The Connotation Characteristics and Development Focus of New Quality Productive Forces

Release Date:

2024-03-05 10:39

Source:

National Development and Reform Commission

High-quality development is the hard truth of the new era and requires new productivity theories to guide it. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during the 11th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee: "Developing new quality productivity is an inherent requirement and an important focus for promoting high-quality development." "New quality productivity has already formed in practice and demonstrated strong driving and supporting power for high-quality development." General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourse enriches the Marxist theory of productivity, deepens the understanding of the laws of productivity development, further enriches the connotation of Xi Jinping's economic thought, and provides scientific guidance for pioneering new development fields and tracks, shaping new driving forces and advantages for development. Accelerating the development of new quality productivity is an objective requirement for liberating and developing productivity on the new journey of the new era and an inevitable choice to promote productivity iteration and upgrading and achieve modernization.

Deeply understand the basic connotation of new quality productivity

New quality productivity represents the evolutionary direction of advanced productivity. It is an advanced productivity quality state born from revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. New quality productivity is fundamentally characterized by the leap in the combination of laborers, means of labor, objects of labor, and their optimization, possessing strong development momentum and capable of leading the creation of a new era of social production.

Higher-quality laborers are the primary element of new quality productivity. Humans are the most active and decisive factor in productivity. New quality productivity places higher demands on the knowledge and skills of laborers. Developing new quality productivity requires strategic talents capable of creating it. These talents lead the world's scientific and technological frontiers and innovate new production tools, including top scientific talents who make major breakthroughs in disruptive scientific understanding and technological creation, first-class leading scientific talents and young scientific talents who make outstanding contributions in basic research and key core technologies; it also requires applied talents proficient in the application of new quality means of production, possessing multidimensional knowledge structures and mastery of new production tools, including engineering and technical talents represented by outstanding engineers and technical workers represented by master craftsmen.

Higher-technology-content means of labor are the power source of new quality productivity. The technological attributes of production tools are a significant marker distinguishing new quality productivity from traditional productivity. The integrated application of new-generation information technology, advanced manufacturing technology, new material technology, and others has given rise to a large number of new production tools that are smarter, more efficient, lower carbon, and safer, further liberating laborers, weakening the natural conditions' constraints on production activities, greatly expanding production space, and providing material conditions for forming new quality productivity. Especially the widespread application of non-physical production tools such as the industrial internet and industrial software has greatly enriched the forms of production tools, promoted the manufacturing process toward intelligence, shifted manufacturing paradigms from mass production to mass customization, and pushed productivity to a new level.

A broader range of objects of labor is the material basis of new quality productivity. Objects of labor are the foundation and prerequisite of production activities. Thanks to the breadth, depth, precision, and speed improvements brought by technological innovation, the types and forms of objects of labor have greatly expanded. On one hand, humans have more advanced means to obtain materials and energy from nature, extending the scope of utilization and transformation of nature to deep space, deep sea, deep earth, and so on; on the other hand, humans continuously create new material resources through labor and transform them into objects of labor, significantly improving productivity. For example, data, as a new type of production factor, has become an important object of labor, directly creating social value and further amplifying value creation effects through combination and integration with other production factors.

Laborers, means of labor, objects of labor, and elements such as science and technology and management are all indispensable in the formation process of productivity. Only when all productivity elements achieve efficient coordination can stronger productivity be unleashed. Driven by a series of new technologies, new quality productivity leads and drives the transformation and adjustment of production subjects, production tools, objects of production, and production methods, promoting the convenient flow, network sharing, systematic integration, collaborative development, and efficient utilization of elements such as labor, capital, land, knowledge, technology, management, and data. This can effectively reduce transaction costs and greatly improve resource allocation efficiency and total factor productivity.

Deeply grasp the main characteristics of new quality productivity

In sharp contrast to traditional productivity, new quality productivity is advanced productivity where innovation plays a leading role, breaking away from traditional economic growth modes and productivity development paths, characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality.

Innovation is the primary driving force, forming high-tech productivity. Technological innovation profoundly reshapes the basic elements of productivity, spawns new industries and new business forms, and promotes productivity to evolve toward a higher and more advanced quality state. New quality productivity is productivity in which technological innovation plays a leading role. It must be led by major technological innovations, promote the deep integration of innovation chains, industrial chains, capital chains, and talent chains, and accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological innovation achievements into real productivity. In recent years, China's technological innovation capability has steadily improved, achieving a series of major results in manned spaceflight, quantum information, nuclear power technology, large aircraft manufacturing, and other fields, entering the ranks of innovative countries and possessing the foundational conditions to accelerate the development of new quality productivity.

Taking strategic emerging industries and future industries as the main carriers, forming high-efficiency productivity. Industry is the concrete form of productivity transformation, and the continuous iteration and upgrading of leading and pillar industries is an important support for productivity leapfrogging. As new pillars and new tracks leading industrial upgrading and future development, strategic emerging industries and future industries have higher efficiency, characterized by active innovation, technology intensity, high-end value, and broad prospects, providing huge space for the development and growth of new quality productivity. In recent years, China's strategic emerging industries have flourished, with their added value accounting for more than 13% of GDP in 2022. Key fields such as new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic products have accelerated development, forming certain leading advantages in emerging fields such as the digital economy. China is proactively planning future industry development, promoting comprehensive innovation in technology, R&D models, production methods, business models, organizational structures, and continuously strengthening the industrial foundation for developing new quality productivity.

Taking the high-level dynamic balance of new supply and new demand as the starting point, forming high-quality productivity. Effective matching of supply and demand is an important sign of a virtuous cycle in social mass production. The social supply capacity and the degree of demand realization are constrained by the development status of productivity, and only relying on high-level productivity can a high-level dynamic balance of supply and demand be achieved. Currently, the "existence" problem in most fields in China is basically solved, and the "quality" problem is increasingly prominent, objectively requiring a new balance where demand drives supply and supply creates demand. On one hand, new demand puts forward higher requirements for supply upgrading, driving and stimulating new supply and leveraging productivity leapfrogging; on the other hand, new supply formed based on new quality productivity can provide more high-quality, high-performance, high-reliability, high-safety, and environmentally friendly products and services, better meeting and creating effective demand. Accelerating the development of new quality productivity aligns with the requirements of high-quality development, helps achieve a virtuous cycle of the national economy, better leverages the advantages of a super-large-scale market, and enhances the sustainability of economic growth and social development.

Focus on empowering and preparing for the development of new quality productivity

Cultivating and expanding new quality productivity is a long-term task and a systematic project. We must adhere to a systematic perspective, base ourselves on the real economy, center on technological innovation, and orient toward industrial upgrading, focusing on promoting the leap and qualitative change of laborers, means of labor, objects of labor, and their optimized combinations.

Properly handle a series of major relationships in the development of new quality productive forces. First, properly handle the relationship between productive forces and production relations. Form new types of production relations that adapt to the development requirements of new quality productive forces, fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, better play the role of the government, and accelerate the construction of systems and mechanisms conducive to the development of new quality productive forces. Second, properly handle the relationships among various elements of new quality productive forces. Give full play to the supporting and leading role of technological innovation, cultivate new types of workers, create new production tools, and expand new labor objects through multiple approaches, promoting efficient and coordinated matching among the elements of new quality productive forces. Third, properly handle the relationship between independent innovation and open innovation. Adhere to the coordinated advancement of independent and open innovation, vigorously promote independent innovation in an open environment, make good use of global innovation resources, and accelerate the construction of an open innovation ecosystem with global competitiveness. Fourth, properly handle the relationship between new quality productive forces and traditional productive forces. Promote the development of both in a coordinated manner, promptly apply technological innovation achievements to specific industries and industrial chains, simultaneously cultivate and expand emerging industries and plan future industries, and transform and upgrade traditional industries, building a modern industrial system that is complete, advanced, and secure.

Cultivate a new type of workforce. Promote effective integration and development of education, science and technology, and talent, building a new type of workforce that matches the development of new quality productive forces, and stimulate workers' creativity and initiative. Adhere to prioritizing education development, focus on cultivating top innovative talents, nurture more strategic scientists, first-class leading talents in science and technology, 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 integration of vocational and general education, industry and education, science and education, and explore effective mechanisms for joint training of high-quality compound engineering talents by universities and enterprises, continuously cultivating high-quality technical and skilled talents. Implement more proactive, open, and effective talent policies, explore establishing a global talent recruitment system aligned with international standards, increase openness of national science and technology programs, encourage foreign-funded enterprises and foreign scientific and technical personnel in China to undertake and participate in science and technology projects, and build platforms for global talents to engage in entrepreneurship and innovation.

Create and apply labor materials with higher technological content. Deeply implement the innovation-driven development strategy, firmly grasp independent innovation as the key, and promote iterative upgrading of labor materials. Fully leverage the role of the state as a major organizer of scientific and technological innovation, guided by national strategic needs, integrate scientific and technological innovation resources, gather forces for original and leading scientific and technological research, and create more "hard technology" leading the development of new quality productive forces. Fully leverage enterprises as the main force in R&D and application of new production tools, strengthen integration of innovation elements and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, build innovation consortia led by leading enterprises, supported by universities and research institutes, and coordinated among various innovation entities, accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces. Promote deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, advance industrial digital transformation, strengthen the integrated application of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things, and 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 a broader range of labor objects. Focus on cultivating and strengthening strategic emerging industries and future industries, expand the types and forms of labor objects, continuously open new fields and tracks for production activities, and consolidate the material foundation for developing new quality productive forces. Deeply implement the national strategic emerging industry cluster development project, promote integrated cluster development of strategic emerging industries, focus on building new growth engines such as new generation information technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, and green environmental protection, and strengthen China's technological and industrial advantages in strategic emerging industries within the global value chain. Strengthen overall planning for future industries at the national strategic level, organize and implement future industry incubation and acceleration plans in frontier technology and industrial transformation fields such as brain-like intelligence, quantum information, gene technology, future networks, and deep-sea aerospace development, explore multiple paths and cross-integration of frontier and disruptive technologies, and prepare productivity reserves.

Promote higher-level coordinated matching of productive factors. Adapt to the development requirements of new quality productive forces, promote transformation and adjustment of industrial organization and industrial forms, continuously improve the efficiency of factor combinations, and increase total factor productivity. Expand and strengthen a number of leading backbone enterprises with high industrial relevance and strong international competitiveness, and ecosystem-leading enterprises with industrial chain control, cultivate a batch of specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises and "single champion" enterprises, encourage leading backbone enterprises to play a good role in integrating and driving the industrial chain, and achieve integrated development of large, medium, and small enterprises. Relying on the free flow, coordinated sharing, and efficient utilization of productive factors, promote the transformation of production organization methods toward platformization, networking, and ecologicalization, build an industrial ecosystem with broad participation, resource sharing, precise matching, and close collaboration, accelerate value coordination and co-creation across the entire industry and supply chain. Actively leverage the "fusion agent" role of data factors, promote cross-border integration of existing and digital business formats, derive new links, new chains, and new activity forms, accelerate the development of new business formats such as intelligent manufacturing, digital trade, smart logistics, and smart agriculture, promote precise and high-quality supply, and better meet and create new demands.

A new batch of smart factories is about to rise in Beijing

Deeply understand and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces