As an important micro market entity, enterprises are not only an important force in promoting the development of new quality productive forces in China, but also a solid foundation for building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. How to deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and promote the healthy development of the private economy through the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important topic in the research of socialist economic theory with Chinese characteristics.

Firstly, this paper theoretically defines CSR under the framework of Marxist political economics. That is, the theoretical system of CSR is defined as a comprehensive and systematic theory of development; the essential connotation of CSR is defined as the category of production relations that adapts to the development of productive forces; the core issue of CSR is attributed to the issue of ownership; and the fundamental approach to addressing CSR is placed at the institutional level of how to develop the economy. Secondly, in the context of the practice of socialist economy with Chinese characteristics, the impact of differences in the ownership on CSR performance is expounded. It can be concluded that, in general, SOEs perform better in fulfilling CSR compared to private enterprises and the distinction is visible; while in the competitive field, both have the problem of CSR deficiency, and more mature and developed private enterprises perform better than general private enterprises. Finally, based on the theoretical and practical explanations, it is proposed that CSR governance in China should continue to strengthen, optimize, and expand SOEs, while also leading and supporting the rational development of private enterprises.

This paper has the following marginal contributions: Firstly, it comprehensively and systematically summarizes the connotation of CSR, solving the problem of “conceptual jungle” in defining CSR to a certain extent. Secondly, the inclusion of CSR into the research framework of socialist political economics with Chinese characteristics opens up a systematic study of CSR in the context of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, enriching the research content of socialist political economics with Chinese characteristics. Thirdly, it puts forward the view that enterprises with different ownerships and development levels have certain distinctions in fulfilling CSR, which has certain problem-oriented and practical value for promoting Chinese enterprises to better fulfill CSR.