Grasping the new stage of development, implementing the new development concept, and building a new development pattern ※

Xi Jinping

　　Since the conclusion of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, various regions and departments have done a lot of work in learning, understanding, publicizing and interpreting, and implementing the spirit of the plenary session, achieving positive results. The purpose of the special seminar held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is to conduct in-depth discussions and exchanges of experiences, accurately grasp the new stage of development, thoroughly implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, promote high-quality development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and ensure a good start and a good start in building a socialist modern country comprehensively.

　　Regarding the study and implementation of the spirit of the plenary session, I have spoken on several occasions, including the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, the Central Economic Work Conference, and the Central Rural Work Conference. Today, I will focus on four issues.

　　 The first issue: Accurately grasping the new stage of development

　　Correctly understanding the historical position and stage of development of the Party and the people's cause is the fundamental basis for our Party to clarify its phased central tasks and formulate its lines, principles, and policies, and it is also an important experience for our Party to lead the revolution, construction, and reform to continuous victory.

　　During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, our Party, through arduous exploration, gradually realized that the Chinese revolution must go through this historical stage of the New Democratic Revolution. On this basis, it put forward the tasks and strategic strategies of the Chinese revolution and led the people to victory in the Chinese revolution. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, our Party deeply understood that the transition from a new democratic society to a socialist society requires a transitional stage. This formed the Party's general line during the transition period, successfully completed the task of socialist revolution, and entered the stage of socialist construction. After the reform and opening up, our Party profoundly summarized the positive and negative experiences of world socialism, especially the socialist construction in our country, and made the major judgment that our country is in and will remain in the primary stage of socialism for a long time. Based on this, it put forward the Party's basic line and opened up a new situation for reform and opening up and socialist modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, building on the foundation of the long-term struggle of our predecessors, we have comprehensively promoted the overall layout of "five in one" and coordinated the advancement of the strategic layout of "four comprehensives," achieving historic achievements and undergoing historic changes in the cause of the Party and the state, and pushing Chinese-style socialism into a new era.

　　The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed that after comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society and achieving the first centenary goal, we should seize the opportunity to embark on a new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modern country and march towards the second centenary goal. This marks China's entry into a new stage of development. This strategic judgment is based on profound reasons.

　　In terms of theoretical basis, Marxism is a unifier that combines grand ideals with realistic goals, and the inevitability of history with the stage-by-stage development. It firmly believes that human society will inevitably move towards communism, but achieving this lofty goal will inevitably go through several historical stages. In the practice of applying the basic principles of Marxism to solve China's practical problems, our Party has gradually realized that the development of socialism is not only a long historical process, but also a process that needs to be divided into different historical stages. At the end of 1959 and the beginning of 1960, when Comrade Mao Zedong was reading the Soviet textbook on political economy, he proposed: "This stage of socialism may also be divided into two stages, the first stage is underdeveloped socialism, and the second stage is relatively developed socialism. The latter stage may require a longer time than the former." In 1987, Comrade Deng Xiaoping said: "Socialism itself is the primary stage of communism, and our China is also in the primary stage of socialism, which is the underdeveloped stage. Everything must start from this reality and formulate plans according to this reality." The new stage of development we are in today is a stage in the primary stage of socialism, and at the same time, it is a stage that has accumulated for decades and has reached a new starting point.

　　From a historical perspective, the new stage of development is a new stage in which our Party has led the people to achieve a historic leap from standing up, getting rich, to becoming strong. After the founding of our Party, it united and led the people through 28 years of bloody battles and tenacious struggle to establish the People's Republic of China, achieving a historic leap from the New Democratic Revolution to the Socialist Revolution. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, our Party united and led the people to creatively complete socialist transformation, establish the basic socialist system, and carry out large-scale socialist economic and cultural construction. The Chinese people not only stood up, but also stood firm and stood strong, achieving a historic leap from socialist revolution to socialist construction. Entering a new historical period, our Party led the people to carry out a new great revolution of reform and opening up, greatly stimulating the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the broad masses of the people, successfully opening up the path of Chinese-style socialism, enabling China to catch up with the times in great strides, achieving a new historic leap in the process of socialist modernization, and ushering in the bright prospects of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Today, we are continuing to write a new history of comprehensively building a socialist modern country on the basis of previous development.

　　In terms of realistic basis, we already possess a strong material foundation for embarking on a new journey and achieving new and higher goals. Through unremitting efforts since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially the more than 40 years of reform and opening up, by the time the 13th Five-Year Plan concluded, China's economic strength, scientific and technological strength, comprehensive national strength, and people's living standards have reached a new level, becoming the world's second-largest economy, the largest industrial country, the largest goods trading country, and the largest foreign exchange reserve country. The gross domestic product has exceeded 100 trillion yuan, the per capita GDP has exceeded US$10,000, the urbanization rate has exceeded 60%, and the middle-income group has exceeded 400 million people. In particular, the great historical achievements of comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society and the historic achievements in solving the problem of absolute poverty that has plagued the Chinese nation for thousands of years have been achieved. This has milestone significance in the process of China's socialist modernization construction and has laid a solid foundation for China's entry into a new stage of development and its march towards the second centenary goal.

　　Shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, our Party put forward the goal of building a socialist modern country. After 13 five-year plans, we have laid a solid foundation for achieving this goal. The next 30 years will be a new stage of development for us to fulfill this historical aspiration. We have already clarified the roadmap and timetable for future development. That is, by 2035, using three five-year plan periods, we will basically achieve socialist modernization. Then, using another three five-year plan periods, by the middle of this century, we will build our country into a strong socialist modern country that is prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and beautiful.

　　The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. In recent times, the most prominent feature of the world has been "chaos," and this trend seems likely to continue. The recent global pandemic of COVID-19 has clearly shown the leadership and institutional advantages of various countries. Time and momentum are on our side. This is the source of our composure and confidence, as well as our determination and confidence.

　　At the same time, we must clearly see that in the current and future period, although China's development is still in an important strategic opportunity period, both opportunities and challenges have undergone new developments and changes, and the scale of opportunities and challenges is unprecedented. Overall, opportunities outweigh challenges. As the ancients said, "Be cautious about easy things to avoid difficulties, and respect details to achieve great things." The entire Party must continue to be humble and prudent, work hard, mobilize all positive factors that can be mobilized, unite all forces that can be united, do our own thing well with all our might, and relentlessly achieve our predetermined goals.

　　Our task is to comprehensively build a socialist modern country. Of course, the modernization we build must have Chinese characteristics and be in line with China's actual conditions. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I particularly emphasized five points: China's modernization is a modernization with a huge population, a modernization of common prosperity for all people, a modernization that coordinates material civilization and spiritual civilization, a modernization that is harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and a modernization that follows the path of peaceful development. This is the direction that China's modernization construction must adhere to, and it must be reflected in China's development policies, strategies and tactics, policies and measures, and work deployments, to promote the joint efforts of the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups across the country.

　　The new development stage is a crucial phase in the socialist development process of our country. In 1992, Comrade Deng Xiaoping said: “We have only been practicing socialism for a few decades, and we are still in the primary stage. Consolidating and developing the socialist system requires a very long historical period, and requires unremitting efforts from several generations, a dozen generations, or even dozens of generations of us. We must not be careless.” I understand that when Comrade Deng Xiaoping said this, he was mainly speaking from a political perspective, emphasizing that under the conditions of China's weak economic foundation at that time, it would take a long time of arduous struggle to achieve modernization, and at the same time emphasizing that even after achieving modernization, the socialist system of our country must be upheld from generation to generation, and the issue of consolidating and developing the socialist system must be consistently addressed, and it cannot be achieved once and for all. Comrade Mao Zedong once said: “Everything has a ‘boundary’. The development of things is a continuous process of one stage following another, and each stage also has a ‘boundary’. Not acknowledging the ‘boundary’ is to deny qualitative change or partial qualitative change.” The primary stage of socialism is not a static, unchanging, stagnant stage, nor is it a spontaneous, passive stage that can be naturally crossed without much effort, but a dynamic, proactive process that is always full of vigor and vitality, a process of step-by-step progression, continuous development and progress, and the accumulation and development changes of quantity that are increasingly approaching a qualitative leap. Building a comprehensively modernized socialist country and basically achieving socialist modernization are both requirements for China's development in the primary stage of socialism, and also requirements for China's socialist transition from the primary stage to a higher stage.

　　 The second question: Deeply implement the new development concept

　　A very important aspect of our Party's leadership of the people in governing and administering the country is to answer the major question of what kind of development to achieve and how to achieve it. On October 29, 2015, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I said: “Concepts are the guide to action, and certain development practices are guided by certain development concepts. Whether the development concept is correct fundamentally determines the effectiveness and even success or failure of development. Practice tells us that development is a constantly changing process, the development environment will not remain unchanged, the development conditions will not remain unchanged, and the development concept will naturally not remain unchanged.”

　　Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our Party has made scientific judgments on the economic situation and made timely adjustments to the development concepts and approaches, guiding China's economic development to achieve historic achievements and undergo historic changes. Here, I will briefly discuss the main aspects. First, adhering to the people-centered development philosophy. On November 15, 2012, when meeting with Chinese and foreign journalists as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th Central Committee, I emphasized that the people's yearning for a better life is our goal, and emphasized that we must unswervingly follow the path of common prosperity. On October 29, 2015, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I clearly put forward the concept of adhering to a people-centered development philosophy. On October 29, 2020, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I further emphasized the need to strive to achieve more significant and substantial progress in common prosperity for all people. Second, no longer simply judging success or failure by the GDP growth rate. On December 15, 2012, at the Central Economic Work Conference, I emphasized that we cannot blindly pursue high speed without considering objective conditions and violating laws. On April 25, 2013, at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, I emphasized that we should not treat the control targets set by the state as the bottom line for economic growth in various regions, nor should we engage in mutual comparison or even cascading increases. We should focus on improving quality and efficiency to promote sustained and healthy economic development, pursue real and uninflated GDP, and pursue effective, high-quality, and sustainable economic development. Third, China's economy is in a period of “triple overlapping”. On July 25, 2013, at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, I emphasized that China's economy is in a period of overlapping growth rate shift, structural adjustment pains, and digestion of previous stimulus policies, coupled with the deep adjustment of the world economy, the development environment is very complex. We must accurately understand the characteristics of China's economic development stage and make pragmatic reforms and adjustments. Fourth, economic development has entered a new normal. On December 10, 2013, at the Central Economic Work Conference, I proposed the “new normal”. On December 9, 2014, also at the Central Economic Work Conference, I analyzed the reasons why China's economic development has entered a new normal from nine aspects of trend changes, emphasizing that understanding the new normal, adapting to the new normal, and leading the new normal are the major logic of China's economic development in the current and future period. Fifth, allowing the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation and better playing the role of the government. In November 2013, at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I emphasized that market allocation of resources is the most efficient form, and that market determination of resource allocation is a general law of market economy. I emphasized the need to allow the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation, giving a new positioning to the role of the market. Sixth, lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. On September 7, 2013, when delivering a speech at Nazarbayev University, I clearly put forward this view, emphasizing that building ecological civilization and a beautiful China is one of our strategic tasks, and we must leave a beautiful homeland with blue skies, green land, and clear waters for future generations. On March 7, 2014, while participating in the deliberation of the Guizhou delegation at the Second Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress, I further emphasized this view. Seventh, adhering to the new development concept. In October 2015, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I proposed the development concept of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing, emphasizing that innovative development focuses on solving the problem of development momentum, coordinated development focuses on solving the problem of unbalanced development, green development focuses on solving the problem of harmony between man and nature, open development focuses on solving the problem of internal and external linkage of development, and shared development focuses on solving the problem of social fairness and justice. It emphasizes that adhering to the new development concept is a profound reform related to the overall situation of China's development. Eighth, promoting supply-side structural reform. On November 10, 2015, at a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Finance and Economics, I proposed that we should focus on strengthening supply-side structural reform. On December 18, 2015, at the Central Economic Work Conference, I emphasized that the key to supply-side structural reform is to focus on “reducing overcapacity, reducing inventory, deleveraging, reducing costs, and filling gaps”. On December 19, 2018, at the Central Economic Work Conference, I put forward the eight-character principle of “consolidation, strengthening, improvement, and smoothing”, emphasizing that this eight-character principle is the overall requirement for deepening supply-side structural reform and promoting high-quality economic development in the current and future period. Ninth, unbalanced and inadequate development. In October 2017, at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, I emphasized that the principal contradiction in Chinese society has transformed into the contradiction between the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development, emphasizing that this is a historic change related to the overall situation. Tenth, promoting high-quality development. In October 2017, at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, I emphasized that based on the fact that the principal contradiction in Chinese society has transformed into the contradiction between the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development, and the requirements of the new development concept, China's economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development. Eleventh, building a modernized economic system. In October 2017, at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, I emphasized that building a modernized economic system is an urgent requirement for overcoming difficulties and a strategic goal for China's development. Twelfth, building a new development pattern with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international dual circulation promoting each other. On April 10, 2020, at a meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, I emphasized the need to build a new development pattern with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international dual circulation promoting each other. Thirteenth, coordinating development and security. On May 29, 2015, during a collective study of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, I emphasized the need to firmly establish the concept of safe development. On January 18, 2016, at a special seminar for provincial and ministerial-level leading cadres, I analyzed the risks and challenges we face in pursuing open development from four aspects. On January 5, 2018, at a seminar for newly appointed members and alternate members of the Central Committee and provincial and ministerial-level leading cadres, I listed 16 risks that need to be highly valued from eight aspects. On January 21, 2019, we specifically held a special seminar for provincial and ministerial-level leading cadres on adhering to the bottom-line thinking and focusing on preventing and resolving major risks. At the opening ceremony, I analyzed the need to prevent and resolve major risks in eight areas: political, ideological, economic, Sino-US trade disputes, technological, social, foreign affairs, and the Party itself, and put forward clear requirements, emphasizing that we must always maintain a high degree of vigilance, and we must be highly vigilant against “black swan” events and also prevent “gray rhino” events.

　　I review this process to emphasize that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we have put forward many major theories and concepts for economic and social development, among which the new development philosophy is the most important and primary. The new development philosophy is a systematic theoretical framework that answers a series of theoretical and practical questions concerning the purpose, driving force, methods, and paths of development, and clarifies our Party's political stance, value orientation, development model, and development path on development. The entire Party must fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy. Attention should be paid to the following points.

　　 First, grasp the new development philosophy from its fundamental purpose. As the ancients said: 'Of all things great in heaven and on earth, the people are the foundation.' The people are the deepest foundation and greatest confidence for our Party's governance. Striving for the happiness of the people and the rejuvenation of the nation is both the starting point and the ultimate goal of our Party's leadership in modernization, as well as the 'root' and 'soul' of the new development philosophy. Only by adhering to a people-centered development philosophy, insisting on development for the people, by the people, and with development achievements shared by the people, can we have a correct view of development and modernization. The Soviet Union was the world's first socialist country and achieved brilliant successes, but it later failed and disintegrated. An important reason for this was that the Soviet Communist Party became alienated from the people, turning into a privileged bureaucratic group that only served its own interests. Even modernized countries, if their ruling party deviates from the people, will damage the fruits of modernization.

　　Achieving common prosperity is not only an economic issue but also a major political issue related to the Party's governing foundation. We must never allow the gap between rich and poor to widen, with the poor becoming poorer and the rich richer, and we must never allow an insurmountable chasm to appear between the wealthy and the impoverished. Of course, to achieve common prosperity, we must comprehensively consider needs and possibilities and proceed step-by-step in accordance with the laws of economic and social development. At the same time, this work cannot wait; we must consciously and proactively address issues such as regional disparities, urban-rural disparities, and income disparities, promote comprehensive social progress and the all-round development of individuals, foster social equity and justice, ensure that development achievements benefit all people more widely and fairly, continuously enhance the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security, and let the people genuinely feel that common prosperity is not just a slogan but a tangible, observable, and truly perceivable reality.

　　 Second, grasp the new development philosophy from a problem-oriented perspective. China's development has reached a new historical starting point. In response to the new requirements of the new development stage, we must adhere to a problem-oriented approach, implement the new development philosophy more precisely, effectively resolve issues of unbalanced and insufficient development, and promote high-quality development. For example, technological self-reliance and self-improvement have become a fundamental capability determining China's survival and development, with numerous 'bottleneck' issues. For instance, there are significant disparities in urban-rural and regional development in China, and how to address this issue involves many new questions that require in-depth study, especially urgent research and clear thinking on regional fragmentation and reorganization, accelerated cross-regional population migration, and declining willingness of farmers to settle in cities. For another example, there is a high consensus on accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, yet China's energy system relies heavily on fossil fuels like coal, and the pressure on production and living systems to transition towards green and low-carbon is immense, making the goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 extremely arduous. For example, as economic globalization faces headwinds, the external environment is becoming increasingly complex and volatile. Everyone recognizes the need to properly handle the relationship between self-reliance and open cooperation, the relationship between active participation in international division of labor and safeguarding national security, and the relationship between utilizing foreign capital and security review, expanding opening-up while ensuring security. In short, upon entering the new development stage, the understanding of the new development philosophy must be continuously deepened, measures must be more precise and practical, to truly achieve high-quality development.

　　 Third, grasp the new development philosophy from a perspective of awareness of potential dangers. 'Trouble is avoided by early consideration; poverty is avoided by early preparation.' As the principal contradiction in Chinese society changes and the international balance of power profoundly adjusts, the internal and external risks facing China's development have risen unprecedentedly. We must enhance our awareness of potential dangers, adhere to bottom-line thinking, and be ready to cope with more complex and difficult situations at all times. The '14th Five-Year Plan' recommendations place security issues in a highly prominent position, emphasizing that secure development must run through all areas and processes of national development. If the foundation of security is not firm, the edifice of development will shake. We must adhere to the organic unity of political security, people's security, and national interests being paramount; we must dare to struggle and also be good at struggling, comprehensively strengthen ourselves, especially enhancing our deterrent capabilities. In the macro-economy, we must prevent major fluctuations; in the capital market, we must prevent large inflows and outflows of foreign capital; in food, energy, and important resources, we must ensure supply security; we must ensure stable and secure industrial and supply chains; we must prevent disorderly expansion and savage growth of capital; and we must ensure ecological environment security and resolutely focus on safe production. In the social sphere, we must prevent the risk of large-scale unemployment, strengthen public health security, and effectively resolve various mass incidents. We must strengthen institutional building to safeguard national security, learn from the experiences of other countries, and study how to set necessary 'glass doors' and add different locks at different stages to effectively handle various issues involving national security.

　　 Third question: Accelerating the establishment of a new development paradigm

　　Accelerating the establishment of a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other is a major strategic task proposed in the '14th Five-Year Plan' recommendations, which needs to be accurately grasped and actively advanced from a holistic perspective.

　　In recent years, economic globalization has encountered headwinds, and the pattern of international economic circulation has undergone profound adjustments. The COVID-19 pandemic has also intensified the anti-globalization trend, leading to increased introspection in various countries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I conducted investigations and research in several provinces to gain an in-depth understanding of the epidemic prevention and control situation and to study the problems encountered in resuming work and production. When I inspected Zhejiang, I found that under the impact of the pandemic, global industrial and supply chains experienced partial disruptions, directly affecting China's domestic economic circulation. Many local enterprises found that the foreign raw materials they needed could not enter, overseas personnel could not come, and goods could not be shipped out, forcing them to suspend work and production. I felt that the current situation is very different; the environmental conditions for large-scale imports and exports have changed, and new ideas guiding development must be put forward based on the new situation. Therefore, in April last year, I proposed establishing a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made comprehensive arrangements for building this new development paradigm. This is a strategic layout and a proactive move to seize the initiative in future development, a major historical task to be vigorously promoted in the new development stage, and a significant measure to implement the new development philosophy.

　　As a socialist country with a large population and a super-large market, China will inevitably face various pressures and severe challenges that no other country has ever encountered in its historical process towards modernization. A passage by Comrade Mao Zedong in 1936 still holds enlightening significance for us today. He said: 'No matter how complex, serious, or bitter the environment, military commanders first need to independently organize and use their own forces. It is common to be forced into a passive position by the enemy, but what is important is to quickly regain the initiative. If this position cannot be regained, the consequence is defeat. The initiative is not an illusion, but concrete and material.' Only by rooting ourselves domestically, smoothing out the domestic circulation, and striving to forge an invulnerable and indestructible body can we, regardless of international vicissitudes, always thrive and develop vigorously, with no one able to defeat or choke us! Accelerating the establishment of a new development paradigm is about enhancing our vitality, competitiveness, development capability, and sustainability amidst all foreseeable and unforeseeable storms and turbulent waves, ensuring that the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is not delayed or even interrupted.

　　In practice, we must be wary of some misconceptions: First, focusing only on the first half of the statement, unilaterally emphasizing "domestic circulation as the mainstay," and advocating for a significant contraction in opening up; second, focusing only on the second half of the statement, unilaterally emphasizing "dual circulation, both domestic and international," disregarding the international landscape and changes in the situation, and clinging to the old approach of "relying on external markets for both inputs and outputs"; third, working independently and in isolation, not caring about building a unified national market and ensuring smooth national circulation, only considering building small local and regional markets and engaging in their own small circulation; fourth, believing that ensuring smooth economic circulation is simply about ensuring smooth logistics, engaging in low-level logistics circulation; fifth, when addressing "bottleneck" technological challenges, trying to do everything themselves, engaging in duplicate construction, focusing only on "high-end" projects, disregarding objective realities and industrial foundations, resulting in unfinished projects; sixth, advocating for expanding domestic demand and forming a large domestic market, but then engaging in blind borrowing to expand investment, over-stimulating consumption, and even engaging in high-energy-consuming and high-emission projects; seventh, not attaching importance to supply-side structural reforms, only focusing on demand-side management, unable to form a higher-level dynamic equilibrium where supply creates demand; eighth, believing that this is only a matter for economic and technological departments, and that it has little to do with their own departments, and so on. These understandings are one-sided or even erroneous and must be prevented and corrected.

　　The key to building a new development paradigm lies in ensuring smooth economic circulation, just as people say it is necessary to regulate the Ren and Du meridians, which govern the body's Yin and Yang Qi and blood. Economic activity requires the combination of various factors of production to be organically linked in the various stages of production, distribution, circulation, and consumption, thereby achieving cyclical flow. Under normal circumstances, if economic circulation is smooth, material products will increase, social wealth will accumulate, people's well-being will improve, and national strength will increase, thus forming a spiral upward development process. If bottlenecks or breaks occur in the economic circulation process, the circulation will be hindered, and this will manifest macroscopically as a decline in growth rate, increased unemployment, risk accumulation, and international payments imbalances, and microscopically as overcapacity, declining corporate profits, and declining household income. At the current stage of China's development, the most important task in ensuring smooth economic circulation is to ensure effective supply-side circulation. Strong effective supply capacity can penetrate circulation bottlenecks, eliminate constraints, create jobs, and provide income, thereby generating demand capacity. Therefore, we must adhere to deepening supply-side structural reforms as the main line, continue to complete the important tasks of "reducing excess capacity, deleveraging, reducing costs, enhancing weak links, and filling gaps," comprehensively optimize and upgrade the industrial structure, enhance innovation capabilities, competitiveness, and comprehensive strength, enhance the resilience of the supply system, form a more efficient and higher-quality input-output relationship, and achieve a high-level dynamic equilibrium in the economy.

　　I have said that the most essential characteristic of building a new development paradigm is achieving high-level self-reliance and self-improvement. Currently, China's economic development environment has changed, especially the relative advantages of production factors have changed. Labor costs are gradually rising, resource and environmental carrying capacity has reached a bottleneck, the old production function combination methods are no longer sustainable, and the importance of science and technology has risen comprehensively. Under these circumstances, we must place greater emphasis on independent innovation. Therefore, in the "14th Five-Year Plan" Suggestions, the first major measure is technological innovation, and the second is breaking through industrial bottlenecks. We must understand this issue from the perspective of whether we can survive and develop, comprehensively strengthen the deployment of technological innovation, bring together superior resources, effectively and orderly promote the "listing and commendation" system and mechanism for innovation breakthroughs, strengthen the docking of innovation chains and industrial chains, clarify roadmaps, timelines, and responsibilities, and for those suitable for ministries and local governments to lead, they should lead well, and for those suitable for enterprises to lead, the government should provide full support. Central enterprises and other state-owned enterprises should bravely shoulder the heavy responsibilities, dare to take the lead, and bravely act as the "source" of original technologies and the "chain leader" of modern industrial chains.

　　In today's world, the most scarce resource is the market. Market resources are a huge advantage for China, and this advantage must be fully utilized and leveraged, continuously consolidated and strengthened, to form a strong support for building a new development paradigm. Expanding domestic demand is not a temporary measure to cope with financial risks and external shocks, nor is it about engaging in large-scale flooding, nor is it simply about increasing government investment, but rather about establishing an effective system for expanding domestic demand based on the actual situation of China's economic development, releasing domestic demand potential, accelerating the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system, strengthening demand-side management, expanding residents' consumption, and improving the level of consumption, so that the construction of an ultra-large-scale domestic market becomes a sustainable historical process.

　　To build a new development paradigm and implement high-level opening up, we must have a strong domestic economic circulation system and a stable foundation, and use this to form a strong attraction for global elements and resources, strong competitiveness in fierce international competition, and strong driving force in global resource allocation. We must continue to deepen the flow-type opening up of goods, services, capital, and talent, and steadily expand the institutional opening up of rules, regulations, management, and standards. We must strengthen the leading role of domestic large-scale circulation in dual circulation and shape China's new advantages in participating in international cooperation and competition. We must attach importance to using international circulation to improve the efficiency and level of domestic large-scale circulation and improve the quality and allocation level of China's production factors. We must enhance the competitiveness of China's export products and services through participation in international market competition, promote the transformation and upgrading of China's industries, and enhance China's influence in global industrial chains, supply chains, and innovation chains. The interests of Chinese enterprises have extended to all corners of the globe, and everyone should pay attention to understanding international affairs, conduct in-depth research on the situation of countries with which we have interests, trading partners, and investment destinations, so that they are well-informed and can avoid risks and seek benefits.

　　In short, entering a new development stage, implementing a new development philosophy, and building a new development paradigm are determined by the theoretical logic, historical logic, and practical logic of China's economic and social development, and the three are closely related. Entering a new development stage clarifies the historical position of China's development, implementing a new development philosophy clarifies the guiding principles of China's modernization construction, and building a new development paradigm clarifies China's path choice for economic modernization. Grasping the new development stage is the practical basis for implementing the new development philosophy and building a new development paradigm, implementing the new development philosophy provides an action guide for grasping the new development stage and building a new development paradigm, and building a new development paradigm is a strategic choice to respond to the opportunities and challenges of the new development stage and implement the new development philosophy.

　　 The fourth question: Strengthening the Party's overall leadership over socialist modernization construction

　　The most essential characteristic of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and its most distinctive feature is the close combination of theoretical and practical innovation, institutional confidence, and cultural confidence, possessing strong political, theoretical, institutional, and cultural advantages in promoting development. The implementation of the spirit of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC should be closely combined with the implementation of the spirit of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, continuously promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, unifying the political advantages of upholding the Party's overall leadership, the institutional advantages of upholding the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the theoretical advantages of upholding the new development philosophy, and promoting the Party's leadership over socialist modernization construction to be more scientific and reasonable in functional allocation, more complete and perfect in systems and mechanisms, and more efficient in operation and management.

　　Whether the spirit of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC can be implemented well is related to the overall development of the Party and the country's cause in the next 5 years, 15 years, and even longer periods. The "14th Five-Year Plan" Suggestions adopted by the plenary session are very rich in content, including macro-level thinking, guiding principles, and strategic thinking, as well as specific requirements, including the strategic deployment that has been consistently implemented since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, as well as new major judgments and new strategic measures. Without putting in a lot of effort, it is impossible to learn it. If you don't learn it, implementing the spirit of the plenary session will not grasp the key points, hit the mark, or be put into practice. Leading cadres at all levels, especially senior cadres, should study the original text word for word, understand it paragraph by paragraph, and on the premise of overall understanding, highlight the understanding of key points and innovations, carry forward the fine academic style of linking theory with practice, focus on the present, look to the future, and enhance work enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity.

　　I have said many times that senior cadres must become Marxist politicians, and leading cadres at all levels must become politically clear-headed. Not long ago, I emphasized this point again at the Central Political Bureau's democratic life meeting. Economic work is never abstract or isolated, but concrete and interconnected. Leading cadres at all levels, especially senior cadres, must be based on the overall strategic context of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the major changes unseen in a century, constantly improving their political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, keeping in mind the "major affairs of the state," and constantly improving their political ability, strategic vision, and professional level in grasping the new development stage, implementing the new development concept, and building a new development pattern, daring to take responsibility, being good at acting, and effectively implementing the decisions and deployments of the Central Committee.

　　For our Party to lead a large Eastern country with a population of over one billion to achieve socialist modernization, we must adhere to seeking truth from facts, pursuing steady progress while ensuring overall stability, and promoting coordinated development. We must strengthen forward-looking thinking, overall planning, strategic layout, and holistic advancement to achieve unity in the quality, structure, scale, speed, efficiency, and safety of development. In comprehensively building a socialist modern society, no region or ethnic group can be left behind. At the same time, China has large regional disparities and unbalanced development, and the modernization process cannot proceed in lockstep. We should encourage regions with the conditions to achieve modernization first and support them in driving other regions to achieve modernization.

　　As the year-end approaches, local party and government leaders should pay more attention to and focus on epidemic prevention, supply security, people's livelihood, safety, and stability. They should take early, meticulous, and solid measures to resolve risks and create a stable and harmonious social environment. We must persistently carry out normalized epidemic prevention and control work, comprehensively and meticulously implement various prevention and control measures, and quickly and effectively control sporadic cases. We must comprehensively investigate various social contradictions, strengthen analysis and judgment, grasp various potential risk factors, and proactively prevent and resolve them. We must do a good job in ensuring energy and material supplies, traffic safety, and other aspects during the Spring Festival. We must improve the social security prevention and control system, severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities that endanger the lives and property of the people, and ensure social stability. Issues that are easy to trigger group incidents, such as overdue project payments and arrears of wages for migrant workers, must be resolved promptly.

　　Comrades! I often recall a passage from Comrade Deng Xiaoping in 1992: "If, from the founding of the country, we use one hundred years to build our country into a moderately developed country, that would be quite remarkable! From now until the middle of the next century will be a crucial period, and we must work hard. The burden on our shoulders is heavy, and the responsibility is great!" Now, the burden rests on all of us, the responsibility rests on all of us, and we must all bravely shoulder the heavy burden and responsibility, unite and lead the people to work hard and diligently, and strive to achieve results that will not disappoint the Party, the people, and history!

　　※This is a speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping on January 11, 2021, at a seminar for provincial and ministerial-level leading cadres on studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.