Recently, at the 10th meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, which discussed the issue of how to steadily promote common prosperity, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech, pointing out that realizing common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and it is also an important feature of China's modernization. He underlined the need to uphold the people-centered philosophy and promote common prosperity while pursuing high-quality development. This speech shows the direction and provides guidelines for the country to make steady headway in promoting common prosperity for all people. To understand the issue of solidly promoting common prosperity in general, the following dialectical relationships should be handled in a better way.

I. The Dialectical Relationship between Common and Prosperity

From the perspective of historical materialism, common prosperity embodies the dialectical unity of productive forces and relations of production, as well as the dialectical unity of economic base and superstructure. Prosperity is usually based on the development of certain productive forces while common is based on the corresponding conditions of productive relations. Common prosperity results from the organic unification of productive forces and relations of production. There is a boundary of productivity for prosperity. The boundary is meant to be the emergence of surplus labor. In a society where there is no surplus labor, people can only engage in material production activities for survival, and naturally, there is no prosperity. Of course, there may also be something common, which can only be common poverty instead of common prosperity. Only when the productive forces have developed to the point where there is a surplus of human labor can the phenomenon of prosperity begin to appear in society.

To achieve common prosperity, there must be a corresponding social system based on the development of productive forces., Since the founding of new China, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people to establish the socialist political system and economic system. On the basis of the actual conditions of the country, it has gradually explored and formed the basic economic relationships under which public ownership is the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership develop side by side, as well as an income distribution system under which distribution according to work is the mainstay while multiple forms of distribution exist alongside it. These continuous efforts have greatly liberated and developed the social productive forces, thus laying a foundation of the economic system for common prosperity. The Party has established and developed the socialist market economy, mobilized the enthusiasm of the owners of various factors, stimulated the vitality of various market players, and provided the foundation of the economic system for common prosperity. The Party has successfully completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects on the land of China, and historically solved the problem of extreme poverty, therefore providing a more solid material basis for common prosperity. The country has been upholding the Party's overall leadership over the economic work and giving full scope to its core role in exercising the overall leadership and coordinating all parties concerned, offering a strong political guarantee for common prosperity. It is thus an inevitable requirement of the law governing the social-economic development in China to make more obvious and substantial progress in promoting common prosperity in the new era.

II. The Dialectical Relationship between Goal and Process

From the perspective of the development process of human history, only when the productive forces have developed to a certain level, private ownership has been rooted out and public ownership has been put in place can we have the objective conditions to realize common prosperity. In this sense, common prosperity is the goal of the development of human society. Common prosperity has actually the ideal of Chinese people since ancient times. However, it was only after the founding of new China that the foundation of a social system was laid to promote the realization of common prosperity. Common prosperity is not only a goal, but also a process, featuring a dialectical unity of goal and process. The reason why it is difficult to define common prosperity is that it is actually meant to be a concept of movement and process. So, people often describe common prosperity in a negative way. For example, common prosperity doesn't mean simultaneous prosperity or egalitarianism

Since the founding of new China, in different historical periods of the country's social-economic development, the focus of common prosperity as a goal and process is not exactly the same, which is determined by the main and secondary aspects of social contradictions. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, Comrade Mao Zedong emphasized that we should take the road of common prosperity. The main aspect of social contradictions in this period is to ensure the equal political and economic status of the people as masters of the country. Therefore, it was necessary to underline the common basis of common prosperity. To this end, the primary task was to set up the socialist political and economic relations and form an institutional guarantee for common prosperity. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, Comrade Deng Xiaoping stressed that we should make common prosperity become the goal of development. The main aspect of contradictions in this period is to create prosperity. This is because with the establishment of the basic system of socialism, the first thing to do on the way to common prosperity is to attest that poverty is not socialism. Socialism must liberate and develop the productive forces in a faster and better way. Achieving common prosperity is a process in which those who get rich first should lead and help those who are not yet rich. After that, the CPC led by Comrade Jiang Zemin and Comrade Hu Jintao continued to explore and gradually form the basic economic relationships under which public ownership is the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership develop side by side, as well as an income distribution system under which distribution according to work is the mainstay while multiple forms of distribution exist alongside it, thus laying the foundation of economic system suitable for the primary stage of socialism to promote common prosperity.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has placed greater emphasis on the issue of common prosperity, making a series of important statements and putting forward a series of important instructions and requirements on realizing common prosperity. At the first collective study session of the 18th Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee, he pointed out that common prosperity is the fundamental principle of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and efforts must be made to let more development fruits benefit all the people in a fairer way so as to steadily advance towards common prosperity. On the basis of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects and eradicating extreme poverty, the Party put forth the goal of achieving more obvious and substantial progress in promoting common prosperity for all people. President Xi stressed, Common prosperity itself is an important goal of socialist modernization. We should always take meeting people's new expectations for a better life as the starting point and ultimate objective of development and gradually solve this problem when pursuing modernization. Obviously, common prosperity is not only a goal, but also a process. In this way, promoting common prosperity for all people is not only a long-term task, but also a realistic one. We cannot look at common prosperity only as a goal, otherwise we'll just sit there, waiting for something to happen. Nor can we rush for quick results because we need substantial progress in promoting common prosperity. We must be down-to-earth and make full use of the dialectical unity of goal and process to do things in a more active manner.

III. The Dialectical Relationship between Production and Distribution

Common prosperity contains the dialectical relationship between production and distribution. Production determines distribution, and distribution reacts on production. This is the basic viewpoint of Marxist political economy on the dialectical relationship between production and distribution, showing that any kind of production relation will have a matching distribution relation. As the nature of production relations is determined by the nature of ownership of the means of production, the nature of ownership will directly determine the nature of the relations of distribution. The socialist ownership structure with Chinese characteristics is: public ownership is the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership grow side by side. The corresponding distribution relations is that distribution according to work is the mainstay and multiple distribution relationships coexist. However, in reality, the distribution relationship is more complicated than the production relationship because distribution concerns the personal interests of everyone. Furthermore, distribution also involves a wide range of issues, including those related to both production and non-production sectors, macro and micro sectors, economic and social fields. If the distribution relationship is not well handled in any of these fields, the smooth operation of the economy and society will be affected as a result. Therefore, to well understand the distribution relationship, we should pay attention to distinguish its hierarchical nature.

First of all, the basic economic relations determine the basic distribution system. In the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, the distribution system, under which distribution according to work is the mainstay and multiple distribution relationships coexist., is something very basic which is determined by the relations of production under which public ownership is the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership develop together. Of these, the public ownership as the mainstay determines the distribution according to labor as the mainstay, which is fundamental in the basic distribution system and should be clarified. Secondly, the participation of market, government and social forces will lead to specific realization forms of various distribution relations. Cases in point include: in the socialist market economy, distribution according to labor will be realized by virtue of commodity money; the government will establish various forms of redistribution in order to meet the public needs; and enterprises and individuals will achieve various forms of income redistribution through donations, philanthropy and other acts. Currently, problems related to income distribution gap are still very prominent in China. These problems are different in nature. Specific countermeasures also vary from one to another. So, in promoting common prosperity, we should properly handle the dialectical relationship between production and distribution. On one hand, the relations of production cannot be simply replaced with distribution relations; on the other hand, don't try to be simplistic when dealing with the fact that production relations determine distribution relations.    

IV. The Dialectical Relationship between Shared Development and Common Prosperity

According to the basic viewpoint of historical materialism, the future society is highly developed in productivity and greatly enriched in social wealth, and it is a society for all to share. A society featuring common prosperity is actually a society shared by all. Shared development and common prosperity are essentially unified at this point, just as President Xi Jinping pointed out, the essence of the concept of sharing is to uphold the people-centered philosophy of development, embodying the requirement of gradually realizing common prosperity. According to Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era, shared development is the ultimate goal of the new vision for development. It mainly contains four aspects, namely, universal sharing, comprehensive sharing, sharing through contribution, and progressive sharing. The four aspects combine to give expression to the basic guidelines and practical characteristics of shared development in the country while revealing the dialectical relationship between shared development and common prosperity, which is both unified and differentiated.

Universal sharing shows the scope of sharing, stressing that development is shared by all, not by a few or a part of them; comprehensive sharing focuses on the content of sharing, covering a full range of fields, such as economy, politics, culture, society, ecology, etc.  Obviously, universal sharing and comprehensive sharing are unified at the point that development in all aspects should be shared by all, which is consistent with common highly valued by common prosperity.   

Sharing through contribution shows that it is a continuous process from shared development to common prosperity, which reflects that promoting common prosperity is the organic unity of production and distribution. Only when the cake grows bigger can we have a cake to share, and in turn only when the cake is divided well can we better stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of all parties to make an even bigger cake. Mutual promotion of shared development and common prosperity creates a realistic path to common prosperity. Progressive sharing further shows that shared development is meant to be a progressive process from low to high, and from uneven to balanced, which embodies the difference between shared development and common prosperity. Better understanding the difference between shared development and common prosperity can help us keep a somber mind and gain a clear and deep understanding of the reality, the long-term, arduous and complex nature of common prosperity, and the necessity of letting those getting rich first to lead and assist those who are not yet rich. We should give due consideration to the relationship between needs and possibilities, proceed step by step in accordance with the laws governing the social-economic development, and do our best to actively solve the problems related to regional disparities, urban-rural gap, income gap, etc. Meanwhile, we should also act according to our ability and avoid eating our corn in the blade and falling into the welfare trap so that we can move toward common prosperity by continuously enhancing people's sense of fulfilment, happiness and security.

V. The Dialectical Relationship between Effective Market and Proactive Government

Market economy is the basic way to allocate resources in modern society. Of course, market economy is never something abstract and isolated. It is always combined with certain social system. When it is combined with the capitalist system, the capitalist market economy forms. When it is combined with the socialist system, the socialist market economy emerges. Practice has proved that the capital-centered capitalist market economy has always been accompanied by polarization and economic crisis, which makes it impossible to achieve the goal of common prosperity. Following the people-centered philosophy, the socialist market economy has continuously push forward the high-quality economic development and endeavored to meet the ever-growing needs of people for a better and high-quality life so as to boost the well-rounded human development. Given this, it's necessary for us to deeply understand the dialectical relationship between effective market and proactive government so that we can make good use of the market economy to develop productive forces while harnessing the market economy to facilitate the realization of common prosperity.   

To make good use of the market economy, we should adhere to the law of value, build a high-standard market system, develop fair and open market rules and propel the market-oriented reforms of land, labor, capital, technology, data and other factors. Great efforts should be made to give full play to the regulatory role of the market, fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all parties in society, let those entrepreneurial leaders who work hard, operate legally and dare to start their own business stand out, and give play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation.

Market has limitations in the allocation of resources, especially in dealing with the relationship between efficiency and equity. Market itself cannot effectively coordinate them. Market plays a decisive role, which doesn't mean that the market is omnipotent. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said, we cannot blindly and absolutely play the decisive role of the market. On one hand, we should try to make the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources; on the other hand, we should also work hard to give scope to the role of government. 

Only by harnessing the socialist market economy can we ensure that the market economy in the country can satisfy the needs of Chinese people and embark on the journey to common prosperity. For this reason, first, we should uphold and improve the basic economic system under which public ownership is the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership grow together, as well as the income distribution system under which distribution according to work is the mainstay while multiple forms of distribution exist alongside it. The two no irresolutions principle must be upheld. (There must be no irresolution about working to consolidate and develop the public sector; and there must be no irresolution about working to encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector.) Among them, the continuous consolidation and development of the public sector of the economy is the cornerstone. President Xi Jinping stated, The principal position of public ownership cannot be changed, and the leading role of the State-owned economy cannot be changed. This is the institutional guarantee for people of various ethnic groups in the country to enjoy the fruits of development. Meanwhile, it is also an important guarantee to cement the ruling position of the Party and adhere to the socialist system in the country. Second, in strategic development, we must be based on the new stage of development, try hard to carry out the new development concept completely, accurately and comprehensively, build a new development pattern and let the people move towards common prosperity in their material and spiritual lives. Third, in government governance, we should work to improve the income distribution policies, follow the normal wage increase mechanism, expand the size of the middle-income groups, increase the income of low-income groups, reasonably regulate excessive incomes, and prohibit illegal incomes so that all people can steadily stride towards the goal of common prosperity. Actions should be taken to make full use of the redistribution means, facilitate the equalization of basic public services, improve the systems for elder care and healthcare, basic assistance, as well as housing supply and support; the forms of redistribution, such as donations and philanthropy, should be encouraged so that redistribution can better perform its sharing function. Furthermore, efforts should be made to vigorously develop the rural collective economy, comprehensively promote rural revitalization, consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, intensify the construction of rural infrastructure and public service systems, gradually bridge the urban-rural gap, and expedite common prosperity among farmers and in rural areas.

Source: Tianjin Daily