The “State” Perspective on Chinese-Path Modernization

The central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country in comprehensively building a great modern socialist country, achieving the second centenary goal, and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-path modernization. This mission and task clarifies the goal of building a great modern socialist country and explicitly states that “Chinese-path modernization” is the strategic path for advancing the building of a great country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

中国共产党的中心任务就是团结带领全国各族人民全面建成社会主义现代化强国、实现第二个百年奋斗目标，以中国式现代化全面推进中华民族伟大复兴。这一使命任务明确了建成社会主义现代化强国的目标，明确提出“中国式现代化”是推进强国建设、实现中华民族伟大复兴的战略路径。

The National Development Goals of Chinese-Path Modernization

中国式现代化建设的国家发展目标

A modern state (government) must fulfill the function of promoting economic and social development and possess the capacity to integrate resources from all sides and drive social development in all respects. China’s achievements in rapid economic and social development suffice to demonstrate this point, while many “failed states” are, to a certain extent, precisely because they lack effective state development capacity.

现代国家（政府）要履行推动经济社会发展的职能，要具备整合各方面资源、推动社会各方面发展的能力。中国在经济社会快速发展方面取得的成就足以说明这一点，而诸多“失败国家”在一定程度上就是因为不具备有效的国家发展能力。

Since the New Era, China’s development, or Chinese-path modernization, has established the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, which is an organic whole comprising economic development, political development, cultural development, social development, and ecological progress, all interconnected and mutually reinforcing. The Five-Sphere Integrated Plan is the overall framework for building socialism with Chinese characteristics and the direct lever for advancing national development in a holistic manner. Under the strategic goals and conceptual guidance of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and holistic national development, and amid the complex international and domestic environment of responding to changes unseen in a century, the requirements for the integrity, coordination, and unity of national development have intensified, and the characteristic of holism has risen. Coordinated regional development, common prosperity, and the common advancement of all ethnic groups toward socialist modernization are important orientations of the national holistic development goals. Among these, the modernization of rural areas and border ethnic regions is the top priority of national development and the two major areas that must be broken through to realize Chinese-path modernization.

新时代以来，中国发展或中国式现代化确立了“五位一体”总体布局，它是包括经济建设、政治建设、文化建设、社会建设、生态文明建设在内的一个相互联系、相互促进的有机整体。“五位一体”总体布局是建设中国特色社会主义的总体框架，是整体性推进国家发展的直接抓手。在“五位一体”总体布局及整体性推进国家发展的战略目标和观念指引下，以及在应对世界百年未有之大变局的国际国内复杂环境下，国家发展的整体性、协调性和统一性要求在增强，整体性特征在上升。区域协调发展、共同富裕、各民族共同走向社会主义现代化是国家整体发展目标的重要旨向。其中，农村和边疆民族地区的现代化是国家发展的重中之重，是实现中国式现代化必须要突破的两大区域。

Integrated urban-rural development is an inevitable requirement of Chinese-path modernization and national holistic development, and a basic strategy for realizing rural modernization. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC pointed out that “it is necessary to coordinate new-type industrialization, new-type urbanization, and comprehensive rural revitalization, comprehensively raise the level of integration in urban-rural planning, construction, and governance, promote equal exchange and two-way flow of urban-rural factors, narrow the urban-rural gap, and promote common prosperity and development in both urban and rural areas.” Integrated urban-rural development requires improving the mechanisms and institutions for promoting new-type urbanization, consolidating and improving the basic rural management system, perfecting the support system for strengthening agriculture, benefiting farmers, and enriching rural areas, and deepening land system reform. In the vast rural areas, preventing large-scale return to poverty and comprehensively advancing rural revitalization are basic development tasks. Improving the rural management system, granting and protecting farmers’ property rights and interests, rural infrastructure construction and renovation, village planning and expression of villagers’ wishes, the development of township enterprises and village-level real industries, and rural ecological environmental protection are important breakthrough points.

城乡融合发展是中国式现代化和国家整体发展的必然要求，是实现农村现代化的基本战略。党的二十届三中全会指出，“必须统筹新型工业化、新型城镇化和乡村全面振兴，全面提高城乡规划、建设、治理融合水平，促进城乡要素平等交换、双向流动，缩小城乡差别，促进城乡共同繁荣发展”。城乡融合发展要求健全推进新型城镇化体制机制，巩固和完善农村基本经营制度，完善强农惠农富农支持制度，深化土地制度改革。在广大农村地区，防止大规模返贫和全面推进乡村振兴是基本发展任务。完善农村经营体系以及赋予和保障农民财产权益，农村基础设施建设和改造，村庄规划及村民意愿表达，乡镇企业和村庄实体产业发展，农村生态环境保护等是重要突破口。

In border ethnic regions, the Party Central Committee has put forward a work guideline and policy for ethnic regions centered on forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, with particular emphasis on endowing all reform and development with the significance of manifesting the sense of community for the Chinese nation, the significance of maintaining unity and opposing separatism, and the significance of improving people’s livelihoods and consolidating popular support, so as to make the Chinese national community unbreakable. Border ethnic regions have comparative advantages and prominent positions in terms of resources, ecology, cultural exchange, and foreign trade and economic cooperation. Border ethnic regions must base themselves on their own strategic positioning and comparative advantages within the domestic circulation pattern, identify the entry points and focal points for aligning with national strategies, adjust their industrial structures, develop new quality productive forces, and unleash development efficiency. At the same time, with the deepening construction of the international circulation pattern, border ethnic regions will also transform from “depressions” in national development to frontiers of national opening up to the outside world. Border ethnic regions must proactively align with national opening-up strategies, explore and construct development goals that suit their own characteristic advantages, formulate development plans, create model pilot projects, and play a demonstrative and leading role.

在边疆民族地区，党中央提出了以铸牢中华民族共同体意识为主线的民族地区工作纲领政策，特别强调要赋予所有改革发展以彰显中华民族共同体意识的意义，以维护统一、反对分裂的意义，以改善民生、凝聚人心的意义，让中华民族共同体牢不可破。边疆民族地区具有资源、生态、文化交流、对外经贸等方面的比较优势和突出地位。边疆民族地区要立足自身在国内大循环格局中的战略定位和比较优势，找准对接国家战略的切入点和发力点，调整产业结构，发展新质生产力，释放发展效能。同时，随着国际大循环格局的深入构建，边疆民族地区也将从国家发展的“洼地”转变为国家向外开放的前沿。边疆民族地区要主动对接国家开放战略，探索建设符合本地区特色优势的发展目标，制定发展规划，打造样板试点，发挥示范带动作用。

The National Governance Effectiveness of Chinese-Path Modernization

中国式现代化建设的国家治理效能

While maintaining rapid economic growth, China has also achieved long-term social stability, which is a concentrated manifestation of the effectiveness of China’s national governance. As some scholars have pointed out, we attach importance to both development and governance, forming a model of “developmental governance.”

中国在保持经济高速增长的同时，实现了社会长期稳定，这是中国国家治理效能的集中体现。正如有学者指出的，我们既重视发展，也要治理，形成了一种“发展型治理”模式。

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC proposed the overall goal of comprehensively deepening reform: “to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity,” taking national governance as the top-level design for comprehensively deepening reform and putting forward the concept of “national governance.” The proposal of the concept of “national governance” is a major theoretical innovation of the Party. The national governance system and governance capacity are the concentrated embodiment of a country’s system and its capacity to implement that system. The national governance system is the system of institutions for managing the country under the leadership of the Party, including the systems, mechanisms, laws, and regulations in various fields such as the economy, politics, culture, society, ecological progress, and Party building—that is, a complete set of closely linked and mutually coordinated national institutions. National governance capacity is the ability to use the national system to manage affairs in all aspects of society, including reform, development, and stability; domestic affairs, foreign affairs, and national defense; and governance of the Party, the state, and the military. The national governance system and governance capacity are an organic whole that complement each other: a good national governance system is necessary to improve governance capacity, and improved governance capacity is necessary to fully unleash the effectiveness of the national governance system. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC further emphasized better transforming institutional advantages into governance effectiveness, more clearly defining the governance orientation of Chinese-path modernization, and taking governance, especially governance effectiveness, as an important value indicator for observing and evaluating the advantages of China’s system. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC pointed out that the overall goal of further comprehensively deepening reform is “to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.”

党的十八届三中全会提出“完善和发展中国特色社会主义制度，推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化”的全面深化改革总目标，把国家治理作为全面深化改革的顶层设计，提出“国家治理”概念。“国家治理”概念的提出是党的重大理论创新。国家治理体系和治理能力是一个国家制度和制度执行能力的集中体现。国家治理体系是在党的领导下管理国家的制度体系，包括经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明和党的建设等各领域体制机制、法律法规安排，也就是一整套紧密相连、相互协调的国家制度；国家治理能力则是运用国家制度管理社会各方面事务的能力，包括改革发展稳定、内政外交国防、治党治国治军等各个方面。国家治理体系和治理能力是一个有机整体，相辅相成，有了好的国家治理体系才能提高治理能力，提高了国家治理能力才能充分发挥国家治理体系的效能。党的十九届四中全会进一步强调更好地把制度优势转化为治理效能，更加明确了中国式现代化的治理导向，把治理特别是治理效能作为观察和评估中国制度优势的重要价值性指标。党的二十届三中全会指出，进一步全面深化改革的总目标是“继续完善和发展中国特色社会主义制度，推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化”。

At present, China is promoting comprehensive deepening of reform and governance transformation with institutional improvement as the main line, enhancing the effectiveness of China’s national governance. Transforming national institutional advantages into governance effectiveness is influenced by multiple factors. Some scholars believe that “three elements need to be considered: first, the scientific nature and progressiveness of the national institutional setup; second, the coordination of the governance system; and third, the initiative of governance subjects.” The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC put forward reform deployments in 14 areas, the core of which is institutional improvement in related fields, including systems, mechanisms, and work systems. The ways to realize the transformation of China’s national institutional advantages into governance effectiveness are multi-layered and multi-dimensional: Party leadership is the fundamental political guarantee, and law-based governance is the path guarantee; the value orientation is clear, namely, adhering to a people-centered approach; and the goals are clear, namely, the “seven focal points.”[n]

目前，我国正以制度建设为主线推进全面深化改革及治理变革，提升中国国家治理效能。推动国家制度优势转化为治理效能受多种因素影响，有学者认为，“有三个要素需要考虑：一是国家制度设置的科学性和进步性；二是治理体系的协调性；三是治理主体的积极性”。党的二十届三中全会提出了14个方面的改革部署，核心是相关领域的制度建设，包括体制机制和工作体系。推动中国国家制度优势转化为治理效能的实现方式是多层次、多维的，党的领导是根本政治保证，法治是路径保障；价值取向是鲜明的，即坚持人民至上；目标是清晰的，即“七个聚焦”。

The National Security Capacity of Chinese-Path Modernization

中国式现代化建设的国家安全能力

National security is the prerequisite and guarantee for the sustained progress of national modernization; without national security, there is no national modernization. Ensuring national security is the top priority for the Party to consolidate its ruling position and unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Coordinating development and security, enhancing vigilance, and being prepared for danger in times of safety is a major principle of our Party’s governance.” National security issues always bear a distinct imprint of the times. The challenges and threats a country faces at different stages have different characteristics, which inevitably require responses through continuous practical innovation. Safeguarding national security is a long-term task of national modernization, and the core is to consolidate and enhance the capacity to achieve national security goals.

国家安全是国家现代化持续向前的前提和保障，没有国家安全，就没有国家现代化。保证国家安全是党巩固执政地位，团结带领全国各族人民坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的头等大事。习近平总书记指出：“统筹发展和安全，增强忧患意识，做到居安思危，是我们党治国理政的一个重大原则。”国家安全问题始终具有鲜明的时代烙印，国家在不同阶段面临具有不同特点的挑战和威胁，必然要求通过不断的实践创造予以应对。维护国家安全是国家现代化建设的长期任务，核心是巩固和提升实现国家安全目标的能力。

The Communist Party of China has always attached great importance to safeguarding national security, especially protecting the security interests of the people. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC [1]1 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022, at which Xi Jinping delivered a report calls for modernizing the national security system and capabilities, emphasizing that “national security is the foundation of national rejuvenation, and social stability is the prerequisite for a strong nation. We must unswervingly implement a holistic approach to national security, integrate the maintenance of national security into all aspects and the entire process of the Party and the state’s work, and ensure national security and social stability.” There are many factors that affect and threaten national security, and ensuring national security is a vast, long-term systemic project involving numerous fields. Among the many security elements, non-traditional security factors cannot be ignored. National information security, national identity security in the field of ethnicity and religion, and international public opinion security have become increasingly prominent under the new circumstances of international struggle, urgently requiring the enhancement of core competitiveness in relevant fields to improve the level of security governance in those areas.

中国共产党历来重视维护国家安全，特别是维护人民安全利益。党的二十大报告要求推进国家安全体系和安全能力现代化，强调“国家安全是民族复兴的根基，社会稳定是国家强盛的前提。必须坚定不移贯彻总体国家安全观，把维护国家安全贯穿党和国家工作各方面全过程，确保国家安全和社会稳定”。影响和威胁国家安全的因素众多，保证国家安全是一个牵涉众多领域的宏大的、长期的系统工程。在众多安全要素中，非传统安全因素不容忽视，国家信息安全、民族宗教领域的国家认同安全、国际舆论安全等在国际斗争的新形势下愈发突出，亟须通过增强相关领域的核心竞争力来提升相关领域的安全治理水平。

(The author is an assistant researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

（作者系中国社会科学院民族学与人类学研究所助理研究员）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧