Purpose Understanding the characteristics and behavioral patterns of Internet capital, supporting, regulating and guiding the innovative and healthy development of Internet capital is of great significance for accelerating the development of new productive forces, promoting common prosperity and building new national competitive advantages. Design/methodology/approach Internet capital is an innovative, creative and cohesive emerging capital factor, a social pioneering capital with network externality effects and attributes of both technological monopoly and natural monopoly. The innovation initiated by Internet capital represents a fundamental digital-intelligence technological revolution and industrial transformation, which epitomizes the growing trend of production socialization. It leverages the development of key Internet hardware and software and creates digital stacks to harness the dominant power of data extraction and economic innovation transformation. Internet capital forms digital platform monopolies based on control of cutting-edge technologies and data resources, demonstrating high levels of global mobility and cross-sector expansion tendencies. Findings On the one hand, Internet capital adapts to the needs of new production socialization, drives the technological revolution and industrial transformation of digital intelligence and fosters innovation of sharing models and modern governance, injecting innovative energy, institutional potential and governance effectiveness into the development of new productive forces and human well-being. On the other hand, it has also led to issues such as monopoly infringements, disruption of order and even digital security and ideological concerns resulting from the disorderly expansion of capital. These issues undermine the economic foundation and security assurances necessary for high-quality development and common prosperity. Originality/value Therefore, it is important to effectively manage the relationship between the development and regulation of Internet capital, placing equal emphasis on support, encouragement, regulation and guidance. It is essential to fully leverage the leading role of Internet capital in innovation while also implementing effective measures against platform monopolies and unchecked capital expansion to establish a new order for the healthy development of Internet capital and shape a new landscape for the growth of China’s digital and intelligent economy.

Purpose The development of material production determines the enhancement of material welfare for all people and the advancement of Chinese modernization. Design/methodology/approach From the perspective of material production, the Chinese path to modernization has followed objective economic laws, demonstrating new vitality in the rise of modern industrial sectors, the improvement of economic efficiency, the expansion of economic scale and the enhancement of material welfare. Findings The uniqueness of Chinese modernization lies not only in its transcendence of the drawbacks inherent in Western industrialization accumulation, achieving historic leaps, but also in its unique characteristics: it adheres to taking the public-owned economy as the mainstay, promotes the common interests of all people and employs the people-centered logic to guide and transcend the capital logic in economic development. Originality/value The restructured material production trajectory in Chinese modernization is characterized by the formation of a new development philosophy, the orientation toward high-quality development and the guidance of new quality productive forces. The upgrading of material production connotations in Chinese modernization is primarily reflected in the expansion of the subjects of material production, the modes of material production and the contents of material consumption.

Purpose Today, as many people still hold an almost superstitious faith in the market, it is essential to reassess the respective roles of market and government in resource allocation. Design/methodology/approach This paper argues that the market does not allocate resources; it is merely a platform for commodity exchange, as well as for aggregating and disseminating transaction information, and it materializes as a post-hoc outcome (this is what we refer to as the “market-as-platform perspective”). The actors in market transactions and behaviors are organizations and individuals – namely, governments, enterprises, households and individuals – and it is these actors that allocate resources. The government is an integral component of the market, acting as the largest actor in the market economy and serving as its founder, designer, planner, builder and maintainer. Additionally, the government is a rent-setter; its formulation of adverse systems or policies can exacerbate market volatility, which is clearly observable in the evolution of both domestic and international markets. Findings Given the short-termism, opportunism and self-interested behaviors inherent in the resource allocation practices of market actors (organizations and individuals), as well as the systemic consequences of such self-interested behaviors, all four types of market actors – governments, enterprises, households and individuals – must be constrained by the state and society through legal mandates and ethical norms. Originality/value A correct understanding of the relationship between the market and the government is crucial for China’s path of development and reform, its developmental trajectory, the vital interests of all Chinese people, changes in the internal structure of China’s comprehensive national power and its standing in the global economic landscape. It is therefore essential to provide a clear and rational response – one that guides public understanding back to basic historical common sense and returns academic discussions to the correct path.

Purpose Against the backdrop of the socialist market economy, an accurate understanding of the synergy between digital technology and financial capital holds significant implications. This is crucial not only for advancing theoretical understanding of financial capital’s behavior but also for formulating policies to establish China as a global financial power. Design/methodology/approach From a macro-history perspective, financial capital emerged amid the technological revolution, evolving from a facilitative role to a synergistic one. The ongoing technological and industrial revolutions have driven the deep integration of digital technology and financial capital. This integration has formed a new logic of synergistic development at the micro, meso and macro levels. Findings Given China’s unique conditions, the synergistic development of digital technology and financial capital in the socialist market economy has forged a distinctive path. This manifests in three dimensions: the firm-level synergy where digital technology and public financial capital jointly build fundamental platforms; the industrial synergy that enables public financial capital to improve targeted industrial chains and the strategic synergy that helps public financial capital maintain the stability of national economic circulation. Originality/value To address emerging challenges such as platform monopolies and under-regulated financial capital in the new development phase, efforts can be made to better promote the synergistic development of digital technology and financial capital. Specific measures include establishing a multi-pronged anti-monopoly regime, strengthening dual risk management and control and improving new regulatory systems.

Purpose This paper examines the role of institutional innovation in developing China’s new quality productive forces (NQPFs), with a specific focus on the policy evolution from early “deregulation” to contemporary “Fang Guan Fu” (the reform of delegation, regulation and service). It aims to analyze how this institutional change has facilitated the advancement of NQPFs in the context of China’s economic transformation. Design/methodology/approach Employing a historical and systematic analysis, this study traces the trajectory of China’s administrative reforms over the past four decades. It integrates perspectives from political economy, institutional theory and innovation studies to evaluate the impact of these sequential reforms on the emergence and growth of NQPFs. Findings The study reveals that the reform of “delegation, regulation and service” represents a critical institutional innovation that has significantly catalyzed the development of NQPFs. This reform signifies a fundamental shift from initially empowering enterprises through deregulation to constructing a sophisticated ecosystem that blends regulation with services, thereby underpinning technological innovation. This institutional transition has been instrumental in enabling the transition from traditional to advanced, high-tech productive forces and in fostering an innovation-conducive environment for strategic emerging industries. Originality/value This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of institutional innovation in driving economic transformation in China. By connecting the reforms of “deregulation” and “delegation, regulation and service” to the development of NQPFs, the paper offers fresh insights into how institutional reforms can adapt to the demands of technological revolutions, providing valuable guidance for other economies undergoing similar transitions in the digital age.

Purpose The paper aims to show how the construction of an independent knowledge system is a process of transforming practical experience into systematic knowledge, with a terminological revolution at its core. Design/methodology/approach This paper shows that to harness the role of new quality productive forces (NQPFs) in advancing the Chinese path to modernization and high-quality development, it is essential to apply the Marxist political economy’s methodology of integrating theory with historical analysis. This approach enables a systematic, theoretical explication of the formative logic behind NQPFs within the framework of China’s independent economic knowledge system. This requires adherence to historical materialism as both a theoretical foundation and methodological approach for understanding the developmental rationale of NQPFs in the construction of China’s independent economic knowledge system. Findings From a national perspective, NQPFs embody the most recent achievement in the evolution of advanced productive forces throughout the developmental practice of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Theoretically, the formation of NQPFs results from the internal contradictory dynamics inherent in productive forces. Their development follows the “science and technology-industry-productive forces” paradigm, whereby emerging technologies are integrated into new industries, generating new factors reliant on these technological advances, and thereby driving a qualitative transformation and leap in the structural composition of productive forces. Originality/value The theory of NQPFs represents a profound extension of Xi Jinping’s thought on economy and a highly original contribution to the construction of China’s independent economic knowledge system. It significantly develops the Marxist theory of productive forces, opening new horizons for the development of China’s independent economic knowledge system. This theory also provides answers to China-specific inquiries, global challenges, people-centered concerns and epochal questions in the process of building China’s independent economic knowledge system.

Purpose The study identifies the current challenges confronting industrial modernization, anticipates future trends and proposes actionable strategies to overcome difficulties and achieve breakthroughs. These insights contribute substantially to the transformation of new quality productive forces (NQPFs) and the promotion of Chinese modernization through high-quality development. Design/methodology/approach The process of Chinese industrial modernization can be broadly categorized into three phases, each possessing significantly distinctive characteristics. The development strategies of China’s industrial modernization at different stages exhibit notable variations, which are shaped by the technological advancement levels during those stages as well as the domestic and international political and economic contexts. Findings China’s industrialization constitutes a vital component of world industrialization. It has been significantly shaped by the world’s technological and industrial revolutions, while also exerting a profound influence on the developmental trajectories of these revolutions. Originality/value Today, as the fourth wave of the industrial revolution unfolds, for China to genuinely achieve industrial modernization, it is necessary to intensify efforts in promoting scientific and technological innovation, vigorously foster strategic emerging industries, accelerate the development of NQPFs, establish a mode of production characterized by personalization, networking and intelligence and construct a comprehensive, efficient and scientifically advanced intelligent manufacturing industry system.

Purpose Given the inevitability of both market economy and distribution according to work, a socialist market economy becomes inevitable. Consequently, socialist public ownership exhibits a series of significant differences from public ownership in the advanced stage of communism, and correspondingly, labor relations within the public ownership economy manifest in distinctive historical forms. Design/methodology/approach The socialist form of labor can be conceptualized as equal labor – an egalitarian relationship measured by labor, where labor equality is built upon the foundation of unequal labor capacities. Equal labor reflects both the historical progressiveness and the historical limitations of socialist labor; the combination of these dual characteristics constitutes the historical nature of socialist labor in a complete sense. Findings Due to the inherent contradictions within equal labor, its realization requires a special institutional arrangement called the “Public Property Agency System”. The Communist Party of China (CPC) serves as the “active agent” of public property rights. The leadership of the CPC, as an institutional arrangement, is embedded within the foundation of equal labor. Originality/value This article analyzes the deficiencies in relevant discussions found in political economy textbooks (socialist sections) over an extended period; reviews related academic research discussions and demonstrates the rationality and significance of equal labor through comparative analysis of different theoretical perspectives.

Purpose This study aims to explore new quality productive forces represent categorical innovation and a terminological revolution in the Marxist political economy. Productive forces constitute the material productive capacity realized by factors of production under specific relations of production and should not be confused with the productiveness of labor or factor capabilities. Design/methodology/approach The category of productive forces in political economy reflects the material and technological attributes of production while embodying socio-historical characteristics. The development of productive forces encompasses both qualitative and quantitative transformation. The essence of qualitative transformation in productive forces lies in bringing about fundamental changes in the modes of production (the modes of labor) through variations in factors and their combinations, thereby promoting and accelerating the formation of new relations of production and ways of life. Findings The technological history has demonstrated that new general-purpose technologies and leading sectors are significant manifestations of qualitative transformation in productive forces. Orginality/value The smooth development of new quality productive forces relies on “creative destruction” to achieve “orderly retreat” through “creative transformation.”

Purpose The paper introduces the concept of the “imitation trap” to describe a state where economies remain reliant on technological imitation and fail to transition to growth driven by independent innovation. It aims to develop an endogenous economic growth model applicable to both independent research and development (R&D) and imitation strategies for independently operated enterprises to achieve economic catch-up in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach The model is designed under conditions of imperfectly competitive markets, focusing on the dual characteristics of technological innovation in developing economies: (1) technology adoption through imitation from developed countries and (2) self-directed learning-by-doing in R&D without external guidance. Findings From the perspective of technological dynamics and endogenous growth theory, this study explores the feasibility of technological catch-up and the potential lag induced by the imitation trap. It further refines existing literature on economic catch-up and expands the definition of the imitation trap. Originality/value This paper’s primary originality lies in formally conceptualizing and modeling the “imitation trap” within an “endogenous growth framework.” The model offers clear policy implications, suggesting that targeted fiscal tools and factor price corrections can help economies escape the imitation trap and achieve economic catch-up.