor of innovation, which includes both innovation at the levels of technology and business models, as well as innovation in management and institutions. This drives the accelerated development of new quality productive forces, improves total factor productivity, and promotes shifts in the quality, efficiency, and driving forces of economic development. The concept of coordinated development inherits and develops philosophical wisdom from fine traditional Chinese culture, such as "When neutrality and harmony are realized, heaven and earth maintain their proper positions, and all things are nourished" [8]. Using systems thinking, it constructs a comprehensive, harmonious development pattern characterized by high efficiency, optimal use of all factors, and multi-field integration. It builds coordination mechanisms for balancing urban and rural areas, regions, economy and society, and material and spiritual civilizations, driving all links and sectors of economic and social development toward an overall leap within a dynamic equilibrium. The concept of green development transforms the ecological ideas of "unity of heaven and humanity" [9] and "the Dao follows nature" [10] from fine traditional Chinese culture into the scientific thesis that "protecting the ecological environment is protecting the productive forces, and improving the ecological environment is developing the productive forces." It both carries forward the core values of Chinese civilization regarding respecting and conforming to nature and endows ecological protection with economic value and developmental momentum, realizing an organic unity between ecological ethics and modern views on development. The concept of open development sublimes the spirit of openness and inclusiveness found in the fine traditional Chinese culture of "harmonizing all nations" [11] and "the sea accommodates a hundred rivers" [12]. Using the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (the "Belt and Road Initiative") as a link, it transforms the open experiences of the ancient Silk Road into a practical plan for building a community with a shared future for humanity. It actively breaks down regional barriers and development walls, promoting the elimination of misunderstandings and common prosperity through mutual learning between civilizations, breaking through development bottlenecks via collaborative innovation, injecting new momentum into the global economic recovery, and providing Chinese solutions for solving global governance problems. The concept of shared development inherits and develops important values such as "Great Harmony" [13] from fine traditional Chinese culture. It rejects the historical limitations of egalitarianism while breaking through the binary opposition between efficiency and equity. By perfecting income distribution mechanisms and tightening the social safety net for people’s livelihoods, it turns the "Great Harmony" ideal—where "the elderly are provided for until their end; the able-bodied are employed; the young are nurtured; and the widowed, orphaned, lonely, and disabled are all supported"—into a tangible reality. This effectively enhances people's well-being and provides an enduring impetus and reliable guarantee for the realization of well-rounded human development and comprehensive social progress.
The New Development Philosophy Provides Conceptual Guidance for Promoting High-Quality Development
The New Development Philosophy reflects our Party's scientific grasp of the laws governing economic and social development in the New Era. It fundamentally transcends the capital-centered development logic of the West, shatters the myth that "modernization equals Westernization," provides conceptual guidance for promoting high-quality development in our country, and contributes Chinese solutions to global development challenges.
The system of Western development theory formed after World War II packaged a single path to modernization as a "universal solution" and exported it globally. However, after many developing countries transplanted this theoretical system, they not only failed to open the door to prosperity and development but instead fell into a quagmire of economic dependence, social polarization, and ecological crises. Especially in the financial sector, a series of problems emerged, such as the economy shifting from "real to virtual" [14], a massive gap between rich and poor, and intensified financial risks. Analyzing the internal logic behind Western development theory reveals that its essential pursuit is the valorization of capital. This development theory one-dimensionally simplifies modernization into a process of capital accumulation, permitting the continuous expansion of the wealth gap and the sustained over-exploitation of ecosystems, even creating geopolitical conflicts for capital expansion. This exposes the fundamental contradiction between capital's profit-seeking nature and the long-term well-being of humanity.
Unlike Western development theory, which one-dimensionally pursues capital accumulation while ignoring social equity and disregarding ecological costs, the New Development Philosophy realizes a transcendence of Western development theory through its unique core values and practical path. Rooted in the fertile soil of the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the New Development Philosophy anchors development goals in enhancing people’s livelihoods and achieving common prosperity for all. It uses systems thinking to balance the relationships between development and security, efficiency and equity, and humanity and nature. While promoting high-quality development, it simultaneously promotes well-rounded human development, comprehensive social progress, and sustainable ecological development. For instance, in the financial sector, the New Development Philosophy emphasizes serving the real economy, preventing the risk of shifting from "real to virtual," and building a system of inclusive finance. This stands in sharp contrast to Western theories that allow the disorderly expansion of capital and exacerbate wealth polarization. Furthermore, compared to the hegemonic logic of Western capitalism exporting a single path to modernization, the New Development Philosophy advocates full respect for the historical and cultural traditions, actual stages of development, and unique developmental aspirations of all countries. It emphasizes that every country has the right to choose a development path suitable to its own national conditions. Because of this, the New Development Philosophy both resolves the inherent dilemmas of Western development theory—blazing a new path to modernization that possesses both Chinese characteristics and global significance while providing Chinese solutions for the reconstruction of global development theory—and breaks the long-standing discourse monopoly of Western development theory by advocating for diverse and autonomous explorations of modernization. This injects new vitality into global development theory and opens broader prospects for the diversity of human civilizations and sustainable global development.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Adhering to the New Development Philosophy is a profound transformation that concerns the overall developmental situation of our country." Under the guidance of the New Development Philosophy, our country's high-quality development has progressed steadily. The total economic volume exceeded 110 trillion yuan and 120 trillion yuan in 2021 and 2022 respectively, and surpassed 130 trillion yuan in 2024, maintaining its position as the world's second-largest economy. Our country actively implements the innovation-driven development strategy. By strengthening basic research, tackling key core technologies, promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and cultivating and strengthening emerging industries, we have made innovation the primary driving force. This has accelerated the economy's transition from a "follower" to a "leader," continuously shaping new developmental momentum and advantages in global competition. Centering on solving the problem of unbalanced development, we have coordinately promoted regional and urban-rural development. Major regional strategies, such as the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin, have been steadily implemented. Relying on the orderly transfer of industries, the interconnection of infrastructure, and the joint contribution and sharing of basic public services, we have made coordination an endogenous characteristic. This promotes the cross-regional optimal allocation of production factors and the formation of a regional economic layout characterized by complementary advantages and high-quality development. We adhere to the principles of prioritizing conservation, protection, and natural restoration, unswervingly following a path of civilized development characterized by productive growth, affluent living, and sound ecosystems. We have continued to apply force in green and low-carbon fields such as the photovoltaic industry and new energy vehicles, accelerating the ultra-low emission transformation of energy-intensive industries like steel and chemicals. This makes green development a universal form, striving to realize a virtuous cycle between ecological environmental improvement and economic growth. We adhere to the basic state policy of opening up to the outside world and implement a more proactive strategy of opening up. By promoting high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road," promoting the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, building a network of high-standard free trade zones facing the world, constructing pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Port, and steadily expanding institutional opening-up, we involve ourselves in world peace and development while seeking our own development, and in turn, use our own development to better safeguard world peace and development, committing ourselves to building a community with a shared future for humanity. We deeply implement the people-centered philosophy of development, adhering to the principle that development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people. We exert persistent effort in ensuring that the young have childcare, the students have education, the workers have earnings, the sick have healthcare, the elderly have support, the residents have housing, and the vulnerable have assistance. This makes sharing the fundamental purpose, leading to a comprehensive improvement in the lives of the people. These five development concepts are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, forming an organic whole with internal links that collaboratively drive Chinese high-quality development forward steadily and sustainably.