Common prosperity is not a whim slogan, but the only way for China's development

"Common prosperity" is becoming a hot topic in society, and it has also become a new hot spot for foreign media to pay attention to China. At present, there are various theories about the connotation of common prosperity, which need to be further elaborated and analyzed theoretically.

Common prosperity is the unswerving goal of the Communist Party of China

The CPC's country and mountains are built by the people, and the position of the ruling party is consolidated by the people. The foundation of the Communist Party lies in the people, the blood is in the people, and the strength lies in the people. All the work of the Communist Party is for the common prosperity of the people and a happy life.

As early as 100 years ago, in the First Resolution of the Communist Party of China and the First Party Program in 1921, it was proposed to "safeguard the interests of the proletariat", "support the working class" and "eliminate the class distinction of society". The proletariat is the poorest class, and the "theory of support" that supports and defends the poorest class lays the foundation for the concept of common prosperity.

On December 16, 1953, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a resolution on agricultural production cooperatives formulated under the auspices of Mao Zedong, which proposed to "gradually realize the socialist transformation of agriculture, so that agriculture can change from a backward individual economy of small-scale production to an advanced cooperative economy of large-scale production, so as to gradually overcome the contradiction between the development of the two economic sectors of industry and agriculture, and to enable the peasants to gradually and completely get rid of poverty and achieve a life of common prosperity and universal prosperity." In 1955, Mao Zedong delivered speeches at the meeting of provincial, municipal and autonomous regional party committee secretaries convened by the CPC Central Committee on July 31, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Seventh CENTRAL Committee of the CPC central committee held in October, and the symposium attending the socialist transformation of capitalist industry and commerce, proposing that it is necessary for our party to "lead the peasants to take the socialist road, so that the peasant masses will become rich together, the poor will be rich, all peasants will be rich, and the degree of prosperity should greatly exceed that of the rich peasants today." Obviously, Mao Zedong linked common prosperity to the system.

In March 1985, Deng Xiaoping proposed: "One public ownership occupies the main body and one common prosperity is the fundamental principle of socialism that we must uphold." Later, in September 1985, December 1990, and early 1992, he repeatedly mentioned that "the purpose of socialism is to make the people of the whole country prosperous together, not to be polarized." He believes that common prosperity is the difference between socialism and capitalism: "If we take the capitalist road, we can make a few percent of the people in China rich, but we will definitely not solve the problem that more than ninety percent of the people live in prosperity." Adhering to socialism and practicing the principle of distribution according to work will not create an excessive gap between the rich and the poor. "It is clear that Deng Xiaoping associated common prosperity with socialist aims.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has also talked about common prosperity many times. In October 2020, in the explanation of the "Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Goals for the Year 2035", it was proposed: "Common prosperity is the essential requirement of socialism and the common expectation of the people. In the final analysis, our promotion of economic and social development is to achieve common prosperity for all people. In an important speech to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed to promote "all-round human development" and "more obvious substantive progress in the common prosperity of all people." General Secretary Xi Jinping closely linked common prosperity with the essence of socialism, revealing the internal logic and interaction between the two.

From the "support" theory of "one big", Mao Zedong's "system" theory, Deng Xiaoping's "purpose" theory, to today's Xi Jinping's "essence" theory, all show that common prosperity is the consistent proposition of the Chinese Communists, the aspiration of the people, and the unstoppable historical trend. Common prosperity is not a whim slogan, but the only way for China's development.

Common prosperity is the need for social stability and unity

From a sociological point of view, common prosperity is the need for social stability and unity. For society to develop, generally speaking, stability and unity are preferred; disorder is chaotic, and turmoil is difficult to become rich and strong. Even just, necessary turmoil is a throbbing pain. The gap between the rich and the poor is too large, and there will always be unstable factors. According to the "social balance theory" of sociology, the gap between the rich and the poor is large, and the social tension is large. This is much like a rubber band, stretching the short one long and tight, often "breaking" at the touch. Polarization and social tension can easily lead to social conflicts. Social conflicts are divided into intensity and intensity. The greater the gap, the greater the intensity and intensity, and the more serious the damage to society.

From a realpolitik perspective, too large a gap between rich and poor can also lead to the division of the country. As you know, there used to be a country called Czechoslovakia, which later became two countries. Of course, there are many factors that contribute to this result, but one of them is that the Czech Republic is rich and Slovakia is poor, which leads to social contradictions. And Yugoslavia is now divided into six or seven countries, and the first and second to take the lead in independence are also two rich countries. It can be seen that the excessive gap between the rich and the poor will not only bring instability, but even lead to the division of the country.

Therefore, in order to achieve social stability, unity, inclusiveness, unity of purpose and sustainable development, it is necessary to establish the concept of community and vigorously promote common prosperity.

Promote common prosperity with basic institutional arrangements

The meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Committee pointed out that it is necessary to adhere to the people-centered development thinking and build a basic institutional arrangement for the coordination of primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution.

Primary distribution refers to the situation that under the condition that the market plays a regulatory role, those who participate in work or invest in the market obtain their share of income according to the laws of the market. Since the income of each person is different, it is inevitable that an income gap will be formed. Excessive income disparities are not conducive to social stability and harmony, so there is "redistribution".

Redistribution is the distribution of income under the leadership of the government, which refers to the government's income adjustment in accordance with laws, regulations, rules and regulations, policies, etc. For example, the collection of personal income tax, corporate income tax, etc., also includes the property tax levied on people with more property, and then gives subsidies or subsidies to poor households, which is "redistribution". After redistribution, everyone's income becomes after-tax income, and low-income people not only do not have to pay income tax and property tax, but also get subsidies or subsidies issued by the government, which is conducive to narrowing the income gap in society. But even so, there may be a relatively large gap, what to do? This requires a "triple allocation".

The three distributions refer to the redistribution of income based on moral strength, including the use of money donated by people to help low-income families through social welfare undertakings, as well as voluntary donations to help low-income families get rid of poverty, such as helping the elderly, the sick, the disabled, children, and the scholarships voluntarily provided by people at all levels and in various schools. In addition, in the face of floods, earthquakes, typhoons, mudslides, droughts in the area of disaster relief activities, there will also be many people either donate to charities, or donate to the disaster victims themselves, which belong to the category of "three distributions".

The primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution are deepened step by step, and every detail is in full swing, and strives not to miss a single person and get rich together.

Three-way distribution is not "egalitarianism and raising slackers"

Regarding the basic institutional arrangements for common prosperity, there are many misunderstandings in society at present. Here, I'll just give a few examples:

Some people say that doing so will be "de-marketed", which is a superfluous worry. Doesn't the initial distribution run in the market? Through primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution, we can not only promote the guidance of market demand and realize the full and rational allocation of resources and factors, but also avoid the simple pursuit of profit maximization in the market and ignore the needs of society; it is not only allowed to survive in competition, but also prevent the disadvantages of beggar-thy-neighbor, pit deception, monopoly, and oligarchy in competition. These three distributions advocate winning with innovation and shortening the necessary labor time in society; it is necessary to establish an all-round, multi-level, and three-dimensional supervision system, promote the rule of law in the market, and improve the socialist market economic system; it is to put power in the cage of the system and advocate cooperation and win-win results.

Compared with primary distribution and redistribution, tertiary distribution belongs to a relatively new concept. Therefore, there are more misunderstandings. For example, some people say that the three distributions are "knocking on the boss's bamboo bar, hitting the boss's enthusiasm, and getting the boss to move away", this worry is unfounded. People of the new class are an important force in economic and social development, and even more important subjects in building a social governance community. "First get rich help later get rich", they have feelings and the ability to participate in the "rule of China" and engage in public welfare undertakings. People with talent and vision will not only not move away, but will also increase day by day. Data show that the total number of market entities in China has increased from 55 million in 2012 to 146 million today, with an average annual net growth of 10 million households. In the first half of this year, 13.94 million new market entities were established nationwide, and the overall activity of market entities was stable at about 70%.

Some people also say that the three distributions are "engaging in egalitarianism and raising slackers", which is also a misunderstanding. The difference is absolute. The implementation of the three distributions is to make the distribution of wealth in the shape of olives, with large middles and small ends, very rich few, poorer ones, most of them above and below the middle income. The distribution system still adheres to distribution according to work, and more work is more.

There are several aspects to pay attention to in moving toward common prosperity

Common prosperity is a daunting task, not overnight. Singing a high note is not enough, the song is high and low; it is not possible to go to the extreme, and one step beyond the truth will become a fallacy. On the road to common prosperity, we must pay attention to the following aspects:

First, we must properly handle the relationship between production and distribution. Everyone knows that after the fruit is produced, there is distribution. The level of development of the social productive forces determines the level and mode of distribution. Therefore, the premise of doing a good job in distribution is still to improve social productivity, which is the so-called "blood transfusion before hematopoiesis."

Second, we must focus on the word "common" and narrow the gap between classes, urban and rural areas, regions, and occupations. Jointly, it is necessary to carry out rural revitalization, improve the ownership, contracting rights, and management rights of rural contracted land, and promote the urbanization rate to a higher level and several floors. Raise the minimum wage and do a good job in primary distribution.

Third, it is necessary to achieve both material and spiritual measures. The "prosperity" of common prosperity does not only refer to material things, but also to the richness and variety of spiritual life. The spirit is the soul, and the soul cannot be lost. At present, the gross enrollment rate of preschool, high school and university in China is rising steadily. However, according to the United Nations, China's investment in health, education, science and technology, and culture as a proportion of GDP is still far from that of some countries. This must change quickly.

(The author is a tenured professor at Shanghai University)

Please indicate the source of the reprint "Shangguan News", and the offender will be held responsible according to law.

(The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.) E-mail: [email protected])

Column Editor-in-Chief: Wang Zhen Text Editor: Wang Zhen Title Image Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Zhu Xuan

Source: Author: Deng Weizhi