The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward: "It is necessary to improve the management system of various state-owned assets, reform the authorized management system of state-owned capital, speed up the layout optimization, structural adjustment and strategic reorganization of the state-owned economy, promote the preservation and appreciation of state-owned assets, and promote the state-owned capital to become stronger and better, so as to effectively prevent the loss of state-owned assets." Correctly understanding the relationship between "state-owned enterprises become stronger, better and bigger" and "state-owned capital become stronger, better and bigger", and organically unifying and connecting them in theory and practical work, is related to truly realizing the overall goal of comprehensively deepening reform of "adhering to and improving the Socialism with Chinese characteristics system and continuously promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity".
First, the state-owned economy is inseparable from the basic carrier of state-owned enterprises.
China’s constitution stipulates: "In the primary stage of socialism, the state adheres to the basic economic system with public ownership as the main body and multiple ownership economies developing together." "The state-owned economy, that is, the socialist economy under ownership by the whole people, is the leading force in the national economy. The state guarantees the consolidation and development of the state-owned economy. " A "subject" and a "people" show that there are fundamental differences in the nature of the basic economic system between socialist countries and capitalist countries, and also show that there are fundamental differences in the nature of socialist state-owned economy and capitalist state-owned economy. Deepening the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises can only strengthen but never shake and weaken the socialist state-owned economy owned by the whole people.
In recent years, some economists like to use the "property right theory" as the basis for reform. In fact, the essence of "property right" is ownership. The ownership relationship has a development process, and the complete concept of ownership itself contains a series of rights such as possession, control, use, disposal and benefit. Among them, who owns the means of production is an extremely important issue. No matter what society, possession of the means of production is the premise of production. Whoever owns the means of production will be able to produce, thus being able to dominate production and its results; Whoever doesn’t possess the means of production can’t produce, so it’s impossible to dominate production and its results. However, if we only understand and position the economic nature of ownership by the whole people from the perspective of property rights in the sense of legal rights, that is, ownership relations, it will deviate from the basic principles and methods of Marxist political economy.
Marx believes that ownership is not a simple right relationship between people in the sense of legal rights, or the right of who owns the means of production, but an economic relationship between the owner (occupier) of the means of production and the workers who use the means of production in the production process. He stressed that ownership cannot be separated from the real economic relationship. "In every historical era, ownership has developed in various ways and under completely different social relations. Therefore, defining the ownership of the bourgeoisie is nothing more than describing all the social relations produced by the bourgeoisie. " "To define ownership as an independent relationship, a special category and an abstract and eternal concept can only be a metaphysical or legal fantasy." (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 1, People’s Publishing House, 1995, pp. 177— Page 178) In human history, ownership and ownership are not simply corresponding, and the same form of ownership can exist on different ownership bases. For example, the form of state ownership has long existed on the basis of different private ownership in slave society, feudal society and capitalist society, as well as on the basis of public ownership in socialist countries, and its nature is completely different. In essence, ownership is a social way of combining workers with means of production, and it is the relationship between the owners of means of production and the workers who use them. Historically,The common ground of all the exploiting class ownership lies in the separation of the owners (occupiers) of the means of production from the laborers. The sign that can distinguish different private ownership is not whether the means of production are owned by slave owners, feudal owners or capitalists, but the way in which workers directly become the owners of means of production and are deprived of surplus labor, that is, slave ownership; Or by virtue of the dependence of workers on the owners of means of production, the two were combined and deprived of surplus labor, that is, feudal ownership; Or through the sale of personal freedom of hired labor, and the exchange of capital to combine the two and be exploited of surplus value, that is, capitalist ownership. Socialist public ownership is a kind of ownership based on the laborers’ own labor rather than the labor of others, which is United within a certain range (collective or the whole people). The laborers are directly combined with the means of production jointly owned by themselves and finally share the fruits, which embodies the equal economic relationship in which the laborers are the masters of the country.
This shows that the existence and development of the socialist economy under ownership by the whole people cannot be separated from the state-owned enterprises with the nature of ownership by the whole people. Enterprise is the most basic carrier of the combination of workers and means of production, and it is the cell that constitutes a certain ownership economic relationship. Without the support of state-owned enterprises owned by the whole people, there would be no direct combination of workers and means of production, and there would be no real socialist state-owned economy owned by the whole people.
Second, "making state-owned enterprises stronger, better and bigger" is an inevitable requirement for adhering to and developing Socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
General Secretary of the Supreme Leader has repeatedly stressed the need to "confidently" and "unswervingly" make "state-owned enterprises stronger, better and bigger". This is inseparable from his understanding of the important position and role of China’s state-owned enterprises from the strategic height of highly unified economy and politics in the new era. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader once pointed out that China’s state-owned enterprises are an important pillar of the national economy, and also play a pillar role in the economic foundation of our party’s governance and China’s socialist state power, and must be done well. The role of "pillar", in definition, has not only qualitative connotation, but also quantitative requirements; In localization, it not only refers to the economic field, but also rises to the political field. He once used the word "Ming Men" in an instruction to describe the extreme importance of state-owned enterprises to our party and country. Those who are destined for life are the foundation of life. State-owned enterprises are the lifeblood of the socialist national economy, the lifeblood of the socialist regime, and the fate of our party, country and people. He also profoundly pointed out: Some people in the West are targeting at our state-owned enterprises and discrediting them, saying that they want "fair competition". In fact, drunkenness is not for the sake of wine, but for bringing down the important material and political foundation of the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership and China’s socialist regime. We can’t be fooled! Here, "important material foundation and political foundation"The dual "basic" orientation of "Ming Men" is the best interpretation of the meaning of "Ming Men".
The General Secretary of the Supreme Leader attaches importance to state-owned enterprises, which is also linked with the importance of the national real economy. He repeatedly stressed that "the country’s strength depends on the real economy and cannot be bubbled." "The real economy is the capital of the country". "We must send a clear message to the whole society: do a good job in the economy, do a good job in enterprises, do a good job in state-owned enterprises, and grasp the real economy." At the National Conference on Party Building in State-owned Enterprises, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader put forward the new orientation and new requirements of making state-owned enterprises "a relying force and five important forces". Among them, "the most reliable reliance of the party and the country" ties the political and economic destiny of the party and the country in the new era to the state-owned enterprises, and the responsibility is irreplaceable! From the following five aspects: implementing the decision-making and deployment of the CPC Central Committee, implementing the new development concept and comprehensively deepening reforms, implementing major strategies such as "going out" and "Belt and Road", strengthening comprehensive national strength, promoting economic and social development, ensuring and improving people’s livelihood, and winning the victory of the great struggle with many new historical characteristics, the party is the concrete development of "relying on strength" and reflects the major strategic mission requirements of state-owned enterprises in the new era. This shows that under the complicated new struggle background at home and abroad,To lead the people to complete the great historical leap in the new era, realize the strategic goal of strengthening the country and enriching the people, and make Socialism with Chinese characteristics invincible in the world, the key is to rely on state-owned enterprises to play a good role as a pillar.
Now there is a seemingly authoritative statement that all central enterprises should adopt "mixed reform" and implement "company system", thus changing the nature of the few remaining "state-owned enterprises". This is a conceptual confusion. Ownership by the whole people and company system are two completely different concepts, one is about the nature of ownership, and the other is about the form of enterprise organization. Corresponding to ownership by the whole people is collective ownership or private capital ownership. Corresponding to the company system, it is the traditional factory system. According to the Marxist viewpoint, the joint-stock company is a transitional form from the capitalist mode of production to the joint mode of production, but it is passively sublated in the capitalist enterprises and actively sublated in the workers’ "cooperative factories". Therefore, socialism can be fully utilized. Joint-stock companies are not equal to privatization. The key depends on who holds the shares, who will serve them and enlarge their capital functions. For corporate enterprises with diversified stock rights, the economic relationship, that is, the nature of ownership, is different because of the different ways of combining the controlling rights and the means of production. Generally speaking, if a state-owned enterprise is established as a state-owned holding company through "mixed reform", it can realize the core leadership of the enterprise by communist party on behalf of the people and ensure the direct combination of workers and the means of production shared by the whole people.Make the enterprise become a joint-stock company that enlarges the function of state-owned capital and still has the nature of ownership by the whole people; If the company is established by private capital or foreign capital holding company, it is far from communist party’s core leadership of the enterprise, and the combination of workers and means of production can only be realized by the exchange of hired labor and capital, so that the enterprise can become a joint-stock company with private ownership that magnifies the functions of private capital or foreign capital. Therefore, in the socialist market economy, whether it is a wholly state-owned company, a wholly state-owned company, or a joint-stock company or a listed company controlled by state-owned, it is still a state-owned enterprise with the obvious nature of socialist ownership by the whole people. If the socialist enterprises owned by the whole people are cancelled in the name of company system, wouldn’t that mean that the socialist state-owned enterprises in China, which are fundamentally different from those in western countries, will be wiped out, and then the state-owned economy with the nature of socialist ownership by the whole people in China will be wiped out fundamentally? !
Third, "making state-owned capital stronger, better and bigger" is based on the macro-level requirement of "making state-owned enterprises stronger, better and bigger"
"Promoting the state-owned capital to be stronger, better and bigger" put forward in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is a state-owned assets reform goal linked with the trinity of "promoting the preservation and appreciation of state-owned assets" and "effectively preventing the loss of state-owned assets", which does not mean giving up the state-owned enterprise reform of "unswervingly making state-owned enterprises stronger, better and bigger". It should be said that "state-owned capital is stronger, better and bigger" and "state-owned enterprises are stronger, better and bigger" are the two goals of the organic connection of the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, and the overall goal is to develop and strengthen Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s state-owned economy. "State-owned enterprises become stronger, better and bigger" is the foundation of developing and strengthening the state-owned economy, and "State-owned capital becomes stronger, better and bigger" is the macro-level embodiment of this foundation. From the connection between the two, the state-owned capital itself is the unity of physical form and value form, and the physical form is the state-owned assets used for the production and operation of enterprises, which is carried by the state-owned enterprises as the "material basis" of Socialism with Chinese characteristics;Its value form is the state-owned funds that reflect the economic relations of socialist ownership by the whole people, and it can not be reflected without the state-owned enterprises as the "political foundation" of Socialism with Chinese characteristics. Without the foundation of state-owned enterprises, there would be no real state-owned capital; Without the state-owned enterprises "becoming stronger, better and bigger", it is impossible to have the state-owned capital "becoming stronger, better and bigger".
However, as the goal of perfecting the state-owned assets management system, reforming the authorized management system of state-owned capital and optimizing the layout of state-owned economy, "making state-owned capital stronger, better and bigger" has a more macro, overall and strategic significance than individual state-owned enterprises. That is to say, no matter how the state-owned assets management and operation system are changed and how the state-owned assets are reorganized, the goal of stronger, better quality and larger scale of state-owned capital as a whole must be achieved. This is the requirement of realizing the national economic development strategy, and it is also the inevitable requirement of the production and operation of state-owned enterprises to have a macro reflection on the overall operation of state-owned capital. Therefore, in addition to a series of inspection indicators to measure whether the state-owned enterprises themselves are stronger, better and bigger, a series of inspection standards are also needed to measure whether the state-owned capital is stronger, better and bigger as a whole.
From the perspective of state-owned assets reform, the indicators to measure the strength, Excellence and enlargement of state-owned capital should generally include four levels: First, the indicators of state-owned assets supervision. These are two constraints associated with the operation of state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises, that is, the reform of state-owned assets should serve the reform of state-owned enterprises, ensure that it can "promote the preservation and appreciation of state-owned assets" and "effectively prevent the loss of state-owned assets." We should not devalue the stock of state-owned assets of enterprises in the reform, but create new value increment on the basis of the stock with the fixed value of capital; At the same time, the loss of state-owned assets by various forms of interest cannot occur in the reform, which is the bottom line requirement. The second is the scale benefit index of state-owned capital. It is through the reform that, on the one hand, the absolute amount of state-owned capital is significantly increased compared with that before the reform according to the established constant value rather than inflated value; On the other hand, the economic and social benefits brought by state-owned capital, including capital gains, fiscal profits and taxes, scientific and technological innovation contributions, have also been significantly improved compared with those before the reform. The third is the quality index of state-owned capital structure. First of all, the proportion of state-owned capital in the total social capital should be significantly higher than before the reform, which shows that in the overall structure of social capital, the relative strength of state-owned capital is stronger and it can better play a pillar and leading role; Secondly,It also includes the proportion of state-owned capital in the total capital of advanced industries, high-quality industries and key areas of society and its effect indicators, which should be significantly improved than before the reform, which reflects the improvement of the quality level of state-owned capital and the strengthening of its leading role in the national economy. The fourth is the function amplification index of state-owned capital. The result of "mixed reform" should be to enlarge the function of state-owned capital and strengthen its control and influence in the property right structure. This depends on whether the scale of social capital that state-owned capital can control (that is, effectively control) and its proportion in the total social capital are significantly higher than before the reform; It also includes whether the scale of social capital that state-owned capital can control (that is, effectively control) in advanced industries and high-quality industries, and its proportion in the total social capital of these industries and industries have been significantly improved compared with before the reform. Only in this way can we prove that state-owned capital is indeed stronger, better and bigger, and the reform will be convincing.
(Author: Executive Vice President and Senior Research Fellow of Kunlun Policy Research Institute, Special Research Fellow of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council)
