Yin Xiao'en: Chen Yun's Economic and Political Outlook and Its Enlightenment for Chinese-style Modernization
How to correctly handle the dialectical relationship between economics and politics is a major theoretical and practical question that proletarian parties must answer when carrying out revolutions, seizing state power, and organizing social construction. The Marxist view of economy and politics is derived from the basic tenets of historical materialism; it regards politics as the concentrated expression of economics and summarizes the essence and center of politics as the question of state power, clarifying that "politics means participating in the affairs of the state, directing the state, and determining the forms, tasks and content of the state's activities." As two categories that are both interconnected and distinct, economics and politics influence and even determine the overall process of the development of human civilization during specific historical periods. For a time, due to misunderstandings of Marxist political values, the essence of "politics" was viewed merely as a reflection of class relations, and the political value of society was confined within the scope of class and state, which greatly affected the normal operation of China's economy and society. "Politics as a concept is a scientific abstraction of political phenomena and people's political behavior under certain social conditions," and its "essence is the regulation of the relationship between people's interests regarding survival, and the inevitable result of the integration of human individuality and sociality." Chen Yun’s view of economy and politics refers to the political-philosophical perspective on the dialectical relationship between the two, formed under the guidance of the materialist conception of history while he led and carried out economic construction. Some scholars use "economic-politics" [1] to explain social and political phenomena presented by socio-economic development, arguing that economic-politics in a broad sense "is a 'special social and political phenomenon,' the main content of which is the politics of the economic sphere." The view of economy and politics described in this article focuses on the political-philosophical viewpoints contained within Chen Yun's economic thought—namely, viewing and handling economic problems from a political perspective, emphasizing the fundamental and decisive role of economic work on political work, and insisting on the dialectical unity of economics and politics in concrete practice. These three points constitute the primary content of Chen Yun’s view of economy and politics, reflecting his systematic understanding and theoretical views on the political phenomena reflected in the economic field during the process of socialist revolution and construction. The year 2025 marks the 120th anniversary of Chen Yun’s birth. Systematically reviewing the important political views contained in Chen Yun’s economic thought and scientifically evaluating his view of economy and politics and its contemporary significance at this major juncture will not only provide a scientific theoretical perspective for deepening research into Chen Yun’s life and objectively presenting the systematic and complete nature of his economic thought, but also offer beneficial inspiration for scientifically addressing practical challenges such as the adjustment of economic interests and the transformation of political value connotations during the process of Chinese-path modernization.
I. Insisting on viewing and handling economic problems first from a political perspective
"For classical Marxist writers, the question of the relationship between theory and practice is the ultimate destination of all theoretical exploration." Understanding political issues from the dimension of practice is an inevitable extension of the Marxist view of practice and history within political thinking. As the core content of human material production practice, economic issues are an important manifestation of human political practice. The primary aspect of Chen Yun’s view of economy and politics is expressed in his consistent recognition and handling of economic problems in the processes of revolution, construction, and reform from a political height, summarizing the laws of political practice in the economic field through systematic dialectical thinking to guide specific economic practices.
(1) Proceeding from a political height to formulate economic principles and policies that accord with the situation of the revolutionary struggle
As the core of political practice during the years of revolutionary war, class struggle determines that social practices, including economics, must be subordinated to politics and serve the overall political situation. While leading economic construction during the revolutionary war period, Chen Yun always emphasized the political significance of economic construction, constantly formulating economic principles and policies by combining changes in the political situation and its inherent laws, which powerfully supported the revolutionary struggle during that special period.
First, he clarified how to correctly handle the issue of the "Big Public" (dàgōng) versus the "Small Public" (xiǎogōng) under conditions of economic hardship and shortage of supplies [2]. After the Border Region [3] alleviated the difficulties caused by the economic blockade through the Great Production Movement [4], the fiscal system of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region mainly implemented a combination of fiscal supply and production self-sufficiency. Although production self-sufficiency achieved great development, the neglect of centralized and unified leadership led to serious waste in the public sphere. To solve the core issue of the Border Region’s finances—the supply of funds for the War of Resistance—Chen Yun approached the supply problem by addressing the relationship between the "Small Public" and the "Big Public." In 1944 and 1945, Chen Yun successively attended meetings regarding funding for the Seventh Branch of the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, the Third Garrison Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Suiyuan Joint Defense Force, and the First Independent Brigade. He emphasized at these meetings that "Small Public" units should increase production to support the "Big Public." At a meeting on December 26, 1944, concerning the supply standards for the Border Region in the coming year, he proposed that all units must insist that the "'Small Public' obeys the 'Big Public,' the part obeys the whole, the present obeys the long-term, and the minor pain obeys the major pain," emphasizing "better to have minor chaos under heaven than to let great chaos break out under heaven." When handling the relationship between the "Big" and "Small Public," Chen Yun proposed adhering to the principle of the "Small Public" obeying the "Big Public" while also taking into account the interests of the "Small Public." He clarified that "whatever benefits the Small Public but harms the Big Public must not be done; whatever benefits both the Small and Big Public must be done; and whatever benefits the Small Public without harming the Big Public may be done." Thus, by clarifying the standards for choosing between the "Small Public" and "Big Public," he ensured the supply of materials for the revolutionary war and effectively maintained the unity and solidarity of the Party.
Second, he proposed restoring and developing the economy to support the war in combination with the special revolutionary situation. By analyzing the social connections inherent in war, classical Marxist writers revealed that the essence of war is the continuation of politics. On the basis of a critical transformation of the Prussian military theorist Clausewitz’s views on war, Lenin pointed out: "The basic principle of dialectics (which Plekhanov shamelessly distorted to please the bourgeoisie) applied to war is that 'war is merely the continuation of politics by other [i.e., violent] means.'" War is rooted in politics, and politics is the concentrated expression of economics; therefore, a special relationship of dialectical correlation exists between war and the economy. Chen Yun’s discourse on the dialectical relationship between war and the economy thus constitutes an important part of his view of economy and politics. From presiding over the financial and economic work of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in 1944 to supporting the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea through economic construction after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Yun always attached importance to the political significance of economic work. He successively proposed to "protect urban machinery" and called on Party cadres to "vigorously learn to do economic work." He believed that only by educating the Party’s high- and middle-level cadres to become familiar with economic work, urban management, and dealing with capitalists and technicians could the Party grow into a strong political leadership force and a guide to revolutionary victory in the rapidly changing revolutionary situation. As the revolution moved toward victory, Chen Yun consistently planned the Party’s economic work from a political height, ensuring that the Party’s economic policies advanced in step with the development of the political situation, thereby ensuring the final victory of the revolutionary war from an economic standpoint.
Third, he proposed the law of struggle in the Northeast Revolutionary Base Area as "economy—armed force—economy again." Adjusting struggle strategies based on actual conditions through investigation and research is a valuable experience of our Party in carrying out the Land Reform. "Economy—armed force—economy again" was Chen Yun's summary of the mass work experience of the Binxian County Party Committee Secretary in North Manchuria. This experience reflected the characteristics of the Northeast region, where "armed peasants opposed armed landlords, bandits, and local militias (dàpá)." Based on the understanding that farm laborers accounted for 60% of the peasant population in North Manchuria and the laws of mass struggle, Chen Yun determined the combat policy of building North Manchuria into a Great Rear Area for the Northeast. Chen Yun believed that Land Reform was both an economic reform involving changes in the relations of production and a political transformation involving the adjustment of the interest structure. He believed the change in land ownership required careful handling of the relationship between political struggle and economic construction. With the change in the revolutionary situation, the circumstance in which the economy was completely subordinated to politics changed; "economic problems can only be solved by economic means." To this end, Chen Yun proposed that the revolutionary struggle in the Northeast must adhere to relying on poor peasants and uniting with middle peasants to realize "land to the tiller" through the land revolution in the countryside, while also correctly and differentially handling the issue of urban capital, protecting national industry and commerce, and vigorously developing national capital that benefited the national economy, people's livelihood, and industrial and commercial development.
(2) Proceeding from the overall situation of the state to recognize and grasp economic issues in the building of state power
"The fundamental question of any revolution is the question of state power." The question of state power, as the fundamental issue of social revolution, includes two major aspects: seizing power and consolidating power. In the process of leading financial and economic construction, Chen Yun always viewed economic construction issues from the height of seizing and consolidating power, embodying a high degree of economic-political consciousness.
First, he regarded doing a good job in economic construction as a key issue for winning the hearts of the people and establishing the prestige of the People’s Government. The question of state power is the core issue of any political view; all political questions are ultimately reduced to the building of state power. Chen Yun deeply recognized the political significance of restoring the national economy and ensuring the people’s livelihood. He proposed restoring the national economic order, which had fallen into chaos due to war, on the basis of stabilizing finance and prices. In the article "Financial and Economic Staff Must Increase Their Proactivity," Chen Yun elevated economic work to a status comparable to military struggle, emphasizing: "If at the slightest threat from U.S. imperialism, the currency devalues and prices fluctuate, the reputation of the People's Government will not be very good." Through in-depth investigation and research, Chen Yun used feasible economic policies to quickly unify the nation’s finance and economy, thereby consolidating the nascent people's regime.
Second, he clarified that a political situation of stability and unity is the prerequisite for carrying out economic construction. While clearly recognizing the political significance of economic construction, Chen Yun also emphasized planning work on the economic front with a view toward maintaining a political situation of stability and unity. After the CPC Central Committee made the major decision to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea and Defend the Motherland, Chen Yun pointed out: "If we do not put national defense in the first place and do not dampen the aggressive arrogance of U.S. imperialism, no economic construction will be secure." He emphasized that "without Land Reform, the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, and the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, it would be impossible to do economic work well," and proposed that financial and economic work policies should prioritize national defense construction over economic and cultural construction. Regarding the slogan "to make a fortune, plant cotton" (yào fājiā, zhòng miánhuā), which was popular in the early days of the People's Republic of China, Chen Yun believed it only reflected one side of the truth. He emphasized that "without the victory of the revolution, without the establishment of the People's Government, and without Land Reform, it would be extremely difficult for cotton farmers to make a fortune"; the reality should be "make a fortune through patriotism, plant more cotton." This highlighted the fundamental significance of a stable national political situation for national wealth and strength.
Third, he always adhered to the people-centered value standpoint in financial and economic work. Chen Yun believed that "people's livelihood issues" (mínshēng wèntí) were the central issue for the Communist Party of China in carrying out socialist construction, because they were not simple economic problems, but major political issues involving the Party's prestige and the rise or fall of the Party and the state. He pointed out: "The masses of the people will look at whether the Communist Party really cares about them and whether it has a way to solve their livelihood problems. This is a political issue." The so-called "livelihood" mainly refers to the basic survival and living conditions of the people, as well as their basic development opportunities, basic development capabilities, and the protection of their basic rights and interests. If politics is "the affairs of the many," then livelihood issues are the greatest form of politics. In the early days of the People's Republic of China, to stop inflation, financial and economic departments vigorously implemented the collection of public grain and the issuance of national bonds. While affirming the relevant work, Chen Yun emphasized that the exchange between urban and rural areas should be put in the first place, clarifying that not only should the local products of the farmers be collected, but inexpensive industrial products from the cities should also be sold to the countryside. He pointed out: "This is something no government in history has ever proposed, but it is a major event concerning the economic life of the people across the country. If we don't care about it, how can we call ourselves a people's government?" At the end of 1956, Chen Yun pointed out at a meeting of the Ministry’s Party Leadership Group: "Commercial work, including selling chickens and eggs, has its political significance. The quality of commercial work directly affects the vital interests of the 600 million people and whether the vast urban and rural populations are satisfied with us." At the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee, in response to the lessons learned during the First Five-Year Plan, Chen Yun emphasized: "We must ensure that the people have food and clothing. When formulating the Second Five-Year Plan, we must start from food and clothing... If the economy is not based on food and clothing, I think construction will not be stable." In the process of formulating specific economic policies, Chen Yun always considered the successes and failures of economic principles and policies based on the needs of the people, effectively practicing the people’s standpoint and the mass line in the formulation of economic routes.
(3) Proceeding from economic construction to propose the concept of "seventy percent economy, thirty percent politics" in financial and economic work
The materialist conception of history emphasizes both the decisive role of the economic base on the superstructure (including politics) and the fact that the political superstructure can actively act upon the economic base. Classical Marxist writers have profoundly revealed:
"If a class does not approach problems correctly from a political standpoint, it cannot maintain its rule, and thus cannot complete its production tasks"; therefore, "politics cannot but take precedence over economics." Integrating this with the reality of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong emphasized that "political work is the lifeblood of all economic work," a law that is "especially so during periods of fundamental change in the social and economic system." Based on the importance of politics to economic construction, Chen Yun proposed the formula of "seven parts economics, three parts politics" [5]. He emphasized that ideological and political education for financial and economic personnel must be integrated throughout the entire process of financial and economic construction to ensure the socialist direction of economic development.
Chen Yun’s concept of "seven parts economics, three parts politics" in financial and economic work creatively applied Lenin’s educational principle of the "theory of infusion" [6]. In 1894, in his work What the "Friends of the People" Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats, Lenin proposed that on the basis of popularizing Marxist views and conducting concrete investigations into the Russian class struggle, one must "infuse it into the workers" in order to "spread Social-Democracy and unite the workers into a political force." Lenin emphasized the role of ideological and political education in stimulating the political consciousness and revolutionary combat effectiveness of the working class. "Seven parts economics, three parts politics" focuses on the prominent significance of ideological and political work in carrying out economic construction. Proletarian political rule serves the socialist economic base; revolution, construction, and reform are all aimed at removing obstacles in the superstructure that do not conform to the economic base. Firmly maintaining a socialist political direction is the fundamental principle for the proletarian party in leading economic construction. Chen Yun pointed out that financial and economic personnel are "busy from morning to night with very specific economic work and pay insufficient attention to ideological and political work, which makes it very easy to develop 'business-ism' [7]"; "if no attention is paid to reversing this, they will become shortsighted." Along with the transition from the revolutionary stage to the stage of socialist construction, the primary function of ideological and political work also shifted from stimulating the people's revolutionary fighting spirit to educating the people to devote themselves to social production, and the convergence of economics and politics became increasingly prominent. In August 1974, while listening to a work report from responsible comrades of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Chen Yun profoundly expounded on the major political significance of trade with Hong Kong and Macau. He pointed out: "Trade with Hong Kong and Macau is work with a very strong policy character"; "we must strengthen the political education of cadres working in trade with Hong Kong and Macau so that they have two forms of self-awareness: first, that their responsibility is heavy, and second, that they can withstand the test of special environments. This kind of test has great political significance and is a rare opportunity." To strengthen the political consciousness of financial and economic personnel, Chen Yun proposed carrying out ideological and political work among them, emphasizing that the key content should not only include summarizing past experiences and studying current political affairs but also educating financial and economic cadres to focus on philosophical research as a means of learning correct methods for observing problems. This ensures that the Party’s various economic principles and policies are better implemented and that socialist economic construction better serves the broad masses of the people.
"Seven parts economics, three parts politics" emphasizes both the foundational role of the economy and the active role of political education in economic construction. It is a concrete manifestation of the Marxist historical materialist conception of history in the economic field. The relationship between the two is not a mechanical combination but an organic unity throughout the entire process of socialist economic construction. Only by implementing the policy of "seven parts economics, three parts politics" in economic construction can we promote the great development of socialist production while creating the "New Men" [8] of the era who meet the requirements of socialist production, guarantee the socialist nature and productive purpose of China’s economic construction, truly combine opening up to the outside world with independence and self-reliance, and realize the organic unity of the interests of the state, the collective, and the individual.
II. Emphasizing the Foundational and Decisive Role of Economic Work over Political Work
"Economics is the decisive factor for politics; under the socialist system, it becomes the main object of management and determines the primary status of social economic policy compared to all other policies." Economic practice is the most foundational and fundamental content of human social life. Chen Yun’s economic-political outlook both values political practice within the economic sphere and emphasizes the foundational and decisive role of the economy relative to politics. Based on a scientific grasp of the essence and laws of socialist economic construction, he leveraged the foundational supporting role of the economy for politics.
(1) Overcoming the negative influence of "Left" deviations in the Party's economic field to "consolidate the fundamental interests of Soviet power"
During the years of revolutionary war, the brutal military struggle made the economy subordinate to military politics. Chen Yun was one of the earliest leaders in the Party to recognize the importance of economic work and to strive to correct erroneous tendencies in the economic field when "Left" erroneous thinking was spreading within the Party. From January 1933 to August 1934, Chen Yun corrected "Left" errors in the economic field of the Central Soviet Area [9] based on field investigations, effectively consolidating the nascent Soviet power.
In the economic field, "Left" erroneous thinking was mainly manifested in disregarding the economic reality of the Soviet areas and one-sidedly copying the economic construction experience of the Soviet Union and large cities. For example, the Labor Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic, aimed at improving the political status of laborers, blindly copied Soviet economic laws and regulations applicable to large cities, one-sidedly pursuing worker welfare while ignoring the interests of the enterprises themselves. This resulted in the closure of a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises and worker unemployment, as well as the holding of general strikes during the "Year-End Struggle" [10] that were harmful to economic circulation in the Soviet areas. Chen Yun pointed out: "This kind of 'Left' erroneous leadership destroys the economic development of the Soviet areas, the worker-peasant alliance, the Soviet power, and the complete liberation of the working class." To correct these "Left" errors, Chen Yun personally went to Fujian to investigate the development of industry and commerce in Tingzhou and subsequently published articles such as "On the Economic Struggle of Workers in the Soviet Areas" and "Our Mistakes in Correcting 'Left' Tendencies in the Workers' Economic Struggle," criticizing the syndicalism and administrative bureaucratism present in the economic field. He pointed out that the working class in the Soviet areas should not only strive to improve their own lives but should also regard the development of the Soviet economy and the consolidation of worker-peasant power as the fundamental task of their own liberation. He explicitly proposed that "the struggle for daily interests must be most closely linked with the struggle for the complete victory of the revolution," stimulating workers' enthusiasm for political struggle by improving their economic status. At the same time, Chen Yun also rejected Rightist errors in the labor movement that ignored economic struggle and the improvement of workers' living conditions, stating that "both 'Left' and Right opportunism in the workers' economic struggle are massive dangers to the consolidation and development of Soviet power." Clearly correcting both "Left" and Right errors in the economic field to consolidate and develop Soviet power was the Party's central task during that specific period. This shows that in the Party's early democratic revolutionary struggle, Chen Yun had already realized the great significance of building economic power and clarified the internal connection between economic and political struggle, paying close attention to using economic interests to stimulate the enthusiasm of the worker masses for political struggle, thereby greatly mobilizing the autonomy of the working class to consolidate and develop the new revolutionary power through economic struggle.
(2) Emphasizing that economic work has serious political significance and systematically expounding the revolutionary significance of organizing production
In the long-term environment of revolutionary struggle, the urgency and importance of political work led cadres within the Party to form a tendency to value politics while slighting economics, which greatly hindered the expansion of revolutionary base areas and the shift of the Party's central work toward the cities. To break the financial and economic difficulties caused by the enemy's blockade, Chen Yun coordinated the Border Region’s [11] political and financial construction in a flexible manner. On the one hand, he corrected the erroneous views within the Party that looked down on economic work, changing the marginal and passive situation of economic work. To correct the error of valuing politics over economic and technical work, Chen Yun explained the importance of economic and technical work from the height of seizing revolutionary victory. As early as May 1941, the CPC Central Committee issued the "Decision on Party Members Participating in Economic and Technical Work," drafted by Chen Yun. The "Decision" clearly pointed out that various types of economic and technical work are indispensable parts of revolutionary work—they are concrete revolutionary work. It emphasized: "The abstract and narrow understanding of revolutionary work held by certain Party organizations and members should be corrected, which leads them to despise economic and technical work and hold the erroneous view that these tasks lack serious political significance." This elevated economic work to a position of equal importance with political work and clarified the necessity of economic construction itself as a part of the revolutionary struggle. Later, at the Yan'an Military Conference, Chen Yun again criticized the erroneous tendency within the Party to ignore technical, economic, and administrative routine work. He pointed out that "eating and dressing is a major matter, a difficult matter," clarifying that "technical, economic, and administrative work has its political significance, and political work will also carry technical, economic, and administrative aspects," emphasizing that "there is no such thing as pure political work." In the complex revolutionary environment, Chen Yun not only saw the political significance of doing economic work well but was also able to grasp the core content of economic work—developing production—emphasizing the revolutionary significance of organizing production. On May 28, 1944, in a speech at the opening ceremony of a training class for accounting personnel organized by the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government, Chen Yun pointed out: "The revolution has now entered such a stage where the primary task is to organize the people for production and promote the victory of the War of Resistance. If we can solve the problem of the masses' food and clothing, we can become the leaders of the masses"; "A revolutionary merchant is a thorough revolutionary." Precisely based on this understanding of the major political significance of economic work, Chen Yun emphasized the need to exert the Party's leadership over economic work, proposing that "the Party must strengthen leadership over Party and non-Party members working in economic and technical departments, look after their political progress, and help them in all aspects." Integrating the changes in the revolutionary situation, he proposed organizing the people to carry out production work, calling on Party cadres to change the erroneous tendency of valuing propaganda over production, and to practice the concept of serving the people by solving their food and clothing problems. From this, it is evident that Chen Yun realized the great significance of financial and economic work for seizing revolutionary victory and raised economics to a position of equal importance with military politics. On the other hand, Chen Yun proposed that the political activism of poor peasants and farm laborers is built upon the economic base, making it clear that the material interest demands of the masses must be met. Economy and material interests are the most basic interests for maintaining individual survival and development, and the fundamental purpose of the proletarian party is to reflect and safeguard the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people. Starting from the Party's class line, Chen Yun emphasized: "We must ensure that poor peasants and farm laborers can not only struggle but also hold power; this requires providing them with sufficient means of production"; "if one is not stable economically, it is impossible to become the ruling class"; and the "political activism [of poor peasants] is built upon the economic." From proposing that "clothing and food are basic questions of the revolution" to emphasizing that "material interests stimulate the revolutionary activism of poor peasants," Chen Yun consistently viewed and handled revolutionary issues from the basic historical materialist viewpoint that the economy determines politics. He adjusted economic struggle strategies in accordance with the changing revolutionary situation at different stages, effectively supporting the military and political struggle.
(3) Persevering in the principle that "the central government's economic authority is the foundation of its political authority"
Correctly handling the relationship between fiscal centralization and decentralization is an important part of Chen Yun’s economic-political outlook. Adhering to the effective use of local initiative on the basis of the central government’s centralized and unified fiscal leadership ran through the entire process of Chen Yun’s leadership of the Party’s financial and economic work. As early as the beginning of the War of Liberation [12], in order to accelerate the victory of the war and rapidly restore the national economy, Chen Yun emphasized that economic work must implement a high degree of unification. He pointed out:
"In the early stages of unified management, subordinates face difficulties," but these difficulties are "far smaller in degree and their consequences far lighter than those caused by the chaos in finance and prices resulting from the continued lack of unified national economic and financial management." Therefore, economic and financial management must adhere to the principle that "the part submits to the whole, and the local submits to the Center." In the early 1960s, to overcome severe economic difficulties, Chen Yun once again emphasized the importance of unified and centralized economic leadership, explicitly pointing out: "The centralization and unity spoken of here means concentrating and unifying strength after giving localities and enterprises the necessary flexible financial and material resources." During the early period of reform and opening up, our country's economic structural reform began with fiscal reform, stimulating economic and social vitality by devolving power and allowing retained profits, as well as mobilizing the initiative of local governments, enterprises, and individuals. The fiscal reform of "eating from separate kitchens" [13] broke the tradition of the "big pot," [14] with local governments collecting their own revenue and spending it themselves to achieve their own balance; while this mobilized local initiative, it also triggered serious problems such as various regions acting on their own and economic disorder, leading to severe inflation in our country's economic construction during the late 1980s. Consequently, Chen Yun proposed that "in economic activities, the Center must centralize the power that must be centralized," emphasizing that "without central economic authority, central political authority cannot be consolidated." At the same time, political authority—as an important component of state power—must be built upon a solid foundation of material interests; political authority lacking an economic base will only degenerate into empty political slogans. Regarding this, Mao Zedong once explicitly revealed: "All empty talk is useless; the people must be given visible material welfare." Finance, as the core of central economic authority, is not only the material basis for central political authority but also the primary tool for the central government to implement the national will. Central political authority, as a key element in the normal functioning of the superstructure such as state power, concerns the execution of the Party Central Committee’s lines, principles, and policies, and is essentially a matter of the Party Central Committee’s political leadership. Strengthening central economic authority to consolidate central political authority was Chen Yun’s reflection on the relationship between economic construction and the consolidation of state power during our country’s transition period. As the primary manifestation of the Party Central Committee's political leadership, central political authority must be established on a solid material foundation—that is, economic authority—and the Center's economic authority is mainly embodied through the formulation and implementation of national plans and the exercise of macro-control based on those plans. Chen Yun consistently emphasized the consolidation of central economic authority and vigorously practiced this principle in economic activities. Examples include regarding the economic system as the "bird and the cage," [15] emphasizing the expansion of market forces under government macro-control while guarding against the risk of economic disorder; resolutely resisting the issuance of Special Economic Zone currency and demanding the maintenance of the Renminbi's issuance authority to defend central economic authority; and emphasizing the great significance of upholding the Party’s central authority for economic construction, elaborating on the connection between the Party Central Committee’s authority, central political authority, and central economic authority, and subsequently putting forward views such as upholding the authority of the Party’s leaders, which remain of epochal value today. This series of theories and practices reflects Chen Yun’s flexible application of historical materialism and played an important role in maintaining political stability and creating a secure and harmonious environment for reform.
III. Adhering to the Dialectical Unity of Economy and Politics in Practice
Marxism holds that human life is essentially practical. It is the simultaneous production and interactive advancement of social practice and human society that drives the progress of human civilization; thus, the category of "social practice" encapsulates the entire connotation of human social life. "The dialectical unity of economy and politics is the fundamental hallmark of maintaining normal developmental order in modern society." In the process of leading economic construction, Chen Yun attached great importance to adhering to the dialectical unity of economy and politics in practice, scientifically handling various economic decision-making challenges during our country’s revolution, construction, and reform.
(1) Consciously study capitalism, rationally utilize capitalism, and maintain a clear-headed vigilance toward capitalism
How to correctly understand capitalism is the basic prerequisite for the proletariat to scientifically carry out revolution and organize socialist construction. Marx and Engels once envisioned that countries with relatively backward economies and cultures could utilize the advanced productive forces created by capitalism to achieve catch-up development. After the Russian October Revolution, Lenin, while seeking to resolve the economic predicament facing the fledgling Soviet regime, pointed out: "We cannot satisfy our hunger on the destruction of capitalism alone. We must take all the culture that capitalism left behind and use it to build socialism," setting a precedent for socialist countries to scientifically understand and correctly utilize capitalism to develop socialism.
Chen Yun’s discourse on "consciously studying capitalism, rationally utilizing capitalism, and maintaining a clear-headed vigilance toward capitalism" was based on China’s reality and reflected his profound thinking on the relationship between economy and politics during a specific period. In the 1960s and 1970s, changes in the international situation and the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations caused China’s trade volume with the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and other socialist countries to drop sharply. Meanwhile, the improvement of Sino-U.S. relations and the development of the capitalist world economy led to an increase in China's trade with Western capitalist countries. However, the extreme "Leftist" trend of thought formed during the "Cultural Revolution" had greatly shackled people's minds; average cadres were unable to objectively understand or contact capitalism, which significantly hindered our country’s economic exchange with the Western capitalist world. To better utilize capitalism to promote our country’s economic development, in 1973, while meeting with the head of the People’s Bank of China, Chen Yun pointed out: "If we do not study capitalism, we will suffer; do not expect to occupy the position we should in the world market." In the 1970s, capitalist countries generally experienced an economic crisis characterized primarily by "stagflation," and financial monopoly capital gradually took control of global production, distribution, and consumption. Chen Yun thus explicitly pointed out: "We must carefully study the various factors in the laws of capitalist economic crises, such as frequency and cyclical changes. This is very relevant to our foreign trade, especially our import trade." To better grasp the economic situation of the Western capitalist world, Chen Yun requested the relevant personnel of the People’s Bank of China to collect materials starting from the currency issuance, foreign exchange reserves, cyclical economic crisis conditions, methods for resolving crises of major capitalist countries like the U.S., Japan, the U.K., West Germany, and France, as well as global gold production and the world economy, currency, and financial conditions. Through in-depth research into capitalist economic crises, Chen Yun proposed taking full advantage of the situation where major capitalist countries were eager to escape the crisis and international surplus capital was abundant to boldly introduce foreign investment and technology. Relying on his years of experience leading economic construction and his keen observation of the international political situation, Chen Yun focused economic construction on the international market. He proposed consciously studying capitalism and strengthening research on the international capital market, cyclical economic crises in major capitalist countries, and the "peaceful evolution" [16] strategies of capitalist countries toward socialist countries, so as to targetedly utilize the funds, technology, equipment, and management experience of capitalist countries to develop socialism. At the same time, in view of the blockades and threats deliberately created by capitalist countries due to ideological differences, Chen Yun made it clear that "utilizing foreign capital and introducing new technology is one of our important current policy measures, but we must remain clear-headed," and he proposed remaining vigilant against threats from imperialist countries and hostile forces. Maintaining a high degree of sensitivity and vigilance toward capitalism at all times, and both cooperating and struggling when conducting economic exchanges with capitalist countries, was an important component of Chen Yun’s economic and political outlook.
(2) "Economic structural reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system"
Insisting that economic structural reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system is a core element of Chen Yun’s economic and political outlook. Due to changes in the principal social contradiction, the political connotation shifted from the class struggle of the revolutionary war era to the economic and livelihood construction of the peaceful era; developing the economy and improving people’s livelihoods became the primary political problem facing the proletarian party, and economy and politics increasingly took on the characteristics of unity and integration.
In the process of promoting economic structural reform, Chen Yun always proceeded from the overall economic and social situation to dynamically handle the relationship between promoting economic development and maintaining the socialist system, effectively preventing potential political disorder during the modernization process. As early as the initial period after the establishment of the socialist system, Chen Yun proposed the "three mainstays and three supplements" [17] concept for economic structural reform based on field investigations of economic and social conditions. He proposed playing the role of market laws and value regulation within the framework of the basic socialist economic system to adapt to the reality of our country’s vast territory and unbalanced regional economic development. In March 1979, in his outline for the talk "Planning and the Market," Chen Yun pointed out the flaws in the original planned economic systems of socialist countries like the Soviet Union and China, advocating for the use of both "planning and the market" as regulatory methods, which provided the ideological vanguard for reforms in the economic field. In the autumn of 1983, Chen Yun proposed deepening economic structural reform based on summarizing the reforms of urban industry and commerce. The following year, the development of rural economic structural reform put economic structural reform with an urban focus on the Central Committee’s decision-making agenda. From May to September 1984, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council successively issued documents such as the "Provisional Regulations on Further Expanding the Autonomy of State-Owned Industrial Enterprises" and the "Report on Several Issues Concerning the Current Reform of the Urban Commercial System." Incorporating various reform measures from central documents, Chen Yun successively put forward his opinions on the reform of the planning system, the price system, and the state’s economic leadership functions. He emphasized that economic structural reform must be combined with China’s planned economic reality, stimulating enterprise vitality on a stable basis while strengthening guidance and control at the macro level, and clarifying that urban reform should be carried out steadily on the basis of active exploration and summarizing experience. These ideas had a major influence on the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Reform of the Economic Structure" adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 12th CPC Central Committee. The Decision not only clarified the great significance of economic structural reform with an urban focus but also proposed that "reform is the self-perfection of the socialist system, and the basic task of reform is to establish a vigorous and vital socialist economic system with Chinese characteristics." Deng小平 (Deng Xiaoping) praised it, saying: "This document on economic structural reform is good; it explains what socialism is, using some words our ancestors never said and some new words."
At the beginning of reform and opening up, shocks in the ideological sphere were an important factor hindering economic structural reform. Scientifically understanding and clarifying the essence of economic structural reform was key to advancing the cause of socialist modernization. Chen Yun explicitly proposed that economic structural reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system. He pointed out, "We are the Communist Party, and the Communist Party works for socialism," and "the current socialist economic structural reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system," emphasizing that "economic structural reform is for the purpose of developing productive forces and gradually improving the people’s lives." Aiming at the problem of a small number of Party members and cadres having wavering ideals and insufficient confidence in socialist construction under market economy conditions, Chen Yun explicitly pointed out: "China is still very poor now, but we are a socialist country, and our fundamental system is much more superior than capitalism," and "Capitalism will inevitably be replaced by communism; this is an unchangeable law." In June 1985, at the closing meeting of the National Exchange of Experience in Party and Government Work, Chen Yun proposed: "We must make all comrades in the Party understand that what we are doing is the cause of socialism, and the ultimate goal is to realize communism," and "the economic construction our country is currently carrying out is socialist economic construction, and economic structural reform is also socialist economic structural reform." Undoubtedly, Chen Yun’s discourse on "economic structural reform being the self-perfection and development of the socialist system" dispelled the erroneous perception that equated economic structural reform with liberalization, ensured the socialist direction of economic structural reform, and was the concentrated application and embodiment of Chen Yun’s economic and political outlook in the practice of reform and opening up.
(3) Correctly handling the relationship between reform, development, and stability
Whether the relationship between reform, development, and stability can be correctly handled is the key to determining the success or failure of contemporary China’s socialist modernization. Chen Yun elaborated on the relationship between the three from the perspectives of the purpose of reform, the significance of development, and the importance of stability, clarifying how to handle the relationship from a political dimension in economic practice. These highly philosophical discourses provided important ideological guidance for promoting economic structural reform, expanding opening up in all directions, and creating a harmonious environment for socialist modernization.
In Chen Yun’s view, reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system,
"The purpose is to develop productive forces and gradually improve the people's standard of living." This demonstrates that reform and development constitute a pair of causally linked concepts: reform promotes development, and development impels reform. This is a vivid manifestation of dialectical materialism in the realm of practice. At the same time, Chen Yun attached great importance to the stability of economic operations, emphasizing that turmoil in the economic situation could lead to instability in the political sphere, thereby affecting economic and social development. As early as the Second Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, Chen Yun criticized the trend of "rash advances" [18] in the economic field from a political height, proposing that development should follow the order of agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry, and emphasizing the improvement of industrial production quality. In March 1979, Chen Yun, together with Li Xiannian, wrote a letter to the CPC Central Committee emphasizing that financial and economic work must learn from past lessons: "the steps forward must be steady," "stop the 'tossing and turning' [19], and avoid repetitions and the appearance of a large 'saddle shape' [20]." He clearly stated that "from a long-term perspective, the fastest speed is achieved when the national economy can develop proportionately." This suggestion was reflected in the "Notice on the 'Several Opinions on Improving Current Capital Construction Work'" (hereafter "Several Opinions") circulated by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in April of the same year. The notice emphasized that projects not urgently needed or lacking necessary conditions should be stopped, suspended, merged, converted, or downsized. The "Several Opinions" proposed to earnestly implement the Central Committee's new "Eight-Character Policy" [21] of "adjustment, reform, rectification, and improvement" for the national economy. "Implementing the new 'Eight-Character Policy' is not only an important step in adjusting economic relations but also a process of rectifying the guiding principles of economic construction, exploring a path for socialist modernization suited to China's national conditions, and advancing reform and opening up."
The triad of "reform, development, and stability" involves the categories of the superstructure, the economic base, and the external environment respectively; in essence, it reflects the relationship between economics and politics. A clear understanding and practical application of the relationship between these three was the creative application of Chen Yun’s economic-political outlook during the New Period of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. Reform and development center on the liberation and development of the productive forces, emphasizing the realization of economic and social progress by transforming parts of the system that are incompatible with the development of productive forces. Stability points toward political factors and represents a state of steady-state effect between the political and social systems. This steady-state seeks not only coordination among various forces within the social system but also attempts to establish an ecological relationship between "politics and society," forming an ecological loop where the two mutually promote each other. In this loop, political development drives social development, which in turn acts upon political development. Therefore, political stability reflects a virtuous cycle between politics and the economy, while development signals a healthy state of economic trends. The relationship between reform, development, and stability is essentially the dialectical relationship between economics and politics. "Only with social stability can reform and development be continuously advanced; only with the continuous advancement of reform and development can social stability have a solid foundation. We must persist in unifying the intensity of reform, the speed of development, and the degree of social tolerance, taking the improvement of the people's lives as the point of integration for correctly handling the relationship between reform, development, and stability."
IV. Insights from Chen Yun's Economic-Political Outlook for Deepening and Expanding Chinese-path Modernization
The political views formed by Chen Yun during his long leadership of socialist economic construction—especially the theoretical points that "economics is seven parts, politics is three parts," that "economic structural reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system," and the emphasis on consolidating the central government's economic authority—offer important insights for advancing Chinese-path modernization through comprehensively deepening reform. Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: "Economics cannot be separated from politics, and politics cannot be separated from economics; this is an inevitable law of the development of objective things. The politicization of economics and the economization of politics should be the concentrated expression of the harmonious development of the dialectical unity between economics and politics." Deepening and expanding Chinese-path modernization should draw philosophical wisdom from Chen Yun's economic-political outlook, unifying the active decisive role of the economy with the effective proactive role of politics within Chinese-path modernization, and advancing the building of a strong socialist country through firm socialist political orientation and comprehensively deepening reform.
(1) Strengthen the Party’s comprehensive leadership over Chinese-path modernization, transforming the Party’s political leadership advantages into a momentum advantage for steadily advancing the cause of socialist modernization.
Chinese-path modernization is a glorious example of a "civilization-state party" leading the creation of a new form of civilization. The Party’s strong leadership is the fundamental guarantee for ensuring that Chinese-path modernization advances steadily and goes far. The Party’s comprehensive leadership over Chinese-path modernization is specifically manifested in the Party's overall control of the strategic blueprint for socialist modernization, as well as its overall coordination and planning of the economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological fields during this process. On one hand, in the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization, we must earnestly maintain the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, implement the "Two Upholds" in all fields and departments of socialist modernization, and unify the thoughts and actions of the entire people under the Party's overall strategic layout for Chinese-path modernization. We must oppose decentralism and localism, and enhance the efficiency of our nation's socialist modernization policies. We must also improve the institutional mechanisms of the Party's leadership in the economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological fields. At the macro level, we must adhere to Xi Jinping's series of important discourses on Chinese-path modernization as a guide. By building a high-level socialist market economy system, improving the institutional system of whole-process people's democracy, deepening the reform of cultural systems and mechanisms, improving the system for ensuring and improving people's livelihoods, and deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system, we provide mature institutional support for Chinese-path modernization to deal with various external risks and challenges in the process of comprehensively expanding opening up, coordinate the overall situation of economic development, and formulate lines, principles, and policies that meet the actual needs of our country's current social stage. At the same time, we must improve the level of the Party's leadership over Chinese-path modernization by deepening the reform of the Party building system and deeply advancing the improvement of Party conduct, clean government, and the anti-corruption struggle. On the other hand, through strengthening the Party's self-construction, we improve its leadership level: "keep a high degree of consciousness in leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, persist in governing the Party with the spirit of reform and strict standards, improve the institutional system of the Party's self-revolution, and continuously promote the Party's self-purification, self-perfection, self-innovation, and self-improvement, ensuring the Party remains the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics," providing a strong political guarantee for Chinese-path modernization.
(2) Correctly handling the relationship between reform, development, and stability remains an era-defining task that must be addressed in advancing Chinese-path modernization through comprehensively deepening reform.
Chinese-path modernization is a vital measure for advancing the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation. Comprehensively deepening reform is the "key move" for breaking through the shackles of outdated ideas and the barriers of entrenched interests, ultimately removing various institutional obstacles in socialist modernization. Deep social changes and the construction of an order of open rights can easily induce "social disorder" in the process of modernization and lead to its "interruption." Therefore, the relationship between reform, development, and stability must be handled correctly to prevent the risk of such interruption. First, we must break through the barriers of entrenched interests through deepening reform, build a high-level socialist market economy, and improve mechanisms for high-quality development. This will achieve open rights and shared interests, allowing the broad masses to share the dividends of Chinese-path modernization, dissipating the governance crisis caused by modernization through common prosperity, and consolidating a social consensus to jointly promote Chinese-path modernization. Second, use development to promote reform and seek stability. Our basic national conditions and the changes in the principal contradiction in Chinese society require us to remain centered on economic construction while taking into account development in all other social fields. "We must guide reform with the new development philosophy, ground our efforts in the new development stage, deepen supply-side structural reform, improve incentives and constraints for high-quality development, and shape new growth drivers and advantages." Third, create a stable domestic and international environment to ensure the steady progress of reform and development. We must create a social environment of fairness and justice for Chinese-path modernization by improving the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and we must advance the modernization of the national security system and capacity. By improving the national security system, public safety governance, social governance, and foreign-related national security mechanisms, we can build a national security system that integrates domestic and international efforts and coordinates across all fields, ensuring that Chinese-path modernization progresses steadily and goes far.
(3) Adhere to the socialist political direction and the people-centered stance of Chinese-path modernization, and manifest the civilizational shared nature of Chinese-path modernization through common prosperity.
The interests of the masses were always the starting point and end point of Chen Yun’s leadership of financial and economic construction, highlighting the value of socialist justice. Advancing Chinese-path modernization requires opposing "empty politics" [22] divorced from material interests and instead planning the overall layout of modernization around the vital interests of the masses. "We must develop whole-process people's democracy, build a China under the rule of law at a higher level, and continuously improve the social equity guarantee system mainly consisting of fairness in rights, opportunities, and rules, so as to fully stimulate the historical initiative and creativity of all the people." First, the people-centered ideology of Chinese-path modernization should be manifested in the process of solidly promoting common prosperity. We must start by improving the distribution system to solidify the institutional foundation for common prosperity, and focus on marginalized and vulnerable groups by improving mechanisms led by the Party and government to protect the rights of the masses, so that the dividends of development benefit these groups more. Second, economic high-quality development should be promoted through implementing the new development philosophy. Improving the efficiency of economic development is the prerequisite for realizing the material interests of the masses and the foundational project for national rejuvenation. We must grasp the initiative in economic development by building a new development pattern, taking the expansion of domestic demand as a strategic basis, focusing on building a "dual circulation" pattern, and driving changes in quality, efficiency, and momentum to realize high-quality development and "make the cake bigger." Third, focus on regional development gaps to solve the problems of inadequate and unbalanced development between regions and between urban and rural areas. With the rural revitalization strategy, the coordinated regional development strategy, and the new-type urbanization strategy centered on people as the focus, we must break through interest and policy barriers between urban and rural areas and regions, pushing for deep-level changes to mobilize the enthusiasm of the masses to the greatest extent and gather the widest consensus to organize modernization.
(4) Pay attention to the counter-reaction [23] of politics on the economy, and effectively utilize the institutional advantages of China’s socialist system to create favorable political conditions for Chinese-path modernization.
"In socialist society, the primary content of politics is modernization centered on economic construction, conducted on the basis of the consistency of the people's fundamental interests; hence, it is called politics in its economic aspect." To persist in examining and studying actual conditions from a political perspective and to formulate scientific and efficient economic lines and policies is an important component of Chen Yun's economic-political outlook. The century-long journey of the Party demonstrates that a correct and scientific political line can create a stable and harmonious environment for economic development and ensure that economic construction is carried out in an orderly manner. Comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization should effectively leverage the active role of politics in promoting economic construction, and effectively utilize the institutional advantages of socialism in assisting late-developing countries to accelerate modernization and achieve "leapfrog" [24] development.
First, we must cling tightly to the "advancement of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization" as the greatest political priority of our country’s current economic and social sphere, enriching and expanding Chinese-path modernization through comprehensively deepening reform. Comprehensively deepening reform represents a major change in the realm of the superstructure; its fundamental purpose is to break down the institutional and mechanistic obstacles hindering the transformation of the relations of production and the development of productive forces, so as to truly realize the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity required by national modernization. We must focus on planning reforms centered on a high-level socialist market economy system, the institutional system of whole-process people's democracy, the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and cultural systems and mechanisms, promoting the steady progress of society toward the opening of rights and the sharing of interests.
Second, we must adhere to the value orientation that "our country's economic system reform is the self-perfection and development of the socialist system." We must oppose the misinterpretations of the connotation of Chinese-path modernization existing in the ideological sphere and guard against the incursions of Western hostile forces relying on transnational capital and capitalist cultural hegemony. We must consistently remain firm in the socialist direction and the pro-people value standpoint of Chinese-path modernization. This requires both preventing the formulation of modernization strategies that deviate from the reality of our country’s development by exceeding the primary stage of socialism [25], and guarding against the erroneous understanding that ignores political struggle under the pretext of socialist modernization. This ensures that Chinese-path modernization always proceeds on the correct path required by the principles of scientific socialism and the objective laws of world modernization.
Third, we must effectively utilize ideological and political education to bridge the divergence of interests that emerges during the modernization process and build a holistic social consensus for advancing Chinese-path modernization. Party members and cadres are the vanguard and main force in implementing the strategic deployments of Chinese-path modernization. Strengthening the ideological and political education of Party members and cadres is conducive to raising their political awareness and establishing the value concept of serving the people whole-heartedly. At the same time, it can strengthen the construction of Party conduct and clean government in the field of economic construction, purifying the ranks of Party members and cadres, and providing a reliable guarantee of human resources for our country's modernization.