Enabling the Market to Play a Decisive Role in Resource Allocation and Making the Government's Role More Effective

At the Third Plenary Session of its 18th National Congress held in November, 2013, the CPC stated that the market should play a decisive role in resource allocation, and that the government should play a more effective role. Letting the market determine resource allocation is a general rule of economics, and the perfecting refining of a socialist market economy must abide by this rule. We must work to address such problems as the imperfections in the market system, excessive government interventions, and supervision that falls short; we must maximize benefits and optimize efficiency by promoting mechanisms which rely on the market to allocate resources. 

The idea of letting the market play a decisive role in resource allocation is a continuation and extension of the concept of letting it play a "fundamental role", a concept which had been used for the previous 20 years. This new formulation helps the entire Party and entire society to correctly understand the relationship between the government and the market; it helps transform the mode of economic development; it helps transform government functions; and it helps constrain negativity and corruption. 

The market is, of course, an "invisible hand" as well as a "merciless whip". It creates competition and initiative in socioeconomic activities, but at the same time, its spontaneity and blindness can result in market failures, making it necessary for the government's "visible hand" to play a role. The government's responsibility and function are primarily to maintain macroeconomic stability, to improve and optimize public services, to ensure fair competition, to strengthen market oversight, and to maintain market order, to foster sustainable development, and to promote joint prosperity, thereby compensating for market failures.

使市場在資源配置中起決定性作用和更好發揮政府作用 

2013年11月召開的中共十八屆三中全會提出，使市場在資源配置中起決定性作用和更好發揮政府作用。市場決定資源配置是市場經濟的一般規律，健全社會主義市場經濟體制必須遵循這條規律，著力解決市場體系不完善、政府干預過多和監管不到位問題，推動資源配置依據市場機制實現效益最大化和效率最優化。做出“使市場在資源配置中起決定性作用”的定位，是對此前沿用20多年的“基礎性作用”這一提法的繼承和發展，有利于在全黨全社會樹立關于政府和市場關系的正確觀念，有利于轉變經濟發展方式，有利于轉變政府職能，有利于抑制消極腐敗現象。當然，巿場這只“無形的手”又是一條“無情的鞭子”，在使整個社會經濟活動形成你追我趕、奮勇爭先的同時，也會由于其自發性、盲目性帶來市場失靈，需要政府這只“有形的手”來發揮作用，政府的職責和作用主要是保持宏觀經濟穩定，加強和優化公共服務，保障公平競爭，加強市場監管，維護市場秩序，推動可持續發展，促進共同富裕，彌補市場失靈。