Xi stresses development of new productive forces, high-quality development

BEIJING -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held its 11th group study session on making solid progress in promoting high-quality development on the afternoon of Jan. 31. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, while presiding over the study session, emphasized it is a must to bear in mind that high-quality development is an unyielding principle in the new era. Xi called for full implementation of the new development philosophy and fulfillment of the following strategic tasks: to speed up the building of a modernized economy, promote greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, accelerate the building of a new development paradigm, boost both in-depth reform and high-level opening up, and ensure both high-quality development and high-level security. Xi called for a sound assessment system to facilitate high-quality development. All these will lay a solid foundation for high-quality development. He said that developing new productive forces is an endogenous requirement and a pivot of high-quality development, and that efforts should be kept up to promote innovation and faster development of new productive forces.

During the study session, CPC Central Committee Political Bureau members studied independently and shared what they learned from their work. Comrades Ma Xingrui, He Lifeng, Zhang Guoqing and Yuan Jiajun made presentations, integrating the topic with developments in the fields or administrative regions under their jurisdiction. Comrades Liu Guozhong and Chen Min'er submitted written presentations and the rest exchanged their views.

Xi delivered an important speech when chairing the study session. He noted that since the inception of the new era, the CPC Central Committee has made a series of vital decisions and arrangements, helping Party members and society as a whole foster a consensus on high-quality development and national consciousness to act on the consensus. High-quality development has become the theme of economic and social development. Over the past few years, China has accomplished a great deal in scientific and technological innovation, and the efficacy of innovation-driven development is increasingly evident. Development has become much more coordinated and balanced between urban and rural areas as well as between regions. Reform and opening up has been deepened across the board, spurring a strong momentum and vitality of development. The country has made notable progress in green, low-carbon transformation, accelerated the shift in its development mode and achieved remarkable results in high-quality development. At the same time, there remains an abundance of constraints hindering high-quality development, which must be taken seriously and addressed effectively.

Xi stressed that high-quality development has to be supported by a new productivity theory. Since new productive forces have emerged in practice and exhibited their strong role in driving and supporting high-quality development, they should be theorized systematically to guide further development. In a nutshell, the new productive forces are primarily driven by innovation, and break free from traditional economic growth modes and productivity development paths; they feature high technology, high efficiency, and high quality, and are advanced productivity required by the new development philosophy. They are shaped by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading, with the improvement of labor forces, means of labor, subjects of labor and their optimal combination as underlying elements, and a substantial increase in total factor productivity as a core hallmark. Marked by innovation, and with high quality as the key, new productive forces are advanced productivity in essence.

Xi pointed out that scientific and technological innovation can generate new industries, new models and new momentum, and is the core element for developing new productive forces. It is a must to strengthen scientific and technological innovation, especially original and disruptive innovations, accelerate the efforts to build high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and do a good job in making breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, so that original and disruptive scientific and technological innovations can emerge one after another, and foster more momentum for the development of new productive forces, said Xi.

Xi stressed the need to promptly apply scientific and technological innovation achievements to specific industries and industrial chains, transform and upgrade traditional industries, cultivate and strengthen emerging industries, make plans for the development of future industries, and improve the modern industrial system. It is imperative to lay out the industrial chains for the development of new productive forces, improve the resilience and safety of the industrial and supply chains, and ensure that the industrial system is independent, controllable, safe and reliable, Xi said. It is essential to develop a sound layout of scientific, technological and industrial innovation for the strategic tasks including advancing new industrialization and moving faster to boost China's strength in manufacturing, product quality, cyberspace, digital development and agriculture, Xi said. Greater efforts should be made to develop the digital economy, further integrate it with the real economy, and build digital industry clusters with international competitiveness.

Xi pointed out that green development underlies high-quality development, and that the new productive forces in essence are green. It is imperative to accelerate the transition to a model of green development and work toward the goals of reaching carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. The principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets must be upheld and acted on, and the path to prioritizing ecological protection and pursuing green development must be followed unswervingly. It is essential to speed up green scientific and technological innovation and the promotion and application of advanced green technologies, strengthen green manufacturing industries, develop a green service sector, strengthen a green energy sector, and develop green and low-carbon industries and supply chains, to build a green, low-carbon and circular economy. Xi called for continued efforts to optimize the toolkit for economic policies to support green and low-carbon development, give play to the catalytic role of green finance, and develop an efficient ecological and green industrial cluster. Meanwhile, green, low-carbon ways of life should be encouraged throughout society.

Xi stressed that the relations of production must meet the requirements for developing productive forces. To develop new productive forces, it is imperative to deepen reform across the board so as to create a new type of relations of production that is compatible with the development of new productive forces. It is imperative to further reform the economic system, and the scientific and technological system in order to remove obstacles and impediments to the growth of new productive forces, develop a high-standard market system, and innovate the way to allocate factors of production, so that advanced and high-quality factors of production can flow smoothly towards the development of new productive forces. Meanwhile, high-level opening up must be expanded to create a sound international environment for the development of new productive forces.

Xi stressed that a virtuous cycle should be formed among education, science and technology, and personnel training. This should align with the requirements for developing new productive forces to improve the mechanism for training, introducing, employing talent and facilitate a reasonable talent flow. The discipline and talent development frameworks within higher education institutions should be refined in response to the latest trends in scientific and technological development, so as to cultivate personnel urgently needed for bolstering new productive forces and driving high-quality development. It is imperative to improve the income distribution system involving various production factors, such as labor, knowledge, technology, management, capital and data, to boost the vitality of these production factors, and better realize the market value of knowledge, technology and talent, so as to nurture an environment that champions innovation and allows for failure.