The Central Economic Work Conference held in December stressed that the country must adhere to high-quality development, implement the new development philosophy, and promote economic growth in both quantity and quality.

High-quality development is the principal task for comprehensively building China into a modern socialist country. To achieve Chinese modernization, the country must have a solid material and technological foundation. Only by pursuing high-quality development, continuously improving the quality of development, and expanding its economic strength, can China meet people's ever-growing needs for a better life, ensure modernization is basically realized as scheduled, and fully build itself into a great modern socialist country. In the face of some countries' suppression of its science and technology and trade, China must adhere to high-quality development, achieve self-reliance in core technologies and accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, so as to ensure a smooth circulation of the economy.

As a big developing country, China must continuously advance industrialization and urbanization. However, considering its fragile ecological system, only by adhering to high-quality development and promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development can the country overcome the difficulties brought by its limited environmental capacity. In the face of the still sizable gap in incomes and wealth distribution, only by promoting high-quality development and steadily advancing common prosperity can China prevent the polarization of social wealth. China still faces numerous risks and hidden dangers, and only by adhering to high-quality development can it effectively resist all kinds of risks.

The key to high-quality development is scientific and technological innovation. China should put innovation at the heart of its overall modernization drive, improve the system of scientific and technological innovation, give enterprises a greater presence in innovation and promote innovation-driven development.

It should promote opening-up, deeply participate in the global industrial division and cooperation, and steadily expand institutional opening-up based on rules, regulations, management and standards.

To promote high-quality development, the country needs to strike a balance between speed and quality, and strive to achieve effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth of the economy. It should properly handle the relationship between development and security, not only keeping to the bottom line of avoiding systemic risks, but also not hesitating to move forward because of security concerns.

PEOPLE'S DAILY