Striving for New Progress in High-Quality Development

The article by Han Wenxiu, Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, was published in this year’s 12th issue of Qiushi Journal.

According to the article, as an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s expositions on high-quality development have enriched and developed Marxist political economics, holding both practical significance and far-reaching historical implications.

As such, we must study and comprehend the core essence and rich connotations of these expositions, and adhere to promoting high-quality development through deepening reform, with a view to ensuring that the requirements for high-quality development are implemented throughout the process of building a modern socialist country.

These expositions on high-quality development made by General Secretary Xi Jinping are based on an in-depth analysis of the current features of China’s development and a thorough understanding of the laws underlying China’s modernization drive.

For example, in the report to the 19th CPC National Congress, Xi stated that China has completed the transition from a phase of rapid growth to one of high-quality development; at the Central Economic Work Conference in 2017, he made it clear that high-quality development is capable of meeting the people’s growing needs for a better life, and adapted to the new development philosophy. It is primarily innovation-driven, characterized by coordination, and environmentally friendly. It also mandates openness and seeks shared benefits as a fundamental goal. According to Xi, in pursuing high-quality development, we must shift focus from the previous problem of want to the present problem of quality.

He also pointed out in the report to the 20th CPC National Congress that high-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country. At the Central Economic Work Conference in 2023, Xi stressed the need to regard high-quality development as the paramount principle of the new era.

Promoting high-quality development on the new journey in the new era is a profound transformation which has a bearing on the overall situation of China’s development. It is essential to fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy and accelerate the creation of a new development dynamic. With a focus on the crucial move of reform and opening up, we will effectively upgrade China’s economy and appropriately expand its output.

Pursuing high-quality development should be considered as a yardstick for assessing leading officials’ performance. A capable leading official should make dynamic optimal decisions within constraints and take all into consideration, knowing what to do and what not to do.

To be specific, the following measures should be taken:

1. Ensuring steady progress rather than seeking quick success or taking short-sighted actions.
2. Prioritizing quality and efficiency, refraining from the pursuit of quantity and scale regardless of objective conditions and laws.
3. Continuing to develop the real economy, guarding against a shift from the real economy toward the financial economy.
4. Acting in line with the principle of building the new before discarding the old.

The article concludes by emphasizing the necessity to rally closely around the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, and forge ahead with determination and vigor. It also calls for efforts to deepen reform and pursue high-quality development and believes in this way we can make new and greater contributions to building China into a great modern socialist country and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through the Chinese path to modernization.

Editor: Yi Xiaowei