Xi Jinping Economic Thought Research Center: Connotations, Characteristics, and Development Priorities of New Quality Productive Forces
High-quality development is the "hard truth" of the New Era and requires a new theory of productive forces for guidance. During the eleventh collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement and a critical focus for promoting high-quality development," and "New quality productive forces have already taken shape in practice and have demonstrated strong promotional and supportive power for high-quality development." The important expositions of General Secretary Xi Jinping have enriched and developed Marxist productive force theory, deepened the understanding of the laws governing the development of productive forces, and further enriched the connotations of Xi Jinping Economic Thought. They provide scientific guidance for opening new fields and tracks for development and for shaping new growth drivers and advantages. Accelerating the development of new quality productive forces is an objective requirement for liberating and developing productive forces on the new journey of the New Era, and it is an inevitable choice for promoting the iterative upgrade of productive forces and achieving modernization.
Deeply Understanding the Basic Connotations of New Quality Productive Forces
New quality productive forces represent the evolutionary direction of advanced productive forces. They are a state of advanced productive forces brought about by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. The basic connotations of new quality productive forces are the leap in the quality of laborers, means of labor, and subjects of labor, as well as their optimized combination. They possess powerful developmental momentum and can lead the creation of a new era of social production.
Higher-quality laborers are the primary element of new quality productive forces. Humans are the most active and decisive factor in the productive forces; new quality productive forces place higher demands on the knowledge and skills of laborers. Developing new quality productive forces requires strategic talents capable of creating them—those who lead the global frontiers of science and technology and innovate in the creation of new types of production tools. This includes top-tier scientific talent who make major breakthroughs in disruptive scientific understanding and technological creation, as well as first-class leading scientific talents and young scientific talents who make outstanding contributions in basic research and key core technology fields. It also requires application-oriented talents who can master new quality means of production. These individuals possess multi-dimensional knowledge structures and are proficient in new production tools, including engineering and technical personnel represented by outstanding engineers and technical workers represented by "Great Country Craftsmen" [1].
Means of labor with higher technological content are the source of power for new quality productive forces. The strength of the scientific and technological attributes of production tools is a prominent hallmark distinguishing new quality productive forces from traditional ones. The integrated application of new-generation information technology, advanced manufacturing, and new material technologies has given rise to a large number of smarter, more efficient, lower-carbon, and safer new production tools. This further liberates the laborer, weakens the constraints of natural conditions on production activities, greatly expands the space for production, and provides the material conditions for the formation of new quality productive forces. In particular, the widespread application of non-physical production tools such as the Industrial Internet and industrial software has greatly enriched the forms of production tools, promoting the movement of manufacturing processes toward intelligence and the transition of manufacturing paradigms from mass production to mass customization, thereby pushing productive forces to a new level.
A broader range of subjects of labor constitutes the material basis for new quality productive forces. The subject of labor is the foundation and prerequisite for production activities. Thanks to the extension of breadth, expansion of depth, increase in precision, and acceleration of speed in technological innovation, the types and forms of subjects of labor have greatly expanded. On the one hand, the means by which humans obtain matter and energy from nature have become more advanced, extending the scope of utilizing and transforming nature to deep space, deep sea, and the deep earth. On the other hand, through their labor, humans continuously create new material goods and transform them into subjects of labor, significantly increasing productivity. For instance, data, as a new factor of production, has become an important subject of labor. It not only directly creates social value but also further amplifies value creation effects through its combination and integration with other factors of production.
Laborers, means of labor, subjects of labor, science and technology, and management are all indispensable factors in the formation of productive forces. Only when these various elements of the productive forces achieve high-efficiency synergy can a more powerful productive force burst forth. Driven by a series of new technologies, new quality productive forces lead and drive changes in production subjects, tools, objects, and modes. They promote the convenient flow, networked sharing, systematic integration, collaborative development, and highly efficient utilization of labor, capital, land, knowledge, technology, management, data, and other factors. This can effectively reduce transaction costs and significantly enhance resource allocation efficiency and total factor productivity.
Deeply Grasping the Main Characteristics of New Quality Productive Forces
In sharp contrast to traditional productive forces, new quality productive forces are advanced productive forces where innovation plays the leading role, breaking away from traditional economic growth modes and development paths of productive forces. They are characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality.
With innovation as the primary driver, they form high-tech productive forces. Technological innovation profoundly reshapes the basic elements of productive forces, gives birth to new industries and business forms, and promotes the evolution of productive forces toward higher-level and more advanced states. New quality productive forces are those in which technological innovation plays a dominant role. We must use major technological innovation as a lead to promote the deep integration of the "four chains"—the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain—and accelerate the transformation of technological innovations into actual productive forces. In recent years, China's technological innovation capabilities have steadily improved, achieving a series of major results in fields such as manned spaceflight, quantum information, nuclear power technology, and large aircraft manufacturing. China has entered the ranks of innovative countries, possessing the basic conditions to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces.
With strategic emerging industries and future industries as the main carriers, they form high-efficiency productive forces. Industry is the concrete manifestation of changes in productive forces; the continuous iterative upgrading of leading and pillar industries is an important support for the leap in productive forces. As new pillars and tracks leading industrial upgrading and future development, strategic emerging industries and future industries have higher efficiency, featuring active innovation, technology intensity, high-end value, and broad prospects. They provide massive space for the development and strengthening of new quality productive forces. In recent years, China's strategic emerging industries have flourished; in 2022, their value-added accounted for more than 13% of GDP. Key fields such as new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products have accelerated their development, forming a certain leading advantage in emerging fields like the digital economy. China is making forward-looking plans for future industries, promoting comprehensive innovation in technology, R&D models, production methods, business models, and organizational structures, thereby continuously consolidating the industrial foundation for developing new quality productive forces.
With a high-level dynamic balance between new supply and new demand as the objective, they form high-quality productive forces. The effective matching of supply and demand is an important sign of the healthy cycle of social mass production. The capacity of social supply and the degree of demand realization are constrained by the state of development of the productive forces; a high-level dynamic balance of supply and demand can only be achieved by relying on high-level productive forces. Currently, the problem of "whether it exists or not" [2] has been basically solved in most fields in China, while the problem of "whether it is good or not" has become increasingly prominent. This objectively requires the formation of a new balance where demand pulls supply and supply creates demand. On the one hand, new demand places higher requirements on supply upgrades, pulling and stimulating new supply and levering the leap in productive forces. On the other hand, new supply based on new quality productive forces can provide more products and services with high quality, high performance, high reliability, high safety, and high environmental protection, better satisfying and creating effective demand. Accelerating the development of new quality productive forces accords with the requirements of high-quality development, helps realize a virtuous cycle of the national economy, better utilizes the advantages of an ultra-large-scale market, and enhances the sustainability of economic growth and social development.
Focusing on Accumulating Momentum and Empowering the Development of New Quality Productive Forces
Cultivating and strengthening new quality productive forces is a long-term task and a systematic project. We must persist with a systems perspective [3], maintain the real economy as the foundation, use technological innovation as the core, and take industrial upgrading as the direction. We must focus on promoting the leap and qualitative change of laborers, means of labor, subjects of labor, and their optimized combination.
Correctly handle a series of major relationships in the development of new quality productive forces. First, handle the relationship between the productive forces and the relations of production. Form new relations of production that adapt to the requirements of developing new quality productive forces, give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, better leverage the role of the government, and accelerate the construction of institutional mechanisms conducive to the development of new quality productive forces. Second, handle the relationships among the various elements of new quality productive forces. Leverage the supportive and leading role of technological innovation, use a multi-pronged approach to cultivate new types of laborers, create new production tools, and expand into new subjects of labor, promoting high-efficiency synergy and matching among the elements of new quality productive forces. Third, handle the relationship between independent innovation and open innovation. Persist in the coordinated progress of independent and open innovation, vigorously promote independent innovation within an open environment, make good use of global innovation resources, and accelerate the construction of an open innovation ecosystem with global competitiveness. Fourth, handle the relationship between new quality productive forces and traditional productive forces. Coordinate the development of both, apply technological innovation results to specific industries and industrial chains in a timely manner, and "grasp with both hands": on one hand, cultivate and strengthen emerging industries and plan for future industries; on the other hand, transform and upgrade traditional industries, building a modern industrial system characterized by integrity, advanced nature, and security.
Cultivate a new type of laborer workforce. Promote the effective connection and integrated development of education, technology, and talent to create a new type of laborer workforce matching the development of new quality productive forces, stimulating the creativity and initiative of laborers. Persist in giving priority to the development of education, focusing on nurturing top-notch innovative talents, and cultivating more strategic scientists, first-class leading scientific talents, and a reserve force of young scientific talents with international competitiveness. Explore the formation of an engineer training system with Chinese characteristics and world-class standards. Promote the integration of vocational and general education, the integration of industry and education, and the convergence of science and education. Explore effective mechanisms for universities and enterprises to jointly train high-quality, composite engineering talents, providing a steady stream of high-quality technical and skilled personnel. Implement more active, open, and effective talent policies, explore the establishment of a global talent recruitment system in line with international standards, and increase the openness of national science and technology programs. Encourage foreign-funded enterprises in China and foreign scientific and technical personnel to undertake and participate in science and technology program projects, building a platform for various global talents to start businesses and build careers.
Create and apply means of labor with higher technological content. Deeply implement the innovation-driven development strategy, firmly grasp the "bull's nose" [4] of independent innovation, and promote the iterative upgrading of the means of labor. Give full play to the role of the state as an organizer of major technological innovation. Guided by national strategic needs, integrate technological innovation resources, gather forces from all sides to conduct original and leading technological breakthroughs, and create more "hard tech" that leads the development of new quality productive forces. Give full play to the role of enterprises as the main force in the R&D and application of new production tools. Strengthen the integration of innovation elements and the transformation of technological achievements, and build innovation consortia led by leading enterprises, supported by universities and institutes, and coordinated by various innovation subjects, accelerating the transformation of technological achievements into real productive forces. Promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, advance the digital transformation of industry in depth, strengthen the integrated application of digital technologies like AI, big data, the Internet of Things, and the Industrial Internet, vigorously promote the application of digital, networked, and intelligent production tools, and accelerate the construction of digital workshops and intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories.
Expand to a broader range of subjects of labor. Focusing on cultivating and strengthening strategic emerging industries and future industries, expanding the types and forms of subjects of labor can continuously open new fields and tracks for production activities and consolidate the material foundation for developing new quality productive forces. We must deeply implement the national strategic emerging industry cluster development project, promote the integrated and clustered development of strategic emerging industries, and focus on creating new growth engines such as next-generation information technology, AI, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, and green environmental protection. This will strengthen the technological and industrial advantages of China's strategic emerging industries in global value chains. Strengthen the overall planning of future industries from the national strategic level. In frontier technology and industrial transformation fields such as brain-like intelligence, quantum information, genetic technology, future networks, and deep-sea/aerospace development, organize and implement future industry incubation and acceleration plans. Explore multiple paths for and cross-integration of frontier and disruptive technologies to ensure a reserve of productive forces.
Promote higher-level synergy and matching of productive force elements. Adapt to the requirements of developing new quality productive forces, promote the transformation and adjustment of industrial organization and forms, continuously improve the efficiency of production factor combinations, and increase total factor productivity. Build up and strengthen a group of leading backbone enterprises with high industrial relevance and strong international competitiveness, as well as ecosystem-leading enterprises with control over industrial chains. Cultivate a group of "Little Giant" [5] enterprises that are specialized, refined, unique, and innovative, as well as "Single Champion" [6] enterprises. Encourage leading backbone enterprises to play their role in driving industrial chain integration, achieving the integrated development of large, medium, and small enterprises. Relying on the free flow, collaborative sharing, and efficient utilization of production factors, promote the transformation of production organization methods toward platforms, networks, and ecosystems. Create an industrial ecosystem of wide participation, resource sharing, precise matching, and close coordination, accelerating value synergy and value co-creation across the entire industrial chain and supply chain. Actively leverage the role of data as a "fusing agent," promoting cross-border integration between existing business forms and digital forms. This will derive and superimpose new segments, new chains, and new forms of activity, accelerating the development of new business forms like intelligent manufacturing, digital trade, smart logistics, and smart agriculture, promoting precise and high-quality supply to better satisfy and create new demand.