【Observation and thinking】
Authors: Jian Xinhua and Nie Changfei (respectively special researchers of Jiangxi Provincial Research Center for Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, special professors of the School of Economics and Management of Nanchang University, and associate professors of the School of Economics and Management of Nanchang University)
Insufficient effective demand is one of the main reasons for the increasing downward pressure on the economy. To maintain the necessary economic growth rate, we must effectively expand effective demand and reduce the downward pressure on the economy. The "Outline of the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China" emphasizes "adhering to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand and adhering to the close integration of benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption, investing in things and investing in people." Proposing that "investing in things and investing in people are closely integrated" is an important innovation and development in the investment theory and practice of the socialist market economy. It is of great significance for expanding effective domestic demand, enhancing development momentum, stabilizing economic growth, promoting high-quality development and Chinese-style modernization, and promoting common prosperity and comprehensive development of people.
To engage in production and business activities and develop the economy under market economy conditions, investment is necessary, because only through investment can we obtain the human and material elements needed for production and business and economic development. The main entities of investment include enterprises, individuals and governments. The investment purposes and roles of different investment entities are not exactly the same. Enterprises and individuals invest mainly to obtain maximum returns, and government investments also need to obtain returns, but mainly to provide public goods and services to society. In general, all reasonable investments can increase market demand, expand production, and promote economic development. However, judging from the types of production factors obtained through investment and the roles they can play, investment can be divided into two categories: investment in things and investment in people. The functions of these two types of investments are not exactly the same, and the relationship between these two types of investments will also affect the overall effect of investment.
The so-called investment in things refers to the type of investment that obtains all production factors except people through investment, including the purchase of production materials, technology, information and other material conditions for production, operation and research and development. Investing in materials can not only provide necessary material and technical conditions for enterprise production and operation and social and economic development, but also expand investment demand, enhance economic growth momentum, promote the development of related industries, and promote economic growth.
The so-called investment in people refers to the type of investment that obtains human elements through investment, such as investment in hiring various types of labor, developing various types of education including vocational training, and improving medical and health care levels. Investing in people can not only provide decisive human elements for enterprise production and operation and economic and social development, but more importantly, it can improve the quality and ability of the labor force, promote high-quality full employment, increase labor income, thereby increase consumer demand with purchasing power, boost consumption, better promote the development of related industries, and promote economic growth. Investing in people is more reflected in investing in people's livelihood, which can better implement the people-centered development concept, promote common prosperity and the all-round development of people, and is also conducive to maintaining social stability and creating a better social environment for further economic development.
Investment in things and investment in people are indispensable, closely related, and interdependent, and have certain quantitative proportions and structural characteristics. Under different economic conditions, the quantitative proportions and structural conditions of the two may be different. If the relationship between the two is properly handled, they can complement each other and complement each other; otherwise, they may be out of proportion and structurally unbalanced.
The close integration of investment in things and investment in people emphasizes the overall planning, coordination, appropriate quantity and proportion, and reasonable structure of these two types of investments. Only by continuing to invest in things and people at the same time can production and business activities be sustained, and the economy and society can continue to develop; only when investment in things and investment in people meet actual needs, have a coordinated quantity and proportion, and have a reasonable structure will there be no waste of resources, the investment effect can be improved, and the economy and society can develop with high quality.
Comparatively speaking, investing in things brings results quickly and is more direct and obvious. For example, investing in cutting-edge new machinery and technology, cheap and high-quality new energy, better raw materials, high-quality seeds, important data and information, etc., often results immediately; investing in people brings results relatively slowly, and is not particularly direct and obvious. For example, investing in education and training to improve people's scientific and cultural quality, investing in improving medical care to improve people's health quality are difficult to achieve immediately. Even investing in hiring elite talents in science and technology and management will take a period of time and process before their outstanding role in production, operation and economic development can be played and revealed. From an enterprise's perspective, the internal positive effect of investing in things is greater and the external positive effect is relatively small; the internal positive effect of investing in people is not necessarily small, but the external positive effect is definitely greater, because the improvement of people's quality and ability is beneficial to society and enterprises. In addition, enterprises invest in robots and automated equipment to replace labor and use more "things" instead of more people, which can greatly reduce labor costs and improve labor productivity, making the individual labor time of the enterprise lower than the socially necessary labor time, thereby obtaining excess returns. This results in people tending to place more emphasis on investing in things. In fact, investing in people is more fundamental and important than investing in things, because things are created, invented, produced, and used by people. From a long-term and fundamental perspective, more attention should be paid to investing in people.
Our country is currently facing increasing downward pressure on the economy and insufficient effective demand. The reasons are multifaceted. In addition to insufficient growth momentum in the world economy, severe challenges to the international economic and trade order, and more complex and fierce international competition and the game of great powers, traditional industries need to be further transformed and upgraded, some key core technologies are controlled by others or have shortcomings, and modern industrial systems need to be further constructed. These are also important factors. To overcome these difficulties and challenges, we must "promote the formation of more economic development models that are dominated by domestic demand, driven by consumption, and endogenously grown." This also means that investment in materials and investment in people must be closely integrated, the direction and field of investment should be optimized, the investment structure should be improved, the quality and efficiency of investment should be improved, and high-quality development should be promoted. New means of production (labor materials and labor objects) and high-tech are important components of new productivity. It is necessary to increase material capital investment to obtain corresponding machinery and equipment, infrastructure, raw materials and technology. High-quality labor is also an important component of new productivity. The creation, production and use of high-tech and new means of production also require higher-quality and capable labor. Therefore, we must neither "emphasize things over people" nor "emphasis on people over things." We must closely integrate investment in things and investment in people. This will not only help better develop new productive forces, but also effectively expand investment demand and consumer demand, and enhance the driving force for economic growth.
Promoting the close integration of investment in things and investment in people not only involves a comprehensive balance in the investment field, but also involves a reasonable division of labor between government investment and corporate investment, which requires scientific judgment based on different situations.
Enterprise investment and government investment should have their own emphasis on investing in things and investing in people, and improve the overall effect of investment through scientific division of labor and cooperation. Enterprises engaged in production, operation and research and development require investment in both materials and people. In particular, they should not blindly pursue replacing people with materials. The government mainly invests in materials such as public infrastructure construction, basic scientific research, and major scientific and technological research. It also invests in people to improve various education levels, improve medical and health care, and improve social security.
The main tasks of investing in goods should be to optimize and upgrade traditional industries, cultivate and expand emerging industries and future industries, and consolidate and strengthen the real economy. The focus should be on reducing ineffective investment (to solve the problem of excessive ineffective supply), expanding effective investment (to solve the problem of insufficient effective supply), and overcoming key core technical difficulties, and realizing the renewal, transformation, optimization and upgrading of fixed capital in traditional industries. On the basis of consolidating and expanding existing advantages, new advantages can be formed by complementing the strengths and weaknesses of shortcomings.
Investing in people must focus on ensuring and improving people's livelihood, adhere to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand, insist on benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption, promote high-quality and full employment, provide people with satisfactory education, improve the social security system, accelerate the construction of a healthy China, and steadily promote the equalization of basic public services Equalization, promote high-quality development of the population, while promoting more workers, more skilled workers, and more innovators, increase the proportion of residents' income in national income distribution, increase the proportion of labor remuneration in primary distribution, continue to effectively expand consumer demand, and enhance economic growth momentum.
"Guangming Daily" (page 11, March 17, 2026)
