First Edition 2018

ISBN 978-7-119-11413-2

© Foreign Languages Press Co. Ltd, Beijing, China, 2018

Published by Foreign Languages Press Co. Ltd

24 Baiwanzhuang Road, Beijing 100037, China

Distributed by China International Book Trading Corporation

35 Chegongzhuang Xilu, Beijing 100044, China

P.O. Box 399, Beijing, China

Printed in the People’s Republic of China

State governance is a key research topic on which China, a vast country with a 1.3 billion population, an extended history, and rich cultural heritage, must focus in her modernization process. Based on the hands-on experience of governing China since reform and opening up in 1978, and especially since the CPC's 18th National Congress in 2012, and through the analysis of the subject and object of state governance and their interrelated characteristics, this book introduces the five relationships that need to be balanced: between convictions, ideals, and goals; between governing the Party, the country, and the military; between governance institutions, system, and capacity; between democracy, rule of law, and rule of virtue; and between the CPC's leadership and government, market, and society. Through the analysis of these five relationships, the book explains how the national governance system of socialism with Chinese characteristics upholds democratic centralism under the leadership of the CPC.

LI JUNRU

Li Junru is a former vice president of the Central Party School, research fellow, Ph.D. supervisor, and recipient of the special government allowance awarded by the State Council. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the "Marxist Theoretical Research and Development Project", a member of the 10th CPPCC National Committee (2003-2008), and a member of the Standing Committee of the 11th CPPCC National Committee (2008-2013). Currently, he is chairperson of the Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese of Departments Directly under the CPC Central Committee and vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS). He has published dozens of books, including Renewal of Concepts . Among his publications, "Mao Zedong Research Trilogy" - consisting of Mao Zedong and Modern China, Mao Zedong and Contemporary China , and Mao Zedong and Contemporary China After His Era - won the China Book Award in 1998. He has also published several hundred papers, including "Deng Xiaoping's Theory of Governing China". Among these papers, "Deng Xiaoping's Theory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" and "Deng Xiaoping's Management Ideas and Leadership Art" won the Outstanding Research Paper Award in 1991 and 1992 respectively. He was selected as one of the Top 100 Talent for China's Development in 2005. He was also presented with the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the AIDS Response by UNAIDS, and the Golden Kangaroo Award of Australia in 2008. He was named one of the scholars of the year with the strongest influence in China in 2017.

Where have we come from, and where are we going? In this day and age for China, I am always reminding myself to maintain this sense of history.

—— Xi Jinping

From Xi’s speech when meeting with foreign attendees of the Second Understanding China Conference in Beijing, People’s Daily, January 5, 2016 h5QS7yX48mjzzuOewLGKDxx98xgywk3jnSwQIRl4ICeDteDvvUeW9i4zKtVO0I97