Today, the 11th collective study session of the 20th Central Political Bureau was held, focusing on solidly promoting high-quality development. The purpose is to combine the study and implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Central Economic Work Conference, summarize the achievements of high-quality development in the new era, analyze prominent contradictions and problems, explore improvement measures, and promote new progress and breakthroughs in high-quality development.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we have comprehensively implemented the new development philosophy, continuously deepened our understanding of the phased characteristics and laws of China's economic development, and placed greater emphasis on high-quality development. The report of the 19th National Congress declared that "China's economy has shifted from a stage of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development," and the report of the 20th National Congress emphasized that "high-quality development is the primary task in building a modern socialist country in all respects." Since the new era, the Party Central Committee has made a series of major decisions and deployments, making the promotion of high-quality development a consensus and conscious action of the whole Party and society, and high-quality development has become the main theme. In recent years, China has achieved fruitful results in scientific and technological innovation, with the effectiveness of innovation-driven development increasingly evident; coordination and balance in urban-rural and regional development have significantly improved; reform and opening-up have been comprehensively deepened, unleashing development momentum and vitality; the green and low-carbon transition has made remarkable progress, accelerating the transformation of development modes, and achieving significant results in high-quality development.

At the same time, many factors restricting high-quality development still exist. From the external environment perspective, the world is undergoing profound and accelerated changes unseen in a century. Internally, the situation where key core technologies in some fields of our country are controlled by others has not fundamentally changed; disparities in urban-rural and regional development and income distribution remain large, hindering high-quality economic and social development. Regarding work progress, some leaders lack proper understanding and habitually revert to the old path of extensive expansion and low-efficiency development when facing contradictions and difficulties; some leaders hold outdated concepts, claiming to promote high-quality development but actually "old wine in new bottles"; some leaders lack the ability to promote high-quality development amid new domestic and international environments and challenges. These issues must be taken seriously and effectively addressed. We must remember that high-quality development is the hard truth of the new era, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of a modern economic system, promote high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength, speed up the formation of a new development pattern, coordinate deep reforms and high-level opening-up, balance high-quality development with high-level security, and improve the assessment and evaluation system for promoting high-quality development to lay a solid foundation.

Developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement and important focus for promoting high-quality development. Here, I will focus on some understandings regarding this.

Since July last year, during my inspections and research in Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Guangxi, and other places, I proposed integrating scientific and technological innovation resources to lead the development of strategic emerging industries and future industries, accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces. In mid-December, at the Central Economic Work Conference, I further proposed promoting industrial innovation through scientific and technological innovation, especially using disruptive and frontier technologies to foster new industries, new models, and new momentum, developing new quality productive forces. I proposed the concept of new quality productive forces and the major task of developing them mainly because productive forces are the fundamental driving force of human social development and the ultimate cause of all social changes and political transformations. High-quality development requires new productive force theories to guide it, and new quality productive forces have already formed in practice, demonstrating strong driving and supporting power for high-quality development. We need to summarize and generalize this theoretically to guide new development practices.

What are new quality productive forces, and how to develop them? I have been thinking about this and have also noticed some academic research results. In summary, new quality productive forces are characterized by innovation playing a leading role, breaking away from traditional economic growth modes and productive force development paths, featuring high technology, high efficiency, and high quality, and conforming to the new development philosophy as an advanced productive force quality state. They are born from revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. Their basic connotation is the leap in the combination of laborers, means of labor, and objects of labor and their optimization, with a significant increase in total factor productivity as the core marker. Their characteristic is innovation, the key is quality, and their essence is advanced productive forces.

The prominent feature of new quality productive forces is innovation, including innovation in technology and business models as well as in management and institutional levels. We must continue to do a good job in this major area of innovation and promote the accelerated development of new quality productive forces.

First, vigorously promote scientific and technological innovation. New quality productive forces are mainly born from revolutionary technological breakthroughs. Scientific and technological innovation can foster new industries, new models, and new momentum, which are core elements for developing new quality productive forces. This requires us to strengthen scientific and technological innovation, especially original and disruptive innovation, and accelerate achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength. We must deeply implement the strategies of rejuvenating the country through science and education, strengthening the country with talent, and innovation-driven development, adhere to the "Four Orientations," strengthen national strategic scientific and technological forces, and organize and promote original and fundamental research with strategic guidance. We should focus on national strategies and the practical needs of economic and social development, take key common technologies, frontier leading technologies, modern engineering technologies, and disruptive technological innovation as breakthroughs, fully leverage the advantages of the new national system, fight the battle for key core technologies, enable original and disruptive scientific and technological innovation achievements to emerge in succession, and cultivate new momentum for developing new quality productive forces.

Second, promote industrial innovation through scientific and technological innovation. The transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces manifests as fostering new industries and promoting deep industrial transformation and upgrading. Therefore, we must promptly apply scientific and technological innovation achievements to specific industries and industrial chains, transform and upgrade traditional industries, cultivate and expand emerging industries, plan and build future industries, and improve the modern industrial system. We should arrange industrial chains around developing new quality productive forces, promote supplementing weak links in industries, extending chains in advantageous industries, upgrading chains in traditional industries, and building chains in emerging industries, enhancing the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains, ensuring the industrial system is autonomous, controllable, safe, and reliable. We should focus on advancing new industrialization and accelerating the construction of a manufacturing power, quality power, cyber power, and digital China, scientifically arranging scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. We must vigorously develop the digital economy, promote deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and build internationally competitive digital industry clusters. We should focus on building a strong agricultural country, increase scientific and technological innovation and application of innovation achievements in seed industry, agricultural machinery, etc., promote modern agriculture with innovative technology, and ensure national food security.

Third, focus on promoting innovation in development modes. Green development is the fundamental tone of high-quality development, and new quality productive forces themselves are green productive forces. We must accelerate the green transformation of development modes to help achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality. We must firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, unswervingly follow the path of ecological priority and green development. Accelerate green technological innovation and the promotion and application of advanced green technologies, strengthen green manufacturing, develop green services, expand the green energy industry, develop green low-carbon industries and supply chains, and build a green low-carbon circular economy system. Continuously optimize the economic policy toolbox supporting green and low-carbon development, leverage the guiding role of green finance, and build efficient ecological green industry clusters. At the same time, vigorously advocate green and healthy lifestyles throughout society.

Fourth, solidly promote innovation in systems and mechanisms. Production relations must adapt to the requirements of productive force development. To develop new quality productive forces, we must further deepen reforms comprehensively and form new types of production relations that correspond to them. New quality productive forces require both government’s advanced planning guidance and scientific policy support, as well as market mechanism regulation and continuous innovation by micro-subjects such as enterprises. They are jointly cultivated and driven by the government’s "visible hand" and the market’s "invisible hand." Therefore, we must deepen reforms in economic and scientific and technological systems, focus on unblocking bottlenecks and obstacles restricting the development of new quality productive forces, establish a high-standard market system, innovate ways of allocating production factors, and allow various advanced and high-quality production factors to flow smoothly toward developing new quality productive forces. At the same time, we must expand high-level opening-up to create a favorable international environment for developing new quality productive forces.

Fifth, deepen the innovation of talent work mechanisms. According to the requirements for developing new quality productive forces, smooth the virtuous cycle of education, science and technology, and talent, and improve the working mechanisms for talent cultivation, introduction, utilization, and reasonable flow. Based on new trends in scientific and technological development, optimize the discipline settings and talent cultivation models in higher education institutions to cultivate urgently needed talents for developing new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality development. Focus on cultivating strategic scientists, top-tier leading talents in science and technology, and innovative teams; focus on cultivating outstanding engineers and master craftsmen of the nation; strengthen skills training for workers; and continuously improve the quality of various talents. Improve the mechanism for factor participation in income distribution to stimulate the vitality of production factors such as labor, knowledge, technology, management, capital, and data, better reflect the market value of knowledge, technology, and talent, and create a good atmosphere that encourages innovation and tolerates failure.

This is a speech by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the 11th collective study session of the 20th Central Political Bureau on January 31, 2024.