Five Relationships to Coordinate in Economic Work

The article by Han Wenxiu, Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs and Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work, was published in this year’s fifth issue of Qiushi Journal. Han explains in his article that the five relationships to coordinate in economic work stand as exemplary models of the seamless integration of practical and theoretical innovation in the economic domain.

The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference highlighted five key relationships to address in multifaceted economic work: the relationship between an efficient market and an effective government, total supply and total demand, cultivating new growth engines and transforming traditional industries, incremental resources and existing resources, as well as quality improvements and scale expansion. These five relationships proposed at the conference reflect the CPC’s deepened understanding of the laws underlying economic work and represent one of the latest achievements of Xi Jinping thought on the economy. They have provided crucial guidance for our efforts to advance economic work and promote high-quality development.

As China’s economy transitions into a new stage of advancing Chinese modernization through high-quality development, the evolving times and shifting development tasks have placed new and higher demands on economic work. Rooted in the practice of high-quality development in the new era, the five relationships to coordinate reflect the CPC’s deep understanding of the objective laws governing economic work under new circumstances. By properly handling these five relationships, China can adeptly respond to global changes, adapt to its current stage of development, align with its national conditions, and follow objective laws.

Theory, though rooted in practice, rises above and guides practice. The five relationships proposed are a major theoretical innovation by General Secretary Xi Jinping, grounded in the application of the stances, viewpoints, and methods of Marxist political economy, especially materialist dialectics. As a theoretical summary of successful practices of economic development in the new era, they have provided new perspectives for systematically understanding and addressing China’s key developmental challenges.

Apart from being a theoretical innovation, the five relationships proposed also carry practical significance. They serve as a guide for promoting high-quality development on the new journey in the new era and must be thoroughly implemented in practice.

First, the government must know when to act and when to step back, employing disciplined approaches to foster greater market efficiency.

Second, it is crucial to coordinate efforts to foster a dynamic equilibrium between supply and demand, ensuring the national economy operates smoothly.

Third, new quality productive forces should be cultivated in line with local conditions, enabling a seamless transition between traditional and emerging growth drivers.

Fourth, incremental and existing resources should be coordinated and utilized effectively to create new development spaces.

Fifth, we need to prioritize both quality development and scale expansion, reinforcing the material and technological underpinnings essential for Chinese modernization and its strategic competitiveness in the global arena.

Editor: Yi Xiaowei