Abstract: The essence of contemporary capitalist welfare is a social control tool, which is embodied in the fuzziness of social capital cost, the potential embedding mechanism of ideology and the practical compliance of social order. However, this kind of instrumental attribute is not stable, and always faces the dilemma of the opposition between "capital and welfare", which leads to capitalist welfare crises continuously. Common prosperity is the internal transcendence of the capitalist welfare tool. Welfare is no longer the political tool of the ruler, but the goal of social development, which is the sublation and correction of the instrumental attribute of the capitalist welfare. The essence of common prosperity is the correction of production relations on the basis of the development of productive forces and it is an exploration and interpretation of welfare types within the framework of the socialist system. China's welfare program is characterized by deconstructing the instrumental attribute of capitalist welfare with common prosperity, and liberating welfare from capital logic, thus showing the "national" attribute of common prosperity. Common prosperity and the symbiosis and mutual construction of common prosperity and economic development are China's long-term goals. Therefore, the essence of China's welfare program is to continuously meet people's needs for a better life and finally achieve common prosperity on the basis of high-quality social and economic development.