After reform and opening up, we have broken the traditional institutional constraints, allowed some people and some regions to get rich first, promoted the liberation and development of social productivity, and improved our overall economic strength and people’s living standards at a rapid pace. Since the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Party Central Committee has placed greater importance on gradually achieving common prosperity for all people, creating good conditions for promoting common prosperity, and leading all people toward the goal of common prosperity. The achievement of common prosperity is fundamentally dependent on high-quality development, and the key lies in overall planning and coordination. Whether it is promoting economic development or coordinating various aspects of economic relations, it is necessary to adhere to the Marxist political economy as the guide and understand relevant economic issues from the perspective of Marxist political economy.
改革开放后，我们打破传统体制束缚，允许一部分人、一部分地区先富起来，推动解放和发展社会生产力，总体经济实力和人民生活水平都得到快速提高。党的十八大以来，党中央把逐步实现全体人民共同富裕摆在更加重要的位置上，为促进共同富裕创造了良好条件，正在带领全体人民朝着共同富裕目标扎实迈进。实现共同富裕，根本靠高质量发展，关键靠统筹协调。无论是促进经济发展，还是协调各方面的经济关系，都必须坚持以马克思主义政治经济学为指导，从马克思主义政治经济学的视角来认识相关的经济问题。
I
一
In socialist contemporary China, common prosperity contains rich and profound content. Poverty is not socialism. To build socialism that is superior to capitalism, it is necessary to get rid of poverty and move into affluence. It is socialist affluence, common prosperity, not capitalist affluence, that is, the affluence of the few. Common prosperity is a gradual and progressive process. In this process, the balance and coordination among regions, urban and rural areas, and industries should be taken into account so the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development can be solved. Common prosperity is an all-round affluence, encompassing not only material, but also spiritual satisfaction. Common prosperity embodies harmony and common prosperity, but instead of walking together, a few people can take a step first, then lead everyone to prosperity together. The economic development of a country or region is dynamic, so common prosperity is phased and regional, evolving from imbalance to equilibrium.
在社会主义的当代中国，共同富裕包含着十分丰富而深刻的内容。贫穷不是社会主义，要建设比资本主义更具有优越性的社会主义，就必须摆脱贫穷，步入富裕。这是社会主义的富裕，是共同富裕，不是资本主义的富裕，即少数人的富裕。共同富裕是循序渐进、水到渠成的过程，在这一过程中要考虑到地区、城乡、行业之间的平衡与协调，解决好发展不平衡不充分的问题。共同富裕是全方位的富裕，不仅包括物质层面的满足，而且包括精神层面的满足。共同富裕体现的是和谐共富，但不是齐步走，少数人可以先走一步，再带动大家共同富裕。一个国家或地区的经济发展是动态的，因此共同富裕是分阶段的，也是分地区的，是从不平衡至平衡的不断演进的过程。
High-quality development is an inherent requirement for common prosperity. Common prosperity is both a production and a consumption issue. To say that it is a question of production problem means that to achieve common prosperity, it is necessary to address the supply side of the production of goods or services that meets the needs of the people, including both quantitative and qualitative satisfaction. To say that it is a matter of consumption problem means that the process of achieving common prosperity is also the process of escalating consumption for the entire population. This process of upgrading will lead to an increase in the total supply and stimulate the economy to continue to move to a higher level.
高质量发展是促进共同富裕的内在要求。共同富裕既是一个生产问题，又是一个消费问题。说它是生产问题，是指实现共同富裕必然要解决从供给方面能不能生产出满足人民群众需要的产品或服务，既包括量的满足也包括质的满足。说它是消费问题，是指实现共同富裕的过程也是全体人民的消费不断升级的过程，这个升级的过程会带动供给总量的增加，刺激经济不断迈向更高水平。
Common prosperity is not only manifested by the rise in individual income levels and the narrowing of income disparities, but also by increasing the level of public welfare provided by the government and by constantly promoting the equalization of basic public services, such as providing more equitable public services such as healthcare and education, unobstructed upward mobility channels, and equitable access of various development opportunities, to create opportunities for more people to become wealthy.
共同富裕不仅表现为个人收入水平的提升和收入差距的缩小，还表现为政府提供的公共福利水平的提升，不断促进基本公共服务的均等化，例如提供更加均等的医疗、教育等公共服务，畅通向上的流动渠道，公平地享受各种发展机会，给更多人创造致富机会。
II
二
Achieving common prosperity involves a wide range of contents. From the perspective of political economy, one of the core issues is income distribution, that is, the formation of a reasonable distribution pattern for all. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “We should clean up the norms of unreasonable income, the rectification of the income distribution order, and resolutely outlaw illegal income” and put forward specific requirements for improving income distribution and narrowing the income gap.
实现共同富裕，涉及的内容广泛，从政治经济学的角度来看，核心问题之一是收入分配问题，即形成人人享有的合理分配格局，习近平总书记指出，“要清理规范不合理收入，整顿收入分配秩序，坚决取缔非法收入”，这为改善收入分配、缩小收入差距提出了具体的要求。
After the reform and opening up, China has rapidly become the world’s second-largest economy with economic construction as the center, and the overall level of development has improved rapidly. At the same time, rapid economic growth has been accompanied by a widening income gap. The reasons for the widening income gap are multifaceted, most of which are phased in nature and can be addressed continuously in the context of reforms. It mainly includes: First, in the period after reform and opening up, we put more emphasis on efficiency as a priority. The reason is that the planned economy was previously implemented for a long time. Although the limited manpower, material resources, and financial resources were concentrated in a short period, a relatively complete national economic system was built. However, it is difficult to plan and distribute widely varied supplies and demand, production, and consumption, economic development was not efficient, and being out of poverty was an urgent task at that time. To be out of poverty as quickly as possible, efficiency must be the priority. Prioritization of efficiency means that capable market players grow faster and incomes grow faster, leading to a widening of the income gap. Second, some of the misconceptions that once existed in the quest for reform led to a widening of the income gap. For example, confusion over value creation and value distribution. The correct logic should be that if a contribution to value creation is greater, the reward will be greater, and if the contribution is less, the reward will be less. In some fields, however, there has been a misconception that allocation determines the size of the contribution rather than the size of the contribution determining the size of allocation. In some enterprises, managers receive high annual salaries, and because of their high annual salaries, they believe that their contribution to value creation is large. Those frontline workers in the real economy who contribute the most to value creation, because of their relatively weak market bargaining power, earn less than their contribution, and it is considered that the contribution to value creation is small. This has led to insufficient attention being paid to improving the remuneration of frontline workers. Third, there is no distinction between productive and non-productive labor work. Productive work is the production of material goods, such as the work of peasants and workers, while non-productive labor work refers to work that does not produce material goods. According to Karl Marx’s theoretical logic, distinguishing between productive and non-productive labor and giving corresponding reasonable returns is conducive to the development of the real economy. If no distinction is made between productive and non-productive labor, and even if all labor is regarded as productive labor, it is easy to develop a virtual economy and form an economic bubble. Fourth, excessive financialization. The so-called financialization is to turn all physical and virtual things into tradable financial products. While finance was meant to serve the real economy, excessive financialization reversed the relationship between production and finance; not only does it make little contribution to the growth of real wealth, but it also encourages speculation, which is not conducive to social development.
改革开放后，我国以经济建设为中心，迅速成为世界第二大经济体，总体发展水平有了快速提高。但与此同时，在实现快速经济增长的同时也出现了收入差距拉大的问题。收入差距拉大的原因是多方面的，这些原因大都是阶段性的，可以在改革中不断加以解决。主要包括：第一，改革开放后的一段时期，我们更多强调效率优先，原因在于之前长期实施计划经济，虽然集中有限的人力、物力、财力在短时间内建成了比较完善的国民经济体系，但难以计划和分配千差万别的供给和需求、生产和消费，经济发展的效率并不高，摆脱贫穷是当时面临的紧迫任务，为了尽快走出贫穷，必须把效率放在第一位。效率优先意味着有能力的市场主体发展得快，收入增长得快，从而导致收入差距的拉大。第二，在改革探索中曾经存在的一些误区导致了收入差距的拉大。比如，把价值创造和价值分配混为一谈。正确的逻辑应该是对价值创造的贡献大则回报多，贡献少则回报小。然而在一些领域出现了由分配决定贡献的大小，而不是由贡献大小决定分配的错误认识。有些企业的管理人员获取很高的年薪，他们因高年薪而认为自己对价值创造的贡献大，而那些实体经济的一线劳动者，他们对价值创造的贡献最大，却由于市场谈判力量相对弱势，所得小于贡献，反被认为对价值创造的贡献小。这导致人们没有给予提高一线劳动者报酬问题足够的重视。第三，没有区分生产劳动和非生产劳动。生产劳动是生产物质产品的劳动，例如农民的劳动和工人的劳动，非生产劳动是指不生产物质产品的劳动。按照马克思的理论逻辑，区分生产劳动和非生产劳动并给予相应合理的回报，有利于实体经济的发展；不区分生产劳动和非生产劳动，甚至把什么劳动都视为生产劳动，则易于发展虚拟经济，形成经济泡沫。第四，过度金融化。所谓金融化，是把一切实体的、虚拟的东西都变成可以交易的金融产品。金融本来是服务于实体经济的，过度金融化则颠倒了生产和金融的关系，不仅对实际财富增长的贡献不大，而且会助长投机行为，是不利于社会发展的。
III
三
To achieve common prosperity, the labor values of Marxist political economy must be adhered to. Marx believes that labor creates value while participating in the creation of use-value. If any nation loses its labor, for a year or even a few weeks, it goes without saying that it will also perish. A relatively equal amount of social labor is required to obtain a total product that meets the various needs. Adhering to the theory of labor values is to distinguish between productive and unproductive work, and only if the rewards of productive work are fully taken into account in the distribution will it ultimately benefit the development of the real economy. Adhering to the theory of labor value is to focus on protecting labor income, increasing labor remuneration of workers, especially frontline workers, and increasing the proportion of labor remuneration in the initial distribution; achieving simultaneous growth of residents’ incomes and economic growth; and simultaneously increasing labor remuneration at the same time as labor productivity increases. Adhering to the theory of labor values is to distinguish simple labor from complex labor. The value created by complex labor is a doubling of simple labor. Complex labor is dynamic, emerging in more advanced forms as science and technology advance. Full attention should be paid to the special nature of the work of scientific and technological workers and researchers of basic theory, and to pay full attention to it as complex labor work.
实现共同富裕，必须坚持马克思主义政治经济学的劳动价值论。马克思认为，劳动创造价值，同时参与使用价值的创造。任何一个民族，如果失去劳动，不用说一年，就是几个星期，也要灭亡。要想得到能够满足各种不同需求的总产品，就要付出相对等的社会劳动总量。坚持劳动价值论，就是要区分生产性劳动和非生产性劳动，在分配中只有充分考虑到生产性劳动的回报，才最终有利于实体经济的发展。坚持劳动价值论，就是要着力保护劳动所得，增加劳动者特别是一线劳动者的劳动报酬，提高劳动报酬在初次分配中的比重，在经济增长的同时实现居民收入同步增长，在劳动生产率提高的同时实现劳动报酬同步提高。坚持劳动价值论，就是要区分简单劳动和复杂劳动。复杂劳动创造的价值是倍加的简单劳动。复杂劳动是动态的，随着科学技术的进步不断以更高级的形式出现。应当充分注意到科技工作者、基础理论研究者劳动的特殊性，将其作为复杂劳动给予充分关注。
To achieve common prosperity, it requires to adjust greater redistribution and a greater focus on equity. The 18th CCP National Congress pointed out that both the initial distribution and redistribution must balance efficiency and fairness and that redistribution should pay more attention to equity. The 10th meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Commission held a few days ago pointed out that basic institutional arrangements for initial distribution, redistribution, and coordination of the third distributions should be established and that the adjustment of taxation, social security, transfer payments, and other adjustments should be increased and accuracy improved, the proportion of middle-income groups should be expanded, and the income of low-income groups should be increased. Also, high incomes should be rationally regulated, and illegal income should be abolished, to form an olive-type distribution structure with a large middle section and small two ends. Such institutional arrangements can improve the welfare level of the society as a whole and promote the achievement of common prosperity.
实现共同富裕，需要加大再分配调节力度，更加关注公平。党的十八大指出，初次分配和再分配都要兼顾效率和公平，再分配更加注重公平。日前召开的中央财经委员会第十次会议指出，要构建初次分配、再分配、三次分配协调配套的基础性制度安排，加大税收、社保、转移支付等调节力度并提高精准性，扩大中等收入群体比重，增加低收入群体收入，合理调节高收入，取缔非法收入，形成中间大、两头小的橄榄型分配结构。这样的制度安排，可以提高整个社会的福利水平，促进实现共同富裕。
To achieve common prosperity, the principle of combining markets and government must adhere to the distribution-related issues. We are implementing a socialist market economy: the market plays a decisive role in the allocation of resources, and it is a normal market phenomenon that the labor prices follow the market. The reason why the government needs to intervene appropriately, as a socialist country, is that when the individual workers are in a weaker position than capital in market negotiations, the government must reasonably intervene to ensure that the basic wage of the workers is not lower than the level of labor remuneration in the national income. The socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics adheres to the principle of combining the market and the government on the issue of distribution, that is, not only to rationally allocate labor resources through market mechanisms to improve the efficiency of economic development, but also to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of workers, safeguard the interests of workers, and promote social equity.
实现共同富裕，在分配问题上必须坚持市场与政府相结合的原则。我们实行的是社会主义市场经济，市场在资源配置中起决定性作用，劳动力价格随行就市的变动是一种正常的市场现象。政府之所以要进行适当的干预，是因为作为社会主义国家，当个体劳动者在市场谈判中较之资本处于弱势地位时，政府为了确保劳动者的基本工资不低于国民收入中劳动报酬应有的水平，必须进行合理的干预。中国特色社会主义市场经济在分配问题上坚持市场与政府相结合的原则，就是既要通过市场机制来合理配置劳动力资源，提高经济发展的效率，同时也要保障劳动者的合法权益，维护好劳动者的利益，促进社会公平。