Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has put forward a series of new ideas, perspectives, and strategies aimed at strengthening the Party’s strategic planning and unified leadership over economic work, while thoroughly summarizing and applying the successful experiences of China’s economic development. These efforts have culminated in the formation of Xi Jinping Thought on Economy, the essence of which is a strong practical orientation—an emphasis on guiding practice. This is fully reflected in the recently published Selected Works.

Practice-based evaluation of economy

The primary tasks of economic development under socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era evolve alongside changing practical conditions at each stage, fully reflecting the practical orientation of Xi Jinping Thought on Economy. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China’s economic development has entered a historical phase marked by the overlapping challenges of shifting from high-speed growth to high-quality development, undergoing painful structural adjustments, and absorbing the effects of earlier stimulus policies. In response, the central task of economic work has become promoting supply-side structural reform under the guidance of the new development philosophy, based on the assessment that China’s economy had entered a “new normal.”

As growth continues and technological capabilities improve, greater emphasis must be placed on high-quality development, making the construction of a modern economic system the principal goal. Amid rising uncertainty in both the international and domestic economic environments, the task of building a new development pattern—featuring the mutual reinforcement of domestic and international circulations, with the domestic market as the mainstay—has taken center stage. In the face of intensifying global competition in disruptive technologies and the need for new drivers of growth, cultivating and developing new quality productive forces has become a critical policy priority. Notably, these core tasks are neither rigidly separated nor mutually exclusive; rather, they are sequentially connected and, to a considerable extent, mutually compatible.

Proactive responses to challenges

The practical orientation of Xi Jinping Thought on Economy is not about passively adapting to changing realities, but about responding to them proactively—seizing the initiative, addressing challenges in the course of development, and turning adverse conditions into opportunities for progress.

First, Xi Jinping Thought on Economy is grounded in a respect for laws of long-term economic development, using them to steer the economy toward high-quality growth. It is a general economic trend that growth gradually transitions from high speed to high quality, industrial structures evolve toward more advanced forms, and development models become increasingly intensive. Yet this progression is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Many countries, for instance, have stalled in the so-called “middle-income trap” or “high-income trap,” leading to prolonged stagnation.

The Selected Works clearly demonstrate that the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has grounded its leadership of economic work in practical realities while maintaining a forward-looking perspective. Rather than remaining tethered to the status quo, it has consistently guided China’s economy toward sustained, high-quality development over the long term. The evolving sequence of concepts—such as the new normal of economic development, new development philosophy, supply-side structural reform, high-quality development, new development pattern, and new quality productive forces—reflects a dynamic process of theoretical innovation and policy adjustment through which the Party has continually propelled China’s high-quality economic development.

Second, Xi Jinping Thought on Economy emphasizes the need to consistently identify and leverage key factors to drive leaps in productive forces and transformations in production relations amid dynamic conditions. Sustained, healthy economic development depends on science and technology as the principal productive force, and on reform as the central mechanism for adjusting production relations. Yet both the foundations and priorities of technological progress and reform shift continually in practice, requiring flexible and forward-looking guidance. This dynamic approach is clearly reflected in the Selected Works.

In the realm of technological innovation, the overarching goal of achieving greater self-reliance and strength remains unchanged, but specific tasks and support measures have evolved. The trend has been toward higher targets and increasingly complex and comprehensive support systems. On the reform front, the shift in official language from “comprehensively deepening reform” to “further deepening reform comprehensively” signals a growing recognition of the systemic nature and rising complexity of reform—an evolution that aligns with the demands of continued high-quality development. Coordinated progress in productive forces and production relations remains essential for reconciling the pursuit of development quality with the pace of growth.

Third, Xi Jinping Thought on Economy stresses the importance of adapting to changes in the external environment and actively transforming crises into opportunities. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, China has faced rising uncertainty in the international economic and political landscape. The global backlash against globalization has posed significant challenges to the stable development of the Chinese economy.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has issued a series of policy initiatives, many of which are documented in the Selected Works. Since 2014, for instance, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly underscored the importance of establishing pilot free trade zones, developing new systems for an open economy, and advancing the Belt and Road Initiative. The COVID-19 pandemic, as an unforeseen global shock, had far-reaching impacts on the world economy. In light of disruptions to China’s industrial chains and turbulence in international trade, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the construction of a new development pattern. These measures not only mitigated external shocks but also helped transform potential crises into engines of sustained and healthy economic growth.

To sum up, the practical orientation embodied in the Selected Works has been instrumental in securing China’s past economic achievements, and it will remain essential to the country’s future economic success.

Zeng Xiankui is a research fellow from the Academy of Marxism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.