新中国70年经济体制变革的统一逻辑

Consistent Philosophy Behind China’s Seven Decades of Economic Reforms

目前中国思想界经常把改革开放前后两个时期的经济体制对立起来进行分析,其重要原因是假定两种不同体制只有一种是正确的,另一种是错误的;而没有看到这两种体制其实都在更大程度上适应了当时的生产力水平,促进了中国经济快速发展与产业升级。按照马克思主义的基本原理,生产力决定生产关系,而经济基础又决定上层建筑。新中国成立初期生产力水平与改革开放后生产力水平有重大差异,基于不同的生产力水平也自然需要不同的生产关系及上层建筑。从这个意义上讲,实行经济改革并不是纠正前三十年的偏差,而仅是纠正改革这个时间点上的偏差。新中国成立初期计划经济是符合国情的选择;而改革反映了生产力对生产关系与上层建筑的要求。为了推进改革,对改革前经济体制进行理想化的反思有其历史的合理性;但当市场经济已经深入人心之时,通过简单否定改革前经济体制来证明市场经济改革方向的正当性已经没有必要。从较长的历史尺度来看,新中国成立70年来所实施的是如何在既有国情下尽快赶超发达国家的经济体制;本质都是根据生产力与生产关系、经济基础与上层建筑相适应的辩证关系探索一条适应不断变革的时代、不断发展的国情、不断变化的世情的发展道路。中国能成功实现转型,最根本的原因是中国共产党坚持了正确的理论指导,坚持“实践是检验真理的唯一标准”,同时也源于中国传统的“求实”“重实”的传统。强调包容、融合,因而也就不太相信“教条主义”“市场原教旨主义”,而是愿意根据实际修正与调整理论,这也是新中国经济体制70年变革的统一哲学基础。

Chinese intellectuals often carry out antagonistic analysis on China's economic systems before and after reform and opening-up in 1978. An important reason is that they assume that only one of these two systems is correct,while the other must be wrong. They did not recognize the fact that both systems were mostly consistent with China's productivity level at the time. According to Marxist basic principles,productivity determines relations of production,while economic foundation determines the superstructure. China's productivity level in the 1950s was vastly different from that after reform and opening-up in 1978. Different levels of productivity naturally require different relations of production and superstructures. In this sense,China's economic reforms were not intended to address the deviations of the first three decades. Instead,they were only intended to address deviations at the time point of reform. This paper indicates that the choice of planned economy in the initial stage after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 was consistent with China's national conditions at the time;on the other hand,reforms reflected the necessity to change the relations of production and the superstructure in line with changing productivity. From a political perspective,it is justified to make idealistic reflections upon the pre-reform economic system. However,as the market-based economy takes hold in people's mind,it becomes unnecessary to prove the legitimacy of market-based economic reforms by negating the pre-reform economic system—such an attitude now appears increasingly less helpful and more harmful. From a historical dimension,China's economic system over the past seven decades has always been designed to help China catch up with and overtake developed countries with its existing national conditions. In essence,China has been exploring a development path that keeps abreast with changing times,changing national conditions,and changing market conditions. China's successful transition is attributable to adherence to correct theoretical guidance by the Communist Party of China and China's traditions of “seeking the truth” and “respecting facts.” China's traditional culture puts a premium on tolerance and integration and does not believe in absolutely correct truth. Therefore,Chinese do not believe in “documentation” and “fundamentalism” but instead,are willing to adapt theories to the reality and stick to the principle that “practice is the sole criterion for testing truth”,which is a consistent philosophical basis for the seven decades of China's changing economic system.