Recently, during his research in Heilongjiang, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that we should integrate sci-tech innovation resources, drive the development of strategic emerging industries and future industries, and accelerate the formation of new productive forces. His wording of “new productive forces” is insightful and novel.

It can be concluded from the evolution of past scientific and technological revolutions and industrial transformations that the formation of new productive forces is a complex systemic process that begins with major scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs, dwells on the conflict and reconciliation of new growth drivers and existing relations of production and social structures and completes through the release of energy to every sector of the economy and society. Therefore, the connotation of new productive forces can be understood from the three dimensions of new growth drivers, new governance and new increments.

New growth drivers

Looking back on human history, each giant leap in productivity has been forerun by a sequence of groundbreaking major scientific discoveries and the integrated technological breakthroughs that followed. In the 16th to 17th centuries, the scientific revolution, beginning with Copernican heliocentrism and Newton’s classical mechanics, gave birth to the First Industrial Revolution characterized by the widespread use of steam engines and the complete replacement of muscle power with mechanical power to greatly increase production efficiency. In the 19th century, Darwinism, Maxwell’s electromagnetic field theory, Schleiden and Schwann’s cell theory and Mayer’s law of the conservation of energy propelled the scientific revolution to a new climax and led to the Second Industrial Revolution typified by the invention and use of electricity and the widespread application of internal combustion engines, thereby paving the way for large-scale centralized production. From the 20th century to the present, the scientific revolution symbolized by Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum mechanics has brought about the Third Industrial Revolution marked by electronic computers, space technology and biotechnology, in which human society’s productivity has been accelerated once again.

General Secretary Xi Jinping stated, “A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is emerging. Some important scientific issues and key technologies has shown signs of a revolutionary breakthrough.” Next-generation information technology, advanced manufacturing technology, new material technology, new energy technology, and biotechnology have all demonstrated a trend of rapid and intensive breakthroughs in recent years, and the new technology system, which consists of AI, the Internet of Things, big data, blockchain and quantum computing, is emerging as the main force behind the latest wave of industrial transformation. Apparently, the “new” in new productive forces is closely related to the fields and directions of sci-tech innovation.

“Sources” and “planning” are two factors that are crucial for the formation of new productive forces in a region. Firstly, build the sources effectively. This primarily refers to the establishment of a necessary material and technological foundation, covering high-level universities and research institutions, high-level research platforms, strategic scientists, sci-tech talents and highly skilled talents, and financial capital, in specific areas involved in technological innovation in four aspects (i.e., world’s cutting-edge science and technology, main economic battlefields, the state’s major demands, and the people’s life and health). Secondly, implement reasonable planning. This mainly manifests in the reliance on existing conditions and capabilities to rapidly build systematic capabilities for sci-tech innovation, propel the development of strategic emerging industries, play a vital role in economic growth, and complete the layout of future industries beforehand.

New governance

Historical experience indicates that existing relations of production will gradually exhibit numerous symptoms of inadaptation during the formation and development of new growth drivers, and this requires reconstructing the factory layout, manufacturing process, production organization and management system at the micro-level, corporate governance, regional coordination and industrial ecology at the meso-level as well as the development concept, institutional supply and resource allocation at the macro-level. Therefore, the “new” in new productive forces not only refers to new scientific discoveries, new technological inventions and new industrial directions but also relates to the development of new concepts.

In order for new productive forces to blossom from a “bud” into a powerful force driving economic and social development, it is vital to dismantle outmoded ideas and institutional impediments and thoroughly re-engineer production patterns and social relations. New productive forces and new production relations must be thoroughly understood, with related trend and situation analysis, and ongoing research into the laws governing sci-tech and industrial development.

Firstly, it is critical to follow the dynamics of scientific research in fundamental and frontier fields, recognize “weak signals” with enormous strategic significance that could trigger an industrial transformation, and actively conduct forward-looking layout; secondly, it is important to keep an eye on the iterative evolution of scientific research paradigms and sci-tech innovation models and timely adjust the direction and focus of source building and planning implementation; thirdly, it is important to deeply understand the evolution of the connotation of sci-tech innovation factors and the new trends of development and utilization methods and seize the helm of the development and utilization of new factors; fourthly, it is important to grasp the new laws governing knowledge production, dissemination and conversion, capitalize on momentum and build a knowledge supply system that is in line with new productive forces.

New increments

The new productive forces undoubtedly refers to high-quality development. When new relations of production are gradually constructed, new growth drivers, new production organization relations and social structures tend to adapt to each other and interact more smoothly and regional and industrial “tipping points” of sci-tech innovation are successively activated, and the incremental effect of new productive forces on promoting high-quality development will fully manifest.

The new increments created by new productive forces are not only quantity growth but also quality improvement, as evidenced in the following three aspects. Firstly, fully increasing total factor productivity and resource saving rate, improving the quality and benefits of social production and economic growth and achieving the harmony and unity between humanity and nature through digital, intelligent and green production patterns; secondly, alleviating the problems of imbalance and inadequacy in development, meeting the growing desire of people for a better life, enhancing their sense of gain, happiness and security and encouraging the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilization; thirdly, deepening international sci-tech and industrial cooperation, overall planning global high-level innovation factors and production factors, promoting the efficient coupling of innovation and industrial chains, tackling global concerns that affect all countries, including major disease prevention and treatment, major disaster management and major climate change, creating incremental markets, stabilizing global industrial and supply chains and enhancing the common wellbeing of humanity.

From a systemic perspective, there is a kind of dialectic unification in the formation of new productive forces, involving input, process and output, corresponding to new growth drivers, new governance and new increments, and both correlating to high-quality development. By maintaining the central role that the sci-tech innovations play in the country’s development, and continuously enhancing the effectiveness of sci-tech innovation governance, the new growth drivers that stem from sci-tech innovations will definitely be converted into new increments for high-quality development through scientific and effective governance.

Source: Jiefang Daily, September 19, 2023

Shanghai Observer, September 14, 2023