Four dimensions of high-quality economic development

Purpose Since 2012, China's economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to one of high-quality development, yet a systematic theoretical generalisation of its economic connotations remains to be deepened. Taking Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy as the entry point, this paper aims to review China's practical experience of economic development in the new era, synthesise a series of landmark concepts into four theoretical dimensions of high-quality economic development, to clarify their core connotations and logical interrelations, and to indicate the significance of these insights for developing an autonomous knowledge system of Chinese economics and advancing Chinese modernisation through high-quality development. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a conceptual approach combining theoretical exposition with documentary analysis, grounded in Marxist political economy. It systematically reviews Xi Jinping's major discourses on high-quality economic development, together with the documents of the Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congresses from the 18th to the 20th and the relevant Central Committee plenary sessions. Applying materialist dialectics and the unity of logic and history, the study examines, in sequence, the practical background, the problems addressed and the theoretical connotations of each dimension. Findings The study finds that the four dimensions respond to distinct major problems. The people-centred philosophy of development clarifies for whom development is pursued, reflected in improved quality of life, substantive progress towards common prosperity and high-quality population development, with nearly 100 million rural residents lifted out of poverty and the world's largest education, healthcare and social security systems established. The new development philosophy sets the guiding principles for China's modernisation, comprising innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and shared development, with supply-side structural reform as its concrete practice. The new development paradigm, with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, saw domestic demand contribute 69.7% of economic growth in 2024 and requires coordinating high-quality development with high-level security. New quality productive forces, led by innovation and characterised by high technology, high efficiency and high quality, are cultivated through original and disruptive innovation, the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, qualitative upgrading of all elements of the productive forces, and relations of production better suited to their development. Originality/value The paper makes three contributions. First, it systematically integrates the concepts advanced since the new era into four logically connected dimensions: the people-centred philosophy, the new development philosophy, the new development paradigm and new quality productive forces. Second, it identifies the practical problem each dimension addresses, demonstrating that they originate in China's practice and embody a distinct problem-oriented approach. Third, it shows that these insights uphold and develop the Marxist political economy of productive forces and relations of production, and constitute an important theoretical achievement of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy. The four-dimensional framework offers a distinctive hallmark of China's autonomous knowledge system of economics and provides theoretical and strategic guidance for comprehensively advancing Chinese modernisation through high-quality development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.