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1.2 Chinese Practice of Marxist Political Economy

1.2.1 The Essence of Socialism is to Liberate and Develop Productive Forces

In Marx’s view, productivity determines the production relationship, the economic foundation determines the superstructure, and the production relationship and the superstructure have an adverse effect.Among them, productivity is the most revolutionary and active factor, and those who master advanced technology and management methods play a core role in productivity.After the founding of People’s Republic of China, especially after reform and opening up.The Communist Party of China unites and leads the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country, continuously deepens the reform of various systems and mechanisms, vigorously adjusts the factors restricting the development of productive forces in production relations, and promotes the tremendous progress of China’s productive forces; its overall national strength and its ability to make technological innovation have been significantly improved.

After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, China moved towards reform and opening up.On the basis of summing up historical experience, according to the actual level and needs of the development of China’s social productive forces, economic policies were adjusted based on actual conditions to achieve rapid economic development.In the 1980s, people had not completely stepped out of the ideological constraints of the planned economy era, and there were certain ideological differences regarding the socialist road.The second-generation leadership collective centered on Deng Xiaoping was able to carry out a new exploration of the socialist road with Marxism as the guideline and people as the center.In 1992, Deng Xiaoping’s talks in the Southen tour put forward a new understanding and new judgment of the essence of socialism.“The essence of socialism is to liberate productive forces, develop productive forces, eliminate exploitation, eliminate polarization, and ultimately achieve common prosperity.” Highlighting socialism is liberation.The development of productive forces not only deepened the understanding of socialism, but also demonstrated Marxist thought of developing productive forces, which is an inheritance and development of it.

After the reform and opening up, China has always placed the development of science and technology in an extremely important position.Vigorously develop higher education, deepen the reform of the scientific research system, and promote scientific and technological innovation in enterprises.Through the implementation of these policies and measures, China’s scientific and technological innovation capabilities are among the highest in the world.The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasizes scientific and technological innovation, and for the first time puts forward the “Four Simultaneous” strategy for the simultaneous development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization.It also proposes for the first time that innovation-driven development, especially scientific and technological innovation is to improve social productivity.The key factor is also an important indicator for judging the comprehensive national strength.We must attach importance to the role of scientific and technological innovation.The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China implemented the system systematically, and proposed to establish a sound and innovative institutional mechanism, a sound market-oriented mechanism, and a collaborative innovation mechanism for industry, university, and research.Through deepening reforms in the field of science and technology, it stimulates the vitality of innovation and forms an atmosphere of innovation.Build a national innovation system.The assertions that “science and technology are the primary productive forces”, “rejuvenating the country through science and education”, “reinforcing the country by talents”, and “innovation-driven development” are continuations and developments of the theory of developing productive forces and Marx’s ideas on science and technology, with distinctive characteristics of the times.The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further proposed that the construction of an innovative country should be accelerated.Innovation is the primary driving force for development and a strategic support for building a modern economic system.We must aim at the forefront of world science and technology, strengthen basic research, and achieve major breakthroughs in forward-looking basic research and leading original results.

Table 1-6 China Research and Experimental Development (R&D) funding (2013-2017)

Sources: Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, Bulletin on National Science and Technology Funding (2017).

1.2.2 Socialist Public Ownership

The ownership of the means of production refers to the sum of the economic and social relations formed by people in the possession, domination and use of the means of production in a certain society and economy.Marx believes that in a communist society, private ownership will be eliminated and common prosperity will be achieved.After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, China has carried out arduous explorations on the road towards socialist construction, established basic economic systems in the primary stage of socialism on the basis of summing up both positive and negative experiences; inherited and developed Marx’s ownership theory.The basic system with public ownership as the main body and other forms of ownership as the supplement.

First, Deng Xiaoping proposed a new criterion for ownership.He pointed out that to judge whether the ownership structure is reasonable in the primary stage of socialism, it can neither be determined by the nature of the ownership itself, nor by the scope and degree of public ownership.The criterion of judgment is to see if it can promote the development of productivity.If the ownership structure does not meet the requirements of the development of productive forces, it will hinder the development of productive forces.

Second is adhere to the fundamental principle of public ownership as the main body.The nature of the socialist country determines that China must always adhere to the dominant position of public ownership in economic reform.After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping repeatedly stated the importance of insisting on public ownership as the main body.A series of system reforms carried out in China, including policies such as opening to the outside world, combining planned economy and market economy, are in line with socialist principles, and require us to maintain the dominant position of public ownership in the reform.

Third, the non-public ownership economy is complementary.To implement a socialist market economy in China, we must mobilize the enthusiasm of all subjects in the market.Therefore, the non-public ownership economy is an important part of the national economy.Since the reform and opening up, China has continuously introduced foreign-funded enterprises and developed the private economy, which has greatly promoted the vigorous development of the economy.Deng Xiaoping proposed that the foreign capital economy is a necessary supplement to the public ownership, and further expanded the connotation of the non-public ownership economy.The Thirteenth National Congress of the People’s Republic of China made a comprehensive discussion of the private economy, arguing that “a certain degree of development of the private economy is conducive to promoting production, activating the market, expanding employment, and better meeting the people’s various needs in life.It is necessary and beneficial for the public economy supplement ”.

Table 1-7 China’s public and non-public economic assets structure (2004-2012)

Adhering to the socialist system with Chinese characteristics is the prerequisite for comprehensively deepening reforms.Xi Jinping believes that adhering to the basic economic system of Chinese socialism is conducive to the consolidation and development of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.A series of innovative ideas have been put forward in practice.

First, the basic economic system is proposed as the foundation of the socialist market economic system.Since the reform and opening up, in the reform of the economic system, China’s public-owned economy and non-public-owned economy have not only coexisted, but also have continuously formed strengthened ties, enhanced cooperation, promoted competition, and built the foundation of a socialist market economic system.

Second, a new strategy for consolidating and developing the public ownership economy.Xi Jinping stressed at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee that the dominant position of the public ownership economy must be unwavering.On this basis, the vitality of the state-owned economy should be further released, the control and influence of the state-owned economy should be enhanced, and the leading role of the state-owned economy should be brought into play.It is necessary to continuously deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, further improve the supervision system, improve the mechanism of state-owned capital flow, and improve the corporate governance structure.It is necessary to allow state-owned capital to play a greater role in achieving national strategic goals.

Third, new measures to encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public ownership economy.Xi Jinping pointed out that the development of the non-public ownership economy can effectively mobilize various economic entities to participate in the construction of economic development, and is a catalyst for the economy to maintain vitality and creativity.China is at the initial stage of socialism, the level of productive forces has not yet been fully developed, and the development between regions and between urban and rural areas is still unbalanced, leaving vast space for the development of non-public ownership economies.

Fourth, adhere to and improve the basic economic system and actively develop a mixed ownership economy.The development of a mixed-ownership economy is to allow non-state-owned capital to participate in state-owned capital investment projects, allow workers in mixed-ownership economies to hold shares, and allow the development of cross-shareholdings in state-owned, collective, and non-public capital.This can amplify the function of state capital in economic development, help maintain and increase the value of state capital, increase the competitiveness of state capital, and ensure the dominant position of state capital.

1.2.3 Socialist Income Distribution System

Marx’s theory of labor value holds that value is the general indiscriminate human labor condensed in commodities, and labor is the source of value and the source of all wealth.Distribution is the distribution and redistribution of the full value created by a social labor.While criticizing the capitalist society’s distribution according to capital, Marx proposed a distribution method that eliminates this form of exploitation in the future society: distribution according to work and distribution according to demand.Distribution according to work is the distribution method of the primary stage of future society discussed by Marx, while distribution according to demand is the distribution method of communism.Since the reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China has adhered to the Marxian distribution theory as a guide, continuously promoted the reform of the income distribution system, established and improved the income distribution system, and enriched and developed the Marxist distribution theory.

Socialism must adhere to the distribution system according to work.The egalitarian distribution method in the planned economy era not only violates the principle of distribution according to work, but also discourages laborers’ enthusiasm for labor and seriously hinders the development of productive forces.Reforms in the area of income distribution were first carried out in rural areas.The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee proposed: “We must first mobilize the socialist enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of farmers in our country, and we must fully care about their material interests in the economy.” In reality, good results have been achieved, and farmers’ enthusiasm for production and production efficiency have been greatly improved.The reform of the city’s income distribution system has been promoted simultaneously with the reform of the economic system.The central government pointed out that “serious egalitarianism in distribution” was the main obstacle hindering the development of enterprises.For enterprises to rejuvenate, they must “establish various forms of economic responsibility and seriously implement the principle of distribution according to work” to eliminate the adverse effects of egalitarianism.

With the deepening of reform and opening up, China has basically determined the basic distribution principle of distribution according to work as the main body and other forms of distribution as supplements.In response to the contents of the 14th National Congress of the CPC and the Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee, Jiang Zemin further emphasized the need to “regulate and improve other forms of distribution, production factors such as land, capital, and intellectual property rights, and participate in the distribution of income fairly according to relevant regulations”.The 5th National Congress of the People’s Republic of China proposed “combining distribution according to work and distribution according to production factors”.The 16th National Congress of the CPC emphasized the contribution of production factors in social production, and further put forward the basic principles of participation of production factors in socialist distribution according to their contributions.The 17th National Congress of the CPC pointed out that the goal of deepening the reform of the income distribution system is to gradually reduce the trend of widening the income gap through a series of measures to achieve the protection of legal income, the suppression of illegal income, and the adjustment of excessive income.In order to achieve this goal, “ it is important to increase the income of low-income earners, and gradually raise the standards for poverty alleviation and the minimum wage”.The report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC states that to achieve the people’s shared development results, the most fundamental and most important thing is to continue to promote The reform of the income distribution system is also a matter of most interest and reality for the people.The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC pointed out that adhere to the principle of distribution according to work, improve the system and mechanism of distribution according to factors, and promote more reasonable and orderly income distribution. M0HcOBaPryYfrFgoMqa9IuYmKKWveaxALSw9K/MlxBX9MC2nxcn86c/05TEO3r5x

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