New Features and Requirements Arising from the Evolution in the Principal Challenge Facing Chinese Society

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, the principal challenge in Chinese society has evolved and socialism with Chinese characteristics has crossed the threshold into a new era. At the same time, China's economic development has also entered a new era.

In this new stage, the evolving economic situation is primarily characterized by a transition from high-speed growth to medium-to-high-speed growth. This change is not a cyclical fluctuation but a long-term trend. This trend reflects the evolution in the principal challenge facing Chinese society and the fact that China's development stage, environment, and conditions have all changed. Moreover, it reflects the underlying logic of China's economic development.

On the one hand, following more than three decades of high-speed growth, China's economy is facing an array of new issues. All this has necessitated a shift away from the extensive development model to the pursuit of a more reasonable rate of growth so that economic development is sustainable.

On the other hand, economic development tends to unfold in an upward spiral, where quantitative accumulation must lead to qualitative advancements once a certain threshold is reached. With the evolution of the principal challenge in Chinese society, the development challenges and problems we face are predominantly quality-related. This requires us to shine the spotlight on the quality and efficacy of our development. It means we must move faster to transform our growth model and adjust the economic structure in order to enhance development quality and efficacy. This will ensure that we can meet the people's growing needs for a better life and advance China's transition from a large economy to a strong economic nation.

The principal challenge in economic development varies according to the development stage. The principal challenge in Chinese society has now become that between the people's growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. Consequently, in the current stage, the principal challenge in economic development is structural in nature, while also featuring aspects relating to aggregate volume, cyclical changes, and institutional issues. These elements are all intertwined, making the picture quite complex. When analyzing the economic situation, we must firmly grasp the evolution in the principal challenge facing Chinese society and the fundamental fact that China has entered a stage of high-quality development. We must put the focus on our efforts to resolve the issue of unbalanced, inadequate development and problems relating to the quality and efficacy of development. Only then can we make an accurate assessment.

Put another way, in this new stage of development, to determine whether the economy is doing well or not, we must go beyond aggregate volume and rate of growth. We must see if the engines of development are robust and if the economic structure is rational. We must consider whether the drivers of innovation are stronger, development is more balanced, the foundation for green development is more solid, the standard of opening up is improved, and people's wellbeing and happiness are higher. Ultimately, we must regard high-quality development as the paramount principle of the new era, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy, and promote effective qualitative improvements in the economy as well as reasonable quantitative expansion.

Editor: Li Xiaoqiong